Close-up of a yellow-fever mosquito biting human skin, it's a culicidae vector of malaria, yellow fever, chikungunya, dengue and zika virus in Brazil, known locally as mosquito da dengue.

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Close-up of a yellow-fever mosquito biting human skin, it's a culicidae vector of malaria, yellow fever, chikungunya, dengue and zika virus in Brazil, known locally as mosquito da dengue.

Photo by: Joao Paulo Burini

Joao Paulo Burini

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Death to Skeeters, Swapping Saliva, Messing with Lightspeed

Today, you’ll learn about a brilliant biotechnology that is turning mosquitoes against themselves, how babies use a slimy indicator to figure out who can be trusted, and the freaky things that would happen if we messed with the speed of light.

April 28, 2022

Episode show notes:

Hate mosquitos? These modified mosquitoes do, too.

Millions of genetically modified mosquitoes may soon be buzzing in Florida and California. Here's why. by Ryan W. Miller

2 Billion Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Cleared for Release in California and Florida by Ed Cara

California's first lab-grown mosquitoes may take flight—stirring controversy by Lisa M. Krieger

Malaria’s Impact Worldwide by The CDC

Mosquitoes and Disease by Illinois Department of Public Health

Want a baby to trust you? Try sharing some spit.

Babies may use saliva sharing to figure out relationships by Erin Garcia de Jesús

Kids attend to saliva sharing to infer social relationships by Christine Fawcett

Babies can tell who has close relationships based on one clue: saliva by Anne Trafton

When babies see people swap spit, they know what’s what by Juan Siliezar

Let’s keep lightspeed where it’s at. Just trust us here.

What would happen if the speed of light was much slower? by Ashley P. Taylor

What Is Relativity? by Michael Schirber

What time is it? That depends on how fast you're traveling. by American Museum of Natural History

'A Slower Speed of Light' turns the strangeness of near-light speed travel into a game by Janus Kopfstein

How Fast is the Speed of Light by LTP NASA

How Fast is the World’s Fastest Human? By Kara Rogers

The Doppler Effect by the Physics Classroom

The Most Extreme Human Spaceflight Records by Mike Wall

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