Learn about why it could be hard to communicate with humans of the future; how a potted plant can help you boost your productivity; and why coffee makes you poop. Please support today’s sponsor, WSJwine! Order now and they’ll add to your case 2 bonus California Cabernets and 2 Dartington Crystal glasses. https://www.wsjwine.com/0842005 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: How Can We Communicate with Humans of the Future Without Using Language? — https://curiosity.im/2I2Rbl6 Boost Your Productivity by Putting a Plant on Your Desk — https://curiosity.im/2JZHR4M Why Does Coffee Make You Poop? — https://curiosity.im/2K2ct5N 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 why it could be hard to communicate with humans of the future; how a potted plant can help you boost your productivity; and why coffee makes you poop.
Please support today’s sponsor, WSJwine! Order now and they’ll add to your case 2 bonus California Cabernets and 2 Dartington Crystal glasses. https://www.wsjwine.com/0842005
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/boost-productivity-with-a-potted-plant-why-coffee-makes-you-poop-and-nuclear-semiotics
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 why it could be hard to communicate with humans of the future; how a potted plant can help you boost your productivity; and why coffee makes you poop.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
How Can We Communicate with Humans of the Future Without Using Language? — https://curiosity.im/2I2Rbl6 (from Wednesday) (Ashley)
Have you ever heard of nuclear semiotics? It’s an actual field of research centered around — get this — figuring out how we can warn people 10-thousand years from now about nuclear waste. And a government task force has been working on it for almost 40 years. Pretty wild, right? Well if your mind hasn’t been blown yet, then wait’ll you hear the reasons why this field of study is so important — and why it’s so challenging. Of course, you probably already know that nuclear waste hangs around for a really, really long time; some isotopes decay pretty rapidly, but Plutonium-239? That has a half-life of 24-thousand years. And high-level wastes are hazardous because they produce radiation that can be fatal during even short periods of direct exposure. That’s why it’s important that we can warn people about nuclear waste. But the thing is, there’s no guarantee that any of the languages, symbols, or cultural references we have today will make any sense to the people of the future. After all, language never stops changing. From generation to generation, both the form and meanings of words shift in subtle ways. We hardly realize it’s happening while the changes are in progress, but a few hundred years are significant enough to keep us from understanding. For example, Chaucer's English is only 600 years old but it can only be understood by people with special training. There’s also a form of writing called Linear A we found on a tablet that’s way less than 10-thousand years old, but that we still haven’t deciphered. That’s why in 1981, the U.S. Department of Energy put together a panel of experts for something called the Human Interference Task Force to study the problem and issue a report. They came up with some ideas for the 10-thousand-year communication task, but they all have drawbacks. On one hand, we do have some symbols that can transcend language, like numerals and mathematical symbols, airport markers for customs, luggage, and restrooms, and even international symbols for danger and for nuclear radiation. But they depend heavily on cultural conventions which may not exist even a century from now. Maybe a skull and crossbones will look appealing in the future, if a person interprets it as a marker for the tomb of an important person that may contain treasure. Some other strategies were proposed in a report issued for the Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation in 1984, which you can read about in our full write-up on this on curiosity-dot-com. But there are no guarantees. Still, knowing about the challenges of talking to humans in the future really makes you look at language a bit differently.
Boost Your Productivity by Putting a Plant on Your Desk — https://curiosity.im/2JZHR4M (Cody)
Here’s a surprising story: the owner of a small Canadian company got each of his employees a plant. Okay, so that’s not too surprising. What IS surprising is that after he did this, productivity shot up by 30 percent. And science suggests there are solid reasons more plants at YOUR office might help you be more productive, too. That Canadian company I mentioned is WeatherSolve Structures, a small firm that made windbreaks and canopies and stuff like that. Mike Robinson was the CEO, and his wife, Suzanne, had the idea to do something super-cute with their employees. They set up a scenario where each employee was asked to approach a table full of plants and choose the one they thought would love being their desk companion the most. Kind of like a human-plant speed dating scenario. And once each employee had chosen a new green buddy, they received the plant along with a small sign saying "My friend is ..." along with their name. Sure, they thought this would be a fun thing for their employees, but later, Robinson noticed his employees were all shockingly good at raising the plants. According to him, all the plants are still going strong more than 5 years later. Not only that, but he figures the company’s been doing about 30 percent more business per staff member. And there’s a mountain of research showing that even when it’s just a potted plant, exposure to nature can reduce stress, double your attention span, increase happiness, and boost productivity and creativity. Simply looking at a green roof for 40 seconds has been shown to cause a measurable uptick in productivity among office dwellers. That’s why other companies are stepping up their plant game — including the notoriously data-driven Amazon, which just added three domes filled with 40-thousand plants to their Seattle headquarters. If just glancing at something green can do that, imagine what adding a few plants to your space could do.
