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This election season may have you asking: why are some people smarter than others? Mr. Sunlight stimulates the production of vitamin D tanning booths, on the other hand, do little for our vitamin D levels, because they expose us mostly to UVA light, a type of ultraviolet light, and it’s UVB that stimulates vitamin D. Sometimes, because of the damage, these repair efforts go wrong and create cancer.Įxperts advise that we don’t spend any time in tanning booths-which the World Health Organization calls a ‘known human carcinogen’-but some sunlight is good for us, even necessary. Repair enzymes are sent to get rid of the injured DNA and aid in making new DNA.
#SOCIAL QUESTIONS ABOUT SUMMER SEASON SKIN#
UV light from the Sun or a tanning booth penetrates the upper layers of the skin and damages the DNA inside skin cells. Melanin is a UV absorbent and acts as an antioxidant. The job of melanin is to protect the DNA in the lower layers of skin cells. Tanning occurs when enzymes stimulate cells in the skin to make melanin, a dark pigment that absorbs ultraviolet (UV) light. The short answer is: no! Tanning is a response to injury and is nature’s way of protecting us, so tanning booths work by causing injury to the skin.
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Scheckel answers whether tanning booths are safe: The limbs get pale and then turn blue.Ĭraving that beach glow but no time to sit in the sun? Mr. As the body’s core temperature drops, the central nervous system also restricts blood flow to the limbs and reroutes some of this blood to the internal organs of the body. Shivering increases the amount of heat produced by muscles by a factor of three or four times at peak shivering. In addition to getting goosebumps, our bodies respond to cold in several other ways. The most common type of goose bumps is a response to cold. Tiny muscles at the base of each hair contract and pull the hair erect. Goose bumps are small bumps on a person’s skin at the base of body hairs. With 38 years under his belt as a high school physics and aerospace science teacher, he’s the perfect summer instructor.īrrr…shivering in your AC-blasting office this summer? Mr. Here’s a little summer schooling from Larry Scheckel, author of Ask A Science Teacher: 250 Answers to Questions You’ve Always Have About How Everyday Stuff Really Works to answer all of those fun questions that come up as we’re enjoying summer break.
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Ever wondered whether you can drown from drinking too much water? Ask a Science Teacher! Or, if heat rises, why is a mountaintop colder than the bottom? Ask a Science Teacher! Luckily, there are fun ways to keep your brain engaged all summer long (and it’s more than just memorizing SAT words!). With kids on school break and the sun shining bright outside, it’s easy to let your brain take a vacation, too.
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