Today, you’ll learn about how humans could potentially evolve to be venomous, the challenges of repurposing used electric car batteries, and how people who hate magic are more likely to have certain socially aversive traits, like needing to control social situations.

The good and the bad side of snake venom.

• “Could Humans Ever be Venomous?” by Stephanie Pappas
  • https://www.livescience.com/could-humans-be-venomous.html
• “How Snake Venom Kills… and Saves Lives” by James Paterson
  • https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/stem-in-context/how-snake-venom-kills-and-saves-lives
• “Protein Folding: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” by Harvard University
  • https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2010/issue65/
• “This Animal Can Kill 10 Grown Men, But Its Body Adapted To Save Itself” by Tara Yarlagadda
  • https://www.inverse.com/science/the-strange-reason-why-poisonous-animals-survive-their-own-toxins

A new era for batteries.

• “Cars are Going Electric. What Happens to the Used Batteries?” by Gregory Barber and Aarian Marshall
  • https://www.wired.com/story/cars-going-electric-what-happens-used-batteries/
• “Transportation of Electric Vehicle Lithium-ion Batteries at End-of-life: A Literature Review” by Margaret Slattery, Jessica Dunn, and Alissa Kendall
  • https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344921003645
• “Global Implications of the EU Battery Regulation” by Hans Eric Melin, Mohammad Ali Rajaeifar, Anthony Y. Ku, Alissa Kendall, Gavin Harper, and Oliver Heidrich
  • https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abh1416
• “The Lithium Mine Versus the Wildflower” by Gregory Barber
  • https://www.wired.com/story/lithium-mine-for-batteries-versus-the-wildflower/

Who hates magic?!

• “People who hate magic tend to be higher in socially aversive traits, according to new research” By Mane Kara-Yakouabian
  • https://www.psypost.org/2022/04/people-who-hate-magic-are-higher-in-socially-aversive-traits-according-to-new-research-62968
• “Who hates magic? Exploring the loathing of legerdemain.” By Paul J. Silvia et al.
  • https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2022-45549-001

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.

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/human-venom-car-battery-blues-magic-and-personalities

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Today, you’ll learn about an ancient couple found buried in an embrace, why it’s so darn hard to keep fleas off your beloved pets, and how your body’s natural chemistry can help you get a leg up on diet and exercise if you begin to build the habits.

They took “til death do you part” seriously.

• “1,500-year-old burial in China holds lovers locked in eternal embrace” by Laura Geggel
  • https://www.livescience.com/buried-lovers-embrace-china.html
• “1,500-Year-Old Skeletons Found Locked in Embrace in Chinese Cemetery” by Livia Gershon
  • https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1500-year-old-chinese-skeletons-found-locked-embrace-180978509/

Fleas won’t be making it to the Olympics

• “How Do Fleas Jump?” by Kate Latham
  • https://insectcop.net/how-do-fleas-jump/
• “A Flea’s Fantastic Jump Takes More Than a Muscle” by Josh Cassidy
  • https://www.kqed.org/science/1957872/a-fleas-fantastic-jump-takes-more-than-muscle

Exercising affects one’s cravings.

• “Intense exercise while dieting may reduce cravings for fatty food” by Sara Zaske
  • https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2022/04/21/intense-exercise-while-dieting-may-reduce-cravings-for-fatty-food/
• “Acute high-intensity interval exercise attenuates incubation of craving for foods high in fat” by Georgia E. Kirkpatrick
  • https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.23418
• “Ubiquitous nutrients suppress appetite and promote movement” By Fabrio Bergamin
  • https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2022/04/ubiquitous-nutrients-suppress-appetite-and-promote-movement.html

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.

Find episode transcripts here: 

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Today, you’ll hear our interview with Richard Garriott, the president of the Explorers Club. Garriott is not only the first American second generation astronaut, but also the first person to visit both poles, outer space and dive to the Mariana Trench. He started out as a video game designer, and as soon as he made enough money, he began investing in human space flight, creating a company called Space Adventures.

• Richard Garriott Interview from 4/23/22
  • https://app.trint.com/editor/_xFCb8WQRFyO4qID1o4q4A

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.

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/explorers-club-richard-garriott

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Today, you’ll learn about the state of the Amazon rainforest, the truth behind the mythical sugar rush, and how studies involving MRI scans may have been too small to produce significant results, but researchers may have found a solution.

