Curiosity Weekly

This episode originally aired on 4/3/2020. New episodes coming soon. Learn about the shocking prevalence of torture scenes in movies; why durian, the world’s smelliest fruit, smells so bad; and where mold comes from.Torture is prevalent and effective in movies (but not in real life) by Kelsey DonkTorture Prevalent, Effective in Popular Movies, Study Finds – University of Alabama News | The University of Alabama. (2020). Ua.Edu. https://www.ua.edu/news/2020/01/torture-prevalent-effective-in-popular-movies-study-finds/Delehanty, C., & Kearns, E. (2019). Wait, There’s Torture in Zootopia?: Examining the Prevalence of Torture in Popular Movies. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3342908Scientists discovered why durian is the world's smelliest fruit by Kelsey DonkA Love Letter to a Smelly Fruit. (2013, December 3). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/travel/a-love-letter-to-a-smelly-fruit.htmlDiscovering what makes durian stink. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-02/lfla-dwm022820.phpIdentification of an Important Odorant Precursor in Durian: First Evidence of Ethionine in Plants. (2019). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jafc.9b07065Maninang, J. S., Lizada, M. C. C., & Gemma, H. (2009). Inhibition of aldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme by Durian (Durio zibethinus Murray) fruit extract. Food Chemistry, 117(2), 352–355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2009.03.106Ethanethiol - American Chemical Society. (2020). American Chemical Society. https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/molecule-of-the-week/archive/e/ethanethiol.htmlWhere does mold come from? by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Tim)USDA FSIS. (2013). Molds on Food: Are They Dangerous? https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/a87cdc2c-6ddd-49f0-bd1f-393086742e68/Molds_on_Food.pdf?MOD=AJPERESStradley, L. (2016, April 5). Food Molds – Are Molds Dangerous. What’s Cooking America. https://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/Mold.htmCenter for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. (2019). BAM Chapter 18. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/food/laboratory-methods-food/bam-yeasts-molds-and-mycotoxinsWant to learn even more? Head to discovery+ to stream from some of your favorite shows. Go to discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial today. Terms apply. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

This episode originally aired on 10/4/2019. New episodes coming soon. Learn about how dogs’ personalities are rooted in their DNA; one skill that doesn’t get worse as you get older; and how your sense of smell works.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:Dogs' Personalities Are Rooted in Their DNA — https://curiosity.im/2OfDwvJScientists Have Identified One Skill that Doesn't Deteriorate with Age — https://curiosity.im/2LwW5tmAdditional resources discussed:How does the sense of smell work? | HowStuffWorks — https://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/perception/question139.htmHuman Nose Can Detect a Trillion Smells | Science — https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/03/human-nose-can-detect-trillion-smellsWant to learn even more? Head to discovery+ to stream from some of your favorite shows. Go to discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial today. Terms apply. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode originally aired on 2/28/2020. New episodes coming soon. Learn about how quitting smoking may reawaken healthy cells; how researchers figured out how to tell the age of crime scene fingerprints to help investigators; and why you sometimes yawn while exercising or singing.Quitting smoking doesn’t just slow lung damage, but can also reawaken undamaged cells by Grant CurrinGallagher, J. (2020, January 29). Lungs “magically” heal damage from smoking. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-51279355Pfeifer, G. P. (2020, January 29). Smoke signals in the DNA of normal lung cells. Nature, 578(7794), 224–226. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-00165-7Yoshida, K., Gowers, K. H. C., Lee-Six, H., Chandrasekharan, D. P., Coorens, T., Maughan, E. F., Beal, K., Menzies, A., Millar, F. R., Anderson, E., Clarke, S. E., Pennycuick, A., Thakrar, R. M., Butler, C. R., Kakiuchi, N., Hirano, T., Hynds, R. E., Stratton, M. R., Martincorena, I., … Campbell, P. J. (2020, January 29). Tobacco smoking and somatic mutations in human bronchial epithelium. Nature, 578(7794), 266–272. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-1961-1It's been impossible to tell the age of crime scene fingerprints — until now by Grant CurrinDetermining Fingerprint Age with Mass Spectrometry Imaging via Ozonolysis of Triacylglycerols. (2020, January 3). Analytical Chemistry. