Learn why there’s no such thing as “normal” according to Yale researchers; how scientists may have put bacteria in a state of quantum entanglement; why a thing called déjà rêvé might be weirder than déjà vu, and why your sweat might smell like maple syrup. 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: You're Not Normal Because Nobody Is, According to Yale Research — https://curiosity.im/2DdoDFF Scientists May Have Put Bacteria in a State of Quantum Entanglement — https://curiosity.im/2Dea9VQ Déjà Rêvé Is Even Weirder Than Déjà Vu — https://curiosity.im/2DeczDU Additional resources discussed: You Can Smell When Someone's Sick—Here's How | National Geographic Why Do I Smell Maple Syrup? 6 Facts About Inherited Disorder Maple Syrup Urine Disease | Medical Daily 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!
Learn why there’s no such thing as “normal” according to Yale researchers; how scientists may have put bacteria in a state of quantum entanglement; why a thing called déjà rêvé might be weirder than déjà vu, and why your sweat might smell like maple syrup.
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:
Additional resources discussed:
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/nobody-is-normal-quantum-bacteria-deja-reve-and-why-you-might-smell-like-maple-syrup
[MUSIC PLAYING] SPEAKER 1: Hi, we've got the latest and greatest from curiosity.com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I'm Cody Gough.
SPEAKER 2: And I'm Ashley Hamer. Today, you'll learn why there's no such thing as normal, how scientists may have put bacteria in a state of quantum entanglement, and why a thing called deja reve might be weirder than deja vu. We'll also answer a question from a listener who wants to know why her sweat smells like maple syrup. We're not doctors, but we'll still explore some interesting possibilities.
SPEAKER 1: Let's satisfy some curiosity. According to recent research out of Yale University, there's no such thing as normal. I'm happy to present research to validate your weirdness and mine.
SPEAKER 2: And mine.
[LAUGHTER]
Hooray.
SPEAKER 1: Chances are, you've searched online for questions like, when is the normal age to get married, what's a normal bedtime, is it normal to talk to your dog? Well, in a recent study, Yale researchers noted that there is no such thing as normal, not for people and not for people's brains. Change range and variety is much more common for life. And it's necessary for the evolutionary progress of a species.
The researchers argue that there is no universal unconditionally optimal pattern of brain structure or function. So the line between healthy and unhealthy is hard to draw out of context. Now, this has implications for psychiatry and how mental illness should be viewed and treated. Because if you look at any one behavioral or psychological trait by itself out of context, it's hard to know if it's good or bad. The costs and benefits of any one trait can vary wildly, depending on a person's age, social circle, and environment.
Let's think about context. Let's say you eat two dozen dogs at your kitchen table alone at 5:00 in the morning. Whether or not that's quote unquote, "normal," it's probably not a healthy behavior mentally or otherwise. But if you do the same thing at a hot dog eating competition at the state fair, still probably not super physically healthy, but it's a bit more logical, isn't it?
And the researchers behind this study argue that the same circumstantial consideration should be applied to psychiatry. Using the hot dog example, just the sheer act of doing it shouldn't automatically put a person in the bucket of mental illness. Other individual factors need to be taken into account. Now, if you're struggling with something, it's never a bad idea to think about seeking psychiatric help.
But if you love doing something that's not normal, and you're perfectly happy, healthy, and productive in your weirdness, then who's to say your abnormality is wrong? Trust me when I tell you that I am definitely not going to judge, unless perhaps those hot dogs have ketchup on them and you're in Chicago. I would not advise that.
SPEAKER 2: That's a tip from us.
SPEAKER 1: That's just a local Chicago thing.
SPEAKER 2: Don't do it.
SPEAKER 1: I've made that mistake. It's not a thing you want to do.
SPEAKER 2: A team of researchers may have put bacteria in a state of quantum entanglement. Buckle up because it's time to talk quantum mechanics.
SPEAKER 1: It's cool. My coffee's kicked in, so I think I can handle this.
SPEAKER 2: All right. So if you've ever heard of Schrodinger's cat, you've heard of quantum mechanics. We've covered it before, but here's a quick recap, because it's a really great way to illustrate quantum superposition. The idea is if you put a cat in a box with a vial of poison that opens based on the spin of a quantum particle, the cat is both alive and dead. That is in a state of superposition until you open the box and check.
Likewise, quantum particles can be in multiple states at once until they're measured. That's just one weird trick of the quantum world. But lots of quantum effects are pretty much limited to impossibly small particles like photons and electrons. As far as physics is concerned, the quantum world seems to do one thing, and the macroscopic world we're familiar with does another. But if there are two worlds with different rules based on different sizes, then the obvious question is, where's the line?
David Coles from the University of Sheffield is one scientist working on this question. In 2016, he and his colleagues tried to get quantum effects from a photosynthetic organism. They squeezed several hundred photosynthetic bacteria into a cavity between two tiny mirrors spaced a few hundred nanometers apart, then bounced photons or light particles between the mirrors. Just as they had hoped, the, bacteria's light sensitive molecules coupled with the energy in the cavity making the bacteria absorb, emit, and reabsorb the photons.
But recently, another team from the University of Oxford took another look at his experiment and found that there was more to it than that. That team says that the energy signature that was created matches what you might expect if the photosynthetic molecules had become entangled with the photons, specifically by photons both hitting and missing particular molecules at the same time. You could possibly just interpret this as classical physics with no quantum weirdness to blame.