The forest needs attention - not the company.

• “75% of Amazon rainforest shows signs of loss, a 'tipping point' of dieback, study shows” by Doyle Rice
  • ttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2022/03/07/amazon-rainforest-dieback-deforestation-climate-change-study/9380372002
• “Fires in the Amazon are out of Control. Again” by Benji Jones
  • https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2021/8/27/22639885/amazon-rainforest-fires-climate-change-2021
• “Heaviest Object on Earth Weighs 116B Pounds” by Jenn Gidman
  • https://www.newser.com/story/259238/the-10-heaviest-objects-on-earth.html
• “A Framework for Quantifying Resilience to Forest Disturbance” by Timothy Bryant, Kristen Waring, Andrew Sánchez Meador, and John B. Bradford
  • https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2019.00056/full
• “7 Organizations You Can Support to Protect the Amazon Rainforest” by Erica Sánchez, Pia Gralki, and Joe McCarthy
  • https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/organizations-donate-amazon-rainforest/

Maybe sugar isn’t the problem.

• “Sugar rush or high on life? Dieticians explain why kids become hyperactive at parties” by Kate Dorrell
  • https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/sugar-rush-dietician-does-sweet-food-make-kids-hyperactive/100839044
• “There’s No Such Thing as a Sugar Rush, According to Science” by Joshua A. Krisch
  • https://www.fatherly.com/health-science/theres-no-thing-sugar-rush-according-science/

Data sets need to grow to bolster studies.

• “M.R.I.s Are Finding Connections Between Our Brain Activity and Psychology” By Kim Tingley
  • https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/19/magazine/mri-brain-activity-psychology.html
• “Reproducible brain-wide association studies require thousands of individuals” By Scott marek et al
  • https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04492-9
• “Brain scans may reveal a lot about mental illness, but not until studies get bigger” by Jon Hamilton
  • https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/04/26/1094319294/mri-brain-scan-mental-illness-brain-research

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.

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/the-amazons-future-sugar-rush-retcon-a-study-on-studies

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Today, you’ll learn about why our ability to remember things seems to get worse with age—it’s not memory loss, which animals could become the new dominant species in the event of our extinction, and how an unsupportive romantic partner can actually affect the way you think and feel about yourself.

Maybe your mom was right about cleaning your room.

• “How Memory ‘Clutter’ Makes it Harder to Remember Things as we Get Older” by Alexander Easton
  • https://theconversation.com/how-memory-clutter-makes-it-harder-to-remember-things-as-we-get-older-176767
• “Memory Issues for Older People Could be the Result of ‘Clutter’” by Sarah Sloat
  • https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/memory-issues-older-people-result-clutter-rcna15133

The next era for animals.

• “When humans are gone, what animals might evolve to have our smarts and skills?” by Joanna Thompson
  • https://www.livescience.com/what-animals-will-fill-human-niches
• “Can introduced animals replace extinct ones?” by Brigitte Osterath
  • https://www.dw.com/en/can-introduced-animals-replace-extinct-ones/a-16937417

Couples therapy may in fact help your brain.

• “Having an unsupportive romantic partner is associated with neurophysiological changes in error processing” by Eric W. Dolan
  • https://www.psypost.org/2022/04/having-an-unsupportive-romantic-partner-is-associated-with-neurophysiological-changes-in-error-processing-62977
• “Unsupportive romantic partner behaviors increase neural reactivity to mistakes” by Erin N Palmwood
  • https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167876021008886

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.

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/a-clutterful-mind-heir-to-the-earth-partnership

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Calli and Nate interview members of The Explorers Club, and today you’re going to hear from a man who largely represents what The Explorers Club is all about - Josh Gates. Josh Gates is a fearless explorer and adventurer and host of Discovery's popular, long running series Expedition Unknown. He's also hosting a brand new series that chronicles the incredible history of the club, called Tales from The Explorers Club.

• Interview conducted with Josh Gates on 5/3/22.

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.

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/the-explorers-club-josh-gates

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Today, you’ll learn about how cultures across the world often make constellations from the same groups of stars due to the nature of vision and perception, what to do when an animal tries to steal your food during a picnic on the beach, and drones smaller than a red blood cell that can be controlled using only the power of light.

