Curiosity Weekly - Discovery

Latest Episodes:

Measuring the Deadliness of Viruses (Like Coronavirus), Why We Do the Potty Dance, and Depression’s Cousin “Acedia” Feb 07, 2020

Show notes

Learn about how scientists measure the contagiousness and deadliness of diseases like coronavirus; the history of acedia, an emotion that is similar to (but distinct from) depression; and why it helps to do a “potty dance” when you really have to go to the bathroom.

Measuring the Deadliness of Viruses (Like Coronavirus) by Ashley Hamer

McCandless, D. (2018, October). The MicrobeScope – Infectious Diseases in Context — Information is Beautiful. https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/the-microbescope-infectious-diseases-in-context/
Vanessa Bates Ramirez. (2014, October 28). What Is R0?: Gauging Contagious Infections. Healthline; Healthline Media. https://www.healthline.com/health/r-nought-reproduction-number
Vogel, Gretchen (2014, September 8). How deadly is Ebola? Statistical challenges may be inflating survival rate. Science | AAAS. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/09/how-deadly-ebola-statistical-challenges-may-be-inflating-survival-rate
How Bad Will the Coronavirus Outbreak Get? Here Are 6 Key Factors. (2020, January 31). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/world/asia/china-coronavirus-contain.html

Depression’s Cousin “Acedia” by Mae Rice

You Might Not Actually Be Struggling With Depression | HeartSupport https://blog.heartsupport.com/you-might-not-actually-be-struggling-with-depression-8ce57ab41f66
Before Sloth Meant Laziness, It Was the Spiritual Sin of Acedia | Atlas Obscura https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/desert-fathers-sins-acedia-sloth
Do You Have Any of These 3 Signs of Acedia? | National Catholic Register http://www.ncregister.com/blog/dlittle/do-you-have-any-of-these-3-signs-of-acedia
Kathleen Norris battles ‘the demon of acedia’ | Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-kathleen-norris21-2008sep21-story.html
Depression And Acedia: The Mood And The Spirit | PsyWeb http://www.psyweb.com/articles/depression/depression-and-acedia-the-mood-and-the-spirit/
A Need For Spiritual Connection | Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/spiritual-wisdom-secular-times/201608/need-spiritual-connection

Why We Do the Potty Dance by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Stewart C.)

Ashish. (2015, December 29). Why Do We “Dance” When We Really Need to Urinate? » Science ABC. https://www.scienceabc.com/humans/why-do-we-dance-when-we-really-need-to-urinate.html
Displacement activity | animal behaviour | Britannica. (2020). In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/displacement-activity
Farricelli, A. (2013, May 3). Understanding Dog Displacement Behaviors. PetHelpful; PetHelpful. https://pethelpful.com/dogs/Understanding-Dog-Dispacement-Behavior
UConn Today. (2016, November 30). Mind Over Bladder: The Brain-Organ Connection. UConn Today. https://today.uconn.edu/2016/11/mind-bladder-research-explores-brain-organ-connection
Angle, S. (2016, April 21). Why Do You Have to Pee the Closer You Get to a Bathroom? Shape. https://www.shape.com/lifestyle/mind-and-body/why-do-you-have-pee-closer-you-get-bathroom

Subscribe to Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. You can also listen to our podcast as part of your Alexa Flash Briefing; Amazon smart speakers users, click/tap “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/measuring-the-deadliness-of-viruses-like-coronavirus-why-we-do-the-potty-dance-and-depressions-cousin-acedia

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The Invention of GPS (w/ Hugo Fruehauf) and Planning Cheat Days to Achieve Your Goals Feb 06, 2020

Show notes

Hugo Fruehauf, one of the inventors of GPS and a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, tells the surprising story of how GPS was invented. Plus: learn about how planning cheat days could make your next goal easier to achieve.

