Curiosity Weekly - Discovery

Latest Episodes:

Earth Is Greener Than Before, Job-Matching with Your Tweets, and Why Blue Means Sad Jan 24, 2020

Show notes

Learn about how AI and Twitter could help you find the perfect job, and how the world is actually a greener place than it was 20 years ago. We’ll also answer a listener question about why we use the color “blue” to say we’re sad.

Job-Matching with Your Tweets by Kelsey Donk

Sources:

Robot career advisor: AI may soon be able to analyse your tweets to match you to a job | The Conversation — https://theconversation.com/robot-career-advisor-ai-may-soon-be-able-to-analyse-your-tweets-to-match-you-to-a-job-128777
The Vocation Map (interactive) | Marian-Andrei Rizoiu — http://www.rizoiu.eu/documents/research/resources/Vocation_Map_Interactive.html
Social media-predicted personality traits and values can help match people to their ideal jobs | PNAS December 26, 2019 116 (52) 26459-26464; first published December 16, 2019 — https://www.pnas.org/content/116/52/26459

Earth Is Greener Than Before by Kelsey Donk

Sources:

Human Activity in China and India Dominates the Greening of Earth, NASA Study Shows | NASA — https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/human-activity-in-china-and-india-dominates-the-greening-of-earth-nasa-study-shows
China and India lead in greening of the world through land-use management | Chen, C., Park, T., Wang, X. et al. China and India lead in greening of the world through land-use management. Nat Sustain 2, 122–129 (2019) doi:10.1038/s41893-019-0220-7 — https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0220-7

Story 3 by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Becky and Britni)

Sources:

Chaucer and the Country of the Stars: Poetic Uses of Astrological Imagery — https://curiosity.im/2NOyLIB
blue (adj.1) | Online Etymology Dictionary — https://www.etymonline.com/word/blue?ref=etymonline_crossreference#etymonline_v_13636
Drunk and dirty | BBC — http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/yoursay/lost_for_words/german/drunk_and_dirty.shtml
Philip, Gill. (2006). Connotative Meaning in English and Italian Colour-Word Metaphors. Metaphorik. 10. — https://www.researchgate.net/publication/44707159_Connotative_Meaning_in_English_and_Italian_Colour-Word_Metaphors

Subscribe to Curiosity Daily from Curiosity.com to learn something new every day! You can also hear Discovery’s Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer 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/earth-is-greener-than-before-job-matching-with-your-tweets-and-why-blue-means-sad

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

Most Lying Is Done by a Few People, Storing Vaccine History with Invisible Dye, and Emotion Words Vary Across Cultures Jan 23, 2020

Show notes

Learn about how most of the world’s lying comes from a small group of people; an invisible dye that stores vaccine history in the skin; and how language shows us that the ways we feel emotions are not universal.

Most Lying Is Done by a Few People by Steffie Drucker

Sources:

Men think they're better liars | EurekAlert! — https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-12/uop-mtt122019.php
Lie prevalence, lie characteristics and strategies of self-reported good liars | PLOS — https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0225566

Storing Vaccine History with Invisible Dye by Mae Rice

Sources:

Storing medical information below the skin's surface | EurekAlert! — https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-12/miot-smi121619.php
Medical history that’s skin deep | Cosmos — https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/medical-history-that-s-skin-deep
Biocompatible near-infrared quantum dots delivered to the skin by microneedle patches record vaccination | Science Translational Medicine Vol. 11, Issue 523, eaay7162 — https://stm.sciencemag.org/content/11/523/eaay7162

Emotion Words Vary Across Cultures by Kelsey Donk

Sources:

Words to express emotion vary greatly in their meanings across languages | EurekAlert! — https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-12/aaft-wte121619.php
Mapping words reveals emotional diversity | Science, 20 Dec 2019: Vol. 366, Issue 6472, pp. 1444-1445 — https://science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6472/1444
Emotion semantics show both cultural variation and universal structure | Science, 20 Dec 2019: Vol. 366, Issue 6472, pp. 1517-1522 — https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/366/6472/1517.full.pdf

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/most-lying-is-done-by-a-few-people-storing-vaccine-history-with-invisible-dye-and-emotion-words-vary-across-cultures

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

Live Longer by Appreciating Art, Betelgeuse Might Go Supernova, and Birds’ Freaky-Fast Vision Jan 22, 2020

Show notes

Learn about how being a patron of the arts could help you live longer; an upcoming supernova we may be able to see with the naked eye; and the superhuman speed of bird vision.