Does your star pattern look like my star pattern?

• “Constellations Across Cultures: How Our Visual Systems Pick Out Patterns in the Night Sky” from the Association for Psychological Science
  • https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/2022-march-constellations-across-cultures.html
• “Perceptual Grouping Explains Similarities in Constellations Across Cultures” by Charles Kemp, Duane W. Hamacher, Daniel R. Little, and Simon J. Cropper
  • https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09567976211044157
• “The Big Dipper (the Plough)”
  • https://nineplanets.org/the-big-dipper
• The Astronomical League
  • https://www.astroleague.org/content/constellations-other-cultures-checklist

Staring contests really do work.

• "Stare at Seagulls and They'll Leave Your Food Alone” by Mindy Weisberger
  • https://www.livescience.com/staring-at-seagulls-stops-stealing.html
• “Stare seagulls out to save your snacks, researcher says” by Ian Sample
  • https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/07/stare-seagulls-out-to-save-your-snacks-researcher-says
• “Staring down seagulls can stop them stealing your chips” by Sam Wong
  • https://www.newscientist.com/article/2212592-staring-down-seagulls-can-stop-them-stealing-your-chips/
• “Herring gulls respond to human gaze direction” by Madeleine Goumas
  • https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0405

Sun doesn’t just give plants life, but drones, too.

• “Microdrones With Light-driven Nanomotors” By Universitat Wurzburg
  • https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/news-and-events/news/detail/news/licht-motoren-fuer-mikrodrohnen-1/
• “Light-Driven Motors Power Tiny Drones” By Patricai Daukantas
  • https://www.optica-opn.org/home/newsroom/2022/april/light-driven_motors_power_tiny_drones/
• “Polarization” by The Physics Classroom
  • https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/light/Lesson-1/Polarization#:~:text=Polarized%20light%20waves%20are%20light,of%20methods%20of%20polarizing%20light

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.

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/seeing-stars-seagull-staredown-itsy-bitsy-microdrones

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Today, you’ll learn about how the human sense of smell may be much better than we ever thought, how the bones inside your body are having interesting conversations with your organs, and a new innovation in desalination technology that uses significantly less energy than its predecessors.

What’s that smell?

• “Let’s obliterate the myth that humans have a bad sense of smell” by Brian Resnick
  • https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/5/11/15614748/human-smell-good-science
• “Mechanisms of scent-tracking in humans” by Jess Porter et Brent Craven, Rehan M Khan, Shao-Ju Chang, Irene Kang, Benjamin Judkewitz, Jason Volpe, Gary Settles & Noam Sobel
  • https://www.nature.com/articles/nn1819
• “Humans Can Discriminate More than 1 Trillion Olfactory Stimuli” by C. Bushdidm, O. Magnascol, B. Vosshalland, and A. Keller
  • https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1249168
• “Poor human olfaction is a 19th-century myth” by John P. Mcgann
  • https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.aam7263

Your body talks without talking.

• “How Bones Communicate With the Rest of the Body” by Amber Dance
  • https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-bones-communicate-with-the-rest-of-the-body-180979643/
• “Bones make hormones that communicate with the brain and other organs” by Cassie Martin
  • https://www.sciencenews.org/article/bones-make-hormones-communicate-brain-and-other-organs
• “Bone-to-Brain: A Round Trip in the Adaptation to Mechanical Stimuli” by Laura Gerosa and Biovanni Lombardi
  • https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2021.623893/full#:~:text=Thus%2C%20bone%20emerges%20as%20a,act%20at%20the%20brain%20level.

Water with salt on the side, please.

• “Modular Solar PV and Tidal Power Desalination Buoys from Canada” by Ryan Kennedy
  • https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2022/04/11/modular-solar-pv-and-tidal-power-desalination-buoys-from-canada/
• “Wave-Powered Desalination Buoys” by Solar Impulse Foundation
  • https://solarimpulse.com/solutions-explorer/wave-powered-desalination-buoys\

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.

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/whiff-of-victory-bones-be-chattin-desalination-innovation

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Today, you’ll learn about the benefits of shading rooftop gardens with solar panels, caffeine’s dark secrets, and how the first image from the James Webb telescope promises a great run for Hubble’s successor.

The sun really can feed you.

