Learn why robots should look like cartoons; why more access to an opioid antidote doesn't make people think heroin is safe; and why dishwashers make knives less sharp. More from Ruth Aylett, professor of computer science at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh: Pick up "Living with Robots: What Every Anxious Human Needs to Know": https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/living-robots Follow @ruthaylett on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ruthaylett University website: http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~ruth/ Edinburgh Centre for Robotics: https://www.edinburgh-robotics.org/academics/ruth-aylett Despite concerns, more access to naloxone doesn't make people think heroin is safe by Steffie Drucker Increasing access to an overdose rescue drug does not reduce perceived risk of opioid use. (2021, October 7). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/929778 Naloxone access doesn’t make heroin seem less risky. (2021, October 7). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/930363 Kelly, B. C., & Vuolo, M. (2021). Do naloxone access laws affect perceived risk of heroin use? Evidence from national US data. Addiction. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15682 National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2021, June). Naloxone DrugFacts | National Institute on Drug Abuse. National Institute on Drug Abuse. https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/naloxone Understanding the Epidemic. (2021). https://www.cdc.gov/opioids/basics/epidemic.html National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2021, March 11). Opioid Overdose Crisis | National Institute on Drug Abuse. National Institute on Drug Abuse. https://www.drugabuse.gov/drug-topics/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis NCHS Pressroom - Homepage. (2021). https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/default.htm Products - Vital Statistics Rapid Release - Provisional Drug Overdose Data. (2021). https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2021, June). Heroin DrugFacts | National Institute on Drug Abuse. National Institute on Drug Abuse. https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/heroin National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2021, September 23). Opioids | National Institute on Drug Abuse. National Institute on Drug Abuse. https://www.drugabuse.gov/drug-topics/opioids The chemistry of poppies: colours and opium. (2020, November 11). Compound Interest. https://www.compoundchem.com/2020/11/11/poppies/ Public Policy Statement on the Use of Naloxone for the Prevention of Opioid Overdose Deaths Background. (n.d.). https://www.asam.org/docs/default-source/public-policy-statements/use-of-naloxone-for-the-prevention-of-opioid-overdose-deaths-final.pdf Why do dishwashers dull knives? by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Jen in Atlanta) Cericola, R. (2016, September 22). This Is What a Dishwasher Actually Does to Your Knife. Kitchn; Apartment Therapy, LLC. https://www.thekitchn.com/this-is-what-a-dishwasher-actually-does-to-your-knife-235242 Preli, M. (2020, January 27). Here’s Why You Should Never Put Knives in the Dishwasher. Martha Stewart; Martha Stewart. https://www.marthastewart.com/7591633/why-not-use-dishwasher-clean-knives Richardson, R. (2021, March). Dishwashers and Knives: The Never Again Story. The Kitchen Professor; The Kitchen Professor. https://thekitchenprofessor.com/blog/dishwasher-dulls-knives Stainless Steel Cleaning and Maintenance. (2020, February 18). Reliance Foundry Co. Ltd. https://www.reliance-foundry.com/blog/cleaning-stainless-steel Price, W. (2019, May 22). How to Care for a Carbon Steel Knife, According to an Expert. Gear Patrol; Gear Patrol. https://www.gearpatrol.com/home/a544968/carbon-steel-knife-care-maintenance/ What is Dishwasher Detergent Made of? | Homesteady. (2019). HomeSteady | the Ultimate Guide for All Your Household Needs. https://homesteady.com/12277380/what-is-dishwasher-detergent-made-of Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day withCody Gough andAshley Hamer. Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.
Learn why robots should look like cartoons; why more access to an opioid antidote doesn't make people think heroin is safe; and why dishwashers make knives less sharp.
More from Ruth Aylett, professor of computer science at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh:
Despite concerns, more access to naloxone doesn't make people think heroin is safe by Steffie Drucker
Why do dishwashers dull knives? by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Jen in Atlanta)
Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/cartoony-robots-naloxone-myths-why-dishwashers-dull-knives
CODY: Hi! You’re about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from Discovery. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn why robots should look like cartoons, with robotics researcher Ruth Aylett; and why more access to an opioid antidote doesn't make people think heroin is safe. We’ll also answer a listener question about why dishwashers make knives less sharp.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Humanlike robots just feel...creepy. And there's a reason for that. Today, Ruth Aylett is back to explain why making robots look human is the wrong approach — and why making them more cartoonish is a better idea. Ruth Aylett [AY-lett] is a professor of computer science at Heriot-Watt [HARE-ee-it WATT] University in Edinburgh who's been a robotics researcher for thirty years. And we asked her: is it a good idea to make robots appear human?
