Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why Scientists Made Ants Walk on Stilts
Learn about why people have illusions of control; that time scientists made desert ants walk on stilts to test the pedometer hypothesis; and how to reduce your chances of getting hurt when you fall.
February 08, 2021
Episode Show Notes:
Illusions of control may arise not because humans ignore evidence, but because they're very sensitive to it by Kelsey Donk
- Yon, D. (2020, December 2). It’s not necessarily deluded to feel in control when you’re not. Psyche; Psyche. https://psyche.co/ideas/its-not-necessarily-deluded-to-feel-in-control-when-youre-not
- Yon, D., Bunce, C., & Press, C. (2020). Illusions of control without delusions of grandeur. Cognition, 205, 104429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104429
The time scientists made ants walk on stilts… for science (obviously!) by Cameron Duke
- Carey, B. (2006, June 29). When Ants Go Marching, They Count Their Steps. Livescience.com. https://www.livescience.com/871-ants-marching-count-steps.html
- Shi, N. N., Tsai, C.-C., Camino, F., Bernard, G. D., Yu, N., & Wehner, R. (2015). Keeping cool: Enhanced optical reflection and radiative heat dissipation in Saharan silver ants. Science, 349(6245), 298–301. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aab3564
Everybody Falls. Here's the Right Way to Do It by Ashley Hamer
- Villaveces, A., Mutter, R., Owens, P. L., & Barrett, M. L. (2013). Causes of injuries treated in the emergency department, 2010. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) statistical briefs. Rockville (MD): Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (US). https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb156.pdf
- Lozano, R., Naghavi, M., Foreman, K., Lim, S., Shibuya, K., Aboyans, V., ... & Remuzzi, G. (2012). Global and regional mortality from 235 causes of death for 20 age groups in 1990 and 2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The Lancet. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(12)61728-0/fulltext
- The Right Way to Fall (Published 2017). (2021). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/24/well/move/the-right-way-to-fall.html?_r=0
- Steinberg, N. (2017, June 5). How to fall to your death and live to tell the tale. Mosaic. https://mosaicscience.com/story/falling-science-injury-death-falls/
- Raphelson, S. (2018, January 11). How To Tumble With Care When It Gets Slippery Outside. NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/2018/01/11/577414890/how-to-tumble-with-care-when-it-gets-slippery-outside
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