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: SKILLSHARE: Two months of unlimited access to more than 20 thousand classes for just 99 cents The Stupidly Dangerous Chemical Chlorine Trifluoride Can Make Anything Burst Into Flames on Contact Book Towns Are Tiny Cities Made Up Almost Entirely of Bookstores There's a Surprising Reason You Shouldn't Take Your Phone Out in Class If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please considersupporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! Learn about these topics and more onCuriosity.com, and download our5-star app for Android and iOS. Then, join the conversation onFacebook,Twitter, andInstagram. Plus: Amazon smart speaker users, enable ourAlexa Flash Briefing to learn something new in just a few minutes every day!
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!
Learn about these topics and more on Curiosity.com, and download our 5-star app for Android and iOS. Then, join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Plus: Amazon smart speaker users, enable our Alexa Flash Briefing to learn something new in just a few minutes every day!
Full episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/book-towns-chlorine-trifluoride-and-why-you-shouldnt-take-your-phone-out-in-class
CODY GOUGH: Hey, we've got three stories from curiosity.com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I'm Cody Gough.
ASHLEY HAMER: And I'm Ashley Hamer. Today, you'll learn about the surprising reason why you shouldn't take out your phone in class, tiny cities made up almost entirely of bookstores, and a ridiculously dangerous chemical that can make anything burst into flames on contact.
CODY GOUGH: Let's satisfy some curiosity.
ASHLEY HAMER: Cody, do you want to learn about a stupidly dangerous chemical?
CODY GOUGH: Do I? When would I not? This is the best way to start your day.
ASHLEY HAMER: Absolutely. Today, we're in a deep dive into a liquid chemical that's so corrosive, it can make practically anything burst into flames on contact. It's called chlorine trifluoride. And it should go straight to the top of your list of things to avoid at all costs. Don't worry about running into it by accident though. The compound has been banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Chlorine trifluoride is even more reactive than fluorine, which is so reactive that it turns water into oxygen on contact. That makes it pretty much impossible to store in solution. And that's why scientists in the 1930s set out to find something that's easier to handle but just as reactive. They isolated the compound chlorine trifluoride, which was liquid and even more reactive than fluorine. But it might be a bit too reactive.
Sprinkling this chemical on virtually anything will start a fire that you can't extinguish. There's only one way to safely store it, seal it in containers made of steel, iron, nickel, or copper after they've been treated with fluorine gas. That creates a thin fluoride layer inside the container, which won't disturb the chlorine trifluoride. Of course, if it's not perfectly treated, then the vessel goes boom.
Now that what it does, let's talk about why it's so volatile. Oxidizing agents cause substances to lose electrons. Oxygen, hydrogen peroxide, and the halogens are common examples of these agents. Chlorine trifluoride is an effective oxidizer, but it's too effective for its own good. It's been used in the semiconductor industry to clean oxides off of surfaces. But overall, it oxidizes so well that it can ignite stuff that's otherwise fireproof, even asbestos. So if you see a container marked chlorine trifluoride, you might want to head the other way.
CODY GOUGH: Book lovers are going to love this next story. Ashley, are you a physical book person or an e-book person?
ASHLEY HAMER: You know, lately, I've been an audiobook person. But what keeps happening is that I buy the audiobook, listen to it, get so excited about the stuff inside of it that I want to write an article about one of them, and then I end up buying the physical book. So it's really not cost effective.
CODY GOUGH: Wow.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah.
CODY GOUGH: Yeah, not so much. I'm a physical book guy sometimes. I go back and forth. If it's really cumbersome to carry around me and read on the train, then yeah, I'll go with the digital. But it's so easy to just flip back and forth when you've got actual pages.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah, it is.
CODY GOUGH: Take notes and everything. Well, if you love traveling and you love books, I know you love traveling, Ashley, you just don't do it enough.
ASHLEY HAMER: Exactly.
CODY GOUGH: But if you are listening to this, and you love traveling and books, then you might want to think about making your next destination a book town. A book town is a thing. It's a beautiful tourist destination in a city made up almost entirely of bookstores. And you can find them all around the world from New York to Japan to Australia.
There's even an international organization of book towns, which was founded in the year 2000. Their mission is to raise international public awareness of book towns, help each other improve the quality and economy of book towns, and find new ways to use technology to help book towns.
So what do you actually need to be a book town? A picturesque environment is a must-have because book towns have to be tourist hotspots, where tourists want to go in the first place. They also generally need to be far away from major cities, so the kind of money you make from secondhand books will go a little bit farther.
