Curiosity Daily

Today, you’ll learn about how climbing on monkey bars and other risky play could be a gift from our ancestors, the dangers of mold in space, and new evidence on how cravings take root in our brains.   Risky Play  “Risky Play Exercises an Ancestral Need to Push Limits.” by Morgan Kelly. 2024.  “Commemorating the monkey bars, catalyst of debate at the intersection of human evolutionary biology and public health.” by Luke D. Fannin, et al. 2024.   Mold in Space   “Keeping mold out of future space stations.” by Tatyana Woodall. 2024.  “Predicting how varying moisture conditions impact the microbiome of dust collected from the International Space Station.” by Nicholas Nastasi, et al. 2024.   Brain Cravings  “‘Sticky’ brain activity is linked to stronger feelings of craving.” by Mallory Locklear. 2024.  “Network state dynamics underpin basal craving in a transdiagnostic population.” by Jean Ye, et al. 2024.   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. 

Today, you’ll learn about a potential positive side to side effects, how mega El Niños triggered the world’s worst mass extinction event, and the antidote to pesticides that could save bees.   Positive Side Effects   “How side effects can improve treatment efficacy: a randomized trial.” by Lieven A. Schenk, et al. 2024.  “Side-effects are often a curse. Can they also be a blessing?” by Katja Wiech, et al. 2024.   Mega El Niño  “Mega El Niños kicked off the world’s worst mass extinction.” by Jake Buehler. 2024.  “Mega El Niño instigated the end-Permian mass extinction.” by Yadong Sun, et al. 2024.   Bee Protector  “Scientists hopeful antidote can help protect bumblebees from pesticides.” by Helena Horton. 2024.  “Ingestible hydrogel microparticles improve bee health after pesticide exposure.” by Julia S. Caserto, et al. 2024.   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.  

Today, you’ll learn about a breakthrough in our understanding of the behavior and abilities of bacteria, the queen ants that cannibalize their sick larvae and recycle it, and how tiny shards of plastic are finding their way into our brains.   Bacteria Behavior  “New discovery of how bacteria navigate their environment could change how we treat infection.” University of Sheffield. 2024.  “Individual bacterial cells can use spatial sensing of chemical gradients to direct chemotaxis on surfaces.” by James H.R. Wheeler, et al. 2024.   Ant Cannibals  “Ant queens cannibalize [sic] their sick offspring - then ‘recycle’ them.” University of Oxford. 2024.  “Ant queens cannibalize infected brood to contain disease spread and recycle nutrients.” by Flynn Bizzell & Christopher D. Pull. 2024.  “Black garden ant.” The Wildlife Trusts. N.d.   Brain Plastic  “Tiny shards of plastic are increasingly infiltrating our brains, study says.” by Sandee LaMotte. 2024.  “Bioaccumulation of Microplastics in Decedent Human Brains Assessed by Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.” by Matthew Campen, et al. 2024.   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. 

Today, you’ll learn about the connection between chronic sinus infections and anxiety, a new way to recycle plastic by vaporizing it, and how marmosets call each other by name.    Sinuses & Mental Health   “Chronic Rhinosinusitis and Mental Health.” by Najm S. Khan, et al. 2024.  “Chronic Sinusitis.” CDC. 2022.   Vaporizing Plastic  “New process vaporizes plastic bags and bottles, yielding gases [sic] to make new, recycled plastics.” by Robert Sanders. 2024.  “Plastic Pollution.” by Hannah Ritchie, et al. 2022.   Monkey Names  “These monkeys use names to communicate with each other, study finds.” by Lianne Kolirin. 2024.  “These Monkeys Call One Another by Name.” by Emily Anthes. 2024.  “Vocal labeling of others by nonhuman primates.” by Guy Oren, et al. 2024.   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. 

