Learn about why pretending to be Batman can make kids work harder; how long a decapitated head remains conscious; and, the chemistry behind autumn’s color-changing leaves. 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: Kids Work Harder When They're Pretending to Be Batman — https://curiosity.im/2VL7Z6v How Long Does a Decapitated Head Remain Conscious? — https://curiosity.im/2VVm7uf The Color of Autumn's Changing Leaves Comes Down to Chemistry — https://curiosity.im/2PjLuED 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 pretending to be Batman can make kids work harder; how long a decapitated head remains conscious; and, the chemistry behind autumn’s color-changing leaves.
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:
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-long-a-decapitated-head-stays-conscious-autumn-leaf-chemistry-the-batman-effect
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 pretending to be Batman can make you work harder; how long a decapitated head remains conscious; and, the chemistry behind autumn’s color-changing leaves.
CODY: Happy Halloween! Let’s satisfy some SPOOKY curiosity.
Kids Work Harder When They're Pretending to Batman — https://curiosity.im/2VL7Z6v (Cody)
Everybody could do with some help getting through mindless tasks they can't stand doing. Well, new research suggests that little kids tend to stick to their boring tasks better if they are pretending they are Batman.
The "Batman Effect" was discovered by a team of psychologists led by Rachel White and "grit" expert Angela Duckworth who set out to explore how kids might think about work and strategies that are the most effective.
The researchers recruited 180 kids between the ages of 4 and 6 and split them up into three groups. One group was encouraged to think of themselves in the third person and ask questions like "Is Billy working hard?" One group asked themselves, "Am I working hard?" And the third group was assigned a fictional identity, like Bob the Builder, Dora the Explorer, Rapunzel, or Batman, and asked about their work in the third-person: "Is Batman working hard?"
Finally, all of the children were given a job: click the computer screen when they see a piece of cheese and don't click when they see a cat. They were encouraged to work on it as long as possible but could leave to play a game at any time. And as it turned out, the little Batman cosplayers worked the longest.
Researchers can't say for sure why pretending to be Batman, specifically, encourages hard work and think it's a combination of factors. First, everybody knows Batman, and no one wants to disappoint him. Second is his reputation for working hard. And third, a fictional persona helped the kids distance themselves from the boring task.
So, if there's a kid in your life that could stand to get their hands dirtier around the house, you now know what to do. I’m just wondering if it would work for adults too? Maybe wearing a mask might make washing those dishes seem more appealing.
How Long Does a Decapitated Head Remain Conscious? — https://curiosity.im/2VVm7uf (from Sunday 10/27) (Ashley)
European history is littered with figures who lost their heads and there are some gruesome rumors of heads that grimaced or even tried to talk after they had been separated from their bodies. These are just horror stories, right? Maybe...but maybe not. So just how long does a decapitated head remain conscious? Listen on but don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Decapitation is pretty gruesome so it’s unsurprising that the tales around beheadings would be pretty horrific too. But even as recently as 1989 an army vet recalled a car accident in which his friend’s decapitated head expressed grief and terror upon realizing that it had been separated from its body. Could these stories really be true?
As soon as the blood vessels in the neck are severed, the sudden drop in blood pressure and loss of blood and oxygen would quickly send the brain into a coma, with death following shortly after.
But it may take a few seconds for the brain to enter that unconscious state.
Researchers have found that some animals' bodies continue to function seemingly normally for a few seconds after decapitation. This is where we get the phrase "running around like a chicken with its head cut off". What if human heads can survive for the same length as your average chicken head? Count out four seconds and consider how much you're able to perceive about your surroundings. It certainly seems like enough time to lend credence to those historical rumors.
But what's more likely, is that witnesses to decapitations are seeing the result of the brain's final electrical wave. Scientists have found that the brain can continue functioning for up to 30 minutes after the heart stops. At the end, the brain sends one final electrical wave, which could cause the muscles it's still attached to (in this case, those beneath the face) to contract or twitch.
Then there’s also stories of survivors of near-death experiences being able to recall what was going on around them after their heart stopped, suggesting that the brain remains aware despite the body's lack of clinical consciousness.
This all adds up to an unclear picture of how long the brain remains conscious after being separated from its body. Here's hoping none of us ever has to find out.
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The Color of Autumn's Changing Leaves Comes Down to Chemistry — https://curiosity.im/2PjLuED (from 10/23) (Cody)
Autumn is here with sweaters, pumpkins begging to be carved and an amazing show of color as leaves change from bright greens to fiery reds, oranges, and yellows. What’s even more amazing is what is going on behind the scenes, a dance of energy, which, thanks to science, we now understand.
It starts with what you probably learned back in elementary school, about the green in leaves coming from chlorophyll. For most of the year chlorophyll molecules absorb the sunlight, using the energy to produce carbohydrates via photosynthesis. They absorb all of the colors except green, which is reflected, so that’s all the eye sees.
That is, until autumn hits and the lower daily dose of sunlight means plants start reducing their chlorophyll production and breaking down and reabsorbing the chlorophyll that's already there.
So, the green hue starts fading, finally giving other pigments their chance in the sun, well maybe not so much sun. Those pigments belong to three families: xanthophylls, carotenes, and flavonoids.
The Xanthophylls reflects yellow light which unfortunately acts as an advertisement to aphids and other pests, who love munching on autumn leaves because the broken-down chlorophyll makes their nutrients easier to access.
Luckily the leaves have weapons like Carotenes, which fight off these invaders by dousing the leaves in orange and red hues to mask that yellows that insects love.
In some other trees, flavonoids like anthocyanins bring deep reds and purple hues. Anthocyanins thrive on the cold weather that makes chlorophyll fade, which is why especially cold, dry weather sometimes produces especially red leaves. Anthocyanins gobble up the sugar in the leaves and dry weather means more sugar, and therefore redder leaves.
All this activity eventually ends once all the energy is consumed and the leaves wither and fall. And then, spring arrives and the energy cycle begins again.
ASHLEY: Okay, so why was today’s episode awesome?
[ad lib optional]
CODY: Today’s stories were written by Reuben Westmaas, Steffie Drucker, and Kelsey Donk, and edited by Ashley Hamer, managing editor for curiosity.com.
ASHLEY: Scriptwriting was by Cody Gough and Sonja Hodgen. This podcast was produced and edited by Cody Gough.
CODY: And our managing editor is Ashley Hamer. Join us again tomorrow to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!