Curiosity Killed the Rat

Way back in 2020 we did an episode all about the James Webb Space Telescope. Since then, this Bad Boi has been launched, is in space, unfolded, and ready to deliver it’s first data to the world! Given this, we thought it was time for an update, getting the low-down from high-up about the current status of the James Webb Space Telescope! With Kate out this episode due to an unfortunately timed cased of COVID, friend-of-the-show Benji steps up alongside Matt to chat to fellow astronomer Maddie Marshall. If you loved the insight Maddie had to give, you can find more of her on twitter with the handle @AstroMad. As always, you can find us @curiosityrat on twitter, instagram, and facebook, and send your listener questions in to [email protected] We also have a Patreon! If you love our content and want to support us you can jump on to https://www.patreon.com/curiosityrat and become a patron. There is absolutely ZERO pressure but if you have as little as $1/month you can chuck it our way to help us out and show you appreciate all the time and effort that goes into making this show. Images and Websites referenced in the show: https://webb.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html?fbclid=IwAR0D7H6gOcUf7dvrYIppFN8i9WlveSqFTIrvd8lwbA8-rBYhS9kw47ocCMA https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/05/09/miris-sharper-view-hints-at-new-possibilities-for-science/?fbclid=IwAR0euAWqWWJQcisv2kLscr_LOQkPmdz1ctE-c5cmXGP4qq-ymE79m7E7Sv0 https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/04/28/nasas-webb-in-full-focus-ready-for-instrument-commissioning/?fbclid=IwAR1crPVdoLNi8BL5CxXy7qN9yFe4YAcY1jFn6ECDLGnyWZHxX_quQFHhYn0 https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-webb-reaches-alignment-milestone-optics-working-successfully

The refrigeration cycle is so fundamental to human society, but it can be very easy to take for granted. This episode, Kate and Matt are joined by Mark Kelly, who teaches us all about the science and history of refrigeration. We dive into thermodynamics and heat transfer, as Mark explains just why he thinks refrigeration is amazing and how it relies on what feels like a bug in the physics engine of our world. We also tackle a listener question about dust… what is it, exactly? As always, you can find us @curiosityrat on twitter, instagram, and facebook, and send your listener questions in to [email protected] We also have a Patreon! If you love our content and want to support us you can jump on to https://www.patreon.com/curiosityrat and become a patron. There is absolutely ZERO pressure but if you have as little as $1/month you can chuck it our way to help us out and show you appreciate all the time and effort that goes into making this show. Referenced in this episode: https://youtu.be/AeJ9q45PfD0 https://youtu.be/4fuHzC9aTik Listener Question References: https://www.cabdirect.org/cabdirect/abstract/19820596810 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/es104056m https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es9003735 https://youtu.be/P21a5Uty-uc https://youtu.be/jn5M48MVWyg

This episode, Kate and Matt are joined by Ulysse Thivisol to chat about the brain and some of the cool research he is doing to learn about it! We talk about everything from brain development and substance use to schizophrenia, and how those things overlap. We also tackle a listener question about the mysterious “alcohol jacket”… does drinking actually warm you up? If you enjoyed what Ulysse had to say and want to find more of him, you can follow him on twitter @Uthivisol. And, as always, you can find us @curiosityrat on twitter, instagram, and facebook, and send your listener questions in to [email protected] We also now have a Patreon! If you love our content and want to support us you can jump on to https://www.patreon.com/curiosityrat and become a patron. There is absolutely ZERO pressure but if you have as little as $1/month you can chuck it our way to help us out and show you appreciate all the time and effort that goes into making this show. Listener Q References: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6974036/ https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)60746-7/fulltext https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2775500/ https://www.nature.com/articles/nn852 https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/01/health/01real.html?_r=0 https://jpet-aspetjournals-org.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/content/309/3/1167.full https://rupress-org.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/jgp/article/125/6/531/44091/The-Salty-and-Burning-Taste-of-Capsaicin