[WINE]
ASHLEY: Today’s episode is brought to you by WSJwine. WSJwine is a partnership between The Wall Street Journal and the world's leading direct-to-home wine merchant.
CODY: Here’s a wine mythbusting tip from WSJwine: it’s a myth that ONLY red wine goes with red meat and ONLY white wine goes with fish. In reality, the perfect pairings depend on things like acidity, tannins, fruit flavor, oak treatment, and other factors beyond color. If it tastes good, pair it!
ASHLEY: And you’ll get food-pairing tips along with serving advice on every wine from WSJwine. We brought a bottle of Collezione di Paolo Chianti into the studio today, and thanks to the tasting notes, I know that a bowl of pasta with red sauce would be a perfect pairing.
CODY: I love a good Chianti, and seriously, this is a good Chianti. And wines like this could be one of 12 expertly selected bottles reserved for you every 3 months from WSJwine. You can get exclusive savings of at least 20 percent on future club cases, and WSJwine makes it easy for you to customize your selections.
ASHLEY: You can simply go online or call to change wines, delay delivery, or skip cases. There’s also no obligation to continue, so you’ll only get wines you want, and you’re free to cancel any time. One of the things that's so cool about WSJwine's Discovery Club is the info and advice you get with each bottle. Their tasting notes are basically little cheat sheets that help build your confidence and guide you in popping open the perfect wine, every time.
CODY: Start by tasting their Top 12 wines, with your choice of reds, whites, or a mix of both. Order now and they’ll add to your case 2 bonus California Cabernets and 2 Dartington Crystal glasses. We’ll put a link to WSJwine in today’s show notes.
Why Does Coffee Make You Poop? — https://curiosity.im/2K2ct5N (from Wednesday) (Ashley)
As much as we love wine, we’re wrapping up today by talking about a different super-popular beverage: coffee. Specifically, I’m here to answer an important question: what is it about coffee that sends you to the bathroom? You know what I’m talking about. About a half-hour after you finish that delicious morning joe, nature calls, and you’d better be sitting down for this one, if you know what I mean. Clearly, SOMETHING about coffee is jump-starting your plumbing. Scientists are still trying to figure this out, but if nothing else, they know the caffeine is almost certainly not to blame. Caffeine does have an effect on your digestive tract, but it's not as much as you'd think. Research has found that regular and decaf coffee have a remarkably similar effect on the colon, for instance. One study found that regular coffee was only 23 percent more effective than decaf at moving things along, whereas it was 60 percent more effective than water and about as effective as a full meal. And in a 2008 study where 10 participants got a solution of pure caffeine to drink, the researchers found that while it did make the participants more sensitive to the sensation of needing to poop, it also increased how hard they could squeeze to hold it in. So what exactly does coffee do to speed things up downstairs? Its biggest effects seem to be on involuntary muscle contractions in the intestines. Back in 1998, researchers found that regular and decaf coffee triggered contractions in the colon, especially in the higher regions closer to the small intestine. Coffee also seems to speed up a thing called gastric emptying, which is the technical term for food leaving the stomach and heading for the small intestine. There's still research to be done on exactly what compounds in coffee cause it to jump-start colon contractions, but one thing's clear: It's not just you. Coffee clearly helps to hasten nature's call. Let's just take a moment to be thankful for coffee-shop restrooms.
CODY: Read about today’s stories and more on curiosity-dot-com!
ASHLEY: Today’s episode was brought to you in part by our Patrons. Special thanks to Michaela Mays, Luke Chapman, Jared BREE-land, Michael Kovitch, Jairus Durnett, and Chase for supporting our show. You can help support our podcast at patreon-dot-com-slash-curiosity-dot-com, all spelled out. There’s also a link in today’s show notes.
CODY: 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!