A New Discovery About That Weird “Aurora” Named STEVE
Curiosity Weekly
Warner Bros. Discovery
4.6 • 964 Ratings
🗓️ 14 January 2021
⏱️ 14 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Learn about a new discovery about STEVE, the weird streak of color in the Canadian skies; how a “wind phone” in Otsuchi, Japan, helped thousands cope with grief after losing their loved ones; and why we judge others more harshly than we judge ourselves.
There's a new discovery about STEVE, the weird aurora discovered by citizen scientists by Grant Currin
- STEVE may be even less like typical auroras than scientists thought. (2020, November 12). Science News. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/steve-light-sky-glow-atmosphere-different-typical-aurora
- Semeter, J., Hunnekuhl, M., MacDonald, E., Hirsch, M., Zeller, N., Chernenkoff, A., & Wang, J. (2020). The Mysterious Green Streaks Below STEVE. AGU Advances, 1(4). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020av000183
A "Wind Phone" Consoles Disaster-Stricken Japan by Anna Todd
- Japan’s Wind Phone for Calling the Dead. (2017, April 11). Atlas Obscura. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/wind-telephone
- Bennett, K. M., Hughes, G. M., & Smith, P. T. (2005). Psychological Response to Later Life Widowhood: Coping and the Effects of Gender. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, 51(1), 33–52. https://doi.org/10.2190/9JPJ-1FM1-37NX-2DEC
- Blair, G. J. (2020, February 21). Berlin Hidden Gem: “Voices in the Wind” Depicts a Sense of Connection in Japan. Hollywoodreporter.com. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/berlin-hidden-gem-voices-wind-depicts-a-sense-connection-japan-1280211
- One Last Thing Before I Go (2016) - This American Life. (2016, September 23). This American Life. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/597/one-last-thing-before-i-go-2016
We judge others more harshly than we judge ourselves originally aired May 2, 2018: https://omny.fm/shows/curiosity-daily/how-laundry-machines-work-bill-gates-recommended-r
- Fundamental Attribution Error: Definition & Overview Video. (2020). Fundamental Attribution Error: Definition & Overview - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com. Study.com. https://study.com/academy/lesson/fundamental-attribution-error-definition-lesson-quiz.html
- Six Habits of Highly Empathic People. (2012). Greater Good. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/six_habits_of_highly_empathic_people1
- Heath, D. (2010, June 9). The Fundamental Attribution Error: It’s the Situation, Not the Person. Fast Company; Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/1657515/fundamental-attribution-error-its-situation-not-person
- Oatley, K. (2016). Fiction: Simulation of Social Worlds. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20(8), 618–628. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2016.06.002
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, you're about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from |
| 0:05.0 | Curiosity.com. I'm Cody Gough. And I'm Ashley Hamer. Today you learn about a new |
| 0:09.7 | discovery about a weird streak of color in the Canadian skies, |
| 0:13.5 | how a wind phone in Japan helped thousands cope with their grief |
| 0:17.0 | after losing loved ones, |
| 0:18.5 | and why we judge others more harshly |
| 0:21.0 | than we judge ourselves. Let's satisfy some curiosity. |
| 0:24.0 | Have you seen Steve? |
| 0:27.0 | Steve is huge in Canada. |
| 0:29.0 | I mean, Steve is huge, period. |
| 0:31.0 | But Steve is also pretty mysterious and I should also probably add that Steve is green |
| 0:38.1 | purple and drop dead gorgeous and new research suggests that Steve is even more special than scientists |
| 0:46.3 | thought. You probably guess this by now, but Steve isn't a human. No, Steve is the nickname for an unexplained glow in the sky that appears |
| 0:56.4 | south of the Northern Lights. Steve stands for strong thermal emission velocity enhancement. |
| 1:03.0 | Scientists understand the Northern Lights pretty well, |
| 1:06.0 | but the more they learn about Steve, |
| 1:08.0 | the more puzzling the phenomenon becomes. |
| 1:11.0 | Steve's main feature is a huge purple arc that extends high into the sky, |
| 1:17.2 | sometimes accompanied by bright green vertical stripes. Those stripes are why professional and amateur astronomers sometimes call that portion the picket fence. |
| 1:27.0 | It looks sort of like the wavy curtains of light we associate with the Northern Lights or Aurora, so some researchers thought Steve's |
| 1:35.4 | picket fence might be a type of Aurora. But a new discovery makes it clear that Steve stands |
| 1:41.7 | on its own. |
... |
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