Curiosity Weekly

Today you’ll learn about a new process that could turn plastic waste and CO2 into lipstick, how cold and flu season isn’t different, you are, and a way to turn the forest into farmland without cutting down trees.  Plastic Waste Fuel   “Could waste plastic become a useful fuel source?” by Katherine Latham. 2023.  https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64703976 “Our planet is choking on plastic.” n.a. N....

Today you’ll learn about how dogs in Ukraine have survived nuclear fallout, how Venutian volcanoes can teach us about the planet’s climate, and how mushrooms maintain a colder temperature than their surroundings.  Find episode transcripts here:https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/chernobyl-dogs-venus-volcanoes-cold-mushrooms Chernobyl Dogs   “Why Scientists Are Studying the Str...

Today you’ll learn about greenwashing, how Formula 1 is amping up their sustainability efforts, and how loneliness is scientifically proven to be bad for your health.  Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/greenwashing-f1-sustainability-unhealthy-loneliness Greenwashing   “The World Is Finally Cracking Down on ‘Greenwashing’” by Emma Marris https:/...

Today you’ll learn about why social media could help us solve the global climate crisis, a possible cure for sickle cell disease that uses gene therapy, and a Hansel and Gretel-style system that could find places on other planets where humans could take shelter.  Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/social-media-saves-sickle-cell-cure-breadcrumbs-...

Today you’ll learn about how climate change research benefits from studying populations instead of species, how sometimes it’s better not to take any medication for your fever, and how worm saliva might solve the world’s plastic problem. Watch the premiere of The Lazarus Project on Sunday, June 4, at 9:00pm on TNT! Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/epis...

Today you’ll learn about how getting a good night’s sleep is especially important for men when it comes to vaccine efficacy, how grizzly bears have taken to eating a specific kind of moth, and how technology is working to make physical touch a part of the AI experience.  Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/sleep-and-vaccines-moth-eating-bears-fee...

Today you’ll learn about the history of the ever controversial daylight saving time, how a mother’s level of education impacts children, and how researchers built a 3D tongue to study how chocolate melts. Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/chocolate-mouthfeel-teaching-moms-daylight-saving Chocolate Mouthfeel  “Why chocolate feels so good - it is...

Today you’ll learn about new treatments the wealthy are using to try and stay young forever, the cultural and social evolution of the word please, and how the snap fit mechanism used in things like lego bricks is being updated for even bigger projects.  Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/immortality-tech-please-is-not-polite-snap-fit-physics Imm...

Today you’ll learn about how the pandemic has shifted our relationship with time, what a stratospheric aerosol injection entails, and the effects of a certain group of people who are more likely than others to volunteer for psychological research. Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/time-relationship-aerosol-injections-psych-participants Time Rel...

Today you’ll learn about how doctors are successfully using double lung transplants for cancer patients, how blue whale behavior changes with environmental conditions, and how the history of the polygraph machine may have been based on a lie.  Find episode transcripts here:  https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/double-lung-transplant-blue-whale-behavior-lie-detector Double Lung...

Today you’ll learn about how being close to the ones you love makes your physical health better, how broken heart syndrome is actually real, and how walking for as little as five minutes every half hour can reverse a lot of damage caused by sitting.  Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/social-rewards-broken-heart-syndrome-5-min-walks Social Rewar...

Today you’ll learn about how new discoveries are being made from the fire that nearly destroyed Notre-Dame, how there’s more hypoxia in our rivers than previously thought, and a new theory as to how gravity might be a cause of IBS.  Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/notre-dame-fire-hypoxia-gravity-and-ibs Notre-Dame Fire  “The 2019 Notre-Dame F...

Today you’ll learn about the SpaceX Dragon Capsule, which recently landed back on Earth after visiting the ISS, how scientists are trying to build robots with a brain, and how a potential new treatment for cancer is seeing success in Israel.  Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/spacex-crew-returns-robots-with-brains-cancer-treatment SpaceX Crew R...

