Today we explore the science behind getting great ideas in the shower, how regular chocolate consumption can slow down cognitive decline, and how a black hole recently burped out the remnants of a star it absorbed four YEARS ago!
Today we explore the science behind getting great ideas in the shower, how regular chocolate consumption can slow down cognitive decline, and how a black hole recently burped out the remnants of a star it absorbed four YEARS ago!
Shower Ideas
Medicinal Chocolate
Black Holes Burping
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Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/shower-ideas-medicinal-chocolate-black-holes-burping
[SFX: INTRO MUSIC/WHOOSH]
NATE: Hi! You’re about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from Discovery. Time flies when you’re learnin’ super cool stuff. I’m Nate.
CALLI: And I’m Calli. If you’re dropping in for the first time, welcome to Curiosity, where we aim to blow your mind by helping you to grow your mind. If you’re a loyal listener, welcome back!
NATE: Today you’ll learn about the science behind getting great ideas in the shower, how regular chocolate consumption can slow down cognitive decline, and how a black hole recently burped out the remnants of a star that it absorbed four YEARS ago!
CALLI: Without further ado, let’s satisfy some curiosity!
[SFX: WHOOSH]
NATE: Here’s a meta set-up for you, today - I was in the shower today, thinking about how most of my best ideas come from being in the shower, when I wondered - is there a scientific reason for that? And it turns out - there is!
CALLI: I refuse to believe that science supports the idea of “shower brilliance,” so you’re gonna have to break this one down for me.
NATE: It’s not just me, I’ve got the backing of cognitive neuroscientist John Kounios on this one, Calli. He says that when you’re in the shower, and I quote, “you don’t have a lot to do, you can’t see much, and there’s white noise. Your brain thinks in a more chaotic fashion. Your executive processes diminish and associative processes amp up. Ideas bounce around, and different thoughts can collide and connect.”
CALLI: So wait. It doesn’t have to be in a shower then, right? Just any repetitive day-to-day task?
NATE: Right, like walking a dog or even filing paperwork at your job. Whatever you do that makes you feel like you’re on autopilot, your brain copes with something called spontaneous cognition - also known as stream of consciousness thinking.
CALLI: So kinda like when I was driving to work today and figured out the secrets to life, love and happiness.
NATE: Sure! Sounds like you’ve had a very productive morning. The good doctor’s point is backed up by research from the past fifteen years that says creative breakthroughs are more likely during spontaneous cognition. This research has led us to also understand WHY this happens.
CALLI: Is it boredom? I bet it’s boredom.
NATE: That’s only part of it. This all relates to something called the “default mode network” or the DMN, in the brain which is what happens when we’re on autopilot. This network connects to a bunch of regions in the brain and, oddly enough, becomes more active when we are doing INactive tasks.
CALLI: So normally, we’re more focused and analytical - but here, we’re more prone to abstract thinking?
NATE: That’s right. One thing to note is that this network is involved in the earliest stages of idea generation, drawing from past experiences, memories or just a general train of thought. It’s not the source of ALL inspiration - in fact, it’s our more focused brain waves that expand these ideas.
CALLI: Reminds me of the adage about “left brain right brain” working together. So there’s truth to that idea?
NATE: Yes. The researchers say that there’s a positive link between creative inspiration and gray matter volume of the default mode network. Or, as they put it, size matters when it comes to the DMN.
CALLI: Do you think there’s a way to harness this ability so we can be creative whenever we want?
NATE: It’s fully possible. What you’re referring to is “deliberate mind-wandering,” which is when you try to exercise a level of control over your thinking. This is in opposition to spontaneous mind-wandering, which is what we’ve been talking about so far. However, the spontaneous version is what allows us to combine information and ideas in new ways. We can’t really control the spontaneous mind-wandering, it would be like being able to force yourself to fall asleep at the drop of a hat.
CALLI: Ah. So when I sit to write a script and I stare at a blank page and agonize over nothing being written, it’s because I’m too focused on working and not relaxed enough to create?
NATE: Yes, exactly. I do want to mention that it’s important to remember that sometimes you need to focus on making a space for that creativity to flow. A lot of people actually use this technique called the incubation effect where they spend some time away from a particular problem and purposefully let their mind wander which lets them create new ideas.
CALLI: I don’t know, Nate. Still makes me anxious to think that to create, I have to spend time away NOT creating.
NATE: Then lemme throw some more science at you! The researchers here asked professional writers to keep a diary for two weeks and report their most creative idea every day, as well as what they were doing when the idea struck and whether it felt like an “aha” moment. Guess how many of the best ideas occurred during anything other than working.