This episode, join Kate and Matt as they take a deep dive into the world of Stingrays! The many species of stingray range so greatly in size and habitat, but they share some common incredibly cool features. Just how exactly do they hunt for their prey? How do they sense it? Of course, we also discuss the tragedy of Steve Irwin’s death. But just how dangerous are stingrays? What usually happens if you get stung by one, and what should you do? We also tackle a listener question about breathing and just how/why we breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. How long does that whole process take? As always, you can find us @curiosityrat on twitter, instagram, and facebook, and send your listener questions in to [email protected] We also have a Patreon! If you love our content and want to support us you can jump on to https://www.patreon.com/curiosityrat and become a patron. There is absolutely ZERO pressure but if you have as little as $1/month you can chuck it our way to help us out and show you appreciate all the time and effort that goes into making this show. Main Segment References: http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/long_nico/Adaptation.htm https://www.nature.com/articles/187957a0.pdf https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joa.12342 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0944200613000871?via%3Dihub https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0944200611000973?via%3Dihub https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/7/6/2272 https://www.seaparadise.com/manta-ray-vs-stingray-9-key-differences-explained/#:~:text=Aside%20from%20their%20size%2C%20one,the%20base%20of%20their%20tail. https://www.seeker.com/stingrays-chew-their-food-like-mammals-2004274358.html https://theculturetrip.com/pacific/australia/articles/the-prehistoric-super-fish-7-facts-about-stingrays/ https://australian.museum/learn/animals/fishes/smooth-stingray-dasyatis-brevicaudata-hutton-1875/ https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2013.0528 https://saveourseas.com/project/do-stingrays-have-superpowers/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-sharks-electric-sense/ https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013Sci...340...66C/abstract https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1230883 https://youtu.be/SSSpjXP6KNg https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/stingrays-born-in-female-only-tank-20110810-1imik.html Listener Q References: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/oxygen-s-surprisingly-complex-journey-through-your-body-enda-butler https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02111656 https://youtu.be/mZvzl8KH6iI https://www.almanac.com/fact/how-long-does-it-take-blood-to

Kate and Matt bring in a brand new season of Curiosity Killed the Rat with the help of this week's guest, Brandon Richards, to talk about all things fear. What's the difference between fear and anxiety? Why do adrenaline junkies love fear so much? What actually occurs in the brain when we're scared, and how could we use this knowledge? Stay tuned till the end of the episode for our Listener Question, where Kate reveals the truth about what is actually inside those DO NOT EAT packets that seem to show up in all sorts of products. 

As always, you can find us @curiosityrat on twitter, instagram, and facebook, and send your listener questions in to [email protected]. We also now have a Patreon! If you love our content and want to support us you can jump on to https://www.patreon.com/curiosityrat and become a patron. There is absolutely ZERO pressure but if you have as little as $1/month you can chuck it our way to help us out and show you appreciate all the time and effort that goes into making this show.

You can find more of Brandon on Twitter: @BrandonKRneuro

Chubby Emu Video on Silica Gel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChgIkbg0x80

Listener Question References:

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/j100854a041 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/je0255067 http://resources.culturalheritage.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2015/02/osg009-12.pdf http://thescienceexplorer.com/technology/don-t-throw-away-your-desiccant-packets https://www.scienceworld.ca/stories/ever-wonder-about-silica-gel/ https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/19775/what-would-happen-if-you-ate-one-those-silica-gel-packets

For the final episode of the season, we take a deep dive into the science of Botox! Or, more accurately, botulinum toxin: one of the most dangerous biological substances known to humankind. We mostly associate Botox with its cosmetic use, but there is so much more to it! This toxin was first discovered thanks to the illness it causes when accidentally eaten. From there, its powers were harnessed by the medical and cosmetic industries… but HOW does it work!? This episode, Kate goes into the history, the neuroscience, and the medical uses of botulinum toxin – resulting in a fun ride of science, story time, and self-reflection. We also tackle a listener question about “the sultana curse” – why do our fingers and toes go wrinkly after a bath? As always, you can find us @curiosityrat on twitter, instagram, and facebook, and send your listener questions in to [email protected] We also now have a Patreon! If you love our content and want to support us you can jump on to https://www.patreon.com/curiosityrat and become a patron. There is absolutely ZERO pressure but if you have as little as $1/month you can chuck it our way to help us out and show you appreciate all the time and effort that goes into making this show. Botox References: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1392572/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20418969/ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/jnc.15181 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27363760/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16901418/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1312202/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17458494/ https://headacheaustralia.org.au/botox-for-migraine/ https://accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=2216§ionid=170340147 https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2017/125274s109lbl.pdf https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/inside-aesthetics/id1450935718?i=1000520515573 Listener Q References: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2013.12175 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15095056/ https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2012.0999 https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/328223

