Learn about why your biases are so strong, you’d choose them over making money; a new theory that “dark fluid” might mean that dark matter and dark energy are the same weird substance; and Oymyakon, one of the coldest places on Earth where people continuously live. 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: You'd Choose Your Biases Over Making Money — https://curiosity.im/2LxPldv A New Theory Says Dark Energy and Dark Matter Might Be the Same Weird Substance — https://curiosity.im/2Lr1ocf Oymyakon Is One of the Coldest Places on Earth, But People Live There — https://curiosity.im/2LsXuQe 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! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Learn about why your biases are so strong, you’d choose them over making money; a new theory that “dark fluid” might mean that dark matter and dark energy are the same weird substance; and Oymyakon, one of the coldest places on Earth where people continuously live.
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:
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! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom
Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/why-youd-choose-your-biases-over-money-coldest-inhabited-place-on-earth-and-dark-fluid
CODY: Hi! Today we’re taking a deep-dive into three stories from curiosity-dot-com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about why your biases are so strong, you’d choose them over making money; a new theory that dark matter and dark energy might be the same weird substance; and one of the coldest places on Earth where people continuously live.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
You'd Choose Your Biases Over Making Money — https://curiosity.im/2LxPldv (Cody)
We all have biases. That’s pretty much an objective fact. And a recent study shows that these biases are so strong, we tend to hang onto them even when they will obviously cost us cold, hard cash. Fortunately, I can explain both the science AND what you can do about it. [ad lib]
CODY: Now, when I say “bias,” I’m not just talking about being prejudiced against a person or a group of people. I’m including tricks your brain plays on you, like confirmation bias. That’s the human tendency to ignore facts that aren’t in line with what you already believe. In 2017, a team of researchers set out to see if confirmation bias was so strong, people would stick to their guns even when doing that would go against their self-interest. There were two phases to this experiment. In the first phase, the 20 participants in the study were shown a bunch of made-up symbols, paired up with a monetary value. Whichever symbol they chose, they got the associated payout. So let’s say you have to pick between a green and a yellow ball. You pick the green one and get fifty bucks. Then you pick between more pairs of symbols. Easy enough, right? Fast-forward to the second part of the experiment. It was pretty much the same as the first part, but this time, participants got to find out what BOTH symbols were worth, not just the one they actually picked. That’s where things got interesting. Let’s say you find out the RED ball is worth seventy-five bucks, but you didn’t pick it in any of the pairs in phase one. Now in your final pick, you have to choose between the green ball and get fifty bucks and the red ball to get seventy-five bucks. Participants who’d picked that green ball in phase one picked the green ball AGAIN, even though it was worth less. Even when they were EXPLICITLY told that some of their options were more valuable than the ones they’d picked, they STILL favored the choices they’d developed the bias for. In other words, if you ever get the sense that somebody is obviously doing something against their own self-interest, there's a not-very-good reason for that. And convincing them otherwise is probably going to be an uphill battle. So, how do you get over this? Research indicates the best way to overcome your biases is to acknowledge you have them in the first place. If you don’t, then they may come back to bite you.
A New Theory Says Dark Energy and Dark Matter Might Be the Same Weird Substance — https://curiosity.im/2Lr1ocf (Ashley)
There's a new theory that could help us explain the universe, and it has to do with dark matter. Here’s some background. Even after more than a century of research, we can only explain 5 percent of the universe. Everything else is quote-unquote "dark" — as in, matter that’s invisible that we can only detect from the pull of its gravity. Scientists are working on understanding dark energy and dark matter, but one researcher is trying something different. What if dark energy and dark matter aren’t two different substances? What if they’re the same thing? This might sound too simple, but there are some good reasons to believe that this negative-mass dark fluid could really exist. This theory comes from Dr. Jamie Farnes of the University of Oxford in England. But before I get into that, I should talk about the leading theoretical model for the makeup of our universe. That’s called the Lambda cold dark matter model. It says that 25 percent of the universe is made of dark matter that exists in halos around galaxies and galaxy clusters. Dark matter exerts a gravitational push that keeps those things from flying apart. Another 70 percent of the universe is made up of dark energy, which seems to be exerting some sort of reverse gravity that’s making the universe expand faster and faster. In the Lambda cold dark matter model, dark energy is the lambda. And the final 5 percent of the universe is baryonic matter. That’s basically the stuff we know exists. Well, according to Dr. Farnes, that 95 percent of the universe we call “dark” is all the same dark substance. In a new paper, he says what he calls dark fluid has two key characteristics. One is that it has negative mass, meaning it has a gravitational PUSH that forces things AWAY. Negative mass isn't a new idea, but previous research had ruled it out as an explanation because stuff with negative mass would thin out as the universe expands, so ______. Well, that second characteristic of dark fluid fixes that thinning-out problem. Farnes's theory says that this negative-mass substance would be continuously created through time. If this dark fluid is constantly produced like floss from an infinite cotton-candy machine, it never dilutes and it acts identically to dark energy. You can read more about the idea of dark fluid in our full write-up on curiosity-dot-com and on the Curiosity app for Android and iOS, but it solves a few problems with current theories, so this may not be the last you hear about dark fluid.
