February 21, 2017 • 10 mins
Solar flares may be responsible for deadly whale beachings. New research clarifies cosmic radiation exposure for frequent fliers. Plus, purposefully complex terms of service let apps harvest our personal data.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to How Stuff Works Now. I'm your host, Lauren Vogelbaum,
a researcher and writer. Here at How Stuff Works. Every week,
I'm bringing you three stories from our team about the
weird and wondrous advances we've seen in science, technology, and culture.
This week, we're getting better numbers on how much radiation
air travelers are exposed to and unrelated researchers think that
(00:25):
they may know why Wales sometimes get stranded on the shore.
But first, managing editor Alison Loudermilk and our freelance writer
Dave Rouse dive deep into the purposefully confusing world of
website and app terms of service. If you never read
the terms of service or privacy policies on websites or apps,
(00:46):
you're not alone. Earlier this year, researchers from Michigan State
and the University Connecticut wanted to see how many Internet
users did read these notoriously lengthy policies before clicking agree.
So they rounded up five forty three student participants who
thought they were beta testing a new social networking site
called name Drop. The researchers found that of the students
(01:09):
didn't read the fake websites privacy policy or terms of service.
Those who did skim the eight thousand word and four
thousand word documents in about a minute each yep a minute.
Only nine of those five D forty three students noticed
that the terms of service included the slightly controversial child
assignment clause We'll read you an excerpt. By agreeing to
(01:31):
these terms of service and in an exchange for services,
all users of this site agree to immediately assign their
firstborn child to name Drop Incorporated. If the user does
not yet have children. This agreement will be enforceable until
two thousand fifty. All individuals assigned to name drop automatically
become the property of name Drop Incorporated, no exceptions. Okay,
(01:53):
so popular websites and apps like Facebook, Amazon, and Instagram
aren't coming after firstborn, but they do in pensionally draft
privacy policies, terms of service, and end user license agreements
e u l a's that they know or hope no
one will ever read. Git Walsh, a staff attorney with
the Electronic Frontier Foundation at Digital Rights Advocacy Group, told
(02:14):
House to Works that there's a clear advantage to them
being unreadable. Welsh also mentioned that it would take all
of us two months to read all of the agreements
that we click through in a year. In fact, wal
said the PayPal terms of service agreement is longer than
Hamlet and a lot less interesting. The real function of
these dense, jargon filled policies and agreements, which most of
(02:35):
us ignore, isn't for companies to inform users of our rights,
but to establish legal grounds for collecting and sharing our information.
Welsh also mentioned that fifty people surveyed by Pew in
two thousand fourteen thought that if a company has a
privacy policy that means they won't share your information. Not true.
Walsh also says the typical privacy policy is written to
give the company as much leeway as possible, so when
(02:59):
you click agree on most social networking sites, that gives
the company the right to mind and collect data not
only from your clicks and likes, but from your private
messages to other users too. Whilst as we're not just
talking about social media sites, your home automation system collects
and shares data with the company about when your home
and when you're not. Medical monitoring systems gather and save
(03:21):
extremely personal and sensitive information. I mean, when was the
last time you read the fine print on any of
these systems. Essentially, Walsh explains, we trust devices with all
of the intimate details of our private lives, but the
privacy policies are written to let the companies that run
those devices basically do whatever they want and commercialize your
private data. A British government task force just released a
(03:45):
report about how unreadable terms and conditions impact children online.
In the UK, fifty six percent of twelve to fifteen
year olds have an Instagram account. But when a group
of children were asked to read the apps five thousand
words terms of service agreement, none of them could decipher
the postgraduate level legalise. So the task force asked a
(04:06):
lawyer to translate the document into plain English. Here's how
that translated policy read. Although you're responsible for the information
you put on Instagram, we may keep, use, and share
your personal information with companies connected with Instagram. This information
includes your name, email, adjusts, school, where you live, pictures,
phone number, your likes and dislikes, where you go, who
your friends are, how often you use Instagram, and any
(04:28):
other personal information we find, such as your birthday or
who you were chatting with, including in private messages. The
report noted that when a thirteen year old named Amy
read the d jargon version. She said, they must know
that no one reads the terms and conditions, but if
they made it more easy and then people would actually
read it and think twice about the app. Another boy
(04:49):
named Alex put it more bluntly, I'm deleting Instagram because
it's weird. Does that mean you have to start reading
these insane in terms of service? No, it doesn't. The
Electronic front Here Foundation has published a handy cheat sheet
of companies that have your back when it comes to
government data requests, and a crowdsource initiative called terms of
Service Didn't Read reads and rates the privacy policies in
(05:11):
terms of service for a major website and ABS so
you don't have to next up our own. Audio producer
Dylan Fagan and freelance writer Laurie L. Dove explore new
research into a cause of whale beachings that sounds surprising
on the surface, solar flares. Each year, hundreds of otherwise
(05:35):
healthy whales wind up stranded on coastlines across the globe.
