Learn how a man wrote sentences using only his mind; how popular song lyrics got simpler; and the bitterness of Bitrex.

Brain-computer interface lets people communicate by imagining they're writing by Grant Currin

• Composing thoughts: mental handwriting produces brain activity that can be turned into text | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. (2021). Nih.gov. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/News-Events/News-and-Press-Releases/Press-Releases/Composing-thoughts-mental-handwriting-produces
• Willett, F. R., Avansino, D. T., Hochberg, L. R., Henderson, J. M., & Shenoy, K. V. (2021). High-performance brain-to-text communication via handwriting. Nature, 593(7858), 249–254. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03506-2
• Sample, I. (2021, May 12). Paralysed man uses “mindwriting” brain computer to compose sentences. The Guardian; The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/may/12/paralysed-man-mindwriting-brain-computer-compose-sentences
• Timmer, J. (2021, May 12). Neural implant lets paralyzed person type by imagining writing. Ars Technica; Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/05/neural-implant-lets-paralyzed-person-type-by-imagining-writing/

Popular song lyrics have gotten simpler over time by Kelsey Donk

• Rigg, C. (2021, May 17). Newer generations prefer simpler song lyrics. PsyPost; PsyPost. https://www.psypost.org/2021/05/newer-generations-prefer-simpler-song-lyrics-60800
• Varnum, M. E. W., Krems, J. A., Morris, C., Wormley, A., & Grossmann, I. (2021). Why are song lyrics becoming simpler? a time series analysis of lyrical complexity in six decades of American popular music. PLOS ONE, 16(1), e0244576. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244576

Bitrex Is The Most Bitter Substance In The World by Anna Todd

• Denatonium- The most bitter compound known. (2021). Scienceofcooking.com. https://www.scienceofcooking.com/denatonium.htm
• Just how bitter is Bitrex? (2012, September 18). Bitrex - Keeping Children Safe. https://www.bitrex.com/about-bitrex/how-bitter-bitrex
• The Bitrex Taste Test. (2014, May 20). Bitrex - Keeping Children Safe. https://www.bitrex.com/taste-test
• US4479889A - Compositions and method for degrading foodstuffs - Google Patents. (1968, October 9). Google.com. https://patents.google.com/patent/US4479889
• SciShow. (2018). What’s the Most Bitter Chemical? [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xl_inefbHE
• CONSUMER’S WORLD; Mother Fights to Ruin the Taste of Poison (Published 1989). (2021). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/20/style/consumer-s-world-mother-fights-to-ruin-the-taste-of-poison.html

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day 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.

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/why-song-lyrics-are-getting-simpler

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Learn about common ancestors shared by every human; evolution’s multiple directions; and universal facial expressions.

There's a point in the past when every person on Earth was an ancestor to every person alive today by Grant Currin

• Hershberger, S. (2020, October 5). Humans Are All More Closely Related Than We Commonly Think. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/humans-are-all-more-closely-related-than-we-commonly-think/
• Hopkin, M. (2004). Human populations are tightly interwoven. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/news040927-10
• Numberphile. (2019). EVERY baby is a ROYAL baby - Numberphile [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm0hOex4psA
• Rohde, D. L. T., Olson, S., & Chang, J. T. (2004). Modelling the recent common ancestry of all living humans. Nature, 431(7008), 562–566. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02842

Evolution Doesn’t Have Just One Direction by Ashley Hamer

• Is the human race evolving or devolving? (1998, July 20). Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-the-human-race-evolvin/
• Waimanu, the first penguin. (2010, January 30). March of the Fossil Penguins; March of the Fossil Penguins. https://fossilpenguins.wordpress.com/2010/01/30/waimanu-the-first-penguin/
• Morber, J. (2016, October 6). 5 Times Evolution Ran in “Reverse.” Science; National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/reverse-evolution-explained-hagfish-penguins-snakes-science?loggedin=true
• Elliott, K. H., Ricklefs, R. E., Gaston, A. J., Hatch, S. A., Speakman, J. R., & Davoren, G. K. (2013). High flight costs, but low dive costs, in auks support the biomechanical hypothesis for flightlessness in penguins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(23), 9380–9384. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1304838110
• How Birds Lost Their Teeth. (2014, December 12). Audubon. https://www.audubon.org/news/how-birds-lost-their-teeth
• The evolution of whales. (2021). Berkeley.edu. https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evograms_03
• How did whales lose their hind legs? - Popular Mechanics. (2006, May 23). Popular Mechanics. https://www.popularmechanics.co.za/science/null-610/

