![](http://discovery.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/discovery/editorial/podcasts/Curiosity/CuriosityPodcase_1400x1400CoverArtv4.png.rend.hgtvcom.616.616.suffix/1647967304243.png)
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Measuring the Deadliness of Viruses (Like Coronavirus), Why We Do the Potty Dance, and Depression’s Cousin “Acedia”
Learn about how scientists measure the contagiousness and deadliness of diseases like coronavirus; the history of acedia, an emotion that is similar to (but distinct from) depression; and why it helps to do a “potty dance” when you really have to go to the bathroom.
February 07, 2020
Episode Show Notes:
Measuring the Deadliness of Viruses (Like Coronavirus) by Ashley Hamer
- McCandless, D. (2018, October). The MicrobeScope – Infectious Diseases in Context — Information is Beautiful. https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/the-microbescope-infectious-diseases-in-context/
- Vanessa Bates Ramirez. (2014, October 28). What Is R0?: Gauging Contagious Infections. Healthline; Healthline Media. https://www.healthline.com/health/r-nought-reproduction-number
- Vogel, Gretchen (2014, September 8). How deadly is Ebola? Statistical challenges may be inflating survival rate. Science | AAAS. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/09/how-deadly-ebola-statistical-challenges-may-be-inflating-survival-rate
- How Bad Will the Coronavirus Outbreak Get? Here Are 6 Key Factors. (2020, January 31). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/world/asia/china-coronavirus-contain.html
Depression’s Cousin “Acedia” by Mae Rice
- You Might Not Actually Be Struggling With Depression | HeartSupport https://blog.heartsupport.com/you-might-not-actually-be-struggling-with-depression-8ce57ab41f66
- Before Sloth Meant Laziness, It Was the Spiritual Sin of Acedia | Atlas Obscura https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/desert-fathers-sins-acedia-sloth
- Do You Have Any of These 3 Signs of Acedia? | National Catholic Register http://www.ncregister.com/blog/dlittle/do-you-have-any-of-these-3-signs-of-acedia
- Kathleen Norris battles ‘the demon of acedia’ | Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-kathleen-norris21-2008sep21-story.html
- Depression And Acedia: The Mood And The Spirit | PsyWeb http://www.psyweb.com/articles/depression/depression-and-acedia-the-mood-and-the-spirit/
- A Need For Spiritual Connection | Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/spiritual-wisdom-secular-times/201608/need-spiritual-connection
Why We Do the Potty Dance by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Stewart C.)
- Ashish. (2015, December 29). Why Do We “Dance” When We Really Need to Urinate? » Science ABC. https://www.scienceabc.com/humans/why-do-we-dance-when-we-really-need-to-urinate.html
- Displacement activity | animal behaviour | Britannica. (2020). In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/displacement-activity
- Farricelli, A. (2013, May 3). Understanding Dog Displacement Behaviors. PetHelpful; PetHelpful. https://pethelpful.com/dogs/Understanding-Dog-Dispacement-Behavior
- UConn Today. (2016, November 30). Mind Over Bladder: The Brain-Organ Connection. UConn Today. https://today.uconn.edu/2016/11/mind-bladder-research-explores-brain-organ-connection
- Angle, S. (2016, April 21). Why Do You Have to Pee the Closer You Get to a Bathroom? Shape. https://www.shape.com/lifestyle/mind-and-body/why-do-you-have-pee-closer-you-get-bathroom
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://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing
Next Up
Curiosity Daily Podcast: DNA & Lookalikes, Extinct Lineage Found, Alzheimer’s Viruses
Today we learn about how doppelgangers can share similar DNA, a recent discovery of a lost lineage in Indonesia, and recent advancements in finding out what causes Alzheimer’s.
Curiosity Daily: Asteroid-eating Fungi, Psychedelic…Maybe, Printing Organs
Today, you’ll learn about mushrooms that can eat asteroids to make space soil, how our thoughts affect us as we microdose psychedelics, and efforts to 3D print organs like kidneys and lungs!
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Hacking Device, Designer Seaweed, Accent Exposure
We discuss the latest in phone hacking technology, how aquaculture may be able to help the global food crisis, and how engaging with people who speak in a foreign accent may help us retain language.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Murdering Murder Hornets, ADHD & Hoarding, Pain Pill Ills
Learn about how Japanese honey bees protect themselves from murder hornets, how a new link has been discovered between ADHD and hoarding disorder, and how your over-the-counter pain meds, might actually be making your pain worse!
Curiosity Daily Podcast:The Myth of Man Flu, Arctic Lakes, Buzzing Bats
Let’s talk about whether “man flu” is fact or fiction, how the Arctic lakes just threw a curveball at our climate change projections, and the genius new way bats are tricking their predators.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Space Slingshot, Ancient Modern Pants, Lifesaving Silence
Hear about a slingshot launching payloads into space, the impressively modern-looking world’s oldest pants, and how moth wings are able to absorb sound to avoid detection from bats.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Reverse Aging, Cooperation Increase, Time & Covid
Today we explore a potential scientific fountain of youth, how cooperation among strangers has, contrary to popular belief, actually increased in recent years, and how the pandemic has caused the perception of time distortion.
Curiosity Daily: Fry Flying, Gas Giants at Home, Entangled Atoms
Today we are discussing new sustainable fuels for airplanes, creating other worldly heat at home, and a new record for quantum entanglement.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Magic Addiction Fix, Parkinson’s Detection, Wind Turbines
Today we talk about how psilocybin from magic mushrooms can help those struggling with alcohol addiction, a new device that can detect Parkinson’s disease from breathing patterns, and how we can recycle wind turbines.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: VR & Transcendence, Stonehenge Calendar, Pregnant With Covid
We discuss how VR is as effective as psychedelics at helping people reach transcendence, whether Stonehenge may have been an ancient calendar, and how COVID-19 has affected women in late pregnancy.