Why can’t some people smell the odor of asparagus in their urine? Do you get a good workout by playing Pokémon GO? Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health experts answered questions about those topics during a Facebook Live Q&A on Wednesday, December 21. We spoke with two researchers who published studies in the Christmas edition of The BMJ. For more than three decades, the prestigious journal has devoted its Christmas-week issue to articles that are quirky, amusing, and creative—but all scientifically sound.
One study found that a large proportion of individuals of European-American descent cannot smell “asparagus pee”—the unpleasant odor present in urine after people eat asparagus. Another study found that while Pokémon GO users step up their physical activity when they first start playing the game, that extra activity trails off after six weeks.
Watch the full Q&A below: