Curiosity Weekly

This episode originally aired on 2/28/2020. New episodes coming soon. 

Learn about how quitting smoking may reawaken healthy cells; how researchers figured out how to tell the age of crime scene fingerprints to help investigators; and why you sometimes yawn while exercising or singing.

Quitting smoking doesn’t just slow lung damage, but can also reawaken undamaged cells by Grant Currin

• Gallagher, J. (2020, January 29). Lungs “magically” heal damage from smoking. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-51279355
• Pfeifer, G. P. (2020, January 29). Smoke signals in the DNA of normal lung cells. Nature, 578(7794), 224–226. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-00165-7
• Yoshida, K., Gowers, K. H. C., Lee-Six, H., Chandrasekharan, D. P., Coorens, T., Maughan, E. F., Beal, K., Menzies, A., Millar, F. R., Anderson, E., Clarke, S. E., Pennycuick, A., Thakrar, R. M., Butler, C. R., Kakiuchi, N., Hirano, T., Hynds, R. E., Stratton, M. R., Martincorena, I., … Campbell, P. J. (2020, January 29). Tobacco smoking and somatic mutations in human bronchial epithelium. Nature, 578(7794), 266–272. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-1961-1

It's been impossible to tell the age of crime scene fingerprints — until now by Grant Currin

• Determining Fingerprint Age with Mass Spectrometry Imaging via Ozonolysis of Triacylglycerols. (2020, January 3). Analytical Chemistry. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.analchem.9b04765
• Residues in fingerprints hold clues to their age. (2020, January 22). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/acs-rif012220.php

Why we yawn during exercise by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Kate in Pennsylvania)

• Provine, R. R., Tate, B. C., & Geldmacher, L. L. (1987). Yawning: No effect of 3–5% CO2, 100% O2, and exercise. Behavioral and Neural Biology, 48(3), 382–393. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0163-1047(87)90944-7
• Massen, J. J. M., Dusch, K., Eldakar, O. T., & Gallup, A. C. (2014). A thermal window for yawning in humans: Yawning as a brain cooling mechanism. Physiology & Behavior, 130, 145–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.03.032
• The science of the exercise yawn. (2017). Furthermore from Equinox. https://furthermore.equinox.com/articles/2017/09/yawning
• McKinney, James C. The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults. (2005). Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=znaCDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=singing+yawn&ots=DKpXxdwhGJ&sig=IjgkdxkqyENjWLoXJTDaYB94G30#v=onepage&q=yawn&f=false

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This episode originally aired on 11/5/2020. New episodes coming soon. 

Learn about a simple brain-training task that may reduce motion sickness, what parasites found in medieval human remains can tell us about eradicating them today, and the two main reasons why everything takes longer than you think it will.

A Simple Brain-Training Task May Reduce Motion Sickness by Kelsey Donk

• You can train your brain to reduce motion sickness. (2020). Warwick.Ac.Uk. https://warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/you_can_train
• Smyth, J., Jennings, P., Bennett, P., & Birrell, S. (2021). A novel method for reducing motion sickness susceptibility through training visuospatial ability – A two-part study. Applied Ergonomics, 90, 103264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2020.103264

Parasitic Worms Found in Medieval Human Remains May Hold the Secret for Eradicating Them Today by Cameron Duke

• Flammer, P. G., Ryan, H., Preston, S. G., Warren, S., Přichystalová, R., Weiss, R., Palmowski, V., Boschert, S., Fellgiebel, K., Jasch-Boley, I., Kairies, M.-S., Rümmele, E., Rieger, D., Schmid, B., Reeves, B., Nicholson, R., Loe, L., Guy, C., Waldron, T., … Smith, A. L. (2020). Epidemiological insights from a large-scale investigation of intestinal helminths in Medieval Europe. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 14(8), e0008600. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008600
• Parasitic worms found in medieval human remains hold secret for eradicating them today. (2020, September). Science | AAAS. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/parasitic-worms-found-medieval-human-remains-hold-secret-eradicating-them-today
• Intestinal worms. (2016). World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/intestinal_worms/more/en/

The 2 Main Reasons Why Everything Takes Longer Than You Think It Will by Anna Todd

• Original episode: https://www.curiositydaily.com/why-everything-takes-longer-than-you-think-storm-p/

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This episode originally aired on 2/21/2020. New episodes coming soon. 

Learn about whether people think in words or in pictures; why brussels sprouts really are tastier than they used to be; and why buying luxury items might make you feel like an impostor.

Whether People Think in Words or Pictures by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Alicia)

• (2020). Twitter. https://twitter.com/KylePlantEmoji/status/1221713792913965061
• Heavey, C. L., & Hurlburt, R. T. (2008). The phenomena of inner experience. Consciousness and Cognition, 17(3), 798–810. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2007.12.006
• Pristine Inner Experience. (2020). Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/pristine-inner-experience
• Amit, E., Hoeflin, C., Hamzah, N., & Fedorenko, E. (2017). An asymmetrical relationship between verbal and visual thinking: Converging evidence from behavior and fMRI. NeuroImage, 152, 619–627. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.03.029

Why Brussels Sprouts Taste Better Now by Steffie Drucker

• From Culinary Dud To Stud: How Dutch Plant Breeders Built Our Brussels Sprouts Boom. (2019, October 30). NPR.Org. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/10/30/773457637/from-culinary-dud-to-stud-how-dutch-plant-breeders-built-our-brussels-sprouts-bo
• Beck, A. (2019, November 7). It’s Not Your Imagination, Brussels Sprouts Really Do Taste Better Now. Better Homes & Gardens; Better Homes & Gardens. https://www.bhg.com/news/brussels-sprouts-less-bitter/
• Pearson, H. (2006, September 18). Distaste for sprouts in the genes. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/news060918-1
• Perman, A. (2011, November 1). The “brussels sprouts” gene: TAS2R38 | Anna Perman’s Genetic Spaghetti. The Guardian; The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2011/nov/01/brussel-sprout-gene
• Neuroscience for Kids - Bitter Taste Gene. (2003, July 15). Washington.edu. http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/bitter.html
• Masur, L. (2019, December 26). The Top 10 Food Trends of the Entire Decade. Kitchn; Apartment Therapy, LLC. https://www.thekitchn.com/decade-food-trends-2010-2019-22973978

Luxury Buying Makes People Feel Fake by Kelsey Donk

• Luxury consumption can fuel “impostor syndrome” among some buyers. (2019). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-12/bc-lcc122019.php
• Wong, K. (2020, January 30). Why Your Designer Bag Is Making You Feel Worse. The Financial Diet. https://thefinancialdiet.com/luxury-consumer-imposter-syndrome/
• Goor, D., Ordabayeva, N., Keinan, A., & Crener, S. (2019). The Impostor Syndrome from Luxury Consumption. Journal of Consumer Research. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucz044

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This episode originally aired on 2/4/2020. New episodes coming soon. 

Learn about the 13 categories of emotions that music makes you feel; how scientists solved the mystery of two strangely small tyrannosaurus rex fossils; and surprising things that happen to a pregnant person’s body.

Research Suggests That Music Evokes 13 Key Emotions by Kelsey Donk

• Anwar, Y. (2020, January 6). Ooh là là! Music evokes at least 13 emotions. Scientists have mapped them. Berkeley News. https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/01/06/music-evokes-13-emotions/
• Noonan, D. (2020, January 6). Is a Sad Song Sad for Everyone? Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-a-sad-song-sad-for-everyone/
• Cowen, A. S., Fang, X., Sauter, D., & Keltner, D. (2020). What music makes us feel: At least 13 dimensions organize subjective experiences associated with music across different cultures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(4), 1924–1934. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1910704117

Two Tiny T-Rexes Turned Out to Be Teenagers by Mae Rice

• Secrets behind T. rex’s bone crushing bites: T. rex could crush with 8,000 pound bite forces. (2017). ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170517090520.htm
• Researchers learn more about teen-age T.Rex. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/osuc-rlm122019.php
• Woodward, H. N., Tremaine, K., Williams, S. A., Zanno, L. E., Horner, J. R., & Myhrvold, N. (2020). Growing up Tyrannosaurus rex: Osteohistology refutes the pygmy “Nanotyrannus” and supports ontogenetic niche partitioning in juvenile Tyrannosaurus. Science Advances, 6(1), eaax6250. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax6250

Surprising Things Pregnancy Does to the Body by Kelsey Donk

• Nierenberg, C. (2015, May 19). Body Changes During Pregnancy. Livescience.Com; Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/50877-regnancy-body-changes.html
• Catriona Harvey-Jenner. (2017, April 12). 10 weird things you didn’t realise happen to your body during pregnancy. Cosmopolitan; Cosmopolitan. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/body/health/a9266776/weird-things-happen-to-body-during-pregnancy/
• Cari Wira Dineen. (2016, May 4). Crazy Ways Your Body Changes During Pregnancy. Parents; Parents. https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/my-body/changing/crazy-ways-your-body-changes-during-pregnancy/

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This episode originally aired on 1/24/2020. New episodes coming soon. 

