Today you’ll learn about new treatments the wealthy are using to try and stay young forever, the cultural and social evolution of the word please, and how the snap fit mechanism used in things like lego bricks is being updated for even bigger projects.
Today you’ll learn about new treatments the wealthy are using to try and stay young forever, the cultural and social evolution of the word please, and how the snap fit mechanism used in things like lego bricks is being updated for even bigger projects.
Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/immortality-tech-please-is-not-polite-snap-fit-physics
Immortality Tech
Please Is Not Polite
Snap Fit Physics
Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Calli and Nate — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.
[SFX: INTRO MUSIC/WHOOSH]
NATE: Hi! You’re about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from Discovery. Time flies when you’re learnin’ super cool stuff. I’m Nate.
CALLI: And I’m Calli. If you’re dropping in for the first time, welcome to Curiosity, where we aim to blow your mind by helping you to grow your mind. If you’re a loyal listener, welcome back!
NATE: Today you’ll learn about new treatments the wealthy are using to try and stay young forever, the cultural and social evolution of the word please, and how the snap fit mechanism, used in things like lego bricks, is being updated for even bigger projects.
CALLI: Without further ado, let’s satisfy some curiosity!
[SFX: WHOOSH]
CALLI: Since the beginning of time, humans have been searching for the fountain of youth. Turns out we’re actually getting closer and there are now so many ways to look young forever!
NATE: How many ways to stay young and beautiful could there be? Diet, exercise, apparently treatments made of young people’s blood… how far could that list go, couldn’t possibly get any longer, right?
CALLI: You would think so, and yet here I am today with an article by Insider, who spoke with experts about the current trend we see especially in the wealthy: doing something to stay young forever. Some of the methods make a lot of sense, and could actually make everybody’s lives a little better. Others… not so much.
NATE: Like what?
CALLI: Let me start by telling you about cold exposure therapy. It’s exactly what it sounds like: expose your body to extremely cold temperatures for a short amount of time, like taking a really cold bath or doing cryotherapy, which is when you spend a few minutes in a chamber with freezing temperatures. There’s a growing amount of research that suggests that cold exposure could work wonders for your physical and mental health, because the cold triggers the production of endorphins in your brain like epinephrine and dopamine, which could reduce the inflammation in your body, limiting your risks of catching the chronic diseases we associate with age such as high blood pressure or arthritis.
NATE: Brrrr. Sounds interesting - but also dangerous.
CALLI: Yeah, that’s one of the potential downfalls of cold exposure therapy. Like any therapy, you should really consult your doctor before trying it… because otherwise, if you just dive into a cold pool, you’re putting yourself at risk for frostbite, hypothermia, and maybe even a heart attack. Worse, researchers haven’t really come to an agreement yet on what the perfect amount of time is for cold exposure… or even the temperature. Some researchers say 50 degree water, some say 70, others say 59, I mean it’s all over the place. But the most unfortunate part about cold exposure therapy is that there’s no actual evidence it can make you younger… only that it can sooth a sore muscle.
NATE: Why do people think it makes you stay young?
CALLI: Anecdotal evidence. A few doctors at Cedars-Sinai were asked why people associate cold exposure with youth, and they cited stories they’d heard from older 80-something men who took a swim every single morning, saying that the cold water is what kept them feeling young. The doctors don’t think that’s the case though, and more likely, it was the daily physical activity.
NATE: Playing devil’s advocate, what about some methods that don’t require you to nearly freeze to death or even have to be physical?
CALLI: There are a few of those too, with their own pros and cons. But one is more promising than the others: Ashwagandha, an herb that’s been used as a holistic treatment in India. It’s what’s considered an “adaptogen,” which is a natural substance that can help the body calm down during a stressful event. But it can also soothe arthritis, and even boost your brain’s strength. Remember how we talked recently about cortisol, our body’s natural stress hormone? Ashwagandha can even reduce cortisol!
NATE: Awesome, but I’m not hearing anything about anti-aging there…
CALLI: Well, that’s because that’s a recent development! New studies from back in 2020 have found that ashwagandha might be able to help telomeres keep their length. Telomeres, if you didn’t know, are the proteins at the end of our chromosomes. As we get older, telomeres get shorter. Now, we don’t know why for sure, but it IS theorized that if we keep our telomeres from shortening… we COULD slow down cell aging and the degeneration of our bodies.
