Learn what causes that fresh rain smell; how astronauts can actually see cosmic rays; and a trick you can use to stop procrastinating called the “frog rule.” 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: Know that Fresh Rain Smell? Here's What Causes It The Frog Rule Can Help You Stop Procrastinating on Important Tasks Astronauts Can Actually See Cosmic Rays Please tell us about yourself and help us improve the show by taking our listener survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/curiosity-listener-survey 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! Learn about these topics and more onCuriosity.com, and download our5-star app for Android and iOS. Then, join the conversation onFacebook,Twitter, andInstagram. Plus: Amazon smart speaker users, enable ourAlexa Flash Briefing to learn something new in just a few minutes every day!
Learn what causes that fresh rain smell; how astronauts can actually see cosmic rays; and a trick you can use to stop procrastinating called the “frog rule.”
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:
Please tell us about yourself and help us improve the show by taking our listener survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/curiosity-listener-survey
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!
Learn about these topics and more on Curiosity.com, and download our 5-star app for Android and iOS. Then, join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Plus: Amazon smart speaker users, enable our Alexa Flash Briefing to learn something new in just a few minutes every day!
Full episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/how-to-stop-procrastinating-astronauts-seeing-cosmic-rays-and-what-causes-that-fresh-rain-smell
[MUSIC PLAYING] CODY GOUGH: Hi. We've got the latest and greatest from curiositydotcom to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I'm Cody Gough.
ASHLEY HAMER: And I'm Ashley Hamer. Today, you'll learn what causes that fresh rain smell, a trick you can use to stop procrastinating, and how astronauts can actually see cosmic rays.
CODY GOUGH: Let's satisfy some curiosity.
ASHLEY HAMER: Cody, do you like the smell of new rain?
CODY GOUGH: I love everything associated with rain.
ASHLEY HAMER: Really?
CODY GOUGH: Yeah.
ASHLEY HAMER: Like you just like-- you like getting wet, you like puddles.
CODY GOUGH: I love rainy days, I love listening to the rain.
ASHLEY HAMER: Wow.
CODY GOUGH: Everything and everything precipitation. I love when it snows. Yeah. I'm just-- yeah.
ASHLEY HAMER: And you like the smell?
CODY GOUGH: I think so, yeah.
ASHLEY HAMER: I hate the smell.
CODY GOUGH: Really?
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. I don't know what it is. It's like dirt. Yeah. I don't like it. Everyone says that the smell of new rain is like the best smell in the world. I just don't-- I don't understand it.
CODY GOUGH: Do you like rainy days?
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. Sure. I mean, I come from the Pacific Northwest. It rains 50% of the time there.
CODY GOUGH: Oh, right. Northwest. Yeah? Weird. Did you have a really bad rainy day when you were young?
ASHLEY HAMER: No. It's just the smell of new rain smells like dirt, and I don't like it. That's all.
CODY GOUGH: You run so much. You spend so much time outside.
ASHLEY HAMER: Sure. Rain is fine. I'm fine with rain. Just the smell isn't that pleasant.
CODY GOUGH: All right. Well, no judgment.
ASHLEY HAMER: All right.
CODY GOUGH: Rain's not for everybody.
ASHLEY HAMER: No. I like rain, Cody. I just don't like the smell.
[LAUGHTER]
CODY GOUGH: I mean, you can buy an umbrella and then--
ASHLEY HAMER: Gosh.
CODY GOUGH: Well, whether you like the smell of it or not, isn't it interesting to think about what causes that smell?
ASHLEY HAMER: It is. And you know what? I feel like I'm vindicated now that I know what it really is.
CODY GOUGH: Whoa.
ASHLEY HAMER: So a lot of research went into this, including work from a team of Australian scientists and a team of MIT scientists. And it was recently rounded up by Tim Logan-- a professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University. He boiled down the answer into one word, petrichor. Cool. Problem solved. We can all go home. Just kidding.
Logan writes that petrichor is the chemical process that happens when rainwater meets dry Earth. When the Earth gets moist, it releases a cocktail of chemical compounds, including things like plant oils. But the most important ingredient in producing the smell of petrichor is a type of stinky alcohol called geosmin. It's produced by bacteria that live in the soil and break down whatever dead stuff happens to fall to the Earth.
So rain plus dirt equals geosmin, which creates that telltale fresh rain smell. But you only get that with fresh rain because dryness slows down the geosmin-producing bacteria responsible for breaking down the organic matter in the soil. As the raindrops spatter the ground, they kick up geosmin-containing compounds in aerosol form. Let a few gusts of wind stir things up and presto. Your nose detects the geosmin and that unmistakable fresh rain smell.