Today, you’ll learn about how common table salt could help our bodies fight cancer, an ancient underwater bridge that’s changing what we know about human migration in Europe, and the hyper precise nuclear clock breakthrough.   Salt & Cancer  “Common salt activates anti-tumor cells.” by Charlotte Fuchs and Friederike Gawlik. 2024.  “Sodium chloride in the tumor microenvironment enhances T cell metabolic fitness and cytotoxicity.” by Dominik Soll, et all. 2024.   Ancient Bridge  “Submerged bridge constructed at least 5600 years ago indicates early human arrival in Mallorca, Spain.” by Bogdan P. Onac, et al. 2024.  “What a submerged ancient bridge discovered in a Spanish cave reveals about early human settlement.” ScienceDaily. 2024.  “Mallorca Facts.” Mallorca.com. Nd.   Nuclear Clock   “A nuclear clock prototype hints at ultraprecise timekeeping.” by Emily Conover. 2024.  “How Does the NIST-7 Atomic Clock Work?” by Bruce Morser. 2012.  “A new ultrafast laser emits pulses of light 30 billion times a second.” by Emily Conover. 2018.   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. 

Today, you’ll learn about an injectable pacemaker that dissolves after 5 days, how a black hole is starving a galaxy to death, and the bats with record-high blood sugar levels.   Injectable Pacemaker  “Injectable pacemaker regulates heartbeat for 5 days then dissolves.” by Michael Irving. 2024.  “In situ assembly of an injectable cardiac stimulator.” by Umut Aydemir, et al. 2024.  “Arrythmia.” Cleveland Clinic. N.d.   Black Hole Starves  “Astronomers detect black hole ‘starving’ its host galaxy to death.” EurekAlert! 2024.  “A fast-rotator post-starburst galaxy quenched by supermassive black-hole feedback at z=3.” by Francesco D’Eugenio, et al. 2024.   Bat Blood Sugar  “Sugar assimilation underlying dietary evolution of Neotropical bats.” by Jasmin Camacho, et al. 2024.  “Some bats are surviving and thriving with blood sugar levels that would be lethal for other mammals.” Stowers Institute for Medical Research. 2024.   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. 

Today, you’ll learn about the new air conditioner that cools without conditioning the air, how understanding our false memories can be a window into our problem solving skills, and a study examining the grieving of cats.   AC Not Conditioned    “Device provides air conditioning without conditioning air.” by Ellen Phiddian. 2024.  “A pure radiant cooling device for ‘air conditioning’ without conditioning air.” by Xinyao Zheng, et al. 2024.  “2023 was the warmest year in the modern temperature record.” by NOAA Centers for Environmental Information. 2024.   False Memories  “False memories revealing mathematical reasoning.” University of Geneva. 2024.  “Revealing mental representations of arithmetic word problems through false memories: New insights into semantic congruence.” by H. Gros, et al. 2024.   Cat Grief  “Cats appear to grieve death of fellow pets - even dogs, study finds.” by Hannah Devlin. 2024.  “A Brief History of House Cats.” by David Zax. 2007.  “Is companion animal loss cat-astrophic? Responses of domestic cats to the loss of another companion animal.” by Brittany Greene & Jennifer Vonk. 2024.   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. 

Today, you’ll learn about a new tool that maps out our incredibly complex gut microbiome to tell you if it’s healthy or… not so much, how metalworkers are taking lessons from insects to shape metal at room temperature, and the psychology behind our feelings toward unusually colored animals.   Microbiome Map  “Mayo researchers develop tool that measures health of a person’s gut microbiome.” by Susan Murphy. 2024.  “Gut Microbiome Wellness Index 2 enhances health status predictions from gut microbiome taxonomic profiles.” by Daniel Chang, et al. 2024.   Insect Metalwork  “Room temperature metalworking inspired by insects and crab shells.” by Michael Irving. 2024.  “Shrimp shells to serve as the basis for new multi-protective coatings.” by David Szondy. 2020.  “A Biological Approach to Metalworking Based on Chitinous Colloids and Composites.” by Shiwei Ng, et al. 2024.   Animal Colors  “How color shapes which animals we fear - and which we protect.” by Kara Manke. 2024.  “Of Rarity and Symbolism: Understanding Human Perceptions of Charismatic Color Morphs.” by Tyus D. Williams, et al. 2024.   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.