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0:41

This is Curiosity Daily from Discovery. I'm Nate.

0:43

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

0:46

here with us at Curiosity. If you're a loyal

0:48

listener, welcome back. Today, you'll learn

0:50

about a potentially risky new idea

0:52

to geo engineer our way out

0:54

of extreme heat. Some bad news

0:56

for fans of artificially sweetened drinks

0:59

and an incredible new discovery

1:01

about butterflies. Oh, butterflies.

1:04

Let's jump in. In

1:07

the race to solve climate change, we talk

1:09

a lot about carbon dioxide and methane. You

1:11

know, as anyone who listens to the show

1:13

already knows, these are greenhouse gases. When they

1:15

are released into the atmosphere, they act like

1:17

the glass covering a greenhouse. Right?

1:20

They trap heat within our little earthly

1:22

air bubble and cause the temperatures to

1:24

slowly creep up. And in some

1:26

cases, not so slowly, especially considering

1:28

geologic time. So we all

1:31

know these gases are important drivers of

1:33

climate change. But did you know there's

1:35

another significant greenhouse gas that often gets

1:37

overlooked? That's right. It's called water.

1:41

Okay, no, water

1:43

is not a gas. Okay.

1:45

Yeah, not all it we're

1:47

talking water vapor here. Sure. Chemically

1:50

water. The water moisture that reaches

1:52

the high atmosphere has a very

1:54

similar heat trapping quality. In

1:57

fact, according to some studies, a spike

1:59

in stratosphere atmospheric water in the 1990s

2:01

could have been responsible for a 30% rise in global

2:05

temps. Wow. Okay.

2:08

I knew that atmospheric moisture was able to carry heat in its own

2:10

way, but I didn't realize it was such a

2:12

significant factor in climate change. Well,

2:14

it could be. That's

2:17

why our research team is looking into

2:19

the prospect of dehydrating the atmosphere. You

2:22

are saying a lot of fun things today. Dehydrating

2:25

the atmosphere. I don't want

2:27

to sound naive, but don't we need water in

2:29

our atmosphere? Isn't that where rain

2:31

comes from? In short, yes. So

2:34

this is just the latest in a

2:36

long list of ideas to geo-engineer our

2:38

way out of skyrocketing global temps. So

2:40

let's talk about the science first, and

2:42

then we'll get into some of the

2:45

potential benefits and risks. Yeah,

2:47

geo-engineering has been pretty controversial, right?

2:49

Oh, yeah, for sure. The idea

2:51

is that we're just not reducing

2:53

emissions fast enough to avoid the

2:55

catastrophic impact of climate change. So

2:59

some believe that instead of changing our

3:01

behavior, that sounds hard, we

3:03

should just change the world so much

3:05

easier yet, right? Some

3:07

other wild ideas involve seeding the clouds

3:10

and atmosphere with thousands of tons of

3:12

reflective molecules that would essentially act like

3:14

a heat mirror bouncing the sun's energy

3:16

back out into space. And

3:18

as I understand it, the real risk with all of

3:20

this comes in the unknowns. The global...

3:23

Hi, Bill. Global. The

3:27

global climate system is so astronomically

3:29

complex that one massive change could

3:32

throw us back into the ice

3:34

ages or even worse. And

3:36

that's exactly right. And for years, these

3:38

ideas have been pretty fringe for just that reason.

3:41

But lately, the idea for some kind of intervention

3:43

has been met with, shall

3:46

we say, curiosity. And that's where

3:48

this new concept comes into play. The

3:51

research proposes seeding specific areas of

3:53

rising moist air with cloud-forming particles

3:55

to prevent all that water vapor

3:58

from reaching the stratosphere. Okay, no

4:01

wait. So it is literally dehydrating

4:03

the atmosphere. Yeah. And one of the

4:05

potentially great things about this idea is

4:08

that, at least according

4:10

to the study, it would only take

4:12

a few pounds of something called bismuth

4:14

triiodide into the air and only in

4:16

a few very targeted, very hot and

4:19

wet places around the globe. Sure.

4:21

Okay. What are the potential downsides? One

4:24

we know right off the bat is that this method could

4:26

offset only about 1.4% of warming caused

4:29

by increased CO2 over the centuries. So

4:32

its effect is pretty modest, especially given the

4:34

fact that it's nearly impossible

4:36

to predict every other potential side

4:38

effect. But that's really the story

4:40

here. Seating the clouds with thousands of

4:42

tons of chemicals or fertilizing

4:45

the oceans with tons and tons of

4:47

iron or spraying artificial snow

4:49

on ice sheets. These are a

4:51

huge swing for the fences. And

4:54

the big swing for the fences risks a

4:56

strikeout. To say the least.

