Learn about why inflation theory says the Big Bang wasn’t actually the beginning of the universe; why hookah may be worse for you than cigarettes; and why you don’t actually run out of willpower, even if you think you do. Please support our sponsors! Visit capterra.com/curiosity to find the best software solution for your business — for free! 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: The Big Bang Wasn't Actually the Beginning of the Universe — https://curiosity.im/2ZIMuni Hookah May Be Worse for You than Cigarettes, Says a New Study — https://curiosity.im/31StlRl You Don't Actually Run Out of Willpower, But Here's Why You Think You Do — https://curiosity.im/31N0gH0 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 inflation theory says the Big Bang wasn’t actually the beginning of the universe; why hookah may be worse for you than cigarettes; and why you don’t actually run out of willpower, even if you think you do.
Please support our sponsors! Visit capterra.com/curiosity to find the best software solution for your business — for free!
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:
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/you-dont-run-out-of-willpower-what-came-before-the-big-bang-and-hookah-health-risks
CODY: Hi! We’re here 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 the Big Bang wasn’t actually the beginning of the universe; why hookah may be worse for you than cigarettes; and why you don’t actually run out of willpower, even if you think you do.
CODY: Let’s power through some curiosity.
The Big Bang Wasn't Actually the Beginning of the Universe — https://curiosity.im/2ZIMuni (Ashley)
The Big Bang wasn't actually the beginning of the universe. You heard me right! Sure, the POPULAR understanding is that the universe began as an infinitely small singularity, then expanded faster than the speed of light in a trillionth of a second to form the universe we know today. BANG! But it turns out that there was probably no singularity, and the expansion of the universe after the Big Bang happened at a snail's pace — when you compare it to the expansion that came beforehand. Yes, beforehand. I know; I just blew your mind, so lemme back up for a second and talk about the Big Bang theory. In the 1920s, scientists noticed the furthest galaxies were moving away from us faster than the closest ones, which suggested it’s not the galaxies that are moving, but the universe that’s expanding. And if the universe is expanding, then light must be stretching towards the lower-energy end of the electromagnetic spectrum. THAT means that everything had even higher energy in the past, so the beginning of the universe was incredibly hot. As in, too hot for atoms to form. And we see evidence of this in the weak, super-stretched leftover radiation that makes up the cosmic microwave background. We have evidence for lots of other parts of the theory, too. BUT. There are a few frustrating pieces that don’t seem to fit the puzzle. Here are three main ones: first, the Big Bang predicts the universe should be curved, but the evidence we have from the cosmic microwave background suggests the universe is flat. Second, everything in the universe seems to be the same temperature, but there’s hardly any chance everything in the universe was ever close enough together to even out their heat. And third, we’ve never found magnetic monopoles, which are ultra-high energy particles the singularity-style Big Bang SHOULD have produced.
These three issues are all addressed by a thing called Inflation Theory. It says the universe we know was born out of fluctuations in the nothingness of space. See, even before the Big Bang when there was no matter or even radiation in the vacuum of space, that space would still be full of energy, thanks to pairs of quantum particles that constantly blink in and out of existence. That energy (called vacuum energy) made the empty universe expand at an exponential rate, enlarging it by a factor of something like 10 to the 26th power in a fraction of a second. As it expanded, fluctuations in vacuum energy left the fabric of space uneven, with random spots where the energy density was slightly higher or slightly lower than average. Eventually, all that energy decayed into matter and radiation that existed in the super-hot, still-expanding state predicted by the Big Bang. This fixes those problems that I mentioned with the Big Bang theory in its original form: Inflation predicts a flat universe, and the speed at which it happened allows for everything to end up at the same temperature, since it was possible for every point in the universe to have been in contact at some point. Inflation also says that there may have been magnetic monopoles before the expansion, but their density would have dropped to undetectable levels afterward, which explains why we haven’t found any. Plus, those fluctuations in the vacuum energy density nicely explain how stars, galaxies, and galaxy clusters formed. If it weren't for those random clumps of extra energy, humanity would never have existed.
Here’s the big takeaway: if might be time to refresh your knowledge of the Big Bang so it doesn’t START with a singularity. Instead, before matter or radiation existed, energy bound in the fabric of space made everything expand by a trillion trillion times in less than the blink of an eye. Soon, that energy turned into matter and radiation, which eventually coalesced into stars and galaxies — and the rest is history.
