The Mona Lisa: Secret Revealed

Leonardo da Vinci is revered for his ability to blend tones and colors without any visible brushstroke. His famed technique of sfumato gave the painting a hazy quality and an illusion of depth and shadow. No consensus has been reached on how Da Vinci generated this effect ... until now.

Using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, results prove that Da Vinci was an experimental artist with an unbelievably dextrous hand. In the Mona Lisa, Da Vinci overlayed four separate layers of paint and included several sub-layers of glaze – with different thicknesses and varying amounts of added pigments including manganese oxide.

The Mona Lisa's paint layer thickness ranges from 1-2µm - 40µm. Note: a red blood cell's diameter is 8µm; a human hair is 100µm thick.

I Eat, Therefore I Am ... IMPATIENT!!

Psychological Science reports that simply thinking about fast food makes us impatient about other things. People examined the aesthetics of a McDonald’s or KFC logo were more likely to choose to take a smaller sum of money immediately (rather than waiting for a bigger payout a week later) than those who had critiqued the logos of inexpensive sit-down chains.

After thinking about fast food, people were also more interested in time-saving products (e.g. 2-in-1 shampoo-conditioner) and they read a paragraph faster despite there being no time limit.

Sad? Fine Conversation Can Help

Scientific American Mind reports that a stimulating conversation can offset sadness.

The happiest subjects of a study spent 70% more time talking vs. unhappiest sub­jects, suggesting merely being around others increases happi­ness. The happiest subjects also participated in 1/3rd less small talk and had twice as many in-depth conversations vs. the most unhappy participants.

Results do not confirm if substantive interaction makes people happy or happy people simply have substantive interactions. But results suggest that five weekly substantive conversations could significantly increase your happiness.

Most Fearless Animal In World

The Guinness Book of World Records has named what it considers to be the most fearless animal in the world.

The winner: the honey badger.

High Heels Are Harmful

The Journal of Experimental Biology published a study that indicates high heels are harmful. Leg sonograms of women who frequently wear 2-inch or higher heels found that these women had thicker & stiffer Achilles tendons and calf muscle fibers that were ~13% shorter than women who don't. The calf muscle size was the same, however.

What should high-heelers do? Just stretch after you take your high heels off.

Sports: A Factor In Voting

Stanford scientists say local sporting events affects our voting behavior.

Because humans are emotional creatures, feelings about one thing affect others. Election results from 20 years’ worth of presidential, senatorial and gubernatorial races revealed that a pre-election home-team win gave the incumbent a boost of ~2 percentage points.

Results were consistent when studying college basketball as well.

World Cup Science

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute scientists have discovered how a kicker’s body can reveal where he’s aiming.

In a penalty shot, the ball can touch net in about half a second - faster than a keeper can go from the goal’s center to either post ... meaning the goalkeeper must move before the kicker’s foot meets the ball AND correctly guess the direction.

The angle of the kicker’s hips and the way he plants his supporting foot are the most telling factors.

Want To Improve Grades? Sleep In

The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine has conducted a study that argues students grades can improve if school started a 1/2 hour later than it currently does.

From adolescence, children have a delayed sleep phase - they sleep later and need about 9.25 total hours of sleep.

One test case in Rhode Island revealed that after the delayed start: students who got at least eight hours of sleep went from 16% to 55%, attendance improved, there were fewer visits to the health center for fatigue-related complaints and far less students said they felt unhappy, depressed, annoyed or irritated.