Learn why the camera adds 10 pounds (and what you can do about it); why asteroids called Trojans could change what we know about the origins of our solar system; and a technique to help you avoid stress and stay calm. 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: Here's Why the Camera Adds 10 Pounds — https://curiosity.im/2sU6fKL Why Is it So Hard to Look Good in Photos? — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT09gf43PoY Move Over, Moons — Some Planets Also Have Trojans — https://curiosity.im/2sXgHBa The Pre-Mortem Technique Is the Best Way to Avoid Stress and Stay Calm — https://curiosity.im/2sU6s0v 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 why the camera adds 10 pounds (and what you can do about it); why asteroids called Trojans could change what we know about the origins of our solar system; and a technique to help you avoid stress and stay calm.
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-look-good-in-photos-trojan-asteroids-and-a-technique-to-avoid-stress-and-stay-calm
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 why the camera adds 10 pounds (and what you can do about it); why asteroids called Trojans could change what we know about the origins of our solar system; and a technique to help you avoid stress and stay calm.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Here's Why the Camera Adds 10 Pounds — https://curiosity.im/2sU6fKL (Ashley)
If you’re struggling with your selfie game, then don’t worry, you’re not alone. You know the saying that “the camera always adds 10 pounds?” Well that’s actually kinda true. Fortunately, you can blame technology. And even MORE fortunately, there are ways to get around it. [ad lib]
ASHLEY: The main reason you might look wider in photographs comes down to the limitations of the camera itself. Most people see the world with binocular vision — that is, they've got two eyes that each capture their own slightly different perspective of a scene. The brain combines those perspectives to come up with a three-dimensional impression of the world. A camera, on the other hand, has monocular vision. It's stuck with the one eye it's got: the lens. And that one lens can't get as complete a picture as the human visual system can. You can create the ILLUSION of depth in a photo by changing stuff like light and shadow and perspective, but it’s not the real thing. And when something looks flatter, it looks wider, too. Turning on the flash usually makes this worse. The camera also adds some weight because of a thing called barrel distortion. You know that “fish eye” effect you get from a wide-angle and telephoto lens? That’s good when you want to see more stuff in a scene, but if there’s a person in the center of the shot, then they’ll look wider than they do IRL. Different camera lenses — including different phone cameras — produce different amounts of this distortion. But there are ways to get around it. First: angle everything. stick your neck forward to sharpen your jawline. It might feel weird, but give it a shot. And make sure the camera’s at an angle, too. Remember: flat means wide, so you want to create the illusion of depth as much as possible. Angles make that happen. Second: if it bends, bend it. Put a soft bend in your elbows. Bend the knee closest to the camera, or cross your ankles. Pop a hip back. This makes everything look more narrow. Third: don't make yourself front and center. Whatever’s closest to the lens looks the biggest. You don’t want to be the closest person to the camera in a group picture. Stand a bit behind the person next to you, even if that means sacrificing your BFF to the wide-angle lens demons. And if any of this is hard for you to picture, then feel free to check out the video we made about this very subject last year. You can find it on the Curiosity YouTube channel, and we’ll also post a link to that in today’s show notes.
