Health & Science

The political overtones of color

Years of research on racial attitudes has proven that most people view those with lighter skin more favorably than those with darker skin. Now it appears that the converse is also true: What we think about someone can influence the skin tone we see. Psychologists at the University of Chicago showed a predominantly white group of students three photographs of President Obama that were nearly identical except for their shading; one showed his true skin tone, the second was digitally lightened, and the third was darkened. The students were then asked which photo captured Obama’s “true essence.” The responses varied starkly, depending on political outlook: Liberals were twice as likely as conservatives to pick the lightened Obama as the accurate one, while conservatives were more likely to pick the darkened version. Even when researchers controlled for racial bias by using standard tests designed to measure prejudice, the difference persisted. The results show “how the impact of political allegiances can extend down to our literal perception of the physical world and the people in it,” psychologist David Dunning tells ScienceNow. “Social stereotypes can be quite subtle, and they can work in ways that lie far below our awareness.”

A new way to create blue

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It’s not easy making blue. The blue pigments created for paints and fabrics can be expensive, quick to fade, and even toxic. Prussian blue can leach cyanide, for instance, and cobalt blue is a potential carcinogen. So researchers at Oregon State University were pleasantly surprised when they cooked up a stunningly bright blue entirely by accident. The scientists were baking black manganese oxide with indium oxide and other chemicals to study the properties of the resulting compounds. When one batch came out of the 2,000-degree Fahrenheit oven, materials scientist Mas Subramanian tells Science News, it was “beautifully blue.” The new blue is long-lasting and safe, but it’s not cheap because of the cost of the indium. Researchers are now experimenting with replacing the indium with cheaper aluminum oxides. “I’ve never seen a manganese oxide give rise to such beautiful colors,” Subramanian says.

Cigarettes and bacteria

Everyone knows cigarettes contain tar and other ingredients that cause cancer and lung disease. Now they’ve been found to be contaminated with microbes that could lead to respiratory infections, says Scientific American. A team of U.S. and French scientists tested the tobacco in four major cigarette brands and found it “chock-full” of potentially hazardous bacteria, says lead researcher Amy Sapkota. “We didn’t think we’d find so many that are infectious in humans.” The pathogens included three that have been associated with lung infections. Researchers are now trying to determine whether the microbes can colonize a smoker’s lungs in sufficient numbers to cause harm. If bacteria can survive the smoking process, Sapkota says, they could “go on to contribute to infectious and chronic illnesses”—not only in smokers, but in those exposed to secondhand smoke.

Strange creatures from below

“Dumbo” octopods and “wildcat” tubeworms have now joined the array of weird creatures biologists have recently discovered in the deep sea. Using trawls and submersible vehicles, international teams of scientists have been engaged in a decade-long Census of Marine Life to inventory life in the ocean depths. So far, they have recorded 17,650 species—some of them new to science—living below 650 feet, the depth at which sunlight ceases to penetrate. The new discoveries include several species of gelatinous, eight-tentacled oddities that swim by flapping a pair of ear-like fins, à la Dumbo the cartoon elephant. The tubeworm was found dining on chemicals from decomposing oil; when scientists extracted it from a hole in the sea floor, crude oil gushed out. “It’s quite amazing to have documented close to 20,000 forms of life in a zone that was thought to be barren,” environmental scientist Jesse Ausubel tells Discover. “The deep sea is the least-explored environment on earth.”

More germs, please

Keeping your kids mildly dirty may help them lead healthier, allergy-free lives, says the London Guardian. While microbes found in dirt can pose a health hazard when they enter the body, new research suggests that those living on our skin may be doing us a favor. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, found that staphylococcus bacteria, commonly found on the skin, can help prevent inflammation when a person is injured. The bugs apparently impede overactive immune responses that can cause cuts and scrapes to swell, and can lead to rashes. “These germs are actually good for us,” says lead researcher Richard Gallo. The finding appears to bolster the “hygiene hypothesis”—the notion that kids who are insufficiently exposed to microbes and dirt are more susceptible later to allergies and infections, including hay fever, eczema, and food allergies. Parents “are constantly bombarded with advertising telling them they have to buy antibacterial products,” says consumer activist Margaret Morrissey. “Hopefully research like this will help parents realize that it’s natural and healthy for children to get outdoors and get mucky.”