Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why the US Military Made Shark Repellant, Why Moths Are Drawn to Lights, and the Difference Between Mummies and Fossils

Episode Show Notes:

Get even more from Shark Week 2020 on Discovery’s Daily Bite Podcast: https://www.discovery.com/shark-week/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-daily-bite-podcast

During WWII, the US military tried to develop shark repellant by Cameron Duke

• Foley, K. E. (2018, July 27). Shark Week 2018: The US Navy developed a “shark repellant” during WWII. Quartz. https://qz.com/1341175/the-us-navy-developed-a-shark-repellant-during-wwii/
• Julia Child and the OSS Recipe for Shark Repellent — Central Intelligence Agency. (2015). Cia.gov. https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2015-featured-story-archive/shark-repellent.html
• Delano Samuels, & Orwig, J. (2016, July). Here’s what the US Navy learned about shark attacks during World War II - Business Insider. Business Insider; Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-navy-developed-a-shark-repellent-2016-6
• Roach, M. (2017). Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War. Oneworld.
• American Chemical Society. (2020, January 13). The US Government Issued Sailors and Soldiers Shark Repellent That Didn’t Work – Here’s Why [Video]. SciTechDaily. https://scitechdaily.com/us-government-issued-sailors-and-soldiers-shark-repellent-that-didnt-work-heres-why-video/
• Spaceflight and Surviving Shark Attacks. (2018, July 24). National Air and Space Museum. https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/spaceflight-and-surviving-shark-attacks

We still don't know why moths are drawn to lights by Grant Currin

• Wolchover, N. (2011, March 25). Why Are Moths Drawn to Artificial Lights? Livescience.com; Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/33156-moths-drawn-artificial-lights.html
• Lees, D., & Zilli, A. (2019, November). Why Are Moths Are Attracted To Light? Science Friday; Science Friday. https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/why-moths-are-attracted-to-light/
• Callahan, P. S. (1977). Moth and candle: the candle flame as a sexual mimic of the coded infrared wavelengths from a moth sex scent (pheromone). Applied Optics, 16(12), 3089. https://doi.org/10.1364/ao.16.003089
• Norm MacDonald’s moth joke: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUjIM-GFWhk

What's the difference between a mummy and a fossil? by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Luke)

• Clark, L. (1998, January 20). Mummies 101. PBS.org; NOVA. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/mummies-101/
• ‌Asher, C. (2015, February 12). How long does fossilisation take? Curious Meerkat. http://www.curiousmeerkat.co.uk/debunking/how-long-fossilisation-take/
• Keylses, S.‌ (2018, October 23). Do Mummies Decompose? Science Connected Magazine. https://magazine.scienceconnected.org/2018/10/do-mummies-decompose/
• Leveille, D. (2015, May 11). ‌As Chile’s climate changes, the world’s oldest mummies are turning moldy. The World from PRX. https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-05-11/chiles-climate-changes-worlds-oldest-mummies-are-turning-moldy
• ‌Moyer, A. E., Zheng, W., & Schweitzer, M. H. (2016). Keratin Durability Has Implications for the Fossil Record: Results from a 10 Year Feather Degradation Experiment. PLOS ONE, 11(7), e0157699. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157699
• Lamb, R. (2010, August 25). How can soft tissue exist in dinosaur fossils? HowStuffWorks. https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geology/soft-tissue-dinosaur.htm
• Wilson, T. V. (2007, December 19). How Fossils Work. HowStuffWorks. https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geology/fossil2.htm
• Greshko, M. ‌(2017, May 11). This Is the Best Dinosaur Fossil of Its Kind Ever Found. Nationalgeographic.com. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/06/dinosaur-nodosaur-fossil-discovery/

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