A very sciency Christmas to you all!

  • Published: 22 December 2021

Christmas is approaching, but for many scientists this is just another day at work, especially when working with live organisms. That doesn’t mean we won’t try to insert some Christmas spirit into your life in an appropriately scientific manner.

Some fun facts about Christmas
  • Christmas is thought to be influenced by the ancient Roman festival Saturnalia, which was held from 17th until 23rd of December. Both share the gift giving, eating, singing, dancing and lighting candles/ torches traditions. [1]

  • One of the most notorious arguments in the Baltics is the origin of the Christmas tree. While most sources claim that the first decorated Christmas tree was put up in Germany during the 16th century, the Christmas tree in Estonia was mentioned for the first time already in 1441 [2][3]. The Latvians don’t agree with that and claim that they were the ones that put up the first Christmas tree, although the first mention of their tree is in 1510 [2]. The friendly argument is still ongoing.

The Tallinn Christmas market with its traditional Christmas tree.

  • In the 19th century Great Britain, the most exciting thing to do during Christmas was listening to Michael Faraday’s lecture on “natural philosophy” at the Royal Institution. The tradition of giving Christmas lectures continues to this day. Now it is possible to watch them on TV or online: https://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures. [4]

  • The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) tracs Santa every Christmas. So, it’s possible to know where Santa is during Christmas and when he will be visiting your house. You can do it here: https://www.noradsanta.org/en/.

  • If you’re wondering what Santa is doing during the rest of the year, then the most probable answer is paperwork. There are about 600 million children who Santa will be visiting during Christmas, so going through every name on the list with the addresses and Christmas wishes will most likely occupy a bigger part of his year. During Christmas he doesn’t really have time to check the list anymore because even with time zones he only has 32 hours to visit every house. This means he has to visit about 2265 houses per second (if we only count houses where Christmas celebrating children live and consider the fact that the average household has 2.3 children). [5] [6] With this speed it’s a real Christmas miracle that he doesn’t fall off his sleigh.

  • During Christmas Santa has 9 reindeer leading his sleigh. All the reindeer are female, because male reindeer shed their antlers during winter [6][7].

  • The first reindeer is Rudolph with his famously red nose. Did you know that reindeer have 25% more blood vessels in their nose, which allows them to regulate their body temperature and makes their nose look red at times? [6][8] There are also some scientists who propose that Rudolph could have a new adaptive trait – bioluminescence, which allows his nose to glow in a similar way to fireflies [9].

Rudolph with his red nose.

  • While Santa is busy packing gifts, most of us spend time decorating a Christmas tree. Before Thomas Edison with his assistants invented Christmas lights in 1880, Christmas trees were often decorated with candles [6][10]. While it’s a nuisance getting all the lights untangled before Christmas, it’s definitely a smaller fire hazard than using actual candles.

  • Astronauts on the International Space Station get a day off on Christmas Day. Like on Earth they get to enjoy Christmas food and open presents. [11]


Christmas 2012 photograph of Expedition 34 crew members Thomas H. Marshburn, left, Roman Y. Romanenko, Oleg V. Novitski, Yevgeni I. Tarelkin, Kevin A. Ford, and Chris A. Hadfield [11].

  • It’s also important to note that it would take about 12h to walk off the 3000 kcal you get from an average Christmas meal, so be sure to plan a hiking trip after Christmas day [12].

Christmas games to keep you entertained
  • Take a sip of hot cocoa every time there is a scientific inaccuracy in a Christmas movie or in a Christmas episode of a tv series.

  • Try to guess the alcohol percentage in a mulled wine or glögg.
  • Determine the gingerbread ingredients while being blindfolded. (Being blindfolded is optional.)

Little light reading to end the Christmas evening

You may have heard that every year BMJ has a Christmas issue with all kinds of interesting papers. Here are some recommendations, but you can find your own favorite as well.