Most are still alive at the moment they get stuck,
but within a matter of hours, the whales suffocate under
their own weight. Drown and high tide, or conversely die
of dehydration. Why is this happening. No one has a
clear answer, but researchers may be getting closer to deciphering
the mystery of these mass strandings by looking to the
(05:55):
Sun for clues. NASA Helia physicist Anti I. Polkinen, stationed
at the Goddard Space Flight Center, is working with the
Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the International Fund
for Animal Welfare. They're parsing years of data that may
provide a link between solar flares and beached whales. Research
from two thousand five suggested a link between the phenomena,
but this new undertaking will be the first time quantitative
(06:18):
research has been used to gather statistically significant data on
the possible relationship. Whales, like dolphins and porpoises, use magnetic
fields for navigation, and when solar flares interrupt Earth's magnetosphere,
cetaceans the collective name for whales, dolphins, and porpoises may
lose all sense of direction, leading to deadly mistakes. The
hope is that by pulling data from years of whale beachings,
(06:40):
scientists will understand the relationship between solar flares and these strandings.
Katie Moore, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare
Global Animal Rescue Program and project collaborator, says, if we
understand the relationship between the two, we may be able
to use observations of solar storms as an early warning
for potential strandings to occur. This would allow stranding responders
(07:01):
and global hotspots and really around the world to be
better prepared to respond, thus having the opportunity to save
more animals. Also interesting, researchers believe the moon's gravitational influences
also make it difficult for whales to navigate open seas.
When there's a full moon or a new moon. In
combination with a coastal storm, whales may swim into two
shallow waters. Finally, this week, Step editor Christopher Hasiotas and
(07:30):
our freelance writer Patrick Jake Tiger have a story for
us about how scientists are setting out exactly how much
danger air travel poses radiation wise, if you're listening to
this podcast while cruising through the stratosphere at thirty six
thousand feet, your jetline or seat probably seems like a
pretty serene place. After all, you're well above the clouds
(07:52):
and weather, and indeed above much of the Earth's atmosphere itself.
What you probably don't realize, though, is that just above you,
a street of high energy particles from deep space is
crashing down into the atmosphere, causing all sorts of molecular
level carnage. Try not to flinch, you're getting bombarded with
cosmic rays. For those of us back on the Earth's surface,
(08:13):
the thickness of the atmosphere pretty much filters them out,
but in the thin air of the stratosphere where airplanes fly,
there's little cover. Fortunately, most research on the subject indicates
that occasional air travelers probably aren't getting that much of
a cosmic dose. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
estimates that across country flight exposes an average traveler to
about three point five millirams of radiation, which is less
(08:37):
than the amount of radiation received during one chest X ray,
but it's more of a risk for pilots and airline
crew who spend a whole lot more time in the sky.
Cosmic radiation can break down DNA and produce free radicals,
which can damage parts of cells. Free radicals, by the way,
aren't exclusive to cosmic rays. And can also be generated
by substances found in fried food, alcohol, tobacco, smoke, and
(08:58):
air pollution, among other sources. Hooray. The good news is
that the fine people at NASA are studying high altitude
radiation to get more precise numbers on exposure and to
improve real time monitoring for everyone who flies. In September
of two thousand sixteen, researchers in New Mexico launched a
giant helium balloon carrying NASA's Radiation D Symmetry experiment, also
(09:20):
known as rad X and apologies to anyone who uses
that name for online gaming avatars. This array of instruments
measures cosmic rays coming from the Sun and interstellar space.
The scientists recently published an article on their work in
a special issue of Space Weather Journal. Chris Marten's, the
principal investigator of the rad X mission at NASA's Langley
Research Center, says that measurements were taken for the first
(09:42):
time at seven different altitudes where the physics of D
symmetry is very different. By having the measurements at these
seven altitudes, he says, we're really able to test how
well our models capture the physics of cosmic radiation now.
According to NASA, aircraft crews frequent flying leads them to
being exposed to us as much cosmic radiation as they
would receive on the ground. On the bright side, the
(10:04):
mission also tested two new radiation measuring instruments, the Rashard
detector and the TELEDI and t I D detector, that
may be installed in aircraft in the future. Such friendly,
friendly scouys. That's our show for this week. Thank you
so much for tuning in. Further thanks to our audio
producer Dylan Fagan and our editorial liaison, Eve's Jeff Cote.
(10:28):
Subscribe to now Now for more belated science news and
send us links to anything you'd like to hear us cover,
plus the name of your favorite podcast, Professional Curiosity. You
can send us an email at now podcast at how
stuff works dot com, and of course, for lots more
stories like these, head on over to our home planet
now dot how stuff works dot com.
