WEBVTT - How do mood rings work?

0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.440
<v Speaker 1>Audible dot com is the leading provider of downloadable digital

0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:07.160
<v Speaker 1>audio books and spoken word entertainment. Audible has over one

0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:10.080
<v Speaker 1>hundred thousand titles to choose from to be downloaded to

0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:13.640
<v Speaker 1>your iPod or MP three player. Go to audible podcast

0:00:13.760 --> 0:00:16.120
<v Speaker 1>dot com slash brain stuff to get a free audio

0:00:16.160 --> 0:00:18.560
<v Speaker 1>book download of your choice when you sign up today.

0:00:19.480 --> 0:00:23.640
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff from hastaff marks dot com where smart happens.

0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:34.320
<v Speaker 1>I am Marshall Brain with today's question, how do mood

0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:38.840
<v Speaker 1>rings work? Mood rings were first seen as an extremely

0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:43.960
<v Speaker 1>popular fat in the late nineteen seventies, and they resurface regularly.

0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:47.400
<v Speaker 1>The idea behind a mood ring is simple, wear it

0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:50.320
<v Speaker 1>on your finger and it will reflect the state of

0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:54.320
<v Speaker 1>your emotions. The ring stone should be a dark blue

0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:57.720
<v Speaker 1>if you're happy, and it supposedly turns black if you're

0:00:57.800 --> 0:01:02.160
<v Speaker 1>anxious or stressed. While mood rings cannot reflect your mood

0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:06.679
<v Speaker 1>with any real scientific accuracy, they actually are indicators of

0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:11.440
<v Speaker 1>your body's involuntary physical reaction to your emotional state. Let's

0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:14.800
<v Speaker 1>see how that works. The stone in a mood ring

0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:19.000
<v Speaker 1>is either a hollow glass shell filled with a thermotropic

0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:23.759
<v Speaker 1>liquid crystal solution or it's a clear glass stone sitting

0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:27.280
<v Speaker 1>on top of a thin sheet of liquid crystals. These

0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:32.240
<v Speaker 1>liquid crystal molecules are very sensitive. They change position or

0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:37.040
<v Speaker 1>twist according to changes in temperature. This change in molecular

0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:41.000
<v Speaker 1>structure affects the wavelengths of light that are absorbed or

0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:45.640
<v Speaker 1>reflected by the liquid crystals, resulting in an apparent changing

0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:50.560
<v Speaker 1>color of the stone. For example, as the temperature increases,

0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:55.480
<v Speaker 1>the liquid crystal molecules twist slightly in one direction. This

0:01:55.640 --> 0:02:00.120
<v Speaker 1>twist causes the liquid crystal substance to absorb more are

0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:03.360
<v Speaker 1>the red and green portions of the visible light and

0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:07.200
<v Speaker 1>reflect the blue part. This causes the stone to appear

0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:11.600
<v Speaker 1>dark blue. When the temperature decreases, the molecules begin to

0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:15.080
<v Speaker 1>twist in the other direction and reflect a different portion

0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:19.040
<v Speaker 1>of the spectrum. The metal ring conducts heat from your

0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:23.120
<v Speaker 1>finger to the liquid crystals in the stone. The color green,

0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:27.360
<v Speaker 1>which signifies average on the mood Ring color scale, is

0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:31.400
<v Speaker 1>calibrated to the surface temperature of a typical person about

0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:35.359
<v Speaker 1>eighty two degrees fahrenheit or twenty eight degrees celsius. If

0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:39.760
<v Speaker 1>your temperature varies far from that norm, then the liquid

0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:42.880
<v Speaker 1>crystals in the stone alter enough to cause a change

0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:46.120
<v Speaker 1>in the color reflected. If you take the mood ring off,

0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:49.880
<v Speaker 1>it will normally change to black unless the ambient temperature

0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:53.600
<v Speaker 1>in the room is eighty two degrees fahrenheit or higher.

0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:58.079
<v Speaker 1>Here are the mood ring colors and the mood they represent.

0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:01.280
<v Speaker 1>The colors are listed according to the change in temperature

0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:05.280
<v Speaker 1>they represent, with dark blue being the warmest and black

0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:10.880
<v Speaker 1>being the coolest. Dark blue means supposedly happy or romantic

0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:16.480
<v Speaker 1>or passionate. Blue means calm or relaxed blue, green means

0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:21.200
<v Speaker 1>somewhat relaxed. Green means normal or average. That's the skin

0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:25.720
<v Speaker 1>temperature that a person would normally have. Amber means a

0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:29.959
<v Speaker 1>little nervous or anxious, Gray means very nervous or anxious,

0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:35.240
<v Speaker 1>and black means stressed, tensed, or feeling haired. If you

0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:37.720
<v Speaker 1>take a moment to think about the moods represented by

0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:41.320
<v Speaker 1>the colors, you'll see a definite correlation between your body's

0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:44.480
<v Speaker 1>surface temperature and the color of the liquid crystal. When

0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:48.160
<v Speaker 1>you're in a passionate mood, your skin is usually flushed.

0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:51.680
<v Speaker 1>This is a physical reaction to an emotion, causing the

0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:55.720
<v Speaker 1>capillaries to dilate and release heat. This brings about a

0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:58.800
<v Speaker 1>slight change in the surface temperature of your body. When

0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:02.520
<v Speaker 1>you're nervous or st us, your skin may feel clammy.

0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:06.480
<v Speaker 1>This physical reaction to your emotional state causes the capillaries

0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:10.480
<v Speaker 1>to constrict, causing the surface temperature of your skin to drop.

0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:14.839
<v Speaker 1>Do you have any ideas or suggestions for this podcast?

0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:17.880
<v Speaker 1>If so, please send me an email at podcast at

0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:20.640
<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com. For more on this and

0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:23.080
<v Speaker 1>thousands of other topics, go to how stuff works dot

0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:25.919
<v Speaker 1>com and be sure to check out the brain stuff

0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:28.440
<v Speaker 1>blog on the how stuff works dot com home page.

0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:34.640
<v Speaker 1>Streaming TV shows and movies directly to your home is

0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:37.480
<v Speaker 1>a breeze with Netflix. As a Netflix member, you can

0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:40.960
<v Speaker 1>instantly watch TV and movies on your PC, mac, mobile device,

0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:44.320
<v Speaker 1>or television. Get a free thirty day trial membership. Go

0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:47.120
<v Speaker 1>to Netflix dot com slash stuff and sign up today.