Learn about how punctuation and exclamation points are stressing people out; why ice might be stopping us from discovering an alien civilization; and Transnistria: a country that doesn’t exist! 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: Exclamation Points Are Out of Control, and It's Stressing People Out Where Are All the Aliens? Maybe They're Under the Ice. Welcome to Transnistria, the Country That Doesn't Exist 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!
Learn about how punctuation and exclamation points are stressing people out; why ice might be stopping us from discovering an alien civilization; and Transnistria: a country that doesn’t exist!
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/why-aliens-may-be-under-ice-transnistria-and-how-exclamation-points-stress-people-out
[MUSIC PLAYING] CODY GOUGH: Hi, 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 about how exclamation points are stressing people out, why ice might be stopping us from discovering an alien civilization, and Transnistria, a country that doesn't exist.
CODY GOUGH: Let's satisfy some curiosity on the award-winning Curiosity Daily. When you think about things that stress you out, you might think about your job or your relationships or traffic, but how about this one-- punctuation. There are real-world effects from our use of punctuation, and it's important to think about in today's world of texts and tweets.
So think about this-- have you ever gotten a message with no closing punctuation and completely overanalyzed it? Here's an example. Let's say someone sends you a message that says, that's fine. Just two words. The way you interpret that message could be hugely different if it ends with a period or with an exclamation point, and even with no punctuation at all.
If you've ever felt like someone hates you because they didn't end their text with an exclamation point, then you have dealt with an actual phenomenon known as punctuation inflation. See, not too long ago you were supposed to use one exclamation point in the most extreme and emotional situations.
Julie Beck is a senior editor at The Atlantic and she recently wrote, quote, "At journalism school, I was told you get one exclamation point to use in your entire career, so you should use it wisely. You could, perhaps, spend your one exclamation point on a headline like WAR OVER, in all caps, but nothing less would merit one," unquote.
Then texting an email came along and people started using multiple exclamation points, all caps, emojis, the whole nine yards to more clearly communicate their feelings. But there are no hard and fast rules for this. Punctuation-related anxiety can range from worrying about how we're supposed to balance professionalism and warmth in our work emails to realize that we might have come across as colder than intended to panicking that you may be in trouble when you get a message with no exclamation point.
Experts say there's no easy fix for this, but it's nice to know that getting anxious over punctuation is not uncommon. And one thing you could do is communicate your expectations to your coworkers. Just be honest, let them know it's a minor thing, but see if they're willing to accommodate your punctuation preferences.
I worked with a guy in radio for a very long time and he would put periods at the end of all of his texts. And I literally pulled him aside and explained to him, you can't do that to me.
[LAUGHTER]
And I tweeted this at you and I know you saw it already.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah.
CODY GOUGH: But legitimately, any time I've been late to anything or sent you something late or knock on something totally finished or whatever, any time I've ever said there's been any problem with my productivity, you always say that's fine with an exclamation point. And I like the mental well-being that, that has afforded me. I'm not even exaggerating. It has been like I can't understate it, I don't think.
ASHLEY HAMER: Well, that's good. Well, here's my secret. I use exclamation points way too much.
[LAUGHTER]
Every email I write I have to go back through and remove four of them.
CODY GOUGH: Really?
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah.
CODY GOUGH: Well, at least it has a positive effect.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah, I'm glad.
CODY GOUGH: And I'm communicating with you, please, don't stop doing that.
ASHLEY HAMER: OK. I will.
CODY GOUGH: The day I get a message from you that says that's fine with a period or no punctuation, I'm going to lose my mind. I'm going to get on Slack and I'm going to message our coworkers, what did I do?
[LAUGHTER]
Ashley hates me.
ASHLEY HAMER: I think everyone needs to tweet at Cody with periods at the end of the sentences right now.
CODY GOUGH: Oh good.
[LAUGHTER]
ASHLEY HAMER: The Fermi paradox poses the question, if the universe is so big and old and there are countless opportunities for life, then why haven't we found aliens? Well, one scientist has tossed a new theory into the ring. Maybe they all live on frozen ocean worlds and they can't get past the icy crust.
CODY GOUGH: This idea is simply chilling.
ASHLEY HAMER: Oh boy.
[LAUGHTER]
CODY GOUGH: Don't give me the cold shoulder.
ASHLEY HAMER: I'm going to give you the cold shoulder, Cody.
