Mosquito Magnets, Laughing Rats, Roman Relics

Curiosity Weekly

Warner Bros. Discovery

Self-improvement, Science, Astronomy, Education

4.6 • 935 Ratings

🗓️ 5 January 2023

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today you’ll learn about why some people are more popular with mosquitoes than others, what tickling rats tells us about being human, and how a recent discovery of ancient statues re-writes what we believed about historical Tuscany.

Mosquito Magnets

“Why Are Some People Mosquito Magnets and Others Unbothered? A Medical Entomologist Points to Metabolism, Body Odor and Mindset” by Jonathan Day
- https://theconversation.com/why-are-some-people-mosquito-magnets-and-others-unbothered-a-medical-entomologist-points-to-metabolism-body-odor-and-mindset-187957
“Blood-feeding ecology of mosquitoes in two zoological gardens in the United Kingdom” by Arturo Hernandez-Colina, Merit Gonzalez-Olvera, Emily Lomax, Freya Townsend, Amber Maddox, Jenny C. Hesson, Kenneth Sherlock, Dawn Ward, Lindsay Eckley, Mark Vercoe, Javier Lopez & Matthew Baylis
- https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-021-04735-0
“Comparison of people who request mosquito control services and their non-requesting neighbors” by C D Morris & K B Clanton
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1583492/

Laughing Rats

“What Tickling Rats Tells Us About Human Development” by Adam Omary
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/natured-nurture/202209/what-tickling-rats-tells-us-about-human-development
““Laughing” rats and the evolutionary antecedents of human joy?” by Jaak Panksepp and Jeff Burgdorf
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031938403001598?via%3Dihub

Roman Relics

“Ancient Rome: Stunningly preserved bronze statues found in Italy” by BBC
- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63564404
“Italy hails 'exceptional' discovery of ancient bronze statues in Tuscany” by Reuters
- https://www.cnn.com/style/article/italy-bronze-statues-tuscany/index.html
“The Etruscans, an introduction” by Khan Academy
- https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/ancient-mediterranean-ap/ap-ancient-etruria/a/the-etruscans-an-introduction
“Ancient bronze statues found in prime condition will 'rewrite history,' Italian researchers say” by Camille Fine
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2022/11/08/bronze-statues-italian-springs-roman-etruscan/8302449001/
“A Trove of ‘Exceptional’ stunningly preserved bronze statues found at an Ancient Thermal Spa in Tuscany, Italy” by Arkeo News
- https://arkeonews.net/a-trove-of-exceptional-stunningly-preserved-bronze-statues-found-at-an-ancient-thermal-spa-in-tuscany-italy/

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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 Discovery.
0:09.0	Time flies when you're learning super cool stuff.
0:11.0	I'm Nate.
0:12.0	And I'm Callie. If you're dropping in for the first time
0:14.1	welcome to curiosity where we aim to blow your mind by helping you to grow your mind.
0:18.1	If you're a loyal listener, welcome back. Today you'll learn about why some people are more popular with mosquitoes than
0:24.7	others, what tickling rats tells us about being human and how a recent discovery
0:29.7	of ancient statues rewrites what we believed about historical Tuscany.
0:34.5	Without further ado, let's satisfy some curiosity.
0:38.3	If you've ever been camping, you might hear some of your friends complaining
0:41.7	about being targeted by mosquitoes non-stop.
0:45.2	You might just think it's a luck of the draw situation, some people being more attractive to
0:49.2	mosquitoes, but there's actually science behind why some are mosquito magnets.
0:54.6	Okay, I recently went on a trip to Florida and I came back with like my ankles and legs
1:01.3	eaten alive. The mosquitoes ravaged me. So what is it about me that
1:06.4	mosquitoes love so much? So first off my condolences. To understand what makes someone a mosquito magnet, you need to know most
1:16.4	mosquitoes require a certain protein from your blood in order to make eggs.
1:20.3	Anytime you're stung by a mosquito, it's a female mosquito, since the males only feed on plant nectar.
1:26.0	Because of how important blood is to the female mosquito, she's got a grocery list of quality she looks for in a potential donor.
1:33.0	Like what?
1:34.0	Okay well for starters your breath.
1:37.0	Most mosquitoes are very sensitive to carbon dioxide
	...

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