This is a super special BONUS EPISODE all about vaccine science communication! Do you have loved ones or people in your life expressing some hesitancy around the COVID vaccine? Is hitting them with facts just not doing the job? This episode, Kate, Matt, and Cat have a chat about vaccine hesitancy and how to best have those conversations. We discuss WHY some people might be feeling hesitant, and how best to approach a conversation with them. We talk about where some of the mis/disinformation is coming from, and we help give you some tools to bust a couple of the myths. Cat gives us some nifty tips when checking scientific papers for legitimacy, as we talk about the “research” that is out in support of ivermectin as a COVID treatment. And we talk about some of the successful ways that minds have been changed already, and hopefully leave you with a sense of hope because every conversation counts. We hope this bonus booster ep helps you feel more empowered and comfortable engaging in these important conversations around vaccines and their safety/efficacy! If you loved what Cat had to say and want to find more from her, you can follow her on twitter @CatrionaNR, Instagram @nyuroscientist, and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_NtXSj9jH06SHNmsKhyfuQ). And, as always, you can find us @curiosityrat on twitter, instagram, and facebook, and send your listener questions in to [email protected] We also now have a Patreon! If you love our content and want to support us you can jump on to https://www.patreon.com/curiosityrat and become a patron. There is absolutely ZERO pressure but if you have as little as $1/month you can chuck it our way to help us out and show you appreciate all the time and effort that goes into making this show.

This episode, Kate and Matt are joined once again by our resident immunologist Catriona Nguyen-Robertson! We hit you up with your second dose of vaccine science, expanding on our previous vaccine episode. We start with a quick recap of the past ep’s key points: what are vaccines, how do they work, and what is new and cool about the COVID ones? Then we talk about second doses! Why do we need a second dose of the COVID vaccine, but not for some other vaccines? We also chat about booster shots… will we need them in the future? Why/why not? And is it possible to build tolerance to repeated vaccine doses? We also touch on why some COVID vaccines recommended for some age groups and not others, and how is that risk calculated. Kate then tackles a listener question about babies – why do they put everything in their mouths?! If you enjoyed Catriona’s contribution to the episode and want to find more of her, you can follow her on twitter @CatrionaNR, Instagram @nyuroscientist, and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_NtXSj9jH06SHNmsKhyfuQ). And, as always, you can find us @curiosityrat on twitter, instagram, and facebook, and send your listener questions in to [email protected] We also now have a Patreon! If you love our content and want to support us you can jump on to https://www.patreon.com/curiosityrat and become a patron. There is absolutely ZERO pressure but if you have as little as $1/month you can chuck it our way to help us out and show you appreciate all the time and effort that goes into making this show. Listener Question References: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2364215 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ss.37119780403 https://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/wurpubs/fulltext/384470 https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/parents_pdfs/milestonemomentseng508.pdf https://www.chop.edu/conditions-diseases/newborn-senses https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03004430.2020.1756792 https://www.healthline.com/health/baby/baby-mouthing https://news.llu.edu/patient-care/common-household-items-that-could-be-life-threatening-your-child

This episode, Kate informs Matt about the fantastically hilarious “Ig Nobel Prizes”. The Ig Nobels are a parody of the better-known Nobel Prize, and they reward science that makes you laugh, and then makes you think.

We take a dive into some of the most entertaining award winners from this year, last year, and across history. From levitating frogs and giving helium to alligators… to knives made from faeces and unboiled eggs. This is a wild ride of hilarious, but also super interesting science! 

We also tackle a listener question about wind… how, and why, does it happen?

As always, if you like our work you can find us @curiosityrat on twitter, instagram, and facebook, and send your listener questions in to [email protected]

We also now have a Patreon! If you love our content and want to support us you can jump on to https://www.patreon.com/curiosityrat and become a patron. There is absolutely ZERO pressure but if you have as little as $1/month you can chuck it our way to help us out and show you appreciate all the time and effort that goes into making this show.

Referenced Ig Nobel Prize winners– taken from the Annals of Improbable Research Website:

2010 PHYSICS Prize: Andre Geim of the University of Nijmegen (the Netherlands) and Sir Michael Berry of Bristol University (UK), for using magnets to levitate a frog. [REFERENCE: “Of Flying Frogs and Levitrons” by M.V. Berry and A.K. Geim, European Journal of Physics, v. 18, 1997, p. 307-13.]

