Smiles and Creativity, Good for Health

• Can a smile reduce your stress level? University of Kansas researchers believe smiling is good for one’s health. They subjected 150 volunteers to mild stress under three conditions: 1) unsmiling, 2) smiling only with their mouths to create a “phony” smile, and 3) creating a genuine smile to something humorous that involved all their facial muscles. Their heart rate was monitored during these exercises. The subjects who managed a genuine smile had the lowest heart rates, meaning that they were the most relaxed. Surprisingly, even when subjects created a phony smile, they showed a reduced heart rate compared to their heart rate when they didn’t smile. There’s a message here, probably having to do with feedback from mouth and facial muscles to pleasure centers of the brain. So smile – even if you have to fake it – it’s good for you! (The Week, Aug. 17, 2012; LiveScience.com)

• There’s mounting evidence that openness (defined as “cognitive flexibility and the willingness to entertain novel ideas”) is a lifelong protective factor as regards brain health. A study from Yale University correlated openness with the robustness of the brain’s white matter, which is involved in maintaining connections between neurons in different parts of the brain. Creativity also enhances brain function and is linked to longer life. The bottom line is that an open and creative mind helps maintain overall health and enhances longevity. (Scientific American Mind, Sept./Oct., 2012; Turiano et al, 2012, J. Aging and Health, vol. 24, p. 654)

• Other species of termites in French Guiana shouldn’t mess with one named Neocapritermes taracua. Termites of N. taracua have “suicide bombers” in their colony. These are older individuals that have pouches on their backs filled with blue crystals containing copper. What happens is that when an intruder is detected in the colony the older individuals run up to the interloper and cause their pouches to burst; a glandular secretion is mixed with copper crystals during the explosion of their pouches, and this goo spreads over the intruder and kills it. (The Week, Aug. 17, 2012)

• Up until the 1970s, ornithologists believed that birds see color much the same way humans do. However, researchers have discovered that a bird’s plumage reflects ultraviolet (UV) light and that instead of eyes containing three kinds of photoreceptors, as in the human eye, birds have four. One of these is specifically sensitive to UV radiation. Males and females of some species of birds look identical to the human eye, so bird watchers can’t distinguish males from females. Now it’s known that some feathers, particularly in males, reflect UV light, which allows birds that appear identical in color to us to distinguish members of the opposite sex. Studies of chicks in nests have indicated that a parent somehow selects which chick to feed first, and UV-reflecting signals on the heads or mouths appear to “help parents decide which to feed first.” Also, kestrels appear to be able to detect and follow UV trails in the urine of rodents on which they feed. Recent research indicates that interactions between many animal species, from dragonflies to birds, appear to depend on UV signaling. (Cynthia Berger, in National Wildlife magazine, Aug./Sept., 2012)

• The most powerful bite on earth is that of the Australian salt water crocodile, with a bite force of 3,700 lbs. The researcher who studied this said: “If you can bench-press a pickup truck, then you can escape this croc’s jaws.” (National Wildlife, Aug./Sept., 2012)