TRC #604: The ‘Benadryl Challenge’ + The Moon’s Luminosity

This week, we bring in the experts to bring YOU two great interviews! First, Cristina looks at the controversial ‘Benadryl challenge’ on TikTok and has a discussion with Dr. David Stukus about the potential danger of this over-the-counter medication. Dr. Stukus is a Paediatric allergy & asthma specialist and the Social Media Medical Editor for the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Next, our resident research scientist who studies planetary geophysics, Dr. Stuart Robbins, tells us some surprising information about the luminosity of the moon.

Download direct: mp3 file

Benadryl Challenge

Dr. Stukus on Twitter

About Dr. Stukus

The Moon’s Luminosity

Twitter

About Dr. Robbins

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4 Responses to TRC #604: The ‘Benadryl Challenge’ + The Moon’s Luminosity

  1. Darren says:

    Long time listener (and host), love the show.

    To clarify, Darren seemed to be discussing more the size of the moon than it’s luminosity.

    “Serious question: For those of you who believe in some sort of full moon energy or importance, what is happening?
    What is causing what?

    The size of the moon stays the same throughout the month (distance changes with orbit over time). The moon is always full/whole, but the ‘fullness’ you see is just the amount of reflected sunlight visible to you.
    So, why would a change, especially a minor change, in visible reflected sunlight from an object that stays the same size cause anything different to happen?”

    If we are discussing luminosity, I was probably thinking the day before and the day after compared to several days before and several days after, which would minimize the difference.
    That said, I appreciated Stu saying that it would be much brighter than one might think and hinting at how humans don’t assess brightness that well. I think it is something like there needs to be a 10 times increase in brightness for humans to see it as a doubling?

    Of course, the unanswered question: does a full moon appear brighter on Benadryl?

    • Adam G. says:

      To answer your question both Sailor Moon and Sailor V charge their transformation items via the light of the moon.

    • Pat says:

      So this is what it has come to? We’re airing our dirty TRC laundry in public now? “So, why would a change, especially a minor change, in visible reflected sunlight…” I think the point is that a 60% change could be considered more than minor. Also, the explanation of why was worth it. I have no regrets!

  2. Rich W. says:

    In response to all you wonderful people’s comments:

    Human eyes can adjust to something like a thousand-fold difference in luminosity and we’re barely notice it. How many times are you outside in the evening, look down for a few minutes, and then think it suddenly got much darker? (And don’t even get me started on color-constancy! See the Earthlings 101 episode for that.) Also, if we went into a dark room with just a candle burning, left, and came back later when the candle may have changed brightness or been replaced, we probably wouldn’t notice the difference in the flame’s brightness. (But we could still be clued in by significant flame color differences or how much it lights up the rest of the room, lights up the first candle’s stub on the table, etc.)

    As a matter of fact, when New Horizons was about to reach Pluto NASA created a tool that would tell you what time of to go outside in your area to see how bright it would be if you were on Pluto (and not frozen solid). Usually it’s what we consider in the Twilight region. (Thought not purple or into magic or friendship.)

    As for the 60% change, if it’s 60% of a relatively small number then, again, our auto-adjust apertures and eyeball wiring would just adapt without a fuss. Camera settings may need to be a bit different though.

    Now I’m not sure why the moon would even take Benadryl, but I suppose then the Earth might seem a bit brighter to the bunny and the man there.

    P.S. I didn’t know that Usagi and Mina had to recharge their devices. The only thing that stood out was that tree-based monsters were really good at smashing the locket at the beginning of each new season. (Probably Apple™ trees forcing her to upgrade.)

    P.P.S. Why do I always seem to end most paragraphs with a parenthetical when commenting on your feedback pages? (Great website, BTW.)

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