Curiosity Daily Podcast: How Copper Changed Our Language (w/ Materials Scientist Ainissa Ramirez)
Award-winning scientist and science communicator Ainissa Ramirez explains how copper changed our language. Then, learn about the surprising health benefits of brown fat.
February 18, 2021
Episode Show Notes:
Additional resources from Ainissa Ramirez:
- Pick up "The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another" on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2MyB4l8
- Ainissa's website: https://www.ainissaramirez.com/
- Ainissa Ramirez on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ainissaramirez
Largest study of brown fat ever shows just how healthy it is by Grant Currin
- Study of 50,000 people finds brown fat may protect against numerous chronic diseases. (2021). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-01/ru-so5010421.php
- Becher, T., Palanisamy, S., Kramer, D. J., Eljalby, M., Marx, S. J., Wibmer, A. G., Butler, S. D., Jiang, C. S., Vaughan, R., Schöder, H., Mark, A., & Cohen, P. (2021). Brown adipose tissue is associated with cardiometabolic health. Nature Medicine, 27(1), 58–65. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-1126-7
- Peres Valgas da Silva, C., Hernández-Saavedra, D., White, J., & Stanford, K. (2019). Cold and Exercise: Therapeutic Tools to Activate Brown Adipose Tissue and Combat Obesity. Biology, 8(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology8010009
- Cool Temperature Alters Human Fat and Metabolism. (2015, May 14). National Institutes of Health (NIH). https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/cool-temperature-alters-human-fat-metabolism
- Velickovic, K., Wayne, D., Leija, H. A. L., Bloor, I., Morris, D. E., Law, J., Budge, H., Sacks, H., Symonds, M. E., & Sottile, V. (2019). Caffeine exposure induces browning features in adipose tissue in vitro and in vivo. Scientific Reports, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-45540-1
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
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Next Up
Curiosity Daily Podcast: How Space Changed NASA Astronaut Nicole Stott’s Perspective; Plus, Whistled Languages
Learn what NASA astronaut Nicole Stott learned from her time in outer space. Plus: whistled languages around the world.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: How to Change Minds (w/ Bill Nye)
Learn about why quitting smoking is good for your mental health, too; and why it’s possible to practice too much. We’ll also answer a listener question about how to get people to believe science, with some help from a special guest, Bill Nye.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: How Digital Audio Has Changed Listening (w/ Damon Krukowski) and How Much You Can Know
Learn about how digital technology is changing the way we listen to music and other audio from special guest Damon Krukowski, who is a musician, writer, and author of the new book “Ways of Hearing.” We’ll also answer a listener question about whether there’s a limit to how much we can know.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: How to Deal with Having Too Many Choices, Wormhole Shadows, and a Language “Wug Test”
Learn about why having too many choices stresses us out; how wormholes might cast a visible shadow; and the adorable Wug Test that measures how well children understand the rules of language.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: How Fruit Flies Are Like Humans, (w/ Stephanie Mohr), Your Changing Personality, and Pennies
Learn about how and why we study fruit flies with some help from Stephanie Mohr, author of the new book “First in Fly: Drosophila Research and Biological Discovery.” You’ll also learn why we still make pennies here in the U.S., and why science says your personality completely changes over time.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: An Outsider’s Guide to Humans (w/ Scientist Camilla Pang)
Scientist and award-winning author Camilla Pang explains why she wanted to write a manual for humans. You’ll also learn about the planetary chaos that resulted when the Earth’s magnetic poles reversed.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: How to Change Your Personality, Why You Jerk Awake While Falling Asleep, and Ainu History
Learn about new research into whether you can change your personality; why historians are stumped over the history of the Ainu, Japan’s indigenous people; and why you jerk awake while you’re falling asleep.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: How We Know Climate Change Is Caused by Humans (w/ Katharine Hayhoe) and the Myth of “Common Sense”
Renowned climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe explains how we know that climate change is caused by humans. Then, learn about why there’s no such thing as “common sense.”
Curiosity Daily Podcast: How Your Friendships Change, a Secret Airline to Area 51, and Magic Words to Get What You Want
In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories to help you learn something new in just a few minutes:
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Lockdown Is Changing Our Perception of Time, a Devastating Meteor that Never Landed, and Elephants Can Catch Yawns from Humans
Learn about how lockdown is changing our perception of time; how the most devastating meteor on record may have never even landed; and why it’s a big deal that elephants can catch contagious yawning from humans.