Learn about why sniffing is contagious; and, how one biologist solved the mystery of a rare tree that scientifically shouldn’t exist, but does. Plus, virologist Paul Duprex explains how vaccines work in babies and in people with a weakened immune system. 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: Sniffing is Contagious, Like Yawning and Laughing — https://curiosity.im/2ECFVu5 Albino Ghost Trees Shouldn't Exist — But They Do — https://curiosity.im/2EAdmgU Additional resources from Paul Duprex, director of the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh and a professor of microbiology and cellular genetics: University of Pittsburgh Center for Vaccine Research — http://cvr.pitt.edu/ Paul Duprex on Twitter — https://twitter.com/10queues @PittCVR on Twitter — https://twitter.com/PittCVR Measles: Why it’s so deadly, and why vaccination is so vital | The Washington Post — https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/measles-why-its-so-deadly-and-why-vaccination-is-so-vital/2019/02/15/a452e5c4-2fd0-11e9-8ad3-9a5b113ecd3c_story.html Research from Paul Duprex — https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=duprex+wp%5Bauthor%5D Pitt Announces New Director of the Center for Vaccine Research — https://www.upmc.com/media/news/duprex-announcement 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 sniffing is contagious; and, how one biologist solved the mystery of a rare tree that scientifically shouldn’t exist, but does. Plus, virologist Paul Duprex explains how vaccines work in babies and in people with a weakened immune system.
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:
Additional resources from Paul Duprex, director of the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh and a professor of microbiology and cellular genetics:
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/how-babies-handle-vaccines-w-paul-duprex-sniffing-is-contagious-and-albino-ghost-trees
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 sniffing is contagious; and, how one biologist solved the mystery of a rare tree that scientifically shouldn’t exist, but does. You’ll also learn why some immune systems can handle vaccines better than others, with some help from virologist Paul Duprex.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Sniffing is Contagious, Like Yawning and Laughing — https://curiosity.im/2ECFVu5 (Ashley)
Yawning is contagious, and laughing is contagious. But would you believe sniffing is contagious? Well, that’s what researchers discovered in 2014. And these findings really back up the idea that humans are social animals. For the study, a research group from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel had 27 subjects watch a movie in a stainless steel, odor-free room. They showed the 2006 film Perfume, which is a thriller about a perfumer-turned-murderer that happens to include 28 "movie sniff events" within the first 60 minutes. The researchers hooked up each of the participants to a nasal cannula attached to a spirometer and told them that they were being used to calibrate "physiological recording devices" — the movie, they said, was just to keep them from getting too bored. Then, the researchers measured how often the participants' sniffs coincided with an on-screen sniff. Despite the fact there was no odor in the room, participants tended to sniff along with the characters in the film, especially when they heard a sniff but didn't see the object being sniffed. Smell is the most ancient sense we have, so it makes sense that our basic instincts make us sniff along when we see or hear someone else sniff. The researchers put it this way: quote, “The potential value of a such a response is clear, because it would direct awareness towards valuable information such as danger, food, or a potential mate [...] However, if we hear someone sniffing without a visual target, this implies that there is 'something important in the air,' and we had better find out what it is,” unquote. *make a sniffing sound* Did you do it?? [ad lib]
PAUL DUPREX CLIP #2 — BABIES BEING VACCINATED
CODY: Speaking of things that are contagious, let’s talk about vaccines for a minute. You might remember a recent episode of our podcast where we talked to virologist Paul Duprex. He’s the director of the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh, and a professor of microbiology and cellular genetics. We pushed him on the question of why, from a scientific perspective, he thinks it’s important for people to be vaccinated. And other than the herd immunity he talked about last time, he had some really interesting insights on who can and can’t get vaccinated, and what that means. We thought the science was worth sharing, and we hope you find it as interesting as we did. Here’s what he told us.
[CLIP 4:12]
CODY: Once again, Paul Duprex is the director of the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh, and a professor of microbiology and cellular genetics. You can find links to his organization’s latest research, social media accounts, and more in today’s show notes.
Albino Ghost Trees Shouldn't Exist — But They Do — https://curiosity.im/2EAdmgU (Ashley)
Let’s calmly end today’s episode with a little bit of nature. Pretend you’re taking a walk through a forest of giant redwoods. The giants seem to gather closer around you as you wander deeper into the woods. And then it appears through the thick branches — a flash of perfect white. It's a small, stunted redwood devoid of color. You’re looking at an albino redwood, a rare mutant “ghost tree” which frankly shouldn’t be able to survive at all. They're white because they can't produce chlorophyll, and if they can't produce chlorophyll, they can't convert sunlight into sugar. They really shouldn't be; and yet, here they are. For a while, biologists had theories to explain the existence of the trees, based on a few things we know about redwood biology. First off, redwoods can share a root network, which they use to spread resources around in times of famine. Secondly, when summer comes, the redwoods that don't contribute to the shared network are cut off and allowed to starve. Yes, redwoods basically get voted off the island.
Naturally, the assumption was that these albino trees had just found a way to get around that cutoff and keep leeching off the roots of other trees all year round. That's why the albino trees were often known as “vampire trees.” But if the redwoods could reliably cut off otherwise healthy trees that weren’t pulling their weight, then why would they be fooled by the albinos that NEVER produce sugar in return? A biologist named Zane Moore may have found the answer. He figured out that each of the white trees grew in a place with less-than-favorable conditions, and he tested their toxicity levels. He found that the white needles were saturated with the heavy metals cadmium, copper, and nickel — as in, levels that would definitely kill another tree. Maybe these albino trees get a pass from the other redwoods because they suck up the harmful materials that could poison the others. According to Moore, there are 11 albino redwoods in Henry Cowell Redwood State Park, but good luck finding them: he’s keeping their locations secret because, as he told the Washington Post, quote, “trees can be loved to death,” unquote. You’ll just have to get by with using your imagination — or, of course, by looking at the pictures in our full write-up on curiosity-dot-com. [ad lib]
CODY: Today’s ad-free episode was brought to you by our Patrons. Special thanks to Steve Guy, Kyle Hewitt, Hayden Fossey, Stay-FAN Crate, and Emily for your support on Patreon. We really appreciate it!
ASHLEY: If you want to support Curiosity Daily, and get access to our Patreon-exclusive podcasts, just visit patreon-dot-com-slash-curiosity-dot-com, all spelled out. We’ll also put 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!