August 30, 2025 • 31 mins
The countdown continues with ideas 19 through 14, and today we’re talking virtual dolphins, a bike helmet you’ll actually want to wear, glass that un-breaks itself, unusual diet tips from the Amazon, personal germ clouds, and a high-tech approach to eating lobster.
Check out Shucks Maine Lobster here!
This episode originally aired on March 4, 2025.
Got a question you’d like us to answer? A rabbit hole you think we should explore? Email higeniuses@gmail.com or leave us a message at (302) 405-5925.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everyone, it's Mango here. With summer winding down, we
are taking a little break, but we will be back
with brand new episodes starting September ninth. And we have
been working hard on so many fun episodes this summer.
I cannot wait for you to listen to them. In
the meantime, we are re airing our countdown of the
twenty five greatest science ideas of the past twenty five years.
(00:22):
This list was so joyous to make. Mary and Gabe
did all this extra research for it. We pulled in
contributors for various places. We got incredible songs written for
the show. The whole thing is bizarre and delightful and
fascinating and joyous, and honestly, I just hope you enjoy
(00:42):
it half as much as we enjoyed making it. Let's
dig in. You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production
of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. Guess what, well, what's that Mango?
So welcome back to day two of our countdown of
(01:02):
the twenty five greatest science ideas in the past twenty
five years. And you know what's funny is when I
was driving around last night, I saw a car with
a bumper sticker, and this is true. It said science
is like magic, but it's real. Okay, that's a real
bumper sticker.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
I like that, you know. And considering we've already covered
how to get catch up to flow smoothly out of
a bottle and a scientist who capture the actual smell
of space in a perfume, also a cure for hamster
jet lag, I'd say we're off to a pretty magical star.
It's also weird, but it's a pretty magical start. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
But as soon as I saw that sticker, I had
to roll down my window to yel Hey, science fans,
subscribe to Part Time Genius on your favorite podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
You are not telling the jos that is not a
mango move, But I feel like they might like the
show well, and actually I feel like you forgot to
tell them to leave a rating and review. That's your
other go to.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Yeah, well, I'm sure they'll figure it out in the meantime.
When do you say we get started with day two
of our incredible countdown?
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Can't wait? Let's dive in. Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome
(02:29):
to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson, and as always
I'm here with my good friend mangesh hot ticket there
and over there in the booth knows deep in a
book of magic tricks. It's our pal and producer, Dylan Fake.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
I think I might have inspired him to take up
this new hobby with that little story.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
As long as he doesn't run off to Vegas without us,
I think that's okay. So Mango, I'm really excited to
continue this countdown because today we're talking about bike helmets,
we're talking about virtual dolphins, lobsters, and strangely a help
the diet that doesn't involve lobsters unfortunately. So let's get started.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
With Okay, Well, so how about we kick this off
with a little pop quiz. What would you describe as
sort of a modern healthy diet? You know, obviously, I
think it involve a lot of fruits and veggies, good fats.
You hear about olive, oil, fish, nuts.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Maybe some eggs, beans, poultry for protein, red meat, and alcohol,
and moderation of course, and not too much candy, which
is a bummer. Like those atomic fireballs we've been sending out,
so just those in moderation as well. Those are the
things that come to mind.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah, so you just described the classic Mediterranean diet right,
And it's how people in the blue zones eat right,
like people who live along time in places like Sardinia, Italy,
Italian Islands, Ikorea, and Greece, and people tend to eat
really healthy lives there. But what if I told you
there might be an even healthier diet and instead of
(03:59):
tomatoes and all oil, we should be eating cassava and
howler monkeys.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Oh, I didn't see that went coming. I think you'd
have to give me some pretty convincing evidence. I don't
think I'm up for this. I don't know what you
might call it, like the Temple of Doom diet.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah, I feel like it's a good derivative from the
Indiana Jones franchise. But let me tell you a little
bit about it. So, over the past decade, there have
been a number of studies involving the Chimene people and
indigenous people native to the lowlands of the Bolivian Amazon,
and the Chimyne live off the land, far from modern conveniences,
and they basically have like little to no access to healthcare,
(04:36):
at least the kind you and I are familiar with,
and for some reason, they are freakishly healthy. Really, So
if you take heart disease right, Like here in the US,
about one in four people over the age of forty
five shows signs of a clogged heart. But the Chimene zero.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Really.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
In twenty seventeen, Lancet reported that quote, the Chimmyne have
the lowest prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis of any population known
to science.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Isn't that incredible? Yeah? So no heart problems.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yeah, they also don't get high blood pressure or type
two diabetes. They show little evidence of asthma or autoimmune diseases.
Even their brains appear to be special. Like as we
age are brains typically atrophy, but for some reason, the
brains of older chi Mayne people deteriorate at a rate
that's slower than seventy percent.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Wow, so they just never get sick.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
I mean, that's the weird thing. They do get sick
like a lot. They are outdoorsy. Their lifestyle exposes them
to like an insane bacterial load, viral and parasitic infections.
Seventy percent of their population has parasitic roundworm infections, And
because they get sick so often, they show high levels
(05:46):
of inflammation. Now, the strange part is that for most
of us. Inflammation would increase our chance of heart disease
and other chronic ailments, but not for the chime Mayne.
Their good health is so puzzling that scientists actually gave
in a name, the Chimeyene inflammation paradox. Now, in recent years,
researchers have descended on the population to learn their secrets,
(06:08):
and so far the insights have gone against the grain
of what we know about healthy living. So take those
roundworm infections right, Like, on the face of it, it
sounds pretty unhealthy, but researchers have actually discovered that this
particular roundworm alters the immune system in a way that
might actually improve female fertility.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Oh wow, isn't crazy?
Speaker 1 (06:28):
And most chimyne only got six or seven hours of sleep,
and that's below the eight or nine hours that doctors
typically recommend. Here, right, it's accepted wisdom that inadequate sleep
can make you age faster, and yet tests that measure
aging was called intrinsic age acceleration, show that the chimene
age slower than just about everybody.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
That is incredible. But back to the idea of the diet,
What does their diet have to do with any of this?