[SKILLSHARE]
CODY: Hey, look who it is! Today’s podcast is sponsored by Skillshare.
ASHLEY: Skillshare is an online learning community for creators. With more than 25,000 classes in design, business, and more, you’ll discover countless ways to fuel your curiosity, creativity, and career. You can take classes in social media marketing, mobile photography, creative writing, or even illustration.
CODY: Whether you’re looking to discover a new passion, start a side hustle, or gain new professional skills, Skillshare is there to keep you learning, thriving, and reaching your goals for the new year. For instance, I’m digging into the science of speed reading techniques to figure out how I can read books in half the time. And I’m doing that with a Skillshare class called “Speed Reading Mastery: Double Your Reading Speed In 7 Days.”
ASHLEY: That class is taught by Jordan Harry, a TEDx speaker and founder of StudyFast. And Skillshare’s classes are ALL taught by real experts in their field or public motivational speakers. And today, YOU can join the millions of students already learning on Skillshare with a special offer just for Curiosity Daily listeners: Get two months of Skillshare for free.
CODY: That’s right, Skillshare is offering Curiosity Daily listeners two months of unlimited access to over 25,000 classes for free. To sign up, go to Skillshare dot com slash CURIOSITY.
ASHLEY: Again, go to Skillshare dot com slash CURIOSITY to start your two months now. CODY: One more time, that’s Skillshare dot com slash CURIOSITY.
Oymyakon Is One of the Coldest Places on Earth, But People Live There — https://curiosity.im/2LsXuQe (Cody)
If you’re like Ashley and me and you’re dressing in layers every morning to get out of the cold weather this month, then I’ve got some silver lining for you: at least you don’t live in Oymyakon [oym-yah-con]. It’s one of the coldest permanently inhabited places on Earth. Now, I just visited family in Fairbanks, Alaska, last month, and we went ice fishing in a little hut on a lake where it was 20 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit. That was cold enough for me. Oymyakon‘s average temperature is less than 50 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, or 46 degrees below zero Celsius. Sooooo Oymyakon’s not gonna make it to my shortlist of places to visit. [ad lib]
CODY: For some perspective, Oymyakon is technically a LITTLE south of Fairbanks, sitting at a latitude of about 1.4 degrees closer to the equator. But it’s located deep in the heart of Siberia, with a population right around 500 people, so you’re talking about a whole lot less infrastructure. For instance, the school in town has only had an indoor toilet since 2008. Oymyakon was originally a waystation for traveling reindeer herders, but the whole region became notorious in the mid-20th century when it became known as "Stalin's Death Ring." That’s where Stalin would send political dissidents during his regime, and it includes a city called Yakutsk [Yah-COO-tee-ah], which is the nearest major city to Oymyakon. You can fly into Yakutsk and enoy a scenic drive to Oymyakon… but you’ll be in the car for about 20 hours. Talk about not wanting to run out of gas! Now, Oymyakon is like other places that far north, in that they get about 3 hours of sunlight per day during the winter, and 21 hours of sunlight in the summer. They have some unique challenges, too, like having to run your car pretty much all the time so the battery won’t die. You can learn more about Oymyakon in our full write-up on curiosity-dot-com and on our free Curiosity app for Android and iOS, but me? I’m gonna go curl up in a blanket.
CODY: Before we wrap up, we want to give a special shout-out to one of our Patrons for supporting our show. Today’s episode is brought to you by Dr. Mary Yancy, who gets an executive producer credit today for her generous support on Patreon. You’re the best!
ASHLEY: If you’d like to support Curiosity Daily, then visit patreon-dot-com-slash-curiosity-dot-com, all spelled out. Patreon is a place where you can make a one-time or recurring contribution to your favorite creators, and any amount helps. We offer lots of cool bonus incentives to our Patrons, like full-length interviews and exclusive episodes. One more time, that’s Patreon-dot-com-slash-curiosity-dot-com.
CODY: You may have noticed that we didn’t answer a listener question today, but we wanted to see what it’d be like to dive a little deeper than usual into today’s stories. Don’t worry, we’ll still answer listener questions in future episodes. What are you curious about? Email us your question at podcast-at-curiosity-dot-com.
ASHLEY: That’s podcast-at-curiosity-dot-com. Join us again tomorrow for the award-winning Curiosity Daily and learn something new in just a few minutes. I’m [NAME] and I’m [NAME]. Stay curious!