1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: Lauren vog obam here It's no wonder. Rudolph the red 3 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:13,240 Speaker 1: nosed reindeer is the most famous member of Santa's team. 4 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:16,320 Speaker 1: On top of being a skilled flyer, his nose, as 5 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: his name suggests, glows bright red. This unusual variation on 6 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: the reindeer nasal prominence could have all kinds of benefits, 7 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: the most important of which, of course, involves guiding Santa's sleigh. 8 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: According to folklore, if the weather's ever bad on Christmas Eve, 9 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:34,560 Speaker 1: Santa is still cleared for flight by the f A, 10 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:37,520 Speaker 1: a no less thanks to the brightness of Rudolph's nose. 11 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,480 Speaker 1: But how does Rudolph's nose actually work? How could one 12 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:44,160 Speaker 1: reindeer create a light bright enough to lead a sleigh 13 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: through darkness and inclement weather? And how can a reindeer 14 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:50,959 Speaker 1: actually develop a glowing red nose. Although no one may 15 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: ever know for sure just how Rudolph got his unusual nose, 16 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 1: we at how Stuff works have what we think is 17 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: the most logical explanation for how this dough idear guides 18 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: Santa's lay science Rudolph could use something many organisms use 19 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:07,399 Speaker 1: on Earth, in order to create natural light a neat 20 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:11,319 Speaker 1: little scientific trick called bioluminescence. Animals can make their own 21 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:14,720 Speaker 1: light by mixing certain chemical compounds together to produce a glow. 22 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: The reasons vary. Fireflies, for instance, flashlight at each other 23 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: in order to attract mats, while some fish that live 24 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: very deep in the ocean use light to bait prey. 25 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: If this is the case with Rudolph, there would be 26 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: three parts to his nasal beacon. The first would be 27 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: just like any other reindeer nose, and so it's playmates 28 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 1: technically shouldn't have shunned him from any reindeer games in 29 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:39,320 Speaker 1: the first place. He would, you know, breathe oxygen through it, 30 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:41,760 Speaker 1: and the tissue would be made up of two layers, 31 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:44,559 Speaker 1: the dermis, which is the thick inner layer of skin 32 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 1: that contains blood, vessels and hair follicles, and the epidermist, 33 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: which is the thin outer layer that you can see 34 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: and touch. The other two parts, however, would set Rootolf 35 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: apart from all the other reindeer. The second part would 36 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: be a thin, enclosed layer of a light using organ 37 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: between the dermis and the epidermis. Inside this layer could 38 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:08,079 Speaker 1: be the compound lucifer in, which produces light, and lucifer race, 39 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:11,480 Speaker 1: which is an enzyme that catalyzes the light producing reaction. 40 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: So that's your glow. The third part is where the 41 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: red nosed comes in. Most bioluminescent life forms like fireflies 42 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 1: produce greenish light. The outermost part of Rudolph's nose, therefore, 43 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: would have to be a red phosphorescent layer. Once the 44 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: light producing organs started putting off green light, the phosphorescent 45 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: part of his nose would absorb that green light and 46 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: emit a red light. How does nose get so bright? Though? 47 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:41,079 Speaker 1: Bioluminescence often requires another substance like oxygen to make light, 48 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,359 Speaker 1: and Rudolph would breathe lots of oxygen right near the 49 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 1: light producing organs, providing enough reactions for long, intensely shiny 50 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 1: bursts of light. But why is Rudolph the only reindeer 51 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: with a nose that glows? How could something like this 52 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: have happened? Could Santa be some kind of mad scientist 53 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,639 Speaker 1: tweaking reindeer DNA for his own benefit, or could Rudolph's 54 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: nose be a biological accident. It's possible that Rudolph's bright 55 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 1: honker could be a reindeer ativism. Let's break that down. 56 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,959 Speaker 1: An atavism is a trait of distant ancestors that randomly 57 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:16,520 Speaker 1: pops up in modern day organisms, like a human with 58 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: a tail. This trait may have served a purpose for 59 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:22,080 Speaker 1: the animal way back when, but for whatever reason, that 60 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: trait was silenced over time, every once in a while, 61 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: making a rare return. Could distant reindeer ancestors of Rudolph 62 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:31,519 Speaker 1: have needed to produce light in order to survive in 63 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: the wild. You'll find most reindeer in Scandinavia, and it 64 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: does get pretty dark there during the winter, so maybe 65 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: Rudolph's ancestors needed a better way to get around at night. 66 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: Oh and although Rudolph is what's called a bull male reindeer, 67 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,120 Speaker 1: there's a rumor that many of Santa's reindeer might be 68 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: cows or female reindeer. And that's because Santa's reindeer are 69 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: depicted flying on Christmas Eve with fully grown antlers. Male 70 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: reindeer typically shed their antlers by early December, well before 71 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 1: Christmas Eve. The antlers grow back in the spring and 72 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: the cycle of growth and regrowth continues, but cows keep 73 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: their antlers all year long. This isn't to say that 74 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 1: all of the other reindeer are female. Most males shed 75 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: their antlers, but not all of them, and it's possible 76 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:17,560 Speaker 1: that a bowl won't lose as antlers until after December. 77 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by John Fuller and produced by 78 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart 79 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: Radio's How Stuff Works. For more on this and lots 80 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:32,280 Speaker 1: of other very shiny topics, visit our home planet, how 81 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:34,760 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com, and for more podcasts for my 82 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 83 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.