4:58

But this new idea represents a more

5:00

subtle, less heavy-handed way to modestly handle

5:03

a little bit of the warming we're

5:05

seeing. Yeah, the other ideas are like

5:07

trying to knock out climate change in one fell

5:09

swoop, but are super risky.

5:12

It's important to note that this idea

5:14

isn't without its own risks, obviously. But

5:17

recently, lots of governments have begun actually

5:19

mandating the study of geoengineering, because

5:21

as it is, we're finding ourselves a bit

5:24

behind the climate change eight ball. The

5:26

thinking is that every idea should get its day

5:28

in the sun. I see what you did

5:30

there. The burning, scalding,

5:33

life-destroying sun. Wow.

5:36

The ball of fire in the sky.

5:39

The murder fusion trying to

5:41

kill us all. Too

5:43

far. Oh.

5:46

Okay. We all have that one friend

5:48

who walks around all day with a

5:51

diet soda or some other

5:53

sweet sugar-free drink. I am

5:55

saying this while drinking a sweetened

5:57

sugar-free chai tea. Mmm.

5:59

Well, most of my friends who do that, like, they

6:02

don't just have their drink, but they have

6:04

it in like the biggest Stanley cup that

6:06

you, I think legally, the largest size you're

6:09

allowed to have. When it's full

6:11

of diet soda, I'm pretty sure you could like

6:13

smash a wall down with it. Okay,

6:16

we're moving on. Well, I have some

6:18

potentially bad news for me. According

6:21

to a new study from researchers

6:23

in Shanghai, consuming two liters of

6:25

diet soda or other artificially sweetened

6:27

drinks every week, could increase the

6:29

risk of developing atrial fibrillation by

6:31

20%. Atrial

6:34

fibrillation, that's basically irregular heartbeat, right?

6:37

Yeah, it's otherwise known as AFib

6:39

for short. It's a pretty dangerous condition

6:41

where the upper chambers of the heart

6:43

go into a chaotic quiver instead of

6:45

beating normally. It can cause all

6:47

kinds of trouble, like everything from dizziness to

6:50

fatigue to shortness of breath and heart palpitations.

6:53

Left untreated, some researchers call it a ticking

6:55

time bomb that can lead to blood clots

6:57

and strokes. So I thought the main drivers

6:59

of AFib were things like obesity or high

7:02

blood pressure. Is that not right? Okay,

7:04

sort of. Things like obesity,

7:07

high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, and

7:09

even genetics can trigger AFib, but the

7:11

fact is that often the exact cause

7:13

of irregular heartbeat is just unknown. I

7:16

see. So those factors are

7:18

linked to atrial fibrillation, but they aren't

7:20

necessarily causes. And that's where we

7:22

find ourselves with diet sodas according

7:24

to the study. The research targeted

7:27

the effects of no and low calorie sweeteners

7:29

that you typically find in those kinds of

7:31

drinks. They looked at data on over 100,000 people

7:33

in China. They

7:35

looked at things like dietary habits and their

7:37

incidence of AFib over a given time. That

7:40

is a lot of data. It really is.

7:42

That's one thing that makes this association so compelling.

7:45

And another interesting takeaway is that while these

7:47

artificially sweetened drinks show a 10%

7:50

increase in the risk of AFib, drinks with

7:52

added sugar only show a 10% increase in

7:55

risk. So sugary drinks are

7:57

safer? Okay, no, don't get your hope.

8:00

up. These numbers only pertain

8:02

to the increased risk of atrial

8:04

fibrillation. Sugary drinks come with their

8:06

own truckload of health risks, some

8:08

of which it should be mentioned are further

8:10

associated with AFib. So okay,

8:13

what are we supposed to

8:15

drink? Okay, another interesting twist. People

8:17

who drink pure unsweetened juices

8:19

in moderation saw an 8%

8:22

decrease in AFib. Wow, but

8:24

even juices without added sugars still have

8:26

high levels of natural sugar, right? And

8:29

higher caloric content too, but at least

8:31

when it comes to atrial fibrillation, they

8:33

are the safe bet. And this is kind

8:35

of the bigger picture here. The experts recommend

8:37

doing all the usual things to lower

8:39

your risk of irregular heartbeat. You control

8:41

your blood pressure, lose weight, and exercise.

8:44

But the study shows that there are some

8:46

otherwise unexpected little changes you can make to

8:48

reduce your risk. Like putting the giant

8:50

mug back in the closet? No, just

8:52

fill it with water. Mmm, yeah.

