Factoid Friday – Colour Vision

April 9th, 2010 | by Factoid
The Light Spectrum

The Light Spectrum

Why do we see the colours that we see?  Why do some things appear white, blue, yellow, or purple?  Well I hope to shine some light on this question.  Some of us already know about the light spectrum, and that humans can only see a small proportion of it.  This small range is aptly named “visible light”.  Leave it to humans to name things with respect to themselves.  I say this because some animals can see outside of this range.  Bees, for example, are capable of detecting the higher-frequency Ultra-Violet light waves.  Additionally, the visible range of a Mantis Shrimp starts in UV and reaches down into the Infra-red.  But getting back to us humans.  In the visible light spectrum each colour is characterized by its own specific light wavelength.

So back to our original question, why do we see the colours that we do?  The process is more complex than I am going to get into for the purpose of this article.  Basically certain materials absorb specific wavelengths of light and reflect the rest.  This reflected light it what is transmitted to our eye and perceived as the colour of that object.  So, plants which appear green are actually reflecting green light and not using it at all.

So here’s some scientific proof that your mother was right yet again.  White is the best colour of clothes to wear on a hot, sunny summer’s day, and black is the worst.  When we see white it is because all of the different colour wavelengths are reflected from the material, whereas black is a result of all these wavelengths being absorbed, resulting in heat build up from the light energy.  This has been adapted into the animal kingdom and is very important for animals in polar regions such the polar bear or Harp seal pups.  Their fur is white and their skin black.  The white fur reflects the sun down to the black skin where it absorbs the light energy which is then transferred into heat energy.  As you can see this would be very advantageous for an animal in order to stay warm in such a cold climate.

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4/5/10 Magnet Therapy

April 5th, 2010 | by Tycco

Fitness Myth Monday discusses Magnet Therapy

Magnet Therapy

Magnet therapy is a type of alternative medicine which centers around the claim that magnetic fields have healing powers, and exposing your body to magnetic fields can treat and prevent virtually any illness or ailment. Magnetic cures have been attracting gullible patrons since the early 1770s, when Anton Mesmer, a Viennese physician met a Jesuit priest and healer with the ironically awesome name of Maximillian Hell. Mr. Hell claimed that he cured people with a magnetic steel plate. He knew this therapy worked because people told him so. Mesmer stole the idea and decided that it works because there is a very subtle magnetic fluid flowing through everything, which sometimes gets disturbed and needs to be restored to its proper flow. Hell, Mesmer theorized, was unblocking the flow of this magnetic fluid with his magnets. Mesmer then discovered that he got the same results without the magnets, and the therapy was probably just bodies healing their own ailments (which bodies to often) with the magnets adding nothing useful to the process at all. But, once again, alternative medicine practitioners had found a money vein, and they weren’t going to let something as silly as the facts ruin it for them.

(By the way, Mesmer also is a creator of hypnotic healing (hence the term mesmerizing, and we all know how well that works.)

And, despite NO hard evidence that it actually works, the ball is still rolling more than 200 years later.  A cottage industry has sprouted and is generating about $150 million a year producing magnetic insoles, bracelets, knee braces, and even magnets, all claiming miraculous healing powers.  The most commonly cited reason is that magnets are attracted to the iron in your blood, and you can draw blood to any part of your body to speed the healing process.  Which brings us to the interactive portion of today’s blog.  Follow these directions below to participate

1)Prick your finger and place a drop of your blood next to a magnet.

2)Watch your blood not react at all.

There simply aren’t enough iron atoms in your red blood cells to form a magnetic surface.  To put it simply, magnets don’t affect our bodies because we’re not made of magnetic stuff.  The only benefit magnet therapy has is increasing the wealth of the people who choose to perpetuate the myth.  You might as well just burn a pile of money in a ritual sacrifice to cure your pain.  It least that would look kind of awesome.  That’s more than I can say for magnetic bracelets.

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3/29/10 The Hallelujah Diet

March 29th, 2010 | by Tycco

Fitness Myth Monday discusses the Hallelujah Diet

Hallelujah Diet

When you start writing a blog about ventures that extract copious amounts of money from people in exchange for false promises and exaggerated claims, you know that at least one fanatically religious nutjob will get a mention sooner or later.  And diets don’t come any more religiously fanatically packaged than the Hallelujah Diet.

It all started in 1976, when Reverend George Malkmus was diagnosed with colon cancer.  You see, his mom had died from colon cancer, and he decided it wasn’t the cancer’s fault.  It was the insipid doctors, and all their science based treatments and medicines that caused his mother’s death.  So no more critical thinking for this guy.  Ever.

After realizing, much to his surprise, that talking to his imaginary friend didn’t cure cancer either, he decided that the only practical solution was to eat only the kind of food that grew in the Garden of Eden from the Bible.  I mean, you have 2 whole people there, and, as far as we know, neither of them got cancer, so it’s 100% effective, right?  After his own cancer went into remission by itself (which cancers sometimes do), he devoted his life to promoting what is essentially a raw-vegan diet, telling people that people don’t need to get sick and that his diet can prevent and cure any affliction under the sun.

Of course, eating nothing but fruits, vegetables, and whole grains will almost inevitably lead to weight loss, due to the scarcity of calories, but diets such as this can be very unhealthy for the following reasons.

  • No Vitamin B-12, which  makes DNA, protects the nervous system, and makes blood cells.
  • No Vitamin D, which allows transport of calcium to your bones
  • Deficient in 7 other micronutrients

Don’t worry, the always altruistic George Malkmus has a solution for that:  supplements that cost upwards of $2,000 a year.

And besides,  no energy, osteoporosis, and a faulty nervous system are a small price to pay to know that you’re never going to get cancer, right?  I mean, if you go through all the other stuff, and then get cancer, that’s just beyond horrible.  Well, guess where humans get most of their carcinogens.  FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND GRAINS!  That’s right!  This diet that causes all kinds of horrible health deficiencies doesn’t even do the one good thing the diet’s creator says it does.  In fact, it does the exact opposite.  And it costs a lot, too!  There’s absolutely nothing good about this diet, and all the wishful thinking in the world won’t change that at all.

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