CALLI: Ummmm… 100 percent?
NATE: Geez, I wish. No, it was 20 percent. Which seems small until you realize that nearly 100 percent of THOSE ideas were associated by the writers as “breakthrough moments” where they finally overcame a long standing challenge.
CALLI: Got it. So quality over quantity, then?
NATE: Exactly.
CALLI: So other than understanding this part of the creative process, what else can I do to keep my brain sharp for creating?
NATE: Good quality sleep helps improve your mood and memory. It also helps you transform memories from the day into subconscious but durable ideas. Also, spend time doing more activities that aren’t cognitively demanding. It’s not just showers. Try walking, gardening, or even taking a bath - just make sure to do it without listening to music or podcasts, even this one.
CALLI: Nate, are you really suggesting that people listening to a podcast… should turn off the podcast?
NATE: Well, not in the middle of it! Wait till it’s over! But, yeah, outside noises act as mental blockers toward letting our minds wander. You mentioned being inspired earlier while driving, right? Researchers actually say that’s a bad idea. Do this when you’re in an area of “psychological safety” - where it’s okay to lose focus.
CALLI: What, you mean it’s not safe to lose focus while you’re driving? I thought this was America!
NATE: Still is, last I checked! Jokes aside, this is why shower thoughts are legitimately a thing. White noise, relaxation, your mind turning the abstract into the literal… it’s the act of creation. And it all starts when that cold, cold water hits your face.
CALLI: Wait - COLD? You do all this while taking COLD showers?
NATE: I like to live dangerously, Calli.
CALLI: You could not pay me enough.
[SFX: WHOOSH]
CALLI: I’ve been saying it for years and nobody believed me - chocolate is going to save our lives. And now new research is proving I’m right because it suggests that weekly consumption of chocolate might lead to rescuing the brain from cognitive decline.
NATE: I never doubted you for a second. I love chocolate, so this is terrific news. How did they figure this out?
CALLI: Scientists, of course. They examined whether there was evidence of neuroprotective actions, which are just natural defenses the brain uses to protect itself from injury or disease, within cocoa beans over the course of nineteen clinical trials. In one of the studies, each subject was anywhere from 23 to 98 years old and was fed 8 to 10 grams of chocolate daily, for anywhere from a few months to a few years.
NATE: Calli, I have an important question: why weren’t we invited into this study? Chocolate. Every day. For YEARS, for science. What did they find other than deeply happy participants?
CALLI: The best news, Nate. All cognitive test scores were SIGNIFICANTLY higher for those who ate chocolate at least once per week. Even better, the risk for cognitive decline went EVEN LOWER when the participants ate around 3 pieces of chocolate per week.
NATE: That’s not a lot of chocolate, so that’s promising. What about the other studies? Did they test larger quantities of chocolate?
CALLI: Yep. One of them had over 91,000 participants between the ages of 55 and 74 who ate 15 grams of chocolate per week… for 13 and a half years. Similar results: lower risk of cognitive decline. But that’s not all they found.
NATE: Aw, is this where you drop the bad news?
CALLI: This is where I reveal… that chocolate was associated with a LOWER RISK OF DEATH IN ALL OTHER CASES, NATE. Alzheimer’s related deaths, in particular, dropped BIG time.
NATE: Wow. I almost don’t believe that. Was there a difference in what kind of chocolate was given?
CALLI: Actually, no. Though it’s long been known that dark chocolate has curative qualities for our digestive systems, to the point that old medical textbooks from the 1800s used to suggest prescribing chocolate for tummy pains. Science has since moved on from that idea, but… it might just be heading back?
NATE: Very cool. What is it about cocoa beans that are doing this, you think?
CALLI: So the cacao bean, or cocoa bean as we call it commonly in America, is rich in powerful antioxidants called proantho-cyanidins. Two of these in particular are called catechin and epicatechin.
NATE: I’m pretty sure that first one was a dinosaur in Jurassic Park.
CALLI: Big words, I know, but with simple points! Basically these antioxidants can cross the blood brain barrier and researchers think that they are responsible for the health benefits we’re seeing. They can’t be absorbed by the gut but it seems like they CAN be absorbed in the colon which can transfer these to the brain..
NATE: Wow. So what you’re saying here is: despite what our parents told us, chocolate is… good, actually?
CALLI: Obviously, chocolate can be rich in sugar and fat, so we need to heed caution before we go and replace all the veggies in our fridges with Cadbury Milk Chocolate bars. That being said: the evidence is amping up. Chocolate consumption has a huge correlation with reversing not only cognitive decline, but possibly various other diseases as well.