Speaker 1 (06:53):
So Historically, obesity is rare among the Chimene, even though
they eat a lot more than we do. The typical
Chimeine women eat six hundred more calories than the average
American women in a given day. Okay, but there are
two big differences here, right, So, first of all, their
diet is composed completely differently than ours. They eat only
four to fifty grams of fat a day Americans eat
(07:15):
twice that. They also get more protein than we do,
as much as fifty grams more per day than the
average American, and they consume twice as much potassium, but
just one eighth the amount of sodium. The other difference
is activity level. The Chimyne actually average about sixteen thousand
steps every single while, and they maintain this level of
physical activity late into their lives.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Their Apple watches and garments must just be giving them
so many awards for all that activity. Right, So we've
got low fat, high protein tons of activity. Obviously, what
kinds of foods are they actually eating? Like, what's on
the menu for the average Chimmeyne home.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Yeah, so for starches and veggies, they tend to eat
like plantains, cassava, rice, and that's about it. Their primary
seafood is a fish called the trahira, also known as
the wolffish because of its dog like teeth. Then, for protein,
they eat a lineup of local mammals, including capabera the pecari,
(08:11):
which is basically a small wild pig. They also eat pakas,
which are these giant rodents with markings kind of like deer,
and cootamundi's, which well, it's kind of like a cross
between a lemur, a raccoon, and a small bear. And
that's about it. They don't eat that much else. Most
of their calories come from just nine different foods, which
(08:34):
is pretty counterintuitive. Like here in the US, we're always
told we should be eating the rainbow of vegetables and
a wide variety of foods, but that's not what they do.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
That's super interesting. I want to say that I'm sold
here because it does feel like they've figured out the
perfect diet. But I don't know how you can achieve
that here. It's not like you're able to go to
the store and pick up a coda mundi, which, by
the way, i'd never heard of that before. You said
it's a cross between a lemur, a raccoon, and a
small bear looks like a small I got it. I
got it. But anyway, that sort of food isn't exactly
(09:03):
accessible here.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Yeah, you're not finding out a barbecue. This dietary advice
isn't realistic for people like you and me, And lately
even the Chimene have been having a hard time following
this diet, and that's because modern life has started intruding
on their space, right on their villages. Kids are now
eating pasta there and processed foods and sugars. After generations
(09:25):
of this diet that's like helped them defy the odds,
their health's actually getting worse, it's kind of sad to see.
And they're gaining weight. So it's possible that the world's
healthiest diet might actually be on the verge of extinction.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
That's rough. This has become a universal problem of trying
to pry the sugary snacks away from our kids, you know,
so they don't ruin their appetites before they eat a
good dinner. It's just it's still different. Like here we're
eating chicken. There they're eating capybara, which I actually didn't
know that was something people late.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Yeah, So now if you don't want to eat a capybara.
I certainly don't blame you, but maybe you'd like to
hug one. So today on our Instagram actually having a
little contest, we're giving one lucky listener a wonderful and
ridiculous plushy capabera for them to not eat. So get
the details and enter to win at part time genius.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
All right, So for number eighteen, I gotta admit that
last story did make me a little bit hungry, so
I'm gonna stick with that theme. Here's a question for you, mego,
do you like lobster?
Speaker 1 (10:26):
I'm kind of like so so on it. Okay, I
like lobster rolls, but I don't love lobster meat that much.
I'm also not into working for my food other than
pistachios and bananas, maybe boiled peanuts. I don't really like
cracking foods open with my fingers and pulling chunks of
meat out.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Of the bread. You put it that way. Well, I
actually do like lobster, although it's not that I get
to have it that often. But anyone who's ever dined
on whole lobster nose it is not the easiest thing
to eat. So, like you said, you have to break
it apart with mallets and crackers and stick little forks
in there to retrieve every last little bit of meat.
And if you don't know what you're doing, it is
(11:03):
a daunting task.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Yeah, it's really intimidating, especially for you know, I was
a vegetarian for a large part of my life, and
so I think that's part of why I'm not as attracted.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
To it right. Right, it's sort of intimidating, and you know,
even if you do know what you're doing, it's messy,
like it's one of the only foods that served with
a bib and wet wipes. But I've actually got a
pretty big solve for you here. This goes back to
two thousand and six. A man named Johnny Hathaway was
thinking about this problem. He's a Native manor and he
and his family had opened a seafood restaurant and a
touristy part of the state. So every summer the place
(11:34):
was flooded with people who craved lobster. But as he
told us in an interview, customers were turned off by
the mess.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Well, I soon found out that people really wanted the food,
not the animal.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
He thought there has to be an easier way to
cook and serve lobster. And it turned out there was
I've got three words for you, mango, high pressure processing,
you get it.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
I like that you're saying these things expecting me to
have a reaction. I have no idea what any of
that means.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
All right, Well, in the simplest terms, it's kind of
like pasteurization, except it uses cold water and pressure instead
of high heat. So the process is really useful because
it kills the pathogens and the microorganisms that can actually
make food spoil. Now, one day, Johnny happened to be
chatting with someone from the main lobster Promotion Council, is
sort of a collective for the state's prize industry, and
(12:24):
she told him she'd heard about some guy in New
Orleans who were using high pressure processing to kill bacteria
and oysters. That's a big problem, by the way, a
lot of people enjoy eating oysters raw, so having the
ability to eliminate that bacteria without cooking was a pretty
big deal. And it gets better. So the folks in
Louisiana were finding that putting oysters in a high pressure
(12:44):
machine didn't just make them safe to eat, it actually
also shucked them. That's pretty magical. Now, just completely detached
the meat from the shell. And what is lobster if
not a larger and more complicated oyster. Right.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
I feel like some Breene biologists out there might disagree
with that. No simple assessment continues, just.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Facts, manu. So when Johnny heard this, he knew he
had to see this for himself. So he got in
touch with the oyster guys and they were like, we
don't know anything about lobsters, but we're up for trying
an experiment. So here's Johnny again.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
So I brought some lobster down in New Orleans and
I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe what it did.
We put it in the machine, we take it out,
and it's a very simple process. But what it does
is it breaks the membrane between the shell and the meat,
and it allows you to take out the meat raw.
The meat slides right out.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
So I just want to take a second to acknowledge
the historic nature of that moment, right like it was
the first time in human history that anyone had shucked
a raw lobster. It's just not possible otherwise. So until
that fateful day, the only way to break meat from
the membrane was by cooking it. So Johnny heads home.
He tracks down a high pressure processor online. He calls
(14:00):
it the big mother shucker because this thing is huge.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
The first machine I bought was sixteen feet high and
weigh to eighty thousand pounds, and all it is is
a cylinder that should fill with water, no heat, no chemicals.
It's just water and you turn on the pressure and
find the right pressure. The cycle last maybe three minutes.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
So once he had it up and running and got
the settings dialed in, Johnny and his employees were able
to process four to six million lobsters every single week.
I didn't know there were that many lobsters out there.
