Learn about Mary Anning, the famed female fossil hunter history almost forgot; why sad people seek out sad music; and how you can get your air-dried laundry as soft as your machine-dried laundry. 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: Mary Anning Was the Famed Female Fossil Hunter History Almost Forgot — https://curiosity.im/2YiuSyn Why Do Sad People Seek Out Sad Music? — https://curiosity.im/2YlbGQw Why Is Tumble-Dried Laundry Softer Than Air-Dried Laundry? — https://curiosity.im/2YkTpCS 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 Mary Anning, the famed female fossil hunter history almost forgot; why sad people seek out sad music; and how you can get your air-dried laundry as soft as your machine-dried laundry.
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/drying-laundry-to-make-it-soft-why-sad-people-listen-to-sad-music-and-fossilist-mary-anning
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 a famed female fossil hunter history almost forgot; why sad people seek out sad music; and how you can get your air-dried laundry as soft as your machine-dried laundry.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Mary Anning Was the Famed Female Fossil Hunter History Almost Forgot — https://curiosity.im/2YiuSyn (Ashley)
May 21 is the birthday of a famous female fossil hunter history almost forgot. And that’s why we’re celebrating her birthday by sharing the story of Mary Anning. She was born on this day in 1799 in a town on the southern coast of Great Britain called Lyme Regis [Lime Regis like Regis Philbin]. The cliffs near her family home are known as the Jurassic Coast because they’re so full of ocean fossils from the Jurassic period. And she used to go fossil-hunting with her dad, who was an amateur collector. He taught her how to clean fossils for display, and they sold a lot of what they found in his shop, where he worked as a cabinetmaker. But in 1810, when Mary was just 10 years old, her father suddenly passed away, which left the family in debt and with no formal way to make money. That’s when Mary’s mom helped her turn their fossil collecting hobby into a full-blown business. Mary didn’t have much of a formal education, but she could read, so she taught herself geology and anatomy to help with fossil identification. When Mary was 12, her brother Joseph came across a peculiar fossilized skull. Mary went back to the source and found its fossilized body: a 17-foot long skeleton that was surely a sea monster. After years of study and debate, the specimen was finally dubbed "Ichthyosaurus," or "fish lizard." Over the next several years, she took over the family business, and in the mid-1820s, she made another historic find: the complete skeleton of a Plesiosaurus (meaning "near to reptile"). But her claim was disputed by George Cuvier, known as the father of paleontology. The Geological Society of London had to confer in a special meeting to finally agree on the true nature of the fossil — though, of course, Mary wasn't invited to attend. Mary's plesiosaur discovery cemented the Anning family as legitimate "fossilists" in the eyes of the science community, and Mary continued to find, prepare, and identify more and more fossils. [CUT BREATH] Despite a lifetime of monumental discoveries, Mary Anning was still struggling financially when she died of breast cancer at age 47. But more than a hundred years later, it seems her time has finally come. Today, she's recognized as "the greatest fossilist the world ever knew," and has become the subject of several books and a Hollywood movie. The next time you see dinosaur bones in a museum, think about the poor 12-year-old girl searching for fossils on the beach.
Why Do Sad People Seek Out Sad Music? — https://curiosity.im/2YlbGQw (Cody)
Why do sad people listen to sad music? Research suggests it may depend on whether you're clinically depressed or just garden-variety sad. Here’s how to decide what to put on your playlist the next time you’re feeling down. For people going who are sad about something like a breakup, but who are NOT suffering from chronic depression, a sad song can provide some catharsis. According to researcher Sandra Garrido [Guh-REE-doe], some people enjoy the emotional journey that comes about from a sad song, while others may use a sad song in order to work through their feelings and make sense of their situation and maybe find an emotional release that’ll let them have a good cry and move on with their lives. But there's another concept that could help explain some people's love for sad music, and it’s called benign masochism. That's the tendency for people to enjoy the experience of something that would otherwise be unpleasant — but because they know it's safe, they can enjoy the thrill. It’s a principle that could explain why people love scary movies, roller coasters, and, according to research, sad music. While it may be temporarily upsetting, they know it's a safe journey to take. That being said, it may not always be safe to listen to sad music, especially if you've been diagnosed with clinical depression. That’s because instead of causing catharsis, some research suggests it could actually help sad people ruminate on their own sadness, which makes them sadder. That could create a vicious cycle of sadness, which is no good. Other researchers disagree with this idea, though, and a 2019 study suggested that depressed people found the sad music calming, soothing, or relaxing, and actually reported feeling happier after listening to it. So, the reason why people are drawn to sad music tends to vary. It could be benign masochism or a way to work through emotions. In the end, the best advice may be to pay attention to your own feelings. If sad music makes you sadder, you may want to listen to less of it. If it helps you work through your sadness, crank up the volume and have a good cry. We won't judge.
