I love checking out the newest scientific research on human functioning for a bunch of reasons. First, it shows how complex we are as organic beings– our systems interact in detailed ways that result in eating, digestion, break dancing, poetry creation, and doing laundry. I mean, wow.
Second, it shows human creativity in the hypotheses that scientists come up with to try to explain how some of our everyday processes work. Here’s an example: a research group studied African plains zebras (who are very social animals) to examine how their food foraging habits during drought affected their social bonds. Good news: they managed to get enough food without sacrificing their position in the herd! Go plains zebras! And the researchers concluded on this positive note:
These findings illustrate how social roles and differential responses to acute environmental stress within stable social groups may contribute to species resilience, and how communication flexibly responds to facilitate both survival and sociality under harsh environmental conditions.
And third, sometimes scientists go a bit far afield, in fact so much that they may have lost a bit of perspective. The Ig Nobel awards, held every year at MIT, recognize such breathtaking myopia for projects like one undertaken by some Brazilian scientists for studying whether and how constipation affects the mating prospects of scorpions. Yes, we can all can sort of relate. But I don’t think we really want to talk about it, much less record it for the annals of science. Well, it’s knowledge now…
Or is it? We see all sorts of splashy messaging around new scientific results, and it’s unclear what to do about them. I’ve written a whole tome of posts about the “eggs good/eggs bad” controversy.
However, in my opinion, some science headlines can be safely ignored. Here are a couple:
I guess they weren’t able to capture one of the mice participants picking their nose, so they recruited this child instead.
Okay, what’s the deal here? The upshot is this: Some perfectly reasonable scientists were interested in a particular bacterium that a) can cause pneumonia in humans; and b) is found in the a lot of human brains affected by late-onset dementia. Where it gets more arcane is that they studied what happens when there’s damage to nasal tissues (where this bacterium lives). What happened was that the mouse brains deposited more of the amyloid-beta protein – a protein which is released in response to infections. Plaques (or clumps) of this protein are also found in significant concentrations in people with Alzheimer’s disease.
However: 1) it’s not clear that the effects will be the same in humans; and 2) it’s not even clear that amyloid-beta plaques are a cause of Alzheimer’s disease.
So in the grand scheme of things, this is not something to worry about. Nothing to see here…
If I may, I’d like to offer one more example of a science headline we don’t need to worry about right now.
Okay, I’m gonna lay it all out for you now.
We are all familiar with the awkward-at-first but hopefully delicious-and-calming sensations of sitting back into a hair-washing basin at a salon. Turns out there have been a few (twelve, according to the Lancet) cases in which people had a stoke after being in that awkward head and neck position at a salon.
But what are we to do?
This article makes helpful suggestions.
The speed at which the hair is washed, how long it takes and any force or jerking movement to the head and neck while washing all contribute to the risk. Request a gentle wash, try not to stay in position at the backwash longer than you have to and inform your hairdresser if you experience any discomfort during washing.
So, no jerking around of the head and neck, no speed-washing, no extended periods in the basin. Check, check, check. I think we can all breathe a little easier now, armed with this advice.
Life can be tough. And life right now, for lots of us on the planet, is extra-tough. We’ve all got enough on our plates without adding hair-washing-induced stroke or nose-picking-induced Alzheimers to our list of worries.
So don’t worry. About these things, at least.
Have a lovely week! I’ll be back on Thursday with more… 🙂
