Why Does Your Nose Run When It's Cold Outside? (LLSN! December 2013)

How?

A healthy nose secretes about 32 ounces of mucus every day. This doesn’t tend to make your nose run; most of this mucus falls to the back of the throat and is eventually swallowed. These secretions help to humidify, warm up, and filter incoming air.

Why?

In cold weather, blood vessels under the nasal gland that produces mucus dilate or grow larger, contributing to greater amounts of mucus and liquid.
Only so much of it can fall to the back of the throat and be swallowed. When mucus and secretion production increases to warm the air, you will see the nose run because you have excess secretions. In other words, some of it has to drip out the front because you have an excess supply.

What can I do about it?

Wrap your nose and mouth with a scarf when outdoors. Breathing through the scarf will warm the space between your face and the scarf. You will also exhale moisture into the space which will moisten the air. By warming and moistening the space, your sinuses won't have to produce as much moisture and your nose will not run. 

Sources:

http://www.wisegeek.org/why-does-my-nose-run-when-it-is-cold-outside.htm#

http://www.wikihow.com/Prevent-a-Runny-Nose-in-Cold-Weather

The Northern Lights (LLSN! May 2013)

This light display is caused when energetic charged particles from solar wind collide with atoms in the thermosphere.

Best places to see it:


Kangerlussuaq, Greenland: 99% Chance of visual between November to March. If Husky and snowmobile rides are intended, mid-late winter is recommended.
Jukkasjärvi, Northern Sweden, is the site of the original Ice hotel, with excellent viewing infrastructure.
Fairbanks, Alaska: famous for aurora viewing, with many tours and sites that cater to aurora sighting.
Tromsø, Northern Norway, is an easily accessible location with numerous excursion.
Skibotn, Northern Norway, enjoys an extremely dry climate, thus providing excellent chances.
Reykjavik, Iceland, has many tours and places to go to for viewing the northern lights.
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada has many tours from the town of Whitehorse. High success rate of visualizing this phenomenal natural wonder!
Lake Athapapuskow Manitoba, Canada also has many tours.
Yellowknife, North Western Territories, Canada 90% success rate on viewing.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Northern_Lights

The Roman Tortoise Formation (LLSN! April 2013)

Interesting tidbit of the month: one tactic of the Romans soldiers that contributed to their success was to march using their shields to form a very effective 'shell' over the group.

Freckles (LLSN! March 2013)

 Freckles are clusters of concentrated melanin. The formation of freckles is triggered by exposure to sunlight. The exposure to UV-B radiation activates melanocytes to increase melanin production. These melanocytes produce melanin pigment and feed it to keratinocytes, the normal skin cells that form the epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin.



"It might be difficult to get rid of the freckles you already have, but it's not so hard to prevent more from appearing. One way you can do this is by protecting yourself from the sun. Avoid being outside during peak sunlight hours, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. If you do need to be outside, make sure that you wear sunscreen with a sun protection factor, or SPF, of at least 15 [source: American Academy of Dermatology]. Try to wear protective clothing that covers your arms and legs. Not only will taking these steps help prevent freckles, it'll help prevent skin cancer as well." -http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/problems/beauty/freckles2.htm

More Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freckle

http://www.freckles.org/causes.aspx

Sketching

Semantic Satiation (LLSN! Feb 2013)

You know when you say a word over and over so much that it just starts to sound like a weird sound?
That's called Sematic Satiation.
How does this happen?

Basically it's just the fact that the word is not being used in context. After repeating it over and over and over and over, over, over, over over, over over over, over ober over owver owver owevr...

You loose the meaning of what you are saying.

"After repeated pronunciation, this meaningful continuation of the word is blocked since, now, the word leads only to its own recurrence."- About.com

New Song

Just a little electronic track I came up with, doodling experimental stuff with dubstep influences.
Check it out! Lemme know what you think! Suggestions for the next one! :P
youtube link: Siren