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Curiosity Daily Podcast: Communicating with Cell-Sized Robots (w/ Cornell University) and Uncanny Valley Science

Learn from Cornell University physicists Paul McEuen and Itai Cohen how cell-sized robots actually communicate with each other and move around. You’ll also learn about the “uncanny valley” and how scientists figured out what part of your brain gets creeped out by human-like robots.

July 29, 2019

Episode Show Notes:

In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about how scientists pinpointed the part of your brain that’s creeped out by human-like robots: https://curiosity.im/2SpcbqS

Additional resources from Cornell University:

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Next Up

Shark Week: The Podcast - How To Have A Career in Shark Science

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Shark Week: The Podcast - Undiscovered Sharks and the State of the Ocean

Luke Tipple invites “The Lost Shark Guy,” Dr. Dave Ebert, who is personally responsible for finding dozens of shark species that were either previously unknown to science or thought to be extinct. He and Luke discuss why shark populations are a direct indicator of how healthy the ocean is, how to find undiscovered sharks, and why diversity in sharks is essential for marine life.

Shark Week: The Podcast - Do Scientists Need to Kill Sharks?

Host Luke Tipple welcomes two guests to discuss how researchers can kill sharks in the name of science – and whether they need to at all. The first is Dr. Neil Hammerschlag, shark researcher and founder of Atlantic Shark Expeditions, and an expert on data-gathering in the field. He’s followed by explorer Fred Buyle, a world-record-breaking freediver whose innovative methods of shark tagging are explored. Plus, our researcher Sierra tells us about how a 50-year study changed our understanding of tiger sharks – and much of the work wasn’t even done by scientists.

An Astronomical Review of “Don’t Look Up”

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The European Space Agency’s Gaia spacecraft has managed to watch stars tremble, their light subtly changing as starquakes ripple through their surfaces. Which is pretty cool, because Gaia wasn’t even designed to do it.

A Clutterful Mind, Heir To The Earth, Partnership Perils

Today, you’ll learn about why our ability to remember things seems to get worse with age—it’s not memory loss, which animals could become the new dominant species in the event of our extinction, and how an unsupportive romantic partner can actually affect the way you think and feel about yourself.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Seeing Stars, Seagull Staredown, Itsy Bitsy Microdrones

Today, you’ll learn about how cultures across the world often make constellations from the same groups of stars due to the nature of vision and perception, what to do when an animal tries to steal your food during a picnic on the beach, and drones smaller than a red blood cell that can be controlled using only the power of light.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: The Explorers Club: Josh Gates

Calli and Nate interview members of The Explorer’s Club, and today you’re going to hear from a man who largely represents what The Explorers Club is all about - Josh Gates.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: The Explorers Club: Richard Garriott

Today, you’ll hear our interview with Richard Garriott, the president of the Explorers Club.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Solar Salads, Cursed Caffeine, Webb’s First Photo

Today, you’ll learn about the benefits of shading rooftop gardens with solar panels, caffeine’s dark secrets, and how the first image from the James Webb telescope promises a great run for Hubble’s successor.