Why Song Lyrics Are Getting Simpler
Curiosity Weekly
Warner Bros. Discovery
4.6 • 963 Ratings
🗓️ 5 July 2021
⏱️ 14 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Learn how a man wrote sentences using only his mind; how popular song lyrics got simpler; and the bitterness of Bitrex.
Brain-computer interface lets people communicate by imagining they're writing by Grant Currin
- Composing thoughts: mental handwriting produces brain activity that can be turned into text | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. (2021). Nih.gov. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/News-Events/News-and-Press-Releases/Press-Releases/Composing-thoughts-mental-handwriting-produces
- Willett, F. R., Avansino, D. T., Hochberg, L. R., Henderson, J. M., & Shenoy, K. V. (2021). High-performance brain-to-text communication via handwriting. Nature, 593(7858), 249–254. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03506-2
- Sample, I. (2021, May 12). Paralysed man uses “mindwriting” brain computer to compose sentences. The Guardian; The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/may/12/paralysed-man-mindwriting-brain-computer-compose-sentences
- Timmer, J. (2021, May 12). Neural implant lets paralyzed person type by imagining writing. Ars Technica; Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/05/neural-implant-lets-paralyzed-person-type-by-imagining-writing/
Popular song lyrics have gotten simpler over time by Kelsey Donk
- Rigg, C. (2021, May 17). Newer generations prefer simpler song lyrics. PsyPost; PsyPost. https://www.psypost.org/2021/05/newer-generations-prefer-simpler-song-lyrics-60800
- Varnum, M. E. W., Krems, J. A., Morris, C., Wormley, A., & Grossmann, I. (2021). Why are song lyrics becoming simpler? a time series analysis of lyrical complexity in six decades of American popular music. PLOS ONE, 16(1), e0244576. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244576
Bitrex Is The Most Bitter Substance In The World by Anna Todd
- Denatonium- The most bitter compound known. (2021). Scienceofcooking.com. https://www.scienceofcooking.com/denatonium.htm
- Just how bitter is Bitrex? (2012, September 18). Bitrex - Keeping Children Safe. https://www.bitrex.com/about-bitrex/how-bitter-bitrex
- The Bitrex Taste Test. (2014, May 20). Bitrex - Keeping Children Safe. https://www.bitrex.com/taste-test
- US4479889A - Compositions and method for degrading foodstuffs - Google Patents. (1968, October 9). Google.com. https://patents.google.com/patent/US4479889
- SciShow. (2018). What’s the Most Bitter Chemical? [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xl_inefbHE
- CONSUMER’S WORLD; Mother Fights to Ruin the Taste of Poison (Published 1989). (2021). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/20/style/consumer-s-world-mother-fights-to-ruin-the-taste-of-poison.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 from Curiosity.com. |
| 0:06.4 | I'm Cody Gough. |
| 0:07.4 | And I'm Ashley Hamer. |
| 0:08.4 | Today you learn about technology that helped a paralyzed man write sentences with his mind, why popular song lyrics have gotten simpler |
| 0:15.8 | over time, and how you can try the most bitter substance on Earth. |
| 0:20.8 | Let's satisfy some curiosity. |
| 0:23.0 | Researchers have made a huge step forward in service of people with spinal |
| 0:27.8 | court injuries and neurological disorders. |
| 0:30.8 | In the first successful demonstration of its kind, a man who was paralyzed in 2007 wrote more than 200 sentences using only his mind. |
| 0:41.0 | This isn't the first system devised to help paralyzed people |
| 0:44.6 | communicate. A French magazine editor blinked his entire memoir after a |
| 0:49.3 | stroke in the 90s, and Stephen Hawking used muscles in his cheek to pick letters using a cursor. |
| 0:55.0 | But in the newly proven method, researchers implanted two small computer chips on the left side of a research participant's brain in a region |
| 1:04.0 | responsible for fine motor movement. For privacy the researchers called the |
| 1:08.4 | participant T5. The pair of chips contained about a hundred electrodes that eavesdropped on the neurons controlling T5's right hand. |
| 1:17.0 | Once the chips were in place, the researchers brought T5 into the lab and asked him to imagine holding a pen above a piece of paper and writing each letter of the alphabet. |
| 1:29.0 | While he was doing that, the researchers recorded a ton of data describing the patterns of |
| 1:34.0 | electrical activity in his brain while he quote unquote wrote each letter. |
| 1:38.8 | Even though it had been more than a decade since he'd been able to move his hands, T5's brain |
| 1:45.3 | showed distinct patterns for each of the letters he imagined writing. |
| 1:50.0 | Some of the letters were really easy for the researchers to tell apart, but it was harder to distinguish |
| 1:54.6 | letters that look similar and require similar actions to draw. |
... |
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