Curiosity Weekly - Discovery

Latest Episodes:

Twin Trauma, Bee Mystery, Sequence Bias Apr 19, 2024

Show notes

Today, you’ll learn about a compelling study on twins and the nature versus nurture debate, how scientists solved a 60-year-old mystery about bees, and why you shouldn’t go last.

Twin Trauma

“One Twin Was Hurt, the Other Was Not. Their Adult Mental Health Diverged.” by Ellen Barry. 2024.
“Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adult Mental Health Outcomes.” by Hilda Bjork Danielsdottir, et al. 2024.
“Recognizing the importance of childhood maltreatment as a critical factor in psychiatric diagnoses, treatment, research, prevention, and education.” by Martin H. Teicher, et al. 2022.
“Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults.” by Vincent J. Felitti MD, FACP, et al. 1998.

Bee Mystery

“A decades-old mystery has been solved with the help of newfound bee species.” by Darren Incorvaia. 2024.
“Canopy specialist Hylaeus bees highlight sampling biases and resolve Michener’s mystery.” by James B. Dorey, et al.

Sequence Bias

“A new study finds that the later we meet someone in a sequence, the more negatively we describe them.” by Douglas Heingartner. 2024.
“Differentiation in social perception: Why later-encountered individuals are described more negatively.” by Alex Koch, et al. 2024.

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Brewer’s Yeast, Constructed Languages, Memory Direction Apr 18, 2024

Show notes

Today, you’ll learn about a new plan to use waste from beer brewing to clean metal out of our water supply, a study that puts languages like Orc and Klingon to the test, and a discovery about the direction our memories travel in our brains.

Brewer’s Yeast

“The same beer waste that gives us Vegemite could help us recycle metal waste.” n.a. 2024.
“Spent brewer’s yeast as a selective biosorbent for metal recovery from polymetallic waste streams.” by Anna Sieber, et al. 2024.
“What Is E-Waste Recycling and How Is it Done?” by Tin Lok Wu. 2023.

Constructed Languages

“From Star Trek’s Klingon to Tolkien’s Orkish: Unraveling the auditory aesthetics of constructed languages.” by Eric W. Dolan. 2024.
“Does Orkish Sound Evil? Perception of Fantasy Languages and Their Phonetic and Phonological Characteristics.” by Christine Mooshammer, et al. 2024.

Memory Direction

“Brain Waves Travel in One Direction When Memories Are Made and the Opposite When Recalled.” by Grant Currin. 2024.
“Theta and Alpha Oscillations Are Traveling Waves in the Human Neocortex.” by Honghui Zhang, et al. 2018.
“The direction of theta and alpha travelling waves modulates human memory processing.” by Uma R. Mohan, et al. 2024.

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Frostbite Treatment, Blood in Space, Small Classes Apr 17, 2024

Show notes

Today, you’ll learn about a medication that can successfully treat frostbite, the study of bloodsplatter in space, and a surprising finding about the supposed benefits of small class sizes.

Frostbite Treatment

“The U.S. now has a drug for severe frostbite. How does it work?” by Saugat Bolakhe. 2024.
“Frostbite.” NIH. 2023.
“FDA Approves First Medication to Treat Severe Frostbite.” FDA. 2024.

Blood in Space

“Bloodstain pattern dynamics in microgravity: Observations of a pilot study in the next frontier of forensic science.” by Zack Kowalske, et al. 2024.
“How Did NASA’S ‘Vomit Comet’ Get Its Name? A Brief History.” GoZeroG. 2023.

Small Classes

“Small Class Sizes Not Better for Pupils’ Grades or Resilience, Says Study.” Taylor & Francis. 2024.
“Typologies of secondary school student academic resilience in science with classroom and school context predictors.” by Tao Jiang, et al. 2024.

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Printed Skin, Mammoth De-Extinction, Learning Happiness Apr 12, 2024

Show notes

Today, you’ll learn about a skin printer that could lead to scar-free surgeries, the possibility of bringing the wooly mammoth back to life, and how to work at being happy.

Printed Skin

“Scar-free surgery prints living skin (and maybe hair) right into wounds.” by Paul McClure. 2024.
“New bioink promotes growth & regeneration of 3D-printed muscle tissue.” by Paul McClure. 2023.

Mammoth De-Extinction

“Wooly mammoth de-extinction inches closer after elephant stem cell breakthrough.” by Sascha Pare. 2024.
“Scientists Are Reincarnating the Woolly Mammoth to Return in 4 Years.” by Tim Newcomb. 2023.
“Why Are Scientists Trying to Bring Back the Woolly Mammoth?” by Teresa Ehrlich. 2022.

Learning Happiness

“Happiness can be learnt, but we have to work at it - study finds.” University of Bristol. 2024.
“Unit information: Science of Happiness.” University of Bristol. Course catalog.
“The Science of Well-Being.” Coursera Course.
“The Science of Happiness Course.” Greater Good Science Center. N.d.
“Managing Happiness.” Harvard. Ongoing.

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Glacier Curtain, Good Vibrations, PFAS Water Detox Apr 11, 2024

Show notes

Today, you’ll learn about a radical idea for installing a curtain around a massive ice sheet, how positive vibrations might help people with social anxiety, and new tech that could remove dangerous forever chemicals from our environment.

Glacier Curtain

“Scientists want to build 62-mile-long curtains around the ‘doomsday glacier’ for a $50 billion Hail Mary to save it.” by Ellyn Lapointe. 2024.
“Thwaites Glacier Facts.” International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. N.d.
“How We Came to Know and Fear the Doomsday Glacier.” by Marissa Grunes. 2023.

Good Vibrations

“Good vibrations could hold answer to calming social anxiety.” University of Glasgow. 2024.
“Brain mechanisms of social anxiety disorder.” by D J Nutt, et al. 1998.
“Social Anxiety Disorder.” NIH. n.d.

PFAS Water Detox

“Harmful ‘forever chemicals’ removed from water with new electrocatalysis method.” by Luke Auburn. 2024.
“PFAS Explained.” EPA. n.d.
“What are PFAS?” ASTDR. 2024.

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Chernobyl Worms, Barnacle Proteins, Foot-Eye Coordination Apr 10, 2024

Show notes

Today, you’ll learn about a surprising discovery inside the worms of Chernobyl, a way to protect metals at sea inspired by barnacles, and foot-eye coordination.

Chernobyl Worms

“Radiation-proof Chernobyl worms offer answers about cancer.” by Paul McClure. 2024.
“Chernobyl Accident 1986.” n.a. 2022.
“Environmental radiation exposure at Chornobyl has not systematically affected the genomes or chemical mutagen tolerance phenotypes of local worms.” by Sophia C. Tintori, et al. 2024.

Barnacle Proteins

“Barnacle proteins protect metals from corrosion in salt water.” by Prachi Patel. 2024.
“How Does Salt Water Rust Metals?” By Claire Gillespie. 2018.
“What are barnacles?” NOAA. 2023.

Foot-Eye Coordination

“Foot-eye coordination: how our vision changes in rhythm with our walking.” EurekAlert! 2024.
“Neuroscience research shows the brain is strobing, not constant.” n.a. 2017.

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Eclipse 2024, Boiling Microplastics, Self-Control Apr 05, 2024

Show notes

Today, you’ll learn about the magic of the upcoming solar eclipse, a simple way to reduce the amount of microplastics in your drinking water, and the connection between self-control and the perception of power.

Livestream of the total solar eclipse on Discovery’s YouTube channel on April 8 at 2:15pm ET here!

Eclipse 2024

“What this solar eclipse can teach us about our planet and beyond.” by Kasha Patel. 2024.
“Eclipse Soundscapes Project.” 2024.
“Globe Observer: Eclipse.” 2024.
“Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project Objectives.” 2024.

Boiling Microplastics

“Concerned About Microplastics in Your Water? Consider Boiling It First.” by Alexander Beadle. 2024.
“Microplastics in freshwaters and drink water: Critical review and assessment of data quality.” by Albert A. Koelmans, et al. 2019.
“The Impact of Microplastics on the Gut Microbiome and Health.” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2023.
“Drinking Boiled Tap Water Reduces Human Intake of Nanoplastics and Microplastics.” by Zimin Yu, et al. 2024.

