meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Curiosity Weekly

Why Don't We Sneeze in Our Sleep?

Curiosity Weekly

Warner Bros. Discovery

Science

4.6964 Ratings

🗓️ 25 September 2020

⏱️ 14 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Scientists renamed human genes because of Microsoft Excel by Grant Currin

A new study finds that the person you choose isn't as important as the relationship you build by Kelsey Donk

  • Betuel, E. (2020, July 27). Landmark study on 11,196 couples pinpoints what dating apps get so wrong. Inverse; Inverse. https://www.inverse.com/mind-body/dating-study-predicts-happy-relationships
  • Joel, S., Eastwick, P. W., Allison, C. J., Arriaga, X. B., Baker, Z. G., Bar-Kalifa, E., Bergeron, S., Birnbaum, G. E., Brock, R. L., Brumbaugh, C. C., Carmichael, C. L., Chen, S., Clarke, J., Cobb, R. J., Coolsen, M. K., Davis, J., de Jong, D. C., Debrot, A., DeHaas, E. C., … Wolf, S. (2020). Machine learning uncovers the most robust self-report predictors of relationship quality across 43 longitudinal couples studies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(32), 19061–19071. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1917036117

Why don't we sneeze or burp in our sleep? by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Natalie)

Subscribe to Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Ashley Hamer and Natalia Reagan (filling in for Cody Gough). 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/why-dont-we-sneeze-in-our-sleep


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hi, you're about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from Curiosity.com.

0:06.0

I'm Ashley Hamer.

0:07.0

And I'm Natalia Reagan.

0:08.0

Today you'll learn how Microsoft Excel is forcing scientists to rename genes and why the relationship itself is more

0:15.0

important than the person you choose. We'll also answer a listener question about

0:19.0

why we don't seem to burp or sneeze in our sleep, or do we?

0:22.4

Let's satisfy some curiosity. to burp or sneeze in our sleep, or do we?

0:23.0

Let's satisfy some curiosity.

0:26.0

Geneticists have been dealing with a big problem for years now.

0:30.2

And I'm not talking about sifting through all the cell goo de-to-find the wispy strands of DNA

0:35.2

or figuring out how to sequence all 3 billion base pairs in the human genome.

0:40.3

No, this adversary isn't the mind-bending complexity of life itself.

0:45.0

It's Microsoft Excel.

0:47.0

I'm not joking.

0:49.0

They're actually renaming genes to avoid a problem in Excel.

0:53.0

The problem is in the software's quote-unquote feature

0:57.0

that automatically converts certain combinations of numbers and letters

1:01.0

into dates and other forms of data that the program thinks you'll prefer. and things like create a structure that cells need while they divide. The genes that cause your

1:14.8

cells to make and use septons have names like SEPT2, SEP2, SEP2. You can probably see where this is going.

1:23.7

When a scientist enters the name of one of those genes into Excel, the program says to itself,

1:28.8

hey, that looks like a date and changes it to the numeric date for September 2nd of that year.

1:35.0

The same thing happens with membrane-associated ring-C-H-type finger one,

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Warner Bros. Discovery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Warner Bros. Discovery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.