And you have to understand there's a lot of tradition
in the main lobster industry, and that's part of the
cultural importance here. But that also meant that Johnny had
to sell the idea of this pressure shucked raw lobsters
(14:43):
to people who'd been doing things the old way for
a long time. You could see a lot of people
might just take joy in that process, right, because it's
like an art in itself. But luckily, his raw Lobster
Meet won two Awards at the two thousand and seven
Brussels International Seafood Show Best New Food Service Product, Most
Convenient New seafood Product. Now, that was a pretty definitive
(15:03):
seal of approval, and it helped Manor see the commercial
potential of what he was.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Up to Other processors and fishermen alike. They saw, okay,
this opens up another way for us to market our product. Right,
we don't have to just sell live anymore. We can
sell it to processes, and processes can do more value
added products. It opened up new markets now.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
According to Johnny Chef's love the convenience of raw lobster,
it gives them more options for cooking. Before, if you
wanted a suv lobster, it had to be parboiled first,
and as Johnny says, nobody buys a cook steak and
then cooks it again. But there's one other benefit to
this process that's worth mentioning.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
The pressure actually kills the lobster within six seconds, So
you know, that's pretty good when you think about the
animals in the world, how they're treated. I think that
was very important.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
If you're going to eat lobster, that is a pretty
humane way to do it. Anyway, since Johnny's big new discovery,
a few other high pressure processors have actually opened up
in Maine, and Johnny's thinking about new ways to put
the technology to use. For example, he's working with the
University of Maine and research involving crab and lobster shells,
which contain a polymer called kitan. Now it's already being
(16:14):
used in agriculture as fertilizer, but apparently may have other
applications including helping with skin problems and wound healing. And
when you can separate a bunch of crustaceans from their
shells in a matter of minutes, it makes all the
testing and advances a whole lot more possible.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
That's really interesting. You know, I wonder if it's going
to affect the all you can eat crab shats and
like Maryland, in places like that where you know you've
got all this old bay and you're often drinking beer
because like it takes such a long time and like
it's hard to get the meat out. It's going to
be a very different process area.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
It's it's gonna have it comes straight down a shoot
into your mouth.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Do not touch that dial. We will be right back
with more great science ideas right after the break, Welcome
(17:14):
back to Part Time Genius, where we're talking about the
twenty five greatest science ideas of the last twenty five years.
So this one is close to my heart. Will Were
you a bike rider as a kid?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Definitely. I rode my bike every day to school from
really second grade on all the way yeah, all the
way through elementary school. I loved riding my bike.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
And did you have to wear a helmet?
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Well, I was actually talking about this just the other
day to somebody that this was on the front end
of kids wearing helmets, right, And of course my parents
maybe wear a helmet. I'm thankful for that, But I
was one of the few in our group of friends
that would ride to school that were wearing helmets. Of course,
I'm glad that there's no weirdness around that today, but yeah,
I was one of the few wearing them at that point.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
I mean, yeah, I feel like it is so normalized
today and the helmets are so much less clunky.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
In seventh grade, with no warning, my dad went out
and did two things. First, he bought us helmets and
insisted we wear them, which you know makes sense, And
i'd of course two with my kids now. But he
also found these white poles that he put on our
like very thin bubbles they put on with orange flags,
(18:24):
and so they were riding above us. It was partially
because like we lived on a hill and so like
if you went up the hill, you want cars to
be able.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
To see what was coming.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
But it was kind of the equivalent of wearing headgear
to like a middle school dance, right, So like I
used to bike everywhere to the local convenience store to
like cull to sack, you know, it was just transportation
for us, and and then immediately I started walking. For me,
helmets were really a deterrent. And one thing that I
(18:54):
think is really fascinating is there's a company called Holding
which has created something that's basically a scarf like technology
that inflates on impact like an airbag.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
So is this like an invisible airbag helmet or like
I'm not picturing.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
This, yeah, exactly. This thing is amazing and middle school
me would have been so psychedic seen one of these
or had one of these. But I've been watching videos
online of people crashing and one second it looks like
they're wearing nothing on their head and next it looks
like someone like pulled over like an airbag hoodie. The
whole thing is the invention of two brilliant Swedish women
named Anna Hoppt and Teres Alston. They designed the helmet
(19:32):
in two thousand and five as part of a master's
thesis in industrial design at Lund University, and they tricked
it out with some really interesting features. You do have
to keep the helmet charge and you have to switch
it on when you're riding, but you can change out
the colors so like you can have the scarf like
thing match your outfit. It comes with a black box
and it records the last ten seconds before a crash,
(19:53):
which can actually be helpful if you're trying to determine
fall in like an accident or something like that. And
according to tests done by engineers at Stanford, the whole
thing actually protected people from concussions eight times better than
traditional bike helmets. Unfortunately, however, the cost ended up being
a factor. In a twenty fifteen review from the Guardian,
they said a new helmet cost about two hundred and
(20:14):
fifty pounds and if you get in a crash you
kind of have to replace it. Pulving did replace the
helmets for about one hundred pounds once you bought your
first one, but it really wasn't cheap.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
And you know that this goes back over a decade now,
so I'm curious, like, can I get a hold of
a whole thing now?
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Not easily. So the founders left the company in twenty
fifteen and the company went bankrupt in twenty twenty three.
But what Anna Andrees did actually opened people up to
new ways of thinking about bike helmets. There's an incredible
company out of Germany called in Flabby that actually has
an ultra thin geometric helmet. You fill it with a
bike pump and it fills these air pockets to protect
(20:51):
your head. And the best part is you can actually
fold it up and scrunch it up, so you're not
carrying this clunky helmet around. It just kind of like
sticks in a bag or a pocket. That said, I
wouldn't be surprised if someone tries to improve on the
last released version of the whole thing and then comes
out with a better inflatable helmet. Also, just for the record,
I want to make clear that I do wear a
helmet these days. I'm little less worried about what kids
(21:13):
in my neighborhood think about me. But I do wear
when I bike around New York on city bikes with
my family, so you really don't have to worry.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Okay, I'll check that one off the list, all right. Well,
I think it's safe to say that VR hasn't quite
taken off in the way we might have expected it to,
at least not yet. But one use of it that's
really interesting is in pain management, so more specifically having
patients virtually swim with dolphins that's actually helped patients manage
(21:40):
their chronic pain better. Have you heard about this, No,
that's incredible. According to a piece on the radio station, Wabe,
a seventy year old military vet, told reporters, it's fantastic.
I really feel like I'm there. I get a strong
feeling of pleasure, relaxation and peace. Just nice to think about.
So basically he swims three times a day for ten
minutes secession and it's had a remarkable effect on his
(22:02):
ability to manage his pain.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
That is really cool and it's really that effective.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Apparently so. And the truth is, doctors like Brennan Spiegel
at Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles. They've been looking for
alternative ways to help patients manage their pain and reduce
their reliance on heavy prescription pills for a long time now,
and VR actually seems to have an impact, at least
according to the paper he published in the journal plus
one Now. In his study, Spiegel took patients who were
(22:27):
either experiencing pain from cancer or maybe had severe orthopedic pain,
and he divided these patients into two different groups. So
one group got VR headsets and was told they could
use as much VR as they wanted, but they were
asked to do it at least three times a day
for ten minutes a session. Meanwhile, the other group got
to watch a wellness channel on TV. So, as Spiegel
put it, VR is thought to create an immersive distraction
(22:51):
that restricts the brain from processing pain. And what they
found was that when they used a zero to ten
pain scale, the group that used VR three times a
day actually saw a drop in their pain levels by
two full points. That is pretty remarkable, and I'd actually
heard of VR being used for immersion therapy, like people
have a tough time with heights, having the VR stimulate
(23:12):
like you're looking out of a tall building or people
who are afraid of public speaking. You get to talk
to a virtual crowd and build up a stamina or
muscle skill. But the idea of swimming with dolphins is
just so beautiful. It's so different from like facing your fears. Yeah,
it really is. And scientists are looking for how VR
might be useful in other painful conditions, you know, from
managing labor pains to distracting patients when they get painful
(23:36):
infusions for cancer treatments. It's pretty remarkable what can happen here.
