Curiosity Daily Podcast: How Life Expectancy Doubled in Just 150 Years (w/ Author Steven Johnson)
Learn how we doubled life expectancy in the last 150 years. Plus: “impossible” quasicrystals formed from nuclear bombs.
June 30, 2021
Episode Show Notes:
Additional resources from Steven Johnson:
- Pick up "Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer": https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/594501/extra-life-by-steven-johnson/
- Website: https://stevenberlinjohnson.com/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/stevenbjohnson
The first nuclear detonation created "impossible" quasicrystals shaped like 20-sided dice by Briana Brownell
- Castelvecchi, D. (2021). First nuclear detonation created “impossible” quasicrystals. Nature, 593(7860), 487–487. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-01332-0
- Bindi, L., Kolb, W., Eby, G. N., Asimow, P. D., Wallace, T. C., & Steinhardt, P. J. (2021). Accidental synthesis of a previously unknown quasicrystal in the first atomic bomb test. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(22), e2101350118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2101350118
- Università degli Studi di Firenze. (2021). Quasicrystals in the first nuclear explosion [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkuLjTlUO7A
Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Next Up
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Hacking Device, Designer Seaweed, Accent Exposure
We discuss the latest in phone hacking technology, how aquaculture may be able to help the global food crisis, and how engaging with people who speak in a foreign accent may help us retain language.
Curiosity Daily Podcast:The Myth of Man Flu, Arctic Lakes, Buzzing Bats
Let’s talk about whether “man flu” is fact or fiction, how the Arctic lakes just threw a curveball at our climate change projections, and the genius new way bats are tricking their predators.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Real-Life Zombification (w/ author Matt Simon), Most Annoying Sounds, and Leaders Who Are Too Smart
Matt Simon, author of “Plight of the Living Dead,” discusses real-life zombification in nature. Plus, learn about the most annoying sounds ever, according to research, and why leaders who are too smart are actually less effective.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: How Calculus Is Different (w/ Steven Strogatz), Distraction Can Alter Your Memory, and Why the Hindenburg Used Hydrogen
Popular mathematics writer and Cornell University Professor Steven Strogatz discusses the difference between calculus and algebra, and what calculus can do that other math can’t. Plus: learn about how distraction can alter your memory, and the science behind the Hindenburg disaster of 1937.
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: 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: Are Facial Expressions Universal?
Learn about common ancestors shared by every human; evolution’s multiple directions; and universal facial expressions.
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!