Planning Cheat Days to Achieve Your Goals by Mae Rice

Planned "Cheat Days" Can Help You Achieve Your Goals, According To New Study | Bustle https://www.bustle.com/articles/155981-planned-cheat-days-can-help-you-achieve-your-goals-according-to-new-study
How To Achieve Your New Year’s Resolutions, According To Psychology | Research Digest https://digest.bps.org.uk/2020/01/13/how-to-achieve-your-new-years-resolutions-according-to-psychology/
How cheating can help you reach your goals | BBC https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20180216-yes-cheat-a-tiny-bit-on-those-goals
Coelho do Vale, R., Pieters, R. and Zeelenberg, M. (2016), The benefits of behaving badly on occasion: Successful regulation by planned hedonic deviations. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 26: 17-28. doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2015.05.001 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1016/j.jcps.2015.05.001
Why 80 Percent of New Year's Resolutions Fail | U.S. News https://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/articles/2015-12-29/why-80-percent-of-new-years-resolutions-fail

Additional resources from Hugo Fruehauf:

The Global Positioning System. (2019). Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. https://qeprize.org/winners/the-global-positioning-system
Elizabeth, Q. (2020). The QEPrize Judges introduce GPS [YouTube Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CH_fmO-QO8&feature=youtu.be
Hugo Fruehauf. (2019). Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. https://qeprize.org/winners/hugo-fruehauf
Cozzens, T. (2019, December 3). GPS pioneers honored with Queen’s award at Buckingham Palace - GPS World. GPS World. https://www.gpsworld.com/gps-pioneers-honored-with-queens-award-at-buckingham-palace/
Hugo Fruehauf Official Website http://hugofruehauf.com/
Space weather effects on Satellite Communications :: Space Weather Center. (2020). Rra.Go.Kr. https://spaceweather.rra.go.kr/effect/english/03_07

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/the-invention-of-gps-w-hugo-fruehauf-and-planning-cheat-days-to-achieve-your-goals

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Criminal Profiling Doesn’t Work, Exoplanets’ Magma Oceans Eat Their Skies, and Superhuman Red Blood Cells for Drug Delivery Feb 05, 2020

Show notes

Learn about why criminal profiling doesn’t seem to work in real life; planets with oceans of molten rock that basically eat the sky; and superhuman red blood cells that could be used to deliver life-saving drugs.

Criminal Profiling Probably Doesn’t Work by Kelsey Donk

MacMillan, T. (2017, October 20). Can Criminal Profilers Really Get Inside the Head of a Killer? Vulture; Vulture. https://www.vulture.com/2017/10/mindhunter-criminal-profiling-really-work-like-this.html
Matthews, D. (2018, November 12). Criminal Minds, Mindhunter: criminal profiling doesn’t work. Vox; Vox. https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/12/18044688/criminal-profilers-mindhunter-hannibal-criminal-minds
Gladwell, M. (2007, November 4). Dangerous Minds. The New Yorker; The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/11/12/dangerous-minds
Snook, B., Cullen, R. M., Bennell, C., Taylor, P. J., & Gendreau, P. (2008). The Criminal Profiling Illusion. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 35(10), 1257–1276. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854808321528
Snook, B., Eastwood, J., Gendreau, P., Goggin, C., & Cullen, R. M. (2007). Taking Stock of Criminal Profiling. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34(4), 437–453. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854806296925

Some Exoplanets’ Magma Oceans Eat Their Skies by Grant Currin

Mission overview. (2011). NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/overview/index.html
Lerner-Chicago, L. (2019, December 27). Exoplanets with magma oceans may “eat” their own skies - Futurity. Futurity. https://www.futurity.org/exoplanets-magma-oceans-2241842/
Kite, E. S., Bruce Fegley Jr., Schaefer, L., & Ford, E. B. (2019). Superabundance of Exoplanet Sub-Neptunes Explained by Fugacity Crisis. The Astrophysical Journal, 887(2), L33. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ab59d9 / https://arxiv.org/pdf/1912.02701.pdf

