Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why Asthma Gets Worse at Night, Earth’s Largest Living Thing
Learn about a heroic experiment that helps explain asthma getting worse at night; and the largest living thing on earth.
November 09, 2021
Episode Show Notes:
A heroic experiment has shed light on the centuries-old mystery of why asthma gets worse at night by Grant Currin
- Harrison, S. (2021, September 21). Why Does Asthma Get Worse at Night? Wired; WIRED. https://www.wired.com/story/why-does-asthma-get-worse-at-night/
- Study explores why asthma worsens at night. (2021). ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210906151456.htm
- Scheer, F. A. J. L., Hilton, M. F., Evoniuk, H. L., Shiels, S. A., Malhotra, A., Sugarbaker, R., Ayers, R. T., Israel, E., Massaro, A. F., & Shea, S. A. (2021). The endogenous circadian system worsens asthma at night independent of sleep and other daily behavioral or environmental cycles. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(37), e2018486118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2018486118
The largest living thing on earth is not the blue whale by Cameron Duke
- Fishlake National Forest - Home. (2021). Usda.gov. https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/fishlake/home/?cid=STELPRDB5393641
- Lydia Ramsey Pflanzer. (2017, May 6). Largest living organism the Armillaria ostoyae fungus. Business Insider; Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/largest-living-organism-the-armillaria-ostoyae-fungus-2017-5
- Marshall, M. (2018). Humongous fungus is older than Christianity and weighs 400 tonnes. New Scientist. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2182291-humongous-fungus-is-older-than-christianity-and-weighs-400-tonnes/
- Prepelka, B. (2019). Sequoia Giants - General Sherman - California. Scenicusa.net. https://scenicusa.net/032906.html
- Schmitt, C. (n.d.). The Malheur National Forest Location of the World’s Largest Living Organism [The Humongous Fungus]. https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev3_033146.pdf
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
A Guide to Defending the Earth
Let’s say one day astronomers announce that our worst nightmare has come true: a large object is headed towards the Earth with a significant chance of impact. What do we do?
Get Ready for Puppy Bowl XXII on Animal Planet!
Puppy Bowl XXII premieres Sunday, February 8, 2026, at 2:00PM ET/11:00AM PT with more adoptable puppies from shelters and rescues than ever before.
Get Ready for Puppy Bowl XXI on Animal Planet!
Puppy Bowl XXI premieres Sunday, February 9 at 2P ET/11A PT with more adoptable puppies from shelters and rescues than ever before.
Get Ready for Puppy Bowl XX on Animal Planet!
Puppy Bowl XX premieres Sunday, February 11 at 2P ET/11A PT with more adoptable puppies from shelters and rescues than ever before.
Shipwrecked & Surrounded by Sharks
This week, we do things a little differently, as Shark Week’s Luke Tipple invites Adventure Aaron into the podcast studio to talk about his incredible near-death experience on the open water. Adventure Aaron gets into what it takes to circumnavigate the world in an ocean rowboat, what it’s like to stare eye-to-eye with an oceanic white tip that probably wants you for lunch, and everything else that happened to him when his boat was capsized, and he was lost by himself at sea.
Shark Week: The Podcast - Do You Have the Guts to Be a Shark Handler?
Host Luke Tipple welcomes a pair of divers – Leigh Cobb and Josh Eccles – who have taken their passion for sharks and turned it into a dangerous career. They explore what it takes to swim with sharks for a living, then go into common myths and facts on what to do in the open water – if you ever come face to face with a shark. Plus, our researcher Sierra drops by with a new species of shark discovered in the freezing depths of the ocean.
Shark Week: The Podcast - How To Have A Career in Shark Science
Shark Week’s Luke Tipple tackles the question “How can I work with sharks?” alongside two experts in the field – and their answers are not always the obvious ones. Luke is joined first by Kelly Link, Associate Curator of the Georgia Aquarium who talks about what it’s like to be an aquarist, how it differs from field work, and how to get yourself noticed. The second guest is Dr. Neil Hammerschlag who goes into detail on what it takes to become a prominent scientist, and what other paths you can take if a PhD isn’t for you. And at the end, researcher Sierra stops by to tell us about the world’s smallest shark.
Bobcat on the Hunt
Nature photographer Ian Shive gets a rare close-up of a bobcat hunting ground squirrels in California's Central Coast.
Splashdown! NASA and SpaceX Crew-1 Return to Earth
On Sunday, May 2, at 2:56A ET, NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi returned home. From undocking to splashdown, here's everything you need to know.
Catch up on NASA's SpaceX Crew-1 mission on SPACE LAUNCH LIVE: CREW-1 LIFTOFF, streaming on discovery+.
Catching a Glimpse of Comet NEOWISE, a Once in a Lifetime Moment
If you find yourself in a place with clean air and an unobstructed view of the night sky, you will undoubtedly be mesmerized by its starry-depth and beauty.