[CLIP 3:36]
Cartoon robots are cuter anyway. Again, that was Ruth Aylett [AY-lett] is a professor of computer science at Heriot-Watt [HARE-ee-it WATT] University in Edinburgh and co-author of the new book "Living with Robots: What Every Anxious Human Needs to Know." You can find a link to her book and more in today's show notes.
The new millennium kicked off a crisis in America: the opioid epidemic. Deaths from opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999. A record nearly 75,000 people died from overdose between March 2020 and 2021 alone.
But there is some good news. As opioid addiction has spread across the nation, so has access to an effective antidote: naloxone. That means more lives can be saved — even by everyday people like you and me. Some people have argued that wider access to naloxone would encourage more opioid use, but now, a new study quells those concerns.
First, some background on opioids. This group of drugs act on opioid receptors in the brain to reduce feelings of pain and create a sensation of euphoria. Some opioids are legally prescribed to treat pain, like morphine and oxycodone. But there are also illegal opioids, like heroin, which this study focused on.
With enough use over time, it can get harder for people to feel pleasure from anything other than opioids. It also takes more opioids to feel good, which is why overdose is so common.
This is where the wonder drug naloxone comes in. Heroin use causes breathing to slow or stop. Naloxone helps breathing restart by knocking opioids off the brain’s receptors. It’s administered as a nasal spray or through injection into the thigh, like an EpiPen. It’s inexpensive, it works fast, and it’s SUPER effective, as long as it’s given within 90 minutes of overdose. It’s also nonaddictive and totally safe for the person administering it.
At first, only doctors and certain emergency responders could give naloxone to reverse an overdose. But now, nearly every state has expanded access to people like you and me. But in the process, some politicians feared easy access to the antidote would make heroin use seem less dangerous or even appealing.
But national data shows that’s not the case. From 2004 to 2016, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health asked nearly 885,000 people aged 12 and up how risky they thought heroin use was. Naloxone’s availability to the public expanded rapidly in that time. Researchers matched people’s responses to their local access laws and found that the laws didn’t change their view of how risky heroin was. Even heroin users agreed that it’s risky.
Naloxone has helped laypeople save tens of thousands of lives. So, if anything, the only side effect to expanding access to the antidote is fewer senseless deaths.
We got a listener question from Jen in Atlanta, who asks “Why do dishwashers dull knives? I know putting your knives in the dishwasher will dull the blade, but I don't know why. Is it the heat, the detergent, the water jets, or all of the above?” Great question, Jen. I’ve always wondered this too!
The answer, turns out, is all of the above. An active dishwasher is a hot, violent, corrosive place, and when you’ve got something like a knife whose entire utility is based upon one very thin, razor-sharp edge? Combining the two is asking for trouble. First off, there’s the potential for collisions — the intense blasts of water can knock your knife around and cause dings and chips in the blade, along with damage to other dishes and the dishwasher itself. Plus, there’s the long period of time your knife is exposed to water. You probably know you shouldn’t leave knives to soak in the sink because they can rust, and the same is true for a steamy session in the dishwasher. Also, the high water temperatures can bend and warp your knife and reduce its precision.
But you asked this question of a science podcast, so here’s the super-sciency reason: dishwasher detergent can and will corrode metal. The exact reason for this depends on the type of knife you’re dealing with. While you might assume that stainless steel knives are safe from rust and corrosion, that’s not exactly true. Stainless steel is “stainless” because of a protective layer of chromium, and lots of chemicals can break that layer down to reveal the raw steel beneath — which is a haven for rust. Dishwasher detergent is full of these chemicals. Chlorine is a big one that’s especially unfriendly to stainless steel.
If you’re talking about carbon steel knives, you’re in even bigger trouble. These knives don’t have a protective layer — that’s why manufacturers often suggest coating them in a layer of mineral oil after they’re washed. They rust easily, so a trip through the dishwasher is about the worst thing you can do. Ceramic knives are most at risk of the stuff I mentioned earlier: they’re delicate, and they can chip and break if they get knocked around.
So don’t put your knives in the dishwasher. If the heat and collisions don’t dull them, the detergent will. Thanks for your question, Jen! If you have a question, send it in to curiosity at discovery dot com or leave us a voicemail at 312-596-5208.
CODY: Before we recap what we learned today, here’s a sneak peek at what you’ll hear next week on Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY: Next week, you’ll learn about how two birds were born without fathers;
The weird reason why the US government bombed a volcano in the 1930s;
Why reading in a car makes you carsick;
A simple trick for hearing someone in a noisy room;
And more! Okay, so now, let’s recap what we learned today.
[ad lib optional]
ASHLEY: The writer for today’s naloxone story was Steffie Drucker.
CODY: Our managing editor is Ashley Hamer, who was also a writer on today’s episode.
ASHLEY: Our producer and lead audio editor is Cody Gough.
CODY: Have a great weekend! [AD LIB SOMETHING FUNNY] Then, join us again Monday to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!