Holiday Science
This hormone increases during hugging, gift-giving, and social bonding—earning it the nickname “the cuddle hormone."
Oxytocin
This festive plant with red leaves is popular during the winter holidays.
Poinsettia
In this country, people famously line up to eat KFC for Christmas dinner.
Japan
This song warns children they’re being watched, judged, and reported on year-round.
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
A child is accidentally abandoned and responds by setting traps that violate multiple laws.
Home Alone
That “fresh pine smell” from a Christmas tree comes from this class of organic compounds released as a defense mechanism.
Terpenes
This holiday treat is made by melting chocolate and mixing in crushed candy canes.
Peppermint Bark
In Austria and Germany, men dress as this horned figure and roam the streets frightening people during early December.
Krampus
This song casually describes vehicular manslaughter involving an elderly family member.
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
An adult man travels to New York to confront his biological father and disrupts several workplaces.
Elf
Shorter daylight hours in winter can lower serotonin levels, which may contribute to this condition.
Seasonal Affective Disorder
This Italian Christmas bread is tall, domed, and often filled with candied fruit.
Panettone
In the Czech Republic, women throw this item over their shoulder on Christmas Eve to predict marriage prospects.
A shoe
This song involves a man repeatedly asking someone to stay while ignoring her stated objections.
Baby, It’s Cold Outside
A train ride teaches children that belief is optional, but yelling is constant.
The Polar Express
Short winter days and long nights can disrupt this natural biological clock, affecting sleep and mood.
Circadian Rhythm
This winter holiday beverage contains eggs, cream, sugar, and nutmeg.
Eggnog
In Ukraine, people decorate Christmas trees with fake versions of this creepy-crawly for good luck.
Spiders/Spider Webs
This song centers around public shaming of a peer for physical differences.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Multiple attractive British people make poor romantic decisions at the same time.
Love Actually
The smell of baked holiday foods triggers emotional memories because olfactory signals bypass this brain structure that most senses pass through first.
The Thalamus
This fluffy ingredient is commonly added to hot cocoa during winter.
Marshmallow
In Spain, children traditionally receive gifts from these three visitors instead of Santa.
The Three Kings
This song celebrates extreme gift-giving that would absolutely fail an expense audit.
12 Days of Christmas
A mountain-dwelling introvert is emotionally transformed after being subjected to a town-wide sing-along
The Grinch