Superhuman Red Blood Cells for Drug Delivery by Cameron Duke

Special delivery: McMaster physicists design ‘super-human’ red blood cells to deliver drugs to specific targets within the body. (2020). Mcmaster.Ca. https://brighterworld.mcmaster.ca/articles/special-delivery-mcmaster-physicists-design-super-human-red-blood-cells-to-deliver-drugs-to-specific-targets-within-the-body/
Himbert, S., Blacker, M. J., Kihm, A., Pauli, Q., Khondker, A., Yang, K., Sinjari, S., Johnson, M., Juhasz, J., Wagner, C., Stöver, H. D. H., & Rheinstädter, M. C. (2020). Hybrid Erythrocyte Liposomes: Functionalized Red Blood Cell Membranes for Molecule Encapsulation. Advanced Biosystems, 1900185. https://doi.org/10.1002/adbi.201900185

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/criminal-profiling-doesnt-work-exoplanets-magma-oceans-eat-their-skies-and-superhuman-red-blood-cells-for-drug-delivery

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The 13 Emotions Music Evokes, Surprising Things Pregnancy Does to the Body, and Solving the Tiny T. Rex Mystery Feb 04, 2020

Show notes

Learn about the 13 categories of emotions that music makes you feel; how scientists solved the mystery of two strangely small tyrannosaurus rex fossils; and surprising things that happen to a pregnant person’s body.

Research Suggests That Music Evokes 13 Key Emotions by Kelsey Donk

Anwar, Y. (2020, January 6). Ooh là là! Music evokes at least 13 emotions. Scientists have mapped them. Berkeley News. https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/01/06/music-evokes-13-emotions/
Noonan, D. (2020, January 6). Is a Sad Song Sad for Everyone? Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-a-sad-song-sad-for-everyone/
Cowen, A. S., Fang, X., Sauter, D., & Keltner, D. (2020). What music makes us feel: At least 13 dimensions organize subjective experiences associated with music across different cultures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(4), 1924–1934. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1910704117

Two Tiny T-Rexes Turned Out to Be Teenagers by Mae Rice

Secrets behind T. rex’s bone crushing bites: T. rex could crush with 8,000 pound bite forces. (2017). ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170517090520.htm
Researchers learn more about teen-age T.Rex. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/osuc-rlm122019.php
Woodward, H. N., Tremaine, K., Williams, S. A., Zanno, L. E., Horner, J. R., & Myhrvold, N. (2020). Growing up Tyrannosaurus rex: Osteohistology refutes the pygmy “Nanotyrannus” and supports ontogenetic niche partitioning in juvenile Tyrannosaurus. Science Advances, 6(1), eaax6250. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax6250

Surprising Things Pregnancy Does to the Body by Kelsey Donk

Nierenberg, C. (2015, May 19). Body Changes During Pregnancy. Livescience.Com; Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/50877-regnancy-body-changes.html
Catriona Harvey-Jenner. (2017, April 12). 10 weird things you didn’t realise happen to your body during pregnancy. Cosmopolitan; Cosmopolitan. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/body/health/a9266776/weird-things-happen-to-body-during-pregnancy/
Cari Wira Dineen. (2016, May 4). Crazy Ways Your Body Changes During Pregnancy. Parents; Parents. https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/my-body/changing/crazy-ways-your-body-changes-during-pregnancy/

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/the-13-emotions-music-evokes-surprising-things-pregnancy-does-to-the-body-and-solving-the-tiny-t-rex-mystery

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Your Romantic Relationships Are All Similar, Why Cuttlefish Wore 3-D Glasses, and the Oldest Material on Earth Feb 03, 2020

Show notes

Learn about why your next relationship will probably be like your last one; what scientists learned by studying the oldest material on Earth; and what researchers learned when they had cuttlefish wear 3-D glasses.