It's awesome.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
So here's a quick one that gives me a lot
of empathy for that character. Pig Pen in PNUS.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Is the one with the dirty cloud around it all
the time.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
I love pig Pen, But it turns out he is
not alone. Apparently, we all have a swarm of bacteria
that we're constantly shedding in the space around us. It's
known as a microbial cloud, and according to a team
of scientists at the University of Oregon, everyone is surrounded
by a unique cloud. It's about ninety centimeters wide, made
(24:12):
up of millions of bacteria, and when we walk through
each other's clouds, our clouds mingle and we actually change
each other's microbiomes just.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
A little wow.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
The way a BBC article put it was a little
grosser than that. They're right, quote walk through someone else's
cloud and it'll rain bacteria on your skin and be
breathed into your life.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Saw that is really gross. And I think the thing
that stuck out to me is ninety centimeters. Like that's
not tiny, you know, like that's actually a meaningful But yeah,
that's a really gross description.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
I mean, the article quotes one microbiologist as saying the
findings were quote simply gross. Microbiologists are disturbed. It's pretty
gress Yeah, but I think it's just one of those
things that you live with forever, you don't really think
about it, and then when you happen to like peer
under a microscope, it's more complicated than you can ever.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Yeah, and I'm guessing a shower doesn't help the situation.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
No, you cannot scrub this away. But the way the
scientists rand the experiment was pretty fascinating. So they basically
had people hang out in a room where petri dishes
and suspended air filters inside the room collected the floating microbes,
and then they analyze these personal clouds, and what they
found was that every cloud is really like a fingerprint.
But also, I do think there's something poetic about the
(25:26):
fact that, like, when you hang out in someone else's cloud,
you take back a bacterial souvenir. Like there's almost this
record of your life and how you spent your time
that you're constantly carrying around with you, and the idea
that you're changed a little by everyone you meet or
interact with. It's just kind of human and wonderful.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
I agree.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Okay, listeners, we've got to pause for a quick break,
but we'll be back with more Part Time Genius very soon.
And welcome back to Part Time Genius, where we're continuing
(26:09):
with our crazy countdown.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
All right, semengo, what would you say if I told
you I could fix the cracks in your phone screen
just by covering it with a damp paper towel.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
I mean, I'd probably think you were lying or it
was a prank.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Right, Well, it's actually an innovation that is just around
the corner. Once this new quote self healing glass hits
the market, we really will be able to repair cracks
by just adding water.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
That's amazing. So how exactly does this work? Because I mean,
correct me if I'm wrong, But like glass needs heat
to repair, not moisture.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Right, Well, that's definitely true of traditional glass. But what
I'm talking about is something called peptide glass. And in
case your chemistry is a little rusty, here it is.
I knew it would be. A peptide in short, is
a chain of amino acids, which are chemical building blocks
of proteins. So peptides can self assemble into all kinds
of useful structures, including endorphins and insulin. But because they're
(27:04):
crystalline in nature, they aren't typically associated with glass because
glass isn't crystalline, right, And in crystalline structures, the atoms
are arranged in a rigid repeating pattern, so when the
crystal is subjected to stress, it tends to fracture really easily. Glass,
on the other hand, is what's known as an amorphous solid.
That means its atoms are arranged at random, which allows
(27:25):
it to absorb stress more evenly, making it harder to
actually break.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
I love how they are like different types of solids,
different types of liquids. Ketchup is a certain type of
liquid that doesn't move or flow right right, And then
you have this type of glass. But how is there
something called peptide glass. It seems like a bit of
a contradiction.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Well it is exactly that, and that's why researchers at
Tel Aviv University were so surprised. Last year. They found
when a certain peptide is mixed with water, it can
self assemble into this rigid, transparent glass like material. Now
this wasn't something that they set out to find either,
and that's always the fun in science of these acts
of discoveries. But in fact, they were actually studying entirely
(28:03):
different properties of peptides when they made this discovery. But
that wasn't even the best part, because it turned out
this new kind of glass also had the ability to
heal itself when it was remoistened.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
So according to one of the studies authors quote, we
found that although the peptide glass cracks under dry conditions,
it can easily repair these cracks. All that needs to
be done is transfer the glass to a more humid environment.
As soon as you do that, water molecules re enter
the material, repair the cracks and allow the glass to reform.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
That is so amazing, And I know you said this
was just discovered. But what are the commercial prospects or
something like this? Does it seem like a viable product?
Speaker 2 (28:41):
It definitely does so far. So. Conventional glass requires a
ton of energy to produce because you have to gather
all the different raw materials and you melt them together
at extremely high temperatures. But with this, you actually just
take some peptide powder, mix it with water, and voila
Like it's instant glass. It's pretty amazing. It's as strong
as silicate glas two. So it could be used to
(29:01):
make just about anything windows, doors, optical lenses, and of
course the thing we're all thinking about phone screens.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
I mean, it really does sound like it could revolutionize
like a bunch of different industries and also save you
so much money on repairs. Imagine like getting a crack
in your windshield and just like waiting for the rain
to repair it. Yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Yeah, and you wouldn't necessarily have to replace your existing
glass either. You could just add a thin coating of
peptide glass over the top to sort of act as
a barrier.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
You know who's going to really benefit from this as
anyone with a class bottom boat.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Yes, those are the people that we really want to
look out for. You know, it's like how people say
we should make an entire plane out of the same
material as the black Box, Like just make the whole
boat out of peptide glass and it can never spring
a leak.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
I think you just came up with the best science
idea of the year.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Nailed it all right, Well, that does it for today.
Be sure to tune in tomorrow as the countdown continues.
I don't want to give too much away, but tomorrow's
episode involves NASCAR dinosaurs. It sounds like, really this is
a tough guy episode and a very special musical number.
That's right, That's right, And of course don't forget the
Head over to our instagram at part Time Genius to
(30:07):
enter our copy bar contest. We're from Gabe Dylan, Mary
Mangush and Me. Thank you so much for listening.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Oh and Lucas Riley, Thank you, Lucas.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Part Time Genius is the production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio.
This show is hosted by Will Pearson and Me, Mongashtikler,
and research by our good pal Mary Philip Sandy. Today's
episode was engineered and produced by the wonderful Dylan Fagan
with support from Tyler Klang. The show is executive produced
for iHeart by Katrina Norvell and Ali Perry, with social
(30:51):
media support from Sasha Gay, Trustee Dara Potts and Viney Shoory.
