Learn about why the sun and moon don’t have names; why kitchen sponges are grosser than you think (and what to do about it); and how you can improve your self-control with the right feelings of guilt. Please support today’s sponsor, Skura! Visit https://skurastyle.com to get sponges delivered right to your door, and enter promo code CURIOSITY to get your first month FREE! 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: Why Don't the Sun and Moon Have Names? — https://curiosity.im/2KifXAb Kitchen Sponges Are Even Grosser Than You Think — https://curiosity.im/2SvwKC4 Feeling Guilty About a Lapse in Self-Control? Here's a Simple Way to Do Better — https://curiosity.im/2SwJEQv 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 why the sun and moon don’t have names; why kitchen sponges are grosser than you think (and what to do about it); and how you can improve your self-control with the right feelings of guilt.
Please support today’s sponsor, Skura! Visit https://skurastyle.com to get sponges delivered right to your door, and enter promo code CURIOSITY to get your first month FREE!
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:
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/improve-your-self-control-replace-your-kitchen-sponge-and-naming-our-sun-and-moon
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 about why the sun and moon don’t have names; why kitchen sponges are grosser than you think; and how you can improve your self-control with the right feelings of guilt.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Why Don't the Sun and Moon Have Names? — https://curiosity.im/2KifXAb (Ashley)
ASHLEY: Did you know that our sun and moon don’t actually have names? [need better intro lead-in]
The International Astronomical Union is the organization that has the all-important power to name the different parts of our universe. They’re the ones who confirmed the names of major planets, minor planets, stars, comets… but when it comes to the sun and moon, the devil’s in the details. Let me tell you why this is a sore spot for ME: according to the IAU, capitalizing the words Sun and Moon indicates that they’re proper nouns. But if you read about the sun and the moon on curiosity-dot-com, you’ll notice that we leave them lowercase. That’s because Curiosity uses AP Style, which capitalizes the proper names of planets, stars, constellations, etc.. but LOWERCASES sun and moon. This is actually a long-standing feud between science and media, and puts us right in the middle. [ad lib feelings about this] NASA has offered an explanation for why the sun and moon don’t have official names: before Galileo Galilei discovered moons orbiting Jupiter in 1610, we didn't even know there were other moons out there. Therefore, our moon was the only moon: the moon. Jupiter's moons (and the other satellites we've discovered since then) were given names like Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede so we could differentiate them from the moon. So in essence, we call the sun "the sun" and the moon "the moon" for the same reason a 30-something still calls their parents "Mom" and "Dad." It doesn't make them less important; if anything, it shows just how fundamental a role they play in our lives. They're not just any sun and moon — they're THE sun and moon.
Kitchen Sponges Are Even Grosser Than You Think — https://curiosity.im/2SvwKC4 [sponsored] (Both)
CODY: How old is that sponge you're using to clean your dishes or wipe down your counters? If you can't remember (or even if you can), it's probably time to toss it and use a new one. That's because, according to the first comprehensive study on the topic, your kitchen sponge is disgusting. And the only way to fix that is by throwing it out and starting fresh.
ASHLEY: This story is sponsored by Skura Style Sponges, but the science comes from a study published in July 2017 in the Nature journal Scientific Reports. Researchers in Germany sequenced the microbial DNA in 14 used kitchen sponges, to figure out exactly what kind of bacterial situation they had on their hands. They also tagged breeding microbes with fluorescent markers so they could watch them using special imaging techniques.
CODY: This is like the sponge equivalent of putting something gross under a black light. And they hit the motherlode: Out of more than 223,000 DNA sequences, the sponges came back with 362 different types of bacteria. In fact, they found that a single cubic centimeter could be packed with bacteria numbering more than 5 times 10 to the tenth power. That is a density the scientists say is only found in feces — though, to be fair, most of the bacteria weren’t harmful. After all, you’re surrounded by bacteria every second of every day.
ASHLEY: Right, but still, some of the bacteria was definitely harmful. Five of the 10 bacteria most commonly found in the sponges were potential pathogens. Even worse, those nastier bacteria were found in higher percentages in sponges that had been regularly sanitized. That makes sense when you think about it: If popping a sponge in the dishwasher or microwave kills 99 percent of the bacteria festering within it, that remaining 1 percent is by definition the toughest bacteria on the sponge — and now it's free to take over.
CODY: Okay, so now that you’re thoroughly grossed out by that moist little rectangle moldering by the sink, what can you do about it? The official recommendation of the authors of the study is that they suggest, quote, “a regular (and easily affordable) replacement of kitchen sponges, for example, on a weekly basis,” unquote. And you can take their recommendation AND support our sponsor by picking up some Skura Style Sponges. Talk about a win-win.
