Learn about why bats are the source of so many deadly virus outbreaks; and the surprisingly strong influence older siblings can have on their brothers and sisters. Then, test your knowledge from this podcast with a Curiosity Challenge trivia game.
Learn about why bats are the source of so many deadly virus outbreaks; and the surprisingly strong influence older siblings can have on their brothers and sisters — just in time for Siblings Day. Then, test your knowledge from this podcast with a Curiosity Challenge trivia game.
Why bats are the source of so many deadly virus outbreaks by Andrea Michelson
Older Siblings Might Be More Influential to a Child Than Parents by Anna Todd
https://curiosity.com/topics/siblings-shape-our-close-relationships-curiosity
Hear the answers to today’s trivia questions in these episodes of Curiosity Daily:
Pick up “Wanderers: A Novel” by Chuck Wendig on Amazon: https://amazon.com
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Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/why-so-many-outbreaks-like-the-coronavirus-come-from-bats-older-siblings-surprising-influence-and-aprils-curiosity-challenge
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 bats are the source of so many deadly virus outbreaks; and the surprisingly strong influence older siblings can have on their brothers and sisters. Then you can play along with a special edition of the Curioisty Challenge to test your knowledge from this podcast.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Bats have gotten a bad rap lately. They’re original hosts of many diseases that have plagued humanity, including SARS, MERS, Ebola, and now possibly COVID-19. But why do so many of these deadly outbreaks come from bats, of all things? A recent study from a team of researchers at UC Berkeley found that the reason they’re so good at spreading viruses may be because they’re so good at fighting them.
Bats are old pros when it comes to keeping their systems safe from harm. The metabolic demands of flying are super high, and all that exercise can lead to an accumulation of DNA-damaging free radicals. Damaged DNA gets kicked out of the nucleus and left to float around aimlessly, where it could cause harm — at least, if it wasn’t for some smart adaptations of the bat immune system. In the blink of an eye, bats wall off their cells from potential intruders by releasing a molecule called interferon-alpha, which tells their immune cells to prepare to fight off a virus. Some bats even have this defense switched on permanently, which leaves their immune systems on high alert for their entire lives.
Of course, if your immune system did this, you’d be sick all the time. Inflammation is one result of the human immune response. That helps your body fight off infection, but it can also do damage if it hangs around for too long. Bats, on the other hand, have evolved anti-inflammatory traits to avoid that damage. Some have actually lost the genes responsible for inflammation altogether.
This supercharged immune response is good for the bats, but for a virus, it’s a sort of evolutionary Thunderdome. It makes viruses evolve strategies to rapidly reproduce before the bats can protect their cells. When a virus that has evolved to reproduce at bat speed infects an animal with a normal immune response, it’ll quickly overwhelm the new host. That includes us humans. And like I said, not only are we slower at responding to viruses, but our immune defenses rely on inflammation, which causes the unpleasant symptoms we associate with the coronavirus or the flu.
So the fact that bats are virus super-fighters also means that they can be super-spreaders. Still, it’s important that we protect bats and their habitats. Invading their ecosystems makes it more likely that our two species will cross paths, and stressed bats are more likely to shed viruses in the first place. It’s in our best interest to keep bats happy and healthy. And maybe down the line, their superpowered immune system could teach us a thing or two.
We’re releasing today’s episode on Siblings Day, which is an unofficial US holiday to celebrate the bond between siblings. That might seem strange if you spent your whole childhood fighting with your brother or sister over who’s in charge of the remote control, or who gets to play with that one thing next. But research shows that siblings can have a big impact on each other way beyond fighting about stuff — one that can last for a lifetime.
For a study back in 2004, researchers asked 20,000 teens about smoking habits: specifically, theirs, their siblings’, and their parents’. They also asked about family dynamics. The team found that the closer the bond between two siblings, the more likely one sibling’s smoking habits were to rub off on the other. That’s even when controlling for the habits of their parents and peers. Other studies have found that when one sibling is a smoker, the other sibling is 25 percent more likely to smoke. The risk is even higher with drinking, at 36 percent.
Luckily, siblings don't just give bad habits as hand-me-downs. They can also encourage good behaviors, like academic success. This is due to what one study called the "sibling spillover effect,” which says that a boost in an older sibling’s test scores is linked to a smaller, but significant boost in a younger sibling’s test scores. An older sibling can act as a positive role model for academic achievement, both through their own study habits and by helping their younger siblings with homework. This is especially true for children with parents who may deal with a language barrier or have less access to information. Investing in the first-born can have a ripple effect for the success of their younger siblings.
Older siblings can even be a predictor of a younger sibling getting pregnant. In a weird 2009 study by developmental psychologist Patricia East, she discovered that, even when controlling for socioeconomic status and life circumstances, a woman whose older sister got pregnant was five times more likely to get pregnant herself.
Older siblings are important! The decisions they make rub off on you. And as an older sibling myself, I’d just like to tell my sibs: YOU’RE WELCOME.
CODY: Ashley did a thing!
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CODY: Before we recap what we learned today, here’s a sneak peek at what you’ll hear next week on Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY: Next week, you’ll learn about why humans have so much back pain;
A paradox that asks why the night sky isn’t blazing with light;
Why we eat differently when we’re stressed;
The surprising genetic reason why females outlive males;
And more! Okay, so now, let’s recap what we learned today.
**Also mention Beth Pratt interview and plug Project CAT https://projectcat.discovery.com/**
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CODY: Today’s stories were written by Andrea Michelson 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: Have a great weekend, and join us again Monday to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!