[SFX: WHOOSH]
NATE: Have you ever thought about what happens to something when it gets eaten by a black hole?
CALLI: I mean, I just assumed that anything that goes into a black hole gets completely destroyed down to the tiniest little piece of matter. Is that not the case?
NATE: Not quite! Scientists have known for a while that black holes are a lot like the human body: what comes in must eventually come out. But it’s only recently that researchers have been able to understand what happens after a black hole eats something like a star.
CALLI: Never thought you’d be comparing black holes to the human body but I’m definitely interested now. So scientists witnessed a black hole…. Pooping?
NATE: Thankfully, Calli, this isn’t another poop story. This is the story of how scientists observed black holes… burping.
CALLI: Yeah, so much better. But hole on, as in… belching? How does that even work? Aren’t black holes inescapable? Like, if something goes into it, it can’t come out?
NATE: Every answer I have is a little complicated, Calli. First, since it’s outer space, it probably wouldn’t make the same sound as a burp, but there’s no easy way to explain what happened. Because technically, once you enter a black hole, it IS supposed to be inescapable. Black holes are regions of space with so much matter-and-energy, in such a small space, that it creates something called an event horizon.
CALLI: Ooo, good movie.
NATE: It’s not just a movie; it’s a sort of boundary where anything outside of its reach can still escape if it accelerates quickly enough, but if you cross that boundary, you’ll be drawn into its core and most likely crushed. Not even light — something that moves at the fastest speed in the Universe — can escape.
CALLI: K. So how did the black hole… burp?
NATE: That’s the crazy part. They’re not sure. So here it is, back in 2018, a star was witnessed crossing the event horizon and being completely demolished. This is nothing new, since this has been witnessed countless times since black holes were discovered. These events are actually called tidal disruption events, or TDEs for short, and they happen when stars approach black holes, creating a huge gravitational influence that creates tidal forces stretching the star in one direction, while squashing it in the other. Think of it like the star is being turned into astral spaghetti.
CALLI: Yum. Sounds tasty.
NATE: Good band name. Probably not that tasty, but as the spaghettified star gets sucked into the black hole, it heats up and creates a flash of light that scientists can see from millions of light years away. Normally, some residual pieces of the spaghetti will fall away from the black hole, as if the black hole were making a mess after its big star dinner, and then the black hole will go dormant. And this is what happened in 2018… but in June 2021, seemingly out of nowhere, the black hole woke back up. And then, it began ejecting materials that were just leftover pieces of the star that scientists describe as “spaghettified” at about half the speed of light earlier this year. Just burped it all out.
CALLI: Gross. That’s really kind of gross.
NATE: It’s just a star.
CALLI: Okay but now I’m wary of the thought of space spaghetti. So, why did it take the black hole almost four years to burp?
NATE: That’s the craziest part: it’s a complete mystery why there was this delayed belch. There’s a lot we don’t know about how black holes work, so this is just added to the list of questions researchers are trying to answer.
CALLI: This is kinda wild, Nate. Should I be concerned that one day I’m going to wake up being burped out by a black hole?
NATE: You can rest assured that something like that will never happen, Calli. Because black holes are so heavily gravitational, it’s been said that even if the Earth were to somehow be close enough to be sucked into the black hole’s field of gravity, it would simply orbit it. Kinda like how we orbit the sun now.
CALLI: Great. So on one hand, the black hole will never destroy us. But on the other hand, it could burp on us until the end of history? Can we get it a breath mint or something?
NATE: It could be worse, Calli. This could have been another poop story!
CALLI: Thank everything for that.
[SFX: WHOOSH]
NATE: Let’s recap what we learned today to wrap up. If you’ve ever had a sudden burst of inspiration in the shower, rest assured that science has a reason for that - and it’s not a fluke. For over a decade, researchers have looked into “shower brilliance” and discovered that relaxing your mind allows you to form tangible ideas out of abstract concepts. Allowing yourself to control your mind like this daily could actually improve your creativity!
CALLI: It’s not just a sweet treat: it turns out that chocolate actually has the ability to make us live longer, healthier lives. A recent study has revealed that chocolate contains chemicals that directly combat cognitive decline, meaning that a healthy weekly consumption of chocolate can help us have stronger brains as well as happier tummies!
NATE: Have you ever wondered what happens to a star when it gets swallowed by a black hole? Turns out it works a lot like human digestion - what goes in must eventually come out. Black holes often “burp” out residual materials from stars, though it usually does it immediately. But in 2022, scientists witnessed a black hole burp out parts of a star that had entered it four years prior. They’re not sure why, but this could help us further unlock the mysteries of the elusive black hole!