Learn about whether you can improve your self-control; why certain types of birds set fires on purpose; and why you shouldn’t touch your plants. Please support our sponsors! Visitmovaglobes.com/curiosity and use coupon code CURIOSITY for 15% off your purchase. 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: Is Self-Control a Learnable Skill or a Finite Resource? — https://curiosity.im/2suScLn Firehawk Raptors Are Predatory Birds That Start Forest Fires on Purpose — https://curiosity.im/2sw0Ito Your Plants Probably Hate Being Touched — https://curiosity.im/2szOVKS 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 whether you can improve your self-control; why certain types of birds set fires on purpose; and why you shouldn’t touch your plants.
Please support our sponsors! Visit movaglobes.com/curiosity and use coupon code CURIOSITY for 15% off your purchase.
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-to-improve-your-self-control-why-you-shouldnt-touch-your-plants-and-firehawk-raptors
CODY: Hi! We’ve got three stories 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 whether you can improve your self-control; why certain types of birds set fires on purpose; and why you shouldn’t touch your plants.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity on the award-winning Curiosity Daily.
Is Self-Control a Learnable Skill or a Finite Resource? — https://curiosity.im/2suScLn (Republished) (Ashley)
ASHLEY: New research might have some insights into how self-control works. Self-control is one of those things that psychologists and economists just can’t seem to agree on, so it’s not like we’ve got it all figured out. I mean, by the time February rolls around, as many as 80 percent of Americans will have already given up on their New Year’s resolutions. So let’s see if we can get some answers. [CODY: Yeah, I, uh… I’m not doing really great with that…]
ASHLEY: As reported by The Conversation, researchers have come up with a couple different models to explain self-control. One model says that self-control is a finite resource, and you can actually use it up, like the way a battery loses its charge. The other model says that you can build up self-control the way you’d build up a muscle: by exercising it. Psychologists and economists have debated these two models for years, and that’s partly because it’s hard to conduct behavioral research. You can’t just assume participants in tests fully understand the questions you ask them, and you also can’t assume they’re answering honestly. That’s why researchers at the largest biometrics lab in the U.S. came up with a new way to conduct this research without having to rely on what volunteers told them. Their big innovation was that they designed tests that looked at the physiological responses of participants. For example, one test to measure self-control had people focus on a red bulls-eye on a computer screen without looking away. The researchers used eye-tracking software to precisely measure when self-control kept them looking at the bulls-eye, and when they looked away.
The experiments also measured facial expressions and brain activity. And they found that BOTH sides of the self-control debate were right. For that bulls-eye test, they found that most people would hit a point where they just didn’t keep looking. Some subjects stuck it out and kept focusing, sure; but then in a SECOND test right after that, they demonstrated less self-control. These results support the idea that you can “use up” your self-control like a draining battery. On the other hand, participants who eased off when they hit the fatigue threshhold showed more self-control in the second test. That means they’d exercised just enough self-control in moderation to build it up and keep using it for the second test — which supports the idea that you can kind of “build up” your self-control by working it like a muscle. Here’s the takeaway, if you want to stick to that New Year’s Resolution past February. First off, remember to pace yourself. Set goals you can reach, and don’t overdo it. You’ll drain your self-control battery if you just keep frustrating yourself. And second, remember that small acts of self-control can build up over time. Instead of going full vegetarian overnight, maybe just cut back on one or two servings of meat every week until it’s out of your diet. Same with added sugar or any other diet changes. And finally, remember that improving your self-control in one area will help you improve it in other areas. Exercise that muscle!
Firehawk Raptors Are Predatory Birds That Start Forest Fires on Purpose — https://curiosity.im/2sw0Ito (from Saturday) (Cody)
You know who could use a little more self-control? Firehawk raptors. They’re birds that set fires. On purpose. I’m talking about brown falcons, black kites, and whistling kites, and guess where you can find them? The same place where you can find fire TORNADOES: Australia. Shout-out to our friends down under! This one’s for you, Luke, Rob, and AC. Here’s what goes down: any time a fire sparks in the plains or forests, these so-called firehawk raptors will gather to snag a burning branch or stick. Then, they’ll fly up into an area where the fire hasn’t spread yet, and drop their payload. Of course, there IS a reason for this — they’re looking for food. Before one of these fires are set, hundreds of the birds will gather around. And then, as they watch the world burn from their literally birds-eye-view, collectively gorge themselves on the small rodents and reptiles that flee the inferno. This isn’t some rare, obscure phenomenon, either. For decades, there have been reports of firehawks stealing burning sticks from human cooking fires, or other pieces of smoldering vegetation. And get this: the three stages of fire control are one, an understanding of its behavior; two, an ability to control it; and three, an ability to start it. These birds have mastered stages one AND two. Chimpanzees? They’ve only gotten to stage one. Forget Planet of the Apes; maybe it’s time to start worrying about Planet of the Fire Raptors.
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Your Plants Probably Hate Being Touched — https://curiosity.im/2szOVKS (from Saturday) (Ashley)
We all know plants probably don’t like getting burned to death by firehawk raptors. Well, new research suggests there’s something else they don’t like: being touched. Seriously. Plants do not like it when you pet them. According to research, they have a very strong reaction to touch. Listen up if you’ve got houseplants. And to be clear, scientists have actually known for a long time that plants don’t want to be your cuddle buddy. In 1973, a plant physiologist named Mark Jaffe noticed that about half of the plant species he’d observed had showed a slower rate of growth after they’d been touched daily. After a few more days of no touching, they went back to their regular growth rate. He came up with a term for this: thigmomorphogenesis. In 1990, a plant biochemist named Dr. Janet Braam discovered that this stunted growth happened because of a genetic change. Touching a plant led to a specific handful of its genes being activated, which she named the touch genes. Fast-forward to December 2018, when researchers at La Trobe University in Australia took a closer look at this phenomenon. They used a plant called thale cress, which pumps its leaves with toxic mustard oil when insects attack. The scientists stroked the leaves of the plants with a soft paintbrush every 12 hours, then measured their biological response at varying periods of time after each stroke. They found that within 30 minutes of being touched, 10 percent of the plant's genome had been altered. At the site where the plants had been stroked, their mitochondria had ramped up their activation of genes known to suppress the touch response. And the same thing had happened at other places on the plant that hadn't even been touched, although that was to a lesser degree. In the end, repeated touching reduced plant growth by up to 30 percent. Plants may have developed this trait to detect the touch of other plants. Think about it: when plants grow too close together, they get less light and fewer nutrients. Growing smaller could be a way to make sure there’s enough to go around. This new research might help farmers know exactly how far to space their plants to ensure they grow as big as possible. In the meantime, don’t pet your plants! That’s what cats are for.
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!