Today you’ll learn about how video calls can add to social anxiety, how new technology is able to discover the secrets of the Denali Fault, and what goes into designing a new spacesuit for astronauts!  Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/zoom-doom-denali-fault-modern-moon-suit Zoom Doom “Alcohol and Zoom: A Recipe for Depression?” by Renee Engeln...

Today you’ll learn about what long lost genomes from the last ice age teach us about ancient hunter-gatherers, how a covid-era obsession helped make a resilient new material, and a proposal to create something very controversial: the world’s first octopus farm.  Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/ice-age-survivors-micro-knots-octopus-farm Ice Ag...

Today you’ll learn about a new blood test that’s been developed to assess anxiety, what’s really happening neurologically that causes “mommy brain”, and how a spy may be trying to contact you on Linkedin.  Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/anxiety-blood-test-mommy-brain-linkedin-spy Anxiety Blood Test  “New Blood Test Developed for Anxiety.” by...

Today you’ll learn about how our genes can predict how many kids we’ll have, how scientists have created a new method of sucking up CO2 from the atmosphere, and how a baby mouse was born from two biologically male mice!  Genetic Fertility “Genetic variants influencing human fertility identified - new research.” n.a. 2023. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-03-02-genetic-variants-influencing-human-fert...

Today you’ll learn about how fruit flies are inspiring new forms of gameplay in basketball, how IQ levels are falling around the country, and a potential solution to difficult-to-recycle plastics!  Basketball Positions  “Physics model could optimize basketball player positioning” by Kathy Hovis https://phys.org/news/2023-03-physics-optimize-basketball-player-positioning.html “Fruit flies and elect...

Today you’ll learn about controversial research by NASA suggesting that extinction-level asteroids may have hit Earth more often than we thought, how scientists are working to create electricity out of thin air, and the effects of using exclusively male mice in scientific research.   Species-Ending Asteroids      “Species-Ending Asteroids Hit Earth More Often Than We Realized, NASA Research Sugges...

Today you’ll learn about a zombie virus recovered from the arctic permafrost and brought back to life, some good news about 26 Australian animal species that have been brought back from the brink, and how a new pill could potentially limit the levels of “bad” cholesterol in the body.  Zombie Virus  “Scientists have revived a ‘zombie’ virus that spent 48,500 years frozen in permafrost.” By Katie Hu...

Today you’ll learn about how scientists are working on developing an injection to treat endometriosis, how bees solve puzzles, and how lemon juice is able to block the formation of kidney stones.  Endometriosis Shot “An antibody injection could one day help people with endometriosis.” By Meghan Rosen. 2023. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/antibody-injection-help-endometriosis “Endometriosis.”...

Today you’ll learn about how remote work is resulting in people having more children than before the pandemic, how scientists are searching for new treatments for acne, and how indigenous groups in South America have a genetic resistance to Chagas disease.  Remote Work Baby Boom     “The Surprising Effects of Remote Work” by Derek Thompson https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/03/us...

Today you’ll learn about how foreign accent syndrome works, how an AI algorithm can create a physical copy of a mental picture, and how invasive marsh grass is taking over China’s coastline. Foreign Accent Syndrome  “Scientists reveal why American man with prostate cancer developed ‘uncontrolled’ Irish accent” by Vishwam Shankaran https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/american-man-irish-brogu...

Today you’ll learn about how men with physically strenuous jobs have higher testosterone levels and, ahem, sperm counts, about how a researcher studying whales figured out an ancient mystery, and how providing women with more opportunities actually increases men’s life expectancy.  Men At Work “Physically Demanding Work Tied to Male Fertility.” By Miles Martin. 2023. https://hms.harvard.edu/news/p...

Today you’ll learn about whether or not birth order affects how rebellious you are, how researchers are working to turn a human brain into a machine, and what Zimbabwe is doing to try and solve their energy crisis.  Birth Order    “New study disputes the birth order theory that later-born are “born to rebel”” by Laura Staloch https://www.psypost.org/2023/02/new-study-disputes-the-birth-order-theor...