A couple of Christmas(ish) myths busted

[Mark Latimour]

Originally Posted by BBC

SUGAR AND HYPERACTIVITY
With Christmas comes selection boxes and a host of sweet treats but parents need not fear their children climbing the walls.

Regardless of what parents might think, sugar does not cause hyperactive behaviour.

At least 12 randomised controlled trials looking at levels of sugar and behaviour - even in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder - were unable to detect any difference.

Scientists also found that when parents think their child has had a sugary drink they rate their behaviour as more hyperactive - so it is all in the mind.

HATS AND THE COLD

We've all been told to put a hat on in winter because most heat is lost through the head.

The researchers even found that the US Army Field manual for survival recommends covering your head in cold weather because around 40-45% of body heat is lost through the head.

A recent study, however, showed there is nothing special about heat loss from the head - any uncovered part of the body would lose heat.

Scrutiny of the literature shows this myth probably originated with an old military study in which scientists put individuals in arctic survival suits (but with no hat) and measured their body temperature in extreme conditions.

If the experiment had been done with the participants wearing only swimsuits they would not have lost more than 10% of their body heat through their heads, the researchers said.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7789302.stm

I always always dubious about the second, but the first is genuinely surprising.

[NJL]

actually in re the head part:

my gym doesn't have much for a heating system (nor is it insulated) - when we train in the winter, once we are warmed up, "steam" rises from our heads (those of us with very short or shaved heads and when we don't wear beanies or whatever). very little if any "steam" rises from other parts of our body.

FAIL

[DudeistMonk]

Here is one...

THE ORIGINAL "SANTA PHYSICS" PROPOSAL:

1) No known species of reindeer can fly. BUT there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not COMPLETELY rule out flying reindeer which only Santa has ever seen.

2) There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. BUT since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total - 378 million according to Population Reference Bureau. At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes there's at least one good child in each.

3) Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move on to the next house. Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false but for the purposes of our calculations we will accept), we are now talking about .78 miles per household, a total trip of 75-1/2 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc.

This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle on earth, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second - a conventional reindeer can run, tops, 15 miles per hour.

4) The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized lego set(2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably described as overweight. On land, conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that "flying reindeer" (see point #1) could pull TEN TIMES the normal amount, we cannot do the job with eight, or even nine. We need 214,200 reindeer. This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - to 353,430 tons. Again, for comparison - this is four times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth.

5) 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy. Per second. Each. In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them, and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity. A 250-pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.

In conclusion - If Santa ever DID deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he's dead now.

[Mark Latimour]

Originally Posted by NJL

actually in re the head part:

my gym doesn't have much for a heating system (nor is it insulated) - when we train in the winter, once we are warmed up, "steam" rises from our heads (those of us with very short or shaved heads and when we don't wear beanies or whatever). very little if any "steam" rises from other parts of our body.

FAIL

That sounds like a rigorous scientific study you have carried out there which is far more credible than the one referred to in the article.

[NJL]

prove me wrong

[Mark Latimour]

Originally Posted by NJL

prove me wrong

Why bother? Your "test" provides no conclusive result of anything other than steam comes off the head.

[NJL]

i guess with you, anything you read on the internet is true. LOL

[Mark Latimour]

Originally Posted by NJL

i guess with you, anything you read on the internet is true. LOL

You'd be guessing wrong. Does that make twice you've drawn incorrect conclusions in this thread now? LOL indeed.

[bassrique]

I call BS on both of those myth busts.

[Relic]

I have 3 kids, the "no effect" sugar thing - it's bs. That's been going around for at least 15 years, and I find it absolutely false. Giving my kids a load of sweets is like putting jet fuel into a volkswagon beetle.

[mike_v_s]

Originally Posted by Mark Latimour

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7789302.stm

I always always dubious about the second, but the first is genuinely surprising.

While I'm not really considered a representative sampling of the population, I can testify to my child's behavior before and after certain snacks and drinks, although I admit that caffine may be a measurable contributor in some of those cases.

Mike

[Mark Latimour]

Originally Posted by mike_v_s

While I'm not really considered a representative sampling of the population, I can testify to my child's behavior before and after certain snacks and drinks, although I admit that caffine may be a measurable contributor in some of those cases.

Mike

Of course, correlation and causation are two different things. Perhaps there is a more pavlovian cause to all this and it happens to correlate with a sweet taste. etc etc. I don't know, just throwing it out there.

