Learn about an effective way to correct misinformation; why dinosaur fossils throw their necks back in a “death” pose; and an artificial leaf that turns atmospheric carbon dioxide into fuel. 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: Why Dino Fossils Throw Their Necks Back in a 'Death Pose' — https://curiosity.im/2D3wsvd An 'Artificial Leaf' Turns Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide into Fuel — https://curiosity.im/37sMLji Additional sources: The truth about misinformation: Research study reveals how to alter memories to protect consumers | EurekAlert! — https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-11/sfcp-tta110319.php How Stories in Memory Perpetuate the Continued Influence of False Information | Journal of Consumer Psychology — https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jcpy.1135?referrer_access_token=5y2ktrmAmkCeSmRC_xyQQk4keas67K9QMdWULTWMo8NgWo9DXkFeSa2F0boNG72j8VFq4-FUk9LTiG_FVXvAVWgGE1u7yvvDLV4mXXQJLXMgCswk_ClgJMKsClDpX7V1yJ6ofHuWvMZEgr7GLGmK2A%3D%3D Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Learn about an effective way to correct misinformation; why dinosaur fossils throw their necks back in a “death” pose; and an artificial leaf that turns atmospheric carbon dioxide into fuel.
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:
Additional sources:
Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/an-effective-way-to-correct-misinformation-an-artificial-leaf-that-turns-co2-into-fuel-and-the-dino-fossil-death-pose
CODY: Hi! We’re here from curiosity-dot-com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about an effective way to correct misinformation; why dinosaur fossils throw their necks back in a “death” pose; and an artificial leaf that turns atmospheric carbon dioxide into fuel.
CODY: Let’s fuel some curiosity.
AUDIO SCRIPT - There’s an effective way to correct misinformation (Cody)
Research shows there’s an effective way to correct misinformation. And this is important, because being aware of the world means updating old knowledge and doing away with the facts that are no longer true. The thing is, it turns out that it's REALLY hard for our brains to do that — just ask any parent who’s tried a new way of disciplining their kids. And that's because, according to a new study, people remember new information in a cause-and-effect chain. If one link in the chain is faulty, it's hard to replace it. And losing one link of the chain creates a knowledge gap we find hard to deal with. Instead, we often continue to rely on old, outdated facts.
But how do you fill the knowledge gap once you’ve found one, and stop misinformation from spreading? Lucky for us, this new research also figured that out. Here’s how. When you figure out you’ve said or taught something wrong, it’s not enough to say, “Oops! I was wrong. Here’s a correction.”
Instead, the researchers say, people need to explain the correct information with its cause and effect included — that is, as part of a larger narrative. Stories help us build mental models we use to understand how the world works. And research shows that connecting the corrected information to its own story can make it actually stick.
Take the very real example of vaccines and misinformation. Lots of people continue to think there’s a connection between autism and childhood vaccines, even though the study that first suggested a relationship has been retracted and thoroughly discredited. But according to this research, it’s not enough to say, “We were wrong about vaccines! They don’t cause autism!” People have heard too many stories, so they can’t integrate that new information into their mental models. Instead, experts have to start from square one by explaining the genetic and potentially environmental causes that science has slowly been uncovering.
[The same goes for something like the discredited link between vaccines and autism. It’s not enough to say “vaccines don’t cause autism” -- experts have to start from square one by explaining the genetic and potentially environmental causes for autism that science has slowly been uncovering.]
It’s good to remember this the next time you hear a correction. If you really want to remember it, ask questions and find out why the old information is wrong and the new information is right. It’s all about making every link in the chain as strong as it can be.
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Summary: Being aware of the world means updating old knowledge and doing away with the facts that are no longer true. But it turns out that it's REALLY hard for our brains to do that — just ask any news outlet that's published a correction. That's because, according to a new study, you remember new information in a cause-and-effect chain, and if one piece of that chain is faulty, it's hard to replace it because it would create a gap in your knowledge. But this new research also figured out how to fix it: instead of just saying "sorry, that was false, this is what's true," people need to explain the correct information with its cause and effect included. (There's a good example in the press release.)