  • “Bah humbug! Association between sending Christmas cards to trial participants and trial retention: randomised study within a trial conducted simultaneously across eight host trials” [13]
  • “Anticipating the ageing trajectories of superheroes in the Marvel cinematic universe” [14]
  • “Delivering human factors at Christmas: how does Father Christmas do it?” [15]
  • “Nonsensus in the treatment of proximal humerus fractures: uncontrolled, blinded, comparative behavioural analysis between Homo chirurgicus accidentus and Macaca sylvanus” [16]
  • “The need for speed: observational study of physician driving behaviors” [17]
  • “Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma when jumping from aircraft: randomized controlled trial” [18]
  • “Effectiveness of a brief behavioural intervention to prevent weight gain over the Christmas holiday period: randomised controlled trial” [19]
  • “Dispelling the nice or naughty myth: retrospective observational study of Santa Claus” [20]
  • “Evidence of a Christmas spirit network in the brain: functional MRI study” [21]
  • “Origins of magic: review of genetic and epigenetic effects” [22]

No Christmas is sciency without some science poetry

In case your family traditions include reciting poems to Santa Claus or you’re just a fan of poetry, here are some science poems to keep everybody entertained during Christmas.

DNA holds our genetic info,
It’s found within the nucleus of cells.
PCR is a test that detects its presence,
It can be seen through agarose gels.
/Elicia Fyle/

Thinking like a scientist

I want to think like a scientist
Observing animals, earth or sky.
I want to ask good questions
Wondering how, and what, and why.

I want to make smart guesses
Hypothesizing what might happen and when.
I want to do cool experiments
Testing my thinking again and again.

I want to write up all my data.
Recording pictures, charts, or words.
I want to think through all I’ve done
Drawing conclusions about what I’ve learned.

Wondering, asking, testing, concluding.
This is what scientist do.
If you want to think like scientist
Then you must do them too!
/Jennie Munson/

Winter is coming in all its glory,
sunny days with glittering snowflakes,
calm and frozen picturesque lakes,
a perfect time to reminisce our story.

Another year has passed in hurry,
lots of great without a worry,
as was journey, true and kind,
shared with Solis BioDyne.
/Taavi Ivan/

Science means to know

science means to know
but we don't know everything
we don't know what we don't know
and we know that we don't know
so if we don't know we should say so

unless we are ruled by ego
then as our knowledge base grows
the more we know shows we have grown
we need to know more than we now know
we can observe test evaluate our new knows
travel on the road goes slow
/Andy Caldwell/

Sonnet—To Science

Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art!
Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes.
Why preyest thou thus upon the poet’s heart,
Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?
How should he love thee? or how deem thee wise,
Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering
To seek for treasure in the jewelled skies,
Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing?
Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car,
And driven the Hamadryad from the wood
To seek a shelter in some happier star?
Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood,
The Elfin from the green grass, and from me
The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree?
/Edgar Allan Poe/

Here comes the Solis sledge,
filled with tech, oh cutting-edge!
It drives on joy, hard work and passion.
At the wheel, a christmas man of fashion,
showing off his christmas bag
and yelling wildly „Stability TAAAAG“!
/Karl Rene Kõlvart/
References


