Learn about why sometimes people lie to seem more honest; how researchers finally figured out how to explain the Cheerios effect; and what we learned about evolution from studying Northern paper wasps, which can recognize each other’s faces.
Learn about why sometimes people lie to seem more honest; how researchers finally figured out how to explain the Cheerios effect; and what we learned about evolution from studying Northern paper wasps, which can recognize each other’s faces.
Sometimes, People Lie to Seem Honest by Kelsey Donk
Researchers Finally Explain the "Cheerios Effect" by Andrea Michelson
Wasps Can Recognize Each Others' Faces by Cameron Duke
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Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/lying-to-seem-honest-the-physics-of-the-cheerios-effect-and-wasps-that-recognize-faces
CODY: Hi! You’re about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from curiosity-dot-com. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about why sometimes people lie to seem more honest; how researchers finally figured out how to explain “the Cheerios effect”; and what we learned about evolution from studying wasps that can recognize each other’s faces.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Is it better to look honest or to actually be honest? Sounds like a trick question, right? Of course, it’s probably best to just be as honest as you seem. But science says it’s not that simple. According to new research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, people sometimes lie to look honest if the truth sounds too good to be true.
This motivation kind of makes sense; I mean, nobody wants to be untrustworthy. And most everyone cares about their reputation and how others see them. So like, imagine you’re paid by the hour for a project that your client thinks should take between six and eight hours to finish. You time it out, and it ends up taking you exactly eight hours. Do you charge them for the whole eight hours? Or do you underreport your time because it would look suspicious not to?
That’s the gist of this new research. We can predict what will make people jealous or suspicious, and we sometimes lie to prevent that reaction. We might rationalize that it’s just simpler for everyone. The study found that this is especially likely to happen when people have a really lucky moment.
For example, in one study, the researchers had participants play dice-rolling and coin-flipping games in private. Afterward, they had to report their scores to a researcher to get their winnings. But the game was rigged, and some of the participants got perfect scores across the board. When it came time to report their winnings, 24 percent of the people who got perfect scores lied about it. Even though it cost them money, they didn’t want to seem like they’d cheated.
The researchers found the same result in a number of different scenarios, like workers being compensated for miles driven and lawyers billing clients for hours worked. They aren’t sure if the findings will translate to the real world in every case, but they do think this new type of lying probably shows up in many ways in daily life. I guess it’s natural. We want to seem honest — so badly that we’ll lie for it.
Have you ever noticed that the last couple of Cheerios in your cereal bowl tend to form a cluster on top of the milk? That’s what scientists call “the Cheerios effect,” for obvious reasons. But this effect applies to more than just breakfast, and some scientists at Brown University recently figured out how it works. So let’s dive into some delicious breakfast food physics.
Researchers already knew that small objects floating on top of liquid cluster together because of surface tension and gravity. Surface tension is the tendency for molecules on the surface of a liquid to pull together and form a kind of smooth, relatively dense film. Gravity is what gives each Cheerio its weight. That weight isn’t heavy enough to break the surface, but it is enough to create a dent in that surface film. And when a couple of Cheerios are close enough together, they move toward each other and their dents merge. The team at Brown was curious about the attractive forces that cause that movement. So, they floated two Cheerio-sized disks in a tub of water. One of those disks was magnetic, and the other was just regular plastic. The scientists activated a magnetic field around the tub, so they were able to make the magnetic disk move while the other stayed put. And by measuring the amount of force it took to move the disks apart, the team was able to calculate how much force was pulling them together.
To their surprise, the attraction between the disks was stronger than they expected. They realized that was because when two disks are close together, they tilt toward each other. That tilt exerts force on the liquid’s surface, and the liquid pushes back. That pushback adds to the attractive force, and makes the disks even more likely to collide. That’s a pretty cool discovery, but it’s good for more than just sharing science facts over breakfast. With a better understanding of these forces, scientists could develop micro-robots that can walk on water. Those robots could help gather important environmental data, and hey, walking on water is pretty cool in itself. Who knew there was a physics lesson floating in your breakfast bowl?
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Have you ever wondered whether insects can tell each other apart? For the most part, invertebrates in general haven’t ever shown signs that they can recognize each other’s faces. But in a recent study from Cornell University, researchers found evidence that a species of wasp can actually recognize the faces of its peers. And that tells us a lot about the evolution of intelligence.
Many vertebrate animals are capable of facial recognition, and for primates, a lot of non-verbal communication happens through facial expressions. American crows are some pretty smart birds, and they’ve been known to even recognize individual human faces. Like I said, though, that’s an incredibly rare trait for an invertebrate.
But Northern paper wasps can recognize each others’ faces. Because this ability is so rare, the fact that these wasps can do it opens up the opportunity to explore how intelligence evolves. In other words, what genes make paper wasps smarter than other wasps?
To answer this question, the researchers analyzed the genomes of several species of paper wasps. Basically, they read all of the genes and learned what each gene does. Then they compared the paper wasp genomes to the genomes of other wasp species that are closely related to them but can’t recognize faces.
They found that the paper wasps’ genomes were pretty similar to those of the related species. That is, except when it came to genes that control long-term memory, brain development, and visual processing. The paper wasps have genes that give them better memories, bigger brains, and better eyesight — and you need all of those traits for facial recognition.
So how did these wasps become so much more intelligent than the rest of their invertebrate relatives? Researchers think it’s because of the paper wasp’s unique social structure. Most insects that form colonies have one queen, but paper wasps can have multiple queens. Scientists aren’t sure why they have multiple queens, but in any case, the situation seems to place a lot of pressure on the queens to get along and compete with each other. Queens that can tell the other queens apart may have a significant reproductive advantage over those that can’t. As a result, any gene that improved memory, vision, and cognition would have a leg up, evolutionarily speaking.
That means that social behavior may be a big driver when it comes to the evolution of intelligence. When your place on the social ladder means life or death, your brain is going to need all the social skills it can muster.
Let’s do a quick recap of what we learned today
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CODY: Today’s stories were written by Kelsey Donk, Andrea Michelson, and Cameron Duke, and edited by Ashley Hamer, who’s the managing editor for Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY: Today’s episode was produced and edited by Cody Gough.
CODY: Join us again tomorrow to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!