Curiosity Weekly

Today, you’ll learn about eels that burrow into the hearts of sharks and feast on their blood, parrots that love to gab on video calls, and the secret of the bowhead whale’s cancer fighting superpower. 

Shark Week continues all week long on Discovery. For the latest, head to SharkWeek.com.

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/shark-eating-eels-lonely-parrots-whales-repair-dna

Shark-Eating Eels

• “Eels Have Been Found Living and Feeding On Blood Inside the Heart of Sharks.” by Rachael Funnell. 2021.
  • https://www.iflscience.com/eels-have-been-found-living-and-feeding-on-blood-inside-the-heart-of-sharks-58317

Lonely Parrots

• “Parrots Taught to Video Call Each Other Become Less Lonely, Finds Research.” by Hannah Devlin. 2023.
  • https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/21/parrots-taught-to-video-call-each-other-become-less-lonely-finds-research
• “Birds of a Feather Video-Flock Together: Design and Evaluation of an Agency-Based Parrot-to-Parrot Video-Calling System for Interspecies Ethical Enrichment.” by Rebecca Kleinberger. 2023.
  • https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544548.3581166

Whales Repair DNA

• “Bowhead Whales May Have a Cancer-Defying Superpower: DNA Repair.” by Meghan Rosen. 2023.
  • https://www.sciencenews.org/article/bowhead-whales-cancer-dna-repair

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 how a catatonic woman’s reawakening could shake up the entire field of psychiatry, plans to stop using forever chemicals, and how scientists plan on growing crops without sunshine. 

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/catatonic-wake-up-forever-chemicals-crops-with-no-sun

Catatonic Wake Up 

• “A Catatonic Woman Awakened After 20 Years. Her Story May Change Psychiatry.” by Richard Sima. 2023.
  • https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/06/01/schizophrenia-autoimmune-lupus-psychiatry/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJpZCI6IjQyNTY5MzQiLCJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNjg1NTkyMDAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNjg2ODg3OTk5LCJpYXQiOjE2ODU1OTIwMDAsImp0aSI6ImYyMWIyZDEwLTk1ZjEtNDg0OC04MGExLWI3ZTRmNzhiMGYzNiIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS93ZWxsbmVzcy8yMDIzLzA2LzAxL3NjaGl6b3BocmVuaWEtYXV0b2ltbXVuZS1sdXB1cy1wc3ljaGlhdHJ5LyJ9.83LQPVKW0IfmqRqj5vgUhWwdqhDw8tuEXqqhJdq1eic
• “Lupus.” CDC. 2022.
  • https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/factsheets/lupus.htm

Forever Chemicals 

• “You probably have “forever chemicals” in your body. Here’s what that means.” by Benji Jones
  • https://www.vox.com/2022/8/25/23318667/pfas-forever-chemicals-safety-drinking-water
• “PFAS and Your Health” by ATSDR
  • https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pfas/index.html
• “Biden-Harris Administration Proposes First-Ever National Standard to Protect Communities from PFAS in Drinking Water” by EPA
  • https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-proposes-first-ever-national-standard-protect-communities
• “Low-temperature mineralization of perfluorocarboxylic acids” by BRITTANY TRANG et al.
  • https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm8868?adobe_mc=MCMID%3D87405751245436731003476501941219687288%7CMCORGID%3D242B6472541199F70A4C98A6%2540AdobeOrg%7CTS%3D1660658873&_ga=2.228389917.183627334.1660532753-1917198022.1509206891
• “New Study Finds PFAS in Bottled Water, as Lawmakers Call for Federal Limits” by Ryan Felton
  • https://www.consumerreports.org/health/bottled-water/pfas-in-bottled-water-new-study-finds-a1111233122/

Crops With No Sun

• “Let There Be Dark.” by Robert F. Service. 2023.
  • https://www.science.org/content/article/crops-grown-without-sunlight-could-help-feed-astronauts-bound-mars

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 high tech brain-spine interference that could revolutionize spinal injury treatments, why you might want to let your child nap as long as they want, and the ancient secrets of the smooch. 

