Why Do Wombats Poop Cubes?

Curiosity Weekly

Warner Bros. Discovery

Science

4.6 • 964 Ratings

🗓️ 29 January 2021

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Learn about a newly discovered way to cut down on intrusive thoughts; why wombats poop cubes; and why UPS trucks almost never make left turns.

Cut down on intrusive thoughts by getting more sleep by Kelsey Donk

Study reveals role of sleep deprivation in unwanted thoughts. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-10/uoy-srr102020.php
Harrington, M. O., Ashton, J. E., Sankarasubramanian, S., Anderson, M. C., & Cairney, S. A. (2020). Losing Control: Sleep Deprivation Impairs the Suppression of Unwanted Thoughts. Clinical Psychological Science, 216770262095151. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702620951511

Why do wombats poop cubes? by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Emmaline)

BBC News. (2018, November 20). Wombat poop: Scientists reveal mystery behind cube-shaped droppings. BBC News; BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-46258616
Patricia, Y. (2018). How do wombats make cubed poo? Bulletin of the American Physical Society, Volume 63, Number 13. http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD18/Session/E19.1
Why is wombat poop cube-shaped? (2018, November 19). Animals. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2018/11/wombat-poop-cube-why-is-it-square-shaped/
How wombats make their unique cube-shaped poop. (2018, December 10). Science News for Students. https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/how-wombats-make-their-unique-cube-shaped-poop

UPS Trucks Almost Never Make Left Turns — and Maybe You Shouldn't Either by Joanie Faletto

Kendall, G. (2017, January 20). Why UPS drivers don’t turn left and you probably shouldn’t either. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/why-ups-drivers-dont-turn-left-and-you-probably-shouldnt-either-71432
Jacopo Prisco. (2017, February 16). Why UPS trucks (almost) never turn left. CNN Digital; CNN World. https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/16/world/ups-trucks-no-left-turns/index.html

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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.
0:04.7	From Curiosity.com, I'm Cody Goff.
0:06.8	And I'm Ashley Hamer.
0:08.0	Today you learn about a newly discovered way to cut down on intrusive thoughts.
0:12.1	Then we'll answer a listener question about why
0:14.2	Wombats poop cubes. You'll also learn why UPS trucks almost never make left
0:19.2	turns. Let's satisfy some curiosity.
0:22.6	There's now yet another reason to get a good night's sleep.
0:25.9	A new study uncovered the relationship between sleep deprivation
0:29.6	and those unwanted thoughts that pop up from time to time.
0:33.0	As it turns out, when we're sleep deprived,
0:35.0	we have a much harder time stopping unpleasant thoughts
0:38.0	from entering our minds.
0:40.0	So say for instance, if your dog lunges away from you at the park, you might be struck by some
0:45.2	unpleasant memories of a childhood pet's untimely death. Those memories are awful, right?
0:51.5	For most people, they pass pretty quickly, but for people with
0:55.0	psychiatric conditions like PTSD, depression, schizophrenia, or OCD, those thoughts
1:01.2	come with disturbing frequency and they can last for a long time.
1:05.0	Scientists don't know why this happens, but one idea is that it's linked to a breakdown
1:11.0	and the brain's ability to block out unwanted thoughts.
1:14.9	Sleep deprivation can mess with brain function.
1:17.6	So the researchers behind this study wondered if something as simple as sleep could help to
	...

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