The White Lotus is about to be back on our screens on Max so today, we’re diving into the latest trend among elite travelers: longevity tourism. Then, our host Sam speaks to Dr. Jodi Halpern about the mental health effects that come along with the rise of AI technology. And finally, we explore the ins and outs of fracking.

• Link to all sources here

Follow Curiosity Weekly on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Dr. Samantha Yammine — for free! Still curious? Get 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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With Valentine’s Day around the corner, today our host Dr. Samantha Yammine digs into the science behind what really causes butterflies in your stomach when you’re experiencing infatuation. Then, astrobiologist Dr. Lynn Rothschild joins us to discuss extremophiles and what they can tell us about potential life on other planets. And finally, we discuss the ins and outs of the FDA’s recent ban of Red Dye 3.

Red Dye 3

• “FDA bans red dye No. 3 from foods, nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics because of potential cancer risk.” by JoNel Aleccia. 2025
• Source 2, Source 3, Source 4, Source 5, Source 6, Source 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,17 

Extremophiles

• “Lynn J. Rothschild.” by NASA. 2024.

Butterflies

• “Why Do I Feel Butterflies in My Stomach When I’m on a Date?” by Trisha Pasricha. 2023
• Source 2 , 3 , 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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Today, we dive into the science around man’s best friend to celebrate the Puppy Bowl airing on Animal Planet, February 9th. Sam explores what’s really going on with the recent phenomenon of people teaching their dogs to communicate through word buttons. Dr. Janet Hoy-Gerlach joins the show to discuss her research into the mental health benefits of emotional support animals. Finally, we tackle the power and possibility of a dog’s sense of smell.  

Canine Chat 

• “Soundboard-trained dogs produce non-accidental, non-random and non-imitative two-button combinations.” by Amelia P. M. Bastos, Zachary N. Houghton, et al. 2024.  
• Source 2  
• Source 3 
• Source 4  

Emotional Support Animals  

• “Exploring Benefits of Emotional Support Animals (ESAs): A Longitudinal Pilot Study with Adults with Serious Mental Illness (SMI).” by Janet Hoy-Gerlach, Aviva Vincent, Barry Scheuermann, Mamta Ojha. 2022. 
• Source 2  
• Source 3 
• Source 4 
• Source 5 

Sniffer Dogs  

• “Massachusetts schools use dogs to sniff out Covid-19.” by Gary Tuchman. 2024. 
• Source 2 
• Source 3 
• Source 4 
• Source 5 
• Source 6 
• Source 7 
• Source 8 
• Source 9 
• Source 10 

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On today’s episode, we dive into the tech helping us respond to the growing risk of wildfires, including the use of AI systems and smoke detectors. Then, Sam speaks to Dr. Linda Charmaraman from the Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab about a recent study that looks into misinformation on TikTok when it comes to diagnosing ADHD. Finally, we talk about how both blind and sighted humans are encouraging greater neuroplasticity in their brains through learning echolocation. 

Wildfire Tech  

• “Canada Report: 2023 Fire Season.” Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. 2023. 
• “Fact Sheet: Climate Change and Wildfires.” Canadian Climate Institute. 2024.  
• Source 3, Source 4, Source 5, Source 6, Source 7, Source 8, Source 9, Source 10, Source 11, Source 12 

#ADHDtest

• Source 1, Source 2, Source 3

Human Echolocation

• Source 1, Source 2, Source 3, Source 4

Newscast Soundbites

• Source 1, Source 2

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Electro-Agriculture 

• “Scientists Grow Crops in Near-Total Darkness Thanks to New ‘Electro-Agriculture’ Technique.” by Adam Kovac. 2024 
• “Electro-agriculture: Revolutionizing farming for a sustainable future.” by Bradie S. Crandall, Marcus Harland-Dunaway, Robert E. Jinkerson, et al. 2024 

Space Exploration with Dr. Robert Lillis

• “An ESCAPADE to Mars, on the cheap.” The Planetary Society. 2021.
• “ESCAPADE: Mission to Mars.” Rocketlab. 
• “Mission to Mars - ESCAPADE.” Rocketlab.
• “Dr. Rob Lillis.” Harvath Law Group.  
• “MAVEN Maps Electric Currents around Mars that are Fundamental to Atmospheric Loss.” by William Steigerwald. 2020.  

Stem Cell Vision Repair 

• “Induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived corneal epithelium for transplant surgery: a single-arm, open-label, first-in-human interventional study in Japan.” by Takeshi Soma, Yoshinori Oie, Hiroshi Takayanagi, Shoko Matsubara, et al. 2024 
• “World First: Stem Cell Transplant Restores Vision in Multiple People.” by Carly Cassella. 2024.  
• “Stem cell transplant shows promise for vision loss.” by Rebecca Turner. 2024.
• “Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency.” ColumbiaDoctors. 
• “Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.” UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center.