NATE: I think I told you about telomeres before! There was that experiment in Israel where scientists successfully reversed the aging process for a few cells by lengthening the telomeres. But… it wasn’t clear if it actually reversed or stopped aging. Just the aging of the cells. So, that’s a bust. Were there any other methods that DID have evidence of keeping people young?
CALLI: A few, to varying degrees. One of the most promising methods is known as red light therapy, which shines red LED lights all over the body. Turns out if you expose your body to red light for anywhere between five and twenty minutes at a time, you’ll increase your body’s production of adenosine triphosphate - by a pretty substantial amount.
NATE: Oh right right, adenosine triphosphate. Totally.
CALLI: I didn’t know what it was, either. It’s a compound that provides and stores energy for each of our cells. What does an excess of adenosine triphosphate mean? We don’t actually know for sure. But there is SOME evidence that it means our bodies become better at repairing themselves; specifically our skin. Red light therapy is linked with a reduction in acne, a reversal of hair loss, faster wound healing, and sun damage - all hallmarks of what would be considered successful anti-aging techniques.
NATE: This one sounds great! What’s wrong with THIS method?
CALLI: Just that we don’t know enough. The medical consensus is that red light therapy is “promising,” but the benefits are infrequent enough that we’re not sure just how effective it is. We know that red light isn’t toxic or cancer-causing, like ultraviolet sunlight. BUT, if you use red light therapy too often, you could actually permanently damage your skin or even your eyes. Still, with more research, this could be our second most promising anti-aging solution!
NATE: Second most? What’s the most promising?
CALLI: Rapamycin, which researchers are calling a possible “fountain of youth” pill. It’s an immunosuppressive drug we currently use to treat a few cancers, or during kidney transplants to help a patient’s body accept the new kidney. But the real fountain of youth arrives from the pill’s ability to slow down the growth and reproduction of cells… meaning it could stop inflammation that gets worse as we get older. Which could prevent diseases that get worse with age like cancer or Alzheimer’s. Which means it could keep those cells young and healthy forever.
NATE: That sounds great. And what’s the catch with this treatment?
CALLI: The only catch is we haven’t figured out a correct way to use it for humans yet. We already have evidence that it can slow down the aging process for flies and mice, but right now, we only have evidence that it can boost a human’s immune system. That hasn’t stopped people from taking off-label non-prescribed rapamycin, due to its status as a ”fountain of youth” drug, but unfortunately, we don’t have much in the way of research on that yet.
NATE: Sounds to me like we don’t actually have any “fountain of youth” treatments after all.
CALLI: All of these examples are pretty promising, Nate. We just need a bit more research to commit to any single one of them, and honestly, in moderation, none of them will hurt you. For the time being, it’s like you said when we talked about telomeres before: if you want to stay young forever, you can’t. But you CAN stay healthy with a proper diet and good old-fashioned exercise. Whether any of these things will make you feel better, well - that’s up to you!
[SFX: WHOOSH]
NATE: Quick question: which statement is more polite? “Could you get the door for me?” Or:“Could you PLEASE get the door for me?”
CALLI: I think the tone of your voice is doing a lot of the heavy lifting there, but probably the first one. I know the word “please” is supposed to be polite, but in that context, you just kinda sound rude and really snarky.
NATE: You’re not alone in thinking that, either! A new study out of The Atlantic looked into the history of the word “please,” and discovered that what was once a polite turn of phrase has actually evolved, socially speaking, into a bit of a double edged sword. It still exists as a word we use when we try to be polite… but it’s so commonly used to imply exasperation that even seeing the word can make people feel uncomfortable.
CALLI: Come to think of it, the word “please” does make me feel a little funny. It’s usually used in the middle of a demand of some kind. Like if somebody says “Could you PLEASE turn down that Hosier record,” it’s because they think my music’s too loud and they’re mad about it. But it’s also the magic word, right? We use that word to teach kids to say please to be polite even if that’s not always the case.
NATE: Exactly. And it wasn’t always this way. The first record we have of the word “please” in the English language comes from back in the 1300s, when a four-word phrase was translated from French: “if it please you.” In this context, it’s meant to be a sort of humble request. For example, in a 15th century English epic called Le Morte d’Arthur, a character says “And if it please you … that I may be made knyghte” as a request to the king to become a knight. This phrase, in French, still implies humbleness, and is even used today in France. But after the 1300s, it took a bit of a turn in the English-speaking world.
CALLI: How did four words, “if it please you,” turn into one adverb or verb?
