Curiosity Daily Podcast: Nobel Prize Winner Richard Thaler on How Nudge Changed the World — Plus, Squirrel-Inspired Robots

Nobel Prize-winning economist Richard Thaler explains how “Nudge” has changed the world. Plus: squirrel-inspired robots!

September 16, 2021

Episode Show Notes:

Additional resources from Richard Thaler:

Scientists are studying parkour-ing squirrels to make better robots by Cameron Duke

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Next Up

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why Bugs Are Basically Robots (w/ Alie Ward)

Learn about how AI could help predict which drugs won’t agree with women, and why Point Nemo is considered planet Earth’s spacecraft graveyard. But first, Ologies podcast host Alie Ward is back to tell us about her favorite ologie.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: A New Robot Can Imagine Itself, Williams Syndrome, and The Great Compression

Learn about why engineers designed a robot that can imagine itself; why the Great Compression was the best time to be alive, financially speaking; and the ups and downs of a rare genetic condition that makes you incredibly loving.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: A Robot That Talks to Itself Might Be Easier to Interact With

Learn about interacting with robots that talk to themselves; “mad honey,” a rare, dangerous hallucinogen; and “alief.”

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.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Katherine Johnson’s Legacy, The World’s First Living Robots, and Zinc Doesn’t Cure Colds

Learn about the legacy of the trailblazing NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson; how scientists recently built xenobots, the world’s first living robots; and why zinc probably isn’t as good for colds as you think.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Future of Cell-Sized Robots (w/ Cornell University) and Transferring Data Through Music

Learn about how scientists found a way to transfer data through music. Then, learn about the world of possibilities for cell-sized robots, in the final edition of our Microscale Mondays mini-series with Cornell physicists Itai Cohen and Paul McEuen.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Cell-Sized Robots (w/ Cornell University), Learning Styles Don’t Exist, and Why Pulsars Matter

Learn about the woman who discovered pulsars and why they matter; and, why learning styles don’t exist. You’ll also learn about cell-sized robots, in the the first edition of our Microscale Mondays mini-series with Cornell physicists Itai Cohen and Paul McEuen.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why We Won’t Have “Robot Butlers” Any Time Soon (w/ AI Researcher Michael Wooldridge)

Learn about "iconic sounds" of language. Plus: artificial intelligence’s limitations, with AI pioneer Michael Wooldridge.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Adult Bedtime Benefits, Cerberin Toxin, and A Word to Convince Others You’re Not A Robot

Learn about why regular bedtimes aren’t just for kids; a toxin in the pong pong seeds of the Cerbera odollam tree that’s been called the perfect murder weapon; and the best word you can say to convince people you’re not a robot.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Robot Workers May Change Prejudices, Hormonal Changes in Dads-to-Be, and How Salamanders Regrow Their Limbs

Learn about why a rising robot workforce may make humans less prejudiced towards other people; how studying a salamander that can regrow lost limbs could help us figure out how to help humans heal faster; and hormonal changes that happen in dads-to-be.