Newscast Soundbites 

• Mars Exploration

Follow Curiosity Weekly on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Dr. Samantha Yammine — for free! Still curious? Get 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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Welcome to Curiosity Weekly from Discovery! This week, Dr. Samantha Yammine is joined by Dr. Anastasia Buyalskaya, a behavioral scientist, to unravel habit formation and debunk the 21-day myth. We also learn about a newly discovered link between musical training and left-handedness. Plus, hear about some space station bacteria that are flexing their superpowers!  

Habit Formation 

• “What Machine Learning Can Teach Us About Habit Formation.” by Anastasia Buyalskaya. 2024. 

Space Bacteria 

• “Multi-Drug Resistant Bacteria Found on ISS Mutating to Become Functionally Distinct.” by Elizabeth E. Keller. 2024. 
• “Mutant Superbugs Pose a Threat to Human Life in Space.” by Javier Yanes. 2024. 

Leftie Musicians 

• “Left-Handed Musicians Appear to Develop Unique Brain Pathways for Language Processing.” by Eric W. Dolan. 2024. 

Newscast Soundbites 

• Microorganisms discovered on the Mir Space Station 
• Space Station Live: Studying Basic Biology in Space  
• There Are Microbes in Space?!  

Follow Curiosity Weekly on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Dr. Samantha Yammine — for free! Still curious? Get 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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, you’ll learn about the link between body temperature and depression, how taking the the Polar Bear Plunge could soothe symptoms of menopause, and a new sticker that can detect organ failure.  

Depression Temp 

•“Are Body Temperature and Depression Linked? Science Says, Yes.” by Jess Berthold. 2024.  

•“Surprising Link Discovered Between Body Temperature and Depression.” by Jess Berthold. 2024.  

Cold Water Menopause 

•“Cold water swimming improves menopause symptoms.” EurekAlert! 2024.  

•“Is cold water swimming in the winter healthy?” by Bard Amundsen. 2021.  

Ultrasound Sticker 

•“This ultrasound sticker senses changing stiffness of deep internal organs.” by Jennifer Chu. 2024.  

•“Wearable bioadhesive ultrasound shear wave elastography.” by Hsiao-Chuan Liu, et al. 2024.  

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Today, you’ll learn about a new blood test that could revolutionize bipolar diagnoses, how music could help knock out pain, and how a changing climate is changing puffins.  

Bipolar Blood Test 

•“Simple blood test can help diagnose bipolar disorder.” University of Cambridge. 2023.  

•“Bipolar Disorder.” NIH. n..d. 

•“Diagnosis and management of bipolar disorders.” by Fernando S. Goes. 2023.  

Music & Pain 

•“Emotional responses to favorite and relaxing music predict music-induced hypoalgesia.” by Darius Valevicius, et al. 2023.  

•“Editorial: Perspectives on music and pain: from evidence to theory and application.” by Annabel J. Cohen, et al. 2023.  

Puffin Hybrid 

•“Hybridization of Atlantic puffins in the Arctic coincides with 20th-century climate change.” by Oliver Kersten, et al. 2023.  

•“Atlantic Puffin.” n.a. N.d.  

•“Puffin FAQs.” Audubon. N.d.  

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Today, you’ll learn about mind-reading machines, the brightest object in the known universe, and the potential power punch of cinnamon. 

Mind-Reading 

•“Mind-reading devices are revealing the brain’s secrets.” by Miryam Naddaf. 2024.  

•“The brain-reading devices helping paralysed people to move, talk and touch.” by Liam Drew. 2022.  

•“The rise of brain-reading technology: what you need to know.” by Liam Drew. 2023.  

•“How our brains decode speech: special neurons process certain sounds.” by Saima Sidik. 2023.  

Universe’s Brightest Object 

•“Astronomers discover universe’s brightest object - a quasar powered by a black hole that eats a sun a day.” by Tory Shepherd. 2024.  

•“What is a quasar?” by Andy Briggs. 2021.  

•“Revealed: the oldest black hole ever observed, dating to dawn of universe.” by Hannah Devlin. 2023.  

Cinnamon 

•“Cinnamon supplements reduce blood glucose in people with prediabetes.” by Dani Mann. 2024.  

•“Cinnamon and Diabetes.” n.a. 2023. 

•“Prediabetes (Borderline Diabetes).” by Mike Watts. 2022. 

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