Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why People Are Afraid of Sharks, Discovery of 4 “Walking” Shark Species, and Fighting Climate Change with Rocks
To celebrate Shark Week, learn about why people are afraid of sharks; how scientists discovered four new species of “walking” sharks (also called epaulette sharks); and how enhanced rock weathering might help us fight climate change with rocks.
August 10, 2020
Episode Show Notes:
People are afraid of sharks for 3 psychological reasons by Kelsey Donk
- Ipsos editor. (2015, July 7). Sharks: Half (51%) of Americans are Absolutely Terrified of Them and Many (38%) Scared to Swim in the Ocean Because of Them... Ipsos; www.ipsos.com. https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/sharks-half-51-americans-are-absolutely-terrified-them-and-many-38-scared-swim-ocean-because-them
- Ropeik, D. (2015, July 6). Shark Attack: The Risk Is Tiny, but the Coverage, and Fear, Are High -- Why? HuffPost; HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/shark-attack-the-risk-is_b_7736266
- Why are we afraid of sharks? There’s a scientific explanation. (2019, June 27). Nationalgeographic.com. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/01/sharks-attack-fear-science-psychology-spd/
- Hettermann, K. (2017, July 25). Are You Afraid of Sharks? Don’t Be. Scientific American Blog Network. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/are-you-afraid-of-sharks-dont-be/
- Eveleth, R. (2013, August 6). How to Survive the Shark Attack That Is Never Going to Happen To You. Smithsonian Magazine; Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-to-survive-the-shark-attack-that-is-never-going-to-happen-to-you-24121725/?no-ist
Four new species of "walking" sharks were discovered this year by Grant Currin
- Walking sharks discovered in the tropics. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/uoq-wsd012020.php
- Dudgeon, C. L., Corrigan, S., Yang, L., Allen, G. R., Erdmann, M. V., Fahmi, Sugeha, H. Y., White, W. T., & Naylor, G. J. P. (2020). Walking, swimming or hitching a ride? Phylogenetics and biogeography of the walking shark genus Hemiscyllium. Marine and Freshwater Research. https://doi.org/10.1071/mf19163
- These sharks have evolved to walk on land—and they did it quickly. (2020, January 23). Nationalgeographic.com. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/01/walking-sharks-new-species-evolving-fast/
- Andrew, S. (2020, January 23). See walking shark discovered near Australia. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/23/world/walking-sharks-recently-evolved-scn-trnd/index.html
We may be able to fight climate change with rocks by Cameron Duke
- Beerling, D. J., Kantzas, E. P., Lomas, M. R., Wade, P., Eufrasio, R. M., Renforth, P., Sarkar, B., Andrews, M. G., James, R. H., Pearce, C. R., Mercure, J.-F., Pollitt, H., Holden, P. B., Edwards, N. R., Khanna, M., Koh, L., Quegan, S., Pidgeon, N. F., Janssens, I. A., … Banwart, S. A. (2020). Potential for large-scale CO 2 removal via enhanced rock weathering with croplands. Nature, 583(7815), 242–248. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2448-9
- Layton, L. (2020, July 8). Spreading rock dust on the ground could pull carbon from the air, researchers say. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2020/07/08/spreading-rock-dust-ground-could-pull-carbon-air-researchers-say/
- Sheffield, U. of. (2020, July 11). Shockingly Simple: How Farmland Could Absorb an Extra 2 Billion Tonnes of CO2 From the Atmosphere Each Year. SciTechDaily. https://scitechdaily.com/shockingly-simple-how-farmland-could-absorb-an-extra-2-billion-tonnes-of-co2-from-the-atmosphere-each-year/
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
Shark Week: The Podcast - What is the Status of Sharks in our Oceans?
In this season’s final episode, Luke welcomes Emmy-winning filmmaker and conservationist Shawn Heinrichs to discuss the state of sharks in the ocean. They go over how both legal and illegal fishing operations are decimating the ocean’s wildlife, what it’s like to have a hit put out on you for exposing criminal enterprises to the world, and whether or not NOAA’s data on “sustainable” fishing can really be trusted.
Shark Week: The Podcast - Do Scientists Need to Kill Sharks?
