This Is Not What Happiness Looks Like, So Please Don't Be Fooled

Happiness, a term that is nowhere closely related to the year 2020. This year has been the saddest by far -- whether it was the Australian bushfires or the COVID-19 pandemic that is testing our patience every day.

Reuters

In such a negative world when we¡¯re juggling our stressful work from home lives with the rising toll of COVID-19 in India, happiness is really hard to get. Yet we try to get some smiles and laughter by browsing on the internet, looking at a few funny cat or dog videos and survive the gruesome ordeal.

Last week, a video started spreading like wildfire on Twitter and other social media platforms. The post had a worm-like microscopic being pulling a massive huge ball which was way larger than its size. The caption for the video: ¡°A myosin protein dragging an endorphin along a filament to the inner part of the brain¡¯s parietal cortex which creates happiness. You¡¯re looking at happiness.¡±

A myoisin protein dragging an endorphin along a filament to the inner part of the brain¡¯s parietal cortex which creates happiness..

You¡¯re looking at happiness. pic.twitter.com/Rfqr5kPOlj

¡ª Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden_) August 20, 2020

This caption surely makes us feel fascinated, and on some extent, even emotional. Seeing the little guy struggle so hard, just so that we can feel happy. I wanted to learn more about it so searched about it on Google and I actually found out that this video isn¡¯t what it says it is.

As per a fact-checking website Snopes, the video that is being shared left, right and centre online isn¡¯t a myosin protein dragging endorphin to make us happy, it is in fact, kinesin protein.

The report highlights that this is, in fact, a small clip taken from a 3D simulation created by medical artist and animator John Leiber that he made in 2006, along with two Harvard scientists dubbed ¡®The Inner Life of the Cell¡¯.

Both kinesin and myosin are kinds of motor proteins which are responsible for transporting newly synthesized molecules between different regions within eukaryotic cells. While they¡¯re almost identical, kinesin differs in the way it moves, by taking long, coordinated steps, something that myosin doesn¡¯t do.

John Leiber

Moreover, the video shows that the cells are moving in the brain, but in fact, kinesin in the video (which you can watch here) is actually taking a walk in the white blood cell.

So sadly, this isn¡¯t the visual depiction of happiness. In case you wanted myosins to crawl with endorphins to the inner part of the brain¡¯s parietal cortex, browse for some funny videos on Indiatimes.com.