Fighting Coronavirus with Llamas, Why Rain Stops Rocket Launches, and Listener Questions About Cold Things

Curiosity Weekly

Warner Bros. Discovery

Science

4.6 • 964 Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2020

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Learn about why NASA doesn’t launch rockets in the rain (which is why there was a delay launching the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley); why llamas are so promising for protecting humans against viruses like COVID-19; and why things get cold — when they’re wet, when you’re chewing mint gum, and when you blow air through narrowed lips.

Why NASA doesn’t launch rockets in the rain by Cameron Duke

Analysis of Apollo 12 Lightning Incident. (1970, February). Spaceflight.Nasa.Gov. https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/outreach/SignificantIncidents/assets/analysis-of-apollo-12-lightning-incident.pdf
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Bartels, M. (2020, May 30). NASA and SpaceX eye weather for historic Demo-2 astronaut launch Saturday. Space.Com. https://www.space.com/spacex-demo-2-astronaut-launch-weather-concerns.html
Basics of Space Flight: Rocket Propellants. (2019). Braeunig.Us. http://www.braeunig.us/space/propel.htm
NASA - Lightning and Launches. (2020). Nasa.Gov. https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/9-12/features/F_Lightning_and_Launches_9_12.html
Gohd, C. (2019, November 14). 50 Years Ago: NASA’s Apollo 12 Was Struck By Lightning Right After Launch ... Twice! (Video). Space.Com; Space. https://www.space.com/apollo-12-lightning-strike-twice-launch-video.html
Thorbecke, C. (2020, May 27). NASA’s SpaceX launch scrubbed due to weather, next chance on Saturday. ABC News; ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/live-updates-nasa-spacex-launch-astronauts-iss/story?id=70902209
Shira Teitel, A. (2017). What Happened on Board when Apollo 12 was Struck by Lightning [YouTube Video]. In The Vintage Space. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i6yD2c2Jho

Why llamas are so promising for human virus protection by Cameron Duke

Leslie, M. (2018, May 10). Mini-antibodies discovered in sharks and camels could lead to drugs for cancer and other diseases. Science | AAAS. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/05/mini-antibodies-discovered-sharks-and-camels-could-lead-drugs-cancer-and-other-diseases#
Brulliard, K. and Johnson, C.Y. (2020, May 6). The urgent quest for a coronavirus treatment involves door-to-door blood collection and a llama named Winter. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2020/05/06/urgent-quest-coronavirus-treatment-involves-door-to-door-blood-collection-llama-named-winter/
Dr. Francis Collins. (2018, November 13). Looking to Llamas for New Ways to Fight the Flu. NIH Director’s Blog. https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2018/11/13/looking-to-llamas-for-new-ways-to-fight-the-flu/
Hamers-Casterman, C., Atarhouch, T., Muyldermans, S., Robinson, G., Hammers, C., Songa, E. B., Bendahman, N., & Hammers, R. (1993). Naturally occurring antibodies devoid of light chains. Nature, 363(6428), 446–448. https://doi.org/10.1038/363446a0
Wrapp, Daniel, et al. (2020). Structural Basis for Potent Neutralization of Betacoronaviruses by Single-Domain Camelid Antibodies. Cell. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.031
Zimmer, C. (2018, November 1). How to Turbocharge Flu Protection (Llamas Required). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/01/science/flu-vaccinations.html

Three questions about cold by Ashley Hamer (Listener questions from Joshua, Brescia, and Likith)

Bautista, D. M., Siemens, J., Glazer, J. M., Tsuruda, P. R., Basbaum, A. I., Stucky, C. L., Jordt, S.-E., & Julius, D. (2007). The menthol receptor TRPM8 is the principal detector of environmental cold. Nature, 448(7150), 204–208. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05910
Lecklitner, I. (2016, November 9). Why Does My Mouth Freeze When I Drink Water After Chewing... Dollar Shave Club Original Content; Dollar Shave Club Original Content. https://www.dollarshaveclub.com/content/story/why-does-my-mouth-freeze-when-i-drink-water-after-chewing-gum
WIRED Staff. (2010, September 22). Why Does Spicy Food Taste Hot? WIRED; WIRED. https://www.wired.com/2010/09/why-does-spicy-food-taste-hot/
Chicago Tribune. (2011, August 9). Ask Tom why: Why does wet skin feel cold? Chicagotribune.com. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2011-08-09-ct-wea-0809-asktom-20110809-story.html
Heat of Vaporization. (2013, October 2). Chemistry LibreTexts. https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry_Textbook_Maps/Supplemental_Modules_(Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry)/Thermodynamics/Energies_and_Potentials/Enthalpy/Heat_of_Vaporization
Fluid or Air Entrainment. (2020). Lanecc.Edu. https://media.lanecc.edu/users/driscolln/RT112/Air_Flow_Fluidics/Air_Flow_Fluidics7.html

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Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/fighting-coronavirus-with-llamas-why-rain-stops-rocket-launches-and-listener-questions-about-cold-things

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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
0:05.3	Curiosity.com. I'm Cody Gough. And I'm Ashley Hamer. Today you learn about why
0:09.6	NASA doesn't launch rockets in the rain and and why llamas are so promising for human virus protection.
0:17.0	We'll also answer a few listener questions about why things get cold, when they're wet,
0:21.3	when you're chewing mint gum, and when you blow air through narrowed lips.
0:25.0	Let's satisfy some curiosity.
0:27.0	Have you ever wondered why NASA won't launch rockets in the rain?
0:31.0	In essence, it's because a rainy rocket launch is a whole lot riskier than a rainy
0:36.3	picnic. Last weekend, NASA successfully launched a crude rocket from American soil for the first time in nearly a decade.
0:45.0	You may have been one of the millions of anxious and excited people watching the historic event
0:50.0	when SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle and crew dragon capsule transported astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Benkin to the International Space Station.
0:58.5	It was especially exciting considering that the launch had been scheduled for earlier in the week, but it was cancelled or scrubbed due to rain.
1:07.0	So why does light rain stop a launch?
1:10.0	Well, there are several reasons, but lightning is the main one.
1:14.0	When NASA launches a rocket, it leaves behind a trail of condensed water vapor.
1:19.0	In humid conditions, this trail of water vapor can extend for miles.
1:23.6	And as anyone who's had to leave the pool during a lightning storm knows,
1:27.8	water conducts electricity.
1:30.0	That means that miles-long con trail is basically the world's biggest lightning rod, and that is bad news for sensitive electronics aboard a spacecraft.
1:40.0	That's what nearly spelled disaster for the Apollo 12 mission, which was the second
1:44.7	crewed mission to the Moon on November 14, 1969.
1:49.2	Everything was go for launch, even though it was overcast and rainy at the launch site.
	...

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