Il colore fa la differenza

First of all, I felt more motivated to study today. I had a good solid block of time where I memorized hormones of the pituitary gland, cell germ layers, and the structures of plant stems. Then, later this evening, I studied thermodynamics and Newtonian motion. Good stuff. I feel like I'm making good progress. Plus, I found another legit OAT practice test online, so that's always a plus. I can't think of a better way to spend 4 1/2 hours of my time.

Have I mentioned before how awesome Radio Lab is? I used to listen to an episode almost every day at work, but then I had to scale back because I didn't want to run out of episodes to listen to. I try to limit myself to two a week.

I listened to the episode about placebos, which was really interesting. I think one of the more interesting points was how the color of the placebo pill makes a difference. For instance, when given a placebo sleeping pill, the people given a blue pill sleep longer and more deeply than those given a red pill. This has been tested again and again with people around the world and it holds true wherever it was tested.

Except for one place.

And that place is Italy.

Weird, huh? When given a blue pill, the men sleep more fitfully than the men given a red pill. Can you think of why? THIS should give you a hint. Scientists believe that soccer is such a huge part of the male Italian's life that even seeing something blue evokes the emotions associated with watching an intense match. The team's name is even Azzuri, which is Italian for light blue, or azure. Their subconscious minds are going wild with memories of calcio that they can't easily drift off to sleep. I think it's funny that this is only associated with men, though. The same scientists hypothesized that women sleep more soundly in Italy with the blue pill because the color blue reminds them of the Virgin Mary, which brought feelings of peace and comfort.

Interesting.