Learn how people survive plane crashes; why and how your spleen can multiply into accessory spleens; and why people still use fax machines. 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: How Do People Survive Plane Crashes? — https://curiosity.im/2uaGh6t Your Spleen Can Multiply Into Accessory Spleens — https://curiosity.im/2u2ODwT Why Do People Still Use Fax Machines? — https://curiosity.im/2W83jqm 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 how people survive plane crashes; why and how your spleen can multiply into accessory spleens; and why people still use fax machines.
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/youd-probably-survive-a-plane-crash-why-people-still-fax-and-how-spleens-can-multiply
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 how people survive plane crashes; why and how your spleen can multiply into extra spleens; and why people still use fax machines.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
How Do People Survive Plane Crashes? — https://curiosity.im/2uaGh6t (Cody)
[ad lib about being on a plane hitting a bunch of turbulence last weekend] And like, you already know that flying in a plane is actually extremely safe, relative to, say, driving a car. But this might surprise you: even if you do find yourself in a plane crash, there’s actually a pretty good chance you’ll survive. According to a report from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the vast majority of passengers involved in a plane crash between 1983 and 2000 survived. As in, 95.7 percent made it through the crash. That's thanks to the engineering of the plane, its many safety features, and physics in general. Airplane manufacturers engineer their vehicles for crash safety. Plane crash victims aren't plummeting to the ground in free-fall like a skydiver without a parachute; they're riding inside of a giant tube of metal that’s designed to maintain its integrity when it hits the ground during a crash landing. Even without their engines, airplanes are aerodynamic and will glide to a crash landing at whatever angle they were in when their engines quit. You can thank Newton's first law of motion for that one. If you’re paranoid about flying, though, there are a few things you can do to increase your chances of survival even further. The first one will require you to be okay with being one of the last ones off the plane; that’s because a study by Popular Mechanics found that passengers in the rear are about 40 percent more likely to survive a crash than those in the front. And try to stay awake during takeoff and landing, which are when the chances of a crash are highest. Finally, if you do think you're about to crash, you should brace for impact, since there's some evidence that could up your chances, too. Whatever you do, just remember: the next time you fly, you really should worry more about what to do on your vacation than how safe you’ll be getting there.
Your Spleen Can Multiply Into Accessory Spleens — https://curiosity.im/2u2ODwT (Ashley)
Did you know that your spleen can multiply, so you end up with extra spleens? No? [JOKE VOICE] You… don’t even know what your spleen does, do you? Okay, no problem. I’ve got you. Your spleen Spleens are about 4 inches long and sit in the upper-left side of your abdomen. plays a big role in your immune system: it stores platelets and white blood cells, and it’s also where old red blood cells get recycled. The spleen also recognizes certain types of harmful bacteria that cause pneumonia and meningitis, so it gives your immune system time to make antibodies. Without a spleen, about half a percent of people develop a deadly blood infection called sepsis. Not too shabby for an organ that doesn’t get much attention, huh? Now, back to the original point about having multiple spleens. According to a 2014 study published in the Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences, about one in five people have multiple spleens. This happens thanks to a process called splenosis, and it happens when you rupture your original spleen, which is fragile. When this happens, cells from the spleen scatter throughout the abdomen. If the cells land somewhere with a lot of blood vessels, they grow into tiny extra spleens called splenunculi. But they’re also known as “accessory spleens.” They don’t really have a function, but they’re not usually harmful. Still, if you undergo a splenectomy, physicians suggest taking out any accessory spleens in the process. Having those extra spleens could come with complications, like developing necrosis (or tissue death), or being misread as another mass of tissue. Oh, and as far as we know, the spleen is the only organ that can do this. The takeaway? Your spleen is special AND unique. [ / ad lib a better ending]
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Why do people still use fax machines? — https://curiosity.im/2W83jqm (Republish) (Cody)
For our last story, we’re gonna look into a question that might’ve crossed your mind if you’ve looked at the contact info of certain businesses lately: why do people still use fax machines? I was on Twitter last week and saw that people celebrating the 24th anniversary of something. Apparently on March 18, 1995, Michael Jordan announced he was coming out of basketball retirement and returning to the NBA. And do you know how he did it? He wrote down two words: “I’m back.” And he sent those two words to reporters… using a fax machine. I bring this up because to a lot of Millennials like you and me, fax machines feel so 1980s. But as reported by The Conversation, faxes are still happening all the time all around the world, especially in Germany and Japan. A worldwide survey in 2017 looked at 200 large firms, and found that 82 percent of them had seen workers send as many or MORE faxes than they had the year before. As for WHY faxing is still so chic, there are a few reasons. Part of it is because the fax industry has actually done a pretty good job adapting to new technologies. These days, there are fax servers that let you send and receive faxes as electronic documents, and there are cloud-based fax services that treat faxes like images or PDF files attached to emails. Fax machines have also stuck around for legal reasons. State and federal agencies made faxed signatures legal by the late 1980s and early 1990s, and although digital signatures were given legal power in 2000, companies were slow to accept them, if at all. If you wanted to get a schedule 2 drug like Ritalin or opiates from your pharmacist, you had to have your doctor fax it all the way up until 2010, which is when the Drug Enforcement Agency started allowing electronic signatures. On top of all that, faxing is pretty secure. It’s internationally popular and inexpensive. And hey, if your customers have been using a fax machine to order from your business for 20 years, what’s your incentive to switch? A lot of people just feel like saving time and money doing what already works for them. Now, maybe some day when adults are all digital natives and we’re all about email, the fax machine will go away. But as long as it’s cheap, convenient, secure, and comfortable compared to its alternatives for a lot of people, the fax machine is something you probably shouldn’t write off.
ASHLEY: Today’s ad-free episode was brought to you by our Patrons. Special thanks to Jairus Durnett, Katrina Constantine, Julian Gomez, Luke Chapman, MannyBlaaze, and Dan Paterniti for your support on Patreon. We really appreciate it!
CODY: You can support Curiosity Daily, too! Just visit our Patreon page at patreon-dot-com-slash-curiosity-dot-com, all spelled out.
ASHLEY: 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!