“C’mon, guys … it’s a nasal microvascular thing!” We’re all familiar with the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: an outcast, ridiculed for his glowing nose, chosen by Santa himself to guide the iconic sleigh across the world and deliver presents to millions of children. It’s an uplifting, Christmas-time staple. But why was Rudolph’s nose so red in the first place? According to handful of Dutch scientists, he was just overheated. The group published a report on Tuesday, appropriately titled “Microcirculatory investigations of nasal mucosa in reindeer Rangifer tarandus (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Cervidae): Rudolph’s nose was overheated,” that claims the reindeer’s illuminating schnoz was the result of hyperthermia.