• “Your Rooftop Garden Could Be a Solar-Powered Working Farm” by Matt Simon
  • https://www.wired.com/story/your-rooftop-garden-could-be-a-solar-powered-working-farm/
• “Exploring The Potential of Rooftop Agrivoltaics” by Jennifer Bousselot and Thomas Hickey, Jr.
  • https://livingarchitecturemonitor.com/articles/potential-rooftop-agrivoltaics-sp22
• “Volunteer State (Finally) Discovers Solar Power — With A Regenerative Twist” by Tina Casey
  • https://cleantechnica.com/2022/04/04/volunteer-state-finally-discovers-solar-power-with-a-regenerative-twist/

Caffeine: the ultimate chicken or the egg dilemma.

“The invisible addiction: is it time to give up caffeine?” by Michael Pollan

• https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/jul/06/caffeine-coffee-tea-invisible-addiction-is-it-time-to-give-up

“Caffeine: How much is too much?” by Mayo Clinic Staff

• https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/caffeine/art-20045678#:~:text=Caffeine

“Caffeine - Uses, Side Effects, And More” from WebMD

• https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-979/caffeine#:~:text=Caffeine

“How and When Did Humans Start Consuming Alcohol?” by Sedeer el-Showk

• https://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/accumulating-glitches/how_and_when_did_humans/#:~:text=According

“Coffee and caffeine consumption and depression: A meta-analysis of observational studies” by Longfei Wang, Xiaoli Shen, Yili Wu, and Dongfeng Zhang 

• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26339067/

A picture might be worth more than a thousand words.

• “1st image snapped by iconic Webb telescope pushes limits of the 'laws of physics'” by Tom Metcalfe
  • https://www.livescience.com/james-webb-telescope-image-limits-of-physics
• ““Better than our most optimistic prediction” – first images from James Webb exceed all expectations” by Jamie Priest
  • https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/james-webb-telescope-first-images/
• “About Webb Orbit” By NASA
  • https://webb.nasa.gov/content/about/orbit.html

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.

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/solar-salads-cursed-caffeine-webbs-first-photo

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Today, you’ll learn about a new process that can make cells younger by up to thirty years, the incredible artificial intelligence that is helping piece together the puzzles of ancient texts, and how researchers have developed a rapid test for viruses like coronavirus that is just as accurate as PCR tests and takes only thirty minutes.

The fountain of youth may be closer than we think.

• “‘Time Jump’ by 30 Years: Old Skins Cells Reprogrammed To Regain Youthful Function” by Babraham Institute
  • https://scitechdaily.com/time-jump-by-30-years-old-skins-cells-reprogrammed-to-regain-youthful-function/
• “Multi-Omic Rejuvenation of Human Cells by Maturation Phase Transient Reprogramming” by Diljeet Gill, et al.
  • https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.71624
• “Aging Changes in Organs - Tissue - Cells” by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
  • https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/special-topic/aging-changes-in-organs-tissue-cells

The overlap between artificial intelligence and the ancient world.

• “DeepMind’s new AI model helps decipher, date, and locate ancient inscriptions” By James Vincent
  • https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/9/22968773/ai-machine-learning-ancient-inscriptions-texts-deepmind-ithaca-model
• “Radiocarbon Dating” by Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit
  • https://c14.arch.ox.ac.uk/dating.html#:~:text=For%20radiocarbon%20dating%20to%20be,or%20left%20as%20a%20residue.
• “A New A.I. Can Help Historians Decipher Damaged Ancient Greek Texts” by Jane Recker
  • https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-new-ai-can-help-historians-decipher-damaged-ancient-greek-texts-180979736/
• “AI could decipher gaps in ancient Greek texts, say researchers” by Nicola Davis
  • https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/mar/09/ai-could-decipher-gaps-in-ancient-greek-texts-say-researchers

Turns out some things can actually be good, fast, and cheap.

• “UT Dallas researchers develop accurate rapid test for viruses” By EurekaAlert
  • https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/950413
• “UT Dallas Researchers Create High-Accuracy Rapid Virus Test” by Marin Wolf
  • https://www.govtech.com/education/higher-ed/ut-dallas-researchers-create-high-accuracy-rapid-virus-test

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.

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/de-agin-sensation-indiana-jones-needs-ai-rapid-est-test

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