Today, you’ll learn about a bacterial discovery that challenges our understanding of how and when life formed on Earth, the importance difference between self control and willpower, and the truth about whether or not your dog really loves you.  

Origin of Life 

• “Scientists Just Made a 1.75 Billion-Year-Old Discovery About the Origin of Life.” by Mirjam Guesgen. 2024.  
• “The Great Oxygenation Event as a consequence of ecological dynamics modulated by planetary change.” by Jason Olejarz, et al. 2021.  
• “Microbes and minerals may have set off Earth’s oxygenation.” by Jennifer Chu. 2022.  

Self Control vs Willpower 

• “Most people say self-control is the same as willpower. Researchers disagree.” by Sujata Gupta. 2024.  
• “Nearly two in five Americans have a New Year’s Resolution planned for 2021.” Ipsos. 2020.  
• “New Year’s resolution statistics.” finder. 2021.  
• “What’s inside is all that counts? The contours of everyday thinking about self-control.” by Juan Pablo Bermudez, et al. 2023.  

Puppy Love 

• “Does Your Dog Truly Love You? Science Has the Answer.” by Adam Piore. 2023.  
• “Machine learning gives glimpse of how a dog’s brain represents what it sees.” ScienceDaily. 2022.  
• “A glimpse into the dog’s mind: A new study reveals how dogs think of their toys.” by Eotvos Lorand University. 2022.  

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. 

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Today, you’ll learn about a supervitamin you might already be taking some good news about the health of the world’s forests, and a new study that mapped ketamine’s effects on the brain.  

B12 

• “Vitamin B12 emerges as key player during cellular reprogramming.” by Alba Vilchez-Acosta. 2023.  
• “Vitamin B12: A key player in cellular reprogramming and tissue regeneration.” ScienceDaily. 2023.  

Healthy Forests 

• “Twenty-year study confirms California forests are healthier when burned - or thinned.” by Kara Manke. 2023.  
• “2023 North American Wildfires.” CDP. 2023.  
• “Forest restoration and fuels reduction work: Different pathways for achieving success in the Sierra Nevada.” by Scott L. Stephens, et al. 2023.  

Ketamine & the Brain 

• “New Study Maps Ketamine’s Effects on Brain.” by Christopher D. Shea. 2023.  
• “Ketamine.” reviewed by Melisa Puckey. 2023.  
• “Whole-brain mapping reveals the divergent impact of ketamine on the dopamine system.” by Malika S. Datta, et al. 2023.  
• “Understanding Ketamine Treatment for Depression.” n.a. 2023.  

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. 

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Today, you’ll learn about how your ears are eavesdropping on your eyes, a bold new study on the anti-inflammatory effects of psychedelics, and an astonishing new discovery linking hoarding disorder with ADHD. 

Ears & Eyes  

• “Your Eyes Talk to Your Ears. Scientists Know What They’re Saying.” by Dan Vahaba. 2023.  
• “Research Discovery: Astonishing Connection Between Vision and Hearing.” by Doug Garfield. 2023.  
• “Parametric information about eye movements is sent to the ears.” by Stephanie N. Lovich, et al. 2023.  

Psilocybin & Depression  

• “Psilocybin induces acute and persisting alterations in immune status in healthy volunteers: An experimental, placebo-controlled study.” by N.L. Mason, et al. 2023.  
• “Study suggests single dose of psilocybin safe and effective as treatment for major depressive disorder.” by Justin Jackson. 2023.  
• “Increased global integration in the brain after psilocybin therapy for depression.” by Richard E. Daws, et al. 2022.  

ADHD & Hoarding 

• “Strong connection found between ADHD and hoarding disorder.” by Eric W. Dolan. 2023.  
• “Hoarding disorder.” by Mayo Clinic Staff. 2023.  
• “Who really hoards? Hoarding symptoms in adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and healthy controls.” by Giacomo Grassi, et al. 2023.  

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. 

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Today, you’ll learn about a new ink that can 3D print inside your body using soundwaves, why saying no to invitations isn’t as bad as you might think, and some new drugs that could potentially make your dog live longer.  

