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Curiosity Weekly

The Best Way to Phrase Words of Comfort, According to Science

Curiosity Weekly

Warner Bros. Discovery

Science

4.6964 Ratings

🗓️ 26 April 2021

⏱️ 13 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Learn about how researchers built a “soft robot” that reached the depths of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean; why musicians with brain tumors serenade their surgeons; and the best way to phrase words of comfort.

A "soft robot" reached the deepest part of the ocean by Grant Currin

Musicians with Brain Tumors Serenade Their Surgeons by Ashley Hamer

Here's the best way to phrase words of comfort by Kelsey Donk

Follow Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free! You can also listen to our podcast as part of your Alexa Flash Briefing; Amazon smart speakers users, click/tap “enable” here: https://www.amazon.com/Curiosity-com-Curiosity-Daily-from/dp/B07CP17DJY

 

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/the-best-way-to-phrase-words-of-comfort-according-to-science


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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

0:04.9

Curiosity.com. I'm Cody Goff. And I'm Ashley Hamer. Today you learn about how

0:09.2

researchers built a soft robot that reached the deepest part of the ocean, why musicians with brain tumors

0:15.1

serenade their surgeons, and the best way to phrase words of comfort.

0:20.3

Let's satisfy some curiosity. A soft-bodied robot recently went for an impressive swim in the deepest place on Earth, the Mariana

0:31.3

Trench.

0:32.3

This is the latest in a long series of engineering achievements

0:36.4

that take inspiration from living things. The researchers behind this snazzy new invention were inspired by the Hattle snailfish,

0:46.0

which is a small translucent fish that thrives beneath the immense pressures of the Mariana

0:52.4

Trench.

0:53.7

Now, like its inspiration, the robot is soft and colorless

0:58.0

with two wing-like fins that create thrust

1:01.7

by flapping up and down,

1:03.3

plus a long tail fin that steers by moving left and right.

1:07.6

But the fins aren't powered by the kind of motors that drive most robots. Instead, they're driven by a material that

1:15.0

contracts when electrical energy flows through it. And if that sounds familiar,

1:20.0

it's because muscles work basically the same way.

1:23.5

Yeah, you heard that right?

1:25.5

This artificial fish swims using artificial muscles.

1:29.5

It's a very cool invention,

1:32.0

but why go to all this trouble when we have perfectly good robots already?

1:36.5

Well, it's because regular old robots aren't very well suited to the deep.

...

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