Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories to help you learn something new in just a few minutes: Are Aliens Secretly Studying Life on Earth from Afar? The Zoo Hypothesis Says Yes Listen to a "Lost" Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale Written by an AI How Important Is It to Take Your Shoes Off as Soon as You Get in the House?
Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories to help you learn something new in just a few minutes:
Full episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/aliens-studying-humans-an-ai-fairy-tale-and-the-importance-of-taking-off-your-shoes
[MUSIC PLAYING] CODY GOUGH: Hi I'm Cody Gough--
ASHLEY HAMER: And I'm Ashley Hamer.
CODY GOUGH: We're from Curiosity.com, and we've got three stories to help you get smarter in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY HAMER: Today, you'll learn about a theory that aliens are secretly studying humans. We'll read you a very special new fairy tale, and we'll finally answer the age-old question, how important is it to take your shoes off as soon as you get in the house?
CODY GOUGH: Let's satisfy some curiosity.
ASHLEY HAMER: Remember how we talked about the Fermi paradox a couple of weeks ago? It basically says that it's very likely that aliens exist. But if that's true, then why haven't we found any evidence of that?
CODY GOUGH: Because of the Fermi paradox.
ASHLEY HAMER: Exactly. Well, I mentioned that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of theories about the Fermi paradox, and Curiosity took a deep dive into one of them today. It's called the zoo hypothesis, and it goes like this. Aliens know we're here, but they're purposely avoiding contact with us so they can study us from afar.
This idea came from MIT astronomer John A. Ball in 1973, and it's like the prime directive from Star Trek. Basically, don't get involved with other intelligent civilizations and change their progress. Overall though, John Ball actually laid out 10 possible solutions to the Fermi paradox.
The zoo hypothesis covers just two of them. In one, aliens find us of some interest and study us casually. In the other, aliens find us interesting and pay closer attention. In both scenarios though, they're actively avoiding us. That might sound harsh, but in an even harsher solution outside the zoo hypothesis, aliens know about us and don't care.
CODY GOUGH: Oh.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah.
CODY GOUGH: Sick burn aliens.
ASHLEY HAMER: In this scenario, we don't pose a threat, and we don't have anything they might want. Ball wrote that this is, quote, "A likely but very unpopular answer for it seems to downgrade mankind's importance, and we do like to feel important," unquote.
CODY GOUGH: Yeah, he nailed that one.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah.
CODY GOUGH: Also, quick note on the last time we talked about the Fermi paradox. We were talking about the Drake equation, which estimates the number of intelligent civilizations that could be in our galaxy. Well, that equation was by Frank Drake, not Francis Drake.
ASHLEY HAMER: That is right.
CODY GOUGH: Francis Drake was a sea captain and slave trader in the 1500s who died more than 400 years ago. Frank Drake is an astronomer--
ASHLEY HAMER: Who is still alive.
CODY GOUGH: Yes. We've written about the Drake equation several times on Curiosity.com, so I literally don't even know how that happened. It's just sort of because everybody knows Francis Drake, right?
ASHLEY HAMER: Right.
CODY GOUGH: I don't know much about him. It's just a familiar name from history. So anyway, our listener Keith in Chicago emailed us about this slip-up. So thank you for pointing that out and apologies to anybody who is writing a term paper on the Drake equation-- mis-cited us as attributing it to a pirate. Also, Keith, congratulations on getting your PhD. What can I say? We're pretty tight with our listeners.
ASHLEY HAMER: Nice.
CODY GOUGH: We have a very smart audience.
ASHLEY HAMER: That's right.
CODY GOUGH: Seriously. All right. So, Ashley, have you ever heard of the princess and the fox.
ASHLEY HAMER: I've heard of the princess and the pea. Is that the same thing?
CODY GOUGH: No. No. Great fairy tale? Nice reference.
ASHLEY HAMER: All right.
CODY GOUGH: But this is a fairy tale you've probably never heard of because it was artificially generated by a predictive-text program called the Voicebox, and then it was refined by a team of human writers. So this is cool. We wrote about this today because engineers at a company called Botnik-- kind of like Dr. Robotnik from Sonic the Hedgehog, but without the first part-- they took the entire body of work from the Grimm brothers and they fed it into this AI program before refining it with a team of human writers.