Are facial expressions universal? by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Jared in Vancouver)

• Price, M. (2016, October 17). Facial expressions—including fear—may not be as universal as we thought. Science | AAAS. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/10/facial-expressions-including-fear-may-not-be-universal-we-thought
• Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1971). Constants across cultures in the face and emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 17(2), 124–129. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0030377
• Crivelli, C., Russell, J. A., Jarillo, S., & Fernández-Dols, J.-M. (2016). The fear gasping face as a threat display in a Melanesian society. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(44), 12403–12407. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1611622113
• Krys, K., Melanie Vauclair, C., et. al. (2015). Be Careful Where You Smile: Culture Shapes Judgments of Intelligence and Honesty of Smiling Individuals. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 40(2), 101–116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-015-0226-4

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free!

Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/are-facial-expressions-universal

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Learn about why we need memorials for medicine; NASA’s Phantom Torso experiment; and why we often overestimate outliers.

Additional resources from Steven Johnson:

• Pick up "Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer": https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/594501/extra-life-by-steven-johnson/
• Website: https://stevenberlinjohnson.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/stevenbjohnson

The Phantom Torso Experiment Protected Future Astronauts In The Creepiest Way Possible by Ashley Hamer

• Experiment Details. (2021). Nasa.gov. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=994

We overestimate the outliers we see, which may hamper diversity efforts by Kelsey Donk

• Focus on outliers creates flawed snap judgments. (2021). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-05/du-foo051121.php
• Khaw, M. W., Kranton, R., & Huettel, S. (2021). Oversampling of minority categories drives misperceptions of group compositions. Cognition, 214, 104756. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104756
• Shandwick, W. (2015). The female CEO reputation premium? Differences and Similarities. https://www.webershandwick.com/uploads/news/files/female-ceo-reputation-premium-executive-summary.pdf
• Layton, J. (2016, June 16). How 17 Equals 49.6: The Amazing Multiplying Women. HowStuffWorks. https://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/perception/how-17-equals-496-the-amazing-multiplying-women.htm
• https://www.asc.upenn.edu/news-events/news/correcting-misperceptions-about-and-increasing-empathy-migrants

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free!

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/the-phantom-torso-experiment-protected-astronauts-in-a-very-creepy-way

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Learn how we doubled life expectancy in the last 150 years. Plus: “impossible” quasicrystals formed from nuclear bombs.

Additional resources from Steven Johnson:

• Pick up "Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer": https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/594501/extra-life-by-steven-johnson/
• Website: https://stevenberlinjohnson.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/stevenbjohnson

The first nuclear detonation created "impossible" quasicrystals shaped like 20-sided dice by Briana Brownell

• Castelvecchi, D. (2021). First nuclear detonation created “impossible” quasicrystals. Nature, 593(7860), 487–487. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-01332-0
• Bindi, L., Kolb, W., Eby, G. N., Asimow, P. D., Wallace, T. C., & Steinhardt, P. J. (2021). Accidental synthesis of a previously unknown quasicrystal in the first atomic bomb test. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(22), e2101350118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2101350118
• Università degli Studi di Firenze. (2021). Quasicrystals in the first nuclear explosion [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkuLjTlUO7A

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free!

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/how-life-expectancy-doubled-in-just-150-years-w-author-steven-johnson

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Learn about ancient evidence of humans using fire; Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle; and your memory on social media.

We just found the earliest evidence of humans changing their ecosystems with fire by Grant Currin

• Nield, D. (2021). Scientists Find Oldest Evidence of Ancient Human Activity Deep Inside a Desert Cave. ScienceAlert. https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-find-the-oldest-evidence-of-indoor-human-activity-deep-inside-a-desert-cave
• Ratner, P. (2021, May 3). From 1.8 million years ago, earliest evidence of human activity found. Big Think; Big Think. https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/earliest-evidence-human-activity
• Shaar, R., Matmon, A., Horwitz, L. K., Ebert, Y., Chazan, M., Arnold, M., Aumaître, G., Bourlès, D., & Keddadouche, K. (2021). Magnetostratigraphy and cosmogenic dating of Wonderwerk Cave: New constraints for the chronology of the South African Earlier Stone Age. Quaternary Science Reviews, 259, 106907. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106907

Scientists may have overcome Heisenberg's uncertainty principle by Briana Brownell

• Mercier de Lépinay, L., Ockeloen-Korppi, C. F., Woolley, M. J., & Sillanpää, M. A. (2021). Quantum mechanics–free subsystem with mechanical oscillators. Science, 372(6542), 625–629. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abf5389
• Evading the uncertainty principle in quantum physics. (2021). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-05/au-etu050521.php
• Ratner, P. (2021, May 15). Physicists push limits of Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Big Think; Big Think. https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/breakthrough-quantum-entanglement-heisenberg
• Turner, B. (2021, May 15). Scientist find a loophole in Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. MSN. com. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/news/scientist-find-a-loophole-in-heisenbergs-uncertainty-principle/ar-BB1gLlgP

Is Social Media Hurting Your Memory? first aired June 7, 2018 https://omny.fm/shows/curiosity-daily/your-memory-on-social-media-best-workouts-and-why

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free!

