You should hear this hilarious Taylor Swift cover. Why? Because science *also* has 'Style.'
I <3 science.
Nerds are the best.
I wouldn't be typing on this sweet laptop without them. I wouldn't be able to see the screen either because no one would have invented the monitor. Or my glasses. Or the Internet. Therefore...
Science has style. And it's always had it.
Knowledge enables people to do it all, and science is a big part of that.
Some think being smart is the opposite of cool, but in reality it is the coolest thing you can be.
Scientifically stylish duo ASAP Science even made a song about it ... they list a bunch of cool science facts to prove that science has style.
I'd like to assist them by elaborating on those facts to show you just how cool they actually are.
Here are five science tidbits hidden in ASAP Science's "Style":
1. "Sunlight takes 8 minutes just to reach your eyes."
How do we know that? The idea that light even has a speed had never crossed most minds before Danish smart person Ole Rømer decided to prove it. The astronomer (and former tutor of Louis XIV's children) discovered the speed of light is always the same by measuring the eclipses of one of Jupiter's moons, Io.
Jupiter's moon, Io.
But it was only after astronomers dutifully took measurements for two centuries — wowza, that's dedication — that astronomerJean Baptiste Joseph Delambre calculated the speed of light to reach the planet was 8 minutes and 12 seconds.
These days, we've landed at a more accurate at 8 minutes and 19 seconds, which means light travels at about 670,616,629 mph.
2. "You love those iPhone apps that help you flirt."
Flirtation: That spark may ignite the flames of love.
Did you know the way we act in relationships as adults can be traced to our very first relationship out of the womb?
Science explains how the touch and care you receive as an impressionable child affects how you react to affection in general, especially when finding a mate.
Psychologist Harry F. Harlow is remembered for the monkey-love experiments he did on mother and child rhesus monkeys.
In the 1930s, Harlow deduced that the warmth and closeness of an emotional touch is necessary for one to develop empathy and affection toward others.
How'd he prove that? By conducting mother-switching experiments with primates. When they gave monkeys less real-mom time and more fake-mom time — fake-mom was made of wire mesh, which sounds terrifying — they were more aggressive, insular, and unkind when they grew up. And they weren't nearly as affectionate or close with others, as monkeys usually are.
This GIF? Science in motion.
This is how we know that if you're a cuddle monster, then a parent figure of yours probably was too. And that affection with another living thing is one of the keys to a smoother life.
3. "Evolution made your brain, heart, spinal cord, and also your eyes."
Eyes started out as photoreceptor cells in microscopic worms.
This microscopic worm, a planarian, has two light-sensing dots on its head.
If you're wondering how you got eyes, well, the answer is that basically we used to be worms.
Here's some more mind-boggling information for you: Your eyes have evolved 50-100 times from when they were dots in a worm like the one above.
ThePikaia gracilenswas a primitive worm that had a notochord (a primitive backbone), a nervous system (like we do), and muscles. Because of its backbone, scientists can tell that we evolved from it.
This news might be alarming to your ick-factor, but 500 million years later ... just look at us! We didn't turn out half bad.
4. "Medicine made vaccines, technologies that keep you alive."
Did you know the chemical that treats malaria just happened to be discovered by someone who was dying of malaria at the time?
As the story goes, a South American Indian, while wandering disoriented in the middle of nowhere with the mosquito-borne illness, just happened to drink from pool of water that he collapsed in and it just happened to have cinchona growing in it.
Cinchona plants just happen to have quinine in them, which cured him — and, now that we know, countless others. All the things that strive to keep us from coughing, fainting, and dying are thanks to science, even when they happen through luck.
5. "Every time that you eat, read, text, or take a selfie and smile."
The greatness of science these two guys are crooning about is true — just think about how much science we live:
- When you eat? Chemistry, nutrition, and agriculture are all happening before, after, and during food's time on your plate.
- When you read ... neurology, psychology, and optometry are teammates, keeping you glued the page.
- When you sing a Taylor Swift parody like this one: Neurology can explain how your brain remembers the words while it sends signals to your lungs. Physics carries that sound to us, and then, communication is complete.