[NHTSA]
ASHLEY: Today’s episode is paid for by NIT-suh.
CODY: Does this sound familiar? “I’m not going very far.” “I’m in a rush.”
ASHLEY: Or: “It’s too uncomfortable.” “Sometimes I just forget.”
CODY: Don’t kid yourself, there’s no such thing as a good excuse for not buckling up.
If you’ve used any of these excuses or any others, you’re putting yourself at risk
of injury or death.
ASHLEY: In 2017, more than ten thousand people were unbuckled when they were killed
in crashes. That’s 51 percent of people killed in motor vehicle crashes that were not wearing seat belts.
CODY: No matter what kind of vehicle you drive, wearing your seat belt is the best defense in a crash. Even when you sit in the backseat, you still need to buckle up. That goes for when you ride in taxis and use ride sharing services, too.
ASHLEY: Cops are on the lookout and writing tickets, so why take the risk? In 2017 alone, seat belts saved nearly fifteen thousand lives.
CODY: So do the smart thing and buckle up every trip, day or night. Click it or ticket. Paid for by NIT-suh.
Why Is Tumble-Dried Laundry Softer Than Air-Dried Laundry? — https://curiosity.im/2YkTpCS (Ashley)
There’s nothing like a freshly dried load of soft laundry. And you probably know that you’re a lot more likely to get that soft, fluffy feeling from pulling your load out of a dryer than you are when you pull it off a clothesline. What exactly is it about letting laundry dry naturally that makes it so stiff and scratchy, and what goes on inside a dryer to make clothes so supple and soft? I’ve got some answers, along with how you can make to make air-dried fabric softer. The answer lies in fabric fibers, so let’s talk textiles. Cotton and rayon fibers are made up of cellulose. It’s a natural polymer, meaning it’s a long chain of similar molecules — in this case, glucose molecules. Those chains are held in place with hydrogen bonding, which is one of the strongest bonds there is. There are different types of cellulose, but cotton cellulose is stronger than some others for two reasons. One, it has a higher degree of polymerization, which means each cotton cellulose macromolecule contains a lot of individual units. Two, it has more crystallinity, which means that the fiber molecules are closely packed in a parallel arrangement. Put these two qualities together, and you've got one incredibly strong fiber. Cellulose molecules also contain hydroxyl groups, or oxygen atoms paired up with hydrogen atoms. Hydroxyl groups absolutely love water molecules. When they’re with water, they grab every H2O molecule they can. That causes the fibers to swell and those hydrogen bonds to break, but as the fabric dries, new hydrogen bonds form. And how they form depends on how the fabric dries. When you hang a cotton towel outside on a sunny, windless day, the hydrogen bonds that form are sturdy because there's nothing to disturb them. When you dry a cotton towel in an electric dryer, the fabric is constantly moving, which keeps the molecules from being able to re-bond as firmly. That makes the fabric softer and fluffier. Basically, hanging a towel out to dry lets the hydrogen bonds form more firmly, while putting it in a machine means it’s constantly moving, so the bonds that form aren’t as stiff. That means that if you want to line-dry your clothes and keep them soft at the same time, you can occasionally shake out the clothes while they're drying, or take advantage of windy days to schedule laundry day. You can also just throw your clothes in a dryer for 10 minutes instead of the full cycle, and then hang up your clothes, which can help loosen up those hydrogen bonds to make for fluffier fabrics. How’s that for a laundry day tip?
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!