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/we-found-the-earliest-evidence-of-ancient-human-activity

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Learn why soccer players miss penalty kicks; how we estimate population sizes; and how space helps us look back in time.

Pro soccer players miss penalty kicks because pressure makes them overthink by Kelsey Donk

• Johnson, S. (2021, May 12). Why professional soccer players choke during penalty kicks. Big Think; Big Think. https://bigthink.com/mind-brain/choking-under-pressure
• Slutter, M. W. J., Thammasan, N., & Poel, M. (2021). Exploring the Brain Activity Related to Missing Penalty Kicks: An fNIRS Study. Frontiers in Computer Science, 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomp.2021.661466
• Guo, Z., Li, A., & Yu, L. (2017). “Neural Efficiency” of Athletes’ Brain during Visuo-Spatial Task: An fMRI Study on Table Tennis Players. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00072

How do we know the population sizes of species when there are too many to count? by Cameron Duke

• Allen, S. T., O’Rourke, A., White, R. H., Schneider, K. E., Kilkenny, M., & Sherman, S. G. (2019). Estimating the Number of People Who Inject Drugs in A Rural County in Appalachia. American Journal of Public Health, 109(3), 445–450. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2018.304873
• Hammond, P. S. (2009). Mark–Recapture. Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, 705–709. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-373553-9.00163-2
• Krebs, C. J. (1999). Ecological methodology. Benjamin/Cummings.
• Mark-Recapture. (2021). Nau.edu. https://www2.nau.edu/lrm22/lessons/mark_recapture/mark_recapture.html

Looking Into Space Is Looking Back In Time by Reuben Westmaas

• Most distant object in the universe spotted by Hubble Space Telescope, shattering record for the farthest known galaxy. (2016, March 4). The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/most-distant-object-in-the-universe-spotted-by-hubble-space-telescope-shattering-record-for-the-farthest-known-galaxy-a6911096.html
• Cain, F. (2014, August 7). Are All the Stars Really Dead? - Universe Today. https://www.universetoday.com/113709/are-all-the-stars-really-dead/

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free!

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/looking-into-space-is-looking-back-in-time

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Learn how mammals breathe through their butts; how babies remember their birth language; and your reflection in a spoon.

Mammals can breathe through their butts, and this could help humans with respiratory failure by Grant Currin

• Breathing Through the Rectum Saves Oxygen-Starved Mice and Pigs. (2021). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/science/rectum-breathing-oxygen.html
• Okabe, R., Chen-Yoshikawa, T. F., Yoneyama, Y., Yokoyama, Y., Tanaka, S., Yoshizawa, A., Thompson, W. L., Kannan, G., Kobayashi, E., Date, H., & Takebe, T. (2021). Mammalian enteral ventilation ameliorates respiratory failure. Med. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.medj.2021.04.004

Even If They Don’t Use It, Babies Remember Their Birth Language by Ashley Hamer

• Adoptees advantaged by birth language memory. (2017). ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170118082828.htm
• Early development of abstract language knowledge: evidence from perception–production transfer of birth-language memory | Royal Society Open Science. (2017). Royal Society Open Science. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsos.160660

Why is your reflection upside down in a spoon? by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Bella in Austin, Texas)

• Matthews, R. (2019). Why is your reflection upside-down in a spoon? BBC Science Focus Magazine; BBC Science Focus Magazine. https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/why-is-your-reflection-upside-down-in-a-spoon/
• Physics Tutorial: Reflection and Image Formation for Convex Mirrors. (2021). Physicsclassroom.com. https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/refln/Lesson-4/Reflection-and-Image-Formation-for-Convex-Mirrors
• Q & A: Why is your reflection upside down in a spoon? | Department of Physics | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (2021). Illinois.edu. https://van.physics.illinois.edu/QA/listing.php?id=1985&t=why-is-your-reflection-upside-down-in-a-spoon
• It's AumSum Time. (2017). Concave Mirror - Why is your reflection upside down on a spoon? | #aumsum #kids #science [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6n0FAZ_6N8
• Why mirrors flip horizontally but not vertically (Curiosity Daily listener question): https://omny.fm/shows/curiosity-daily/bad-news-about-your-wearable-sleep-tracker

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free!

