Today, you’ll learn about a new groundbreaking bionic leg, the problem with first impressions, and new tech that can detect microplastics in water in milliseconds.

Bionic Leg

• “Bionic leg makes walking quicker and easier for amputees, trial shows.” by Hannah Devlin. 2024.
• “5.6 Million++ Americans are Living with Limb Loss and Limb Difference: New Study Published.” Amputee Coalition. 2024.
• “Agonist-antagonist Myoneural Interface (AMI).” MIT Media Lab. N.D.
• “Continuous neural control of a bionic limb restores biomimetic gait after amputation.” by Hyungeun Song, et al. 2024.

First Impressions

• “How first impressions can trap us into making suboptimal decisions.” by Eric W. Dolan. 2024.
• “Missing out by pursuing rewarding outcomes: Why initial biases can lead to persistent suboptimal choices.” by Chris Harris, et al. 2023.

Nanoplastic Detection

• “Cutting-edge technology detects nanoplastics in water - instantly.” McGill. 2024.
• “Scientists find about a quarter million invisible nanoplastic particles in a liter of bottled water.” by Seth Borenstein. 2024.
• “Nanoplastics in Water: Artificial Intelligence-Assisted 4D Physicochemical Characterization and Rapid In Situ Detection.” by Zi Wang, et al. 2024.

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Calli and Nate — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.

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Today, you’ll learn about the smart soil that gives plants a massive boost even when they’re watered less, how our love of certain odors could be more nurture than nature, and a moss that could one day fill greenhouses on Mars.

Smart Soil

• “‘Smart soil’ grows 138% bigger crops using 40% less water.” by Michael Irving. 2024.
• “Climate Change Indicators: Drought.” EPA. 2024.
• “Water for Prosperity and Peace.” Unesco. 2024.
• “Self-watering SMAG-soil pulls moisture from the air.” by Ben Coxworth. 2020.
• “Self-Irrigation and Slow-Release Fertilizer Hydrogels for Sustainable Agriculture.” by Jungjoon Park, et al. 2024.

Smell Preferences

• “Do you smell what I smell? New study reveals surprising variability in odor preferences.” by Mane Kara-Yakoubian. 2024.
• “Is the perception of odour pleasantness shared across cultures and ecological conditions? Evidence from Amazonia, East Africa, New Guinea, Malaysia, and Poland.” by Piotr Sorokowski, et al. 2024.

Mars Moss

• “Scientists find desert moss ‘that can survive on Mars’.” by Nicola Davis. 2024.
• “The extremotolerant desert moss Syntrichia caninervis is a promising pioneer plant for colonizing extraterrestrial environments.” by Xiaoshuang Li, et al. 2024.
• “This desert moss has the potential to grow on Mars.” Science News. 2024.

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Calli and Nate — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.

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Today, you’ll learn about the first ever total larynx transplant that gave one cancer patient his voice back, a new way to conduct gold-standard sleep studies without all the wires, and how a new discovery is changing the way scientists understand the mammalian brain.

Larynx Transplant

• “Mayo Clinic marks medical milestone with world’s first known successful total larynx transplant performed in a patient with an active cancer as part of a clinical trial.” EureAlert! 2024.
• “Total Laryngeal Transplantation in the Setting of Active Laryngeal Malignancy.” by David G. Lott, MD, et al. 2024.
• “Laryngeal Cancer Data.” Iowa Health & Human Services. 2024.

Sleep Studies

• “Sleep studies simplified: Gold-standard results with far less wiring.” by Paul McClure. 2024.
• “Cardiosomnography: ECG-only sleep studies.” Cardiosomnography.com. 2024.

Mammal Brains

• “Co-evolutionary dynamics of mammalian brain and body size.” by Chris Venditti, et al. 2024.
• “Brain size riddle solved as humans exceed evolution trend.” Durham University. 2024.

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Calli and Nate — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.