Curiosity Daily Podcast: Some Viruses Do You Good
Learn about how blind and low-vision gamers have an edge when it comes to certain games, with Cornell University Professor Andrew Campana. Then, learn how some viruses actually protect their hosts; and the shocking solution to the Monty Hall Problem, an infamous brain teaser that may leave you questioning your math skills.
April 15, 2021
Episode Show Notes:
Additional resources from Andrew Campana:
- Andrew Campana's faculty page: https://asianstudies.cornell.edu/andrew-campana
- Andrew Campana, Cornell University – Taking the Video out of Video Games, Cornell Academic Minute: https://academicminute.org/2020/12/andrew-campana-cornell-university-taking-the-video-out-of-video-games/
- A Blind Legend: http://www.ablindlegend.com/
Believe it or not, some viruses protect their hosts and even have therapeutic uses by Cameron Duke
- Cassella, C. (2021). Scientists Find a Virus That’s Evolved to Protect Its Host - Depending on The Weather. ScienceAlert. https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-discover-a-virus-that-harms-or-protects-plants-depending-on-the-weather
- González, R., Butković, A., Escaray, F. J., Martínez-Latorre, J., Melero, Í., Pérez-Parets, E., Gómez-Cadenas, A., Carrasco, P., & Elena, S. F. (2021). Plant virus evolution under strong drought conditions results in a transition from parasitism to mutualism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(6), e2020990118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2020990118
- Mathew, C. (2019, August 7). Viruses aren’t all nasty – some can actually protect our health. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/viruses-arent-all-nasty-some-can-actually-protect-our-health-117678
The Monty Hall Problem Is the Probability Puzzle That Enraged 10,000 Readers originally aired December 4, 2018 https://omny.fm/shows/curiosity-daily/see-if-you-re-a-covert-narcissist-michelson-morley
- Monty Hall Problem - Numberphile [Video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Lb-6rxZxx0
Follow Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free! You can also listen to our podcast as part of your Alexa Flash Briefing; Amazon smart speakers users, click/tap “enable” here: https://www.amazon.com/Curiosity-com-Curiosity-Daily-from/dp/B07CP17DJY
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Next Up
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why Do Bats Cause So Many Virus Outbreaks?
Learn about why bats are the source of so many deadly virus outbreaks; and the surprisingly strong influence older siblings can have on their brothers and sisters — just in time for Siblings Day. Then, test your knowledge from this podcast with a Curiosity Challenge trivia game.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: A Good Reason to Resolve Your Arguments
Learn how resolving arguments can erase nearly all bad feelings, and why almost all calico cats are female. Plus: trivia!
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why It's Good to Reveal Your Failures
Learn about why successful people should reveal their failures; the extreme story of the death of planet WASP-12b; and why tulips used to cost more than houses during a period known as “tulip mania.”
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Is Exercise for Work as Good as Exercise for Play?
Learn about dog jealousy; physical activity at work vs. at play; and why only certain parts of us get pruney when wet.
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 Podcast: Women’s Restroom Lines, Superhuman Memory, and Is Bamboo Good for the Environment?
Learn about the surprising reasons why the women’s restroom line is always longer; HSAM, the incredibly rare condition of having superhuman memory; and, how bamboo products impact the environment.
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.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Long Lines Are Good, Supernova Archaeology, Key Lime Pie History, and Pain Memory
Learn about why it’s a good thing when you have to wait in a long line; new research that says an ancient supernova may have triggered a mass extinction on Earth; the delicious origin story of Key lime pie; and how and why we forget pain.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Time May Be Slowing Down, You Leave Good First Impressions, and Ouija Board Origins
Learn about why some physicists think time may be slowing down, and how it might eventually stop; new research that says you make a better first impression than you might think; and the true origin story of the Ouija board.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: How RNA Reads DNA (w/ SNaQ’s Ralph Crewe), How Envy Can Be Good, and Coriolis Effect
Learn about why envy isn’t always a bad thing; how the Coriolis Effect affects the way things on the Earth rotate; and how RNA knows how to read DNA, with some help from a special guest from Science News and Qs (also known as SNaQ), a Carnegie Science Center podcast.