Live Longer by Appreciating Art by Kelsey Donk

Sources:

Engaging with the arts linked to longer life | EurekAlert! — https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-12/b-ewt121619.php
The art of life and death: 14 year follow-up analyses of associations between arts engagement and mortality in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing | BMJ 2019;367:l6377 — https://www.bmj.com/content/367/bmj.l6377

Betelgeuse Might Go Supernova by Steffie Drucker

Sources:

Just a Fainting Spell? Or Is Betelgeuse About to Blow? | The New York Times — https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/science/astronomy-supernova-betelgeuse.html
Might there soon be a supernova near Earth? | The Economist — https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/01/09/might-there-soon-be-a-supernova-near-earth
The Last Supernova: 400-Year-Old Explosion Imaged | Space.com — https://www.space.com/412-supernova-400-year-explosion-imaged.html

The Freaky-Fast Vision of Birds of Prey by Kelsey Donk

Sources:

Falcons see prey at speed of Formula 1 car | EurekAlert! — https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-12/lu-fsp122019.php
Flicker fusion threshold | Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flicker_fusion_threshold
How fast can raptors see? | Journal of Experimental Biology — https://jeb.biologists.org/content/early/2019/12/06/jeb.209031

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/live-longer-by-appreciating-art-betelgeuse-might-go-supernova-and-birds-freaky-fast-vision

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

Saving the Ozone Layer Slowed Climate Change, the Largest Lifeforms on Earth, and Tips for Avoiding Distractions at Work Jan 21, 2020

Show notes

Learn about how the 1987 Montreal Protocol inadvertently slowed global warming; where you can find giant Sequoias, the biggest lifeforms on the planet; and some pro tips from the Harvard Business Review on how to avoid distractions at work.

In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about how giant sequoias are the biggest lifeforms on the planet: https://curiosity.com/topics/giant-sequoias-are-the-biggest-lifeforms-on-the-planet-curiosity

Additional sources:

How saving the ozone layer in 1987 slowed global warming | EurekAlert! — https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-12/uons-hst120519.php
Reduction in surface climate change achieved by the 1987 Montreal Protocol | Environmental Research Letters — https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab4874
10 Quick Tips for Avoiding Distractions at Work | Harvard Business Review — https://hbr.org/2019/12/10-quick-tips-for-avoiding-distractions-at-work
Have Dovico Timesheet Bring Me to the Last View I Was In | Dovico — http://www.dovico.com/article_time_management_facts_figures.aspx

Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing! Just click or tap “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/saving-the-ozone-layer-slowed-climate-change-the-largest-lifeforms-on-earth-and-tips-for-avoiding-distractions-at-work

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

Real Effects of Paying it Forward, Gorillas Humming Food Songs, and New Crowdsourced Exoplanet Names Jan 20, 2020

Show notes

Learn about why paying it forward has very real effects; musical animals that could help us understand how speech evolved in humans; and newly announced names for exoplanets that were crowdsourced from people just like you.

Sources:

Small acts of kindness at work benefit the giver, the receiver and the whole organisation | The British Psychological Society — https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/07/04/small-acts-of-kindness-at-work-benefit-the-giver-the-receiver-and-the-whole-organisation/
Everyday prosociality in the workplace: The reinforcing benefits of giving, getting, and glimpsing. | APA PsycNET — https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-24716-001
Wild gorillas compose happy songs that they hum during meals | New Scientist — https://www.newscientist.com/article/2078781-wild-gorillas-compose-happy-songs-that-they-hum-during-meals/
Food-Associated Calling in Gorillas (Gorilla g. gorilla) in the Wild | PLOS ONE — https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0144197
100 000s of People from 112 Countries Select Names for Exoplanet Systems In Celebration of IAU’s 100th Anniversary | International Astronomical Union — https://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau1912/
Approved names | IAU100 — http://www.nameexoworlds.iau.org/final-results
Dillingham woman chosen to name star and exoplanet | Anchorage Daily News — https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/science/2019/12/18/woman-from-dillingham-names-intergalactic-star-and-planet-after-alaska-rivers/
Proposers | IAU100 — http://www.nameexoworlds.iau.org/proposers

Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing! Just click or tap “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/real-effects-of-paying-it-forward-gorillas-humming-food-songs-and-new-crowdsourced-exoplanet-names

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

Why Pets Get the Zoomies, How to Avoid Giving Up After a Mistake, and Why Vision Is Important for Babies in the Womb Jan 17, 2020

Show notes

Learn about cat and dog “zoomies” and why pets sprint around the house; how to avoid the abstinence violation effect that makes you give up after a mistake; and why vision is surprisingly important for babies in the womb.

Sources:

Viral Snow-Loving Pup Illustrates the Science of Dog "Zoomies" | Inverse — https://www.inverse.com/article/38913-dog-zoomies-science
What Actually Are the Zoomies? | MEL — https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/what-actually-are-the-zoomies
Forget Zombies. The Notification Apocalypse Is Here | Inc. — https://www.inc.com/magazine/201805/thomas-goetz/manipulation-gamification-scarcity.html?cid=hmside1
Abstinence Violation Effect (AVE) | Encyclopedia.com — https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/abstinence-violation-effect-ave
Why Falling Off the Wagon Isn't Fatal | TIME — http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1868965,00.html
Babies in the womb may see more than we thought | EurekAlert! — https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-11/uoc--bit112219.php
Gap Junction Coupling Shapes the Encoding of Light in the Developing Retina | Current Biology — https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)31365-X?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS096098221931365X%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing! Just click or tap “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/why-pets-get-the-zoomies-how-to-avoid-giving-up-after-a-mistake-and-why-vision-is-important-for-babies-in-the-womb

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

2 Forces Determine What a Group Can Accomplish (w/ Safi Bahcall) and the Taste Receptors Beyond Your Tongue Jan 16, 2020

Show notes

Learn about why your taste buds aren’t the only part of your body that help you enjoy the flavor of food. Then, learn about the two major forces that determine what a group of people can accomplish, with physicist and entrepreneur Safi Bahcall.

Additional resources from Safi Bahcall:

Pick up “Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas that Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries” on Amazon — https://amazon.com
Follow @SafiBahcall on Twitter — https://twitter.com/safibahcall
Official Website — https://www.bahcall.com/
Subscribe to the New Books Network to hear our full interview with Safi Bahcall — https://newbooksnetwork.com/

The Taste Receptors Beyond Your Tongue by Grant Currin

Sources:

Taste receptors in the gastrointestinal system | Flavour — https://flavourjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/2044-7248-4-14
Your Gut Has Taste Receptors | ScienceDaily — https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070820175426.htm
Gut feelings | Knowable Magazine — https://www.knowablemagazine.org/article/health-disease/2018/gut-feelings
T1R3 and gustducin in gut sense sugars to regulate expression of Na+-glucose cotransporter 1 | PNAS — https://www.pnas.org/content/104/38/15075

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

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/2-forces-determine-what-a-group-can-accomplish-w-safi-bahcall-and-the-taste-receptors-beyond-your-tongue

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

The 3-Encounter Rule, Why Weak Passwords Survive, and Saturn’s Rings Aren’t as Old as We Thought Jan 15, 2020

Show notes

Learn about how your weak passwords can get approved even when they shouldn’t; why Saturn’s rings might not be as old as we thought; and how much time you should spend with someone to know if you really enjoy their company.

