Learn about where the water on Earth might have come from; the surprising history of the pretzel, including the monk who invented it; words you probably didn’t know are named after people; and where “runner’s high” comes from, and whether it’s genetic. Please leave us a 5-star rating on our Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing! We really appreciate it! Anyone with an Amazon account can do it. 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 Did Earth Get All This Water? Pretzels Got Their Characteristic Shape Thanks to a Catholic Monk Bet You Didn't Know These 10 Words Were Named After People Alexa Flash Briefing (Please leave us a 5-star review!) 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 onCuriosity.com, and download our5-star app for Android and iOS. Then, join the conversation onFacebook,Twitter, andInstagram. Plus: Amazon smart speaker users, enable ourAlexa Flash Briefing to learn something new in just a few minutes every day!
Learn about where the water on Earth might have come from; the surprising history of the pretzel, including the monk who invented it; words you probably didn’t know are named after people; and where “runner’s high” comes from, and whether it’s genetic.
Please leave us a 5-star rating on our Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing! We really appreciate it! Anyone with an Amazon account can do it.
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:
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/pretzel-history-how-earth-got-its-water-runners-high-origins-and-words-named-after-people
[MUSIC PLAYING] CODY GOUGH: Hi. We've got the latest and greatest from curiosity.com plus the answer to a question from a curious listener like you to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I'm Cody Gough.
ASHLEY HAMER: And I'm Ashley Hamer. Today, you'll learn about where the water on Earth might have come from, the surprising origin of the pretzel, and words you probably didn't know were named after people. We'll also answer a question from Jerris, who asks, is the runner's high genetic?
CODY GOUGH: Let's satisfy some curiosity.
ASHLEY HAMER: About 70% of our planet is covered in oceans, lakes, rivers, swamps, and other sources of water. That's a lot of water. But we know very little about how water got here in the first place. A new study thinks it might have some answers.
CODY GOUGH: It's about time we get to the bottom of this water mystery. How come we have oceans, and there's none on Mars? I want to know, Ashley.
[LAUGHTER]
ASHLEY HAMER: Well, this doesn't answer that question, but it might point in the right direction.
CODY GOUGH: Ah, that's good enough.
ASHLEY HAMER: Earth formed about 4 and 1/2 billion years ago along with the rest of the solar system. Somewhere in its early history, while it was growing from picking up nearby rocks and little worlds and its gravitational pull, somehow, it acquired water. How is the big question. Some scientists think maybe comets brought water to Earth, or maybe, Earth was just born wet.
Our planet formed from picking up boulders nearby, so maybe some of them already had water inside. But if that's the case, then how did we go from little bits of water and boulders to the giant oceans we have today? A new study from an international team of researchers may have found a solution. A new model suggests our baby planet formed out of dust grains that all contained water.
The idea is that over time, water-enhanced dust grains would stick together under the influence of gravity. Grains became pebbles, pebbles became boulders, and boulders became planetesimals. Those are worlds that are a little smaller than planets. Eventually, planet Earth grew up from these water-rich origins.
You can read more details about the idea in our full write up on curiosity.com and on our free Curiosity app for Android and iOS. Like with all good science, we'll keep an eye on how the idea is received. And we'll let you know if the scientific community welcomes it with open arms, or they decide this study doesn't hold any water.
[LAUGHTER]
CODY GOUGH: These pretzels are making me thirsty for history. Ashley, you want to learn some history?
ASHLEY HAMER: Sure.
[LAUGHTER]
CODY GOUGH: I enjoy history with all its twists and turns.
ASHLEY HAMER: Oh, boy.
CODY GOUGH: Today, we've got a story about the history of pretzels. Pull up a chair for some story time. And nobody knows for sure where the pretzel came from. But the most common origin story says that it was created by an Italian monk around 610 AD. Legend has it that the monk was baking bread for Lent when he thought of a way to reward children who had learned their prayers.
He twisted strips of dough to resemble a child crossing their arms in prayer and baked them into a soft, squishy treat. Whether the treat was named for its shape or its purpose is a little less clear. According to history, the original name was either Latin for "little arms" or Latin for "little rewards." But either way, the pretzels you eat today are supposed to resemble a child praying.
And as the popularity of pretzels spread across Europe, people started saying that the three holes in a pretzel represents the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Pretzels were also super popular during Lent, which used to have way more strict dietary restrictions than just not eating meat on Fridays. So there you go, a little religious history in pretzels. Who knew?
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. Who knew that you are eating a Christian symbol every time that you ate a pretzel?
CODY GOUGH: See now, I was raised Catholic. So I want to go home and visit my parents. Now, if I bust out a pretzel and want to go on a pretzel binge, I can just be like, hey, listen, sanctioned by the church.
ASHLEY HAMER: Exactly.
CODY GOUGH: That's not true. [LAUGHS] But pretzels are delicious.
ASHLEY HAMER: We got a listener question from Jerris-- hi, Jerris-- who writes, is the runner's high genetic? I don't get the endorphin rush from exercise that some people do. I've heard that there's a genetic component. Is this true? If not, what triggers it in some people but not others? I love this question because I've heard from a lot of people who say they don't experience a runner's high. So I'm excited to get to the bottom of it.
The so-called runner's high is a feeling of blissful euphoria or previously untapped energy that you get during an aerobic workout, like running. It seems to come down to the release of three types of chemicals in your body. The first type is, of course, endorphins, which activate your body's opiate receptors to make you feel good and reduce your perception of pain.