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/mammals-can-breathe-through-their-butts

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Learn about whether you should fear AI; the science of a good selfie; and how bats map the world by time, not distance.

Additional resources from Michael Wooldridge:

• Pick up "A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence: What It Is, Where We Are, and Where We Are Going" at your local bookstore: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250770745
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/wooldridgemike
• Oxford faculty page: https://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/people/michael.wooldridge/

Selfies Really Do Make Your Nose Look Big originally aired April 24, 2018 https://omny.fm/shows/curiosity-daily/hubble-telescope-history-selfie-science-and-exerci

Bats map the world by time, not distance by Briana Brownell

• A surprising discovery: Bats know the speed of sound from birth. (2021). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-05/tu-asd050521.php
• Amichai, E., & Yovel, Y. (2021). Echolocating bats rely on an innate speed-of-sound reference. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(19), e2024352118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2024352118
• How do bats echolocate and how are they adapted to this activity? (1998, December 21). Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-bats-echolocate-an/
• Thaler, L. (2015). Using Sound to Get Around. APS Observer, 28(10). https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/using-sound-to-get-around

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free!

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/bats-map-the-world-by-time-not-distance

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Learn about "iconic sounds" of language. Plus: artificial intelligence’s limitations, with AI pioneer Michael Wooldridge.

Language may have started with "iconic sounds" rather than hand gestures by Grant Currin

• Ćwiek, A., Fuchs, S., Draxler, C., Asu, E. L., Dediu, D., Hiovain, K., Kawahara, S., Koutalidis, S., Krifka, M., Lippus, P., Lupyan, G., Oh, G. E., Paul, J., Petrone, C., Ridouane, R., Reiter, S., Schümchen, N., Szalontai, Á., Ünal-Logacev, Ö., & Zeller, J. (2021). Novel vocalizations are understood across cultures. Scientific Reports, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89445-4
• Ancestors may have created “iconic” sounds as bridge to first languages. (2021). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-05/uob-amh051021.php
• No shared language? No problem! People across cultures understand clues from ‘vocal charades. (2021, May 14). No shared language? No problem! People across cultures understand clues from “vocal charades.” Science | AAAS. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/05/no-shared-language-no-problem-people-across-cultures-understand-clues-vocal-charades

Additional resources from Michael Wooldridge:

• Pick up "A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence: What It Is, Where We Are, and Where We Are Going" at your local bookstore: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250770745
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/wooldridgemike
• Oxford faculty page: https://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/people/michael.wooldridge/

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free!

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/why-we-wont-have-robot-butlers-any-time-soon-w-ai-researcher-michael-wooldridge

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Learn about a pregnant mummy; the three body problem; and why you should take off your shoes when you enter your house.

A newly discovered pregnant mummy is raising questions about ancient Egyptian beliefs by Grant Currin

• Johnson, S. (2021, May 5). First-ever pregnant Egyptian mummy discovered. Big Think; Big Think. https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/pregnant-mummy
• In a First, Researchers Discover a Pregnant Egyptian Mummy. (2021). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/02/world/europe/egyptian-mummy-pregnant-warsaw.html
• Ejsmond, W., Ożarek-Szilke, M., Jaworski, M., & Szilke, S. (2021). A pregnant ancient egyptian mummy from the 1st century BC. Journal of Archaeological Science, 105371. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2021.105371

New development in solving the three body problem by Briana Brownell

• Kervella, P., Thévenin, F., & Lovis, C. (2017). Proxima’s orbit around α Centauri. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 598, L7. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201629930
• Alpha Centauri System | Facts, Information, History & Definition. (2019, December 6). The Nine Planets. https://nineplanets.org/alpha-centauri-system/
• Wood,LiveScience, C. (2021, May 7). Physicists Edge Closer to Taming the Three-Body Problem. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/physicists-edge-closer-to-taming-the-three-body-problem/

How Important Is It to Take Your Shoes Off as Soon as You Get in the House? originally aired May 7, 2018 https://omny.fm/shows/curiosity-daily/aliens-studying-humans-an-ai-fairy-tale-and-the-im

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free!

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/we-found-the-first-pregnant-mummy-ever-documented

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