CODY GOUGH: What can I say I watched Batman and Robin before this. Arnold Schwarzenegger really inspired me.
ASHLEY HAMER: It's truly his greatest role.
[LAUGHTER]
ASHLEY HAMER: Well, this idea comes from Alan Stern. He's a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado and he looks at it this way. Ocean worlds are incredibly common in our solar system, which means they're probably just as common throughout the universe. Jupiter's moons Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto all have liquid water oceans, and so does Saturn's moon Enceladus.
Even the dwarf planets Pluto and Ceres show signs of water beneath their outer crusts. But the water in these places is buried beneath a thick layer of ice or rock. There's life under the sea here on Earth though, so why couldn't there be life underground somewhere out there?
Extraterrestrial life could be thriving in vent systems that come from the geological activity of their ocean worlds like how life in the depths of our ocean can survive thanks to the warmth and chemicals pumping out of hydrothermal vents. And if you're living on chemical energy from your own planet instead of solar energy from a star, your planet could potentially be located anywhere, even outside of a habitable zone, which is always my favorite term to say on this podcast-- habitable.
And here's something fun to think about. Let's say an icy outer crust is protecting our alien friends from cosmic radiation and meteor impacts. Well, that layer of ice would also block many radio signals. So there could actually be advanced civilizations under the crust of those worlds.
The problem is these crusts are thick. We think Europa's crust is 10 miles thick. And the record for the deepest hole drilled into the Earth is still only about 7 and 1/2 miles. That's a big difference. Still, this idea comes from real actual science, and it's pretty fun to think about.
CODY GOUGH: Before we get to our last story I want to give a special shout-out to some of our patrons for supporting our show. Thank you, Anthony Hyland, Katrina Constantine, and Luke Chapman for contributing to our Patreon page. You are what is helping us keep the show going.
If you're listening and you want to support Curiosity Daily, then visit patreon.com/curiosity.com, all spelled out. Even a couple of bucks a month would be a huge help. That's less than a cup of coffee, and our patrons get lots of cool bonus content like exclusive episodes.
ASHLEY HAMER: One more time, that's patreon.com/curiosity.com. And if you can't pitch in right now but you've written us a review or sent us feedback, then thank you too. A quick shout-out to Nikki Neill, Elaine, Birdy, SL, and Sarah Liptak for your positive feedback. It means the world to us.
CODY GOUGH: Welcome to Transnistria.
[LAUGHTER]
The country that does not exist. And it's also more than an eight-hour drive away from Transylvania, so I'm not sure why I was talking like a vampire. But here we are.
ASHLEY HAMER: I don't know, maybe Halloween season is getting to your head. Seriously though, Transnistria is a real place. It's just not a real country, although it does have borders, a national anthem, a passport, and a president. So what gives?
Well, long story short, the Soviet Union.
CODY GOUGH: Transnistria is an unrecognized state that the United Nations says is part of Moldova. When the USSR dissolved in 1990, the newly independent country of Moldova said it had a plan to unify with its neighbor Romania. But most Moldovans east of the Dnister River spoke Russian, so they declared independence instead.
ASHLEY HAMER: The Transnistrian war started in 1992 and went on for four months ending in a ceasefire. In the end, Moldova decided to give Transnistria some degree of autonomy but still won't recognize Transnistrian independence. So basically, it's not officially a nation, but nobody's going to mess with their day-to-day sovereignty.
CODY GOUGH: It's not a communist state but if you visit, you'll find lots of sculptures of Lenin and other reminders of the not-so-distant Soviet past. There are also monuments to Soviet leaders and roads named after figures like Karl Marx. And if you're thirsty, you can also go to a world-renowned cognac distillery that dates back to 1897.
ASHLEY HAMER: In a lot of ways Transnistria is its own country, even if other nations don't really recognize it as an actual country.
CODY GOUGH: You want to found a country, Ashley?
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah, let's do it.
CODY GOUGH: All right, Curiosity--
ASHLEY HAMER: Stan.
[LAUGHTER]
CODY GOUGH: You can read about today's stories and more on curiosity.com.
ASHLEY HAMER: We invite you to join us tomorrow with the award-winning Curiosity Daily and learn something new in just a few minutes. I'm Ashley Hamer.
CODY GOUGH: And I'm Cody Gough.
ASHLEY HAMER: Stay curious.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 1: On the Westwood One Podcast Network.