Today you’ll learn about how video calls can add to social anxiety, how new technology is able to discover the secrets of the Denali Fault, and what goes into designing a new spacesuit for astronauts!
Today you’ll learn about how video calls can add to social anxiety, how new technology is able to discover the secrets of the Denali Fault, and what goes into designing a new spacesuit for astronauts!
Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/zoom-doom-denali-fault-modern-moon-suit
Zoom Doom
Denali Fault
Modern Moon Suit
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[SFX: INTRO MUSIC/WHOOSH]
NATE: Hi! You’re about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from Discovery. Time flies when you’re learnin’ super cool stuff. I’m Nate.
CALLI: And I’m Calli. If you’re dropping in for the first time, welcome to Curiosity, where we aim to blow your mind by helping you to grow your mind. If you’re a loyal listener, welcome back!
NATE: Today you’ll learn about how video calls can add to social anxiety, how new technology is able to discover the secrets of the Denali fault, and what goes into designing a new spacesuit for astronauts!
CALLI: Without further ado, let’s satisfy some curiosity!
[SFX: WHOOSH]
CALLI: If I were to ask you about video conferencing software, how would you feel?
NATE: Interesting question. Kind of throws me back a couple of years to the middle of the pandemic, even though we are all still using things like Zoom today. I assume you're going to talk about Zoom doom.
CALLI: I am going to be talking about Zoom doom. So a new study has looked at why so many of us feel such dread when it comes to video conferencing tools like Zoom. And if you think about it, it's actually kind of a pretty tricky question. We are social beings who tend to find value in social gatherings and video conferencing apps were designed to bring us together, especially when we can't get together in real life. So what makes them such a drag?
NATE: Yeah, I never really thought of it that way, but yeah, even those of us who aren't super outgoing and social should be drawn to apps and tools that help us connect with people. Right. What did they find?
CALLI: Well, before we get into the results, let me set up that study for you. The study was published in Clinical Psychological Sciences, and researchers basically observed the behaviors of people on Zoom calls. They recorded 246 participants for the study. Each participant was asked to bring a same sex friend along, but when they got there, they were divided up and put on the zoom call. Some of them chatted with the friends they brought, while others were matched up with strangers. They were told to talk about two things: music and what they liked or disliked about the place where they lived.
NATE: So like a structured but basic social call.
CALLI: Basically. You might think of it as the Zoom version of a happy Hour, which is even more relevant because they gave half of the subjects alcohol.
NATE: Why? What is this study?
CALLI: They were trying to figure out why video conference calls were so socially unsatisfying. And they realized that alcohol is often used as a social lubricant in many social situations. Alcohol tends to make you focus on yourself a little less, which can be freeing and reduce anxiety, especially social anxiety. So they wanted to know why Zoom made people unhappy, but also if the use of alcohol had any positive effects.
NATE: All right. So maybe this experiment was actually kind of fun to observe?
CALLI: I think so. To understand what was going on in these video calls, the track the subject's eye movement, so they could understand what they were looking at. The results are pretty telling, although maybe not surprising. Subjects spent most of their time looking at the other person, but the evidence showed that the more someone looked at themselves on the screen, the worse they felt.
NATE: Oh, no. So for the last three years, staring at ourselves on a screen, and it turns out that makes us feel bad.
CALLI: Yep. For the most part, the more we focus on ourselves, the worse we tend to feel. That's one reason social interactions can be felt this positive when we're hanging out with someone else. We're not just focusing on ourselves. We're focusing on the people we're with.
NATE: But so many people have the opposite experience, right? And when they socialize, all they can think about is what the people around them think about them like, Oh, do they think I look okay? Did I say the wrong thing? Is my shirt too orange?
CALLI: Well, first off, you should probably never wear orange. It's just not your color. I'm sorry you've got a winter complexion. But anyway. Oh, most people experience at least a little bit of social anxiety, which is why the researchers gave them booze.
NATE: Liquid courage. Got it.
CALLI: I mean, something like that.
NATE: Did it work?
CALLI: Nope.
NATE: Oh, well, good theory anyway. Glad we tested it.
CALLI: In video calls. Your face is just right there staring back at you the whole time, and that automatically draws your attention back to yourself, which.