Another type is known as endocannabinoids which activate the same receptors as marijuana. No joke. And they can give you a feeling of calm along with a nice hit of pain reduction. Finally, there's leptin, a hormone that your fat cells produce to let you know when you've eaten enough.
In one study, mice that were engineered to have lower leptin levels, that is made to feel hungrier, logged more miles on their running wheels than their normal mouse brethren. But here's the thing. While it's possible for your genes to alter how sensitive you are to your various brain chemicals, genetics doesn't seem to be the main culprit here.
Instead, it could be the type of exercise you're doing, how you're doing it, and importantly, how you feel about it. If you don't like running, you're unlikely to feel good doing it. Studies bear that out. If you do like running and you're just not getting a runner's high, however, you might try changing up your intensity.
Experts say that the best way to achieve that runner's high is by running at a comfortably challenging pace or around 80% of your maximum heart rate for at least 30 minutes. Getting a good night's sleep and working out first thing in the morning may also help. Good luck.
CODY GOUGH: I'm going to need luck doing the first thing in the morning deal.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. [LAUGHS] It's not for everyone. Today's episode is sponsored by PBS.
CODY GOUGH: Do you love a good book? Have a favorite novel-- Catcher in the Rye, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Gone with the Wind, The Color Purple? So many classic and beloved stories. It's hard to pick just one. But PBS needs your help doing just that.
ASHLEY HAMER: PBS has a list of America's 100 best loved novels. And they need you to help pick number one.
The Great American Read returns Tuesdays this fall at 8:00/7:00 Central, starting September 11 on your PBS station. Host Meredith Vieira talks to some of your favorite authors, celebrities, and athletes about the subjects and stories found in our favorite books. They'll explore the many ways in which these novels affect, reflect, and connect us all.
CODY GOUGH: Go to pbs.org to see the entire list. Vote for your favorites and share with your friends because it all leads up to the grand finale on Tuesday, October 23, when all the votes are counted, and America's favorite novel is announced. Celebrate reading books and imagination. Join the conversation at hashtag #greatreadpbs.
The Great American Read returns Tuesdays this fall at 8:00/7:00 Central, starting September 11-- that was last week-- on your local PBS station.
Before we wrap up today, here are a couple of words you probably didn't know were named after people. Got to have some fun with language before we go. First is the word "mesmerize." Mesmerism was a kind of a precursor to hypnotism developed by the German doctor Franz Mesmer.
He mistakenly believed that all living things are governed in part by a magnetic fluid. And he treated his patients with a combination of magnets and the power of suggestion. Today, the word is generally used as a synonym for "hypnotism."
And the other word I want to mention is "silhouette." That got its name from a French minister of finance in the 18th century. Etienne de Silhouette got a bad reputation for being a cheapskate after enacting a tax code that targeted the wealthy. Soon, everything frugal or penny pinching began to be labeled "a la silhouette" or "like silhouette does," including the much more economical form of portraiture.
If we had more time, then we would have a lot more fun with language. But sadly, you'll have to refer to our full list of 10 words named after people in our full write-up. There's a link in the show notes for your convenience.
Hey, if you're listening to this on a smart speaker, you may have us as part of your Amazon flash briefing, perhaps. Well, hey, listen, we're kind of doing a special thing with our flash briefing over the next week or two. And it would actually be really awesome if you could leave us a five-star review, specifically on our flash briefing this week.
This is a time-sensitive thing, which we don't usually do. But here we are. And a couple of people have left amazing reviews recently that are just super, super cool. Eli wrote, I'm always looking for content to edit my flash briefing. I appreciate that the podcast is updated regularly. The hosts are upbeat and have good radio voices. People usually tell me I have a face for radio.
[LAUGHTER]
Content is interesting in a nice break from usually glum news. I think we try to be upbeat here.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. And Kelly wrote, I had to move this up in my flash briefing to ensure I heard it everyday. I hate to miss an episode. I'm always learning something new and interesting from Curiosity. I look forward to the following briefing to hear what else they'll talk about. Cody and Ashley do a great job of keeping it entertaining while also being factual and educational.
CODY GOUGH: That's us. That's so cool.
ASHLEY HAMER: I frequently find myself telling others about what I heard/learned from Curiosity. Keep doing what you're doing. Great job. Thank you, Kelly.
CODY GOUGH: I got to say, I've never been more interesting in a party than I have become since starting to work at Curiosity.
ASHLEY HAMER: Totally. I have tons of little tidbits to share with people.
CODY GOUGH: I'm glad that people at home are feeling the same way. So again, thank you so much for writing us a review. If you are listening in your flash briefing and you haven't left a review yet, this is the week to do it. This is the week that it'll actually impact us the most for reasons because reasons.
ASHLEY HAMER: We have a link in the show notes to our flash briefing page. And you can leave us a review. And please do if you have an Amazon account.
CODY GOUGH: And who doesn't have an Amazon account?
ASHLEY HAMER: Right.
CODY GOUGH: Ashley and I do read every review. And if you have other feedback for us, you can always let us know in our listener survey, which there is also a link to that in the show notes.
ASHLEY HAMER: And we love reading that too. And if you take our survey, you can enter to win a free Curiosity t-shirt. Who doesn't want that?
CODY GOUGH: Thanks so much for your awesome support no matter how you're doing it.
ASHLEY HAMER: Read about these stories and more today on curiosity.com.
CODY GOUGH: Join us again tomorrow for the Curiosity Daily, and learn something new in just a few minutes. I'm Cody Gough.
ASHLEY HAMER: And I'm Ashley Hamer. Stay curious.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: On the Westwood One Podcast Network.