And finally, you need to have a plan made with an equal mix of determination, business savvy, and a love of books. Because while it might be a business decision to turn your town into a book town, it's a decision that doesn't guarantee fame and fortune. You can find links to lists of book towns in our full write-up today on curiosity.com and on the Curiosity app for Android and iOS. But the one that caught our eye here in the States is in Hobart, New York.
Hobart is not a member of the International Organization of Book Towns officially, but it is a self described book village with only 500 residents and a whopping five independent bookstores.
ASHLEY HAMER: Wow, one bookstore for every 100 people.
CODY GOUGH: It's impressive.
ASHLEY HAMER: Today's podcast is sponsored by Skillshare.
CODY GOUGH: I've actually been using Skillshare from my work here at curiosity.com. You know the video Ashley and I shot for a Patreon page? Well, that took a little editing. And editing takes a little Final Cut Pro-ing. Frankly, I couldn't find clear, concise tips on YouTube or even on the official Final Cut website to help me use the video editing software. So Skillshare has been a lifesaver because they have comprehensive courses from actual experts on how to use Final Cut Pro 10.
I jumped between a few different courses, one taught by a filmmaker and another taught by a video editor and graphic design. That's because Skillshare classes are all taught by real experts in their field or public motivational speakers.
ASHLEY HAMER: Skillshare is an online learning platform with more than 20,000 classes in business, marketing, design, technology, and more. You can take classes on everything you're curious about or want to get better at like web design, photography, writing, entrepreneurship. Basically, you name it, Skillshare's got it. And it's not just professional skills, I'm taking a cooking course right now from a prominent food blogger and cooking coach.
CODY GOUGH: Again, Skillshare offers more than 20,000 classes. And today, you can join the millions of students like us who are already learning on Skillshare with a special offer for the Curiosity Daily audience. Get two months of Skillshare for just $0.99. To sign up, visit Skillshare/Curious.
ASHLEY HAMER: That's skillshare.com/curious for two months of unlimited access to more than 20,000 classes for just $0.99.
CODY GOUGH: Start your two-month trial of Skillshare to learn even more starting today. One more time, that's skillshare.com/curious.
ASHLEY HAMER: It's interesting to see how classrooms have changed in the last couple of decades. And a new study says technology isn't always very helpful if your goal is learning. Cody, were you the type of student to use a laptop when you took notes?
CODY GOUGH: Never, never, ever.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah, me either.
CODY GOUGH: And I saw people do it. I just, yeah, not my thing.
ASHLEY HAMER: I brought a laptop to class like twice, and I just could not pay attention. Because there's so much cool stuff on your own computer. Why would I want to listen to the professor?
CODY GOUGH: Yeah.
ASHLEY HAMER: Well, new research from Rutgers University found that students perform worse in end of term exams if they're in a classroom that allows access to electronic devices, like a phone or tablet, for non-academic purposes. For this study, researchers looked at two sections of the same psychology lecture course taught by the same professor. In one section, technology was strictly forbidden. And in the other, students could use phones and tablets and laptops however they wanted.
Using technology didn't affect performance during the term. But on the final exam, the tech-enabled section did 5% worse than their tech-free counterparts. That could mean the difference between an A and a B plus.
CODY GOUGH: 5%, yeah, that's half a grade.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. The surprising thing is that in the section where devices were allowed, all the students did significantly worse on the final. Even the students who hadn't used their devices in class. This suggests that technology in the classroom distracts everyone. And it's pretty sneaky about it. Technology doesn't always feel distracting in the moment, but having screens in your line of sight can fracture your attention and hurt your long-term memory.
Other research has found something similar with cameras, where taking pictures of an experience actually makes you remember it less vividly. And another study found that even if your phone is turned off, it can hurt your cognitive performance if it's sitting close to you. Even when you think you're giving something your full attention, parts of your brain might be focused on emails and texts and Instagram likes. So try to narrow the scope of your attention when you can. Complete focus is a powerful tool.
CODY GOUGH: What I have to say is not science, but for me, personally, I cannot stand when I am seated at a bar with televisions in my line of sight.
ASHLEY HAMER: Oh, I hate it.
CODY GOUGH: It always distracts me.
ASHLEY HAMER: There are some bars in Chicago that actually advertise the fact that they have no TVs.
CODY GOUGH: And I go to those places.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah.
CODY GOUGH: Read about these stories and more today on curiosity.com.
ASHLEY HAMER: Join us again tomorrow for the Curiosity Daily and learn something new in just a few minutes. I'm Ashley Hamer.
CODY GOUGH: And I'm Cody Gough. Stay curious.
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