There is almost a sweetness to the title of this study, almost: “Epidemiology of Reindeer Parasites,” Odd Halvorsen, Parasitology Today, vol. 2, no. 12, 1986, pp. 334-339. (Thanks to Sip Siperstein for bringing this to our attention.) The author says: “Every Christmas we sing about Rudolph the red-nosed Reindeer, but do we give much thought […]
Many years, around Christmas, bright new explanations appear as to why reindeer noses might glow.”Glow” is a word from the song “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” but the general discussion centers on the possible redness—be it glowing or be it subdued, be it observed or be it imagined—of a reindeer’s nose. A new article in […]
The Schrödingers katt science TV program celebrated some of Norway’s Ig Nobel Prize winners — and several other Ig Nobel Prize winners, too. They also interviewed me. Click on the image below, to be whisked to the Schrödingers katt web site and watch the entire episode: The featured Norwegian winners include: The 2014 Ig Nobel Prize for arctic science, awarded to Eigil Reimers and Sindre […]
Two studies, both published in December 2012, dig into the nature of Rudolph’s red nose. Each study found a scientific surprise in the microcirculation of the reindeer’s nasal mucosa. One paper is: “Microcirculatory investigations of nasal mucosa in reindeer Rangifer tarandus (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Cervidae): Rudolph’s nose was overheated,” Ben van der Hoven, Eva Klijn, Michel van Genderen, […]