Junk Science

"Sit Up Straight!" Remember that?

2006-11-28T23:00:00.000-08:00

Well, Research finds your mother's constant nagging is the cause of your lower back pain, as well as your head pain.Isn’t it ironic to find out that after all these years, your mom was wrong? Wouldn’t you enjoy telling her that, for the first time, she was actually wrong? I would love to se her face if I could show her these findings. Honestly I don’t think she would care. Researchers suggest that we should sit at a 135-degree angle to prevent lower back problems or like my friend Dominic (right) who seems relaxed at work. The study might have an impact in the furniture industry, according to the ABC News article because manufacturers might want to design a chair that could ease the pain in the back. If that is true, I want to see a chair that would allow me to feel comfortable while I spend hours doing my homework. I actually find the “bean bag” chairs very comfortable, and could be a solution for a hard day at work. Now remember: If you have back pain, blame it on your mother.

Want to Know How a 2,000 Year-old Fish Sauce tastes like?

2006-11-15T20:17:00.000-08:00

Ships that stay sunk in the ocean for thousand of years, are always amazing. Boaters always find interesting stuff inside them, but this time, I think it is absolutely hilarious what a group of brave explorers found in the deep waters of southeast Spain: A Roman shipwreck of the 1st century carrying a lot of clay jars to hold fish sauce (above.) Supposedly it was a very fine condiment that rich Romans used to consume hundred of years ago.

Now researchers are trying to study this jars to determine how the fish sauce was made. I don’t know why they make such a big deal out of a fish sauce. Instead they should be spending more money on finding the cure for cancer or something more useful. I ask myself what in the world they are going to do once they find the recipe for the fish sauce? They better share it with the world because I am dying to know how it tastes like. I am thinking…how much would that study cost? It better not be much. In the meantime, I will watch closely as this study progresses, and I promise I will share the recipe with you once it gets released.

Got Hair Lice? No Problem. Blow them Away...

2006-11-09T11:40:00.000-08:00

A head lice getting out of the egg.

I found this interesting article while navigating on the internet. Not that I have this problem, but I thought it was interesting and funny. I scientist discovered a way to kill head lice and their little eggs while combing and drying his kids’ hair with a hairdryer he specially designed. It is amazing how far technology has gone. Well, at least I was surprised that a guy had actually time to think about the best way to kill head lice with a blow dryer, and trying it out with his kids. Why would his kids suffer from that problem? The man is a Scientist. He should know that kids need to take a bath everyday at least. Anyway, back to the new invention. It sounds pretty easy to kill head lice by drying them out. Now people who have children can stop using all those nasty products that only God knows what damage they can cause to the scalp. The solution is as simple as a blow dryer. It would be really cool to kill those nasty little visitors while getting a nice hair style. Have head lice problems? No worries. Let’s get your hair fixed and you are all done. That’s the way technology works; always making it easy for us to deal with everyday hazards.

Bilingualism Is Identifiable in Our Brains

2006-11-02T17:34:00.000-08:00

Yes! I wanted to know if people can actually tell whether I am bilingual or not. No, not really, but I found quite interesting an article on the web about a research using NIRS equipement to find out whether there is a way to see what part of your brain determines bilingualism.

The study revealed that there was an increase in the brain activity when the people sampled switched from one language to another. I believe this is kind of obvious because when you are speaking in two different languages, it requires double amount of work to think about what you are going to say and deciding whether you want to say it in Spanish or English or whatever language we speak. At least that is what happens to me. I am fluent in Spanish and somewhat in English (I would say I speak 80% good English,) and sometimes I made up words that do not even exist in the Spanish or English dictionary, which I find kind of funny sometimes.

The point is that scientists wanted to prove whether brains of bilingual people are different from monolinguals, and there was no significant different. In fact, they were similar. The one difference they found in their brain hunt is according to one of the researchers, “…bilinguals appear to engage more of the neural landscape available for language processing than monolinguals…” I found this study interesting because of the things that now technology can do, but I don’t think it was a huge discovery to find out whether people who speak two languages and those who speak one differ in their brain activity.

Goodbye Mascara!

2006-10-25T02:03:00.000-07:00

Looking for the perfect first impression for your date? Your eyes may be the most important feature. There is nothing like looking into somebody's eyes and find an everlasting expression, but things can go awfully wrong when your eyes look incredibly flat. If you are the type lacking high lash volume, there is a great solution to your problem. There is nothing new about having plastic surgery, but there is a new procedure specifically developed for your eyelashes. Can you do away with extra hair from the back of your scalp? If so, you are ready to have beautiful eyelashes. New scientific studies have developed a way to transplant inches of hair from your scalp to your eyes. About 30 to 40 follicles can be carefully sewn onto your eyelids. Just like regular eyelashes, you can curl them and apply mascara to them. Though unlike regular eyelashes you have to trim and groom them as normal hair, therefore this procedure involves some additional compromise that normal eyelashes do not require. In my opinion this is a surgery that would only be beneficial to people with an extreme case of eyelash deficiency. While it is a quite simple surgery, the aftermath could be a little complicated. Much like regular hair it needs timely grooming and personal care, so to some it might be a risk not worth taking unless you want to look like "Cousin it." There is always the less dangerous option of fake eyelashes, which in turn do not reflect a high level of authenticity, and do not offer a great amount of security because they can fall off. I wouldn't go through eyelash transplant procedure because it requires a lot of care, and honestly in my senior year, who has time for that? Science can be beneficial for some people, and if this procedure makes people happy, they should go for it. There you go then, another "great" discovery from science that has revolutionized the world of cosmetic surgery.

