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0:37

are listening to Curiosity Daily from

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Discovery, where you get smarter in

0:41

just a few minutes. I'm Nate,

0:43

and I'm Callie. We're so excited to have you with

0:46

us at Curiosity. And if you're a loyal listener, welcome

0:48

back. Today, you will learn about the

0:51

magic of the upcoming solar eclipse, a simple

0:53

way to reduce the amount of microplastics in

0:55

your drinking water, and the

0:57

connection between self control and the

0:59

perception of power. Without further

1:01

ado, let's satisfy some curiosity. On

1:04

April 8, 2024, millions

1:06

of people in North America will be in the

1:09

direct path of a rare total solar eclipse, and

1:11

it's going to be phenomenal. Okay, I'm

1:13

totally here for it. When I say here, I

1:15

mean there, because I'm actually traveling to it. But

1:17

I do have a question. All of

1:19

the headlines talk about the rarity of this event,

1:21

but didn't we just have one

1:23

a few years ago? Okay,

1:26

yeah, but the last one to make its way across

1:28

the United States came through in 2017, that

1:31

cut from Oregon to the southeast, and it

1:33

was pretty spectacular. And for what it's

1:35

worth, a total solar eclipse happens on Earth around

1:37

every 18 months or so on average. But after

1:39

April 8, this year, our next chance to see

1:41

one in the US will be in 2044. Whoa,

1:45

20 years. Okay, that is pretty

1:47

rare. Yeah, and not only is it rare,

1:49

the path of the total eclipse is only about 100 miles

1:52

wide. So unless those

1:54

100 or so miles encapsulate a major

1:56

metropolitan area, most Americans will go

1:58

their entire lives without seeing one. The

2:00

one in 2044, for example, will only

2:02

touch Montana and parts of the Dakotas,

2:05

not exactly the most populated region of the

2:07

country. Okay, but as I

2:09

understand it, the one coming on April 8th is

2:12

different, right? Totally. It's

2:14

going to etch its way through several

2:16

major population centers, all the way from

2:18

Mazatlan, Mexico through San Antonio, Austin, Dallas,

2:20

and Fort Worth, Texas, and then on

2:22

through Indianapolis, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Rochester, and

2:24

Syracuse, New York, and then into Canada.

2:27

So a ton of people will see this one, and that's

2:29

one of the reasons researchers are so excited. They

2:31

suddenly have millions of potential lab assistants to help

2:34

them with all kinds of experiments. Oh,

2:36

wow. Okay, yeah, I guess I didn't really

2:39

think of that. But so much of science

2:41

is just, you know, observational. And if you

2:43

have millions more observers, you have millions

2:46

of possible data points. Exactly.

2:48

There are a few really cool examples of

2:51

this. So in one study, researchers wanted to

2:53

know how the eclipse affected animal sounds. Wait,

2:56

how are those

2:58

two things connected? Okay, so it follows

3:00

an older study and lots of observations that

3:02

some nocturnal animals actually become active as soon

3:04

as the moon photobombs the sun and the

3:07

world darkens. Birds become

3:09

quiet, crickets begin chirping. It's kind of

3:11

like a temporary nighttime. The

3:13

eclipse soundscape project will use specialized audio

3:15

recorders to document that shift. And park

3:17

rangers at Hot Springs National Park in

3:19

Arkansas are setting up recorders to try

3:22

and capture the sounds of endangered bats.

3:24

I can honestly say I've never thought

3:26

about how an eclipse changes the way

3:29

the world sounds. It actually changes

3:31

the world in a lot of ways. Like when

3:33

the sun suddenly blinks off, the temperature can plummet

3:35

by 10 degrees or so. And

3:37

another study is capitalizing on that with an

3:39

app called the Globe Observer app, which will

3:41

let citizen scientists record temperature and cloud data.

3:45

Sounds and temperature. I

3:47

always thought of a slower eclipse at the time to study, you know, like space

3:49

or the sun. Sure,

3:52

there's the SunSketcher app, which will let

3:54

users take pictures of a phenomenon called

3:56

Bailey's beads, which is basically light from

3:58

the sun shining through the valley. in the moon,

4:00

and that will help scientists determine the shape and

4:03

extent of the sun's outer edge. And

4:05

then there's citizen Kate, where observers will take

4:07

images of the sun's corona in polarized light

4:09

to help study the flow of the solar

4:11

wind. Now that seems like the kind of experiments

4:13

I'm used to hearing about. Absolutely. But

4:15

this year is actually a little different, not just

4:18

because of the amount of people in the path,

4:20

but because the sun will be at or near

4:22

the peak of its most active period, called the

4:24

solar maximum. That's the absolute height of

4:26

its 11-year cycle. There's even a chance you could

4:28

see a solar flare. So if

4:31

people aren't in the path, how can

4:33

they see this thing? And how can they take part

4:35

in the science? Well, okay, we're going

4:37

to link some of these apps and projects in the

4:39

description. But if you want to see it, you kind

4:42

of have to get yourself into the path. Some

4:44

say this could be one of the biggest mass travel

4:46

events in the country. So if you haven't booked your

4:48

hotel yet, it might be too

4:50

late. But the two to four minute phenomenon will

4:52

be worth the effort. And very

4:54

confusing to people who don't know is happening.