8:58

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ACAST. Summer's

9:32

coming around the corner, and there

9:34

are few images that evoke summer

9:36

more than a galaxy of butterflies

9:38

fluttering over a field of sun-drenched

9:40

wildflowers. Wow, that was

9:42

very poetic. Thank you. Thank

9:44

you. Yes, yes, I know. So for

9:47

this story, we're going to zoom in a little

9:49

bit on those butterflies. So we all

9:51

know that those vibrant fliers often make a nice

9:53

snack for some birds, but

9:55

not all butterflies are tasty. There

9:58

are many species that are actually inedible. and

10:00

scientists have known for a long time

10:02

that these inedible species signal their unappetizing

10:04

flavor to birds using

10:06

something called visual mimicry. Doesn't

10:09

that mean they make themselves look like something else

10:11

that birds don't typically eat, like a stick or

10:13

something? No, they actually mimic each

10:16

other. Okay, wait, so the

10:18

inedible species look like each other? Yep,

10:20

they have evolved nearly identical color patterns

10:22

to ward off potential predators. A bird

10:24

only has to take a bite out

10:27

of one disgusting butterfly to know to

10:29

not eat butterflies that look like that

10:31

one. I mean, I guess that makes sense. We

10:34

do the same thing with our food, right? If we

10:36

eat something disgusting, it's pretty obvious we

10:38

shouldn't go back for seconds. Yes, but

10:40

in this case, it's the butterfly evolving

10:43

to physically signal to the birds, right?

10:45

Well, a new study has dug even deeper and

10:47

found something really incredible. Not only

10:50

did inedible butterfly species evolve

10:52

identical color patterns, they also

10:54

evolved identical flight patterns.

10:57

So all inedible butterflies fly the

10:59

same? No, and that is actually where

11:01

this gets even more amazing. But to explain

11:03

why, I need to tell you about the study. So

11:06

researchers used high-speed video to record the flight

11:08

of over 350 wild butterflies, and

11:11

that's spread out over 38 species. With

11:14

that high-speed video, they were able to

11:16

focus on the frequency and angles of

11:18

wingbeats. And from that, they

11:20

were able to divide these guys into 10

11:22

distinct mimicry categories based first on their color

11:25

patterns. Okay, so they

11:27

found 10 different color patterns. Did

11:29

the butterflies in each group stick

11:31

together? No, in fact, a handful

11:34

of individuals that were very close genetically

11:36

could actually each be a part of a

11:39

different color pattern. I think I

11:41

get it. It's like a family with five kids,

11:43

but each kid looks totally different. Yeah,

11:45

good analogy. So they found that

11:47

butterflies in the same color group also

11:49

mimicked each other's flight patterns. Wait

11:52

a second. So being close genetically didn't

11:54

make a difference to flight patterns. Right,

11:57

The researchers expected things like habitat and

11:59

wing shape. Would be a major influence

12:01

over their fi behavior, but they found that

12:03

the butterflies mimicry group was the most significant

12:05

factor in how they would fly. That

12:08

means that butterflies with the same warning

12:10

colors move similarly, regardless of their genetic

12:12

closeness. It's like is every red hat

12:14

on earth locked at the same little

12:17

strat, regardless of how their siblings or

12:19

parents locked? Yeah, something like that. And

12:22

some of these species split from each

12:24

other's far back as seventy million years

12:26

ago, and despite the huge gap, some

12:29

species still share very similar warning color

12:31

patterns and. As this study

12:33

found similar flight patterns, Of

12:35

really like studies like this it it

12:37

shows the wild interconnectedness. Of nature. And

12:39

for something as simple and beautiful as a

12:42

fluttering butterfly. Adaptation can be

12:44

endlessly sophisticated. Okay, but now can

12:46

we get like another poetic. First for me. maybe

12:48

like I to. Butterflies

12:51

are nice. How

12:54

many syllables gone and I don't remember?

12:56

I drive will give. Let let's recap

12:59

of learn Today to wrap up. Researchers.

13:01

Have suggested an innovative but

13:04

controversial geoengineering technique of intentional

13:06

stratosphere dehydration. That. Could help

13:08

cool the planet by seeding moist

13:10

air with cloud forming particles before

13:12

he reaches the stratosphere. A. New

13:15

study reveals that drinking just two meters

13:17

of diet soda per week could dangerously increase

13:19

your risk of developing an irregular heartbeat

13:21

condition Called each real said relation a

13:23

twenty percent. Inedible butterfly species

13:25

in the same break color

13:27

pattern Mimicry groups have evolved

13:29

not just matching morning toleration,

13:31

but also strikingly similar slight

13:33

behaviors over millions of years,

13:35

Reading a don't eat meat

13:37

signal to more effectively alert

13:39

senators. Curiosity

13:42

Daily is produced by Wheelhouse Dna

13:44

for discovering. You can follow are

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love it if you could take a second to

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leave us a five star of you on Apple

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