Learn about how the ancient Greeks knew the Earth was round; why being passionate about your job can backfire; and why you shouldn’t worry if you find a hair in your food. Please support our sponsors! Visit capterra.com/curiosity to find the best software solution for your business — for 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: How the Ancient Greeks Knew the Earth Was Round — https://curiosity.im/2HHagcp Passion for Your Job Can Backfire, According to a Study — https://curiosity.im/2WBKhg9 Should You Worry About a Hair in Your Food? — https://curiosity.im/2HOoMzg 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! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom 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 how the ancient Greeks knew the Earth was round; why being passionate about your job can backfire; and why you shouldn’t worry if you find a hair in your food.
Please support our sponsors! Visit capterra.com/curiosity to find the best software solution for your business — for 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:
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! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom
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/passion-for-your-job-can-backfire-ancient-greeks-knew-earth-was-round-and-hair-in-food
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 how the ancient Greeks knew the Earth was round; why being passionate about your job can backfire; and why you shouldn’t worry if you find a hair in your food.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
How the Ancient Greeks Knew the Earth Was Round — https://curiosity.im/2HHagcp (from Sunday) (Ashley)
Did you know that the Ancient Greeks knew the Earth was round? Yeah, this is actually a thing we’ve been aware of for more than 2-thousand years. And the story of HOW they knew it was round is a good one, so let’s get into it. The philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras is credited as the first to propose a spherical Earth back in 500 B.C., though he did so on aesthetic grounds: He believed the sphere was the most perfect shape. A century later, the philosopher Plato suggested the same thing, which boosted the idea's popularity. But when it comes to proving the Earth is round, Aristotle was the first Greek philosopher to put his money where his mouth was. When he was writing his book "On the Heavens" in 350 B.C., he laid out several pieces of evidence for the Earth having a spherical shape. For one thing, he pointed out, you can see the shadow of the Earth on the moon during a lunar eclipse — and since that shadow is always round regardless of where the Earth is in its rotation, you know the Earth is a sphere. For another thing, the stars are in different positions depending on where you are on Earth: There were stars in Egypt that couldn't be seen in Cyprus hundreds of miles away. He wrote that that proved, quote, “not only that the earth is circular in shape, but also that it is a sphere of no great size: for otherwise the effect of so slight a change of place would not be quickly apparent,” unquote. Later, another scholar named Eratosthenes did Aristotle one better: He didn't just prove the Earth was a sphere; he actually figured out the circumference of the Earth. And he did it with only the sun and a stick. Eratosthenes placed a stick in the ground at noon on the summer solstice, when the sun was directly overheard. He did this in both the city of Syene and in Alexandria, cities with a distance between them of about 500 to 600 miles, or 800 to 900 kilometers. He measured the angles of the shadows cast by the sticks to calculate that the Earth was 25-thousand miles around — which means he was only off by about 100 miles. Not bad for a guy and his stick.
Passion for Your Job Can Backfire, According to a Study — https://curiosity.im/2WBKhg9 (Republish) (Cody)
CODY: A new study suggests that having a passion for your job can actually backfire. That’s because, as reported by Futurity, if someone’s passionate about what they do, then people could see that as an opportunity to exploit them. The findings show that people see it as more acceptable to make passionate employees do things like work on weekends or do unpaid or more demeaning work than employees without that passion. And this “passion exploitation” was consistent across eight studies with more than 24-hundred total participants, no matter how the study was executed, and no matter who the participants or jobs were. For instance, one study, had participants read about an artist who was really passionate about his job. Participants in that study said it was more legitimate for the boss to exploit the artist in ways like asking for work far beyond the job description, including leaving a day at the park with family and cleaning the office bathroom. But get this: the researchers also found that the reverse is true. As in, people who are exploited at work are more likely to be seen as passionate about their work. Participants read about a PhD student who was being verbally abused and given unreasonable deadlines, and they rated that student as probably being more passionate than other students. So just by being in a bad work situation, someone might mislabel you as “passionate.” And the researchers suggest this happens for two reasons: first, that work is its own reward, and second, that the employee would have volunteered anyway. But it’s really just rationalizing injustice. The goal of this study was not to be anti-passion, because obviously it can be a really good thing if you’re passionate about your work. Instead, the findings are presented as a warning that that passion shouldn’t be used as an excuse for poor treatment. If you find yourself being exploited, then speak up. And remember: just because someone makes sacrifices for their job doesn’t necessarily mean it’s because they love it. [ad lib]
[CAPTERRA]
ASHLEY: Today’s episode is sponsored by Capterra, a FREE online resource to help you find the best software solution for your business.
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ASHLEY: Or how about software to schedule podcast guests? Seriously, you’ll find what you need with more than eight-hundred-fifty-THOUSAND reviews of products on Capterra, from real software users. And you can join the millions of people who use Capterra every month to find the right tools for your business, FAST — and for free!.
CODY: Visit capterra-dot-com-slash-curiosity, TODAY, to find the right tools to make 2019 THE year for your business. Capterra, that’s C-A-P-T-E-R-R-A, dot-com-slash-curiosity.
ASHLEY: One more time, that’s capterra-dot-com-slash-curiosity. Show our sponsor some love and check it out today — for free!
Should You Worry About a Hair in Your Food? — https://curiosity.im/2HOoMzg (Ashley)
We saved the kinda gross story for last today, in case you’re really, really squeamish about finding hair in your food. But before you skip the rest of this episode, you should know that finding a hair in your food is actually harmless! The FDA guidelines don't have a limit on strands per plate, and it doesn't even include hair on the list of "natural or unavoidable defects" in foods. That’s because hair is made of a protein called keratin, which is the same stuff as your fingernails, and keratin is chemically inactive in your locks. That means it’s not gonna set off digestive issues. Technically, it is feasible for a little bit of staph bacteria to piggyback on a hair or two. But the amount of staph a few strands could carry probably isn't enough to cause you gastrointestinal problems. The FDA hasn't received reports of anyone getting sick from ingesting hair found in food. Probably because you'd have to eat a full head's worth of hair to cause digestive issues. So, hopefully, that means you're safe! Now that you've gotten your sigh of relief, let's kick things up a notch. Plenty of the foods you eat every day contain human hair on purpose. I’ll give you a second to let that sink in. Here’s why: there’s an amino acid in keratin that’s commonly synthesized from human hair and used in breads and doughs. It’s called L-cysteine, and manufacturers can extract it from duck feathers, cow horns, and pig bristles, too. But, apparently, human hair yields more L-cysteine than other materials. And L-cysteine does some good stuff, like extending the shelf life of bread products, and helping taste buds detect salty, savory flavors. Human hair is boiled in hydrochloric acid to extract the L-cysteine from the keratin, so don’t worry, the stuff is clean. That's good, right? And L-cysteine may even be beneficial in treating colitis, which is a digestive disease. But rest assured, whether it's L-cysteine in your toast or a strand on your pizza, hair is by far not the worst thing that can happen to your meal. [ad lib]
CODY: Read about today’s stories and more on curiosity-dot-com!
ASHLEY: Join us again tomorrow for the award-winning Curiosity Daily and learn something new in just a few minutes. I’m [NAME] and I’m [NAME]. Stay curious!