Curiosity Daily Podcast: Fighting Coronavirus with Llamas, Why Rain Stops Rocket Launches, and Listener Questions About Cold Things
Learn about why NASA doesn’t launch rockets in the rain (which is why there was a delay launching the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley); why llamas are so promising for protecting humans against viruses like COVID-19; and why things get cold — when they’re wet, when you’re chewing mint gum, and when you blow air through narrowed lips.
June 05, 2020
Episode Show Notes:
Why NASA doesn’t launch rockets in the rain by Cameron Duke
- Analysis of Apollo 12 Lightning Incident. (1970, February). Spaceflight.Nasa.Gov. https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/outreach/SignificantIncidents/assets/analysis-of-apollo-12-lightning-incident.pdf
- Apollo 12 Launch - CSM Onboard Audio. (2012). [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31qt9jgtMMI
- Apollo 12 Launch (Lightning Strike) - Onboard Voice Recorder. (2015). [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivtpIGrMZpw
- Bartels, M. (2020, May 30). NASA and SpaceX eye weather for historic Demo-2 astronaut launch Saturday. Space.Com. https://www.space.com/spacex-demo-2-astronaut-launch-weather-concerns.html
- Basics of Space Flight: Rocket Propellants. (2019). Braeunig.Us. http://www.braeunig.us/space/propel.htm
- NASA - Lightning and Launches. (2020). Nasa.Gov. https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/9-12/features/F_Lightning_and_Launches_9_12.html
- Gohd, C. (2019, November 14). 50 Years Ago: NASA’s Apollo 12 Was Struck By Lightning Right After Launch ... Twice! (Video). Space.Com; Space. https://www.space.com/apollo-12-lightning-strike-twice-launch-video.html
- Thorbecke, C. (2020, May 27). NASA’s SpaceX launch scrubbed due to weather, next chance on Saturday. ABC News; ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/live-updates-nasa-spacex-launch-astronauts-iss/story?id=70902209
- Shira Teitel, A. (2017). What Happened on Board when Apollo 12 was Struck by Lightning [YouTube Video]. In The Vintage Space. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i6yD2c2Jho
Why llamas are so promising for human virus protection by Cameron Duke
- Leslie, M. (2018, May 10). Mini-antibodies discovered in sharks and camels could lead to drugs for cancer and other diseases. Science | AAAS. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/05/mini-antibodies-discovered-sharks-and-camels-could-lead-drugs-cancer-and-other-diseases#
- Brulliard, K. and Johnson, C.Y. (2020, May 6). The urgent quest for a coronavirus treatment involves door-to-door blood collection and a llama named Winter. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2020/05/06/urgent-quest-coronavirus-treatment-involves-door-to-door-blood-collection-llama-named-winter/
- Dr. Francis Collins. (2018, November 13). Looking to Llamas for New Ways to Fight the Flu. NIH Director’s Blog. https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2018/11/13/looking-to-llamas-for-new-ways-to-fight-the-flu/
- Hamers-Casterman, C., Atarhouch, T., Muyldermans, S., Robinson, G., Hammers, C., Songa, E. B., Bendahman, N., & Hammers, R. (1993). Naturally occurring antibodies devoid of light chains. Nature, 363(6428), 446–448. https://doi.org/10.1038/363446a0
- Wrapp, Daniel, et al. (2020). Structural Basis for Potent Neutralization of Betacoronaviruses by Single-Domain Camelid Antibodies. Cell. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.031
- Zimmer, C. (2018, November 1). How to Turbocharge Flu Protection (Llamas Required). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/01/science/flu-vaccinations.html
Three questions about cold by Ashley Hamer (Listener questions from Joshua, Brescia, and Likith)
- Bautista, D. M., Siemens, J., Glazer, J. M., Tsuruda, P. R., Basbaum, A. I., Stucky, C. L., Jordt, S.-E., & Julius, D. (2007). The menthol receptor TRPM8 is the principal detector of environmental cold. Nature, 448(7150), 204–208. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05910
- Lecklitner, I. (2016, November 9). Why Does My Mouth Freeze When I Drink Water After Chewing... Dollar Shave Club Original Content; Dollar Shave Club Original Content. https://www.dollarshaveclub.com/content/story/why-does-my-mouth-freeze-when-i-drink-water-after-chewing-gum
- WIRED Staff. (2010, September 22). Why Does Spicy Food Taste Hot? WIRED; WIRED. https://www.wired.com/2010/09/why-does-spicy-food-taste-hot/
- Chicago Tribune. (2011, August 9). Ask Tom why: Why does wet skin feel cold? Chicagotribune.com. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2011-08-09-ct-wea-0809-asktom-20110809-story.html
- Heat of Vaporization. (2013, October 2). Chemistry LibreTexts. https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry_Textbook_Maps/Supplemental_Modules_(Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry)/Thermodynamics/Energies_and_Potentials/Enthalpy/Heat_of_Vaporization
- Fluid or Air Entrainment. (2020). Lanecc.Edu. https://media.lanecc.edu/users/driscolln/RT112/Air_Flow_Fluidics/Air_Flow_Fluidics7.html
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
Next Up
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Introducing If/Then
What gets you curious? Virtual experiences, celestial bodies, water worlds or maybe just the tiniest mysteries inside your brain? The endlessly curious and curiously funny, Gillian Jacobs (Community, Netflix's LOVE) and Diona Reasonover (NCIS), step off set to go on tangents with real-life astronauts, astrophysicists, science artists, mathematician-types and other really smart people that investigate what seems impossible.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: The Curiosity Podcast Wraps Up with Yoga, Volcanoes, and Meditation
Learn from some of our favorite expert guests about yoga, volcanoes, meditation, and more on this special episode of the Curiosity Podcast. You'll hear from accomplished authors and academics from past episodes, in addition to a special guest you've never heard before on the show. Plus, hear about the past, present, and future of the Curiosity Podcast.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Are Facial Expressions Universal?
Learn about common ancestors shared by every human; evolution’s multiple directions; and universal facial expressions.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Do Opposites Really Attract?
Learn about why opposites don’t really attract; the “propinquity effect” and how physical distance affects the way we feel about other people; and the history of when and why we started using last names.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Does ESP Exist?
Learn about ESP; why people panicked about electricity in the 1800s; and how embryos use sound to prepare for the world.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: How to Talk to Strangers, Red Dead Redemption 2 Naturalists, July Curiosity Challenge
Learn how to get better at talking to strangers; and how Red Dead Redemption 2 turns gamers into naturalists. Trivia too!
Curiosity Daily Podcast: How Superstitions Can Reduce Anxiety
Learn how superstitions can actually reduce anxiety, why rebooting can often fix computer problems, and why the first full dinosaur skeleton ever found is finally being studied 160 years later.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why April Fool’s Day Exists
Learn about what the “frenemy effect” can teach us about bullying; the surprising ability of marmosets to eavesdrop on each others’ conversations; and why April Fool’s Day may have originated from an out-of-date calendar.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Explorers Club - Steve Elkins
Today, we’re hearing from an explorer and filmmaker named Steve Elkins. Steve spent decades searching for a legendary lost city deep in the jungles of Honduras. His search for the city was documented in the New York Times best-selling book, “The Lost City of the Monkey God,” by Douglas Preston.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: 5G Might Impair Weather Forecasts
Learn about how 5G may impair weather forecasts, and how the first confirmed exoplanet was discovered a lot more recently than you may realize. Plus, science writer John Tierney is back to explore how negativity bias affects our relationships.