Sources:

The Top 100 Worst Passwords of 2019 | SplashData — https://www.teamsid.com/100-50-worst-passwords-2019/
'Inconsistent and misleading' password meters could increase risk of cyber attacks | EurekAlert! — https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-12/uop-am121819.php
2019 Data Breach Investigations Report | Verizon — https://enterprise.verizon.com/resources/reports/dbir/
Password meters: inaccurate advice offered inconsistently? | Computer Fraud & Security, Volume 2019, Issue 11, November 2019 — https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1361372319301162?via%3Dihub
Ancestor of Humans Lived With Dinosaurs | Seeker — https://www.seeker.com/ancestor-of-humans-lived-with-dinosaurs-1768223125.html
Are Saturn’s Rings Really as Young as the Dinosaurs? | Quanta Magazine — https://www.quantamagazine.org/are-saturns-rings-really-as-young-as-the-dinosaurs-20191121/
The origin of Saturn's rings and moons | Science — https://science.sciencemag.org/content/364/6445/1028
Measurement and implications of Saturn’s gravity field and ring mass | Science — https://science.sciencemag.org/content/364/6445/eaat2965
The 3-Encounter Rule | The Art of Manliness — https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/the-3-encounter-rule/
Relational mate value: Consensus and uniqueness in romantic evaluations. | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology — https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-08116-001
Relational Mate Value: Consensus and Uniqueness in Romantic Evaluations | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (PDF) — https://static1.squarespace.com/static/504114b1e4b0b97fe5a520af/t/536558a7e4b00d4ffa0c60a0/1399150759190/EastwickHunt2014JPSP.pdf

Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing! Just click or tap “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/the-3-encounter-rule-why-weak-passwords-survive-and-saturns-rings-arent-as-old-as-we-thought

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

Positive vs. Negative Goal-Setting, Kids Read More with Dogs, and Why Teleportation Is (Probably) Impossible Jan 14, 2020

Show notes

Learn about why we’ll probably never be able to teleport; how to set “approach goals” so you’re more likely to achieve your dreams; and how dogs can help improve kids’ reading skills.

In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about why we'll (probably) never be able to teleport: https://curiosity.com/topics/why-well-probably-never-be-able-to-teleport-curiosity

Additional sources:

Goal-Setting Secrets | Positive Psychology News — https://positivepsychologynews.com/news/bridget-grenville-cleave/2012013120696
How to Overcome Your Fear of Failure | Harvard Business Review — https://hbr.org/2018/12/how-to-overcome-your-fear-of-failure
Approach and Avoidance Social Motives and Goals | University of California, Los Angeles — http://www.coachingtowardhappiness.com/pdf/ApproachAndAvoidanceSocialMotives.pdf
New research demonstrates dogs promote page turning | EurekAlert! — https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-12/uobc-usd112719.php
Turning the Page for Spot: The Potential of Therapy Dogs to Support Reading Motivation Among Young Children | Anthrozoös: A multidisciplinary journal of the interactions of people and animals, Volume 32, 2019 - Issue 5 — https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08927936.2019.1645511

Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing! Just click or tap “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/positive-vs-negative-goal-setting-kids-read-more-with-dogs-and-why-teleportation-is-probably-impossible

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

What if Earth Stopped Turning, Why We Blurt Things Out, and the Little Black Dots on Your Windshield Jan 13, 2020

Show notes

Learn about why we blurt things out at inappropriate times; what would happen if Earth stopped turning; and what those little black dots are around your windshield.

In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes:

Why We Blurt Things Out, According to Research — https://curiosity.com/topics/why-we-blurt-things-out-according-to-research-curiosity
What If Earth Stopped Turning? — https://curiosity.com/topics/what-if-earth-stopped-turning-curiosity

Additional sources:

Here's What Those Little Dots Are On The Edges Of Your Car Windows | Jalopnik — https://jalopnik.com/heres-what-those-little-dots-are-on-the-edges-of-your-c-1791075995
The Purpose of the Frit (Black Band) and Spots on Windshield | DeDona Tint & Sound — https://www.dedona.com/the-purpose-of-the-frit-black-band-and-spots-on-windshield/
What is That Black Band Around Your Windshield? | Taylor Auto Glass — https://www.taylorautoglass.com/black-dots-windshield/

Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing! Just click or tap “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/what-if-earth-stopped-turning-why-we-blurt-things-out-and-the-little-black-dots-on-your-windshield

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