Remembering Gifts, Animal Diets, Amazon-Sahara Connection
Learn why helping others feels like helping ourselves, how wild animals eat healthy, and how the Sahara feeds the Amazon.
February 25, 2022
Learn why helping others feels like helping ourselves, how wild animals eat healthy, and how the Sahara feeds the Amazon.
We’re less likely to remember the things we’ve given to friends than strangers by Kelsey Donk
- We’re Worse At Remembering Exactly What We’ve Given To Friends Than What We’ve Given To Strangers. (2021, April 12). Research Digest. https://digest.bps.org.uk/2021/04/12/were-worse-at-remembering-exactly-what-weve-given-to-friends-than-what-weve-given-to-strangers/
- Uğurlar, P., Posten, A.-C., & Zürn, M. (2021). Interpersonal closeness impairs decision memory. Social Psychology, 52(2), 125–129. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000439
How do wild animals eat a healthy diet when humans struggle to? by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Jason in Port Ewen, New York)
- Predators hunt for a balanced diet. (2012). ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120110192942.htm
- Provenza, F. (2018, November 30). Animals Can Help Us Rediscover Our Nutritional Wisdom. Scientific American Blog Network. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/animals-can-help-us-rediscover-our-nutritional-wisdom/
- Strauss, S. (2006). Clara M. Davis and the wisdom of letting children choose their own diets. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 175(10), 1199–1199. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.060990
- Schatzker, M. (2015, April 9). How Flavor Drives Nutrition. WSJ; The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-flavor-drives-nutrition-1428596326
- Tucker, A. (2009, July 14). Why Modern Foods Hijack Our Brains. Smithsonian Magazine; Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/why-modern-foods-hijack-our-brains-63123747/
- Deckersbach, T., Das, S. K., Urban, L. E., Salinardi, T., Batra, P., Rodman, A. M., Arulpragasam, A. R., Dougherty, D. D., & Roberts, S. B. (2014). Pilot randomized trial demonstrating reversal of obesity-related abnormalities in reward system responsivity to food cues with a behavioral intervention. Nutrition & Diabetes, 4(9), e129–e129. https://doi.org/10.1038/nutd.2014.26
The Amazon Rainforest feeds on millions of tons of dust from the Sahara Desert per year by Grant Currin
- Saharan Dust Feeds Amazon’s Plants. (2011). NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/nasa-satellite-reveals-how-much-saharan-dust-feeds-amazon-s-plants
- Yu, H., Chin, M., Yuan, T., Bian, H., Remer, L. A., Prospero, J. M., Omar, A., Winker, D., Yang, Y., Zhang, Y., Zhang, Z., & Zhao, C. (2015). The fertilizing role of African dust in the Amazon rainforest: A first multiyear assessment based on data from Cloud‐Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations. Geophysical Research Letters, 42(6), 1984–1991. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015gl063040
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: Is Internet Language Bad? (w/ Gretchen McCulloch) and How to Remember More Dreams
Learn about what you can do to remember more of your dreams. You’ll also learn about the difference between internet language and regular language, in the first edition of our “Hashtag Tuesdays” mini-series with internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Selfish People Remember Being Generous, Why We Can’t Transplant Brains, and Buying Life Insurance from Vending Machines
Learn about why selfish people have false memories of being generous; why we can’t do brain transplants; and why you used to be able to buy life insurance from airport vending machines.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Muscles Remember Training and a Black Hole Made a Star Explode
Learn how quickly previously trained muscles bounce back after inactivity; and how a black hole made a star explode.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Gardening with Martian Soil, How to Stop Overspending, and a Technique for Remembering Things
Learn how you can grow a garden in "regolith" Martian soil; how to stop spending too much money on frivolous purchases; and a memory technique you can use to remember pretty much everything.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: History Is About the Present (w/ Justin Jampol), What Makes the Wind, and Blaming Games for Society’s Problems
Learn about the long tradition of blaming games for society’s decline; and, what makes the wind. You’ll also learn about why history is so complicated from historian Justin Jampol, host of “Lost Secrets” on Travel Channel.
Glow-in-the-Dark Cities, Feeling Holes, Max Volume on Earth
Learn about glow-in-the-dark cities; why holes feel larger with a tongue than a finger; and the maximum volume on Earth.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: This Language Shift Could Signal an Impending Breakup
Learn about a change in language use that could mean a breakup is on the way; why ogre-faced spiders are basically ninja assassins, with help from Cornell University professor Ron Hoy; and how it’s possible to exercise too much.
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.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Educating and Innovating for the Future with Sustainable Solutions
Learn how new technology is being developed to help the environment and our society as a whole, from liquid crystal windows to OLED displays. It’s all part of a commitment to innovation for improving global health, broadening minds, and developing sustainable solutions.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Medieval Dancing Plagues, Altruistic Indulgence, and Types of Human Species
Learn why you’re more likely to order junk food after your friends do; why we’re the only human species; and why people literally danced themselves to death during the Medieval Dancing Plague.