4:59

Plastics are everywhere. They're turning

5:01

up in fish, in beach

5:03

sand, in produce, even in

5:05

our own bodies in the

5:07

form of microplastics and nanoplastics.

5:09

They're literally everywhere. Plastics are

5:11

covering our entire world. And as I understand

5:13

it, they're just

5:16

all but impossible to completely remove,

5:18

right? Very, very difficult. And some

5:20

research suggests that they might actually

5:22

accumulate in our bodies and could

5:24

affect our gut microbiomes. And that's

5:26

a recipe for all kinds of unknown

5:28

chaos. And that is what got researchers

5:30

at Guangzhou University Medical and Jinan University

5:32

in China thinking, what if there was

5:35

a way to reduce microplastic exposure where

5:37

we spend most of our time in

5:39

our homes? Sure, I mean, that

5:41

would be great. But for it to really move the

5:44

dial, it would have to be cheap and easy. And

5:46

something that just about any household could do

5:48

to get rid of microplastics. Well,

5:51

is boiling water easy enough? Yeah.

5:55

Well, that is what they did. So boiling

5:57

water is a practice that millions of homes already have.

6:00

used to clean harmful germs and bacteria,

6:02

even some pollutants, out of the drinking

6:04

water before they drink it. So these

6:06

researchers wanted to see if simply boiling

6:08

water had any effect on the amount

6:10

of plastics in the water. Okay,

6:12

I'm trying to get my head around

6:14

this. I mean, boiling germs kills them.

6:17

Pollutants maybe just evaporate, but what could

6:19

possibly happen to plastic to make it

6:21

disappear? Yeah, I had the

6:23

same question. So the team used fluorescent

6:26

polystyrene particles to simulate nanoplastics and microplastics

6:28

in tap water, and they heated

6:30

it all up and watched what happened. They

6:32

found that there was a pretty

6:34

significant interaction between the fluorescent polystyrene

6:37

and lime scale. Lime

6:39

scale, that's like what causes hard water

6:41

stains, right? Yes. If you have

6:43

hard water coursing through your plumbing, you've seen lime

6:46

scale building up inside your tea kettle, on your

6:48

shower, on your faucets all over. And

6:50

this study found that the microplastics tend

6:52

to get trapped inside those minerals found

6:54

in hard water. So it's

6:57

a kind of plastic sequestration? Yeah,

6:59

simply put, yeah. The process was found to trap

7:01

up to 84% of the particles in hard water

7:04

and up to 90% in very hard water. Even

7:06

soft water samples showed a reduction of up to

7:09

25%. So this turns

7:11

out to be a really simple way to get those microplastics

7:13

out of your water. And that

7:15

is a huge, huge deal because the

7:17

global distribution of microplastics, it's

7:19

not exactly even. Often

7:21

the people with the biggest problem have the

7:23

fewest resources. So if all it takes to

7:25

solve a problem like this is to boil

7:27

a pot of water, well, that can be

7:29

a game changer for literally millions of people. Hey,

7:37

everyone. I'm Craig Robinson, co-host of

7:39

the Ways to Win podcast, alongside

7:42

my good friend, John Calipari.

7:44

I've been on the go recently.

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Phoenix, Kansas City, Chicago. If you're

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8:08

out how much at airbnb.com/post.

8:16

Often when we think of wildly successful

8:18

CEOs or corporate raiders or anyone with

8:20

power and stature, we think of the

8:22

maverick. The person who is willing

8:24

to take wild chances and throw caution to the

8:26

wind. They'll risk it all to gain power and

8:29

wealth. There are a couple of billionaires

8:31

I can think of right now who just exude

8:34

the kind of impulsivity you're kind

8:36

of talking about. It's like controlled

8:38

chaos that somehow leads them to

8:40

succeed. Right, but a new study

8:42

is challenging that image, or at least

8:45

it's challenging our perception of that image.

