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  • (Greg) Hey Mitch! (Mitch) Hey Greg.

  • What do you call a nosy pepper?

  • I... I don't know. Jalapeño business!

  • (Theme Song)

  • Hello and welcome to the first episode of the Lab,

  • A new series here on Asap Science, where we take your questions and turn them into experiments,

  • so we can experience science firsthand.

  • My name is Mitch -And I'm Greg and we are ASAP Science.

  • And don't worry, the animated videos are still gonna be coming out every week, but on Sundays leading up to the new year,

  • is our first series of the lab.

  • so tune in on Sundays

  • And Mitch, what exactly are we doing today

  • So today, we are actually looking at the science of pain

  • and we're gonna start out by having a lot of spicy peppers to understand

  • why spice feels like pain

  • And then, we're gonna be putting our hands in some really cold water and see if swearing can actually can help with pain

  • And finally, we are gonna be getting electrocuted to talk about the anticipation of pain and how awful that is.

  • Do you think you are gonna be good at this?

  • No? I'm like so weak. Okay, I'm the weak one of this group.

  • I have red hair genes, so you know, I can like handle anything.

  • They are all gonna be challenges, by the way. So, should we just... should we just start?

  • Yeah, let's do this

  • Alright, first up, we have our spicy pepper challenge

  • We've ordered these peppers from the least spicy to most spicy

  • And then, we have a list of facts. So, every time we bite a pepper, we have to spew off a spicy pepper fact

  • And, this is the hottest pepper in the world: the California (Carolina) Reapers

  • So, we are really excited about this one

  • Hopefully, we are not gonna projectile our vomit on the camera

  • And the first person who grabs this milk for release... relief loses the challenge

  • So, are you ready?

  • I'm ready I'm ready

  • Ok heh heh

  • Spicy peppers excite receptors that usually respond to heat, and these are known as nociceptors

  • These nociceptors respond to temperature, extremes.... Oh my God, it's actually really hot.

  • And mechanical stimulus, but they can also obviously respond to chemicals

  • I wanna just spit it out and drink my mlik

  • Big...

  • When you eat a hot pepper like this one, your central nervous system gets very confused.

  • *Laughing*

  • Bring it!

  • AAAAH

  • Okay!

  • Capsaicin is the active ingredient in hot peppers

  • Which stimulates the nerve to respond to mild temperature increases,

  • It sends two signals to the brain, that it's warm and that it's an intense stimulus

  • which causes this burning sensation.

  • -This is awful

  • *Laughing*

  • Should we just have the milk?

  • -I'm so white, like I'm just so in pain.

  • I don't... I don't think I can do this any longer.

  • It's getting worse, like it's going.. -Look I'm drooling

  • My glasses are fogging up!

  • Okay, I quit.. I quit, I'm...

  • Oh my god that feels so good, just drink your milk. - NO

  • So this is a Ghost Pepper

  • Be careful man *ping*

  • The signal creates the same physical reaction to heat, that includes vasodilation, sweating and flushing...

  • I feel tingling in my fingers

  • Uhm.. and that's it! You sweat and you flush, and you vaso.. My hand!

  • My hand feels weird. - I'm sweating, I'm sweating.

  • Okay, I'm gonna read my other fact, because I already lost.

  • My right hand is tingling.. I TOUCHED MY EYE!

  • -Oh my god, are you okay? Don't touch it more!

  • Okay I'm done. - Go wash your hands.

  • Wait, I think I need to put milk in my eye.

  • No, okay, go wash your hands.

  • (Greg in the background) AAAAH

  • -Okay

  • It was interesting, one researcher actually gave rats spicy foods to see if they would actually like it,

  • and it turns out humans are one of the only animals in the world that will choose to eat spicy things

  • I'm literally drooling

  • Choose to eat spicy things over stuff that actually isn't spicy, so...

  • How do you feel, explain to us how you feel.

  • -Like a fool for saying, that I was like, I am so good at pain.

  • Okay Mitch, so why is milk helpful for us.

  • Well, so water is not helpful because Capsaicin is actually hydrophobic,

  • so the water doesn't really do anything except swash it around all around your mouth,

  • whereas the milk actually absorbs it, brings it down to your stomach and actually is a chemical reaction

  • that makes it feel a whole lot better.

  • So avoid water, stick to milk.

  • -And also, the relief that you feel when drinking this milk, excites the pleasure sensors of your brain,

  • which is why this feels so good right now.

  • And why people go back to spice, even though they know it's awful.

  • Also, I'm gonna give up on coffee. Ghost pepper every morning? *snaps fingers*

  • Haha yeah. -I'll be awake for 24 hours.

  • So pain actually is something that is used to protect your tissue from damage,

  • so for example, if you touch a hot burner, your tissue is getting damaged immediately

  • and you feel the pain immediately. But some things actually take more time to feel the pain.

  • So to elicit some slow pain, we have these buckets filled with ice

  • we're just gonna put our hands in them to see how long we can last

  • but the one caveat being that Greg is allowed to swear and I'm not.

  • -Yeah you better f***ing believe it!

  • Okay! Are you ready for more pain? -I think so... okay time to roll up and put in?

  • Okay, we have to do the exact same time to be as scientifically accurate as possible!

  • Okay, ready? 3...2...1...

  • (Greg) AAH

  • Oooh, okay so... - Oh my god I don't...

  • A study actually found that when people were allowed to f***ing swear,

  • they were able to keep their hands in ice water for on average 40 seconds longer

  • it's because it actually releases, in your brain, the fight-or-flight response, it releases adrenaline

  • and you feel a lot better.

