Touch is more than just feeling. It can bring pain or pleasure. Scientists are working to understand how this happens. Neuroscientist Ishmail Abdus-Saboor studies how skin contact can create these very different feelings.
Pain exists for a reason. It is an evolutionary signal that warns of harm. But measuring pain is tricky because there is no objective biomarker. Researchers rely on experiments and self-reports to understand it.
Touch also sends social and emotional signals. It builds connections between people, not just senses. For example, naked mole rats live in colonies that depend almost entirely on touch. These animals barely feel pain and show no signs of aging.
Itching is another puzzle. Many mammals and fish feel the urge to scratch an itch, even if scratching causes harm later. The relief from scratching comes first, but continued scratching can worsen injury.
Why Cringe Feels So Addictive
Cringe is a form of secondhand embarrassment. Watching others in awkward situations causes this feeling. Psychologists call it vicarious embarrassment. It signals that a social norm has been broken.
Embarrassment activates the brain’s arousal regions. This response is involuntary and shows up early in life. Witnessing embarrassment can also build trust. It sends a signal that the embarrassed person is part of a prosocial group.
Some people even enjoy seeing others embarrassed. This enjoyment may connect to complex social emotions. Cringe videos are addictive online. Stefan Hofmann compared them to junk food: “If you eat junk food, you want more of it or even more outrageous stuff.”
Heatwaves and Rising Pain Levels
Hot weather makes pain worse. Data from more than two million US residents shows that physical pain reports rise as temperatures climb. The biggest jumps occur on days around 32°C or higher.
Middle-aged adults and people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds report the most pain during heatwaves. Heat causes dehydration, inflammation, blood pressure changes, and stress. All of these factors increase pain.
Heat also disrupts sleep. Poor sleep heightens sensitivity to pain, creating a vicious cycle. Pain affects concentration, memory, and decision-making, making daily life harder.
While targeted heat can relieve pain, sustained high temperatures make it worse. The economic toll is large. The US economy loses about US$2 billion annually from heat-related pain. By 2050, these losses could top US$9 billion.
Similar costs may hit the UK through healthcare, lost productivity, and reduced quality of life. Heatwaves pose a growing challenge for health and economies.
The Secret Life of Flowers and Their Evolution
Flowers have long histories tied to diversity and survival. Magnolias are among the oldest flowers on record. They changed the world with their beauty, bisexuality, and role as botanical mothers.
Most flowers—90 percent—contain both male and female parts. This hermaphroditism helps flowers work effectively with pollinators. Magnolias produce large, billboard-like structures that attract insects.
Orchids evolved after magnolias and took specialization further. They often rely on just one or two insect species for pollination. Some orchids mimic female wasps to lure male wasps, using aromas like insect sex pheromones.
Specialization makes orchids vulnerable. If their pollinators disappear or habitats change, they struggle to survive. Grasses, by contrast, have simpler wind-pollinated flowers. They coevolved with fire, which clears competition and encourages regrowth.
Carl Linnaeus once classified flowers by their sexual parts. His system shocked some because it described flowers as having many “husbands” and a “wife” in the same bed. Roses developed their aromas millions of years before humans existed. These smells attract insects like bumblebees, not people. Yet humans have built entire industries around extracting rose scents.
As author David Haskell put it, “We humans are so ridiculous in that way, devoting ourselves to things that evolved for other purposes.”
Based on
- How Does Touch Lead To Pain Or Pleasure? — quantamagazine.org
- Why we still want to scratch an itch even if we shouldn’t | AP News — apnews.com
- Binging on cringe: It’s as addictive as ‘eating junk food’ — dw.com
- Heatwaves could be making your pain worse — here’s why | The Independent — independent.co.uk
- How flowers shaped the world as we know it | Scientific American — scientificamerican.com