Learn about how AI and Twitter could help you find the perfect job, and how the world is actually a greener place than it was 20 years ago. We’ll also answer a listener question about why we use the color “blue” to say we’re sad.

Job-Matching with Your Tweets by Kelsey Donk

Sources:

• Robot career advisor: AI may soon be able to analyse your tweets to match you to a job | The Conversation — https://theconversation.com/robot-career-advisor-ai-may-soon-be-able-to-analyse-your-tweets-to-match-you-to-a-job-128777
• The Vocation Map (interactive) | Marian-Andrei Rizoiu — http://www.rizoiu.eu/documents/research/resources/Vocation_Map_Interactive.html
• Social media-predicted personality traits and values can help match people to their ideal jobs | PNAS December 26, 2019 116 (52) 26459-26464; first published December 16, 2019 — https://www.pnas.org/content/116/52/26459

Earth Is Greener Than Before by Kelsey Donk

Sources:

• Human Activity in China and India Dominates the Greening of Earth, NASA Study Shows | NASA — https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/human-activity-in-china-and-india-dominates-the-greening-of-earth-nasa-study-shows
• China and India lead in greening of the world through land-use management | Chen, C., Park, T., Wang, X. et al. China and India lead in greening of the world through land-use management. Nat Sustain 2, 122–129 (2019) doi:10.1038/s41893-019-0220-7 — https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0220-7

Story 3 by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Becky and Britni)

Sources:

• Chaucer and the Country of the Stars: Poetic Uses of Astrological Imagery — https://curiosity.im/2NOyLIB
• blue (adj.1) | Online Etymology Dictionary — https://www.etymonline.com/word/blue?ref=etymonline_crossreference#etymonline_v_13636
• Drunk and dirty | BBC — http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/yoursay/lost_for_words/german/drunk_and_dirty.shtml
• Philip, Gill. (2006). Connotative Meaning in English and Italian Colour-Word Metaphors. Metaphorik. 10. — https://www.researchgate.net/publication/44707159_Connotative_Meaning_in_English_and_Italian_Colour-Word_Metaphors

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This episode originally aired on 11/22/2019. New episodes coming soon. 

Learn about how human goals fall into 4 categories; why NASA’s Planetary Protection Independent Review Board (PPRIB) says we don’t need to be so careful about infecting other worlds; and whether cell phone radiation is actually dangerous.

In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about why a NASA panel says we don’t need to be so careful about infecting other worlds: https://curiosity.im/2K3gzJg

Additional sources discussed:

• Psychologists analyze language to categorize human goals | EurekaAlert! — https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-10/uow-pal102919.php
• Lexical Derivation of the PINT Taxonomy of Goals: Prominence, Inclusiveness, Negativity Prevention, and Tradition | The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College — https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1092&context=psyfac
• Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) for Cellular Telephones | Federal Communications Commission — https://www.fcc.gov/general/specific-absorption-rate-sar-cellular-telephones
• The Truth About Cell Phone Radiation | Forbes — https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/02/02/the-truth-about-cell-phone-radiation/#4a98baa192a3

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This episode originally aired on 3/13/2020. New episodes coming soon. 

Learn about how speed listening to podcasts (or "podfasting") affects our emotions; the health differences between white and brown rice; and the time pi was once almost legally changed to 3.2.

Speed listening’s effects on emotion by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from S.P.)