Host Luke Tipple welcomes two guests to discuss how researchers can kill sharks in the name of science – and whether they need to at all. The first is Dr. Neil Hammerschlag, shark researcher and founder of Atlantic Shark Expeditions, and an expert on data-gathering in the field. He’s followed by explorer Fred Buyle, a world-record-breaking freediver whose innovative methods of shark tagging are explored. Plus, our researcher Sierra tells us about how a 50-year study changed our understanding of tiger sharks – and much of the work wasn’t even done by scientists.
Shark Week: The Podcast - How Many Sharks Are Yet to Be Discovered?
Luke Tipple is joined by Shark Week host and all-around adventurer Forrest Galante. They discuss his upcoming special Alien Sharks: South Africa, Forrest’s remarkable talent for finding creatures once believed to be extinct, and how many shark species may still be unknown. Then, our researcher Sierra stops by to tell us about the world’s most prehistoric shark.
Shark Week: The Podcast - Superstar Kesha Lifts the Gag Order on Saving Sharks
Pop superstar Kesha joins Shark Week’s Luke Tipple on the podcast to discuss her love of sharks, how her music funds her addiction to diving, and how you can find inner peace while under the water. And at the end, our researcher Sierra drops in to tell us that some sharks have teeth in their eyes.
Shark Week: The Podcast - Lights! Camera! TEETH! Making Shark Docs
Shark Week’s Luke Tipple is joined by longtime filmmaker and Emmy-award-winner Andy Casagrande. He’s filmed and appeared in dozens of shark documentaries, and might just be the most prolific shark cinematographer in history. He talks with Luke about his career, the contentious term “shark porn,” and the future of the industry. And at the end, our researcher Sierra talks about the unprecedented ways that sharks are currently endangered.
Shark Week: The Podcast - Did Alien Tech Crash-Land into the Ocean?
Host Luke Tipple is joined this week by renowned Harvard professor, Dr. Avi Loeb, who recently led a deep-sea expedition to discover if evidence for advanced alien life crash-landed off the coast of Papua New Guinea in 2014. They discuss the recent Congressional UFO hearings, how the last seventy years of research into extraterrestrial life has been potentially misguided, and the challenges of searching for tiny objects on the bottom of the ocean.
Shark Week: The Podcast - How Smart Are Sharks?
The discussion turns this week to sharks’ intelligence, and how it varies among species. Host Luke Tipple is joined by Dr. Tristan Guttridge, a behavioral ecologist and veteran of Shark Week whose research has tackled the social smarts, and even personalities, of different kinds of sharks. He sheds light on why we shouldn’t just think of them as dumb fish with rows of razor-sharp teeth. And at the end, our researcher Sierra Kehoe tells us about shark hypnosis.
Shark Week: The Podcast - How Did a Shark Encounter Survivor Become an Advocate for Their Protection?
Shark Week’s Luke Tipple welcomes professional photographer Mike Coots, who lost his leg to a tiger shark attack when he was only 18. But after his horrific injury, he came to love sharks, and became a lifelong advocate for their safety. Luke and Mike discuss his career, his love for photographing sharks, and how to positively approach the big life-changing moments that can happen to any of us.
Shark Week: The Podcast - How To Have A Career in Shark Science
Shark Week’s Luke Tipple tackles the question “How can I work with sharks?” alongside two experts in the field – and their answers are not always the obvious ones. Luke is joined first by Kelly Link, Associate Curator of the Georgia Aquarium who talks about what it’s like to be an aquarist, how it differs from field work, and how to get yourself noticed. The second guest is Dr. Neil Hammerschlag who goes into detail on what it takes to become a prominent scientist, and what other paths you can take if a PhD isn’t for you. And at the end, researcher Sierra stops by to tell us about the world’s smallest shark.
Shark Week: The Podcast - How Shark Fishing Funds Human Trafficking
Luke Tipple is joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of the Outlaw Ocean Ian Urbina, who has dedicated his life to chronicling crime on the high seas. They discuss the state of our world’s oceans, how nearly 20% of your seafood was likely caught illegally, and the surprising link between modern slavery and the killing of sharks.