Curiosity Weekly - Discovery

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Liars May Imitate Your Body Language Mar 16, 2021

Show notes

Learn about why liars may mimic your body language; why “tend and befriend” is an alternative response to “fight or flight”; and why lakes freeze from the top down, not the bottom up.

Liars imitate the body language of the person they're lying to by Kelsey Donk

Lesté-Lasserre, C. (2020). Lying men mimic the body language of other men they are talking to. New Scientist. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2264607-lying-men-mimic-the-body-language-of-other-men-they-are-talking-to/
A liar and a copycat: nonverbal coordination increases with lie difficulty | Royal Society Open Science. (2021). Royal Society Open Science. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.200839#d1e417

Instead of "Fight or Flight," Women Might "Tend and Befriend" by Reuben Westmaas

How to Transform Stress into Courage and Connection. (2015). Greater Good. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_transform_stress_courage_connection
Lebo, H. (2000, May 17). UCLA Researchers Identify Key Biobehavioral Pattern Used by Women to Manage Stress. UCLA Newsroom. https://web.archive.org/web/20180828074327/http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/UCLA-Researchers-Identify-Key-Biobehavioral-1478
Taylor, S. E. (2012). Tend and befriend theory. In P. A. M. Van Lange, A. W. Kruglanski, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (p. 32–49). Sage Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446249215.n3

Why does a lake freeze from the top down, and not the bottom up? by Cameron Duke

Why Does Water Freeze from the Top Down? | Britannica. (2021). In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/story/why-does-water-freeze-from-the-top-down
Stewart, R. H. (2008). Introduction to physical oceanography. Texas A & M University.
US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2021). What is a thermocline? Noaa.gov. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/thermocline.html

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Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/liars-may-imitate-your-body-language

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Time Management Can Make You Happier Mar 15, 2021

Show notes

Learn about why time management can make you happier; how catnip can protect your cat from mosquitoes; and 3 ways your identity could be stolen without getting your computer hacked — and how to protect yourself.

Time management has a stronger effect on wellbeing than on job performance by Kelsey Donk

Aeon, B., Faber, A., & Panaccio, A. (2021). Does time management work? A meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 16(1), e0245066. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245066

Catnip may have a purpose beyond getting cats high -- it protects them from mosquitoes! by Cameron Duke

Intoxicating chemicals in catnip and silver vine protect felines from mosquito bites. (2021). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-01/aaft-ici011921.php
Uenoyama, R., Miyazaki, T., Hurst, J. L., Beynon, R. J., Adachi, M., Murooka, T., Onoda, I., Miyazawa, Y., Katayama, R., Yamashita, T., Kaneko, S., Nishikawa, T., & Miyazaki, M. (2021). The characteristic response of domestic cats to plant iridoids allows them to gain chemical defense against mosquitoes. Science Advances, 7(4), eabd9135. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abd9135
Weisberger, M. (2019, November 3). Does Catnip Really Make Cats “High”? Livescience.com; Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/does-catnip-get-cats-high.html

3 Ways Your Identity Could Be Stolen (Without Having Your Computer Hacked) by Reuben Westmaas

Evenden, I. (2020, September 4). How do thieves steal your identity (and how can you stop it)? TopTenReviews; Top Ten Reviews. https://www.toptenreviews.com/10-ways-thieves-steal-your-id
How to Identify an ATM Skimmer. (2021). NWCU. https://www.nwcu.com/learn/how-spot-atm-skimmer

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/time-management-can-make-you-happier

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Identical Twins Aren’t as Identical as We Thought Mar 12, 2021

Show notes

Learn about the science of sourdough starters; and why identical twins aren’t so identical after all. Then, play along at home as we test your podcast knowledge with this month’s Curiosity Challenge trivia game.

Study of sourdough from around the world shows location doesn't matter for its microbes by Cameron Duke

Intercontinental study sheds light on the microbial life of sourdough. (2021). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-01/ncsu-iss012621.php
Kiniry, L. (2020). Why San Francisco does sourdough best. Bbc.com.
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20200402-why-san-francisco-does-sourdough-best
Landis, E. A., Oliverio, A. M., McKenney, E. A., Nichols, L. M., Kfoury, N., Biango-Daniels, M., Shell, L. K., Madden, A. A., Shapiro, L., Shravya Sakunala, Kinsey Drake, Robbat, A., Booker, M., Dunn, R. R., Fierer, N., & Wolfe, B. E. (2021, January 26). The diversity and function of sourdough starter microbiomes. ELife; eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd. https://elifesciences.org/articles/61644

Identical twins aren't so identical after all by Steffie Drucker

Jarry, J. (2021, January 24). Identical Twins Are Not Identical. Office for Science and Society. McGill University. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/general-science/identical-twins-are-not-identical
Guardian staff reporter. (2021, January 8). Identical twins are not so identical, study suggests. The Guardian; The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jan/08/identical-twins-are-not-so-identical-study-suggests
Machemer, T. (2021, January 13). Many Identical Twins Actually Have Slightly Different DNA. Smithsonian Magazine; Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/identical-twins-can-have-slightly-different-dna-180976736/
Nicoletta Lanese. (2021, January 7). Identical twins don’t share 100% of their DNA. Livescience.com; Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/identical-twins-dont-share-all-dna.html
Jonsson, H., Magnusdottir, E., et. al. (2021). Differences between germline genomes of monozygotic twins. Nature Genetics, 53(1), 27–34. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-020-00755-1

Episodes referenced in Curiosity Challenge Trivia game:

Chronotypes: https://www.curiositydaily.com/why-does-february-have-28-days/
Ants on stilts: https://www.curiositydaily.com/why-scientists-made-ants-walk-on-stilts/
Smellicopter: https://www.curiositydaily.com/the-dark-ages-werent-really-dark/

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/identical-twins-arent-as-identical-as-we-thought

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What a 95% Effective Vaccine Actually Means Mar 11, 2021

Show notes

Award-winning journalist Tim Harford explains what it means when you hear that a COVID vaccine is 95% effective. Then, learn about Sentinel Island, home to the last uncontacted people on Earth; and what we can learn about our solar system’s theoretical “Planet Nine” from the newly discovered planet HD 106906 b.

Additional resources from Tim Harford:

Pick up "The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics" on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ad1dQ4
Tim Harford's website: https://timharford.com/
Tim Harford on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TimHarford

North Sentinel Island Is Home to the Last Uncontacted People on Earth by Reuben Westmaas

Kane, S. (2016, May 15). This isolated tribe has rejected contact for centuries and remained hostile toward outsiders. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/sentinelese-uncontacted-island-tribe-photos-2016-5
Sen, S. (2009). Savage bodies, civilized pleasures: M. V. Portman and the Andamanese. American Ethnologist, 36(2), 364–379. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1425.2009.01140.x
North Sentinel Island History. (2019). North Sentinel Island. https://northsentinelisland.com/north-sentinel-history/
McDougall, D. (2006, February 12). Survival comes first for Sentinel islanders – the world’s last “stone-age” tribe. The Guardian; The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/feb/12/theobserver.worldnews12
Alastair Jamieson, Fieldstadt, E., & Associated Press. (2018, November 21). American killed by isolated tribe on India’s North Sentinel Island, police say. NBC News; NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/american-killed-isolated-tribe-india-s-north-sentinel-island-police-n938826

Scientists discovered a solar system with its own version of the theoretical "Planet Nine" by Grant Currin

Planet X. (2019, December 19). NASA Solar System Exploration. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/hypothetical-planet-x/in-depth/
Hubble identifies strange exoplanet that behaves like the long-sought. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-12/eic-his121020.php
Nguyen, M. M., De Rosa, R. J., & Kalas, P. (2020). First Detection of Orbital Motion for HD 106906 b: A Wide-separation Exoplanet on a Planet Nine–like Orbit. The Astronomical Journal, 161(1), 22. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/abc012

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/what-a-95-effective-vaccine-actually-means

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Did Your Microbiome Come from Dirt? Mar 10, 2021

Show notes

Award-winning journalist and economist Tim Harford explains three simple rules for understanding statistics and evaluating truth in the news. Then, you’ll learn about why our microbiomes may have come from dirt.

Additional resources from Tim Harford:

Pick up "The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics" on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ad1dQ4
Tim Harford's website: https://timharford.com/
Tim Harford on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TimHarford

Microbes in dental plaque are more like soil microbes than tongue microbes, which suggests our microbiomes came from dirt by Cameron Duke

Caldwell, A. (2020, December 15). Microbes in dental plaque look more like relatives in soil than those on the tongue. EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-12/uocm-mid121420.php
Shaiber, A., Willis, A. D., Delmont, T. O., Roux, S., Chen, L.-X., Schmid, A. C., Yousef, M., Watson, A. R., Lolans, K., Esen, Ö. C., Lee, S. T. M., Downey, N., Morrison, H. G., Dewhirst, F. E., Mark Welch, J. L., & Eren, A. M. (2020). Functional and genetic markers of niche partitioning among enigmatic members of the human oral microbiome. Genome Biology, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-020-02195-w

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/did-your-microbiome-come-from-dirt

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The Duck-Billed Platypus Is Weirder Than You Thought Mar 09, 2021

Show notes

Learn about what researchers found when they sequenced the bizarre duck-billed platypus genome; a trick for unlocking your creativity; and the strange reasons for job-specific voices, like those of pilots, newscasters, and poets.

The duck-billed platypus genome was just sequenced, and it's a doozy by Grant Currin

Cassella, C. (2021). Now We Know Why Platypus Are So Weird - Their Genes Are Part Bird, Reptile, And Mammal. ScienceAlert. https://www.sciencealert.com/platypus-genes-reveal-some-of-the-bizarre-traits-that-come-with-5x-and-5y-chromosomes
Zhou, Y., Shearwin-Whyatt, L., Li, J., Song, Z., Hayakawa, T., Stevens, D., Fenelon, J. C., Peel, E., Cheng, Y., Pajpach, F., Bradley, N., Suzuki, H., Nikaido, M., Damas, J., Daish, T., Perry, T., Zhu, Z., Geng, Y., Rhie, A., & Sims, Y. (2021). Platypus and echidna genomes reveal mammalian biology and evolution. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-03039-0
Platypus | National Geographic. (2010, September 10). Animals. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/p/platypus/
Villazon, L. (2019). Do platypuses really sweat milk? BBC Science Focus Magazine; BBC Science Focus Magazine. https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/do-platypuses-really-sweat-milk/

To Unlock Creativity, Brainstorm and Then Step Away by Sonja Hodgen

Molly Dannenmaier-UT Austin. (2019, March 25). To unlock creativity, you need to step away - Futurity. Futurity. https://www.futurity.org/creativity-incubation-period-2017292-2/
Kachelmeier, S. J., Wang, L. W., & Williamson, M. G. (2018). Incentivizing the Creative Process: From Initial Quantity to Eventual Creativity. The Accounting Review, 94(2), 249–266. https://doi.org/10.2308/accr-52196

The Strange Reasons for Pilot Voice, Newscaster Voice, and Poet Voice originally aired June 5, 2018 https://omny.fm/shows/curiosity-daily/gluten-free-labels-the-fbi-s-most-viewed-file-and

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/the-duck-billed-platypus-is-weirder-than-you-thought

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Yeah, About That Phosphine on Venus... Mar 08, 2021

Show notes

Learn about the surprising memory skills of infants; why that whole “phosphine on Venus” discovery may not be as exciting as we thought; and how medical science answered Molyneux's problem, a 300-year-old philosophy question.

3-year-olds can recognize a person they met once when they were 1 year old by Kelsey Donk

The amazing durability of infant memory: Three-year-olds show recognition of a person they met once at age one. (2014, March 17). Research Digest; Research Digest. https://digest.bps.org.uk/2014/03/17/the-amazing-durability-of-infant-memory-three-year-olds-show-recognition-of-a-person-they-met-once-at-age-one/
Kingo, O. S., Staugaard, S. R., & Krøjgaard, P. (2014). Three-year-olds’ memory for a person met only once at the age of 12months: Very long-term memory revealed by a late-manifesting novelty preference. Consciousness and Cognition, 24, 49–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2013.12.011

That whole "phosphine on Venus" discovery, suggesting life? That probably wasn't phosphine after all by Cameron Duke

Lincowski, A. P., Meadows, V. S., Crisp, D., Akins, A. B., Schwieterman, E. W., Arney, Giada N, Wong, M. L., Steffes, P. G., Niki, P. M., & Domagal-Goldman, S. (2021). Claimed detection of PH$_3$ in the clouds of Venus is consistent with mesospheric SO$_2$. ArXiv.org. https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.09837

Medical Science Has Answered This 300-Year-Old Philosophy Question by Reuben Westmaas

Study of Vision Tackles a Philosophy Riddle (Published 2011). (2021). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/health/research/26blind.html
Degenaar, M., & Lokhorst, G.-J. (2017). Molyneux’s Problem (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Stanford.edu. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/molyneux-problem/
Held, R., Ostrovsky, Y., de Gelder, B., Gandhi, T., Ganesh, S., Mathur, U., & Sinha, P. (2011). The newly sighted fail to match seen with felt. Nature Neuroscience, 14(5), 551–553. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2795

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/yeah-about-that-phosphine-on-venus

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Why Can’t You Hold Your Breath to Death? Mar 05, 2021

Show notes

Learn about why you can’t suffocate by holding your breath; how being angry makes you more likely to believe misinformation; and that time scholars tried to kick Latin out of English, thanks to words like honorificabilitudinitatibus.