NATE: Causes anxiety.
CALLI: And just general bad vibes. Alcohol won't help, but researchers recommend covering the image of your own face on video calls to avoid Zoom doom.
NATE: How am I gonna know know if I have something in my teeth.
CALLI: Just going to have to take that chance, my friend.
NATE: Too risky.
[SFX: WHOOSH]
NATE: Alaska is on the move and I mean that literally, like the actual state of Alaska is moving like the earth is shifting.
CALLI: Yeah. What? That sounds bad.
NATE: Yeah. It's not exactly a new development. The tectonic plates underneath Alaska have been shifting by tens of millimeters a year and pushing up against each other for millions of years now. But scientists have recently published a study that goes… deeper into the how and why goes deeper.
CALLI: Did you intend that is a pun?
NATE: Of course I do, because going deeper is what makes this research such a big deal. But before we go into the study, let's talk about the Denali fault.
CALLI: Okay. As I understand it, that is a pretty big one.
NATE: Massive. Along with the San Andreas Fault. It's among the most infamous fault lines on the planet. In 2002, people walking around Lake Union in Seattle noticed the water sloshing around in a weird way. And pretty soon it was sloshing so hard that it knocked houseboats off their moorings and caused all sorts of damage.
CALLI: Okay, so an earthquake.
NATE: Not just any earthquake. It was a 7.9 magnitude earthquake, 2000 miles away that shot through the Alaskan fault system at 7000 miles an hour because most of the quake was located in sparsely populated areas of wilderness. Alaska's cities were, for the most part, spared. But it was so massive that people felt it in Texas and Louisiana. And if it had been just a bit bigger or centered in a different spot, Seattle could have been devastated.
CALLI: Okay. So this study is pretty important.
NATE: And not just for the Denali fault. Understanding the mechanisms at work can help us understand other faults like San Andreas, which, as you know, is centered around pretty populated areas in California.
CALLI: Yeah. So, okay, how do you study fault lines?
NATE: It's important to understand just what a fault is, to understand the impact of the research. The outermost part of the Earth is called the lithosphere. It's like a rocky shell you might otherwise know. It is the ground.
CALLI: Oh, yes, I've heard of it.
NATE: It's pretty famous, but the lithosphere is actually made up of these individual plates. A kind of butt up against each other. And in some places, you can see the space where they meet.
CALLI: Hey, I mean, don't blame them. It's not their fault.
NATE: Well, actually, it is their fault. And when one plate moves up against the next plate, that's when you get earthquakes. Scientists put seismic stations around faults so they can observe the small quakes that do happen fairly often and maybe predict when the bigger ones are coming. But there is a real problem with that.
CALLI: Yeah, that's not a sentence you want to hear when you're talking about earthquakes.
NATE: I agree. The problem here is that geologists have only been able to study the topmost layer of the lithosphere because they didn't have the tools to go very deep below the surface.
CALLI: Okay. But seismographs are still pretty sensitive, right?
NATE: They are. But think about it like this. When you look over the surface of the ocean, you can see ripples and waves, but you have no idea what's below the surface that could be causing them. Are they just regular old waves or is there a tsunami coming? The only way to find out.
CALLI: Is to go deep.
NATE: Yes. So the study conducted by researchers at Brown University, used a novel cutting edge system of seismic states to actually build a 3D model of seismic waves around the Denali fault in Alaska. And that allowed them to go deep. For the first time ever, geologists can see changes in thickness and strength of the tectonic plates otherwise known as Alaska.
CALLI: Well, okay, so I feel like I know the answer here, but will this information help us finally put a stop to all those earthquakes?
NATE: New 3D models are pretty cool. But they are no match for one of the planet's most powerful forces. So no.
CALLI: Yeah, kind of saw that one coming.
NATE: But what this will do is help scientists better predict future quakes so that we can at least try to prepare for them. Imagine being able to predict an earthquake with the accuracy that we can predict a hurricane.
CALLI: That would be amazing.
NATE: It would be. And we're not there yet. But with developments like this, there is a lot of motion.
CALLI: Oh, man. Oh, no.
[SFX: WHOOSH]
CALLI: All right, pop quiz. What's the first thing you think of when you imagine walking around on the moon?
NATE: Ooh, barren dusty but mystical landscape. The majesty of earth seen far off in the distance. Thousands of years of technological breakthroughs and engineering marvels leading to this very moment. Maybe space monkeys attacking me. I don't know why.
CALLI: And fashion.
NATE: Fashion? Not - why fashion?
CALLI: Because, believe it or not, fashion is a huge next step in humanity's return to the moon. NASA's recently unveiled the first prototype for the next generation of lunar spacesuit that will be tailored for the first astronauts expected to travel back to the moon in the next few years. And this is a big deal.
NATE: Oh, okay. That kind of fashion. That is very cool. So what do they look like?
CALLI: All right. They were designed by Texas based company Axiom Space, which had a lot of updates to consider and not just the tech that goes into the suits, but the people who are going into them.
NATE: What do you mean?
CALLI: Well, everyone has an image of those iconic old lunar suits that the astronauts wore on previous moon landings, you know, massive white puffy outfits with huge domes on top.
NATE: Okay. Yeah, The moon boots, the packs, the gloves, those fun gold visors. I mean, those suits still symbolize the idea of high tech. And they absolutely represent the space age.
CALLI: Exactly. But the last Americans walked on the moon over 50 years ago during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. And you can guess what those astronauts looked like.
NATE: Ooh, I'm going to guess athletic white guys.
CALLI: Exactly. Fast forward 50 years to the Artemis program. Last year, Artemis one flew without a crew around the moon and back in what was groundbreaking proof that the powerful new rocket and the Orion spacecraft were viable. Sometime in 2024, Artemis Two, will return, but this time with four crew members.
NATE: Where are they planning to land?
CALLI: This one, they won't. Artemis Two is another fly by an out and back mission. But Artemis three set to launch sometime later in this decade, will be the first to land on the moon's south pole and will carry the first woman to ever walk on the surface of the moon.
NATE: So spacesuit design is crucial here.
CALLI: At the Apollo mission. Didn't have to consider variation in body size for the most part, and it certainly didn't have to consider women's anatomy when designing those massive old moon suits. It's fitting that this new program is named after Apollo's twin sister, Artemis, from Greek mythology.
NATE: Did the new suits look anything like the old ones? Just, you know, in more sizes?
CALLI: They're actually a total redesign and they are super cool. First, they won't be so bulky, but more tailored and flexible so that Moonwalkers will have a better range of motion. Axiom calls them the Axiom Extravehicular mobility unit or Axemu for short, x x x x.
NATE: As you.
CALLI: Guys, we tried really hard to find the pronunciation for this, but we couldn't.
NATE: Axemu.
CALLI: Yes. So yeah. Axemu for short. Yes. We don't know exactly what they'll look like because the prototype left out some details to protect some proprietary materials and designs. What they did say is that they worked with Esther Maki, the costume designer from the Apple TV Plus series for All mankind on the designs. And they said the suits will need to be white in order to reflect the intense radiation from the sun. And they will be able to accommodate at least 90% of the American population.
NATE: Sounds like the design will make it easier for a lot more people to get around on the moon.
CALLI: That's the idea because this time NASA's isn't just planning on day trips. The Artemis program and those that follow it are setting out to establish a lunar base that can be a viable stop on the way to Mars.
NATE: And it all starts with fashion.
CALLI: I mean, fashion and 100 years of aviation breakthroughs.
NATE: Oh, yeah, That's a good point.
[SFX: WHOOSH]
NATE: Let’s recap what we learned today to wrap up.
CALLI: Turns out that the video conferencing software that was helpful during the pandemic is not so helpful when it comes to social anxiety. A new study found that looking at yourself while on a video call makes you feel worse than if you interact with someone in person.
NATE: Researchers have created a new technology that built a 3D model of seismic waves around the Denali fault in Alaska, helping us better predict earthquakes and their severity.
CALLI: NASA recently unveiled the first prototype for the next generation of lunar space suit that will be tailored for the first astronauts expected to travel to the moon! We’re not sure exactly what the new suits will look like but we can expect for them to have some cutting edge technology with more inclusive designs for a new generation of astronauts.