ASHLEY: SKURA’s easy subscription plans mean you get sponges delivered right to your door, so you don’t even have to think about when it’s time to swap them out. On top of that, Skura Style sponges are made of a patented polyurethane foam and they’re antimicrobial, so they don’t smell. They also harbor 99.9 percent less e.Coli than cellulose sponges, and they rinse clean, dry fast, and keep their shape.
CODY: And we’re gonna help you keep clean with a special offer: go to Skura-style-dot-com now - enter CURIOSITY in the promo box - and get your first month free. Just pay for shipping; you can cancel at any time. That’s S-K-U-R-A-style-dot-com.
ASHLEY: Try the sponge seen on the Today Show that was called life changing. That’s Skura Style. S-K-U-R-A STYLE-dot-com. PROMO CODE CURIOSITY.
Feeling Guilty About a Lapse in Self-Control? Here's a Simple Way to Do Better — https://curiosity.im/2SwJEQv (Republish) (Cody)
Have you felt guilty lately about a lapse in self-control? Well new research has found a way to do better. You know what I’m talking about: maybe you vowed to stop wasting three bucks a day on coffee, or save money instead of go shopping online during your lunch break. We’ve all slipped up. And as reported by Futurity, a recent study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggests you can do something to make yourself less likely to do it again. And paradoxically, it’s an action that could also make you MORE likely to slip up in the future — if you do it wrong. I’m talking about publicly confessing your lapse in sel-control. Sometimes it’ll help you resist temptation in the future, while other times it makes you more likely to give in again. This study wanted to figure out why sometimes it helps, but other times, not so much.
According to Kelly Haws, a professor at Vanderbilt University, most research on confession has focused on either religious contexts or criminal ones. Her study wanted to look at the consequences of confessing everyday lapses of self-control, where the only person you fail is yourself. And the researchers for this study had a theory that feelings of guilt might make the difference.
In a series of five experiments, the researchers looked at how consumers responded differently after confessing versus keeping their transgression to themselves, while also examining the role that guilt played in the confession. The experiments varied, but they generally asked participants of all ages using the MTurk platform to consider a slip-up, their confession, and their behavior afterwards. The researcher confirmed that when the participants felt very guilty, participants had more self-control after confessing. But when they didn’t feel very guilty, confessing actually led to worse self-control. That suggests that insincere confessions might actually undercut any benefit we might gain from seeking accountability. Sounds like that study where we talked about how forcing a toddler to apologize accomplishes nothing, doesn’t it?
The researchers also found two other factors that influenced the effect of guilt on confession: one was public accountability, and the other was self-discrepancy — that’s the degree to which a person feels their actions diverge from their standards. Basically, if it’s something that person would normally do. Something that seems characteristic or uncharacteristic of them.
The researchers say this study could eventually help organizations like weight-loss support groups and addiction recovery facilities understand how and when publicly confessing missteps can help their clients change their behavior — and when it might undermine them instead.
ASHLEY: And now, let’s recap what we learned today.
CODY: Today we learned that the sun and the moon don’t have names, but that’s okay.
ASHLEY: And that kitchen sponges are gross. So go buy a Skura Style Sponge. Support our sponsor and stay as squeaky clean as this podcast!
CODY: And that the more guilty you feel about slipping up, the less likely you’ll be to make the same mistake in the future.
[ad lib optional]
CODY: Join us again tomorrow to learn something new in just a few minutes. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Stay curious!
Patreon Shutdown Announcement
CODY: We’ve also got a quick announcement about our show at the end of today’s episode. Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
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CODY: Before we recap what we learned today, we wanted to make an announcement regarding this podcast — I promise it’s good news, and I’ll explain the details. But as of September 1, we’re going to be shutting down our Patreon page. Here’s the deal: we have needed literally every single dollar you have ever given to us on Patreon. I’m not exaggerating. Curiosity has never been a gigantic company. When we’ve told you that this show is only possible with your support, we were not stretching the truth just to make you feel good.
ASHLEY: Yeah, SERIOUSLY — if you’ve ever given a single dollar to us, then you can say you helped our show exist — and maybe Curiosity as a whole! Having said that, our circumstances have recently changed in a way that will help us keep bringing you this show without the need for your contributions. This is really good news! We can’t get into details right now, but stay tuned and we’ll explain more in the future, when we can. For now, all you need to know is we’ve appreciated your support more than you could possibly know.
CODY: We’ve paused all rewards and payments on Patreon, so you will not be charged for the month of August. And we’ll be shutting down the page at the end of the month. After that happens, we’ll keep hanging out with you on Discord, and we’ll let you know about future plans for our Discord server as we figure them out. Thank you SO MUCH for your support!