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/post-paralysis-walking-important-naps-history-of-kissing

Post-Paralysis Walking 

• “Walking Naturally After Spinal Cord Injury/Paralysis Using a Brain-Spine Interface.” by Henri Lorach, et al. 2023.
  • https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06094-5
• “This Brain-Spine Interface Sidesteps Spinal Cord Injuries.” by Michael Nolan. 2023.
  • https://spectrum.ieee.org/brain-spine-interface

Important Naps   

• “Study Highlights the Importance of Napping For Memory Consolidation in Early Childhood.” by Eric W. Dolan. 2023.
  • https://www.psypost.org/2023/05/study-highlights-the-importance-of-napping-for-memory-consolidation-in-early-childhood-163785

History of Kissing 

• “The Ancient History of Kissing.” by Troels Pank Arbøll & Sophie Lund Rasmussen. 2023.
  • https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adf0512?adobe_mc=MCMID%3D71526409875569128722259358006205072405%7CMCORGID%3D242B6472541199F70A4C98A6%2540AdobeOrg%7CTS%3D1684744647&
• “The First Kiss in Recorded History Dates BAck Nearly 5,000 Years.” by Stephanie Pappas. 2023.
  • https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-first-kiss-in-recorded-history-dates-back-nearly-5-000-years/

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 way we might, one day, be able to sleep our way to the stars, why some of the world’s cities are sinking, and how babies’ brain structures could be influenced by how much we speak to them. 

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/space-hibernation-new-york-is-sinking-baby-talk

Space Hibernation 

• “Hibernation-Like State Induced by Ultrasound Could Enable Long-Distance Spaceflights.” by Ruairi J. Mackenzie. 2023.
  • https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/news/hibernation-like-state-induced-by-ultrasound-could-enable-long-distance-spaceflights-373862
• “Alpha Centauri: Facts about the stars next door.” by Robert Lea. 2023.
  • https://www.space.com/18090-alpha-centauri-nearest-star-system.html

New York is Sinking

• “New York City Is Sinking. It's Far From Alone.” by Matt Simon. 2023.
  • https://www.wired.com/story/new-york-city-is-sinking-its-far-from-alone/
• “New York City Is Sinking Under Its Own Weight.” by Meghan Bartels. 2023.
  • https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-york-city-is-sinking-under-its-own-weight/

Baby Talk 

• “Talking to Babies May Help Shape Brain Structure, Research Finds.”  by Nicola Davis. 2023.
  • https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/may/15/talking-to-babies-may-help-shape-brain-structure-research-finds

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 lab-grown meat, a world hundreds of feet below a West Antarctic glacier, and a new discovery about the mysterious behavior of ants. 

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/stem-cell-meat-antarctica-cavern-and-ants-playing-dead

Stem Cell Meat  

• “Cultured Meat Produced Using Immortal Stem Cells.” by Molly Campbell. 2023.
  • https://www.technologynetworks.com/genomics/news/cultured-meat-produced-using-immortal-stem-cells-373195
• “Meat accounts for nearly 60% of all greenhouse gases from food production, study finds.” by Oliver Milman. 2021.
  • https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/13/meat-greenhouses-gases-food-production-study
• “Lab-Grown Meat’s Carbon Footprint Potentially Worse Than Retail Beef.” by Amy Quinton. 2023.
  • https://www.ucdavis.edu/food/news/lab-grown-meat-carbon-footprint-worse-beef#:~:text=Under%20that%20scenario%2C%20researchers%20found,conventional%20beef%20production%2C%20they%20calculate.
• “Yes, Lab-Grown Meat Is Vegan.” by Jude Whiley. 2023.
  • https://www.wired.com/story/lab-grown-meat-vegan-ethics-environment/

Antarctica Cavern

• “A massive cavern beneath a West Antarctic glacier is teeming with life.” by Douglas Fox. 2023.
  • https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cavern-west-antarctic-glacier-life
• “Melting and Refreezing in an Ice Shelf Basal Channel at the Grounding Line of the Kamb Ice Stream, West Antarctica.” by A Whiteford, et al. 2022.
  • https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2021JF006532
• “The Six Moons Most Likely to Host Life in Our Solar System.” by Rebecca Boyle. 2023.
  • https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-six-moons-most-likely-to-host-life-in-our-solar-system/#:~:text=Life%20could%20flourish%20in%20half,dwarf%20planets%20Ceres%20and%20Pluto

Ants Play Dead

• “Kangaroo Island ants 'play dead’ to avoid predators.” University of South Australia. 2023.
  • https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230509122125.htm#:~:text=Summary%3A,is%20a%20recorded%20world%20first.