They did this because they have an app called Calm, which helps users manage their anxiety, learn to meditate, and fall asleep reliably and restfully. So they commissioned this bedtime story for the sleep part, and it's kind of awesome and kind of hilarious. Do you want to hear the beginning of the AI fairytale?
ASHLEY HAMER: Do I?
[LAUGHTER]
CODY GOUGH: Once upon a time, there was a golden horse with a golden saddle and a beautiful purple flower in its hair. The horse would carry the flower to the village where the princess danced for joy at the thought of looking so beautiful and good. It's magnificent, she said to her father, the king of bread and cheese. Well you give it something to eat and drink if I finally marry the prince?
You see, the king had long since urged his daughter to marry the only eligible prince in the land. The problem was she did not love him, and so she had continued to refuse his proposal. Delighted, the King replied, come with me into the cellar of the castle where I've got a piece of cake and juice for the strange thing that is your horse.
ASHLEY HAMER: Wow. I want to know more.
CODY GOUGH: I know. I'm enthralled. Botnik has also written takes on Harry Potter, Star Trek The Next Generation, and lots of different voices, including Radiohead lyrics, dialogue from Seinfeld episodes, and various quotes from Jeff Bezos. Not a bad way to kickstart your imagination. You can always stay up to date on the latest and greatest artificial intelligence news on Curiosity.com.
ASHLEY HAMER: So, Cody, do you take your shoes off when you get home?
CODY GOUGH: My parents' house, yes. My house, no.
ASHLEY HAMER: All right. Yeah, that's a standard thing. Fancy houses, that's where they have take your shoes off. Well, I think I'm going to start doing it after learning about this.
CODY GOUGH: Uh-oh.
ASHLEY HAMER: We found a 2015 study that showed that the microbes on the soles of your shoes can rub off onto the surfaces you walk on. That sounds obvious, but think about all the places that you walk. Bathrooms and sidewalks.
CODY GOUGH: Like public bathrooms?
ASHLEY HAMER: Alleys. Yeah.
CODY GOUGH: Oh, and alleys.
ASHLEY HAMER: The idea that you could be tracking little microbial footprints from a public bathroom around your living room is gross, but is it dangerous? Well, not all the microbes you pick up will be harmful disease-causing pathogens, although they might be.
According to a 2017 study from University of Houston researchers, 26.4% of shoes carry Clostridium difficile or C. diff, which can cause inflammation of the colon and other unpleasant side effects, if you know what I mean?
CODY GOUGH: Oh.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. Other studies have found significant amounts of E. coli and listeria monocytogenes on shoes too.
CODY GOUGH: That sounds terrifying.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. But you're probably not affected if you're a healthy adult and you clean your house somewhat regularly. But if you have young kids around the house, then it could become a bigger deal since they're in close contact with the floor.
CODY GOUGH: Oh, right.
ASHLEY HAMER: The same is true if anyone in the house is elderly or is on chemotherapy since their immune systems aren't as strong as yours.
CODY GOUGH: Wow. So basically, if you've got kids or somebody that's more susceptible to getting sick, probably a good idea to take the shoes off.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah, and you take your shoes off eventually when you get in the house anyway, so maybe just do it by the front door.
CODY GOUGH: Yeah.
ASHLEY HAMER: Maybe we all just need to change to slip-on shoes.
CODY GOUGH: Ooh. Yes.
ASHLEY HAMER: Just do it without hands.
CODY GOUGH: Or Velcro sneakers.
ASHLEY HAMER: Nice. Velcro is coming back.
CODY GOUGH: You heard it here first on the Curiosity podcast.
ASHLEY HAMER: You can read more about all these stories and so much more on curiosity.com.
CODY GOUGH: Join us again tomorrow for the Curiosity Daily and learn something new in just a few minutes. I'm Cody Gough.
ASHLEY HAMER: And I'm Ashley Hamer. Stay curious.
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ANNOUNCER: On the Westwood One Podcast Network.