Hookah May Be Worse for You than Cigarettes, Says a New Study — https://curiosity.im/31StlRl (Republish) (Cody)
According to a new study, smoking hookah waterpipes could be even more dangerous than other forms of smoking. [ad lib]
And in case you’re wondering why we’re covering this, you might be surprised to hear that one in five college students in the U.S. and Europe have tried a hookah waterpipe. AND, reports suggest hookah usage is increasing.
As reported by Futurity, researchers from UC Irvine used a custom-built testing apparatus and analyzed emissions during a typical communal waterpipe session. They found that one draw from a pipe can contain as many noxious substances as smoke from an entire cigarette. On top of testing ordinary tobacco, the group studied a nicotine-free herbal mixture that was marketed as a “healthier alternative.” And they discovered it had even higher levels of toxic gases present in the mainstream smoke.
According to the paper’s lead author Veronique Perraud [Vrr-on-EEK Per-AHd], this is because you inhale a greater volume with every puff, and hookah sessions are usually on the longer side, which means the smoker is getting a higher dose of those chemicals. She also noted that one of the big myths about hookah usage is that the bowl filters out toxic chemicals. But this study found that this is not the case for most of the gases; in fact, water might actually PROMOTE ultrafine particle formation, and that might be because of its cooling effect. That cooler burning produces less complex chemical compositions than what you find in cigarette smoke, but an increased number of sugar derivatives and glycerol. Those are normally harmless — in fact, we use them as food additives — but when you heat them up, they decompose and create small aldehydes that are irritants and potential carcinogens.
This research is the first to characterize ultrafine particles in the inhaled smoke — ultrafine meaning they have a diameter smaller than 100 nanometers. These little particles can pose big health risks because they can make their way deep into the pulmonary system, and the smallest ones can readily cross the blood-brain barrier.
[CAPTERRA]
ASHLEY: Today’s episode is sponsored by Capterra, the leading, FREE online resource to help you find the best software solution for your business.
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ASHLEY: Visit Capterra dot com slash CURIOSITY for free, today, to find the tools to make an
informed software decision for your business. Capterra dot com slash CURIOSITY.
CODY: Capterra, that’s C-A-P-T-E-R-R-A dot com slash CURIOSITY. Capterra: software selection simplified.
You Don't Actually Run Out of Willpower, But Here's Why You Think You Do — https://curiosity.im/31N0gH0 (Ashley)
You only have so much willpower to resist something, right? Wrong! New research suggests that the phenomenon of “ego depletion" (or, the idea that you can run out of willpower) is a myth. Looks like the only thing you’ve run out of is excuses! But, seriously, how come it feels like we only have limited willpower?
The idea of finite willpower came from a 1998 study into self-control, where psychologists Roy Baumeister and Dianne Tice had some volunteers resist fresh-baked cookies for a period before being given a secretly unsolvable puzzle to solve. These people quit faster than the group who were allowed to eat the cookies, and that suggested they’d used up all their willpower reserves on resisting the cookies.
Over a decade later, a meta-analysis published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology found something worrying. Most of the studies of ego depletion with small sample sizes showed huge effects when you should expect to find some with no effects. This pointed to a clear case of publication bias, so psychologist Martin Hagger spearheaded an effort to re-do the original study in a bunch of different labs. The results showed that the ego-depletion effect was roughly zero.
Now experts are coming up with theories as to why we perceive willpower as finite when it isn’t.
One theory is that self-control is driven by motivation, which means that when motivation decreases, willpower does, too. Another idea deals with the way people frame willpower. A Stanford study showed that if people thought willpower was a limited resource, they showed signs of so-called ego depletion. But if they didn't think willpower was finite, they showed no such effect. So technically, by listening to this podcast on how willpower isn't finite, you're freeing yourself from the effects of ego depletion. You're welcome!
CODY: And now, let’s recap what we learned today. Today we learned that according to Inflation Theory, the universe had vacuum energy even before there was matter and radiation — and, of course, the Big Bang
ASHLEY: And that Hookah MAY be worse for you than cigarettes
CODY: And that you’ll only run out of willpower if you THINK you can run out of it. If you believe it’s infinite, then anything is possible! Where there’s a will, there’s away
[ad lib optional]
CODY: Join us again tomorrow to learn something new in just a few minutes. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Stay curious!