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 how AI might be able to read your mind, what we can learn from a woman who doesn’t feel any physical pain, and a new app that aims to change our approach to mental health treatment. 

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/brain-activity-decoder-no-pain-molecules-and-psych-tech

Brain Activity Decoder

• “Brain Activity Decoder Can Reveal Stories in People’s Minds.” n.a. 2023.
  • https://news.utexas.edu/2023/05/01/brain-activity-decoder-can-reveal-stories-in-peoples-minds/
• “A.I. Is Getting Better at Mind-Reading.” by Oliver Whang. 2023.
  • https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/science/ai-speech-language.html

No Pain Molecules   

• “Study Reveals Unique Molecular Machinery of Woman Who Can't Feel Pain.” n.a. 2023.
  • https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2023/may/study-reveals-unique-molecular-machinery-woman-who-cant-feel-pain
• “Molecular basis of FAAH-OUT-associated human pain insensitivity.” by Hajar Mikaeili, et al. 2023.
  • https://academic.oup.com/brain/advance-article/doi/10.1093/brain/awad098/7169317?login=false

Psychiatry Tech

• “Tech Platform to Revolutionize Psychiatric Care Developed by CI MED Student and Harvard Team.” by Beth Hart. 2023
  • https://medicine.illinois.edu/news/tech-platform-to-revolutionize-psychiatric-care-developed-by-ci-med-student-and-harvard-team
• “The State Of Mental Health In America.” MHA. 2023.
  • https://mhanational.org/issues/state-mental-health-america
• “‘Asynchronous Telemedicine’ a CI MED RISE Seminar featuring Aditya Vaidyam.” YouTube Video. 2023.
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuCa74jFNCI

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 science behind near-death-experiences, why some music is made for summer, and how the lionfish is invading southern Brazil.   

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/hallucinations-music-and-invasions

Death Hallucinations

• “Scientists Detect Brain Activity in Dying People Linked to Dreams, Hallucinations.” by Becky Ferreira. 2023.
  • https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy3p3w/scientists-detect-brain-activity-in-dying-people-linked-to-dreams-hallucinations
• “Surge of neurophysiological coupling and connectivity of gamma oscillations in the dying human brain.” by Gang Xu, et al. 2023.
  • https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2216268120
• “Taking Psychedelics Helps People Face Mortality Like a Near-Death Experience, Study Finds.” by Beccy Ferreira. 2022.
  • https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxnxxw/taking-psychedelics-helps-people-face-mortality-like-a-near-death-experience-study-finds

Music and Weather

• “Here comes the sun: New study shows how UK weather conditions influence music success in the markets.” n.a. 2023.
  • https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-05-04-here-comes-sun-new-study-shows-how-uk-weather-conditions-influence-music-success
• “Here comes the sun: music features of popular songs reflect prevailing weather conditions.” by Manuel Anglada-Tort, et al. 2023.
  • https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.221443

Lionfish Invasion 

• “Brazil's Invasion of Voracious Lionfish Has Reached a Worrisome Phase.” by Herton Escobar. 2023.
  • https://www.science.org/content/article/brazil-s-invasion-voracious-lionfish-has-reached-worrisome-phase

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 patch that uses ultrasonic waves to deliver medicine through the skin, research that debunks the myth of the ‘fast learner’, and evidence that a megaflood ended an environmental crisis in the Mediterranean more than five million years ago. 