Add More Tomatoe Sauce to Your Diet

2006-10-18T12:20:00.000-07:00

Tomatoes are good. According to a new study,Tomatoes may reduce the risk of cancer due to a substance called Lycopene. I found this study very helpful because I love tomatoes, but I didn’t know more about them until I watched the note in the news. I also looked on the internet for more information about it. I found out that there is a substance called Lycopene that not only can be found in tomatoes, but other food as well like apricot, papaya, guava and others. I thought this study wasn’t brought up on the news just to add time to the newscast because I believe news can sometimes inform the audience about healthy choices. Scientists have been studying tomatoes for years. The article on the internet was pretty interesting and colorful and it made me hungry. There are interesting angles that a newscast could give to a particular show. Maybe I would consider a different approach. Instead of "Researchers have found that tomatoes may reduce the risk of cancer" I would use something like, "If you like Italian food, and include tomatoes to your diet, we will tell you why you may live longer according to researchers." Ok well maybe mine isn't any better, but "Italian food," "live longer" may sound interesting to me if I like Italian food, I guess. Well, at least the study gave me an idea. Next time I invite my friends to dinner, I will make Lasagna.

Conflicting Studies

2006-10-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

Recent studies have shown that the birth control patch could cause a higher risk of blood clots in the legs and lungs than the birth control pill, according to the news I heard on TV, but the same note added that there was another study saying that no difference was found between the two forms of preservative. Both studies are conflicting, and there is more to add to this story: The Food and Drug Administration say that the second study has a better proof of the patch causing blood clots in legs and lungs. Am I right? How can one study prove two different things at the same time? Yes, I have many questions going through my head now. What should women be worried about? Birth control pills or the patch? It is so contradictory. Maybe I do not know anything about science, but if people like me are watching the news, they might have trouble trying to figure out what is going on, but I found some information about the risks of using the patch in Ortho Evra’s page. At least they include the risks, and explain what women might be exposed to if they use their patch.

Watch What You Eat

2006-09-21T17:30:00.000-07:00

Don’t eat this, don’t eat that! What’s news today? This is the headline for tonight’s news: Five Cases of E-coli in the Valley Related to Packed Spinach. Thank God I don’t like them. My aunt loves to cook them; she got really surprised when she heard the news. I told her we could have some pizza. She said that I always liked to eat junk food, which is kind of true actually. Ever since I was little I never liked vegetables, but for what purpose? They cause you E-coli. Up to this point, the origin of the virus caused by raw spinach is unknown. I think that this is a very dangerous disease, and that the community should be alarmed by it. No seriously, do not eat vegetables. Eat junk food. Go to McDonald’s and have a super extra quarter pounder. The worst thing that could happen is that you get Botulism or Salmonellosis.
Nowadays it is hard not to get a disease caused by bacteria in our food. I believe the use of chemicals and methods used to grow vegetables are causing our food not to be healthy anymore, and the saddest part is that we are so used to it, that we don’t really distinguish between healthy or unhealthy meat. So what should we eat now? That’s the question that will remain open for the next years to come.

Need Anger Management?

2006-09-14T17:46:00.000-07:00

Are you one of those people who hit the pillow, scream at others or curses whenever you feel angry about something? Well, think again. Apparently, showing your anger is good for you as long as you find "positive" ways to get it out.

Dr. Redford Williams, Director of Behavioral Research at Duke University Medical Center, did a study research about anger, and actually wrote a book about it named "Anger Kills." He mentions that when people feel anger, they should be able to accept it, and find ways to cope with it in an effective way, so you won't suffer from heart diseases.

I don’t think this is a huge discover. For me it is so obvious that people have to find a constructive way to deal with their anger. If they don’t control their anger, they will get into big trouble, but I have an idea: let’s come up with a dumb question and do research about it. Oh! And let’s write a book. How about that?

So next time you get mad, go and walk the dog or have a strawberry ice cream. For the girls, if your boyfriend makes you angry, the best antidote is going shopping. Guaranteed.

Hormones, always giving us trouble!

2006-09-05T15:23:00.000-07:00

It is 10 p.m. Monday, and I am ready to have dinner, sit at my favorite spot in the kitchen, and watch the newscast from Univision. I find interesting the first two segments of the show, but I was actually waiting for the third segment, which I sometimes find hilarious. After listening to a story about immigrants, one of the most popular topics of Univision, I watch the health bumper, and I know this is the time I've been waiting for: the new research studies or what I would call junk science.

A study about some hormone therapy treatment that may cause hearing problems make the news for the night. The research found that 124 women who were taking hormones as a replacement therapy developed problems in their inner ear.

Why should I even listen to this? Well, first of all I might end up knowing something new. Second of all I like to observe how this findings affect people around me.

As much as I hate to think about hormones, I can't get rid of them, and this study starts freaking me out. Oh! but thank god the news anchor continues saying that two other researchers from different state universities, do not agree with the results of the study because hearing problems may be caused by other factors other than progestin.

Then, why make a big deal out of it? Are they trying to scare me?

Well, for a second they almost did, but I am getting use to it. Once more I laughed, and had a great time while having dinner, as always.