Learn about a quantum theory that says time can flow backward; why the Internet relies on huge undersea cables; and why people eat pufferfish, even though they’re incredibly poisonous. Please support our sponsors! Small business owners: visit https://www.ondeck.com/curiosity to receive a free consultation with a US-based loan specialist. Apply online or by phone and get approved in minutes. 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: This Quantum Theory Says Time Can Flow Backward — https://curiosity.im/2DOW2VZ The Internet Relies on Huge Undersea Cables — And They're Vulnerable — https://curiosity.im/2Di9FvG Pufferfish Are Incredibly Poisonous, So Why Do People Eat Them? — https://curiosity.im/2DPWQKv 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 a quantum theory that says time can flow backward; why the Internet relies on huge undersea cables; and why people eat pufferfish, even though they’re incredibly poisonous.
Please support our sponsors! Small business owners: visit https://www.ondeck.com/curiosity to receive a free consultation with a US-based loan specialist. Apply online or by phone and get approved in minutes.
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/how-time-can-flow-backward-why-poisonous-pufferfish-are-delicious-and-undersea-cables
CODY: Hi! We’ve got a jam-packed podcast 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 quantum theory that says time can flow backward; why the Internet relies on huge undersea cables; and why people eat pufferfish, even though they’re incredibly poisonous.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity on the poison-free Curiosity Daily.
This Quantum Theory Says Time Can Flow Backward — https://curiosity.im/2DOW2VZ (Ashley)
Hey Cody, know what we haven’t talked about in a while? QUANTUM PHYSICS. Did you know there’s a quantum theory that says time can flow backward? [CODY: I mean, I’m fine talking about quantum physics any time it involves explaining how time travel might actually be a thing / ad lib]
ASHLEY: Like we’ve talked about on this podcast before, quantum physics throws all the rules of classical physics out the window. And if a handful of physicists are right, quantum particles can affect the past just as easily as they affect the future. It’s a theory known as quantum retrocausality. So, one of the weirdest things about quantum physics is a principle called superposition. It says that a particle exists in multiple states at once until it's measured. That’s why classical physics deals in solid numbers, and quantum mechanics deals in fuzzy probabilities. But scientists don’t know exactly why that is: on one hand, is it that we just don't have the right precision to understand the true states of individual particles, so they look fuzzy? Or, on the other hand, is it just the way the quantum world IS that everything is fuzzy until it's measured? In other words, what if the quantum world is hanging out in superposition? In 2012, a physicist named Huw Price said that if that’s really the case, then it opens the door to some interesting possibilities. See, in theory, all physical processes can run forward and backward. That’s true in quantum physics AND in classical physics; it’s just that the second law of thermodynamics kinda puts a kaibosh on the classical side of things. According to Price, if the quantum world really does allow multiple states and time can flow backward, then measuring the state of the particle today could technically affect its state in the past. This idea is a big one because it could solve the problem of quantum entanglement. The idea behind that is that the state of two particles can affect each other even if they’re an infinite distance away from each other. But that would mean that information would be transmitted faster than the speed of light — which, as far as we know, is impossible. Think about this, though: if the current state of a particle could affect its state in the PAST, then maybe quantum entanglement isn’t a problem of action over a long physical distance. Maybe, instead, it’s a problem of action over time. That is, if time can run backward, a particle can take the action of being measured back in time to when it was linked with its partner. Trading faster-than-light travel for time travel doesn't sound like much of an improvement, but when it comes to the rules of quantum physics, it solves a lot of problems. This is admittedly a pretty fringe idea in the physics world, and it does come with caveats. But it’s a pretty great example of thinking outside the box. And, you know… time travel.
The Internet Relies on Huge Undersea Cables — And They're Vulnerable — https://curiosity.im/2Di9FvG [Republished] (Cody)
Sometimes it feels like the Internet works using magic, but that couldn’t be any further from the truth. Have you ever heard of the International Cable Protection Committee? They actually exist to protect undersea cables from being damaged by anchors and nets. And that’s because the Internet relies on huge undersea cables — which, as it turns out… are kinda vulnerable. [ad lib]
CODY: As reported by The Conversation, we’ve laid lines of cable about as thick as a garden hose on the very bottom of the ocean floor. And they carry the world’s internet, phone lines, even TV transmissions between continents — at the speed of light, by the way. One cable can carry dozens of terabits of information every second. Only a few companies in the world lay these cables, and they’re usually funneled along narrow paths. But when one is broken, you can say bye-bye to your data. In January, the nation of Tonga in the South Pacific was completely cut off from almost all cell phone and Internet services when a 514-mile underwater cable broke. Officials said it could take up to two weeks to fix, which makes it an economic disaster for their tourism and other business communications. In today’s world of Wi-Fi and “the cloud,” you might think undersea cables sounds silly. But in reality, that’s where “the cloud” IS. Under the ocean! Fiber-optic cables are about as state-of-the-art as you can get, since they encode information using light. They’re also faster and cheaper than satellites, which can be affected by weather changes, while the cables keep humming along. Now, this story isn’t all doom and gloom. These days, we cover cables in steel armor and bury them under the seafloor near shores, where there’s the most threat from humans. And there’s been very little sabotage in the history of undersea cables. The other nice thing is that information can just be rerouted a lot of the time. There’s so much redundancy in places like here in America, for example, that you probably wouldn’t even notice a single line breaking. But for other places like Tonga, one or two cables can be all they have. No matter where you live, it kinda makes you look at the ocean a little differently, doesn’t it?
[ON DECK]
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Pufferfish Are Incredibly Poisonous, So Why Do People Eat Them? — https://curiosity.im/2DPWQKv (Ashley)
ASHLEY: Today in weird foods that are incredibly poisonous that people eat anyway… [CODY / ad lib]
ASHLEY: The poisonous food I’m talking about is pufferfish. They’re considered the second most poisonous vertebrate on Earth, right behind the golden poison frog of Columbia. And this isn’t just some weird eccentric food from one or two places in the world. There are chefs who specifically train to cook this delicacy, especially in Japan, China, and other parts of Southeast Asia. That’s because the flesh of a pufferfish is considered a delicacy in certain parts of the world. They’re deadly because of a neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin [tet-row-doe-TOX-in]. It’s produced by bacteria that live inside the fish, kinda like how bacteria in your gut produces all sorts of smelly substances. One pufferfish has enough of the stuff to kill 30 people. That’s why people have to train for two years before they can call themselves fugu chefs. And even then, five people die every year from eating the stuff. It’s not just the flavor that draws people in, though: small doses of neurotoxins have been known to create a feeling of euphoria. So it’s almost like you’re eating something tasty and feeling like you’ve taken a drug, all in one. Consider this story a public service announcement so you know the risks if you see pufferfish on the menu at a high-end restaurant. But consider this, too: in January 2019, researchers announced in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that they’d identified the major compounds that make these pufferfish so tasty. So who knows? Maybe someday we can all experience that delicious fish WITHOUT the deadly side effects.
Read about today’s stories and more on curiosity-dot-com!
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!