For more podcasts from Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio, visit the Iheartrate
you app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Hey everyone, it's Mango here. With summer winding down, we
are taking a little break, but we will be back
with brand new episodes starting September ninth. And we have
been working hard on so many fun episodes this summer.
I cannot wait for you to listen to them. In
the meantime, we are re airing our countdown of the
twenty five greatest science ideas of the past twenty five years.
(00:22):
This list was so joyous to make. Mary and Gabe
did all this extra research for it. We pulled in
contributors for various places. We got incredible songs written for
the show. The whole thing is bizarre and delightful and
fascinating and joyous, and honestly, I just hope you enjoy
(00:42):
it half as much as we enjoyed making it. Let's
dig in. You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production
of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. Guess what, well, what's that Mango?
So welcome back to day two of our countdown of
(01:02):
the twenty five greatest science ideas in the past twenty
five years. And you know what's funny is when I
was driving around last night, I saw a car with
a bumper sticker, and this is true. It said science
is like magic, but it's real. Okay, that's a real
bumper sticker.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
I like that, you know. And considering we've already covered
how to get catch up to flow smoothly out of
a bottle and a scientist who capture the actual smell
of space in a perfume, also a cure for hamster
jet lag, I'd say we're off to a pretty magical star.
It's also weird, but it's a pretty magical start. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
But as soon as I saw that sticker, I had
to roll down my window to yel Hey, science fans,
subscribe to Part Time Genius on your favorite podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
You are not telling the jos that is not a
mango move, But I feel like they might like the
show well, and actually I feel like you forgot to
tell them to leave a rating and review. That's your
other go to.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Yeah, well, I'm sure they'll figure it out in the meantime.
When do you say we get started with day two
of our incredible countdown?
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Can't wait? Let's dive in. Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome
(02:29):
to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson, and as always
I'm here with my good friend mangesh hot ticket there
and over there in the booth knows deep in a
book of magic tricks. It's our pal and producer, Dylan Fake.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
I think I might have inspired him to take up
this new hobby with that little story.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
As long as he doesn't run off to Vegas without us,
I think that's okay. So Mango, I'm really excited to
continue this countdown because today we're talking about bike helmets,
we're talking about virtual dolphins, lobsters, and strangely a help
the diet that doesn't involve lobsters unfortunately. So let's get started.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
With Okay, Well, so how about we kick this off
with a little pop quiz. What would you describe as
sort of a modern healthy diet? You know, obviously, I
think it involve a lot of fruits and veggies, good fats.
You hear about olive, oil, fish, nuts.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Maybe some eggs, beans, poultry for protein, red meat, and alcohol,
and moderation of course, and not too much candy, which
is a bummer. Like those atomic fireballs we've been sending out,
so just those in moderation as well. Those are the
things that come to mind.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah, so you just described the classic Mediterranean diet right,
And it's how people in the blue zones eat right,
like people who live along time in places like Sardinia, Italy,
Italian Islands, Ikorea, and Greece, and people tend to eat
really healthy lives there. But what if I told you
there might be an even healthier diet and instead of
(03:59):
tomatoes and all oil, we should be eating cassava and
howler monkeys.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Oh, I didn't see that went coming. I think you'd
have to give me some pretty convincing evidence. I don't
think I'm up for this. I don't know what you
might call it, like the Temple of Doom diet.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah, I feel like it's a good derivative from the
Indiana Jones franchise. But let me tell you a little
bit about it. So, over the past decade, there have
been a number of studies involving the Chimene people and
indigenous people native to the lowlands of the Bolivian Amazon,
and the Chimyne live off the land, far from modern conveniences,
and they basically have like little to no access to healthcare,
(04:36):
at least the kind you and I are familiar with,
and for some reason, they are freakishly healthy. Really, So
if you take heart disease right, Like here in the US,
about one in four people over the age of forty
five shows signs of a clogged heart. But the Chimene zero.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Really.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
In twenty seventeen, Lancet reported that quote, the Chimmyne have
the lowest prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis of any population known
to science.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Isn't that incredible? Yeah? So no heart problems.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yeah, they also don't get high blood pressure or type
two diabetes. They show little evidence of asthma or autoimmune diseases.
Even their brains appear to be special. Like as we
age are brains typically atrophy, but for some reason, the
brains of older chi Mayne people deteriorate at a rate
that's slower than seventy percent.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Wow, so they just never get sick.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
I mean, that's the weird thing. They do get sick
like a lot. They are outdoorsy. Their lifestyle exposes them
to like an insane bacterial load, viral and parasitic infections.
Seventy percent of their population has parasitic roundworm infections, And
because they get sick so often, they show high levels
(05:46):
of inflammation. Now, the strange part is that for most
of us. Inflammation would increase our chance of heart disease
and other chronic ailments, but not for the chime Mayne.
Their good health is so puzzling that scientists actually gave
in a name, the Chimeyene inflammation paradox. Now, in recent years,
researchers have descended on the population to learn their secrets,
(06:08):
and so far the insights have gone against the grain
of what we know about healthy living. So take those
roundworm infections right, Like, on the face of it, it
sounds pretty unhealthy, but researchers have actually discovered that this
particular roundworm alters the immune system in a way that
might actually improve female fertility.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Oh wow, isn't crazy?
Speaker 1 (06:28):
And most chimyne only got six or seven hours of sleep,
and that's below the eight or nine hours that doctors
typically recommend. Here, right, it's accepted wisdom that inadequate sleep
can make you age faster, and yet tests that measure
aging was called intrinsic age acceleration, show that the chimene
age slower than just about everybody.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
That is incredible. But back to the idea of the diet,
What does their diet have to do with any of this?