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.analchem.9b04765Residues in fingerprints hold clues to their age. (2020, January 22). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/acs-rif012220.phpWhy we yawn during exercise by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Kate in Pennsylvania)Provine, R. R., Tate, B. C., & Geldmacher, L. L. (1987). Yawning: No effect of 3–5% CO2, 100% O2, and exercise. Behavioral and Neural Biology, 48(3), 382–393. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0163-1047(87)90944-7Massen, J. J. M., Dusch, K., Eldakar, O. T., & Gallup, A. C. (2014). A thermal window for yawning in humans: Yawning as a brain cooling mechanism. Physiology & Behavior, 130, 145–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.03.032The science of the exercise yawn. (2017). Furthermore from Equinox. https://furthermore.equinox.com/articles/2017/09/yawningMcKinney, James C. The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults. (2005). Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=znaCDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=singing+yawn&ots=DKpXxdwhGJ&sig=IjgkdxkqyENjWLoXJTDaYB94G30#v=onepage&q=yawn&f=falseWant to learn even more? Head to discovery+ to stream from some of your favorite shows. Go to discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial today. Terms apply. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode originally aired on 11/5/2020. New episodes coming soon. Learn about a simple brain-training task that may reduce motion sickness, what parasites found in medieval human remains can tell us about eradicating them today, and the two main reasons why everything takes longer than you think it will.A Simple Brain-Training Task May Reduce Motion Sickness by Kelsey DonkYou can train your brain to reduce motion sickness. (2020). Warwick.Ac.Uk. https://warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/you_can_trainSmyth, J., Jennings, P., Bennett, P., & Birrell, S. (2021). A novel method for reducing motion sickness susceptibility through training visuospatial ability – A two-part study. Applied Ergonomics, 90, 103264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2020.103264Parasitic Worms Found in Medieval Human Remains May Hold the Secret for Eradicating Them Today by Cameron DukeFlammer, P. G., Ryan, H., Preston, S. G., Warren, S., Přichystalová, R., Weiss, R., Palmowski, V., Boschert, S., Fellgiebel, K., Jasch-Boley, I., Kairies, M.-S., Rümmele, E., Rieger, D., Schmid, B., Reeves, B., Nicholson, R., Loe, L., Guy, C., Waldron, T., … Smith, A. L. (2020). Epidemiological insights from a large-scale investigation of intestinal helminths in Medieval Europe. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 14(8), e0008600. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008600Parasitic worms found in medieval human remains hold secret for eradicating them today. (2020, September). Science | AAAS. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/parasitic-worms-found-medieval-human-remains-hold-secret-eradicating-them-todayIntestinal worms. (2016). World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/intestinal_worms/more/en/The 2 Main Reasons Why Everything Takes Longer Than You Think It Will by Anna ToddOriginal episode: https://www.curiositydaily.com/why-everything-takes-longer-than-you-think-storm-p/Want to learn even more? Head to discovery+ to stream from some of your favorite shows. Go to discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial today. Terms apply. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode originally aired on 2/21/2020. New episodes coming soon. Learn about whether people think in words or in pictures; why brussels sprouts really are tastier than they used to be; and why buying luxury items might make you feel like an impostor.Whether People Think in Words or Pictures by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Alicia)(2020). Twitter. https://twitter.com/KylePlantEmoji/status/1221713792913965061Heavey, C. L., & Hurlburt, R. T. (2008). The phenomena of inner experience. Consciousness and Cognition, 17(3), 798–810. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2007.12.006Pristine Inner Experience. (2020). Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/pristine-inner-experienceAmit, E., Hoeflin, C., Hamzah, N., & Fedorenko, E. (2017). An asymmetrical relationship between verbal and visual thinking: Converging evidence from behavior and fMRI. NeuroImage, 152, 619–627. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.03.029Why Brussels Sprouts Taste Better Now by Steffie DruckerFrom Culinary Dud To Stud: How Dutch Plant Breeders Built Our Brussels Sprouts Boom. (2019, October 30). NPR.Org. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/10/30/773457637/from-culinary-dud-to-stud-how-dutch-plant-breeders-built-our-brussels-sprouts-boBeck, A. (2019, November 7). It’s Not Your Imagination, Brussels Sprouts Really Do Taste Better Now. Better Homes & Gardens; Better Homes & Gardens. https://www.bhg.com/news/brussels-sprouts-less-bitter/Pearson, H. (2006, September 18). Distaste for sprouts in the genes. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/news060918-1Perman, A. (2011, November 1). The “brussels sprouts” gene: TAS2R38 | Anna Perman’s Genetic Spaghetti. The Guardian; The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2011/nov/01/brussel-sprout-geneNeuroscience for Kids - Bitter Taste Gene. (2003, July 15). Washington.edu. http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/bitter.htmlMasur, L. (2019, December 26). The Top 10 Food Trends of the Entire Decade. Kitchn; Apartment Therapy, LLC. https://www.thekitchn.com/decade-food-trends-2010-2019-22973978Luxury Buying Makes People Feel Fake by Kelsey DonkLuxury consumption can fuel “impostor syndrome” among some buyers. (2019). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-12/bc-lcc122019.phpWong, K. (2020, January 30). Why Your Designer Bag Is Making You Feel Worse. The Financial Diet. https://thefinancialdiet.com/luxury-consumer-imposter-syndrome/Goor, D., Ordabayeva, N., Keinan, A., & Crener, S. (2019). The Impostor Syndrome from Luxury Consumption. Journal of Consumer Research. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucz044Want to learn even more? Head to discovery+ to stream from some of your favorite shows. Go to discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial today. Terms apply. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode originally aired on 2/4/2020. New episodes coming soon. Learn about the 13 categories of emotions that music makes you feel; how scientists solved the mystery of two strangely small tyrannosaurus rex fossils; and surprising things that happen to a pregnant person’s body.Research Suggests That Music Evokes 13 Key Emotions by Kelsey DonkAnwar, Y. (2020, January 6). Ooh là là! Music evokes at least 13 emotions. Scientists have mapped them. Berkeley News. https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/01/06/music-evokes-13-emotions/Noonan, D. (2020, January 6). Is a Sad Song Sad for Everyone? Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-a-sad-song-sad-for-everyone/Cowen, A. S., Fang, X., Sauter, D., & Keltner, D. (2020). What music makes us feel: At least 13 dimensions organize subjective experiences associated with music across different cultures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(4), 1924–1934. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1910704117Two Tiny T-Rexes Turned Out to Be Teenagers by Mae RiceSecrets behind T. rex’s bone crushing bites: T. rex could crush with 8,000 pound bite forces. (2017). ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170517090520.htmResearchers learn more about teen-age T.Rex. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/osuc-rlm122019.phpWoodward, H. N., Tremaine, K., Williams, S. A., Zanno, L. E., Horner, J. R., & Myhrvold, N. (2020). Growing up Tyrannosaurus rex: Osteohistology refutes the pygmy “Nanotyrannus” and supports ontogenetic niche partitioning in juvenile Tyrannosaurus. Science Advances, 6(1), eaax6250. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax6250Surprising Things Pregnancy Does to the Body by Kelsey DonkNierenberg, C. (2015, May 19). Body Changes During Pregnancy. Livescience.Com; Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/50877-regnancy-body-changes.htmlCatriona Harvey-Jenner. (2017, April 12). 10 weird things you didn’t realise happen to your body during pregnancy. Cosmopolitan; Cosmopolitan. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/body/health/a9266776/weird-things-happen-to-body-during-pregnancy/Cari Wira Dineen. (2016, May 4). Crazy Ways Your Body Changes During Pregnancy. Parents; Parents. https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/my-body/changing/crazy-ways-your-body-changes-during-pregnancy/Want to learn even more? Head to discovery+ to stream from some of your favorite shows. Go to discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial today. Terms apply. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode originally aired on 1/24/2020. New episodes coming soon. 