Curiosity Daily Podcast: Most Conversations Go On Longer Than We Want Them To

Learn about why most conversations go on for a lot longer than we want them to; a genetic mutation that makes some people resilient to the cold; and how homing pigeons pass down their knowledge.

April 05, 2021

Episode Show Notes:

Most conversations go on for twice as long as we want them to by Kelsey Donk

Around 20% of people have a genetic mutation that makes them resilient to the cold by Grant Currin

  • People with this muscle protein gene variant tolerate the cold better. (2021). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-02/cp-pwt021121.php
  • ‌Wyckelsma, V. L., Venckunas, T., Houweling, P. J., Schlittler, M., Lauschke, V. M., Tiong, C. F., Wood, H. D., Ivarsson, N., Paulauskas, H., Eimantas, N., Andersson, D. C., North, K. N., Brazaitis, M., & Westerblad, H. (2021). Loss of α-actinin-3 during human evolution provides superior cold resilience and muscle heat generation. The American Journal of Human Genetics, 108(3), 446–457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2021.01.013
  • ‌Impervious to cold? A gene helps people to ward off the chills. (2021). Nature, 590(7847), 531–531. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00433-0

Move Over, Ancient Sages: Homing Pigeons Pass Down Knowledge Too by Hayley Otman

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