Self-Control

“Having Self-Control Leads to Power.” by Jenn Riggle. 2024.
“Self-control signals and affords power.” by Wu, S. 2024.

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Geoengineering, Artificial Sweeteners, Butterfly Mimicry Apr 04, 2024

Show notes

Today, you’ll learn about a potentially risky new idea to geoengineer our way out of extreme heat, bad news for fans of artificially sweetened drinks, and an incredible new discovery about butterflies.

Geoengineering

“Dehydrate the stratosphere to curb global warming? Scientists float new risky strategy.” by Paul Voosen. 2024.
“Contributions of Stratospheric Water Vapor to Decadal Changes in the Rate of Global Warming.” by Susan Solomon, et al. 2010.
“Considering intentional stratospheric dehydration for climate benefits.” by Joshua P. Schwarz. 2024.

Artificial Sweeteners

“Artificially sweetened drinks linked to risk of irregular heartbeat, study finds.” by Erum Salam. 2024.
“Sweetened Beverages, GEnetic Susceptibility, and Incident Atrial Fibrillation: A Prospective Cohort Study.” by Ying Sun, et al. 2024.
“Atrial Fibrillation.” CDC. 2022.

Butterfly Mimicry

“Butterflies mimic each other’s flight behaviour to avoid predators.” University of York. 2024.
“Butterfly Mimicry.” by Karin Kjernsmo. 2021.
“Mimicry in viceroy butterflies is dependent on abundance of the model queen butterfly.” by Kathleen L. Prudic, et al. 2019.

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Shark Hunter, Asbestos Cancer Treatment, Creative Flow Apr 03, 2024

Show notes

Today, you’ll learn about an alarming new killer behavior in orcas, a potential breakthrough for patients with one of the deadliest cancers, and the brain science behind flow.

Shark Hunter

“Orcas Demonstrating They No Longer Need to Hunt in Packs to Take Down the Great White Shark.” Taylor & Francis. 2024.
“Further insights into killer whales Orcinus orca preying on white sharks Carcharodon carcharias in South Africa.” by A Towner, et al. 2024.
“Top 10 Facts About Orcas.” WWF. 2023.

Asbestos Cancer Treatment

“Drug offers ‘wonderful’ breakthrough in treatment of asbestos-linked cancer.” by Andrew Gregory. 2024.
“Key Statistics About Malignant Mesothelioma.” American Cancer Society. 2019.
“Pegargiminase Plus First-Line Chemotherapy in Patients With Nonepithelioid Pleural Mesothelioma.” by Peter W. Szlosarek, MD, PhD. et al. 2024.

Creative Flow

“Your brain in the zone: A new neuroimaging study reveals how the brain achieves a creative flow state.” EurekAlert! 2024.
“Creative flow as optimized processing: Evidence from brain oscillations during jazz improvisations by expert and non-expert musicians.” by David Rosen, et al. 2024.

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Human Diversity, Ancient Tool Use, Deep Sea Discoveries Mar 29, 2024

Show notes

Happy 300 episodes to our Curiosity Daily listeners! Today, you’ll learn about a massive database of human genomes that’s uncovering major new genetic discoveries, the scientists building stone age tools from scratch… and then putting them to work, and a treasure trove of deep sea discoveries in an underwater mountain range.

Human Diversity

“Ambitious survey of human diversity yields millions of undiscovered genetic variants.” by Max Kozlov. 2024.
“NIH’s All of Us Research Program Releases First Genomic Dataset of Nearly 100,000 Whole Genome Sequences.” NIH. 2022.
“About.” NIH. 2021.

Ancient Tool Use

“Scientists try out stone age tools to understand how they were used.” EurekAlert! 2024.
“Experiments with replicas of Early Upper Paleolithic edge-ground stone axes and adzes provide criteria for identifying tool functions.” by Akira Iwase, et al. 2024.

Deep Sea Discoveries

“See the strange new species discovered near Chile - with the help of a deep-diving sea robot.” by Laura Baisas. 2024.
“Scientists Confirm Underwater Mountains Harbor Abundant Life Off Chile’s Coast.” Schmidt Ocean Institute. 2024.
“How much of the ocean has been explored?” NOAA. n.d.

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