The Dark Ages Weren’t Really Dark

Curiosity Weekly

Warner Bros. Discovery

Science

4.6 • 964 Ratings

🗓️ 15 February 2021

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Learn about the “smellicopter,” a drone that can smell via a live moth antenna; why the “Dark Ages” weren’t as dark as you might think; and how simple word swaps can secretly trick your brain.

Introducing Smellicopter: a drone that uses a live moth antenna to smell things by Grant Currin

Smellicopter: an obstacle-avoiding drone that uses a live moth antenna to seek out smells. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-12/uow-sao120720.php
Anderson, M. J., Sullivan, J. G., Horiuchi, T. K., Fuller, S. B., & Daniel, T. L. (2020). A bio-hybrid odor-guided autonomous palm-sized air vehicle. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 16(2), 026002. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-3190/abbd81

The Dark Ages weren't all that "dark" by Steffie Drucker

Forget about the “Dark Ages.” (2009, October). Dailywritingtips.com. https://www.dailywritingtips.com/forget-about-the-%E2%80%9Cdark-ages%E2%80%9D/
Pruitt, S. (2016, May 31). 6 Reasons the Dark Ages Weren’t So Dark. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/news/6-reasons-the-dark-ages-werent-so-dark
HistoryExtra. (2020, December 10). How dark were the Dark Ages? HistoryExtra; HistoryExtra. https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/dark-ages-term-what-when-how-obscure/

The Framing Effect Shows How Simple Word Swaps Can Secretly Trick Your Brain by Ashley Hamer

De Martino, B. (2006). Frames, Biases, and Rational Decision-Making in the Human Brain. Science, 313(5787), 684–687. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1128356
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1981). The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice. Science, 211(4481), 453–458. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.7455683

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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 a
0:09.0	drone that can smell why we call the Dark Ages Dark,
0:13.1	and how simple word swaps can secretly trick your brain.
0:16.8	Let's satisfy some curiosity.
0:19.2	What do you get if you cross a moth with a drone. A moan. Or a droth. I like draught better.
0:28.0	Droth is way better. Well, believe it or not, researchers at the University of Washington have actually spent years trying to figure this out.
0:37.0	And their result is the Smellicopter.
0:41.0	Not as good as Droth, but we'll give him a pass.
0:44.0	The Smelicopter is a small drone outfitted with a literal, honest to goodness, moth antenna attached to electrical wires.
0:52.0	Those wires transmit signals from the
0:55.1	antenna to the drone's on board computer. The computer uses that data to help guide
1:00.7	the smellicopter's four tiny rotors as the device finds and follows a scent to its source.
1:07.0	How snazzy is that?
1:09.0	The researchers behind the project decided to use a genuine moth antenna because, well, moths are really good at smelling.
1:16.6	Sensors designed by human engineers simply can't touch the high levels of sensitivity that
1:21.7	moths have developed over millions of years of evolution.
1:24.8	A moth antenna contains special cells that amplify chemical signals.
1:29.7	Even a single scent molecule can trigger a cascade of changes in a moth sensory cells, all with blistering speed and efficiency.
1:38.5	Sensitivity is important because of the way scent spreads through time and space.
1:44.0	The cloud of molecules we detect as a smell flows through the air in what's called a plume.
1:50.0	Think smoke coming off a campfire.
	...

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