  • Holy f***ing pigeon..

  • One interesting thing is how when you swear too much you can actually overuse that... -No you f***ing can't!

  • Anyway, I'm actually in so much pain. -Well, I'm f***ing feeling great.

  • Fingering, fingering a BUTT! Fingering a butt. -Ooooh my god.

  • Oh, it actually like hurts... are you seriously holding it still?

  • I am. -That's crazy.

  • But maybe my hand is gonna pull out, and like my limb is gonna come out and my hand is gonna still be in here.

  • And I'm like F*****K

  • One weird thing was that my body actually like heated up, my face and body felt so hot when that was happening,

  • and I think that was just like a fear response, I was like

  • I'm gonna lose my hand...

  • *Laughing* Okay, how do you feel?

  • Ooooh it is like when you come in from the cold

  • It is kinda nice when that happens.

  • Well, Greg won challenge number two as well, I clearly am a wimp.

  • -So one thing that we've learned from this is that swearing is great.

  • Okay, so it is time for a 'shocking experience'

  • they say that the actual antish..atishaputh.

  • Anticipation of pain can actually be worse than the pain itself.

  • How does it work, Mitch...

  • I don't know, so we've been given this ball and apparently we stick this key in

  • and it starts zapping at random intervals.

  • So also it says on here that this product emits electric shocks, keep out of reach of children under 14

  • it may interfere with the electrical devices such as a pacemaker

  • and do not use this if you have a heart condition or any other related illnesses.

  • and then it says, in all caps: THIS IS NOT A TOY.

  • We have to hold the ball while we're reading a fact and as soon as we're done we can pass it off

  • and the other person has to finish the next fact.

  • We're playing to three, right? -Yeah

  • So the first person who gets three, loses. -Three shocks, yeah.

  • I have really bad anticipatory like fear, so... -But you have to go first, cause I want to see you...

  • No! -Go

  • Okay...

  • Is it like... Oh my god! Okay. -Go go go go!

  • Ah! Euh.. Studies have found that both meditation and exercise can reduce or modulate feelings of pain.

  • AAAH

  • (Greg screams) THE PLACEBO EFFECT CAN AAAAH AAH NOO! It's going off!

  • It shocked you, stop, no stop stop.

  • AAAAAH -I think you won that, did you also get electrocuted?

  • YEAH! It electrocuted like six times.

  • I'm actually shaking! What the hell.

  • Okay, the placebo effect can work for pain if it's high end. In a 2008 study,

  • patients received painful electric shocks, afterward, ten cents placebo pill was given to the test after,

  • which alleviated pain 64% of the participants. A $2,50 placebo pill reduced pain for 85% of participants.

  • Chronic pain can shrink the size of your brain in a study of individuals who, with chronic pain,

  • could show up to 11% less- AAAH

  • *Laughing*

  • You almost broke my laptop! You threw it at the screen of my laptop.

  • I did not have a choice.

  • I think I should start this time. -Yeah, that's fair.

  • Okay, you ready? -Yeah

  • I'm gonna get shocked again...

  • Platypus are one of the few mammals to produce venom.

  • Though the venom isn't powerful enough to kill a human, the pain is excruciating and can last for a month.

  • Naked mole rats don't feel the pain of acid or the sting of chili peppers.

  • NO! Oh you cheated.

  • The scientific term for brain freeze is... euh.. AAAH

  • *Laughing*

  • Naked mole rats don't feel spice

  • Fascinating! Short and fascinating.

  • Okay, let's talk about anticipation

  • That was... It's not as bad as I thought it was at first, but it is shocking.

  • No, and the worst part is when you get it handed to you're like, oh I'm gonna...

  • -It's, it's gonna come, it's gonna come.

  • But then as soon as you do get shocked you're right in.

  • Well, you get scared and then... -For you, you just throw it away

  • Well, my hand... You didn't even get it so you don't even know.

  • I DID! I got your... second-hand electrocution.

  • Okay. Well okay, so,

  • Winner of this entire game, has been Greg.

  • So! We made it through all the pain and suffering, but it was all for the sake of science.

  • And now, it's time for

  • *together* this week in science talk!

  • *Music*

  • This week, scientists have started to discover how we actually spend our time

  • Using information from over one million participants, scientists found that we don't actually work more than we did in the past,

  • we just tend to multitask a lot more, making our lives seem more hectic.

  • You might not care much about your poop, but your brain does.

  • Neuroscientists have found that microbes in your gut can affect your brain development,

  • and also your mental health.

  • Known as the "poop studies', scientists are looking at how microbes affect a baby's brain development.

  • So next time you're changing a diaper, take a good look at that turd.

  • Speaking of poo, did you know that naked mole rats actually eat each other's poo?

  • But, for good reason!

  • Researcher's shown that when underlings eat hormone rich poo of a queen,

  • the added estrogen in their system actually prompts them to help take care of her offspring.

  • Let us know if you know of any other news from this weekend's science, use the #TWIST

  • and we're going to put all the information of the studies we've just talked about below.

  • Our Twitter and Instagram handles are right here, which you can follow

  • and thank you so much for watching the whole first episode of The LAB, we had a lot of fun making it.

  • If you have other questions or experiments you wanna see us try on this new series, let us know in the comments below.

  • And make sure you subscribe to ASAP Science, we've a new whiteboard video coming out this week

  • and we'll see you next Sunday for the next episode of The LAB.

  • See you then!

(Greg) Hey Mitch! (Mitch) Hey Greg.

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