Wiregrass Seniors Magazine January 2019 JANUARY ISSUE | Page 4

Page 4
WiregrassSeniorsMagazine.com
Do You Ever Wonder...
Answeres to questions you didn’t know you had.
Why Does Hair Turn Gray?
It happens to everyone as they advance in age. From
around 30 years of age—although it can certainly
start earlier than that—people begin to notice that
their hair is slowly losing its natural color and instead
is turning gray and eventually white. Despite how
widespread this is, the explanation behind the phe-
nomenon is not well known.
Hair gets its natural color from pigment cells known
as “melanocytes.” Melanocytes produce chemicals
that pass black, dark brown, red, and yellow melanin
to cells that create the chief ingredient of hair, kera-
tin. As people get older, melanocyte cells degrade,
causing the keratin to receive less pigment. This leads
to hair becoming gray. Eventually, the cells stop func-
tioning altogether, which leads to hair no longer get- the fight-or-flight response. This releases extra
ting any pigment at all and turning completely white. adrenaline into the body to help us either combat a
threat or get away from it by increasing blood flow to
Why Do Stores Blast Air At Entrances?
the heart, lungs, and muscles. With only a limited
It is a fairly common occurrence to be blasted with amount of blood in the human body, less of it can
air upon entering a store or mall. This isn’t simply the flow to other organs, such as the gut, which leads to
owners trying to cool you down. The practice is used the familiar feeling of nausea.
in a variety of buildings, including restaurants, facto-
ries, and loading bays. It has several uses, but the Why Does Rubbing Alcohol Sting?
primary one is to keep the temperature in a building People have been using rubbing alcohol on cuts and
steady by preventing air from leaving or going in open wounds for a very long time. If you have ever
through an entrance. The jet of air is used to keep used it, you’ll know that it can sting when applied,
cold air out of the stores during the winter and to often more than the cut itself. This happens not be-
prevent cool air escaping during the summer. This is cause the alcohol is killing bacteria but due to a reac-
especially useful when doors need to remain open tion it causes in the body. When rubbing alcohol is
most of the time. Air doors are also incredibly useful applied to a cut, it directly affects the VR1 receptors
for stopping flying insects and trash from entering a in the skin. These receptors are responsible for sens-
building by providing turbulent air that they cannot ing heat. While they usually activate at high tempera-
pass through.
tures, the alcohol lowers their threshold to a point
where the body temperature is enough to set them
What Causes Butterflies In Your Stomach?
off. The receptors believe the body is being burned
Every single person reading this will have at some and transmit that pain to the brain, even though no
point in their lives experienced the sensation known damage is actually done to the skin.
as having “butterflies in your stomach.” The fluttery
feeling in the gut can occur for a variety of reasons, Why Do Airplanes Have Ashtrays When
from being scared or nervous because of an upcom- Smoking Is Banned?
ing event to being excited about going on a first date. Smoking on airplanes is banned by pretty much ev-
Different emotions can cause sensations and physi- ery airline in the world. Apart from the fact that ciga-
cal changes in your stomach thanks to the so-called rette smoke is unpleasant for others passengers,
“brain-gut axis.” Feelings in the brain, such as fear or smoking is also a fire hazard, possibly even respon-
excitement, are interpreted as stress and activate sible for the downing of Flight 820 in the 1970s.