Space

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Defending Against “Murder Hornets” with Bee Balls, Aphantasia and the Two Extremes of the “Mind’s Eye,” and Venus’s Freaky-Fast Atmosphere

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Learn about the surprising way Japanese honeybees defend themselves against "murder hornets" (actual name: Asian giant hornets); how “atmospheric tidal waves” make Venus’s atmosphere rotate faster than the actual planet; and the wide spectrum of how people mentally visualize images, including aphantasia and hyperphantasia.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Socializing Too Much, Rogue Planets, Ancient Persian AC

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Learn about how socializing too much can be bad for your health; rogue planets without a home star; and ancient bâdgirs.

Everything You Need to Know About NASA & SpaceX's Historic Launch Day

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Get the play-by-play on everything that happened from launch preparations and tests to liftoff and dock with the ISS. (Updated 5/31/20)

Something Funky is Happening to the Earth’s Magnetic Field

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Recently a weak spot in the Earth's magnetic field over the southern Atlantic Ocean has been getting weaker, which could signal the beginnings of a global magnetic reversal event. Or not. It’s complicated.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Psychosomatic Illnesses and Seeing Behind a Black Hole

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Neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan demystifies psychosomatic illnesses. Then, learn how scientists saw behind a black hole.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why You Get Carsick, Climate-Saving Whales, Jupiter’s Rings

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Learn about how saving the whales could help combat climate change; Jupiter’s rings; and why reading makes you carsick. Plus: a major announcement about the future of Curiosity Daily.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Looking Into Space Is Looking Back in Time

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Learn why soccer players miss penalty kicks; how we estimate population sizes; and how space helps us look back in time.

See the First Image of the Milky Way’s Huge Black Hole

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For the first time, a colorized image of the supermassive black hole located at the center of our own Milky Way Galaxy was shared by astronomers.

The Eeriest Place in the Universe

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Imagine being completely, utterly alone. Surrounded by no planets, no stars, no galaxies. Not a single scrap of matter – not even a hydrogen atom – within hundreds of millions of lightyears. Welcome to the loneliest place in the cosmos: the great cosmic voids.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Sibling Rivalry Benefits, Why The Universe Has No Center, and How to Know Yourself Better

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Learn about the Johari window, a method to get to know yourself better; why sibling rivalry can actually be a good thing; and why there’s no center of the universe.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Astronauts Grew Lettuce in Space, Why Smelling a Dirty Shirt Can Help You Sleep, and Early Animals That Acted Like an Ancient Internet

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Learn about how your lover’s clothing could improve your sleep; how astronauts grew vegetables in space for the first time; and ancient animals that were connected by a crude version of the internet.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Sex! And COVID, The Biggest Comet Ever, Wave of the Future

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Today, you’ll learn about the surprising sexual implications of the COVID pandemic, if the biggest comet ever discovered is going to end the world and how the natural power built into the ocean could, one day, power a bunch of stuff on land.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: The Invisible Harm of Thirdhand Smoke, Why Whales Get Lost During Solar Storms, and A Massive Virus That Blurs the Line Between Life and Non-Life

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Learn about the invisible harms of thirdhand smoke; massive viruses that blur the line between the living and non-living; and why whales get lost during solar storms.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: We Don’t Know How Gravity Works (w/ Sean Carroll) and the Milky Way’s Bubble Mystery

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Learn from theoretical physicist Sean Carroll why we don’t understand how gravity works — and how we can figure it out. You’ll also learn about enormous balloon-like structures that scientists have discovered in the center of our galaxy.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Kids v. Sarcasm, 24,000-Year-Old Worm, Why Betelgeuse Dimmed

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Learn about why younger kids don’t understand sarcasm; a 24,000 year old living worm; and Betelgeuse’s “Great Dimming.”

Curiosity Daily Podcast: NASA’s Sun Probe, Waking Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed, and Tongue Rolling Isn’t Genetic

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

SNL’s Pete Davidson No Longer Flying to Space on Blue Origin’s 4th Human Flight

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Along with 5 paying customers, it was announced that Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson was joining the crew Blue Origin’s NS-20 Mission on Wednesday, March 23rd. As of last night, Blue Origin announced the date of the flight has moved to Tuesday March 29 and "Pete Davidson is no longer able to join the NS-20 crew on this mission."(This article was updated March 18)

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Hygiene Hypothesis, Ancient Coronavirus, Black Hole Eats Neutron Star

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Learn about whether being too clean makes kids sick; an ancient coronavirus epidemic; and a black hole-neutron star merger.