Move Over, Moons — Some Planets Also Have Trojans — https://curiosity.im/2sXgHBa (Ashley)
You know about planets; you know about moons. But do you know about Trojans? They’re asteroids, sure, but they’ve been captured by the gravitational dynamics of larger celestial bodies nearby. Five of the planets in our solar system have at least one Trojan. Uranus has one, Earth has one, Neptune has 13, and Mars has seven. Wanna guess how many Jupiter has, Cody? [ASHLEY: Around one million ad lib]
ASHLEY: You can visualize Trojans the way you might visualize a presidential motorcade. In this case, let’s say the president is Jupiter. The president rides in a limousine along a prearranged route in the center of the motorcade, like the way Jupiter follows an orbit around the sun. That limousine is flanked by cars that have other important officials, and those are Jupiter’s moons. Then you’ve got the Secret Service and police officers driving in front of the limo, and SWAT teams and press vans behind the limo. Here, the Secret Service and police in front are Jupiter’s L4 Trojans, or “The Trojan node,” and the SWAT teams and press in the back are Jupiter’s L5 Trojans, or “the Greek node.” L4 and L5 are named for their Lagrange points. Those are specific spots in space where they can stay in a stable orbit thanks to the the combined gravitational forces of large bodies — in this case, Jupiter and the Sun. Every pair of bodies has five Lagrange points, and some are more stable than others. Astronomers here on Earth use Lagrange points L1 and L2 to park spacecraft, although these points are unstable, so spacecraft have to constantly tweak their orbits to stay put. But L4 and L5 are very stable, and that's why so many asteroids and other cosmic debris call those Lagrange points home — not only in Jupiter's orbit, but also the orbits of Earth, Mars, Neptune, and Uranus. Objects at the L4 and L5 points share an orbit with their chosen planet about 60 degrees ahead or behind. So far, all we know about the Trojans in our solar system, we know because of telescopes. But NASA has plans to launch a mission to dig deeper. It’s called the Lucy mission, and it’ll take a 12-year journey to one asteroid in the main belt and six Trojans around Jupiter. Scientists think the Trojans may be remnants of the primordial material that formed our solar system, so the Lucy mission may rewrite our understanding of the origins of our solar system. Can’t wait to see what’s out there!
[MOVA GLOBES]
CODY: Speaking of our solar system, today’s episode is sponsored by Mova Globes, spelled M-O-V-A. They’re globes that rotate BY THEMSELVES.
ASHLEY: You don’t need to find a perfect Lagrange point to keep these things going. Mova Globes rotate using a technology that’s the first of its kind, so all you need is light. There are no batteries or cords. They just do their own thing!
CODY: There are 40 different designs of Mova Globes — and that includes the Vesta Asteroid, in case our last story got you really amped up about asteroids.
ASHLEY: The moons and planets in their space collection were made using images from NASA and other space organizations, so they’re pretty accurate. I’ve got a globe of Mars on my desk!
CODY: And so does Elon Musk. Seriously. The antique terrestrial map is more my style, but like we said, there are a ton of designs to choose from, including a great selection of other antique maps.
ASHLEY: No matter what your style is, we have an exciting offer for Curiosity Daily listeners: you can get fifteen percent off your purchase. Please visit M-O-V-A-globes-dot-com-slash-curiosity and use coupon code CURIOSITY, that’s C-U-R-I-O-S-I-T-Y, for fifteen percent off your purchase. Again, to get fifteen percent off your purchase, visit mova-globes-dot-com-slash-curiosity and use coupon code CURIOSITY.
The Pre-Mortem Technique Is the Best Way to Avoid Stress and Stay Calm — https://curiosity.im/2sU6s0v (Cody)
We’ll wrap up today with an easy way to stay calm in times of stress. It’s called the pre-mortem technique. That’s another name for the concept of prospective hindsight, which was developed by a psychologist named Gary Klein in order to better handle stressful scenarios as they happen. It’s important because when you’re stressed, your body produces adrenaline and cortisol, which raise your heart rate and cloud your thinking. If you've ever made a bad choice in the heat of the moment, then you know what I’m talking about. The pre-mortem technique is a way to prepare for that stress before it happens. It goes like this: Look into the future and imagine the worst-case scenarios you may have to deal with. Next, do what you can to stop those nightmarish visions from becoming a reality, or at least to minimize the damage they might cause. That’s pretty much it! The trick is to use your precious, stress-free time to think clearly and rationally to plan for a disaster scenario. There are easy ways you can get your pre-mortem-ing going right now. Start by designating places for things that are easily lost. Put your house keys in a bowl by the front door; keep your phone near the charger when it's not in your pocket. Stuff like that. Hopefully, you won't lose those things anymore, and you’ve successfully prevented a few future freak-outs. The pre-mortem technique can be applied to more serious problems too, like medical treatments and financial decisions. Sit back, relax, and make plans, and you’ll be ready to tackle even the most serious problems in your life.
ASHLEY: Read about today’s stories and more on curiosity-dot-com!
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!