Speaker 1 (06:53):
So Historically, obesity is rare among the Chimene, even though
they eat a lot more than we do. The typical
Chimeine women eat six hundred more calories than the average
American women in a given day. Okay, but there are
two big differences here, right, So, first of all, their
diet is composed completely differently than ours. They eat only
four to fifty grams of fat a day Americans eat
(07:15):
twice that. They also get more protein than we do,
as much as fifty grams more per day than the
average American, and they consume twice as much potassium, but
just one eighth the amount of sodium. The other difference
is activity level. The Chimyne actually average about sixteen thousand
steps every single while, and they maintain this level of
physical activity late into their lives.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Their Apple watches and garments must just be giving them
so many awards for all that activity. Right, So we've
got low fat, high protein tons of activity. Obviously, what
kinds of foods are they actually eating? Like, what's on
the menu for the average Chimmeyne home.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Yeah, so for starches and veggies, they tend to eat
like plantains, cassava, rice, and that's about it. Their primary
seafood is a fish called the trahira, also known as
the wolffish because of its dog like teeth. Then, for protein,
they eat a lineup of local mammals, including capabera the pecari,
(08:11):
which is basically a small wild pig. They also eat pakas,
which are these giant rodents with markings kind of like deer,
and cootamundi's, which well, it's kind of like a cross
between a lemur, a raccoon, and a small bear. And
that's about it. They don't eat that much else. Most
of their calories come from just nine different foods, which
(08:34):
is pretty counterintuitive. Like here in the US, we're always
told we should be eating the rainbow of vegetables and
a wide variety of foods, but that's not what they do.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
That's super interesting. I want to say that I'm sold
here because it does feel like they've figured out the
perfect diet. But I don't know how you can achieve
that here. It's not like you're able to go to
the store and pick up a coda mundi, which, by
the way, i'd never heard of that before. You said
it's a cross between a lemur, a raccoon, and a
small bear looks like a small I got it. I
got it. But anyway, that sort of food isn't exactly
(09:03):
accessible here.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Yeah, you're not finding out a barbecue. This dietary advice
isn't realistic for people like you and me, And lately
even the Chimene have been having a hard time following
this diet, and that's because modern life has started intruding
on their space, right on their villages. Kids are now
eating pasta there and processed foods and sugars. After generations
(09:25):
of this diet that's like helped them defy the odds,
their health's actually getting worse, it's kind of sad to see.
And they're gaining weight. So it's possible that the world's
healthiest diet might actually be on the verge of extinction.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
That's rough. This has become a universal problem of trying
to pry the sugary snacks away from our kids, you know,
so they don't ruin their appetites before they eat a
good dinner. It's just it's still different. Like here we're
eating chicken. There they're eating capybara, which I actually didn't
know that was something people late.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Yeah, So now if you don't want to eat a capybara.
I certainly don't blame you, but maybe you'd like to
hug one. So today on our Instagram actually having a
little contest, we're giving one lucky listener a wonderful and
ridiculous plushy capabera for them to not eat. So get
the details and enter to win at part time genius.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
All right, So for number eighteen, I gotta admit that
last story did make me a little bit hungry, so
I'm gonna stick with that theme. Here's a question for you, mego,
do you like lobster?
Speaker 1 (10:26):
I'm kind of like so so on it. Okay, I
like lobster rolls, but I don't love lobster meat that much.
I'm also not into working for my food other than
pistachios and bananas, maybe boiled peanuts. I don't really like
cracking foods open with my fingers and pulling chunks of
meat out.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Of the bread. You put it that way. Well, I
actually do like lobster, although it's not that I get
to have it that often. But anyone who's ever dined
on whole lobster nose it is not the easiest thing
to eat. So, like you said, you have to break
it apart with mallets and crackers and stick little forks
in there to retrieve every last little bit of meat.
And if you don't know what you're doing, it is
(11:03):
a daunting task.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Yeah, it's really intimidating, especially for you know, I was
a vegetarian for a large part of my life, and
so I think that's part of why I'm not as attracted.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
To it right. Right, it's sort of intimidating, and you know,
even if you do know what you're doing, it's messy,
like it's one of the only foods that served with
a bib and wet wipes. But I've actually got a
pretty big solve for you here. This goes back to
two thousand and six. A man named Johnny Hathaway was
thinking about this problem. He's a Native manor and he
and his family had opened a seafood restaurant and a
touristy part of the state. So every summer the place
(11:34):
was flooded with people who craved lobster. But as he
told us in an interview, customers were turned off by
the mess.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Well, I soon found out that people really wanted the food,
not the animal.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
He thought there has to be an easier way to
cook and serve lobster. And it turned out there was
I've got three words for you, mango, high pressure processing,
you get it.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
I like that you're saying these things expecting me to
have a reaction. I have no idea what any of
that means.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
All right, Well, in the simplest terms, it's kind of
like pasteurization, except it uses cold water and pressure instead
of high heat. So the process is really useful because
it kills the pathogens and the microorganisms that can actually
make food spoil. Now, one day, Johnny happened to be
chatting with someone from the main lobster Promotion Council, is
sort of a collective for the state's prize industry, and
(12:24):
she told him she'd heard about some guy in New
Orleans who were using high pressure processing to kill bacteria
and oysters. That's a big problem, by the way, a
lot of people enjoy eating oysters raw, so having the
ability to eliminate that bacteria without cooking was a pretty
big deal. And it gets better. So the folks in
Louisiana were finding that putting oysters in a high pressure
(12:44):
machine didn't just make them safe to eat, it actually
also shucked them. That's pretty magical. Now, just completely detached
the meat from the shell. And what is lobster if
not a larger and more complicated oyster. Right.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
I feel like some Breene biologists out there might disagree
with that. No simple assessment continues, just.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Facts, manu. So when Johnny heard this, he knew he
had to see this for himself. So he got in
touch with the oyster guys and they were like, we
don't know anything about lobsters, but we're up for trying
an experiment. So here's Johnny again.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
So I brought some lobster down in New Orleans and
I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe what it did.
We put it in the machine, we take it out,
and it's a very simple process. But what it does
is it breaks the membrane between the shell and the meat,
and it allows you to take out the meat raw.
The meat slides right out.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
So I just want to take a second to acknowledge
the historic nature of that moment, right like it was
the first time in human history that anyone had shucked
a raw lobster. It's just not possible otherwise. So until
that fateful day, the only way to break meat from
the membrane was by cooking it. So Johnny heads home.
He tracks down a high pressure processor online. He calls
(14:00):
it the big mother shucker because this thing is huge.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
The first machine I bought was sixteen feet high and
weigh to eighty thousand pounds, and all it is is
a cylinder that should fill with water, no heat, no chemicals.
It's just water and you turn on the pressure and
find the right pressure. The cycle last maybe three minutes.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
So once he had it up and running and got
the settings dialed in, Johnny and his employees were able
to process four to six million lobsters every single week.
I didn't know there were that many lobsters out there.
