Wildlife

Curiosity Daily Podcast: The Duck-Billed Platypus Is Weirder Than You Thought

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Learn about what researchers found when they sequenced the bizarre duck-billed platypus genome; a trick for unlocking your creativity; and the strange reasons for job-specific voices, like those of pilots, newscasters, and poets. 

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why Do Wombats Poop Cubes?

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Learn about a newly discovered way to cut down on intrusive thoughts; why wombats poop cubes; and why UPS trucks almost never make left turns. 

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why Birds Wore Funny Hats for Science

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Learn about how curiosity gives your memory a boost; what happened when researchers put feathered hats on birds to see if other birds found them sexy; and how we trick bacteria into making insulin for us.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why Cuttlefish Wore 3-D Glasses for Science

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Learn about why your next relationship will probably be like your last one; what scientists learned by studying the oldest material on Earth; and what researchers learned when they had cuttlefish wear 3-D glasses. 

Curiosity Daily Podcast: How Scientists Teleported Fish Behavior

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Learn about why cancer is stranger than we think and how scientists have “teleported” the behavior of real fish into robot fish.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Elephants Get Drunk (and They’re Lightweights), Pigeons Helped Win Wars, and Night Owls May Struggle to Regulate Their Emotions

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Learn about why it might actually be pretty easy to drink an elephant under the table; how carrier pigeons like Cher Ami helped win the world wars; and why night owls may have worse emotion regulation than morning people.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why Some Words Are More Memorable, How Hair Growth Works, and How Fish End Up in Landlocked Lakes

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Learn about why some words are more memorable than others; how hair growth works; and how fish end up in landlocked lakes.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why People Are Afraid of Sharks, Discovery of 4 “Walking” Shark Species, and Fighting Climate Change with Rocks

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To celebrate Shark Week, learn about why people are afraid of sharks; how scientists discovered four new species of “walking” sharks (also called epaulette sharks); and how enhanced rock weathering might help us fight climate change with rocks.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Can Sharks Smell Blood from a Mile Away? Plus: Dual-Uterus Sharks and How Interstellar Travel Will Change Language

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Learn about whether sharks can really smell a drop of blood from a mile away; how some sharks give birth from two uteruses (and why that’s not even the weirdest part); and the complicated way interstellar travel can mess with language.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Sharks Aren’t Just Apex Predators (w/ Forrest Galante), How Cats Affect Online Dating, and When Giant Prehistoric Sea Scorpions Ruled the Seas

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Forrest Galante, host of “Extinct or Alive” on Animal Planet, explains why sharks are so important to their ecosystems. You’ll also learn about giant prehistoric sea scorpions called Eurypterids who used to rule the sea and how cats affect online dating.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why the US Military Made Shark Repellant, Why Moths Are Drawn to Lights, and the Difference Between Mummies and Fossils

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To wrap up our Shark Week coverage, learn about why the US military tried to develop "Shark Chaser" shark repellent during World War II. Then, learn about the leading theories explaining why moths are drawn to lights; and the difference between mummies and fossils.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Finding Lost Shark Species (w/ Forrest Galante) and the 2 Types of Nostalgia

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Forrest Galante, host of “Extinct or Alive” on Animal Planet, helps us celebrate Shark Week by explaining how we search for — and find! — lost species in the open ocean. Then, you’ll learn about the two types of nostalgia (reflective nostalgia and restorative nostalgia) and how they can influence your well-being.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: The First Prescription Video Game, Solving the Mystery of Short-Term Memory, and Hummingbirds’ Extraordinary Vision

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Learn about the first physical evidence that shows how our brains store short-term memory; EndeavorRx, the first ever prescription video game; and why hummingbirds can see colors that you can’t.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Respecting Others with Hanlon’s Razor, What If the World Went Vegan, and Dancing Cockatoos

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Learn about a cockatoo that proves humans aren’t the only animals who can dance; mental models like Hanlon’s razor for reducing anxiety and getting along better with others, with some help from authors Gabriel Weinberg and Lauren McCann; and, what would happen if the world went vegan.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Cultivate Green Space in Your Home (w/ Summer Rayne Oakes) and Brains of Octopus Arms

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Learn about how octopus arms literally have minds of their own; and, the benefits of having plants and how to get started, with environmental scientist and author Summer Rayne Oakes.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Bioprinting (w/ Zach Weinersmith), Giant Underground Cities, and Miniature Pigeon Cameras

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Learn about bioprinting from Zach Weinersmith, creator of “Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.” You’ll also learn about Derinkuyu, an ancient underground city; and, Dr. Neubronner’s miniature pigeon camera that predated drone photography.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: How Time Can Flow Backward, Why Poisonous Pufferfish Are Delicious, and Undersea Cables

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Learn about a quantum theory that says time can flow backward; why the Internet relies on huge undersea cables; and why people eat pufferfish, even though they’re incredibly poisonous.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why Humans Are Symmetrical, Fish Electrocution Physics, A Misplaced Equator Theme Park, and Silent Places

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Learn about one of the only silent places in the United States; why fish aren’t electrocuted during lightning storms; why an equator theme park was built in the wrong place; and why humans are symmetrical.