But the team found that a model based on classical physics doesn't match with the actual results. That points to a strong possibility that quantum entanglement really is what was going on in these bacteria. Whichever way it ends up though, many researchers are working diligently to find the line between the classical and quantum worlds, if there is one at all.
SPEAKER 1: There's a thing called deja reve, and it's even weirder than deja vu. With deja reve, you don't feel like you've been somewhere before. You feel like you've predicted the future. Though perhaps, the only thing weirder than deja reve is me trying to figure out if we've done this story before. Ashley, how have we not done this story before?
SPEAKER 2: So meta because I don't remember either. We've definitely talked about how I experienced deja vu as a dream. I feel like I have dreamed it before. I never feel like I have done it before. And it turns out that most of the population feels like they've done it before.
SPEAKER 1: Right. I remember having that conversation with you in this podcast studio for the podcast. But then I'm searching through our scripts, and I'm like, no, we haven't talked about deja reve before. So I feel like we've been here, but now I don't feel like we've been here.
SPEAKER 2: Well, if someone remembers that episode, please tell us.
[LAUGHTER]
SPEAKER 1: It is really weird that this all played out that way.
SPEAKER 2: It really is.
SPEAKER 1: But here we are. So if you've heard this story before, we apologize. But I don't think we have. Anyway, back to the dejas that we're going to talk about. Deja vu is French for already seen. Deja reve is French for already dreamed.
Deja reve is basically the feeling you get when you're in a situation in the real world that makes you feel like you dreamed that you would be there or that you somehow foresaw your circumstances. It doesn't have to be a thing you dreamed up recently either. Some people who experience deja reve have a feeling their prophetic dreams came to them years ago.
Where does this come from? Well, a study from earlier this year found that deja reve experiences are common after electric brain stimulation. That's a pretty standard treatment method for epileptic symptoms. That suggests that the already dreamed feeling is the result of something happening physiologically in the brain. And that could point to a better understanding of how dreams work.
Deja reve isn't just about feeling like you've dreamed your current circumstances before. It's also about feeling like you might be dreaming at the moment. There are a few distinct ways of experiencing deja reve that you can read about in our full write up on curiosity.com and on our free Curiosity app for Android and iOS.
But whichever one happens, if you experience deja reve, you can relax in knowing that it's totally normal. The feeling is just a harmless quirk of your brain. In the meantime, the ability to trigger the feeling with brain stimulation could help scientists answer a lot of questions about dreams. Although, where have I heard that before?
[LAUGHTER]
SPEAKER 2: That's pretty good.
SPEAKER 1: Thank you.
SPEAKER 2: We got a listener question from Wendy from Orange County who asks, why is it that sometimes when I sweat, it smells like maple syrup? I'm consistent with what I eat. I'm a vegan. And I use the same deodorant when I do wear deodorant. My husband and I can't figure it out, and we always joke about my pancake smell. What is this? Great question, Wendy.
SPEAKER 1: Before we get into this, we want to make it clear that we are not giving medical advice. And if you have a serious concern about your health, then you should see a physician. But if you're just curious about something, then yeah, definitely email your favorite podcast, which is us.
SPEAKER 2: So Wendy, this question most likely comes down to your diet. My guess is that you either love Indian food or you have a new baby. Why? Because a maple syrup odor can be caused by consuming the herb fenugreek. That's used in a lot of South Asian cooking, and it's popular among new mothers who are trying to boost their milk production. There is my guess.
But what's interesting is that while your diet can result in different odors, there are also all sorts of diseases that can make you smell like food. So full disclosure, when I first saw this email, I thought, oh, my goodness, one of our listeners has a life-threatening disease. I think I said that to you, Cody, didn't I?
SPEAKER 1: You actually said that to me.
SPEAKER 2: Yeah, but then I did more research.
SPEAKER 1: And you found that our listener probably does not have this.
SPEAKER 2: Yes. But I thought she did, because the only time I had ever heard of someone smelling like maple syrup was from a bizarre disorder called maple syrup urine disease or MSUD. It turns out, though, that MSUD is a genetic disorder that Wendy probably would have known about since infancy, since people with the condition wouldn't be able to process certain amino acids and foods. so that's probably not the cause.
Although again, if you're concerned, then please see a doctor. I'm just some person on a podcast.
SPEAKER 1: An award-winning podcast, though.
SPEAKER 2: Totally. But anyway, as for other diseases that can cause odors, diabetes can make your breath smell like fruit, liver failure can make you smell like raw fish, and typhoid can make you smell like baked bread. Who knew humans could produce so many smells? Thanks again for your question, Wendy.
SPEAKER 1: Before we wrap up, we want to give a special shout out to one of our patrons for supporting our show. Today's episode is brought to you by Dr. Mary Yancy who gets an executive producer credit today for her generous support on Patreon. Thank you so much. We hope you're enjoying your Patreon exclusive rewards. And we'll do our best to keep bringing you the best show we can.
Join us again tomorrow with the award-winning Curiosity Daily and learn something new in just a few minutes. I'm Cody Gough.
SPEAKER 2: And I'm Ashley Hamer. Stay curious.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 3: On the Westwood One Podcast Network.