Learn about why you shouldn’t add oil to your pasta water; a simple way to help kids think better; and why your dog’s paws smell like corn chips.
Learn about why you shouldn’t add oil to your pasta water; a simple way to help kids think better; and why your dog’s paws smell like corn chips.
Here's Why You Shouldn't Add Oil to Your Pasta Water by Ashley Hamer
This Reminder Brings Out Flexible Thinking in Kids by Alison Jones
Here's why your dog's paws smell like corn chips by Grant Currin
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://www.amazon.com/Curiosity-com-Curiosity-Daily-from/dp/B07CP17DJY
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/why-your-dogs-paws-smell-like-corn-chips
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 you should NOT add oil to your pasta water; a simple way to help kids think better; and why your dog’s paws smell like corn chips.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Today we’re debunking a common myth when it comes to cooking pasta. Have you ever added oil to your pasta water because it supposedly keeps the pasta from sticking together as it boils? Well if you have, then stop. Here’s why you shouldn’t and what you should do instead.
The problem with this comes down to a fact everybody knows: oil and water don't mix. No matter how hot the water or how rolling the boil, water's polar molecules won't mix with oil's nonpolar molecules. That means only a tiny bit of the oil, if any at all, will even make its way onto the pasta as it boils.
In fact, adding oil does more harm than good. The pasta will get up close and personal with the oil once you drain it. At that point, all the oil is good for is leaving a slick coating on the pasta that will thwart any sauce that attempts to stick to it.
Pasta sticks when the starch molecules within it absorb so much hot water that they burst. But this happens only at the beginning of the cooking process. Eventually, it dissolves and washes away, leaving the pasta smooth again.
The trick to stopping the pasta from sticking to itself is to keep the pasta constantly moving. That’s why recipes recommend using a huge pot and lots of water and also why you should stir the pasta immediately at the beginning, then periodically for the rest of the cooking time.
If your problem is keeping the pasta from sticking to itself once it's done, there are a few easy fixes. First, obviously, is to try and time your pasta so that it finishes with everything else. In fact, combining the pasta with the sauce when both are still hot is the best way to ensure the pasta absorbs the most sauce. Your other option is to save a little bit of pasta water, and use that to loosen the pasta when you're ready to serve it. That does double duty, since the starch dissolved in the water helps to thicken the sauce. Then voila! Perfect pasta.
Researchers have found a really simple way to help kids think better. And that is: reminding children of their many roles — roles like friend, and neighbor, and daughter. Doing that can lead to better problem-solving and more flexible thinking, and that’s both for schoolwork and when it comes to their fellow humans.
This conclusion comes from a Duke university study of 196 children, ages 6 and 7. In one experiment, the first group of children was reminded of their various identities. The experimenter would point to a cartoon child and say something like, “Look at this girl! She’s a reader, and she’s a friend, too. Are you a reader? Are you a friend?” That continued until the child was reminded of eight different identities. A second group of children got reminders of eight of their physical attributes — stuff like “She has two feet and a mouth! Do you have feet? Do you have a mouth?”
Next, all the children played a series of games to test their creativity and problem solving skills. And the kids who were reminded of their various identities did better at the games. Like, in one game, the children saw a picture of a bear gazing at a honey-filled beehive high up in a tree and challenged them to figure out how the bear could get the honey. The kids who were reminded of their many identities had more creative ideas, like finding a new use for a bowl by flipping it over so that it becomes a stool.
Those children also showed more flexible thinking about social groupings. For example, when they were asked to categorize different photos of faces, they identified smiling faces vs. unsmiling ones and old ones vs. young ones. But the other children mostly just grouped the faces by race and gender.
Scientists think this has to do with a tendency in our society to only think about ourselves in connection with one important group at a time. But when we remind kids that they have various identities, they think beyond our society's default categories. This could be an easy way for parents and teachers to expand every child’s horizons.
If you’re a dog owner, you may have noticed something weird about your pooch. Dog paws and ears very often smell like corn chips (...or, popcorn or cheese). And that raises a question: Why?
Just like humans, dogs are home to trillions of bacteria, yeasts, and other microbes that usually form a stable community called a microbiome. That might sound icky, but it’s actually good for us and our canine companions. The bacteria and yeast on the outside of the body often feast on organic material made by the skin.
Researchers don’t know exactly what compounds are common between dogs’ paws and dogs’ ears, but there’s good reason to think they’re pretty similar to what’s produced by human skin. And that’s an area that has been thoroughly researched. Likewise, researchers haven’t taken a comprehensive inventory of all the microbes you’ll find on a pooch’s feet or in their ears, but it’s probably similar to those on humans. And that is a super spicy topic of research at the moment.
So while we don’t know what causes that corn chip smell, here’s what researchers think. Number one: dog skin produces sweat, especially around their paws. (Yeah, that thing you heard about how dogs don’t sweat? It’s a myth. Dogs DO, in fact, sweat.) Number two: dog skin also produces oils, also known as lipids. And number three: both dog feet and dog ears are perfect places for bacteria to thrive. Lots of folds and crevices, nice and warm. Plus, paws are touching everything all the time, so they have a chance to pick up lots of microbes.
One species of bacteria on both dog and human skin is in the genus Corynebacterium [CORE-in-nee-back-TEER-ee-um]. It turns lipids into two compounds with complicated names, so I’ll call them by their nicknames: TMHA and 3H3MH. Both of these smell kind of cheesy, with a touch of... rancid. When they interact with water — or sweat — those molecules can break down into other compounds with similar scents. You probably just take a shower before that can happen.
I know what you’re thinking: “But rancid cheese isn’t corn chips!” And that’s totally right. There are lots of microbes on your dog’s skin, and we still don’t definitively know which one causes that corn chip smell. But who knows, maybe the discovery of Cornchipebacterium gooddoggum [corn-CHIP-e-bacterium good-DOG-gum] is just one research project away.
Let’s recap what we learned today to wrap up. Starting with
[ad lib optional]
CODY: Today’s stories were written by Ashley Hamer and Grant Currin, and edited by Ashley Hamer, who’s the managing editor for Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY: Scriptwriting was by Cody Gough and Sonja Hodgen. Today’s episode was 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!