3D Ink 

• “Soundwaves Harden 3D-Printed Treatments in Deep Tissues.” by Michaela Martinez. 2023.  
• “Dental curing light.” Wikipedia.  
• “Self-enhancing sono-inks enable deep-penetration acoustic volumetric printing.” by Xiao Kuang, et al. 2023.   

RSVP No 

• “Just say no to that invitation.” n.a. 2023.  
• “Saying No: The Negative Ramifications From Invitation Declines Are Less Severe Than We Think.” By Julian Givi & Colleen P. Kirk. 2023.  

Old Dogs 

• “Could a Drug Give Your Pet More Dog Years?” by Emily Anthes. 2023.  
• “Forget Botox. Anti-Aging Pills May Be Next.” by Andrew Pollack. 2023.  
• “We’re helping dogs like yours live longer.” Loyal website. N.d.  
• “Discovering the keys to a healthy lifespan.” Dog Aging Project website. 2023. 

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. 

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Today, you’ll learn about why you may want to consider letting yourself daydream, how a sense of humor might protect you from depression and anxiety, and the effects of caffeine on the performance of soccer players.  

Daydream Brain  

• “What Happens in the Brain While Daydreaming?” by Catherine Caruso. 2023.  
• “Is the role of sleep in memory consolidation overrated?” by Mohammad Dastgheib, et al. 2022.  
• “Cortical reactivations predict future sensory responses.” by Nghia D. Nguyen, et al. 2023.  
• “Why Daydreaming Is Good For Us.” by David B. Feldman Ph.D. 2017.  

Power of a Laugh 

• “Your type of humor might say something about your risk of depression and anxiety.” by Eric W. Dolan. 2023.  
• “Understanding the Association Between Humor and Emotional Distress: The Role of Light and Dark Humor in Predicting Depression, Anxiety, and Stress.” by Alberto Dionigi, et al. 2023.  

Caffeine & Soccer  

• “Caffeine highs and lows footballers should be aware of.” n.a. 2023.  
• “The effects of acute caffeine ingestion on decision-making and pass accuracy in young soccer players: A preliminary randomized controlled trial.” by Negar Jafari, et al. 2023.  

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. 

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Today, you’ll learn about the 139 genes that set the human mind apart from our primate cousins, a new gel that could change the game for those suffering from dry mouth, and why psychopaths could be immune from the contagious yawn. 

Human Genes  

• “139 Genes Set Human Cognitive Ability Apart From Other Primates.” by Sarah Whelan, PhD. 2023.  
• “Comparative single-cell transcriptomic analysis of primate brains highlights human-specific regulatory evolution.” by Hamsini Suresh, et al. 2023.  
• “Middle Temporal Gyrus.” by Kostas Konstantopoulos & Dimitrios Giakoumettis. 2023.  

Dry Mouth Relief  

• “New Microgel Lubricant Could Provide Relief From Dry Mouth.” by Alexander Beadle. 2023.  
• “How Common is Dry Mouth? Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis of Prevalence Estimates.” by Bernardo Antonio Agostini, et al. 2018.  
• “Benchmarking of a microgel-reinforced hydrogel-based aqueous lubricant against commercial saliva substitutes.” by Olivia Pabois, et al. 2023.  

Yawning Psychopaths  

• “Why Psychopaths Are Immune to Contagious Yawning.” by Gary Drevitch. 2015.  
• “Psychopathy.” n.a. N.d.  
• “Contagious and spontaneous yawning in autistic and typically developing children.” by Fiorenza Giganti & Maria Esposito Ziello. 2009.  

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. 

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Today, you’ll learn about how the bilingual brain might be better at multitasking, good news for women who are at risk for morning sickness, and the strangely complex science behind cat purring. 

Bilingual Brain 

• “The bilingual brain may be better at ignoring irrelevant information.” EurekAlert!. 2023.  
• “Bilingual attentional control: Evidence from the Partial Repetition Cost paradigm.” by Grace deMeurisse & Edith Kaan. 2023.  

