Learn about how Americans are aging more slowly than ever; how the HAMMER spacecraft could save our planet from killer asteroids; and why there are mirrors next to elevators.
Learn about how Americans are aging more slowly than ever; how the HAMMER spacecraft could save our planet from killer asteroids; and why there are mirrors next to elevators.
Americans Are Aging More Slowly Than Ever by Reuben Westmaas
The HAMMER Spacecraft Could Save the World from Killer Asteroids by Elizabeth Howell
There Are Mirrors Next to Elevators for a Specific Reason by Joanie Faletto
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Full episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/slowly-aging-americans-the-hammer-asteroid-spacecraft-and-elevator-mirrors
[MUSIC PLAYING] CODY GOUGH: Hi, I'm Cody Gough.
ASHLEY HAMER: And I'm Ashley Hamer.
CODY GOUGH: We're from curiosity.com, and we've got three stories to help you get smarter in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY HAMER: Today we'll talk about how Americans are aging more slowly than ever, a new spacecraft that can save our planet from killer asteroids, and tell you what you don't know about elevators.
CODY GOUGH: We'll satisfy some curiosity.
ASHLEY HAMER: OK, Cody. So you know everyone's living longer these days than they were like a century ago. But did you know that Americans are actually aging more slowly than they did even 20 years ago?
CODY GOUGH: Yeah, I saw this study, and it was kind of confusing at first. But you need to understand the difference between chronological and biological age. So you celebrate your chronological age on your birthday every year, but your biological age represents the actual wear and tear that your body has endured. So your biological age is how old your body seems. If you're a regular smoker, then you might seem older because of the shape your lungs are in, and that leads us into the study.
ASHLEY HAMER: Right, exactly. So researchers from Yale and University of Southern California actually looked at the biological aging of a bunch of people, and they figured out that Americans are really actually aging slower. Men in particular seem to be aging more slowly than those from the generation before them partly because of changes in smoking, obesity, and medication use.
CODY GOUGH: So that could mean, according to the researchers, that women haven't seen as much of an improvement because they were already making healthy life choices, or that women are already closer to the limits of human life expectancy than men.
ASHLEY HAMER: We're already super women. The biggest takeaway is that because aging is slowing, that means that people are living longer because they're living healthier lives. Not because medical technology is fixing us. You can get an estimate of your biological age, this is really cool, by taking this RealAge test online at sharecare.com. We'll include a link in the show notes.
CODY GOUGH: Have you taken the test?
ASHLEY HAMER: I have.
CODY GOUGH: Was your biological age close to your chronological age?
ASHLEY HAMER: I was just a little disappointed. I was only about a year younger than my real age.
CODY GOUGH: But hey, that means you're a year younger wear and tear wise.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. I was just hoping for more than that. I reached for the stars.
CODY GOUGH: We all want to feel like we're in our early 20s.
ASHLEY HAMER: Exactly.
CODY GOUGH: So what else are we talking about today?
ASHLEY HAMER: Well, yes, speaking of living longer, any idea what we're supposed to do if a killer asteroid comes and threatens to wipe out our planet?
CODY GOUGH: I hope we have some way of dealing with that.
ASHLEY HAMER: I mean sci-fi movies certainly do, but this is a little bit of a sci-fi movie idea. Scientists have designed a spacecraft concept called literally HAMMER. The HAMMER stands for Hyper-velocity Asteroid Mitigation Mission for Emergency Response. Scientists love their acronyms. And we could send this thing out to nudge huge space rocks like asteroids out of the way and keep us from getting hit.
CODY GOUGH: So we basically fire the spacecraft into the asteroid, and the impact knocks it off path?
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah, pretty much. It transfers momentum, right? It's like if you hit a tennis ball with a tennis racquet, you're changing the momentum of that tennis ball. We're doing the same thing to an asteroid. The impactor crashes into the object at 10 kilometers per second or more. And the mass and velocity of the impactor are transferred to the asteroid, and that changes its course through space.
CODY GOUGH: 10 kilometers a second. That's very fast.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yes.
CODY GOUGH: So this is cool, but is an asteroid supposed to hit us?
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah, it is. If you've heard of Bennu, it's this strangely shaped asteroid. Its official name is Asteroid 101955, and it might hit the Earth in year 2135. The odds are just 1 in 2,700. But if it happens, its kinetic energy would be roughly 80,000 times the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. 2135 is a long way away, but for this asteroid, even if scientists plan 25 years ahead of the impact, it would take at least seven of these spacecraft to deliver enough energy to alter Bennu's path. So it's a good thing that NASA's doing its homework.
CODY GOUGH: Yeah. And it's more than 100 years away. So we got some time, right?
ASHLEY HAMER: Sure. We haven't spotted all of the asteroids, but this is the most immediate one. And NASA's always scanning the skies, and they regularly look at Bennu to make sure it's still where we think it is. And you can actually see these asteroid search results at NASA's small body database browser. We'll put a link in the show notes if you want to see for yourself.
CODY GOUGH: Speaking of sending things up, have you ever noticed that there are always mirrors next to elevators?
ASHLEY HAMER: Well, I do notice that there's a gorgeous woman next to every elevator.
CODY GOUGH: Fascinating.
ASHLEY HAMER: It's me.
CODY GOUGH: Well I was-- I picked that up. Well, Curiosity did some research and we found that this is actually intentional, and it's a trend that started just after World War II. Yeah, the spread of high rises led to complaints about elevator delays. So building owners figured if you give people something to occupy their time, their wait will feel shorter. So it's actually a psychological thing that they're doing.
ASHLEY HAMER: Wow. They just expect people to stare at themselves until the elevator comes.
CODY GOUGH: Yeah, well, with mirrors you can check your hair or maybe sneak a peek at that attractive person nearby using the mirror surreptitiously, and did it work? Almost overnight, the complaints ceased.
ASHLEY HAMER: Wow.
CODY GOUGH: Yeah. It's because people hate waiting. And research has shown that on average, people overestimate how long they've waited in a line by about 36%. So the reason people hate waiting is that we think that the time we spend waiting in line is time wasted, and we could use that time to be productive. And the fast pace of modern society is certainly not helping.
ASHLEY HAMER: I don't know. With the advent of smartphones, maybe people are OK with waiting in line these days. Join us again tomorrow for the Curiosity Digest, and learn something new in just a few minutes.
CODY GOUGH: And in addition to a brand new Daily Digest, where you can learn something new in just a few minutes, we will be publishing a feature-length episode with David DiSalvo, the author of What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite. We'll talk about how our brains responds to rewards and how to handle our brains in the age of the smartphone. So two podcasts tomorrow, our Daily Digest and the feature-length episode with David DiSalvo. Keep an eye on your podcast player.
ASHLEY HAMER: I'm Ashley Hamer.
CODY GOUGH: And I'm Cody Gough.
ASHLEY HAMER: Stay curious.