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/medicine-patch-fast-learner-myth-mediterranean-mega-flood

Medicine Patch   

• “Wearable Patch Can Painlessly Deliver Drugs Through the Skin.” by Anne Trafton. 2023.
  • https://news.mit.edu/2023/wearable-patch-can-painlessly-deliver-drugs-through-skin-0419
• “A Conformable Ultrasound Patch for Cavitation-Enhanced Transdermal Cosmeceutical Delivery.” by Chia-Chen Yu, et al. 2023.
  • https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.202300066
• “Applications of Synthetically Produced Materials in Clinical Medicine.” by Maleka P. Hashmi, et al. 2018.
  • https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/transdermal
• “Ultrasonics.” by Richard E. Berg. n.d.
  • https://www.britannica.com/science/ultrasonics

Fast Learner Myth 

• “The Myth of the Fast Learner.” by Caroline Sheedy. 2023.
  • https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2023/march/the-myth-of-the-fast-learner
• “An astonishing regularity in student learning rate.” by Kenneth R. Koedinger. 2023.
  • https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2221311120

Mediterranean Mega Flood 

• “First direct proof of mega-flood in Mediterranean Sea region.” n.a. 2023.
  • https://www.uu.nl/en/news/first-direct-proof-of-mega-flood-in-mediterranean-sea-region
• “A terminal Messinian flooding of the Mediterranean evidenced by contouritic deposits on Sicily.” by Gijs van Dijk, et al. 2023.
  • https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sed.13074

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 spider and silkworm silk is being used to repair injured nerves, about a simple trick backed by science to get your kids to eat their vegetables, and about a new study on third trimester ultrasounds and healthier babies. 

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/spider-silk-family-meals-pregnancy-ultrasounds

Spider Silk  

• “Silk from spiders and silkworms found to be a promising material to repair injured nerves.” n.a. 2023.
  • https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-04-03-silk-spiders-and-silkworms-found-be-promising-material-repair-injured-nerves-0
• “Peripheral nerve injuries.” Mayo Clinic. 2022.
  • https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/peripheral-nerve-injuries/symptoms-causes/syc-20355631

Family Meals     

• “Effect of Longer Family Meals on Children’s Fruit and Vegetable Intake.” by Mattea Dallacker, PhD, et al. 2023.
  • https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2802987

Pregnancy Ultrasounds

• “Giving Pregnant Women Routine Third Trimester Ultrasound Scans Could Reduce Rates of Undetected Breech Pregnancy by 71%, Enabling Better Care Before and During Labor and Improved Outcomes for Newborns.” n.a. 2023.
  • https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/984712
• “Impact of point-of-care ultrasound and routine third trimester ultrasound on undiagnosed breech presentation and perinatal outcomes: An observational multicentre cohort study.” by Samantha Knights, et al. 2023.
  • https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1004192

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 a bolt of lightning created a brand new, never before seen material, how researchers can tell how stressed you are by listening to you type on your keyboard, and a new study that suggests elephants are more like humans than we ever thought. 

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/lightning-material-typing-stress-domesticated-elephants

Lightning Material 

• “USF geoscientist discovers new phosphorus material after New Port Richey lightning strike.” by Cassidy Delamarter. 2023.
  • https://www.usf.edu/news/2023/usf-geoscientist-discovers-new-phosphorus-material-after-new-port-richey-lightning-strike.aspx
• “Routes to reduction of phosphate by high-energy events.” by Luca Bindi, et al. 2023.
  • https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-00736-2
• “Lightning.” National Geographic. N.d.
  • https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/lightning?loggedin=true&rnd=1681824031573

Typing Stress 

• “Detecting stress in the office from how people type and click.” by Christoph Elhardt. 2023.
  • https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2023/04/detecting-stress-in-the-office-from-how-people-type-and-click.html
• “Workplace Stress.” OSHA. N.D.
  • https://www.osha.gov/workplace-stress

Domesticated Elephants 

• “Elephants may be domesticating themselves.” by Virginia Morell. 2023.
  • https://www.science.org/content/article/elephants-may-be-domesticating-themselves
• “Elephants as an animal model for self-domestication.” by Limor Raviv, et al. 2023.
  • https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2208607120
• “You Asked: How are pets different from wild animals?” by Katherine J. Wu. 2018.
  • https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/asked-pets-different-wild-animals/

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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