Why Your Next Relationship Will Probably Be Like Your Last by Kelsey Donk

Changing partners doesn’t change relationship dynamics, study shows. (2019). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-08/uoa-cpd082719.php
Johnson, M. D., & Neyer, F. J. (2019). (Eventual) stability and change across partnerships. Journal of Family Psychology, 33(6), 711–721. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000523

Scientist Discovered the Oldest Material on Earth by Grant Currin

WMAP- Life and Death of Stars. (2010). Nasa.Gov. https://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/rel_stars.html
Meteorite contains the oldest material on Earth: 7-billion-year-old stardust. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/fm-mct010820.php
This ancient stardust is the oldest ever to be examined in a lab. (2020, January 13). Science News. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ancient-meteorite-stardust-oldest-ever-examined-lab
7 billion-year-old stardust is the oldest stuff on Earth. (2020, January 13). The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2020/01/13/seven-billion-year-old-stardust-is-oldest-stuff-earth/
Heck, P. R., Greer, J., Kööp, L., Trappitsch, R., Gyngard, F., Busemann, H., Maden, C., Ávila, J. N., Davis, A. M., & Wieler, R. (2020). Lifetimes of interstellar dust from cosmic ray exposure ages of presolar silicon carbide. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(4), 1884–1889. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904573117

Why Scientists Put Cuttlefish in 3-D Glasses by Grant Currin

Yes, This Cuttlefish Is Wearing 3-D Glasses. (2020, January 8). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/08/science/3d-glasses-cuttlefish.html
Cuttlefish use depth perception similar to vertebrate vision when hunting prey. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/aaft-cud010620.php

Follow Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. Plus: check out Ashley's other podcast, Taboo Science — the podcast that answers the questions you're not allowed to ask — at https://www.tabooscience.show/

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/your-romantic-relationships-are-all-similar-why-cuttlefish-wore-3-d-glasses-and-the-oldest-material-on-earth

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Why Deadhead Logs Are So Rare and Valuable (w/ Kevin O’Connor) and Why Traveling Makes You Tired Jan 31, 2020

Show notes

Learn about why deadhead logs so rare and valuable, people actually risk their lives looking for them, from author and TV host Kevin O’Connor. Then, we’ll answer a listener question about why you feel tired after you take a long trip.

Additional resources from This Old House host Kevin O’Connor:

From This Old House, Clearstory is a podcast that sheds light on the surprising stories behind our homes — https://www.thisoldhouse.com/clearstory
More about This Old House — https://www.thisoldhouse.com/
Follow @KevinOConnorTOH on Twitter — https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorTOH
Follow @ThisOldHouse on Twitter — https://twitter.com/ThisOldHouse
This Old House on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/user/thisoldhouse

Why Traveling Makes You Tired by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Samuel in London)

University of Tsukuba. "Why do we fall asleep when bored?." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 29 September 2017. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170929093400.htm
Snooze mobiles: how vibrations in cars make drivers sleepy | RMIT University https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/all-news/2018/jul/vibrations-cars-drivers-sleepy
Lawrence E. Armstrong, Matthew S. Ganio, Douglas J. Casa, Elaine C. Lee, Brendon P. McDermott, Jennifer F. Klau, Liliana Jimenez, Laurent Le Bellego, Emmanuel Chevillotte, Harris R. Lieberman, Mild Dehydration Affects Mood in Healthy Young Women, The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 142, Issue 2, February 2012, Pages 382–388, https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.111.142000

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/why-deadhead-logs-are-so-rare-and-valuable-w-kevin-oconnor-and-why-traveling-makes-you-tired

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The Invention of the Two-by-Four (w/ Kevin O’Connor) and Common Mistakes You Make in the Shower Jan 30, 2020

Show notes

Learn about common mistakes people make in the shower. Then, learn about the history and science of the two-by-four from author Kevin O’Connor, host of the home renovation television series This Old House.

