Pre-Performance Routines, Panda Camouflage, Baby Sign Language

Learn about pre-performance routines; how panda fur works as camouflage; and how babies are enriched from sign language.

January 19, 2022

A pre-performance routine makes athletes like Michael Jordan and Rafael Nadal perform better, regardless of what it is by Steffie Drucker

Believe it or not, a panda’s distinctive markings work as camouflage by Cameron Duke

For babies, sign language is just as cognitively enriching as spoken language by Steffie Drucker

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free! 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: Elastic Thinking (w/ Leonard Mlodinow), How People Judge You, and Your Time Perspective

Learn how you can change your thinking to keep up with today’s fast-paced world, with some help from author Leonard Mlodinow. Plus: learn about the two criteria people use to judge you, and how you can measure your relationship with time.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: How Superstitions Can Reduce Anxiety

Learn how superstitions can actually reduce anxiety, why rebooting can often fix computer problems, and why the first full dinosaur skeleton ever found is finally being studied 160 years later.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why We Call Computer Glitches “Bugs”

Learn about why Wolf-Rayet stars are the brightest stars in the sky; why immune cells in your brain may have started out in your gut; and the history of why we can thank Grace Hopper for calling computer glitches “bugs.”

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why Cannabis Gives You the Munchies

Learn about why cannabis gives people the munchies; the Bicameral Mind theory that says the ancient Greeks lacked consciousness; and the evolutionary reason why you listen to songs on repeat.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Hearing Loss and Technology (w/ David Owen) and the Psychology of Reacting to a Crisis (Like COVID-19)

Author David Owen discusses what happens once you’ve lost your hearing — and how much technology can actually help. Then, learn about the psychology behind our reactions to a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: What’s Next for Quantum Computers (w/ Chris Bernhardt) and How to Make Yourself Luckier

Learn about qubits and quantum entanglement with some help from Chris Bernhardt, author of the new book “Quantum Computing for Everyone.” Plus, learn about how you can make yourself luckier.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why Song Lyrics Are Getting Simpler

Learn how a man wrote sentences using only his mind; how popular song lyrics got simpler; and the bitterness of Bitrex.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why Social Isolation Could Breed Conspiracy Theorists

Learn about what it would be like to travel through a wormhole, how the pumpkin became North America’s Halloween mascot, and how social isolation can fuel conspiracy theories.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: The US Government’s Science Knowledge Quiz, Facebook’s Brain Effects, and Manufactured British Accents

In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes:

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Achieve Your Goals Faster, Why We Eat 3 Meals a Day, and the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

Learn about the complicated history of the NATO phonetic alphabet; why we eat three meals a day; and how you can use a technique called Functional Imagery Training to achieve your goals faster.