Curiosity Daily

Today, you’ll learn about a radical idea for installing a curtain around a massive ice sheet, how positive vibrations might help people with social anxiety, and new tech that could remove dangerous forever chemicals from our environment.  

Glacier Curtain 

• “Scientists want to build 62-mile-long curtains around the ‘doomsday glacier’ for a $50 billion Hail Mary to save it.” by Ellyn Lapointe. 2024...

Today, you’ll learn about a surprising discovery inside the worms of Chernobyl, a way to protect metals at sea inspired by barnacles, and foot-eye coordination.  

Chernobyl Worms 

• “Radiation-proof Chernobyl worms offer answers about cancer.” by Paul McClure. 2024.  
• “Chernobyl Accident 1986.” n.a. 2022...

Today, you’ll learn about the magic of the upcoming solar eclipse, a simple way to reduce the amount of microplastics in your drinking water, and the connection between self-control and the perception of power. 

Livestream of the total solar eclipse on Discovery’s YouTube channel on April 8 at 2:15pm ET here!

Eclipse 2024 

• “What this solar eclipse can teach us about our planet and beyond.” by Kasha Patel. 2024...

Today, you’ll learn about a potentially risky new idea to geoengineer our way out of extreme heat, bad news for fans of artificially sweetened drinks, and an incredible new discovery about butterflies.  

Geoengineering 

• “Dehydrate the stratosphere to curb global warming? Scientists float new risky strategy.” by Paul Voosen. 2024...

Today, you’ll learn about an alarming new killer behavior in orcas, a potential breakthrough for patients with one of the deadliest cancers, and the brain science behind flow.  

Shark Hunter 

• “Orcas Demonstrating They No Longer Need to Hunt in Packs to Take Down the Great White Shark.” Taylor & Francis. 2024...

Happy 300 episodes to our Curiosity Daily listeners! Today, you’ll learn about a massive database of human genomes that’s uncovering major new genetic discoveries, the scientists building stone age tools from scratch… and then putting them to work, and a treasure trove of deep sea discoveries in an underwater mountain range.  

Human Diversity  

• “Ambitious survey of human diversity yields millions of undiscovered genetic variants...

Today, you’ll learn about how we learn the same information differently from people we like than from those we don’t like, a drug men already take that could have incredible added benefits, and a weed that could feed a hungry world.  

Learning From Friends  

• “The brain is ‘programmed’ for learning from people we like.” Lund University. 2024.  
• “Ingroup sources enhance associative inference.” by Marius Boeltzig...

Today, you’ll learn about how ADHD might have actually helped our ancient ancestors thrive, the way pollution makes it hard for nighttime pollinators to stop and smell the flowers, and a new study that suggests lions, tigers, and other big cats can tell who’s talking to them.  

ADHD Foraging 

• “Attention deficits linked with proclivity to explore while foraging.” by David Barack. 2024.  
• “What is ADHD?” NIH. n.d...

Today, you’ll learn about mind-reading machines, the brightest object in the known universe, and the potential power punch of cinnamon. 

Mind-Reading 

• “Mind-reading devices are revealing the brain’s secrets.” by Miryam Naddaf. 2024.  
• “The brain-reading devices helping paralysed people to move, talk and touch.” by Liam Drew. 2022.  
• “The rise of brain-reading technology: what you need to know...

Today, you’ll learn about hurricanes so powerful they need a new category, bacteria linked to young-onset colo-rectal cancer, and ancient treasures made out of meteorites.  

Category 6 

• “In a warming world, climate scientists consider category 6 hurricanes.” EurekAlert! 2024. 
• “How do hurricanes form?” NOAA. 2023.  
• “AMCR’s Wehner Explores Impact of ‘Extreme Event Attribution’ on Climate Science Research...