Curiosity Daily Podcast: Differences in CEO and Murdering Psychopaths, How Deep Sleep Cleans Your Brain, and the Mystery of Our Inactive Sun
Learn about how our sun is different from similar stars; how deep sleep literally cleans your brain; and the psychology behind why some psychopaths are serial killers, while others are CEOs.
June 08, 2020
Episode Show Notes:
Our sun is less active than other stars just like it, and scientists aren't sure why by Grant Currin
- Reinhold, T., Shapiro, A. I., Solanki, S. K., Montet, B. T., Krivova, N. A., Cameron, R. H., & Amazo-Gómez, E. M. (2020). The Sun is less active than other solar-like stars. Science, 368(6490), 518–521. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay3821
- Santos, Â. R. G., & Mathur, S. (2020). What future awaits the Sun? Science, 368(6490), 466–467. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb9208
- Passant Rabie. (2020, April 30). The Sun’s midlife crisis could be making it stand out in the universe. Inverse; Inverse. https://www.inverse.com/science/why-is-the-sun-different
- Space Weather | Ready.gov. (2020). Ready.Gov. https://www.ready.gov/space-weather
Deep sleep flushes toxins from your brain, and that seems to have genetic differences by Grant Currin
- Wright, B. L. C., Lai, J. T. F., & Sinclair, A. J. (2012). Cerebrospinal fluid and lumbar puncture: a practical review. Journal of Neurology, 259(8), 1530–1545. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-012-6413-x
- Harrison, S. (2019, October 31). Scientists Now Know How Sleep Cleans Toxins From the Brain. Wired; WIRED. https://www.wired.com/story/scientists-now-know-how-sleep-cleans-toxins-from-the-brain/
- Fultz, N. E., Bonmassar, G., Setsompop, K., Stickgold, R. A., Rosen, B. R., Polimeni, J. R., & Lewis, L. D. (2019). Coupled electrophysiological, hemodynamic, and cerebrospinal fluid oscillations in human sleep. Science, 366(6465), 628–631. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax5440
Why are some psychopaths serial killers and others CEOs? by Kelsey Donk
- Dodgson, L. (2018, May 20). The 10 professions with the most psychopaths - Business Insider. Business Insider; Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/professions-with-the-most-psychopaths-2018-5
- Not all psychopaths are violent; a new study may explain why some are “successful” instead. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-05/vcu-nap051220.php
- Lasko, E., & Chester, D. (2020, April 24). What Makes a ‘Successful’ Psychopath? Longitudinal Trajectories of Offenders’ Antisocial Behavior and Impulse Control as a Function of Psychopathy. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/rjg3q
Subscribe to Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. You can also listen to our podcast as part of your Alexa Flash Briefing; Amazon smart speakers users, click/tap “enable” here: https://www.amazon.com/Curiosity-com-Curiosity-Daily-from/dp/B07CP17DJY
Next Up
Curiosity Daily Podcast: How Loud Is the Sun?
Learn about a simple way to reduce your internet carbon footprint; how brain images can make you more likely to believe fake science; and how loud the sun is.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: This Artificial Sun Is Hotter Than The Real Sun
Learn about an artificial sun that’s hotter than our actual sun; whether math really is a universal language; and what words like “fresh” really tell you about how fancy your food is.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Moviegoers Blink in Sync, Rain on the Sun, and Why Flamingos Stand on One Leg
Learn about a new discovery about rain on the sun; why flamingos stand on one leg; and why you blink the way you do when you’re watching a movie.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why Religious People Have More Children, Sea Turtles’ Clumsy Navigation Skills, and the Real Center of Our Solar System Isn’t the Sun
Learn the surprising reason why religious people tend to have more children; why sea turtles are actually pretty clumsy navigators; and where astronomers found the center of our solar system (spoiler alert: it’s not the center of our sun).
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Improve Your Self-Control, Replace Your Kitchen Sponge, and Naming Our Sun and Moon
Learn about why the sun and moon don’t have names; why kitchen sponges are grosser than you think (and what to do about it); and how you can improve your self-control with the right feelings of guilt.
How Do We Know How Old the Sun Is?
Scientists estimate that our Sun is about 4.57 billion years old. They’re surprisingly confident about that number, too, which opens up an immediate question: how do we know that? The short answer is “a lot of science and math”, but I have a feeling you’re not here for the short answer.
What Happens When the Sun Throws a Tantrum?
Sure, the sun looks all calm up there in the sky. Kids even put little smiley faces on the sun when they draw it. But look closer and you’ll find that our sun has a nasty, violent temper.
Behold, the Sun as You’ve Never Seen It Before
The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter reached the halfway point between the Earth and the Sun to snap an amazing super-high-res picture. You can zoom in on the image to reveal the stunning details of the Sun’s surface. It’s like a Google Earth…but for the Sun.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Astronomy’s Problem with Starlink (w/ Vivienne Baldassare) and Why Toilet Paper Is White
Learn about Starlink’s unintended consequences for astronomy from astrophysicist Vivienne Baldassare, NASA Einstein Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University. Then, learn why toilet paper is white.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Short-Term Pleasures Are Important Too, the Smelly Armpit Enzyme, and a Thorne-Żytkow Object Is a Star Within a Star
Learn about why short-term pleasures are important for your well-being; a Thorne-Żytkow Object, which is what astronomers call a star within a star; and how science identified the culprit for your smelly armpits: Staphylococcus hominis.