• Rousseau, S. (2020, January 24). I Tried Listening to Podcasts at 3x and Broke My Brain. Medium; OneZero. https://onezero.medium.com/i-tried-listening-to-podcasts-at-3x-and-broke-my-brain-d8823edecb7c
• Liebenthal, E., Silbersweig, D. A., & Stern, E. (2016). The Language, Tone and Prosody of Emotions: Neural Substrates and Dynamics of Spoken-Word Emotion Perception. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2016.00506
• Murray, I. R., & Arnott, J. L. (1993). Toward the simulation of emotion in synthetic speech: A review of the literature on human vocal emotion. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 93(2), 1097–1108. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.405558
• Philippou-Hubner, D., Vlasenko, B., Bock, R., & Wendemuth, A. (2012). The Performance of the Speaking Rate Parameter in Emotion Recognition from Speech. 2012 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo. https://doi.org/10.1109/icme.2012.183
• Kraxenberger, M., Menninghaus, W., Roth, A., & Scharinger, M. (2018). Prosody-Based Sound-Emotion Associations in Poetry. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01284

The health differences between white and brown rice are dead even by Steffie Drucker

• Whelan, C. (2017, May 25). Brown Rice vs. White Rice: Which Is Better for You? Healthline; Healthline Media. https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/brown-rice-vs-white-rice
• Allan, P. (2020, February 19). Is Brown Rice Really That Much Healthier Than White Rice? Lifehacker. https://lifehacker.com/is-brown-rice-really-that-much-healthier-than-white-ric-1820044994
• Parletta, N. (2018, December 5). Rice is a major source of arsenic exposure. Cosmos Magazine. https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/rice-is-a-major-source-of-arsenic-exposure

Pi Was Once Almost Legally Changed to 3.2 by Ashley Hamer: https://curiosity.com/topics/happy-pi-day-how-pi-was-almost-legally-changed-to-32-curiosity

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This episode originally aired on 11/26/2019. New episodes coming soon. 

Learn about a new study that busts the myth of the self-centered only child; why feeding birds in the park may be more destructive than you think; and why the canonical perspective makes everyone draw a coffee cup the same way.

In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes:

• A New Study Busts the Myth of the Self-Centered Only Child — https://curiosity.im/2NQMVt1
• Why Everyone Draws a Coffee Cup the Same Way — https://curiosity.im/2Xj0RyZ

Additional sources:

• Thoughts About Bread And Angel Wing Deformities | Corvid Isle — https://corvid-isle.co.uk/thoughts-bread-angel-wing-wild-birds
• Why Feeding White Bread to Wild Birds is Killing Them | One Green Planet — https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/feeding-white-bread-to-wild-birds-is-killing-them/

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This episode originally aired on 9/13/2019. New episodes coming soon. 

Learn about why scientists measured how hard babies kick in the womb; the difference in brain scans between people when they were reading a book versus listening to a podcast; and how long humans have thought farts were funny.

In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes:

• Scientists Have Measured How Hard Babies Kick in the Womb — https://curiosity.im/34wHJRA
• Brain Scans of People Reading and Listening to Podcasts Look the Same — https://curiosity.im/2ZKeFCt

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Learn about praising competitors; star stuff and gravity assists with the hosts of Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe; and the strange history rock paper scissors.

Praising a competitor can lead to greater sales for brands by Steffie Drucker

• Praise that slays: How complimenting a competitor can drive a firm’s revenues. (2021, November 18). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/935291
• ‌Zhou, L., Du, K. M., & Cutright, K. M. (2021). EXPRESS: Befriending the Enemy: The Effects of Observing Brand-to-Brand Praise on Consumer Evaluations and Choices. Journal of Marketing, 002224292110530. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429211053002
• Allebach, N. (2019, June 24). Brand Twitter Grows Up. Vulture; Vulture. https://www.vulture.com/2019/06/brand-twitter-jokes-history.html

More from Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson, hosts of Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe (listener questions from Peter and Lohith):

• Pick up their new book “Frequently Asked Questions about the Universe” https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/625525/frequently-asked-questions-about-the-universe-by-jorge-cham-and-daniel-whiteson/
• Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe podcast: https://sites.uci.edu/danielandjorge/
• Follow physicist @DanielWhiteson on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanielWhiteson
• Follow cartoonist @PHDComics on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PHDComics

The Strange History of Rock Paper Scissors by Cody Gough

• Nunn, E. (2003, December 3). Victory at hand. Chicago Tribune. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2003-12-03-0312030085-story.html
• World RPS society. (2022). Worldrps.com. http://worldrps.com/
• Cody, rock paper scissors, and more on Giveo: https://giveo.com
• Follow @ProducerCody on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProducerCody
• Follow @smashleyhamer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/smashleyhamer
• Taboo Science: https://tabooscience.show

Thanks for listening to Curiosity Daily with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. 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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