And you have to understand there's a lot of tradition
in the main lobster industry, and that's part of the
cultural importance here. But that also meant that Johnny had
to sell the idea of this pressure shucked raw lobsters
(14:43):
to people who'd been doing things the old way for
a long time. You could see a lot of people
might just take joy in that process, right, because it's
like an art in itself. But luckily, his raw Lobster
Meet won two Awards at the two thousand and seven
Brussels International Seafood Show Best New Food Service Product, Most
Convenient New seafood Product. Now, that was a pretty definitive
(15:03):
seal of approval, and it helped Manor see the commercial
potential of what he was.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Up to Other processors and fishermen alike. They saw, okay,
this opens up another way for us to market our product. Right,
we don't have to just sell live anymore. We can
sell it to processes, and processes can do more value
added products. It opened up new markets now.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
According to Johnny Chef's love the convenience of raw lobster,
it gives them more options for cooking. Before, if you
wanted a suv lobster, it had to be parboiled first,
and as Johnny says, nobody buys a cook steak and
then cooks it again. But there's one other benefit to
this process that's worth mentioning.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
The pressure actually kills the lobster within six seconds, So
you know, that's pretty good when you think about the
animals in the world, how they're treated. I think that
was very important.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
If you're going to eat lobster, that is a pretty
humane way to do it. Anyway, since Johnny's big new discovery,
a few other high pressure processors have actually opened up
in Maine, and Johnny's thinking about new ways to put
the technology to use. For example, he's working with the
University of Maine and research involving crab and lobster shells,
which contain a polymer called kitan. Now it's already being
(16:14):
used in agriculture as fertilizer, but apparently may have other
applications including helping with skin problems and wound healing. And
when you can separate a bunch of crustaceans from their
shells in a matter of minutes, it makes all the
testing and advances a whole lot more possible.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
That's really interesting. You know, I wonder if it's going
to affect the all you can eat crab shats and
like Maryland, in places like that where you know you've
got all this old bay and you're often drinking beer
because like it takes such a long time and like
it's hard to get the meat out. It's going to
be a very different process area.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
It's it's gonna have it comes straight down a shoot
into your mouth.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Do not touch that dial. We will be right back
with more great science ideas right after the break, Welcome
(17:14):
back to Part Time Genius, where we're talking about the
twenty five greatest science ideas of the last twenty five years.
So this one is close to my heart. Will Were
you a bike rider as a kid?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Definitely. I rode my bike every day to school from
really second grade on all the way yeah, all the
way through elementary school. I loved riding my bike.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
And did you have to wear a helmet?
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Well, I was actually talking about this just the other
day to somebody that this was on the front end
of kids wearing helmets, right, And of course my parents
maybe wear a helmet. I'm thankful for that, But I
was one of the few in our group of friends
that would ride to school that were wearing helmets. Of course,
I'm glad that there's no weirdness around that today, but yeah,
I was one of the few wearing them at that point.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
I mean, yeah, I feel like it is so normalized
today and the helmets are so much less clunky.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
In seventh grade, with no warning, my dad went out
and did two things. First, he bought us helmets and
insisted we wear them, which you know makes sense, And
i'd of course two with my kids now. But he
also found these white poles that he put on our
like very thin bubbles they put on with orange flags,
(18:24):
and so they were riding above us. It was partially
because like we lived on a hill and so like
if you went up the hill, you want cars to
be able.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
To see what was coming.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
But it was kind of the equivalent of wearing headgear
to like a middle school dance, right, So like I
used to bike everywhere to the local convenience store to
like cull to sack, you know, it was just transportation
for us, and and then immediately I started walking. For me,
helmets were really a deterrent. And one thing that I
(18:54):
think is really fascinating is there's a company called Holding
which has created something that's basically a scarf like technology
that inflates on impact like an airbag.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
So is this like an invisible airbag helmet or like
I'm not picturing.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
This, yeah, exactly. This thing is amazing and middle school
me would have been so psychedic seen one of these
or had one of these. But I've been watching videos
online of people crashing and one second it looks like
they're wearing nothing on their head and next it looks
like someone like pulled over like an airbag hoodie. The
whole thing is the invention of two brilliant Swedish women
named Anna Hoppt and Teres Alston. They designed the helmet
(19:32):
in two thousand and five as part of a master's
thesis in industrial design at Lund University, and they tricked
it out with some really interesting features. You do have
to keep the helmet charge and you have to switch
it on when you're riding, but you can change out
the colors so like you can have the scarf like
thing match your outfit. It comes with a black box
and it records the last ten seconds before a crash,
(19:53):
which can actually be helpful if you're trying to determine
fall in like an accident or something like that. And
according to tests done by engineers at Stanford, the whole
thing actually protected people from concussions eight times better than
traditional bike helmets. Unfortunately, however, the cost ended up being
a factor. In a twenty fifteen review from the Guardian,
they said a new helmet cost about two hundred and
(20:14):
fifty pounds and if you get in a crash you
kind of have to replace it. Pulving did replace the
helmets for about one hundred pounds once you bought your
first one, but it really wasn't cheap.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
And you know that this goes back over a decade now,
so I'm curious, like, can I get a hold of
a whole thing now?
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Not easily. So the founders left the company in twenty
fifteen and the company went bankrupt in twenty twenty three.
But what Anna Andrees did actually opened people up to
new ways of thinking about bike helmets. There's an incredible
company out of Germany called in Flabby that actually has
an ultra thin geometric helmet. You fill it with a
bike pump and it fills these air pockets to protect
(20:51):
your head. And the best part is you can actually
fold it up and scrunch it up, so you're not
carrying this clunky helmet around. It just kind of like
sticks in a bag or a pocket. That said, I
wouldn't be surprised if someone tries to improve on the
last released version of the whole thing and then comes
out with a better inflatable helmet. Also, just for the record,
I want to make clear that I do wear a
helmet these days. I'm little less worried about what kids
(21:13):
in my neighborhood think about me. But I do wear
when I bike around New York on city bikes with
my family, so you really don't have to worry.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Okay, I'll check that one off the list, all right. Well,
I think it's safe to say that VR hasn't quite
taken off in the way we might have expected it to,
at least not yet. But one use of it that's
really interesting is in pain management, so more specifically having
patients virtually swim with dolphins that's actually helped patients manage
(21:40):
their chronic pain better. Have you heard about this, No,
that's incredible. According to a piece on the radio station, Wabe,
a seventy year old military vet, told reporters, it's fantastic.
I really feel like I'm there. I get a strong
feeling of pleasure, relaxation and peace. Just nice to think about.
So basically he swims three times a day for ten
minutes secession and it's had a remarkable effect on his
(22:02):
ability to manage his pain.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
That is really cool and it's really that effective.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Apparently so. And the truth is, doctors like Brennan Spiegel
at Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles. They've been looking for
alternative ways to help patients manage their pain and reduce
their reliance on heavy prescription pills for a long time now,
and VR actually seems to have an impact, at least
according to the paper he published in the journal plus
one Now. In his study, Spiegel took patients who were
(22:27):
either experiencing pain from cancer or maybe had severe orthopedic pain,
and he divided these patients into two different groups. So
one group got VR headsets and was told they could
use as much VR as they wanted, but they were
asked to do it at least three times a day
for ten minutes a session. Meanwhile, the other group got
to watch a wellness channel on TV. So, as Spiegel
put it, VR is thought to create an immersive distraction
(22:51):
that restricts the brain from processing pain. And what they
found was that when they used a zero to ten
pain scale, the group that used VR three times a
day actually saw a drop in their pain levels by
two full points. That is pretty remarkable, and I'd actually
heard of VR being used for immersion therapy, like people
have a tough time with heights, having the VR stimulate
(23:12):
like you're looking out of a tall building or people
who are afraid of public speaking. You get to talk
to a virtual crowd and build up a stamina or
muscle skill. But the idea of swimming with dolphins is
just so beautiful. It's so different from like facing your fears. Yeah,
it really is. And scientists are looking for how VR
might be useful in other painful conditions, you know, from
managing labor pains to distracting patients when they get painful
(23:36):
infusions for cancer treatments. It's pretty remarkable what can happen here.
