Learn what makes someone a night owl or a morning person; get a quick primer on on string theory; and discover whether you should pull an all-nighter studying for a test. 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: What Makes Someone a Night Owl or a Morning Person? String Theory Says We Have at Least 10 Dimensions, but That's Not the Weirdest Thing About It Studying for a Test? Here's Why You Shouldn't Pull an All-Nighter 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 what makes someone a night owl or a morning person; get a quick primer on on string theory; and discover whether you should pull an all-nighter studying for a test.
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/string-theory-primer-night-owl-and-morning-person-science-and-all-nighter-study-habits
CODY GOUGH: Hey, we've got three stories from Curiosity.com 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 what makes someone a night owl or a morning person, some background on String theory, and whether you should pull an all-nighter studying for a test.
CODY GOUGH: Let's satisfy some curiosity. Are you a morning person or a night owl? A recent study says either way, your sleep schedule might be written into your genes. It's perfect for us to talk about, Ashley.
ASHLEY HAMER: It really is. Because we're totally the opposite.
CODY GOUGH: [LAUGHS] Absolutely the opposite. Yes. Now first, let's get into some parameters. In the world of sleep studies, night owls are people who go to bed after 11:00 PM and wake up after 8:00 AM. That's me. Then there are larks, who get up before 8:00 even on the weekends. That's Ashley.
ASHLEY HAMER: That's for sure.
CODY GOUGH: There are actually lots of different studies about how the two different sleep schedules make for different brain types. So our brains are different, that's cool.
ASHLEY HAMER: Hmm. Podcast co-hosted by two different brain types. But there's not a lot of research about what made those brains different in the first place. Well for a study published in Nature, researchers looked at the DNA of nearly 90,000 people who had submitted their genetic material to 23andMe.
And they discovered 15 genetic patterns that tended to be associated with being a lark. Some of those patterns were close to other patterns that we know are associated with circadian rhythms, but other patterns were found near genes, like the ones responsible for the eyes detecting light.
That made the evidence pretty clear that if you tend to wake up early, it's probably because your genes are telling you so. Now, your circadian rhythm will probably change during your lifetime, possibly for evolutionary reasons. And the jury is still out on whether it's better to be a night owl or a lark. There's pros and cons to both. But either way, just know you'll probably end up at both extremes at some point in your life, and you might have your genes to thank. Although I don't think I've ever been a the lark.
ASHLEY HAMER: You're going to be like 80 years old and you'd be getting up at 5:00 AM.
CODY GOUGH: We'll see. We'll check in with you in several decades.
ASHLEY HAMER: Perfect. Ready for a lesson in quantum physics? Today, we wrote about String theory. Because frankly, it's weird. And lucky for you, we're here to make science fun.
CODY GOUGH: I love that we tackle very ambitious complex scientific concepts in two to three minutes.
ASHLEY HAMER: I love a good challenge.
[LAUGHS]
Before we get into String theory, here's a quick overview of the standard model of quantum physics. That's basically a layout of the elementary particles that everything is made up of, including things like quarks, electrons, and protons. The standard model says that six different quarks and six different leptons are the basic building blocks of the universe. And bundled up with that, are four fundamental forces, gravity, electromagnetism, and the weak and strong nuclear forces. Still with me? OK.
Well, here's where the mystery comes in. Out of those 12 building blocks and four forces, the one that keeps scientists up at night is gravity, of all things. Those other forces come from an elementary particle. Photons impart the attraction of electromagnetism. Gluons are the glue that binds the strong nuclear force. And the W and Z bosons whip the weak nuclear force together. But where does gravity come from?
Scientists have proposed a particle called the graviton, that might be responsible for gravity. But here's the rub, we're not sure if it actually exists. That's where String theory comes in. String theory proposes that each elementary particle is just a different version of a very tiny loop of string. Like how a guitar string vibrates differently to create a B flat or an F sharp, these strings oscillate in different ways to create different particles. Oscillate in one way, and we see an electron. Oscillate in some other way, and we may see a photon or a strange quark.
And that means there's a oscillation that creates a graviton. Sounds great, right? Well, there's one little problem. For String theory to work, the universe has to have somewhere between 10 and 26 dimensions. We only perceive four dimensions, which are up, down, right, left, forward, backward, and time. It's possible that other dimensions are folded down in a way that keeps us from perceiving them. Like how if you look at a piece of paper from the side, you only see a line.