[1] History.com Editors. (2017). Saturnalia. Retrieved 17 December 2021, from https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome/saturnalia
[2] Welscher, A. (2020). O Christmas trees, O Christmas trees... Retrieved 17 December 2021, from https://eng.lsm.lv/article/culture/culture/o-christmas-trees-o-christmas-trees.a385353/
[3] History.com Editors. (2009). History of Christmas Trees. Retrieved 17 December 2021, from https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas-trees
[4] Schwarcz, J. (2019). Celebrating Christmas With Science. Retrieved 17 December 2021, from https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/history/celebrating-christmas-science
[5] Bump, P. (2019). The breathtaking scale of Santa Claus’s task on Christmas Eve. Retrieved 17 December 2021, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2019/12/20/breathtaking-scale-santa-clauss-task-christmas-eve/
[6] Nicolosi, J. (2014). Is Santa Real? (A Scientific Analysis) [Video]. YouTube: It's Okay To Be Smart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCOf6Su0Yvw&t=338s
[7] Are Santa's Reindeer Males? (2017). Retrieved 17 December 2021, from https://www.livescience.com/32149-are-santas-reindeer-males.html
[8] Ince, C., van Kuijen, A., Milstein, D., Yuruk, K., Folkow, L., Fokkens, W., & Blix, A. (2012). Why Rudolph's nose is red: observational study. BMJ, 345, e8311-e8311. doi: 10.1136/bmj.e8311
[9] Kemp, M. Science in culture. Nature 426, 768 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/426768a
[10] Who invented electric Christmas lights? (2019). Retrieved 17 December 2021, from https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/item/who-invented-electric-christmas-lights/
[11] Uri, J. (2020). Space Station 20th: Celebrating the Holidays in Space. Retrieved 17 December 2021, from https://www.nasa.gov/feature/space-station-20th-celebrating-the-holidays-in-space
[12] Burke, E. (2016). 12 facts you didn’t know about Christmas. Retrieved 17 December 2021, from https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/christmas-traditions-facts
[13] Coleman E, Arundel C, Clark L, Doherty L, Gillies K, Hewitt C et al. Bah humbug! Association between sending Christmas cards to trial participants and trial retention: randomised study within a trial conducted simultaneously across eight host trials BMJ 2021; 375 :e067742 doi:10.1136/bmj-2021-067742
[14] Fox S T, Reid N, Tornvall I, Weerasekera S, Gordon E, Hubbard R E et al. Anticipating the ageing trajectories of superheroes in the Marvel cinematic universe BMJ 2021; 375 :e068001 doi:10.1136/bmj-2021-068001
[15] Brennan P A, Oeppen R S. Delivering human factors at Christmas: how does Father Christmas do it? BMJ 2020; 371 :m4708 doi:10.1136/bmj.m4708
[16] Razaeian S, Wiese B, Zhang D, Harb A, Krettek C, Hawi N et al. Nonsensus in the treatment of proximal humerus fractures: uncontrolled, blinded, comparative behavioural analysis between Homo chirurgicus accidentus and Macaca sylvanus BMJ 2020; 371 :m4429 doi:10.1136/bmj.m4429
[17] Zimerman A, Worsham C, Woo J, Jena A B. The need for speed: observational study of physician driving behaviors BMJ 2019; 367 :l6354 doi:10.1136/bmj.l6354
[18] Yeh R W, Valsdottir L R, Yeh M W, Shen C, Kramer D B, Strom J B et al. Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma when jumping from aircraft: randomized controlled trial BMJ 2018; 363 :k5094 doi:10.1136/bmj.k5094
[19] Mason F, Farley A, Pallan M, Sitch A, Easter C, Daley A J et al. Effectiveness of a brief behavioural intervention to prevent weight gain over the Christmas holiday period: randomised controlled trial BMJ 2018; 363 :k4867 doi:10.1136/bmj.k4867
[20] Park J J, Coumbe B G T, Park E H G, Tse G, Subramanian S V, Chen J T et al. Dispelling the nice or naughty myth: retrospective observational study of Santa Claus BMJ 2016; 355 :i6355 doi:10.1136/bmj.i6355
[21] Hougaard A, Lindberg U, Arngrim N, Larsson H B W, Olesen J, Amin F M et al. Evidence of a Christmas spirit network in the brain: functional MRI study BMJ 2015; 351 :h6266 doi:10.1136/bmj.h6266
[22] Ramagopalan S V, Knight M, Ebers G C, Knight J C. Origins of magic: review of genetic and epigenetic effects BMJ 2007; 335 :1299 doi:10.1136/bmj.39414.582639.BE