Learn about how dogs may have evolved to love humans; how you can spot bad nutrition advice; and how 10-thousand year old chewing gum may change our understanding of ancient society. 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: Dogs May Have a Brain Region Dedicated to Human Faces — https://curiosity.im/2K44jKk 3 Ways to Spot Bad Nutrition Advice — https://curiosity.im/2K3Biy7 Scientists Recovered DNA from 10,000-Year-Old Chewing Gum — https://curiosity.im/2I0Q7Os 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 how dogs may have evolved to love humans; how you can spot bad nutrition advice; and how 10-thousand year old chewing gum may change our understanding of ancient society.
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/history-changing-chewing-gum-how-to-spot-bad-nutrition-tips-and-why-dogs-love-humans
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 how dogs may have evolved to love humans; how you can spot bad nutrition advice; and, how 10-thousand year old chewing gum may change our understanding of ancient society.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Dogs May Have a Brain Region Dedicated to Human Faces — https://curiosity.im/2K44jKk [FREELANCER] (Cody)
Dogs are supposedly man’s best friend, and new research suggests at least one reason why our puppy pals go so well with humans. It turns out that dogs are so hyper-devoted to us that it seems they have evolved a special region in their brain for processing human faces.
Humans domesticated dogs thousands of years ago, so we've been companions for a long time. We've basically evolved to love each other. And that love runs deep. Dogs understand us better than monkeys do, even though genetically, monkeys are our closer relatives. Dogs recognize our faces, read our facial expressions, and even take on our moods. So, if you think it makes your dog sad when you cry, you're right!
Researchers wondered if this connection with humans show up in a dog's neural pathways.
A new study focused specifically on how dogs recognize faces. The hope was to figure out whether there’s a region in their brain for processing human faces, and if so, was it a different area from one that processed dogs faces? To explore this, they used fMRI brain scans on a dozen dogs, all trained to hold still for the length of a brain scan.
Inside the fMRI machine, researchers showed the dogs pictures of dog and human faces. Some were familiar, while others were strangers. They also varied the expression of each human face between negative, positive and neutral.
All the faces, regardless of species, sparked activity in the dogs' canine temporal cortices, the part of their brain that handles facial recognition. But the human faces, regardless of their expression and familiarity, triggered activity in a slightly different area than the dog faces. In other words, there could be a special region of the canine temporal cortex devoted to humans.
More research would be needed to confirm this, including whether it applies to all dogs or just the dogs who have trained intensively with humans, like the dogs in this study.
Still, it could well be that dogs' millennia-long relationship with humans has literally restructured their brains. And here’s an interesting thought: what if dogs have reshaped our brains too? Only more research will tell.
3 Ways to Spot Bad Nutrition Advice — https://curiosity.im/2K3Biy7 (Republish) [FREELANCER] (Ashley)
Nutrition is important, and that’s why today we’ve got some tips for finding the right nutrition tips for you. This is important because while it might feel like bad nutrition advice is just kind of ineffective, it can actually be downright dangerous. As reported by Futurity, over 20,000 people end up in the emergency room because of supplements each year, and a quarter of those cases are due to weight-loss related supplements. And sometimes it seems like there’s misinformation everywhere. A 2014 study in the American Journal of Public Health found that news and media sites published lower-quality weight-loss information than medical, government, or university sites and blogs. And in 2016, a study found the accuracy of Spanish-language weight-loss content was found to be even lower than English-language content.
So how can you steer clear of bad or unhelpful information? Michelle Cardel, who has a doctorate in nutrition science, says you should watch out for three major signs.
The first red flag is huge claims and blanket statements that are backed up with little evidence. There is no right way to eat and no one-size-fits-all approach. Your dietary pattern should be determined by your needs, likes, dislikes and medical history.
The second red flag is when someone is selling a quick fix in the form of a supplement, detox or tea. Cardel says that not everyone selling you something is a quack, but all quacks are selling you something. She finds it sad that people struggling with their weight, who are in a vulnerable place, put their trust in quick fixes rather than evidence- based medicine.
The third red flag to watch out for is missing credentials. Registered dietitians and nutritionists hold accredited university degrees and have passed board-certified exams. While others might have good intentions, they might not have the scientific background required to give sound advice.
Some in the fitness community dispute the value of those qualifications. CrossFit recently sparked a social-media uproar by arguing that licensing did more for dietitians' paychecks than patients' health. Cardel refutes this notion arguing that we go to lawyers for legal advice, doctors for medical advice and physical therapists for physical therapy advice. So, why should nutritional advice be any different? [optional ad lib]
[ARM & HAMMER]
CODY: Today’s episode is sponsored by Arm & Hammer, and their new Cloud Control Cat Litter.
ASHLEY: You know what I love? My cat Aglet. [ad lib]
ASHLEY: You know what I DON’T love? Cleaning up Aglet’s litter box. Which is why Arm & Hammer created new Cloud Control litter. There's no cloud of nasties when I scoop ... it is 100% dust-free, free of heavy perfumes, and helps reduce airborne dander from scooping: So what happens in the litter box STAYS in the litter box. New Cloud Control Cat Litter by Arm & Hammer. More Power to You.
Scientists Recovered DNA from 10,000-Year-Old Chewing Gum — https://curiosity.im/2I0Q7Os (Republish) (Cody)
Scientists have recovered DNA from 10-thousand-year-old chewing gum. And this research gives us some insight into the lives and origins of our recent ancestors. This reseatrch ALSO answers… a listener question! Believe it or not, we got a tweet in September from Alain Paul, who asked “how long does DNA survive on chewing gum.” Thanks for your question, Alain, and, uh… sorry it took us a while to get a solid answer for this one. This baby took a full 9 months to gestate! Anyway, as reported by The Conversation, this gum was actually used as a glue to make tools, but researchers do believe it was chewed on, too — to make it more pliable and sticky. The gum was found at a Mesolithic site in western Sweden, and the fact that we can get human DNA from bits of old chewing gum is a breakthrough in itself. Most ancient DNA samples come from bones or teeth, but they have to be ground into power in order to extract the DNA. Not very preservation-friendly. Researchers sequenced the entire genomes of three of the gum-chewers, and they compared them with modern-day genomes from 10 other sites from across Europe. The results showed that these Scandanavian hunter-gatherers had genes from people further west and south, but their tools were more like ones that were more common in the East. And that suggests they were more diverse than being just from Eastern Europe, which is what scientists had thought. They were also surprised that two of the sequenced gum chewers were female, which means maybe prehistoric females weren’t just stuck doing domestic roles, as we’ve previously thought. And these findings give scientists a whole new list of mysteries to answer. Like, if females were making tools, were they also hunting with them? Did Mesolithic people chew gum for fun, like other cultures? If you’re studying archaeology or anthropology, one thing’s for sure: you’ve got plenty of questions to chew on.
ASHLEY: You can read about today’s stories and more on curiosity-dot-com!
CODY: Today’s episode was brought to you in part by our Patrons. Special thanks to Diane Carter, Scott Gates, Walt DeGrange, Sergio Moreno [SARE-jeeoh mor-EH-no], and Dr. Braeden Johnson for supporting our show. You can also support Curiosity Daily at patreon-dot-com-slash-curiosity-dot-com, all spelled out.
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!