Learn about why an overheard phone conversation is so distracting; how big or small a black hole can get; and why you should definitely tell your anesthesiologist if you smoke marijuana. Why an Overheard Phone Conversation Is so Incredibly Distracting by Anna Todd https://curiosity.com/topics/why-an-overheard-phone-conversation-is-so-incredibly-distracting-curiosity How Big (or Small) Can a Black Hole Get? by Matthew Francis https://curiosity.com/topics/how-big-or-small-can-a-black-hole-get-curiosity Why You Should Definitely Tell Your Anesthesiologist If You Smoke Marijuana by Ashley Hamer https://curiosity.com/topics/why-you-should-definitely-tell-your-anesthesiologist-if-you-smoke-marijuana-curiosity Subscribe to Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. You can also listen to our podcast as part of your Alexa Flash Briefing; Amazon smart speakers users, click/tap “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing
Learn about why an overheard phone conversation is so distracting; how big or small a black hole can get; and why you should definitely tell your anesthesiologist if you smoke marijuana.
Why an Overheard Phone Conversation Is so Incredibly Distracting by Anna Todd
How Big (or Small) Can a Black Hole Get? by Matthew Francis
https://curiosity.com/topics/how-big-or-small-can-a-black-hole-get-curiosity
Why You Should Definitely Tell Your Anesthesiologist If You Smoke Marijuana by Ashley Hamer
Subscribe to Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. You can also listen to our podcast as part of your Alexa Flash Briefing; Amazon smart speakers users, click/tap “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/why-overheard-phone-conversations-are-so-distracting-how-big-black-holes-get-and-why-anesthesia-is-risky-on-marijuana
CODY: Hi! You’re about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from curiosity-dot-com. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about why an overheard phone conversation is so distracting; how big or small a black hole can get; and why you should definitely tell your anesthesiologist if you smoke marijuana.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
There’s a reason why overhearing someone’s phone conversation is SO distracting. You know what I’m talking about: those times you’re trying to finish that project at work, and you hear a coworker nearby take a personal call. Or you’re trying to read a book on the train on the way into work, and a stranger starts chatting on their cell. Well check this out: research suggests that when you overhear these one-sided phone conversations, or "halfalogues?" It’s actually more distracting than hearing the whole conversation — and that has important implications for the office.
For a 2010 study, researchers recorded two college students having a phone conversation, and then recorded each student giving a one-person monologue summary of the conversation after it happened. Then, they asked 24 undergraduate students to perform a simple computer task; like, for one, they basically tracked a moving dot on a computer screen with a cursor. Another task had them hit a button every time they saw a certain series of four letters. These tasks were chosen for their similarity to driving: the first mimicked the concentration you need to stay in your lane, and the second was similar to responding to traffic lights.
Of course, while they worked on these tasks, the students heard various clips from the phone conversations. Sometimes it was just one side of the conversation, or a "halfalogue," as the researchers called it. Other times they heard both sides — or, a dialogue, obviously — and other times they heard those summary monologues. And the researchers found that neither the dialogue nor the summary clips had any effect on performance. But when the volunteers heard those halfalogues, you guessed it: their performance significantly decreased.
It seems the less information we glean from a conversation, the harder our brains work to make sense of what we hear, and the more difficult it is to stop listening. Halfalogues are less predictable than full conversations or monologues, and less predictable speech begs us to pay attention. Basically, our brains are actually wired against us so that we must tune in. So, the next time you're taking a call, it might be a good idea to find a quiet room to talk. Your coworkers, fellow commuters — even family members — will thank you.
How big can a black hole get? I ask this question because we took a picture of a PRETTY big black hole in 2019. You know — when the Event Horizon Telescope took the first-ever image of a black hole, in what was arguably the biggest astronomy story of the year? It was a pretty astounding feat, considering how tiny black holes are relative to their mass. And the black hole it captured is 6.5 billion times the mass of our sun. But in overall size, it's only about as big as our solar system. So what sets the size of a black hole, and how big — or small — can they get?
Well, black holes are objects of pure gravity, so they don’t have a surface, atmosphere, or any of the usual things that indicate size. Instead, a black hole's “size” is defined by its mass and how fast it spins. These determine its event horizon, which is the boundary from which nothing can escape the gravitational pull. Not even light!
If it wasn’t spinning, the diameter of a black hole would be approximately 6 kilometers for each solar mass it packs in — that is, the mass of one sun. Realistic black holes spin, and that rotation shrinks the event horizon diameter by as much as half. That makes realistic black holes even tinier in comparison to their masses. The largest black hole we know of is the 40 billion solar mass giant in the galaxy Holm 15A.
Observations of galaxies suggest these supermassive black holes were pretty huge when they formed. But they also get bigger by eating matter and merging with other black holes. Obviously, that’s all pretty huge. But smaller black holes? They’re no bigger than a few dozen solar masses, and they’re formed from the supernova explosions of very massive stars.
Some theories also predict the possibility of even smaller black holes that formed in the very early universe. They’re called primordial black holes, and they’re smaller than atoms. However, we've never convincingly seen one and they’d obviously be very difficult to detect. That’s because we find black holes by their influence on nearby stars or gas, and a black hole that small probably isn’t gonna have a massive impact.
As a result, the universe could conceivably contain really low-mass black holes and we'd never know it without a lucky break. The monsters like the one we photographed in 2019 are the ones that’ll continue to give us the best shot at seeing the way black holes twist and bend spacetime, even as relatively small as they are.
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There’s not a TON of research on the short-term and long-term effects of marijuana use. After all, the federal government still classifies it as a Schedule 1 drug here in the U.S. — that means research on it or its active ingredients is highly restricted and even discouraged in some cases. But we do know one thing, and we want to make sure you know about it: you should definitely tell your anesthesiologist if you're a habitual marijuana smoker.
We’ve known this since as far back as 1980. Even back then, experts warned of complications that can occur if marijuana is taken prior to the administration of an anesthetic.
Here's the problem: marijuana is a depressant. It can lower your heart rate and blood pressure, slow your breathing, and cause a drop in body temperature. You know what else is a depressant? Anesthesia. The combination of marijuana with other sedative hypnotic drugs may enhance depression of the central nervous system, and result in profound reduction in breathing. Marijuana can also prolong the effects of anesthesia so that you're "under" for longer than the anesthetist planned. A 2002 case study described a 34-year-old marijuana smoker who had anesthesia for a wisdom tooth removal and experienced a laryngospasm, or what's essentially a drowning reaction. Suffice it to say, surgery is scary enough without the added risk that you'll stop breathing because of what you smoked beforehand.
First of all, if you're a habitual smoker, it's important to tell your anesthesiologist. That's regardless of whether marijuana is legal in your area—your personal safety is more important than any legal consequences. Second, if you’re turning to marijuana or cigarettes in the first place because you’re nervous about getting surgery and you want to calm your nerves, then take a deep breath. I mean, literally — instead of smoking, try relaxation techniques like slow and deep breathing, or even just get some exercise. Several studies also show that listening to music before surgery can relieve anxiety. When it comes to anesthesia, you definitely want to be better safe than sorry.
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CODY: Today’s stories were written by Ashley Hamer, Matthew Francis, and Anna Todd, and edited by Ashley Hamer, who’s the managing editor for Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY: Scriptwriting was by Cody Gough and Sonja Hodgen. Curiosity Daily is produced and edited by Cody Gough.
CODY: Join us again tomorrow to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!