Learn about why engineers designed a robot that can imagine itself; why the Great Compression was the best time to be alive, financially speaking; and the ups and downs of a rare genetic condition that makes you incredibly loving.

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:
Engineers Created a Robot That Can Imagine Itself — https://curiosity.im/2DgC8BW
Financially Speaking, the Best Time to Be Alive Was During the Great Compression — https://curiosity.im/2Dj6nIl
The Rare Genetic Condition That Makes You Incredibly Loving Isn't What It Sounds Like — https://curiosity.im/2DhO5r9

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A New Robot Can Imagine Itself, Williams Syndrome, and The Great Compression

The award-winning Curiosity Daily podcast from CuriosityDaily.com will help you get smarter about the world around you. In less than 10 minutes, you’ll get a unique mix of research-based life hacks, the latest science and technology news, and more. Nate Bonham and Calli Gade will help you learn about your mind and body, outer space and the depths of the sea, and how history shaped the world into what it is today.Head to discovery+ to stream even more science content, from Animal Planet to Science Channel. 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.

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Today, you’ll learn about an effort to create palm oil without burning down millions of acres of forest, the surprising way polyglots’ brains approach their own native language, and new research on how the powerful psychedelic drug ayahuasca extinguishes fear.    Palm-Less Oil   “They Want to Make Palm Oil in a Lab. Without Palm Trees.” by Dionne Searcey. 2024.  “Things To Know About Palm Oil.” WWF. n.d.   Polyglot Brain   “For people who speak many languages, there’s something special about their native tongue.” by Anne Trafton. 2024.  “Functional characterization of the language network of polyglots and hyperpolyglots with precision fMRI.” by Saima Malik-Moraleda, et al. 2024.    Ayahuasca & Fear    “Ayahuasca accelerates fear extinction via its effect on serotonin receptors.” by Eric. W. Dolan. 2024.  “Ayahuasca-enhanced extinction of fear behaviour: Role of infralimbic cortex 5-HT2a and 5-HT1a receptors.” by Isabel Werle, et al. 2024.  “The Therapeutic Potentials of Ayahuasca: Possible Effects against Various Diseases of Civilization.” by Ede Frecska, et al. 2016.    Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Calli and Nate — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Palm-Less Oil, Polyglot Brain, Ayahuasca & Fear

Today, you’ll learn about a new study shedding light on what species are most vulnerable to extinction from climate change, why species of living fossils take their time evolving, and a new theory about how the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs also impacted birds.     Extinction Risk    “New study reveals insight into which animals are most vulnerable to extinction due to climate change.” University of Oxford. 2024.  “What is mass extinction and are we facing a sixth one?” by Tammana Begum. 2021. Updated 2023.  “Mass extinctions, their causes and consequences: an interview with Douglas H. Erwin and Shuzhong Shen.” by Shucheng Xie. 2023.  “Species and climate change.” IUCN. 2021.  “Humanity’s Fitting Place on the List of Mass Extinction Events.” by Sam Baker. 2018.    Living Fossils   “Study of slowly evolving ‘living fossils’ reveals key genetic insights.” by Mike Cummings. 2024.  “A New Discovery Reveals Why Darwin’s ‘Living Fossil’ Keeps Defying Evolution.” by Tim Newcomb. 2024.  “Giraffe Evolution.” by Adam Atwood. 2024.    Asteroid vs Birds   “An Asteroid Wiped Out Dinosaurs. Did It Help Birds Flourish?” by Carl Zimmer. 2024.  “Dust Might Have Snuffed Out the Dinosaurs.” by Miriam Fauzia. 2023.  “How Did Birds First Take Off?” by Carl Zimmer. 2023.  “Genomes, fossils, and the concurrent rise of modern birds and flowering plants in the Late Cretaceous.” by Shaoyuan Wu, et al. 2024.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Extinction Risk, Living Fossils, Asteroid vs Birds

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.    Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Calli and Nate — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Twin Trauma, Bee Mystery, Sequence Bias

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.    Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Calli and Nate — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brewer’s Yeast, Constructed Languages, Memory Direction

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.    Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Calli and Nate — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A New Robot Can Imagine Itself, Williams Syndrome, and The Great Compression

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