It can be strong enough that people downwind can catch a whiff and smell an approaching storm. And even if you can't smell petrichor before the rain actually arrives, you might be able to sniff out another telltale sign a storm is brewing. Ozone. The electric charge from lightning splits atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen molecules into separate atoms.
Some of those recombine into nitric oxide. And sometimes that reacts with other atmospheric chemicals to produce a molecule made up of three oxygen atoms-- ozone. That has a distinctly sharp scent. So yes, you really can smell rain coming. Isn't nature cool?
CODY GOUGH: So you're saying that it's caused by bacteria.
ASHLEY HAMER: It's bacteria farts.
[LAUGHTER]
That's what it is.
CODY GOUGH: All right. Well you know what? I like the way it smells.
ASHLEY HAMER: That's just fine.
CODY GOUGH: Ready to become more productive? Well, we've got a tip today that comes from Mark Twain, supposedly. We made a video about this on Facebook earlier this year but it's worth repeating on our podcast and it's called The Frog Rule. Do you ever use this, Ashley?
ASHLEY HAMER: I always use this, actually.
CODY GOUGH: I try to always use this. When I fail, it's obvious. And when I succeed, it's like the best day ever. If you don't know what this rule is, supposedly, Mark Twain once said something along the lines of eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you for the rest of the day. There's, actually, no definitive evidence that Mark Twain spoke or wrote the phrase.
There's even an alternate version that goes a little like this, and this might help make this tip make more sense. Quote, "If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first." Unquote. In more practical terms, the frog is your worst least enjoyable task of the day. That thing you're dreading. But a lot of the time it's also the most important thing for you to do that day.
At least a couple of authors have written about the benefits of doing this. Self-Development Author and Public Speaker Brian Tracy wrote that quote, "Successful, effective people are those who launch directly into their major tasks and then discipline themselves to work steadily and single-mindedly until those tasks are complete." Unquote. And Retired US Navy Admiral William McRaven says that he makes his bed be mourning so that he has a sense of accomplishment at the start of his day.
Not to mention some pride in sticking to a good habit of self discipline. Try to work this week and see how it affects the rest of your work day. That is where I find it is really, really helpful.
ASHLEY HAMER: Definitely.
CODY GOUGH: Sending those dreaded emails, making that phone call you just don't want to deal with, get out of the way before noon, and the rest of your day will just go so smoothly.
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ASHLEY HAMER: Here's something cool. In space, astronauts can see cosmic rays with their naked eyes. Ready for some science?
CODY GOUGH: I'm always ready for some science.
ASHLEY HAMER: This is actually like way more dangerous than it sounds, but it's still super cool.
CODY GOUGH: It's deceptively nefarious--
ASHLEY HAMER: Totally.
CODY GOUGH: --but also magical.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. So cosmic rays are the high energy particles that regularly blast through our solar system from other galaxies or our own sun. They're radioactive fragments of atoms that move at really high speeds and tear through any molecules in their path. They're the reason radiation is a big concern on future missions to Mars.
The first person to report seeing cosmic rays was Buzz Aldrin during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. He mentioned seeing strange flashes of light that took on a variety of shapes and dimensions. NASA put a special detector on Apollo 16 and 17 to figure out what was going on, and they found the flashes were caused by high-energy particles from cosmic rays.
Later research has shown that the particles affected every astronaut differently. Some could see them in bright conditions while others can only see them in the dark. Some were so bothered by them that they had trouble sleeping while others couldn't see them at all. Remember though, that cosmic rays are really harmful. So it's not so good when they hurtle into an astronaut's eyes.
We don't actually know why astronauts are seeing them, though. The rays aren't light after all. They're just radioactive particles. Researchers have three theories about why astronauts can see them. One, is that they were entering the eye and hitting the optic nerve. Another, is that they were entering the astronaut's skulls and hitting the vision center of the brain. Scary.
And the third and scariest theory is that the particles are traveling through the vitreous humor of the astronaut's eyes and emitting light in the form of something called Cherenkov radiation. As in the light is coming from inside their eyeballs. So don't be too jealous that you can't see cosmic rays from here on Earth. At least until we figure out why they're visible up in space.
CODY GOUGH: Read about today's stories and more on curiositydotcom.
ASHLEY HAMER: Join us again tomorrow for the Curiosity Daily and learn something new in just a few minutes. I'm Ashley Hamer.
CODY GOUGH: And I'm Cody Gough.
ASHLEY HAMER: Stay curious.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER: On the Westwood One Podcast Network.