Curiosity Weekly

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). Eurek...

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 M...

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...

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 Bir...

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 perso...

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. Exp...

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_release...

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...

Learn about how to tell when your body is running low on key vitamins; how Neanderthals mourned their dead; and why you should NOT pre-rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Ways Your Body Tells You You're Running Low on Key Vitamins by Stephanie Bucklin Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health, & Division of Laboratory Sciences. (2012)...

Learn about a surprising benefit of adding humor to the news; what getting chills from music says about your brain; and how Volta’s electric eels that hunt in packs. Young adults are more likely to remember and share news delivered with humor by Kelsey Donk New Study Finds that Delivering the News with Humor Makes Young Adults More Likely to Remember and Share | Annenberg School for Communication....

Learn about an artificial sun from KSTAR that’s hotter than our actual sun; whether math really is a universal language; and what words like “fresh” really tell you about how fancy your food is. South Korean researchers created an artificial sun that's hotter than our actual sun by Grant Currin Korean artificial sun sets the new world record of 20-sec-long operation at 100 million degrees. (2020,...

Learn about how clocks and lightbulbs changed human health, with author and materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez. Plus: learn about that time a bunch of birds became milk bottle thieves and whether you should put one or two spaces after a period. The time a bunch of birds became milk bottle thieves by Cameron Duke Aplin, L. M., Farine, D. R., Morand-Ferron, J., Cockburn, A., Thornton, A., & Sheldon...

Learn about how sleep may have evolved before the brain; why airports keep birds of prey on staff; and what would happen if you stopped time. Sleep might have evolved before the brain by Cameron Duke Kanaya, H. J., Park, S., Kim, J., Kusumi, J., Krenenou, S., Sawatari, E., Sato, A., Lee, J., Bang, H., Kobayakawa, Y., Lim, C., & Itoh, T. Q. (2020). A sleep-like state in Hydra unravels conserved sle...

Learn about what's going on with the new COVID-19 variants — and whether you should worry about them — with Dr. Syra Madad, nationally recognized epidemiologist and the senior director of the pathogens program at NYC Health and Hospitals. Then, learn about a new theory on how our planets formed. Additional resources from Dr. Syra Madad and #ConqueringCOVID: Official website https://scty.org/syra F...

What gets you curious? Virtual experiences, celestial bodies, water worlds or maybe just the tiniest mysteries inside your brain? The endlessly curious and curiously funny, Gillian Jacobs (Community, Netflix's LOVE) and Diona Reasonover (NCIS), step off set to go on tangents with real-life astronauts, astrophysicists, science artists, mathematician-types and other really smart people that investig...

Learn about why popular opinion might not be as popular as you thought; a new analysis that’s debunked the blood type diet; and a pool of water in Kidd Creek Mine in Timmins, Ontario, Canada, that’s 2 billion years old. One person repeating an opinion makes people think it's a popular opinion by Kelsey Donk People Often Think An Opinion Heard Repeatedly From The Same Person Is Actually A Popular O...

Learn about how Arnold’s ear-cough reflex can make you cough when you clean your ears; why it’s important to teach your kids about giving when they’re learning about money; and a hidden letter in the alphabet that you already sing. Why do I cough when I clean my ears? by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Rachita) Pearce, JMS. (2020, February 19). Arnold’s Nerve - ACNR | Paper & Online Neurology...

Award-winning scientist and science communicator Ainissa Ramirez explains how copper changed our language. Then, learn about the surprising health benefits of brown fat. 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...

Learn about why just because you want something doesn’t mean you like it; why Esperanto is the world’s most successful universal language; and a gene therapy injection in one eye that improved vision in both. Just because you want something doesn't mean you like it — and that has implications for addiction by Kelsey Donk Edmonds, D. (2020, December 12). The science of addiction: Do you always like...

Learn about how hoarders’ brains see their belongings; why dolphins consciously lower their heart rates; and what scientists think happened before the big bang. How Hoarders' Brains See Their Belongings by Ashley Hamer Tolin, D. F., Stevens, M. C., Villavicencio, A. L., Norberg, M. M., Calhoun, V. D., Frost, R. O., Steketee, G., Rauch, S. L., & Pearlson, G. D. (2012). Neural Mechanisms of Decision...

Learn about the “smellicopter,” a drone that can smell via a live moth antenna; why the “Dark Ages” weren’t as dark as you might think; and how simple word swaps can secretly trick your brain. Introducing Smellicopter: a drone that uses a live moth antenna to smell things by Grant Currin Smellicopter: an obstacle-avoiding drone that uses a live moth antenna to seek out smells. (2020). EurekAlert!...

Learn about whether reading computer code is the same to your brain as reading another language; and a personality trait that could be key to lasting romance. Then, play along at home as we test your podcast knowledge in this month’s edition of Curiosity Challenge trivia. Is computer code the same as language to your brain? by Steffie Drucker To the brain, reading computer code is not the same as...

Learn about how having hope for the future could protect you from risky behaviors like drinking and gambling; how your dog’s personality can change over time; and “limnic eruptions” — or, deadly exploding lakes. Having hope for the future could protect you from risky behaviors like drinking and gambling by Kelsey Donk How hope can make you happier with your lot - UEA. (2020, December 16). Uea. Ac....

Princeton University Anthropology Professor Agustín Fuentes explains why race is a social construct — as in, biological race isn’t real. Then, learn how plants pass down “bad” memories to their offspring through epigenetics. Additional resources from Agustín Fuentes: Pick up "Why We Believe: Evolution and the Human Way of Being" from Amazon: https://amzn.to/361ug6j Pick up "The Creative Spark: How...

Learn about how a fever helps you get better; why the first reliable and widely available pregnancy test was the African clawed frog; and a potential breakthrough in the shockingly complicated traveling salesperson problem. How Exactly Does Fever Help You Get Better? by Ashley Hamer TED-Ed. (2016). The surprising reason you feel awful when you’re sick - Marco A. Sotomayor [YouTube Video]. In YouTu...