2021 TRANSPORTATION PRIZE [NAMIBIA, SOUTH AFRICA, TANZANIA, ZIMBABWE, BRAZIL, UK, USA]:

2021 MEDICINE PRIZE [GERMANY, TURKEY, UK]:

2021 PEACE PRIZE [USA]:

2020 ACOUSTICS PRIZE [AUSTRIA, SWEDEN, JAPAN, USA, SWITZERLAND]

2020 PHYSICS PRIZE [AUSTRALIA, UKRAINE, FRANCE, ITALY, GERMANY, UK, SOUTH AFRICA]

2020 MATERIALS SCIENCE PRIZE [USA, UK]

2012 MEDICINE PRIZE: Emmanuel Ben-Soussan and Michel Antonietti [FRANCE] for advising doctors who perform colonoscopies how to minimize the chance that their patients will explode.

REFERENCE: “Colonic Gas Explosion During Therapeutic Colonoscopy with Electrocautery,” Spiros D Ladas, George Karamanolis, Emmanuel Ben-Soussan, World Journal of Gastroenterology, vol. 13, no. 40, October 2007, pp. 5295–8.

2017 CHEMISTRY PRIZE — Callum Ormonde and Colin Raston [AUSTRALIA], and Tom Yuan, Stephan Kudlacek, Sameeran Kunche, Joshua N. Smith, William A. Brown, Kaitlin Pugliese, Tivoli Olsen, Mariam Iftikhar, Gregory Weiss [USA], for inventing a chemical recipe to partially un-boil an egg.

REFERENCE: “Shear-Stress-Mediated Refolding of Proteins from Aggregates and Inclusion Bodies,” Tom Z. Yuan, Callum F. G. Ormonde, Stephan T. Kudlacek, Sameeran Kunche, Joshua N. Smith, William A. Brown, Kaitlin M. Pugliese, Tivoli J. Olsen, Mariam Iftikhar, Colin L. Raston, Gregory A. Weiss, ChemBioChem, vol. 16, no. 3, February 9, 2015, pp. 393–396.

Additional References:

https://www.improbable.com/2021-ceremony/winners/

https://youtu.be/jiQW-nqoQYg

https://youtu.be/KD6HhZiDFec

https://youtu.be/auoRlBtbxvY

Listener Q References:

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/wind/

https://www.universetoday.com/82329/what-causes-wind/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/where-does-wind-come-from/

This episode, Kate and Matt are joined by Elysa for a super serious scientific conversation about… butts. Specifically, we talk about the role butts play in a very important part of life: waste removal. Interestingly, not all creatures have butts that develop and function the same, nor do they deal with waste removal in the same ways. So, this episode, we go on a tour of anuses across the animal kingdom. We talk about humans, and how our anus develops and works. But(t) we also talk about animals with mouth-butts, creatures that can create jet-pack-style transportation with their butts, animals that breathe through their butts, and animals that weaponize their behinds. We talk about transient anuses, animals with disposable butts, and creatures that just don’t have butts at all! We also discuss the very important question… what kind of waste-disposal system would cat-dog have? We also tackle a listener question about itching… why do we scratch when we feel an itch? If you enjoyed Elysa’s contribution to the episode and want to find more of them, you can follow them on twitter @asciencequeer. And, as always, you can find us @curiosityrat on twitter, instagram, and facebook, and send your listener questions in to [email protected] We also now have a Patreon! If you love our content and want to support us you can jump on to https://www.patreon.com/curiosityrat and become a patron. There is absolutely ZERO pressure but if you have as little as $1/month you can chuck it our way to help us out and show you appreciate all the time and effort that goes into making this show.

Main References: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ivb.12236 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24694282/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/05/evolution-butts/618915/ https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-3190/aac25a https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330795949_Prey_capturing_and_feeding_apparatus_of_dragonfly_nymph https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0116639 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-the-scorpion-lost-its-tail-and-its-anus https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00227-004-1467-7 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-this-fish-survives-in-a-sea-cucumbers-bum https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/fish/pearlfish-sea-cucumber https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18392795/ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-012-0975-4 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jez.1055 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004452311500011X https://www.newscientist.com/article/2195656-animal-with-an-anus-that-comes-and-goes-could-reveal-how-ours-evolved/ https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Porifera/ https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/invertebrates/jellyfish-and-comb-jellies https://www.science.org/news/2016/03/why-watching-comb-jellies-poop-has-stunned-evolutionary-biologists

Listener Q References: https://www.ox.ac.uk/research/what-makes-us-scratch-itch-scientists-finally-have-answer https://www.science.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aac8653 https://www.sciencealert.com/some-disorders-make-you-itch-uncontrollably-so-much-so-that-one-woman-scratched-through-to-her-brain https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/guide/scratching-feels-good https://www.ox.ac.uk/research/what-makes-us-scratch-itch-scientists-finally-have-answer