It's awesome.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
So here's a quick one that gives me a lot
of empathy for that character. Pig Pen in PNUS.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Is the one with the dirty cloud around it all
the time.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
I love pig Pen, But it turns out he is
not alone. Apparently, we all have a swarm of bacteria
that we're constantly shedding in the space around us. It's
known as a microbial cloud, and according to a team
of scientists at the University of Oregon, everyone is surrounded
by a unique cloud. It's about ninety centimeters wide, made
(24:12):
up of millions of bacteria, and when we walk through
each other's clouds, our clouds mingle and we actually change
each other's microbiomes just.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
A little wow.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
The way a BBC article put it was a little
grosser than that. They're right, quote walk through someone else's
cloud and it'll rain bacteria on your skin and be
breathed into your life.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Saw that is really gross. And I think the thing
that stuck out to me is ninety centimeters. Like that's
not tiny, you know, like that's actually a meaningful But yeah,
that's a really gross description.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
I mean, the article quotes one microbiologist as saying the
findings were quote simply gross. Microbiologists are disturbed. It's pretty
gress Yeah, but I think it's just one of those
things that you live with forever, you don't really think
about it, and then when you happen to like peer
under a microscope, it's more complicated than you can ever.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Yeah, and I'm guessing a shower doesn't help the situation.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
No, you cannot scrub this away. But the way the
scientists rand the experiment was pretty fascinating. So they basically
had people hang out in a room where petri dishes
and suspended air filters inside the room collected the floating microbes,
and then they analyze these personal clouds, and what they
found was that every cloud is really like a fingerprint.
But also, I do think there's something poetic about the
(25:26):
fact that, like, when you hang out in someone else's cloud,
you take back a bacterial souvenir. Like there's almost this
record of your life and how you spent your time
that you're constantly carrying around with you, and the idea
that you're changed a little by everyone you meet or
interact with. It's just kind of human and wonderful.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
I agree.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Okay, listeners, we've got to pause for a quick break,
but we'll be back with more Part Time Genius very soon.
And welcome back to Part Time Genius, where we're continuing
(26:09):
with our crazy countdown.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
All right, semengo, what would you say if I told
you I could fix the cracks in your phone screen
just by covering it with a damp paper towel.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
I mean, I'd probably think you were lying or it
was a prank.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Right, Well, it's actually an innovation that is just around
the corner. Once this new quote self healing glass hits
the market, we really will be able to repair cracks
by just adding water.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
That's amazing. So how exactly does this work? Because I mean,
correct me if I'm wrong, But like glass needs heat
to repair, not moisture.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Right, Well, that's definitely true of traditional glass. But what
I'm talking about is something called peptide glass. And in
case your chemistry is a little rusty, here it is.
I knew it would be. A peptide in short, is
a chain of amino acids, which are chemical building blocks
of proteins. So peptides can self assemble into all kinds
of useful structures, including endorphins and insulin. But because they're
(27:04):
crystalline in nature, they aren't typically associated with glass because
glass isn't crystalline, right, And in crystalline structures, the atoms
are arranged in a rigid repeating pattern, so when the
crystal is subjected to stress, it tends to fracture really easily. Glass,
on the other hand, is what's known as an amorphous solid.
That means its atoms are arranged at random, which allows
(27:25):
it to absorb stress more evenly, making it harder to
actually break.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
I love how they are like different types of solids,
different types of liquids. Ketchup is a certain type of
liquid that doesn't move or flow right right, And then
you have this type of glass. But how is there
something called peptide glass. It seems like a bit of
a contradiction.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Well it is exactly that, and that's why researchers at
Tel Aviv University were so surprised. Last year. They found
when a certain peptide is mixed with water, it can
self assemble into this rigid, transparent glass like material. Now
this wasn't something that they set out to find either,
and that's always the fun in science of these acts
of discoveries. But in fact, they were actually studying entirely
(28:03):
different properties of peptides when they made this discovery. But
that wasn't even the best part, because it turned out
this new kind of glass also had the ability to
heal itself when it was remoistened.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
So according to one of the studies authors quote, we
found that although the peptide glass cracks under dry conditions,
it can easily repair these cracks. All that needs to
be done is transfer the glass to a more humid environment.
As soon as you do that, water molecules re enter
the material, repair the cracks and allow the glass to reform.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
That is so amazing, And I know you said this
was just discovered. But what are the commercial prospects or
something like this? Does it seem like a viable product?
Speaker 2 (28:41):
It definitely does so far. So. Conventional glass requires a
ton of energy to produce because you have to gather
all the different raw materials and you melt them together
at extremely high temperatures. But with this, you actually just
take some peptide powder, mix it with water, and voila
Like it's instant glass. It's pretty amazing. It's as strong
as silicate glas two. So it could be used to
(29:01):
make just about anything windows, doors, optical lenses, and of
course the thing we're all thinking about phone screens.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
I mean, it really does sound like it could revolutionize
like a bunch of different industries and also save you
so much money on repairs. Imagine like getting a crack
in your windshield and just like waiting for the rain
to repair it. Yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Yeah, and you wouldn't necessarily have to replace your existing
glass either. You could just add a thin coating of
peptide glass over the top to sort of act as
a barrier.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
You know who's going to really benefit from this as
anyone with a class bottom boat.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Yes, those are the people that we really want to
look out for. You know, it's like how people say
we should make an entire plane out of the same
material as the black Box, Like just make the whole
boat out of peptide glass and it can never spring
a leak.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
I think you just came up with the best science
idea of the year.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Nailed it all right, Well, that does it for today.
Be sure to tune in tomorrow as the countdown continues.
I don't want to give too much away, but tomorrow's
episode involves NASCAR dinosaurs. It sounds like, really this is
a tough guy episode and a very special musical number.
That's right, That's right, And of course don't forget the
Head over to our instagram at part Time Genius to
(30:07):
enter our copy bar contest. We're from Gabe Dylan, Mary
Mangush and Me. Thank you so much for listening.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Oh and Lucas Riley, Thank you, Lucas.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Part Time Genius is the production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio.
This show is hosted by Will Pearson and Me, Mongashtikler,
and research by our good pal Mary Philip Sandy. Today's
episode was engineered and produced by the wonderful Dylan Fagan
with support from Tyler Klang. The show is executive produced
for iHeart by Katrina Norvell and Ali Perry, with social
(30:51):
media support from Sasha Gay, Trustee Dara Potts and Viney Shoory.
For more podcasts from Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio, visit the Iheartrate
you app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Part-Time Genius News
Hosts And Creators
Will Pearson
Mangesh Hattikudur
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