Curiosity Daily Podcast: Become A CRISPR Connoisseur (w/ Synthego), Up-and-Coming Batteries, and Microsleep

Learn about 4 up-and-coming batteries that could overtake lithium-ion; how microsleep happens without you even knowing it; and what you’re getting wrong about CRISPR gene editing technology, and how to get smart about it — with a little help from Minu Prabhune of Synthego.

January 23, 2019

Episode Show Notes:

In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com — with some help from Synthego’s Meenakshi Prabhune and Kevin Bryant — to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes:

More from Synthego:

If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom

Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Next Up

An Astronomical Review of “Don’t Look Up”

In our annual New Year’s family tradition of struggling to stay awake until midnight, we decided to watch “Don’t Look Up,” the Adam McKay satire starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, and other fabulously good-looking people.

'My Strange Shark Addiction' Is Coming to Shark Week 2026

Meet the most shark-obsessed "fin-atics" around and take a plunge into their wild fascinations on "My Strange Shark Addiction." Learn all about the new special here!

Shark Week 2026 Kicks Off July 26!

Take a bite out of our 38th annual Shark Week event, starting July 26, 2026! Here's everything we have coming up, only on Discovery.

Bobcat on the Hunt

Nature photographer Ian Shive gets a rare close-up of a bobcat hunting ground squirrels in California's Central Coast.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Nobel Prize Winner Richard Thaler on How Nudge Changed the World — Plus, Squirrel-Inspired Robots

Nobel Prize-winning economist Richard Thaler explains how “Nudge” has changed the world. Plus: squirrel-inspired robots!

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Earth’s Core Growing Lopsided and the Science of Gut Feelings

Learn how to tap into your “gut feeling,” which knows more than you think it does; and why Earth's core is growing lopsided.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Apes Say Hello, Life on Snowball Earth, Learn Twice as Fast

Learn about non-human animals that say hello and goodbye; life on Snowball Earth; and how to learn skills twice as fast.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Backward Letters, Dogs Detect Lies, Neutron Star Mountains

Learn about why children write letters backward; how dogs know when you’re lying to them; and mountains on neutron stars.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Monks Meditating After Death and a Marathoning Woolly Mammoth

Learn about the mystery of how Tibetan monks seem to keep meditating after death; and a woolly mammoth that walked VERY far.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Nudge Theory’s Dark Side (w/ Richard Thaler), Hybrid Fruit Science, Words for “Pirate”

Learn about how to avoid getting dragged down by “Sludge”; how hybrid fruit like plumcots are made; and pirate parlance.