Welcome to How Stuff Works Now. I'm your host, Lauren Vogelbaum,
a researcher and writer. Here at How Stuff Works. Every week,
I'm bringing you three stories from our team about the
weird and wondrous advances we've seen in science, technology, and culture.
This week, we're getting better numbers on how much radiation
air travelers are exposed to and unrelated researchers think that
(00:25):
they may know why Wales sometimes get stranded on the shore.
But first, managing editor Alison Loudermilk and our freelance writer
Dave Rouse dive deep into the purposefully confusing world of
website and app terms of service. If you never read
the terms of service or privacy policies on websites or apps,
(00:46):
you're not alone. Earlier this year, researchers from Michigan State
and the University Connecticut wanted to see how many Internet
users did read these notoriously lengthy policies before clicking agree.
So they rounded up five forty three student participants who
thought they were beta testing a new social networking site
called name Drop. The researchers found that of the students
(01:09):
didn't read the fake websites privacy policy or terms of service.
Those who did skim the eight thousand word and four
thousand word documents in about a minute each yep a minute.
Only nine of those five D forty three students noticed
that the terms of service included the slightly controversial child
assignment clause We'll read you an excerpt. By agreeing to
(01:31):
these terms of service and in an exchange for services,
all users of this site agree to immediately assign their
firstborn child to name Drop Incorporated. If the user does
not yet have children. This agreement will be enforceable until
two thousand fifty. All individuals assigned to name drop automatically
become the property of name Drop Incorporated, no exceptions. Okay,
(01:53):
so popular websites and apps like Facebook, Amazon, and Instagram
aren't coming after firstborn, but they do in pensionally draft
privacy policies, terms of service, and end user license agreements
e u l a's that they know or hope no
one will ever read. Git Walsh, a staff attorney with
the Electronic Frontier Foundation at Digital Rights Advocacy Group, told
(02:14):
House to Works that there's a clear advantage to them
being unreadable. Welsh also mentioned that it would take all
of us two months to read all of the agreements
that we click through in a year. In fact, wal
said the PayPal terms of service agreement is longer than
Hamlet and a lot less interesting. The real function of
these dense, jargon filled policies and agreements, which most of
(02:35):
us ignore, isn't for companies to inform users of our rights,
but to establish legal grounds for collecting and sharing our information.
Welsh also mentioned that fifty people surveyed by Pew in
two thousand fourteen thought that if a company has a
privacy policy that means they won't share your information. Not true.
Walsh also says the typical privacy policy is written to
give the company as much leeway as possible, so when
(02:59):
you click agree on most social networking sites, that gives
the company the right to mind and collect data not
only from your clicks and likes, but from your private
messages to other users too. Whilst as we're not just
talking about social media sites, your home automation system collects
and shares data with the company about when your home
and when you're not. Medical monitoring systems gather and save
(03:21):
extremely personal and sensitive information. I mean, when was the
last time you read the fine print on any of
these systems. Essentially, Walsh explains, we trust devices with all
of the intimate details of our private lives, but the
privacy policies are written to let the companies that run
those devices basically do whatever they want and commercialize your
private data. A British government task force just released a
(03:45):
report about how unreadable terms and conditions impact children online.
In the UK, fifty six percent of twelve to fifteen
year olds have an Instagram account. But when a group
of children were asked to read the apps five thousand
words terms of service agreement, none of them could decipher
the postgraduate level legalise. So the task force asked a
(04:06):
lawyer to translate the document into plain English. Here's how
that translated policy read. Although you're responsible for the information
you put on Instagram, we may keep, use, and share
your personal information with companies connected with Instagram. This information
includes your name, email, adjusts, school, where you live, pictures,
phone number, your likes and dislikes, where you go, who
your friends are, how often you use Instagram, and any
(04:28):
other personal information we find, such as your birthday or
who you were chatting with, including in private messages. The
report noted that when a thirteen year old named Amy
read the d jargon version. She said, they must know
that no one reads the terms and conditions, but if
they made it more easy and then people would actually
read it and think twice about the app. Another boy
(04:49):
named Alex put it more bluntly, I'm deleting Instagram because
it's weird. Does that mean you have to start reading
these insane in terms of service? No, it doesn't. The
Electronic front Here Foundation has published a handy cheat sheet
of companies that have your back when it comes to
government data requests, and a crowdsource initiative called terms of
Service Didn't Read reads and rates the privacy policies in
(05:11):
terms of service for a major website and ABS so
you don't have to next up our own. Audio producer
Dylan Fagan and freelance writer Laurie L. Dove explore new
research into a cause of whale beachings that sounds surprising
on the surface, solar flares. Each year, hundreds of otherwise
(05:35):
healthy whales wind up stranded on coastlines across the globe.