NATE: It started around the 16th century when four words became three. All references to the phrase around then removed “it,” and became “if you please.” Same meaning, but shorter to say. Then, around 1659, another word disappeared. “Please you to have a little patience” is a turn of phrase James Shirley used in his play Honoria and Mammon. But, much like the Highlander, there can be only one. In 1771, the first recorded use of “Please” on its own was used in a letter by a London merchant. The study out of The Atlantic calls this the first example of “please” being used with “graceless urgency” - much less polite than before, while also signifying that something needed to happen NOW.
CALLI: And that was it? Was there any reason for it?
NATE: Not that we know of, but like most other evolutions in language, it was probably due to it being efficient to say certain things in fewer words. It’s a social evolution. Think about how when I say the word “laser,” you know exactly what I’m talking about. A bright beam of light, maybe deadly, maybe not, but it’s concentrated in one direction. When you write the word, it’s all in lowercase: because it’s considered a word now. But it originated as an ACRONYM: for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.” Over time, “laser” became such a common way to describe this sort of phenomenon that it just became a full-on word. The same thing happened with “if it please you” and “please.”
CALLI: Well, what happened to make “please” feel so rude in 2023?
NATE: A few centuries of further social evolution. The study from The Atlantic cites a psychologist named Steven Pinker, who researched how “please” had been used across history in works of fiction. From 1860 to 2012, people used it more and more, probably due to a trend in fiction writers creating more works in an “informal way” - basically, to get polite language across in fewer words. But Pinker thinks writers may have gone too far with the informality over time.
CALLI: What do you mean?
NATE: Around 2012, there seemed to be a shift in fiction, and also the social consciousness, on the use of the word “please.” Suddenly, the word might read as a character being either rude, or too “fawning or gushy.” “Please” became a word that required the correct context. A little kid asking “may i have more ice cream, please?” That’s benign. But a police officer saying “license and registration, PLEASE” sounds less like a plea and more like a demand. Especially to younger people.
CALLI: What’s different for younger people? Please is also “the magic word,” right? We use that phrase to teach kids that “please” is a way to be polite… even if that’s not always the case.
NATE: There’s not really any data on this, but even renowned modern thinkers like Noam Chomsky believe that the word “please” has a certain snark to it when it comes out of a young person’s mouth. He believes it implies they’ve been told something more than enough times. For example, if you ask a young person something about themselves that isn’t true, and they respond with PLEASE. That can showcase a number of things. Anger, passive aggression, desperation, or even more literary concepts, like irony. What it doesn’t display is what it’s intended to: politeness. And I think a lot of that may have to do with how we teach kids early that “please” is THE polite phrase.
CALLI: The word Please. Born sometime in 1300, died 2023 on Curiosity Daily. If “please” is so rude, what do we say now?
NATE: For starters, I wanna make it clear that “please” isn’t dead. Again, it can be used in a number of different contexts appropriately. But if you want to maintain a polite tone, one example you could use is to ask “Would you mind” instead. Much like “if it please you,” it leaves the request open-ended, feeling less like a demand and more like a genuine question. No matter what, English, like all other languages, is alive and ever-evolving. Trying to read anything in Olde English feels like you’re trying to translate another language - because it basically is. “Please” might be on its way out as an acceptable turn of phrase for the polite, but it wouldn’t be the first time something like this has happened - and it won’t be the last.
CALLI: Oh, please.
[SFX: WHOOSH]
CALLI: You know what one of my favorite sounds is? That sound when you place the top of a lid on a tupperware bowl and it just sorta snaps into place perfectly. It’s a perfect example of what’s considered a “snap fit mechanism” that you’ll find in everything from Ziploc bags to IKEA furniture. But have you ever wondered how that mechanism even works?
NATE: I’ve always assumed that it’s a combination of suction and objects with narrow edges being pushed into narrow spaces. But come to think of it… I guess that doesn’t really explain how you can take a snap fit APART.
CALLI: That’s basically where physicist Hirofumi Wada was coming from when he noticed all sorts of snap fit mechanisms at his home in Japan. His wife and kids used everything from electronic toys with snap fit battery covers to freezer bags in the kitchen, and he needed to know how something that seems so simple could be used for so many things. So he wanted to experiment. And one day, his student Keisuke Yoshida was messing around with some materials in a lab setting, and found the perfect combination of items to put the snap fit experiment to the test.
NATE: Was it a brand new set of IKEA furniture?