8:48

So it's saying that power comes from what,

8:51

self-control? I mean sort of, let

8:53

me explain. The research was conducted by

8:55

researchers at the University of California San

8:58

Diego Rady School of Management. They wanted

9:00

to explore perceptions of power based

9:02

on self-control. Perceptions of power,

9:04

not actual power. I'm

9:06

actually glad you picked up on that because that is

9:09

a big distinction. They undertook seven

9:11

experiments with around 3,500 participants.

9:13

They wanted to know if someone's level

9:15

of self-control had anything to do with

9:17

how much power they were perceived to

9:19

have. Got it. So you know if you put

9:21

a hot donut in front of someone and they don't

9:24

eat it, do you find them

9:26

to be more or less powerful?

9:28

Exactly, and interestingly enough,

9:30

some of the experiments were actually a lot like this.

9:33

So say you have a colleague who you know

9:35

is trying to stay fit. If they are able

9:37

to turn down a large dessert, the study found

9:39

that you probably perceive them as being more suited

9:41

for high-power roles. Okay, that's an interesting

9:43

connection. So you know what if

9:46

they really, really want the dessert? Like you

9:48

can see their hand quivering, ready to snatch

9:50

it up, but then they decide not to

9:52

in the end. Okay, it doesn't actually

9:54

matter if they deliberate on the action

9:56

or if they just act without thinking.

9:58

Self-control equals perceived power. I

10:00

mean as always there's a twist. I love the

10:02

twists. Uh-huh. The perceived power comes

10:05

when self-control is aligned with goals I'm

10:08

not sure I know what you mean So one

10:10

of the experiments exposed the participants to two

10:12

different people One of them made

10:14

a huge goal to read 200 pages in a week The

10:17

other one made a goal of reading only 50 pages in

10:19

a week Okay, so you'd think that

10:21

the people who made the huge goal were seen

10:24

as you know, maybe being more ambitious And

10:27

ambition is something powerful people have right not

10:29

so fast The participants in the study

10:31

who were told that the person who pledged to

10:33

read 50 pages actually ended reading 100 pages But

10:37

the one who pledged to read 200 pages also

10:39

only read 100 pages. Okay, so they both

10:41

read the same number of pages Yes

10:44

But the study participants viewed the ones who

10:46

failed to meet the bigger goals as being

10:48

less powerful than the overachievers with

10:50

smaller goal But they

10:53

both rather say of amount and those in the

10:55

study were less interested in having those who didn't meet

10:57

their goal It's the group leader in later tasks

11:00

Wow, so we perceive people as being

11:03

powerful if they exert self-control in

11:05

alignment with their goals That's

11:07

right. And that's a big deal because

11:09

in offices and classrooms across the country Managers

11:12

and teachers alike have gotten into the

11:14

habit of encouraging workers and students to

11:16

create stretch goals But according to

11:18

the study not achieving a lofty goal could leave

11:20

you worse off than an overachieving a small goal

11:22

I mean at least in the

11:24

eyes of your peers that is one

11:27

of those unintended consequences to

11:29

an otherwise noble idea Yeah,

11:31

you want people to think you're powerful set

11:33

a realistic goal and practice self-control to attain

11:35

it Let's recap what we learned

11:37

today to wrap up on April 8th

11:39

a rare total solar eclipse will cast a

11:41

shadow over the eastern US offering

11:44

both a breathtaking spectacle and

11:46

a unique scientific opportunity for

11:48

citizen scientists and Researchers to

11:50

explore the mysterious effects of sudden darkness

11:52

on Earth's atmosphere wildlife and even the

11:54

sounds around us Boiling

11:57

tap water has been found to be a simple

11:59

yet effective strategy to trap up to 90% of

12:02

harmful microplastics in hard water lime scale.

12:04

New research reveals that self-control

12:07

demonstrated through goal-aligned behavior actually

12:09

enhances an individual's perceived power

12:11

and suitability for leadership. Curiosity

12:15

Daily is produced by Wheelhouse DNA for Discovery.

12:17

You can find our show wherever you get

12:19

your podcasts, and we'd love if

12:22

you could leave us a five-star review on

12:24

Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Our Discovery executive producer

12:26

is Dominique Vu. Our Wheelhouse

12:28

DNA executive producer is Cassie Berman. This

12:31

show is hosted by Callie Gade and Nate Bonham. Our

12:33

producer is Kiara Noni, and our associate producer

12:36

is Khemiah Floyd. Writing is

12:38

done by Sam Osterhout. Sound

12:40

design, audio engineering, and editing by Nick Kerasone.

12:42

I'm Nate Bonham. And I'm Callie Gade.

12:44

We'll see you next week. How's

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up? What was that? Boring. No

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