Morning Sickness 

• “Cause of Morning Sickness and a Potential Treatment Identified.” by Rhianna-lily Smith. 2023. 
• “GDF15: emerging biology and therapeutic applications for obesity and cardiometabolic disease.” by Dongdong Wang, et al. 2021.  
• “GDF15 linked to maternal risk of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.” by M. Fejzo, et al. 2023. 

Cat Purrs 

• “How do cats purr? New finding challenges long-held assumptions.” by Phie Jacobs. 2023.  
• “Domestic cat larynges can produce purring frequencies without neural input.” by Christian T. Herbst, et al. 2023.  
• “How Low Can You Go? Physical Production Mechanism of Elephant Infrasonic Vocalizations.” by Christian T. Herbst, et al. 2012.  

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.

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Today, you’ll learn about how babies pick up language before they’re even born, an AI that takes on the busy work for doctors, and new insight into how humans collaborate.  

Baby Language 

• “Babies’ Brains Are Primed For Their Native Language Before Birth.” by Nyla Husain. 2023.  
• “Prenatal experience with language shapes the brain.” by Benedetta Mariani. 2023.  
• “The What and When of Universal Perception: A Review of Early Speech Sound Acquisition.” by Katerina Chladkova & Nikola Paillereau. 2020.  

AI Medicine 

• “Medical AI tool from UF, NVIDIA gets human thumbs-up in first study.” by Jim W. Harper. 2023.  
• “AI Training AI: GatorTronGPT at the Forefront of University of Florida’s Medical AI Innovations.” by Mona Flores. 2023.  
• “A study of generative large language model for medical research and healthcare.” by Cheng Peng, et al. 2023.  
• “Physicians, paperwork, and paying attention to patients.” by Dr. Monique Tello. 2016.  

Human Collaboration  

• “How we play together.” n.a. 2023.  
• “The evolution of human cooperation.” Coren L. Apicella & Joan B. Silk. 2019.  

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.

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Today, you’ll learn about a new brain interface that allows people to play games with their minds, how bad luck might make you less committed to achieving greatness, and some alarming news about how the way humans use salt is not just bad for our bodies, but the planet as well.  

Brain Game  

• “New brain-computer interface allows people to play a game using their thoughts.” by Vladimir Hedrih. 2023.  
• “Combining brain-computer interfaces and multiplayer video games: an application based on c-VEPs.” by Selene Moreno-Calderon, et al. 2023.  

Goal Paralysis  

• “Goal paralysis: How bad luck affects goal commitment.” by Cony M. Ho, et al. 2023.  
• “Today Is Just Not My Day: Bad Luck’s Effect on Goal Pursuit.” by Cony M. Ho, et al. 2023. 

Salt Cycle 

• “Humans are disrupting natural ‘salt cycle’ on a global scale, new study shows.” EurekAlert! 2023.  
• “Cary Institute Report on Sustainable Road Salt Use.” Cary Institute. 2019.  

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. 

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Today, you’ll learn about the brain’s ability - or inability - to rewire itself, the imagination of rats, and how dogs can have a positive effect on those suffering from PTSD.  

Brain Rewiring  

• “Our brains are not able to ‘rewire’ themselves, despite what most scientists believe, new study argues.” University of Cambridge. 2023.  
• “Against cortical reorganisation.” by Tamar R. Makin & John W. Krakauer. 2023.  

Rat Imagination  

• “Rats have an imagination, new research finds.” EurekAlert! 2023.  
• “Volitional activation of remote place representations with a hippocampal brain-machine interface.” by Chongxi Lai, et al. 2023.  

Dogs & PTSD 

• “Contact with a service dog might help individuals with PTSD sleep better, study finds.” by Vladimir Hedrih. 2023.  
• “Paws for Purple Hearts - Service Dogs for our Warriors.” Website. 2023. 
• “Heart rate during sleep in PTSD patients: Moderation by contact with a service dog.” by Steven H. Woodward, et al. 2023.  

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.

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