Curiosity Daily

Today, you’ll learn about an effort to create palm oil without burning down millions of acres of forest, the surprising way polyglots’ brains approach their own native language, and new research on how the powerful psychedelic drug ayahuasca extinguishes fear. 

Palm-Less Oil 

• “They Want to Make Palm Oil in a Lab. Without Palm Trees.” by Dionne Searcey. 2024.  
• “Things To Know About Palm Oil.” WWF. n...

Today, you’ll learn about a new study shedding light on what species are most vulnerable to extinction from climate change, why species of living fossils take their time evolving, and a new theory about how the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs also impacted birds.  

Extinction Risk  

• “New study reveals insight into which animals are most vulnerable to extinction due to climate change.” University...

Today, you’ll learn about a compelling study on twins and the nature versus nurture debate, how scientists solved a 60-year-old mystery about bees, and why you shouldn’t go last.  

Twin Trauma 

• “One Twin Was Hurt, the Other Was Not. Their Adult Mental Health Diverged.” by Ellen Barry. 2024.  
• “Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adult Mental Health Outcomes.” by Hilda Bjork Danielsdottir, et al. ...

Today, you’ll learn about a new plan to use waste from beer brewing to clean metal out of our water supply, a study that puts languages like Orc and Klingon to the test, and a discovery about the direction our memories travel in our brains.  

Brewer’s Yeast  

• “The same beer waste that gives us Vegemite could help us recycle metal waste.” n.a. 2024.  
• “Spent brewer’s yeast as a selective bi...

Today, you’ll learn about a medication that can successfully treat frostbite, the study of bloodsplatter in space, and a surprising finding about the supposed benefits of small class sizes. 

Frostbite Treatment 

• “The U.S. now has a drug for severe frostbite. How does it work?” by Saugat Bolakhe. 2024.  
• “Frostbite.” NIH. 2023.  
• “FDA Approves First Medication to Treat Severe Frostbite.” FDA...

Today, you’ll learn about a skin printer that could lead to scar-free surgeries, the possibility of bringing the wooly mammoth back to life, and how to work at being happy.  

Printed Skin 

• “Scar-free surgery prints living skin (and maybe hair) right into wounds.” by Paul McClure. 2024.  
• “New bioink promotes growth & regeneration of 3D-printed muscle tissue.” by Paul McClure. 2023. &nb...

Today, you’ll learn about a radical idea for installing a curtain around a massive ice sheet, how positive vibrations might help people with social anxiety, and new tech that could remove dangerous forever chemicals from our environment.  

Glacier Curtain 

• “Scientists want to build 62-mile-long curtains around the ‘doomsday glacier’ for a $50 billion Hail Mary to save it.” by Ellyn Lapointe. 2024. ...

Today, you’ll learn about a surprising discovery inside the worms of Chernobyl, a way to protect metals at sea inspired by barnacles, and foot-eye coordination.  

Chernobyl Worms 

• “Radiation-proof Chernobyl worms offer answers about cancer.” by Paul McClure. 2024.  
• “Chernobyl Accident 1986.” n.a. 2022.  
• “Environmental radiation exposure at Chornobyl has not systematically affected th...

Today, you’ll learn about the magic of the upcoming solar eclipse, a simple way to reduce the amount of microplastics in your drinking water, and the connection between self-control and the perception of power. 

Livestream of the total solar eclipse on Discovery’s YouTube channel on April 8 at 2:15pm ET here!

Eclipse 2024 

• “What this solar eclipse can teach us about our planet and beyond.” by Kasha Patel. 2...

Today, you’ll learn about a potentially risky new idea to geoengineer our way out of extreme heat, bad news for fans of artificially sweetened drinks, and an incredible new discovery about butterflies.  

Geoengineering 

• “Dehydrate the stratosphere to curb global warming? Scientists float new risky strategy.” by Paul Voosen. 2024.  
• “Contributions of Stratospheric Water Vapor to Decadal Changes ...

Today, you’ll learn about an alarming new killer behavior in orcas, a potential breakthrough for patients with one of the deadliest cancers, and the brain science behind flow.  

Shark Hunter 

• “Orcas Demonstrating They No Longer Need to Hunt in Packs to Take Down the Great White Shark.” Taylor & Francis. 2024.  
• “Further insights into killer whales Orcinus orca preying on white sharks Carcha...

Happy 300 episodes to our Curiosity Daily listeners! Today, you’ll learn about a massive database of human genomes that’s uncovering major new genetic discoveries, the scientists building stone age tools from scratch… and then putting them to work, and a treasure trove of deep sea discoveries in an underwater mountain range.  

Human Diversity  

• “Ambitious survey of human diversity yields millions o...

Today, you’ll learn about how we learn the same information differently from people we like than from those we don’t like, a drug men already take that could have incredible added benefits, and a weed that could feed a hungry world.  

Learning From Friends  

• “The brain is ‘programmed’ for learning from people we like.” Lund University. 2024.  
• “Ingroup sources enhance associative inference...

Today, you’ll learn about how ADHD might have actually helped our ancient ancestors thrive, the way pollution makes it hard for nighttime pollinators to stop and smell the flowers, and a new study that suggests lions, tigers, and other big cats can tell who’s talking to them.  

ADHD Foraging 

• “Attention deficits linked with proclivity to explore while foraging.” by David Barack. 2024.  
• “What i...

Today, you’ll learn about mind-reading machines, the brightest object in the known universe, and the potential power punch of cinnamon. 

Mind-Reading 

• “Mind-reading devices are revealing the brain’s secrets.” by Miryam Naddaf. 2024.  
• “The brain-reading devices helping paralysed people to move, talk and touch.” by Liam Drew. 2022.  
• “The rise of brain-reading technology: what you need to kn...

Today, you’ll learn about hurricanes so powerful they need a new category, bacteria linked to young-onset colo-rectal cancer, and ancient treasures made out of meteorites.  

Category 6 

• “In a warming world, climate scientists consider category 6 hurricanes.” EurekAlert! 2024. 
• “How do hurricanes form?” NOAA. 2023.  
• “AMCR’s Wehner Explores Impact of ‘Extreme Event Attribution’ on Climate Sc...

Today, you’ll learn about the surprising effect our immune system has on our emotional health, a new discovery about the biological clock of plants, and how researchers are rediscovering the science of psychedelics.  

Stress & Immunity 

• “Mount Sinai Study Shows That Circulating Immune Cells Drawn to the Brain During Stress Can Control Emotional Behaviors.” Mt. Sinai. 2024.  
• “Major Depressi...

Today, you’ll learn about the link between body temperature and depression, how taking the the Polar Bear Plunge could soothe symptoms of menopause, and a new sticker that can detect organ failure.  

Depression Temp 

• “Are Body Temperature and Depression Linked? Science Says, Yes.” by Jess Berthold. 2024.  
• “Surprising Link Discovered Between Body Temperature and Depression.” by Jess Berthold. 2...

Today, you’ll learn about a new blood test that can detect signs of psychosis and guide precision treatment, a gene mutation that happened in two different high altitude populations thousands of years apart, and new findings of the mental impacts of polycystic ovary syndrome.  

Psychosis Blood Test 

• “Blood test predicts psychosis risk, most effective treatments.” UI School of Medicine. 2024.  
• ...