I can hear the cries now. Science? That's just the kind of thing I'm hoping to leave behind over Spring Break!"" Relax, Stereotypical Reader, this is no last-minute lecture. I know vacations are all about having fun and living life to the fullest.
But remember life is about experiences, and some of them are just plain scientific in nature. After all, science isn't simply a collection of facts about the world we live in. It's a way of looking at the world, just like music is more than simply memorizing lots of songs.
Getting high
For instance, S.R., as you jet off to warmer climes, you may notice an odd sensation as the plane lifts off. That's the changing air pressure affecting your ears.
Normally you have a bubble of air inside your ears, helping to keep air pressure balanced inside and outside. This bubble sometimes has trouble keeping up when the air pressure changes quickly around you, such as suddenly increasing altitude, where there's less air and thus less air pressure. (The airplane's cabin protects you from most of the air pressure changes, but some still gets through.)
Usually it just takes a few regular swallows or yawns to balance things back out and reform that air bubble. The effects are particularly strong when the plane lands, since you're going from less air pressure to more, so remember to chew your gum then if you're sensitive to such changes.
Getting baked
This means you've landed, S.R., and will be hitting the beach. But, as with bears and spouses, hit it too much and you'll be sorry. Instead of sporting a sexy suntan, you'll bring home a beastly burn. What's the deal with that?
Well, to put it simply S.R., it's because the sun is hot. Just like you cook bacon by exposing it to heat, so your skin (and its insides) will heat up slowly and fry if left out in the baking sun. The UV rays we hear so much about are the types of light-rays the sun produces with the most energy, so they're technically what burn and tan us.
Staying out in the sun too long actually damages your skin cells, which causes the pain and redness we normally associate with a burn. So, when you're hitting the waves, scoping the bathing suits and having all manners of fun in the sun, just make sure to wear that sunblock too.
Getting high and baked
Finally, after a long day of travel and beaches, S.R., you might want to go out and party. And while I would never recommend the use of an illegal substance, it's no big secret that many of you probably will do it anyway. So, how do alcohol and marijuana, to keep things mellow, work their magic?
Basically, they mess with the brain, the organ from which we interpret and understand the entire world. The alcohol and marijuana interfere with the brain's regular processes, interrupting the connections normally made every moment by neurons.
Alcohol generally slows things down, eventually even the processes that control heart rate and breathing, so don't overdo it. Marijuana blocks certain transmissions from happening, meaning the brain interprets things a little differently than normal, usually in a good way, or so I hear.
With all this going on, S.R., it's understandable if science isn't the first thing on your mind. The great thing, though, is science keeps on happening, whether you think about it or not.
