Herd Immunity and Vaccinations
On April 22nd, 2014, the Colorado Senate failed to pass House Bill 1288, which would have required parents who didn’t want their children to receive state-mandated immunizations to either complete an online educational course developed by the state’s health department or complete an exemption form with a certificate from a medical professional saying the parent or parents...
Stress: Not so Bad in Moderation
“I think stress definitely had negative impacts on me,” says Rachel Wiggans, age 18. “I usually got sick more often because of stress. I always got sick around finals, and suffered from less sleep during my most stressful times at as a junior and first trimester senior year." “Stress has always been a love-hate...
You Might Have Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder
“I will regularly go to bed after one in the morning and get less than four hours of sleep…Yeah, actually, a lot of the time. I think I’m just adjusted to going to sleep at that late at night and running on so little sleep,” says Monet Leleua, 18, a student at the Denver School of Science and...
The Effect of Violent Games on the Human Psyche
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) stated that the US entertainment software industry jumped from $2.6 billion in revenue in 1996 to $14.8 billion in 2012, implying more people are playing more video games. But some experts worry that some of these games could have negative effects. A study published in 2012 found a link between violent games and...
Arsenic…Is it In Your Favorite Food?
Your parent cooks rice for dinner; you’re very happy and ready to eat. The last thing you think of is… this rice could be dangerous. In January 2012, Consumer Reports conducted a test of white and brown rice for the presence of arsenic. “In the 200 samples tested, one and a half times the federal limit...
Can a Simple Light Improve Your Mood?
Could merely sitting by a light improve your mood on those days where you just are annoyed by everything? “I lay by the light for 15 minutes every night before I leave work to go home”, said St. Louis children’s psychiatrist Dr. Darren Friesen during an interview. Friesen believes light therapy really can improve someone’s mood. “It helps...
Infographic: Water’s Weirdness
Water's Weirdness Ellie Gorman This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
Fighting Cavities with Candy?
“Stop eating candy,” my parents would always say to me. My parents never let me have too much candy. They said that it will rot my teeth, but in September 2013, a team of researchers have found a way for candy to actually help fight cavities. The researchers are from ORGANOBALANCE, a research and development...
Social Networking: Homework’s Most Dangerous Enemy
Social networking can help connect people with friends, give people the chance to share pictures online, and help people who live far apart communicate easily. According to data collected by Facebook in 2012, the company averages over 618 million active users per day and over a billion active users per month. But does too much time social networking...