That's an idea called compactification. And there are some other ideas that include the existence of higher dimensional objects called branes, that's b-r-a-n-e-s, not brain like in your head. Physicists are still looking for that one unifying theory of the universe, and String theory could be it.
CODY GOUGH: This podcast is supported by the University of Utah, David Eccles School of Business MBA online program. An internationally accredited online MBA that ranks top 15 in the world, and costs 30% less than other top ranked programs.
ASHLEY HAMER: Utah's MBA online features cutting edge on demand curriculum and weekly live web conferencing, led by award winning faculty thought leaders.
CODY GOUGH: Complete your MBA online, anytime, anywhere, in as little as 24 months.
ASHLEY HAMER: To learn more and receive a University of Utah MBA online application fee waiver, visit Utahonlinemba.com.
CODY GOUGH: Speaking of universities, the fall semester is here for a lot of people, and that means tests and term papers. If you've ever found yourself studying at 3:00 AM wondering whether you should pull an all nighter, then you're going to want to hear this research. I know I wish I had heard this research back in the day, because I pulled my fair share of all nighters.
ASHLEY HAMER: I didn't do that many. But I do remember my very first all nighter was in eighth grade, for Mr. Henshaw's big English project, where you had to name all of the parts of speech. It was like a 40 page manual. It was ridiculous.
CODY GOUGH: Wow.
ASHLEY HAMER: But that was where I learned the word hyperbole, so it all worked out.
CODY GOUGH: Wow. All right.
[LAUGHS]
I learned somewhere around junior year of college that sleep is just better really.
ASHLEY HAMER: It's so good.
CODY GOUGH: If it got to 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning and I wasn't ready, I just knew the next 4 hours I'll maybe get 10 minutes of work done.
ASHLEY HAMER: Right.
CODY GOUGH: So why keep going? Well, if you're listening to this and you're thinking about staying up all night to cram, don't. According to Professor David Ernest from Texas A&M University, quote, "Sleep deprivation's effect on working memory is staggering. Your brain loses efficiency with each hour of sleep deprivation." Unquote. Plus, your brain works on an internal clock, and it doesn't retain information as well in the middle of the night as it does during the day.
So if you're staring at your textbook at 4:00 in the morning, you're working against your body's natural processes. Missing sleep also has a well-documented negative effect on academic performance. In one study looking at more than 53,000 students, sleep problems increased the probability of dropping a course by 10%, and lowered the average GPA by almost a quarter of a point. That's comparable to the effects of regular binge drinking and excessive marijuana use.
And another study found that even one night without rest could have a lasting impact on your circadian rhythm. Meaning just one all nighter could mess up your sleep habits for the long term. So get some sleep. Even a 20 minute nap can make a big difference. And you can find a few other tips for staying awake in a less unhealthy way, in our full write up on Curiosity.com, and on our free Curiosity app for Android and iOS. Two quick announcements before we go. First off, thank you so much to our Patreon supporters for helping us keep the show going.
ASHLEY HAMER: We want to give a special shout out today to Julian Gomez, David Burzynski, and Olivier Savard. You rock. And you listener, can join these awesome supporters by visiting our Patreon page at Patreon.com/curiosity.com, all spelled out.
CODY GOUGH: I know the idea of paying for content in 2018 is pretty unheard of to a lot of people, but if you find value in our podcast then even $1 or two a month would be a massive help. How much value do you get from a $2 cup of coffee versus our daily podcast, like 20 times a month. I don't know, you tell me. And our Patreons get full length bonus episodes with expert interviews at the lowest tier.
ASHLEY HAMER: Think about skipping your morning Joe just one day a month, and it'll make a world of difference to us. One more time, that's Patreon.com/curiosty.com. And we're still collecting listener survey responses, so please keep them coming.
CODY GOUGH: You can find a link to that survey in our Patreon page, and in today's show notes, and on our podcast page on our website, and in a hexagon shaped hurricane on Saturn. But those first few places are probably a bit more accessible.
ASHLEY HAMER: Read about today's stories and more on Curiosity.com. 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]
SPEAKER 1: On the Westwood One Podcast Network.