Curiosity Daily Podcast: The Stinky Science of the World’s Smelliest Fruit
Learn about the shocking prevalence of torture scenes in movies; why durian, the world’s smelliest fruit, smells so bad; and where mold comes from.
December 30, 2020
Episode Show Notes:
Torture is prevalent and effective in movies (but not in real life) by Kelsey Donk
- Torture Prevalent, Effective in Popular Movies, Study Finds – University of Alabama News | The University of Alabama. (2020). Ua.Edu. https://www.ua.edu/news/2020/01/torture-prevalent-effective-in-popular-movies-study-finds/
- Delehanty, C., & Kearns, E. (2019). Wait, There’s Torture in Zootopia?: Examining the Prevalence of Torture in Popular Movies. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3342908
Scientists discovered why durian is the world's smelliest fruit by Kelsey Donk
- A Love Letter to a Smelly Fruit. (2013, December 3). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/travel/a-love-letter-to-a-smelly-fruit.html
- Discovering what makes durian stink. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-02/lfla-dwm022820.php
- Identification of an Important Odorant Precursor in Durian: First Evidence of Ethionine in Plants. (2019). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jafc.9b07065
- Maninang, J. S., Lizada, M. C. C., & Gemma, H. (2009). Inhibition of aldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme by Durian (Durio zibethinus Murray) fruit extract. Food Chemistry, 117(2), 352–355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2009.03.106
- Ethanethiol - American Chemical Society. (2020). American Chemical Society. https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/molecule-of-the-week/archive/e/ethanethiol.html
Where does mold come from? by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Tim)
- USDA FSIS. (2013). Molds on Food: Are They Dangerous? https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/a87cdc2c-6ddd-49f0-bd1f-393086742e68/Molds_on_Food.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
- Stradley, L. (2016, April 5). Food Molds – Are Molds Dangerous. What’s Cooking America. https://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/Mold.htm
- Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. (2019). BAM Chapter 18. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/food/laboratory-methods-food/bam-yeasts-molds-and-mycotoxins
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://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Next Up
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Nudge Theory’s Dark Side (w/ Richard Thaler), Hybrid Fruit Science, Words for “Pirate”
Learn about how to avoid getting dragged down by “Sludge”; how hybrid fruit like plumcots are made; and pirate parlance.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Tap into the 4 Pillars of Learning (w/ Stanislas Dehaene) and How We Get Seedless Fruit
Renowned cognitive neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene explains how you can learn new things by tapping into the four pillars of learning. But first, you’ll learn about how we get seedless fruit.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: The Dirty, Smelly History of Soap (w/ Cody Cassidy)
Cody Cassidy is back to talk about how soap was invented. You’ll also learn about a bias that makes people believe poor people have thicker skin, and how good anxiety can help you get things done.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Alibi Memory, Denisova Cave History, Cleaning Fruit & Veggies
Learn how often people misremember alibis; new lessons from Denisova Cave; and how to remove pesticides from produce.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: The Future of Learning Is Now, Thanks to Science
Is there a right or wrong way to learn? Dr. Stephen Kosslyn is an expert on the science of learning, with more than 30 years of experience working at elite institutions such as Harvard and Stanford. He also thinks that higher education could learn a lot about how people learn, and that's why he became the Founding Dean and Chief Learning Officer of the Minerva Schools at KGI. On this podcast, Dr. Kosslyn explains how people learn and how his institution is changing the way learning is approached — one student at a time.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: Cooked vs. Uncooked Fruits and Veggies (w/ The Nutrition Wonk), Food Poisoning Facts, and Milky Way’s Second Life
Learn where food poisoning comes from (and how to avoid it); why we’re in the Milky Way’s second life.; and whether fruits and vegetables are healthier when they’re fresh or frozen.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: The Best Way to Phrase Words of Comfort, According to Science
Learn about how researchers built a “soft robot” that reached the depths of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean; why musicians with brain tumors serenade their surgeons; and the best way to phrase words of comfort.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: The Science of Swearing and What it Says About Our Values
Kids get grounded for swearing, and bad words are banned from television... but why is that the case if most adults swear anyway? Linguist and cognitive scientist Benjamin K. Bergen says that swearing can be funny, cathartic, and even useful! In this rated-PG episode, he explains how the science of swearing can help us understand how our brains process language, and what the worst words tell us about our culture. And the episode is squeaky clean: no swearing included!
Curiosity Daily Podcast: The Science of Hauntings, Sleep Deprivation Effects, and Maximizing Benefits From Nature
Learn how much your work suffers when you’re sleep deprived; the scientific reason why some places feel like they’re haunted by ghosts; and how to get the most benefits from being surrounded by nature.
Curiosity Daily Podcast: The Cutest Kind of Puppy, Rural Happiness, and the Science of “Thank You”
In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes: