The ‘Ask a Scientist’ campaign gives you the opportunity to ask pressing questions and search for answers together with scientists from various disciplines of science. This is a unique opportunity to learn about new issues and delve deeper into an interesting topic – reliable and proven knowledge is provided by experts from seven public universities that make up the Academic Consortium Katowice City of Science.
The City of Science is a place where we use scientific methods to solve problems and face the challenges of the modern world. Regardless of your age, interests, or place of residence, we invite you to ask questions to scientists who will carefully and insightfully explain scientific secrets, thus encouraging you to further expand your knowledge and discover how fascinating the world around us truly is!
Questions addressed to experts of the Academic Consortium Katowice City of Science can be submitted via the form. More information about the ‘Ask a Scientist’ campaign, as well as answers to questions already asked and profiles of scientists can be found on the website of the European City of Science Katowice 2024.
University of Silesia scientist answers the pressing question
The questions asked as part of ‘Ask a Scientist’ inspired us to create reels featuring scientists from the University of Silesia, who explain scientific issues in an accessible and understandable way and shared interesting facts from various fields of science. Be sure to read the full answers from experts of the University of Silesia – below we present one of the questions asked by the event participants, answered by Agnieszka Babczyńska, PhD, DSc, Assoc. Prof. from Faculty of Natural Sciences.
Why do our cheeks turn red when we are embarrassed?
Agnieszka Babczyńska, PhD, DSc, Assoc. Prof.: Embarrassment is an emotion that, like many other emotions, appears in response to the external situation in which a person finds themselves. In the case of negative emotions, such as embarrassment, finding yourself in a position like that can be compared to a stressful situation that forces the body to take some action, similar to the “fight or flight” response – a defensive reaction. The body’s readiness to react is related to the acceleration of certain physiological processes and phenomena, such as heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate. This forces the body to accelerate its metabolism. One of the byproducts of metabolism is heat, which must be removed from the body. The way to do this is to dilate the blood vessels in the skin so that the heated blood from inside the body is brought closer to the surface. Dilated blood vessels in the face give the appearance of flushing, your cheeks turning red, especially since the skin on the face is thinner than in other areas of the body.
Take up the challenge and experiment during the 9th ŚFN Katowice
The 9th Silesian Science Festival Katowice is coming! On 6–8 December, we will meet again at the International Congress Centre to explore scientific issues and broaden our knowledge. Join us during the next edition of the event, during which – in line with the slogan ‘Dare to experiment!’ – we will combine knowledge from various fields of science in a creative and imaginative way, and thanks to engaging experiments, we will look at what we know from a different perspective, as well as gain new skills and experience. And all this during the largest popular science festival in Poland!
To keep up to date with the most important news from the world of science and ŚFN Katowice, subscribe to ‘Supernova’ newsletter and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.