Learn about new research that can help us understand and save the bees; the best sleeping position, according to science; and how you can learn learn something better by arguing with yourself. 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: Scientists Have Decoded the Univeral Language of Honey Bees — https://curiosity.im/2KUz3OP This Is the Best Sleeping Position, According to Science — https://curiosity.im/2Gz54Yx Want to Learn Something? Argue With Yourself — https://curiosity.im/2GBgsDv If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom 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 new research that can help us understand and save the bees; the best sleeping position, according to science; and how you can learn learn something better by arguing with yourself.
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:
If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom
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/best-position-for-sleep-better-learning-by-arguing-and-universal-language-of-honey-bees
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 new research that can help us understand and save the bees; the best sleeping position, according to science; and how you can learn learn something better by arguing with yourself.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Scientists Have Decoded the Univeral Language of Honey Bees — https://curiosity.im/2KUz3OP (Ashley)
Scientists have made a real-life breakthrough in understanding how bees talk to each other! In a paper appearing in the April edition of Animal Behavior, researchers shared the discovery of a universal calibration that makes it possible to decode honey bee waggle dances. It works across sub-species and landscapes, and this finding could help us maintain existing bee populations. Pretty important stuff. We’ve talked about waggle dances before on this show, but here’s a refresher: when a worker bee finds a new source of nectar nearby, it dances in a distinctive figure-eight pattern to let other bees know about the good news. There's even a designated dance floor near the entrance of the hive where waggle dances take place. Honey bees aren't waggling willy-nilly, though. Certain aspects of the dance communicate details about the nectar source. How long the dance lasts corresponds with the distance to the source, for instance, and the angle of the bee's dancing body relative to the sun indicates the direction of the source. Figuring out the meaning of waggle dances was such a big deal, it led to a Nobel Prize for Austrian zoologist Karl von Frisch in 1973. But researchers at Virgina Tech recently noticed that bees communicating the same nectar source sometimes vary their waggle dances. So they developed their own distance-duration calibration system that factored in what they called “noise," or variation between bees who visit the same source. They discovered that that bee-to-bee variation is so high, it renders the location and sub-species of the bee biologically irrelevant. That made it possible for them to create a universal calibration for decoding waggle dances. This universal calibration makes it possible for researchers worldwide to understand where bees are collecting food. And this knowledge can inform bee-friendly planting practices. Bees are kind of a big deal because according to Greenpeace USA, 70 out of the top 100 food crops are pollinated by bees. If you do the math, that means bees are responsible for one of every three bites of food you eat. The biggest threats to bees right now are pesticides and habitat loss, and those could be minimized by using information about where bees forage. Pretty important research for us to BEE spending our time on, wouldn’t you say?
This Is the Best Sleeping Position, According to Science — https://curiosity.im/2Gz54Yx (from next Saturday) (Cody)
Sleep experts know the best position to sleep in. But only about 8 percent of people land in this position naturally! Are you sleeping the right way? [ad lib]
CODY: According to sleep experts, sleeping on your back is the best position. Sleeping on your back is good for relieving aches and pains you might’ve had during the day. You’re also less likely to aggravate heartburn because your head is more elevated than your chest. Now, I’m a side sleeper, but sleeping on your side can cause shoulder and hip pain. If that happens, you can try a thick pillow with neck support to take pressure off your shoulders. And stuffing a pillow between your knees could prevent lower back pain! As for the 7 percent of you who are stomach sleepers, I’ve got some bad news: it’s THE worst position you can sleep in. Sleeping on your stomach puts pressure on your entire body, and when you wake up, you’re probably gonna have a bad time, including a higher likelihood of waking up with numbness and aching joints. If you insist on sleeping on your stomach, then use a flatter pillow so you put less strain on your neck while you keep your head turned all night. The best thing to do, though, might be to just train yourself to be a back sleeper. And there are a few ways you can do that. Try getting in bed with two pillows on either side of you, and one beneath your knees. That’ll keep you from rolling over in the middle of the night. A more extreme idea is to sew half a tennis ball onto your pajamas on your sides so you can’t get comfy rolling over, even when you're totally passed out. One more thing, though: comfort is key. If you’re in pain or you’re super uncomfortable from your sleeping position, then that can impact your sleep quality. So if you’re happy sleeping the way you are, then keep it up! Just remember that rolling over onto your back could be a great solution if you’re having trouble.
[FIRST ALERT]
ASHLEY: You can definitely sleep easy with some help from today’s sponsor: First Alert.
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CODY: But it gets even better than that! OneLink by First Alert also offers the OneLink smart smoke and carbon monoxide alarm that works with the OneLink Safe and Sound. The device is easy to install and protects against both smoke and carbon monoxide. If smoke or CO is detected in the home, the smart alarm will notify you using exclusive voice and location technology, and send a notification to your smart phone, whether you’re at home or away.
ASHLEY: A smart home should start with smart protection, and OneLink by First Alert welcomes you to a smarter, safer home. For more information, visit one-link-dot-first-alert-dot-com.
CODY: One more time, that’s one-link-dot-first-alert-dot-com.
Want to Learn Something? Argue With Yourself — https://curiosity.im/2GBgsDv (Ashley)
Not all methods of learning are backed by research, but today, we have one that is. Today in learning hacks, according to Columbia University, you'll learn best if you argue with yourself. I’m not talking about a full-on yelling match between you and, well… you. Think more along the lines of having a skeptical mini-you sitting on your shoulder. This mini-you asks questions about and raises objections to your topic, and the normal-sized you answers them with evidence and logic. The scientific validation that this works comes from a 2017 study, where students were given two different activities about the same hypothetical mayoral election. In this situation, two candidates were running against each other. One group of students was asked to write a fictional dialogue that a supporter of each candidate would have with one another. The other group simply wrote an essay about the merits of each candidate. Next, both groups were tasked with writing a TV spot all about their favorite candidate. The participants who wrote the fictional dialogue displayed a greater depth of understanding than the other students. They included more references to city problems, candidates' proposed actions, and links between them, and they also included more criticisms of proposed actions. The group that wrote dialogue also demonstrated less absolutist reasoning — meaning, their opinions were more flexible and easily swayed by new information. One of the study’s authors explained that this method of arguing with yourself works because you look at an issue more completely when you envision opposing views — and that coming up with opposing views actually shapes how people perceive knowledge itself. Instead of equating knowledge with facts, it helps people view knowledge as information that can be scrutinized in a framework of alternatives and evidence. [Let the arguments begin! / or a better ad lib]
CODY: Read about today’s stories and more on curiosity-dot-com!
ASHLEY: Join us again tomorrow for the award-winning Curiosity Daily and learn something new in just a few minutes. I’m [NAME] and I’m [NAME]. Stay curious!