Curiosity Daily Podcast: Befriend Cats with the Slow Blink
Learn about how slow blinking at a cat can help you make friends with it, how temptation bundling can help you reinforce good habits, and why Moravec’s Paradox says the easy stuff is hardest for artificial intelligence.
November 12, 2020
Episode Show Notes:
Slow blinking at a cat can help you make friends with it by Steffie Drucker
- Feline friendly? How to build rap-paw with your cat - new psychology study. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-10/uos-ffh100720.php
- Rigby, S., & Science, P. (2020, October 8). Want to make friends with a cat? Blink slowly, say scientists. BBC Science Focus Magazine; BBC Science Focus Magazine. https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/want-to-make-friends-with-a-cat-blink-slowly-say-scientists/
- Humphrey, T., Proops, L., Forman, J., Spooner, R., & McComb, K. (2020). The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat–human communication. Scientific Reports, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73426-0
Reinforce Good Habits With Temptation Bundling by Ashley Hamer
Moravec's Paradox Is Why the Easy Stuff Is Hardest for Artificial Intelligence by Ashley Hamer
- Russell, S. J. and Norvig, P. (1995). Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. Prentice Hall. https://web.archive.org/web/20170831090316/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bef0/731f247a1d01c9e0ff52f2412007c143899d.pdf
- Mandelbaum, R. F. (2018, April 25). AI Is Getting Pretty Good at Studying Distant Galaxies. Gizmodo; Gizmodo. https://gizmodo.com/ai-is-getting-pretty-good-at-studying-distant-galaxies-1825513242
- Cascone, S. (2017, July 11). AI-Generated Art Now Looks More Convincingly Human Than Work at Art Basel, Study Says. Artnet News; artnet News. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/rutgers-artificial-intelligence-art-1019066
- There are two kinds of AI, and the difference is important. (2017). Popular Science. https://www.popsci.com/narrow-and-general-ai/
- Moravec, H. (1988) Mind Children: The Future of Robot and Human Intelligence. Harvard University Press. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mind_Children/56mb7XuSx3QC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
- Rubinov, M. (2015). Neural networks in the future of neuroscience research. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16(12), 767–767. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn4042
Subscribe to Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Ashley Hamer and Natalia Reagan (filling in for Cody Gough). 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
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Next Up
Ready, Set, Pup! Introducing Puppy Bowl XVIII
Everyone’s favorite game is back in action! PUPPY BOWL is back with more ear pulls, tail tugs, sloppy kisses, and touchdowns you won't want to miss. Get ready to cheer on the puppy players of Team Ruff and Team Fluff as they give it their all.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Gray Matter Gabfest, Our Pulsating Earth, Smarty Cats
Today, you’ll learn about how a man with advanced ALS, who can’t move a muscle, was able to communicate with his family using his thoughts, about a sixty-year-old mystery involving the earth and why it pulsates every twenty-six seconds, and how cats can learn the names of their fellow cats under the right conditions.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Earworms Aid Memory, How Auroras Happen, Don’t Give Cats Milk
Learn how earworms could be helping your memory; how auroras are created; and what your cat should drink instead of milk.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Flirting Cats, Walking Sharks, Preventing Cerebral Palsy
We discuss a new app that can translate a cat’s meow into human languages, how the Epaulette shark is teaching us about climate change, and a potential treatment that might prevent cerebral palsy.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Schrödinger's Second Cat, Asymmetric Insight, and Why You Should Study How You Study
Learn about a version of Schrödinger's cat that might break quantum physics; a study hack that makes you think about how you study; and why you’re not as mysterious as you think you are, thanks to a cognitive bias called asymmetric insight.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: What “Pavlovian” Really Means, Wisconsin’s Ultimate Tourist Trap, and Why Cats Love Boxes
Learn about why the one thing you probably know about Pavlov and his dogs is wrong; why the House on the Rock is the tourist trap to end all tourist traps; and why researchers think cats love boxes.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: NASA’s Voyager Golden Records, Why Cats Love Boxes, and Bacteria Hot Spots in Your Office
Learn about the golden records NASA launched into space with their Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes; the 5 most bacteria-ridden spots in your office; and why cats love boxes, according to science.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why Soft Drinks Taste Different Out of Cans, Why Housecats Are Dangerous for Wildlife, and 100 Minor Planets Discovered Beyond Neptune
Learn about why housecats are deadlier for local wildlife than wild predators; why soft drinks taste better from a can than they do from a plastic bottle (especially when it comes to Cody and his Mountain Dew habits); and how astronomers just found 100 new minor planets beyond Neptune.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Measuring Your FOMO, Tashirojima “Cat Island,” and the Man Who Put His Head Inside A Particle Accelerator (and Survived!)
Learn about the real effects of FOMO, and how you can measure your fear of missing out; the story of Anatoli Bugorski, a Russian scientist who put his head inside a particle accelerator and survived; and the Japanese “Cat Island” of Tashirojima, where there are more cats than people.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Sharks Aren’t Just Apex Predators (w/ Forrest Galante), How Cats Affect Online Dating, and When Giant Prehistoric Sea Scorpions Ruled the Seas
Forrest Galante, host of “Extinct or Alive” on Animal Planet, explains why sharks are so important to their ecosystems. You’ll also learn about giant prehistoric sea scorpions called Eurypterids who used to rule the sea and how cats affect online dating.