1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:06,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey, 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel bomb here. It's no wonder that 3 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: Rudolph is the most famous reindeer of all. In addition 4 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: to being a skilled flyer, his nose glows bright red. 5 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,640 Speaker 1: This unusual variation on the reindeer nasal prominence has all 6 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: kinds of benefits. If the weather is ever bad on 7 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: Christmas Eve, Santa is still cleared for flight by the 8 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:32,519 Speaker 1: US Federal Aviation Administration, among others, thanks to the brightness 9 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 1: of Rudolph's nose. But how does Rudolph's nose actually work? 10 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: How can one reindeer create a light bright enough to 11 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:43,919 Speaker 1: bleed us Leigh through darkness and inclement weather, And how 12 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:46,199 Speaker 1: can a reindeer even have a glowing red nose in 13 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 1: the first place. Although no one may ever know for 14 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: sure just how Rudolph got his unusual nose, we think 15 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:58,959 Speaker 1: the most logical explanation is, of course science. A Rudolph 16 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: could use something many organisms use on Earth in order 17 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:06,959 Speaker 1: to create natural light, a neat trick called bioluminescence. In 18 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:11,680 Speaker 1: luminescent animals and fungi chemical compounds mixed together to produce 19 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:14,720 Speaker 1: a glow. It's a lot like the way that substances 20 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,840 Speaker 1: inside a light stick combined to make light. The reasons vary. 21 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,399 Speaker 1: Of fireflies, for instance, flashlight at each other to communicate 22 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: and attract mates, while some animals that live very deep 23 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,040 Speaker 1: in the ocean use light to attract or spot prey, 24 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: or to confuse and escape from predators. In some parts 25 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: of the ocean, these animals, not the sun, are the 26 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: primary source of light. So let's talk about the parts 27 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 1: of Rudolph's nose. It starts just like any other reindeer nose. 28 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: He breeds oxygen through it, and it's made up of 29 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: two layers of skin, the dermis, which is the thick 30 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 1: inner layer of skin that contains blood vessels and hair follicles, 31 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: and the epidermis, which is the thin outer layer that 32 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: you can see and touch. A couple of extras, however, 33 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: would set Rudolf apart from all the other reindeer, though 34 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: of course there's no scientific basis for them excluding him 35 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: from their gains. It seems most likely that Rudolph additionally 36 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: has a thin, enclosed layer of a light producing organ 37 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: between the dermis and the epidermis. In general, bioluminescence involves 38 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: the combination of two types of substances. One is a luciferin, 39 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: or a light producing substance. The other is a lucifer race, 40 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: or an enzyme that catalyzes the reaction. The terms luciferin 41 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: and lucifer race of both come from the Latin term 42 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: lucifer which means light bringer and is also the basis 43 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:44,960 Speaker 1: for the name lucifer in the Bible and folklore, but 44 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 1: luciferin and luciferase are generic terms rather than the names 45 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 1: of particular chemicals. Lots of different substances can act like 46 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:56,080 Speaker 1: lucifer ins and lucifer races, depending on the species of 47 00:02:56,120 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: the bioluminescent liform. For example, some luciferens are to chlorophyll, 48 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: while others seem to be manufactured from the food that 49 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 1: the animal eats. In the organism, something triggers the reaction, 50 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: maybe a neurological process, maybe a chemical shift. Okay, So 51 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: in Rudolph's case, there's a layer in his nose where 52 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 1: these substances occur and can combine, thus putting out photons 53 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:28,919 Speaker 1: of light. But bioluminescent light forms pretty exclusively produce blue 54 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: green light. So how is Rudolph's nose red. There is 55 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 1: a type of deep sea fish known as a stop 56 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 1: light loose jaw that can glow red even though the 57 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,560 Speaker 1: light that it produces starts out greenish blue. What's going 58 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: on there is that it's bioluminescent organ also contains a 59 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: type of protein that can absorb that light and then 60 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 1: fluoresce in red. Rudolph must have a similar thing, and 61 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: Rudolph's nose is likely able to get so bright because 62 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: of a sort of secret ingredient that we haven't talked 63 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:06,880 Speaker 1: about yet. A bioluminescence often requires another substance, like oxygen, 64 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,240 Speaker 1: in order to make light, and because Rudolph produces light 65 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: in his nose, it only makes sense that his nose 66 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: would shine intensely because as he breathes in oxygen, it 67 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:19,560 Speaker 1: creates plenty of opportunity for the reaction to happen and 68 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: light to be produced. So we know that Rudolph stands 69 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:27,159 Speaker 1: out a bit from other reindeer, But how could he 70 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: be the only reindeer with this big, glowing nose. It's 71 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 1: possible that Rudolph's glowing honker could be a reindeer ativism, 72 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: and ativism is a trait of distant ancestors that randomly 73 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:43,479 Speaker 1: pops up in modern day organisms, unlike a human with 74 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,920 Speaker 1: a tail. These traits may have served a purpose for 75 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,039 Speaker 1: the animal way back when, but for whatever reason, the 76 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: trait was silenced over time and only makes rare triumphant 77 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:59,280 Speaker 1: returns in modern times. Perhaps distant reindeer ancestors of Rudolph's 78 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:02,479 Speaker 1: produced light to survive in the wild. You'll find most 79 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:05,479 Speaker 1: reindeer in Scandinavia, and it does get pretty dark there 80 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:08,839 Speaker 1: during the long winter nights, so perhaps some of Rudolph's 81 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: ancestors required a better way to get around at night. 82 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 1: The genetic trait may have popped back up randomly and 83 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 1: Rudolph or was perhaps the result of rapid evolution, in 84 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: which a species could adapt in just a few generations 85 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:26,160 Speaker 1: based on the animal's needs. For example, there are mosquitoes 86 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: living in the London underground that only moved in there 87 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 1: in the eighteen sixties, but are now so different from 88 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: there above ground cousins that they can't reproduce with each other. 89 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: So maybe Rudolph's parents and grandparents had very bad eyesight 90 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:44,039 Speaker 1: and rapid evolution came to the recipe to help compensate 91 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: and saving Christmas was just a lucky accident. Today's episode 92 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:55,840 Speaker 1: is based on the article why is Rudolph's Nose Red? 93 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,599 Speaker 1: On housetop works dot com written by John Fuller, with 94 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,919 Speaker 1: additional material from the article how by Luminescence Works written 95 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:05,120 Speaker 1: by Tracey Vie Wilson. Brain Stuff is production by Heart 96 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:07,440 Speaker 1: Radio and partnership with how stuffworks dot com and is 97 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts from my heart 98 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,160 Speaker 1: Radio because the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 99 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:14,920 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.