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 DonkSources: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-128777The Vocation Map (interactive) | Marian-Andrei Rizoiu — http://www.rizoiu.eu/documents/research/resources/Vocation_Map_Interactive.htmlSocial 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/116/52/26459Earth Is Greener Than Before by Kelsey DonkSources: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-showsChina 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/s41893-019-0220-7Story 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/2NOyLIBblue (adj.1) | Online Etymology Dictionary — https://www.etymonline.com/word/blue?ref=etymonline_crossreference#etymonline_v_13636Drunk and dirty | BBC — http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/yoursay/lost_for_words/german/drunk_and_dirty.shtmlPhilip, 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_MetaphorsWant to learn even more? Head to discovery+ to stream from some of your favorite shows. Go to discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial today. Terms apply. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode originally aired on 11/22/2019. New episodes coming soon. Learn about how human goals fall into 4 categories; why NASA’s Planetary Protection Independent Review Board (PPRIB) says we don’t need to be so careful about infecting other worlds; and whether cell phone radiation is actually dangerous.In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about why a NASA panel says we don’t need to be so careful about infecting other worlds: https://curiosity.im/2K3gzJgAdditional sources discussed:Psychologists analyze language to categorize human goals | EurekaAlert! — https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-10/uow-pal102919.phpLexical Derivation of the PINT Taxonomy of Goals: Prominence, Inclusiveness, Negativity Prevention, and Tradition | The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College — https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1092&context=psyfacSpecific Absorption Rate (SAR) for Cellular Telephones | Federal Communications Commission — https://www.fcc.gov/general/specific-absorption-rate-sar-cellular-telephonesThe Truth About Cell Phone Radiation | Forbes — https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/02/02/the-truth-about-cell-phone-radiation/#4a98baa192a3Want to learn even more? Head to discovery+ to stream from some of your favorite shows. Go to discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial today. Terms apply. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode originally aired on 3/13/2020. New episodes coming soon. Learn about how speed listening to podcasts (or "podfasting") affects our emotions; the health differences between white and brown rice; and the time pi was once almost legally changed to 3.2.Speed listening’s effects on emotion by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from S.P.)Rousseau, S. (2020, January 24). I Tried Listening to Podcasts at 3x and Broke My Brain. Medium; OneZero. https://onezero.medium.com/i-tried-listening-to-podcasts-at-3x-and-broke-my-brain-d8823edecb7cLiebenthal, E., Silbersweig, D. A., & Stern, E. (2016). The Language, Tone and Prosody of Emotions: Neural Substrates and Dynamics of Spoken-Word Emotion Perception. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2016.00506Murray, I. R., & Arnott, J. L. (1993). Toward the simulation of emotion in synthetic speech: A review of the literature on human vocal emotion. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 93(2), 1097–1108. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.405558Philippou-Hubner, D., Vlasenko, B., Bock, R., & Wendemuth, A. (2012). The Performance of the Speaking Rate Parameter in Emotion Recognition from Speech. 2012 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo. https://doi.org/10.1109/icme.2012.183Kraxenberger, M., Menninghaus, W., Roth, A., & Scharinger, M. (2018). Prosody-Based Sound-Emotion Associations in Poetry. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01284The health differences between white and brown rice are dead even by Steffie DruckerWhelan, C. (2017, May 25). Brown Rice vs. White Rice: Which Is Better for You? Healthline; Healthline Media. https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/brown-rice-vs-white-riceAllan, P. (2020, February 19). Is Brown Rice Really That Much Healthier Than White Rice? Lifehacker. https://lifehacker.com/is-brown-rice-really-that-much-healthier-than-white-ric-1820044994Parletta, N. (2018, December 5). Rice is a major source of arsenic exposure. Cosmos Magazine. https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/rice-is-a-major-source-of-arsenic-exposurePi Was Once Almost Legally Changed to 3.2 by Ashley Hamer: https://curiosity.com/topics/happy-pi-day-how-pi-was-almost-legally-changed-to-32-curiosityWant to learn even more? Head to discovery+ to stream from some of your favorite shows. Go to discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial today. Terms apply. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.