5 Common Mistakes People Make In The Shower by Anna Todd

http://www.curiosity.com/topics/5-common-mistakes-people-make-in-the-shower-curiosity

Additional resources from This Old House host Kevin O’Connor:

From This Old House, Clearstory is a podcast that sheds light on the surprising stories behind our homes — https://www.thisoldhouse.com/clearstory
More about This Old House — https://www.thisoldhouse.com/
Follow @KevinOConnorTOH on Twitter — https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorTOH
Follow @ThisOldHouse on Twitter — https://twitter.com/ThisOldHouse
This Old House on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/user/thisoldhouse

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/the-invention-of-the-two-by-four-w-kevin-oconnor-and-common-mistakes-you-make-in-the-shower

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why Overheard Phone Conversations Are So Distracting, How Big Black Holes Get, and Why Anesthesia Is Risky on Marijuana Jan 29, 2020

Show notes

Learn about why an overheard phone conversation is so distracting; how big or small a black hole can get; and why you should definitely tell your anesthesiologist if you smoke marijuana.

Why an Overheard Phone Conversation Is so Incredibly Distracting by Anna Todd

https://curiosity.com/topics/why-an-overheard-phone-conversation-is-so-incredibly-distracting-curiosity

How Big (or Small) Can a Black Hole Get? by Matthew Francis

https://curiosity.com/topics/how-big-or-small-can-a-black-hole-get-curiosity

Why You Should Definitely Tell Your Anesthesiologist If You Smoke Marijuana by Ashley Hamer

https://curiosity.com/topics/why-you-should-definitely-tell-your-anesthesiologist-if-you-smoke-marijuana-curiosity

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/why-overheard-phone-conversations-are-so-distracting-how-big-black-holes-get-and-why-anesthesia-is-risky-on-marijuana

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You Learn Better from Success than Failure, Ravens Plan Ahead, and Absolute Zero Is Impossible Jan 28, 2020

Show notes

Learn about why we actually learn better from success than failure; why ravens are so smart, they’re making us re-think the way brains work; and why reaching a temperature of absolute zero is absolutely impossible.

You Learn Better from Success than Failure by Kelsey Donk

Do We Really Learn From Our Mistakes? | Association for Psychological Science — https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/minds-business/do-we-really-learn-from-our-mistakes.html
Eskreis-Winkler, L., & Fishbach, A. (2019). Not Learning From Failure—the Greatest Failure of All. Psychological Science, 30(12), 1733–1744. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619881133

Ravens Can Plan Ahead Just As Well As Apes Can by Ashley Hamer

https://curiosity.com/topics/ravens-can-plan-ahead-just-as-well-as-apes-can-curiosity

It's Finally Settled: Absolute Zero Is Impossible by Joanie Faletto

https://curiosity.com/topics/its-finally-settled-absolute-zero-is-impossible-curiosity

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/you-learn-better-from-success-than-failure-ravens-plan-ahead-and-absolute-zero-is-impossible

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Think of Sadness as a Person, Neanderthals Using Aspirin, and Cow Voices Jan 27, 2020

Show notes

Learn about a trick for conquering sadness by thinking of it as a person; how Neanderthals may have releived their pain with a familiar drug; and the surprising science of how cows each use a unique “voice” to talk to each other.

Think of Sadness as a Person by Kelsey Donk

How can you conquer ordinary, everyday sadness? Think of it as a person | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/dec/08/how-can-you-conquer-ordinary-everyday-sadness-think-of-it-as-a-person
Chen, F., Chen, R.P. and Yang, L. (2020), When Sadness Comes Alive, Will It Be Less Painful? The Effects of Anthropomorphic Thinking on Sadness Regulation and Consumption. J Consum Psychol. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jcpy.1137

Neanderthals Treated Pain With A Form Of Aspirin by Ashley Hamer https://curiosity.com/topics/neanderthals-treated-pain-with-a-form-of-aspirin-curiosity

Cow Voices by Kelsey Donk

Stand out from the herd: How cows commoonicate through their lives | EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-12/uos-sof121719.php
Green, A., Clark, C., Favaro, L. et al. Vocal individuality of Holstein-Friesian cattle is maintained across putatively positive and negative farming contexts. Sci Rep 9, 18468 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-54968-4

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/think-of-sadness-as-a-person-neanderthals-using-aspirin-and-cow-voices

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