Why Dino Fossils Throw Their Necks Back in a 'Death Pose' — https://curiosity.im/2D3wsvd (due 11/22) (Ashley)
When you think about it, it’s actually kinda strange the way fossils often preserve dinosaurs. I’m talking about their odd pose, where their neck is contorted backward. You might be familiar with this “dinosaur death pose” if you’re familiar with the outwear clothing brand Arc'teryx, which uses that pose for their logo, based on the fossil of the first known bird, Archaeopteryx lithographica. But is it because they died like this, or did the bending happen after death? By studying dinosaur's modern cousin — the chicken — some researchers think they’ve finally solved this ancient mystery. Or have they?
A previous 2007 theory proposed that damage to the cerebellum, which is responsible for fine movement, could result in the muscles it usually controls yanking back at full force. The implication of this theory is that these dinosaurs died from suffocation, either from volcanic ash or disease or brain trauma.
But critics of this theory have pointed out that it’s unlikely that a dinosaur carcass would fossilize in the exact position of its death. Realistically, they probably fell into bodies of water and assumed the position post-mortem.
One such critic named Achim [ah-HEEM] Reisdorf decided to perform a study to test how immersion in water might affect dinosaurs after death. Of course, he couldn’t find a preserved Tyrannosaurus rex corpse to experiment on, so he used the next best thing: chickens. Which, technically, are dinosaurs. When he immersed the chickens in water, their necks bent back almost immediately, and after three months under water, they reached a 140-degree angle.
These results were confirmed by another research team at Brigham Young University. Both groups concluded that the bending came from contractions of the ligaments in the birds' necks. Usually, the weight of a creature's body pulls on those ligaments, which provides a counterbalance to hold the neck upright. But the buoyancy of water (and its erosive properties over time) tip the balance in favor of the neck ligaments' backward pull.
But that doesn’t explain the dino fossils that didn’t form in water or mud. Luckily, another study from a few years later might have a simpler answer. This study found that it's actually natural for dinosaurs' flexible necks to arch backward after death, regardless of the immediate cause. So the next time you see a fossil's neck bent at an awkward angle, there's no need to worry — it's likely that the animal wasn't alive to feel it happen.
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ASHLEY: The ONLY way to get this free pillow, is to text Curious to 84-888. That’s C-U-R-I-O-U-S to 8-4-8-8-8. Message and data rates may apply.
An 'Artificial Leaf' Turns Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide into Fuel — https://curiosity.im/37sMLji (Repub) (from Friday 12/6) (Cody)
Climate change is obviously a very serious problem, but we have some good news today. And this good news comes in spite of the fact that the problem is generally getting worse. And it would keep getting worse even if all the industrialized nations of the world became carbon neutral overnight, according to a recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. So, it's not enough to stop pumping megatons of CO2 into the atmosphere; we have to start removing what we've already put there.
Fortunately, scientists are on it! And they’re using a technique known as carbon capture or carbon removal. An international team of researchers from the University of Waterloo, Ontario took their cue from nature and created an "artificial leaf." This leaf mimics the carbon-scrubbing abilities of a real leaf. But instead of turning atmospheric CO2 into a source of fuel for itself, the leaf converts it into a useful alternative fuel.
The key to the process is cuprous oxide, a cheap red powder that’s chemically engineered to have as many eight-sided particles as possible. This powder is added to water, where it serves as the catalyst as carbon dioxide is pumped in and a solar simulator shines a beam of white light into the solution. The resulting chemical reaction produces oxygen gas (through photosynthesis) while the CO2, water, and powder solution are converted into methanol. Since methanol has a lower boiling point than water, the solution is heated and the methanol is collected as it evaporates.
A process like this is exciting for two reasons. First of all, carbon dioxide is the primary contributor to global warming. So removing it from the atmosphere will help to slow climate change. Second, the resulting alternative fuels will allow for people to continue relying on non-electric automobiles, which will give us more time to make the transition to carbon-neutral living. It’s an exciting solution that has potential to really change the game when it comes to climate change.
ASHLEY: Why were we so excited about today’s stories?
[ad lib optional]
CODY: Today’s stories were written by Kelsey Donk and Andrea Michelson, and by Matt Williams for Universe Today, and edited by Ashley Hamer, who’s the managing editor for Curiosity.com.
ASHLEY: Scriptwriting was by Cody Gough and Sonja Hodgen. Curiosity Daily is produced and edited by Cody Gough.
CODY: Join us again tomorrow to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!