Most are still alive at the moment they get stuck,
but within a matter of hours, the whales suffocate under
their own weight. Drown and high tide, or conversely die
of dehydration. Why is this happening. No one has a
clear answer, but researchers may be getting closer to deciphering
the mystery of these mass strandings by looking to the
(05:55):
Sun for clues. NASA Helia physicist Anti I. Polkinen, stationed
at the Goddard Space Flight Center, is working with the
Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the International Fund
for Animal Welfare. They're parsing years of data that may
provide a link between solar flares and beached whales. Research
from two thousand five suggested a link between the phenomena,
but this new undertaking will be the first time quantitative
(06:18):
research has been used to gather statistically significant data on
the possible relationship. Whales, like dolphins and porpoises, use magnetic
fields for navigation, and when solar flares interrupt Earth's magnetosphere,
cetaceans the collective name for whales, dolphins, and porpoises may
lose all sense of direction, leading to deadly mistakes. The
hope is that by pulling data from years of whale beachings,
(06:40):
scientists will understand the relationship between solar flares and these strandings.
Katie Moore, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare
Global Animal Rescue Program and project collaborator, says, if we
understand the relationship between the two, we may be able
to use observations of solar storms as an early warning
for potential strandings to occur. This would allow stranding responders
(07:01):
and global hotspots and really around the world to be
better prepared to respond, thus having the opportunity to save
more animals. Also interesting, researchers believe the moon's gravitational influences
also make it difficult for whales to navigate open seas.
When there's a full moon or a new moon. In
combination with a coastal storm, whales may swim into two
shallow waters. Finally, this week, Step editor Christopher Hasiotas and
(07:30):
our freelance writer Patrick Jake Tiger have a story for
us about how scientists are setting out exactly how much
danger air travel poses radiation wise, if you're listening to
this podcast while cruising through the stratosphere at thirty six
thousand feet, your jetline or seat probably seems like a
pretty serene place. After all, you're well above the clouds
(07:52):
and weather, and indeed above much of the Earth's atmosphere itself.
What you probably don't realize, though, is that just above you,
a street of high energy particles from deep space is
crashing down into the atmosphere, causing all sorts of molecular
level carnage. Try not to flinch, you're getting bombarded with
cosmic rays. For those of us back on the Earth's surface,
(08:13):
the thickness of the atmosphere pretty much filters them out,
but in the thin air of the stratosphere where airplanes fly,
there's little cover. Fortunately, most research on the subject indicates
that occasional air travelers probably aren't getting that much of
a cosmic dose. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
estimates that across country flight exposes an average traveler to
about three point five millirams of radiation, which is less
(08:37):
than the amount of radiation received during one chest X ray,
but it's more of a risk for pilots and airline
crew who spend a whole lot more time in the sky.
Cosmic radiation can break down DNA and produce free radicals,
which can damage parts of cells. Free radicals, by the way,
aren't exclusive to cosmic rays. And can also be generated
by substances found in fried food, alcohol, tobacco, smoke, and
(08:58):
air pollution, among other sources. Hooray. The good news is
that the fine people at NASA are studying high altitude
radiation to get more precise numbers on exposure and to
improve real time monitoring for everyone who flies. In September
of two thousand sixteen, researchers in New Mexico launched a
giant helium balloon carrying NASA's Radiation D Symmetry experiment, also
(09:20):
known as rad X and apologies to anyone who uses
that name for online gaming avatars. This array of instruments
measures cosmic rays coming from the Sun and interstellar space.
The scientists recently published an article on their work in
a special issue of Space Weather Journal. Chris Marten's, the
principal investigator of the rad X mission at NASA's Langley
Research Center, says that measurements were taken for the first
(09:42):
time at seven different altitudes where the physics of D
symmetry is very different. By having the measurements at these
seven altitudes, he says, we're really able to test how
well our models capture the physics of cosmic radiation now.
According to NASA, aircraft crews frequent flying leads them to
being exposed to us as much cosmic radiation as they
would receive on the ground. On the bright side, the
(10:04):
mission also tested two new radiation measuring instruments, the Rashard
detector and the TELEDI and t I D detector, that
may be installed in aircraft in the future. Such friendly,
friendly scouys. That's our show for this week. Thank you
so much for tuning in. Further thanks to our audio
producer Dylan Fagan and our editorial liaison, Eve's Jeff Cote.
(10:28):
Subscribe to now Now for more belated science news and
send us links to anything you'd like to hear us cover,
plus the name of your favorite podcast, Professional Curiosity. You
can send us an email at now podcast at how
stuff works dot com, and of course, for lots more
stories like these, head on over to our home planet
now dot how stuff works dot com.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.