[Thunderscreech]

Originally Posted by Relic

I have 3 kids, the "no effect" sugar thing - it's bs. That's been going around for at least 15 years, and I find it absolutely false. Giving my kids a load of sweets is like putting jet fuel into a volkswagon beetle.

PURE Sugar doesn't cause hyperactivity. When in combination with other things, sugar has something to break down with, and breaks down at a rapid rate. Just like radioactive material needs stuff to go supercritical.

[Relic]

From: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/e...cle/002426.htm


Some people claim that sugar (such as sucrose), aspartame (NutraSweet), and artificial flavors and colors cause hyperactivity and other behavior problems in children. Some people argue that children should follow special diets that limit the amount of sugar, flavorings, or colors they eat.

It is important to remember that activity levels in children vary with their age. A 2 year old is usually more active, and has a shorter attention span, than a 10 year old. A child's attention level also will vary depending on his or her interest in an activity. The tolerance level of the supervising adult also plays a role -- parents may be able to tolerate a highly active child at a playground in the morning, for example, better than they can at home late at night.

However, if a special diet of foods without artificial flavors or colors works for a child, it may be because that family has begun to interact with each other differently when they are following the special diet. These behavioral changes, not the diet itself, may improve the child's own behavior and activity level.

Refined (processed) sugars may have some effect on children's activity. Because refined sugars and carbohydrates enter the bloodstream quickly, they produce rapid fluctuations in blood glucose levels. This might trigger adrenaline and make a child more active. Sometimes, falling adrenaline levels bring on a period of decreased activity.

A number of studies have shown a relationship between artificial colorings and hyperactivity. On the other hand, some studies do not show any effect of colorings on children's behavior. At least for now, the effect of food colorings remains another controversial issue.

[BruisedOoze]

In regards to heat loss through the head, I had this discussion with someone in medical sciences awhile ago. They said what's essentially put above is true. Mostly. Heat loss is proportional to surface area. Which basically amounts to the head being about 8% or something like that. However, during a brief period during the start of exercise blood flow to the brain is greatly increased and the heat loss increases to about 30% if I recall correctly. After a period though blood flow increases to the other parts of the body with the exercise and it returns to the 8%.

Also he mentioned that during hypothermia much of the heat loss is through the head because blood flow through other body parts is restricted. Basically saying that your head is pretty much the warmest part of your body exposed to the environment at that point.

[doctorjazz]

You're not Kari Byron! All of you go away and let her do it.

EDIT: Except for the Santa physics, that one is win.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by doctorjazz

You're not Kari Byron! All of you go away and let her do it.

EDIT: Except for the Santa physics, that one is win.

Any mention of Kari must always include a pic. It is a personal TB tradition that I have started and intend to hold!
All hail

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by DudeistMonk

Here is one...

That explains why you can't see him, and perhaps the fat is actually an alien jelly suit designed to absorb the g forces.

[DudeistMonk]

That explains why you can't see him, and perhaps the fat is actually an alien jelly suit designed to absorb the g forces.

Yes this is quite possible...Surely Santa is an alien and all those toys are made with a replicator a'la star trek...Although I'm unsure of their motives...Perhaps they use the toys to slowly condition us for slave labor in their alien lego pits.

Ps. Finally...I take 30 seconds out of my busy day to post something borderline hilarious and everyone is busy arguing about sugared up kids loosing heat through their heads...when did my grandma take over TB?

also

Any mention of Kari must always include a pic. It is a personal TB tradition that I have started and intend to hold!
All hail

Ohh man...I'm going to book mark this thread for use later.

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by DudeistMonk

Yes this is quite possible...Surely Santa is an alien and all those toys are made with a replicator a'la star trek...Although I'm unsure of their motives...Perhaps they use the toys to slowly condition us for slave labor in their alien lego pits.

Ps. Finally...I take 30 seconds out of my busy day to post something borderline hilarious and everyone is busy arguing about sugared up kids loosing heat through their heads...when did my grandma take over TB?

also



Ohh man...I'm going to book mark this thread for use later.

Oh it's a plan. They hook us in with their toys and myths about elves and weird little fat aliens and flying reindeer and stuff, and then we're worthless crack addicts addicted to materialist consumerism. That's how they control us. At least according to the voices in my head.