Science for Christmas from Discovery News

Merry Christmas!  I'm marking the holiday today by recycling the theme of Discovery News on the Holidays for Christmas Eve, Holiday leftovers from DNews and Tipsy Bartender,* and Dangerous holidays and Thanksgiving leftovers from Discovery News, the science of the holiday season.  What do you expect, I'm an environmentalist, I recycle!

First, Trace and Amy demonstrate something near and dear to my heart, the science of music,** in How To Impress Your Family At Christmas.

Want to impress your family this holiday season? Amy and Trace are here to teach you the science behind singing glasses.

Follow over the jump for more of the science the holidays from Discovery News.

This next video revisits the topic of Student sustainability video festival 13: Real vs. artificial Christmas trees.

Christmas Trees: Real vs. Fake

Have you ever wondered how many trees are cut down each Christmas? Here are some facts you probably didn’t know about Christmas trees!

As I wrote before and my students routinely conclude, natural is better.

On the topic of plants associated with Christmas, DNews presents 7 Facts You Didn't Know About Mistletoe.

Mistletoe is a part of a very old Christmas tradition involving kissing. What exactly is mistletoe?

DNews uses information on physiology and evolution to answer Why Does Rudolph Have A Red Nose?

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose, but why? Science has the answer to this age-old question.

Finally, two videos about gifts and gift-giving.

First, DNews explains Why You Suck At Gift-Giving.

Whenever you’re giving someone a gift, do you take the time to really think about what they want? Turns out, that might not be ideal.

One of the videos referenced at the end is Bad Gifts Could Ruin Your Relationship!

It's always terrible when you receive a bad gift, but did you know that giving your partner a bad gift could seriously damage your relationship?

I hope you all found these videos to be as informative and entertaining as I did.

* No drinks from Tipsy Bartender today. I'll probably save that for Saturday.  Until then, enjoy A Christmas drink from Tipsy Bartender.

** No drum corps videos either.  Drum Corps International did that already in 12 drum corps who celebrated Christmas in July.  The very first video featured is one I included in Christmas music from the Cadets and Crazy Eddie's Motie News.