Learn about what Neanderthal genes might be doing in your DNA; Guido d’Arezzo, the 11th-century Benedictine monk who invented “Do, Re, Mi” notation, or solfège; and how photosynthesis killed off 99 percent of life on Earth during the the Great Oxygenation Event.
Learn about how you can go on a simulated mission to Mars (in Spain); and, what the weather forecast really means when it says there’s a chance of rain. You’ll also learn about how people around the world talk differently online, with internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch.
Learn about why you can blame redlining for US cities being so segregated; why Earth’s magnetic north pole is drifting every year; and how virtual therapy can be just as effective as in-person therapy.
In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes:
Learn about non-human animals that say hello and goodbye; life on Snowball Earth; and how to learn skills twice as fast.
Learn about how the overview effect changes your perspective when you leave Earth; why the Calder Mercury Fountain in Barcelona pumps out pure liquid mercury; and, how researchers came up with a set of core beliefs that measure how you feel about the world.
Today, we’re talking to Explorers Club member, Dr. George C. Nield. Dr. George C. Nield is currently the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation at the Federal Aviation Administration (or FAA).
It’s a tough game to determine if a distant planet orbiting some nameless star hosts life on it or not. You can’t just walk up to it and start flipping over rocks or poking into the dirt. You can only use your telescopes, and the planets are so extremely distant that you can’t see the surface itself.
Learn why a Prince Rupert’s drop is both super-fragile and virtually unbreakable; why researchers think newborn babies are a lot smarter than they look; and why Earth’s core is younger than its surface.
Learn about why there could be planets even more habitable than Earth; an online class that boosted grades by changing students’ beliefs; and why optimism may lead to better sleep.
Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you learn something new in just a few minutes:
Learn how scientists induced an out-of-body experience in a human without using drugs; and Earth’s geological “pulse.”
Learn about why a predicted increase in phytoplankton is good news for our environment; how researchers can detect evidence of climate change from just one day of global weather conditions; and how Pablo Escobar's hippos became an invasive species in Colombia.
Learn about an artificial sun that’s hotter than our actual sun; whether math really is a universal language; and what words like “fresh” really tell you about how fancy your food is.
Learn how keeping secrets can literally weigh you down; how we knew the Earth rotates before we had space travel thanks to the Foucault pendulum; and how your emotions can alter your perception of time.