CALLI: Nope. It was a very basic rigid plastic cylinder. The student used the cylinder with a thin piece of plastic that had been doused in hot water for long enough that it would bend quite easily when they pushed the cylinder into the plastic. Their goal, at first, was just to create their own snap fit mechanism, so they kept rearranging the plastic sheet, folding it or rolling it up, and then pushing the cylinder into it.
NATE: That sounds less like an experiment and more like just two scientists playing with a few pieces of plastic.
CALLI: Okay but remember in the infamous words of Adam Savage from Mythbusters, “The only difference between screwing around and science is writing it down.” Wada said the goal was to keep the experiment simple, because they wanted to “study a simplified system in detail.” Basically: if they could learn how the simplest snaps work, somebody could maybe develop better industrial variants later on.
NATE: Here’s what I’m curious about, though. They managed to poke a cylinder through a plastic sheet. How does that represent a snap fit?
CALLI: Let me put it another way: snap fits are, by their very nature, asymmetrical. They’re easy to put together and a bit harder to take apart. Whenever this kind of thing is being made, the goal is to make it so you can push the lock mechanism into place AND make it just a little harder to separate, without making it impossible to remove, of course. What Wada and Yoshida’s work does is show that the best snap fits depend entirely on how an object’s shape interacts with its ability to change shape and then mold back into place. In short: their work with snap fits SEEMS simple… but according to them, it’s an “exquisite combination of geometry, elasticity, and friction” that could lead to a real revolution in how similar designs are made in the future.
NATE: Well, I’m gonna have to agree with them: it’s really cool that they were able to make something so complicated seem so easy. What kind of revolution are they referring to?
CALLI: Think about anything that relies on glue or plastic that, if recycled or disposed of, would cause harm to the environment. For example, an apartment building. The very foundation of how most buildings are made, probably even the building I’m in right now. By innovating different kinds of snap fit mechanisms, especially the kinds that DON’T come apart so easily, you’d eliminate the need for glue, cement, or any other adhesives.
NATE: What you just described is a giant Lego house, and that’s the future I want to be a part of.
CALLI: Right? Just imagine living in a nice, yet properly insulated, Lego home, with a nice Lego door and your Lego robot… and if you’re thinking “wait, why would I have a Lego robot?” It’s because another possible innovation the snap fit can tie itself to is robotics. With a new and improved snap fit, you could make a robot that doesn’t just grab an item. You can make a robot that can just SNAP onto an item, just so long as the object also has a snapping mechanism, of course.
NATE: I was obsessed with Legos as a kid. Why is this the first time I’m hearing about how my life could potentially be Lego-fied?
CALLI: There’s this mathematician at Oxford in the UK named Dominic Vella, who didn’t help Wada with the study but considers himself a huge fan of Wada’s work and the concept of snap fit mechanics. Vella told Inside Science that there isn’t really an acceptable reason for why nobody’s looked into the science of snap fits before. He has a theory that it’s because the snap fits worked… and nobody ever thought to question it.
NATE: Wait. You’re telling me that scientists, people who are naturally curious and are supposed to question everything… did not question the snap fit?
CALLI: Nate, did YOU ever questioned the snap fit? It’s something society at large has –MAYBE taken a bit for granted, but because of Wada and Yoshida, we finally have a few answers as to how and why this material works. So the next time you’re packing your lunch into a secure piece of tupperware, just remember to say thanks to these guys, because without Snap Fit Mechanism, your lunch would spill all over the place.
[SFX: WHOOSH]
NATE: Let’s recap what we learned today to wrap up.
CALLI: In recent years, Silicon Valley billionaires have become obsessed with finding “the fountain of youth” - the one treatment that will keep a person young and beautiful forever. The website Insider recently gathered together a number of the most promising treatments being used by the wealthy, and provided pros and cons to each, from fasting to cold exposure therapy and everything in between. Right now, the most promising solution is the most old fashioned: a proper diet and healthy exercise!
NATE: Could you please explain to me why the word “please” is still in use? Over time, the word “please” has evolved from a polite request into a source of snark and derision for younger generations, and since 2012 it’s only gotten worse. This is due to the social evolution of language in general, and we might actually be seeing “please” as it’s on its way out of the English language!
CALLI: How does the snap fit mechanism even work? A new study out of Japan has figured out that the snap fit is just a combination of “geometry, elasticity, and friction” that makes objects easy to stick together but harder to take apart. This mechanism is easily accessible but less well understood, and with more studying, we could find ourselves in a world where this sort of thing could revolutionize other mechanical areas - including HOUSING.