Why can't you suffocate by holding your breath? by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Daniel in Beirut)

Parkes, M. J. (2005). Breath-holding and its breakpoint. Experimental Physiology, 91(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1113/expphysiol.2005.031625
Parkes, M. J. (2012). The Limits of Breath Holding. Scientific American, 306(4), 74–79. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0412-74

Being angry makes you more likely to believe misinformation by Kelsey Donk

Dolan, E. W. (2021, January 8). A new study has found being angry increases your vulnerability to misinformation. PsyPost; PsyPost. https://www.psypost.org/2021/01/a-new-study-has-found-being-angry-increases-your-vulnerability-to-misinformation-59061
Han, J., Cha, M., & Lee, W. (2020). Anger contributes to the spread of COVID-19 misinformation. Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review. https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-39
Greenstein, M., & Franklin, N. (2020). Anger increases susceptibility to misinformation. Experimental Psychology, 67(3), 202–209. https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169/a000489

16th-Century Scholars Once Tried to Kick Latin Out of English by Arika Okrent

Specktor, B. (2017, October 2). Shakespeare’s Longest Word Is a Whopping 27-Letters Long. Reader’s Digest; Reader’s Digest. https://www.rd.com/article/shakespeares-longest-word/
BERLIN, R. L. G. (2014, January 28). Johnson: What might have been. The Economist; The Economist. https://www.economist.com/prospero/2014/01/28/johnson-what-might-have-been

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/why-cant-you-hold-your-breath-to-death

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Quadruple-Helix DNA Is a Thing Mar 04, 2021

Show notes

Learn about how quadruple-helix DNA could help us fight cancer; how diversity improves technology, with materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez; and how cats domesticated themselves.

Quadruple-helix DNA exists - and it might be useful for fighting cancers by Cameron Duke

Rare quadruple-helix DNA found in living human cells with glowing probes. (2021). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-01/icl-rqd011321.php
Researchers Observe Formation of Four-Stranded DNA in Living Human Cells | Biology, Genetics | Sci-News.com. (2020). Breaking Science News | Sci-News.com. http://www.sci-news.com/biology/dna-g-quadruplexes-human-cells-08693.html
Scientists Discover Quadruple Helix DNA in Human Cells | Genetics | Sci-News.com. (2013). Breaking Science News | Sci-News.com. http://www.sci-news.com/genetics/article00835.html
Summers, P. A., Lewis, B. W., Gonzalez-Garcia, J., Porreca, R. M., Lim, A. H. M., Cadinu, P., Martin-Pintado, N., Mann, D. J., Edel, J. B., Vannier, J. B., Kuimova, M. K., & Vilar, R. (2021). Visualising G-quadruplex DNA dynamics in live cells by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy. Nature Communications, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20414-7

Additional resources from Ainissa Ramirez:

Pick up "The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another" on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2MyB4l8
Ainissa's website: https://www.ainissaramirez.com/
Ainissa Ramirez on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ainissaramirez

In True Feline Fashion, Cats Domesticated Themselves by Anna Todd

Ottoni, C., et. al. (2017). The palaeogenetics of cat dispersal in the ancient world. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1(7). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0139
Smith, C. (2017, June 19). Cats Domesticated Themselves, Ancient DNA Shows. National Geographic News. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/06/domesticated-cats-dna-genetics-pets-science/

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/quadruple-helix-dna-is-a-thing

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Scientists Finally Know How Sandcastles Work Mar 03, 2021

Show notes

Learn about why we still don’t know how eels reproduce and how scientists solved a 150-year-old question about how sandcastles hold together.

We still don't know how eels reproduce by Grant Currin

TED-Ed. (2020). No one can figure out how eels have sex - Lucy Cooke [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFi6ISTjkR4
Epic Eel Migration Mapped for the First Time. (2015, October 27). National Geographic News. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/10/151027-american-eel-migration-animal-behavior-oceans-science/
100-year-old mystery solved: Adult eel observed for the first time in the Sargasso Sea. (2015). ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151027132839.htm

Scientists have solved a 150-year-old equation that governs how sandcastles hold together by Grant Currin

Ouellette, J. (2020, December 9). Physicists solve 150-year-old mystery of equation governing sandcastle physics. Ars Technica; Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/12/physicists-solve-150-year-old-mystery-of-equation-governing-sandcastle-physics/
Pakpour, M., Habibi, M., Møller, P., & Bonn, D. (2012). How to construct the perfect sandcastle. Scientific Reports, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep00549
Yang, Q., Sun, P. Z., Fumagalli, L., Stebunov, Y. V., Haigh, S. J., Zhou, Z. W., Grigorieva, I. V., Wang, F. C., & Geim, A. K. (2020). Capillary condensation under atomic-scale confinement. Nature, 588(7837), 250–253. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2978-1

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/scientists-finally-know-how-sandcastles-work

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