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Podcast TranscriptThe Naked Scientists: Science Radio & Science Podcasts |
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Romantic Menu for Valentines Day !
This coming Thursday is Valentine's day - in case you didn't know already! And I'm sure some of you will be planning candlelit dinners for your other halves but don't know what to cook. So here are some top scientific tips to help you cook your Valentine's day dinner :
Oysters have been used as an erotic dish throughout history and would make an ideal choice for starters! They are rich in zinc, which your body needs in order to produce testosterone. Now testosterone is not something that just men produce - it's a sex hormone which stimulates both the male and female libido. Or if you're not too keen on oysters, try asparagus which is rich in zinc which also stimulates the production of sex hormones. For the main course use lots of chillis! Chillis contain a chemical called "capsaicin" which, as many of you will have experienced, makes you sweat, raises your pulse, and is responsible for the burning sensation produced by curry! Indeed, some researchers believe that eating spicy food makes your body release endorphins, which are chemicals that give you a natural high - just what you want for a Valentine's dinner. And of course you have to have a dessert - yes, you guessed! Chocolate - whether it be chocolate fudge cake, chocolate ice cream, strawberries and chocolate, whatever takes your fancy. Chocolate contains a chemical called phenylethylamine which some researchers call "the love chemical" as it stimulates your senses and gives you a sense of well being. More information is available under 'Aphrodisiacs' on our 'links' page.
Article about why we value sex so highly, and what purpose sex serves ?
Article about pheromones and how pheromones influence our choice of mate.
CAN KISSING BE BAD FOR YOU ?
Kisses seem an innocent enough thing to give someone special on Valentines day, but are there any surprises that you need to watch out for ? Well, few people realise that Glandular Fever, or "kissing disease" is passed on through saliva, and once you have had it, you are infected for life and you could become infectious at any time, without realising it. The disease is caused by Epstein-Barr virus, a close relative of herpes simplex virus, which causes cold sores. Most people are become infected as kids, often through sharing food at nursery school, although over a third of sufferers are infected when they are teenagers or young adults. It is not usually a serious illness, most people suffer from tiredness, swollen glands, and a sore throat lasting 2-4 weeks, but the older you are when you get it, the worse the symptoms tend to be, and the virus has also been linked to certain types of cancer. So if you've never knowingly had it, be selective over who you snog this valentines day !
10th Feb 2002
Men and Women Different When it Comes to Holidays
There's more to a holiday than sun, surf and sex; if you are female that is. According to research in America, males and females have significantly different hopes for both how they'll spend their holiday. A survey of 534 students show that female students place greater importance than males on attractive prices and destination image when deciding where to go on holiday. Females also have higher expectations regarding lodging prices, service quality and availability of nice restaurants at their final choice. So what are men looking for in a good holiday ? The availability of partying, alcohol, drugs, and sex of course ! (So think carefully when taking your girlfriend away for a romantic break - Canvey Island will probably not go down too well !)
10th Feb 2002
Mobile Phones Can Increase Worm's Fertility
Mobile phones might have unexpected effects on human health, according to New Scientist this week. A team of scientists exposed nematode worms, a type of small worm, to microwave radiation similar to the kind of radiation emitted by mobile phones, and they found that the radiation made the worms more fertile! So if microwave radiation affects fertility in worms then it's quite likely it will affect us in some way too. Until now scientists thought the only way mobile phones could affect human health was by heating the cells in our body - similar to the way food gets cooked in a microwave oven. But scientists say that it's very unlikely that microwave heating made the worms more fertile and that there must be something else going on.
10th Feb 2002
Number of Radioactivity Accidents Increases
The number of accidents involving radioactive materials in the UK has doubled over the past decade, according to the National Radiological Protection Board. In 2000 38 incidents were reported, compared with only 19 ten years earlier, in 1999. In one reported case 30 industrial smoke detectors containing radioactive materials were dumped in a country park. There are more and more mishaps involving transport of radioactive material. Between 1990 and 2000 over 300 shipments were either contaminated, damaged or simply lost. A lot of these involve radioactive fuel from nuclear power stations, which was being taken to the Sellafield reprocessing plant in Cumbria. At this rate it will be fairly easy for terrorists to get hold of radioactive material unless security is tightened. The environmental group 'Greenpeace' have called trains carrying radioactive material "a walking terrorist target".
10th Feb 2002
Killer Virus Wiping Out Frogs in Southeast England
Common frogs in the South East of England are being wiped out in their thousands by a killer virus brought by goldfish imported from America, according to frog conservation group Froglife Trust. It sounds very unpleasant - the frogs die slowly, developing sores all over their bodies and even losing their toes and legs. The number of dead frogs totals 62,000 although the disease has only been confirmed in 1 in 20 cases. Frogs are invaluable to gardeners as they feed on pests like slugs. But gardeners don't just rely on frogs to get rid of slugs - they also kill them off with copper-coated pellets. Researchers say that frogs feeding on these dead slugs have more copper in their livers and this makes them more susceptible to the killer virus.
THE WEAKEST LINK
Mathematicians are often accused of having their heads in the clouds. But maths expert Paul Coe from Illinois has got his feet planted firmly on the ground, and is trying to solve a problem which could help us all - the ultimate strategy for winning the gameshow "The Weakest Link". He noticed that each week the winner of this show went home with only a fraction of the possible winnings and decided to use maths to work out the strategy to get the most cash. In "The Weakest Link" much more money can be made by "banking" the winnings after answering a series of questions correctly, rather than after each correct answer. His analysis told him that contestants should either bank their money after each correct question, or hold their nerve whilst presenter Anne Robinson snarls at them, and wait until at least 6 correct questions in a row have been answered. However, he admits that the psychological terror induced by Anne Robinson's is one factor that could not be added into his model.
10th Feb 2002
Electric Brakes for Skis and Snowboards
Do you like skiing or snowboarding, and would like to learn, but you're scared that you'll end up hurtling helplessly downhill, out of control, and injuring yourself ? Luckily, help is at hand for newcomers to the pistes with the invention of skis and snowboards with built-in electronic brakes that slow them down before things get too scary. The new braking system is being developed by Victor Petrenko, an American engineer. His idea involves running a pair of wires the length of the board or ski's underside, one at each edge. The wires are connected to opposite terminals of a 3-volt battery, making one wire positive and the other negative. Fingers branching off the wires every few millimetres form an intersecting series of positive and negative electrodes covering the entire underside of the snowboard or ski. So how does this help to slow you down ? Well, when the positive electrode comes into contact with compact snow it induces a negative charge at the surface, and in the same way, the negative electrode induces a positive charge in the snow. Because opposite charges attract, this pulls the board closer to the snow and increases friction. You can actually demonstrate this yourself at home by combing your hair, and then using the comb to pick up small pieces of tissue paper, or rubbing a balloon on your hair, and then 'sticking' it to the wall. But that's not all, because the brakes also use another trick to slow you down: at the same time, a tiny current flows through the snow touching the skis between the electrodes, and melts it, rather like the electric windscreen in a car. When the snow melts, the circuit breaks and the melted snow immediately re-freezes, sticking to the ski and massively slowing it down. According to Petrenko, "the change in friction you get is equivalent to going from being on ice to dry pavement." He is now working with a snowboard manufacturer and hopes that snowboards fitted with his brakes will be available next year. A sensor fitted to the boards will monitor the board's speed over the ice, and switch the brakes on if it's going too fast. Petrenko expects his idea to find a ready market. Indeed, skis and snowboards aren't the only surfaces that need to get a grip on snow. Petrenko's next aim is to build shoes and car tyres incorporating similar electronic mechanisms.
10th Feb 2002
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