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Mint mobile.com. Hi,

0:37

you're about to get smarter in just a few

0:39

minutes with Curiosity Daily from Discovery. Time

0:42

flies when you're learning super cool stuff. I'm

0:44

Nate. And I'm Callie. If you're dropping

0:46

in for the first time, welcome to Curiosity, where we

0:48

aim to blow your mind by helping you to grow

0:50

your mind. If you're a loyal listener, welcome back. Today,

0:53

you'll learn about how we learn the same

0:55

information differently from people we like than from

0:57

those we don't like, a drug

0:59

men already take that could have incredible

1:02

added benefits, and a weed

1:04

that could feed a hungry world. Without

1:06

further ado, let's satisfy some curiosity.

1:09

Imagine that you're taking a stroll through the grocery

1:12

store and you come across a mom with the

1:14

cutest little toddler you have ever seen sitting in

1:16

the car. The baby points at

1:18

you and gurgles something so cute that you can't

1:20

help but commit the kid to memory. Fast

1:22

forward. Later that day, you're walking down the

1:25

street and you see that same kid in a stroller.

1:27

She recognizes you too and points and does

1:29

the gurgly thing, but this time there's a

1:31

man pushing the stroller. So who's

1:33

this man? Okay, wearing a scientist

1:35

hat, I can't really say who it

1:38

is with any certainty, but

1:40

if I'm just making assumptions, it seems pretty obvious

1:42

that he's probably the little girl's dad. So

1:45

you're making an inference, which is a pretty special

1:47

kind of thing that makes humans able to

1:49

make really huge leaps in our learning. Of course,

1:52

if we didn't make inferences like that,

1:54

we'd have to spend all of our

1:56

time just kind of relearning everything. Exactly.

1:58

Learning involves- both individual experiences like

2:01

seeing the kid and her mom

2:03

in the store and connecting those

2:05

experiences to form new inferences about

2:07

the world. It's called memory integration.

2:10

It's one of those things we do automatically

2:12

all the time that you know we totally

2:14

take for granted. But now

2:16

that you mentioned it, it's a pretty incredible

2:19

function of our minds. Absolutely.

2:21

So researchers at Lund University in

2:23

Sweden wanted to dig a little

2:25

deeper to understand how our preferences

2:27

toward others impact our ability to

2:29

learn and make inferences from them.

2:31

Preferences, like they wanted to know if

2:33

we would learn better from people we

2:36

like. That's exactly right and it

2:38

goes way beyond that. So let's talk about

2:40

the study and then we can get to

2:42

the bigger picture. Participants were shown objects by

2:44

people they either liked or disliked. Hold

2:47

up a second. Did the researchers find people

2:49

the participants had a beef with or something? Like

2:51

how did they know they didn't like some of

2:54

the people? Okay so I

2:56

had the same thought but no they didn't

2:58

scour their socials looking for shade. It was

3:00

more about preferences. So they would

3:02

be shown everyday objects like spoons and

3:04

bowls by people who had subjective preferences

3:07

that either matched their own or didn't.

3:10

Things like political views and hobbies and lifestyle

3:12

choices, that kind of thing. So

3:15

this is a little bit about tribalism. They

3:17

wanted to see how well you could learn

3:19

from someone from the other end of the

3:22

political spectrum for example. That's

3:24

exactly right and they found something that

3:26

might seem obvious but has a lot

3:28

of rippling effects from our society. It

3:30

turns out that our fundamental memory mechanisms

3:32

favor information from our preferred groups which

3:35

means that our pre-existing beliefs tend to

3:37

just be reinforced leading to more and

3:39

more polarization. Let me see if

3:41

I get this. When someone we identify with

3:44

tells us some kind of information we

3:46

prefer that over information from someone we

3:49

don't identify with. Not only

3:51

that but it could be the exact same

3:53

information. The information itself can be neutral but

3:55

our minds form inferences about it based on

3:57

who's delivering it. So that would a

4:01

lot of the polarization that we're

4:03

experiencing in our own society, right?

4:05

Yep. Two politicians can have exactly

4:07

the same proposal. On paper, you might

4:09

be all for it, but if you

4:11

hear the proposal from the politician from

4:13

the other team, you're probably gonna hate

4:15

it. Okay, I mean, this is

4:17

something we all kind of intuit already, but

4:20

this study is saying that it's not just

4:22

people being stubborn. It's actually a mechanism of

4:24

our own brains that's leading to this kind

4:26

of polarization. Oh, that's right. And that

4:28

also means that someone in your in-group can

4:31

lie to you and you'll probably be more

4:33

likely to believe it. Those are

4:35

the kinds of far-reaching implications of this study.

4:37

It gets our understanding of societal

4:39

divisions, the spread of misinformation, and

4:41

strikes the heart of the huge

4:43

challenge of communicating across ideological divides.

4:46

So it's not just what you know,

4:48

but who you hear it from that

4:50

shapes your world. And that's why we

4:52

all need to think about our own

4:54

innate biases and focus on our own

4:56

critical thinking and openness to perspectives we

4:58

might not usually welcome. You know

5:01

how drug commercials, you know, like we have

5:03

in America, always have that section where they

5:05

list all of the possible side effects? Yeah,

5:08

okay. It's usually the longest part of the

5:11

commercial. Yeah. Well, a common

5:13

drug used to treat male pattern baldness

5:15

and enlarged prostate in men has been

5:17

found to have a pretty surprising and

5:19

remarkable side effect. It may

5:21

also lower cholesterol and reduce

5:23

the risk of cardiovascular disease.

5:25

Huh. Okay, that's kind of

5:28

the side effect you actually want. Right.

5:31

So the drug is called finasteride, also

5:33

known as propetia or proscar. And like

5:36

I said, it's been used to treat

5:38

both male pattern baldness and enlarged prostate

5:40

for years. But researchers

5:42

from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,

5:45

wanted to know how the drug affected the

5:47

cholesterol levels of those who regularly take it.

5:50

And here's the thing, they actually assumed

5:52

that it wouldn't be good. Like

5:54

they thought the drug would raise cholesterol levels?

5:56

Okay, why is that? Well, to

5:58

put it simply, testosterone. So,

6:01

finasteride works by modulating testosterone,

6:03

and for its known uses, it works

6:05

by blocking a specific protein found in

6:07

hair follicles and the prostate gland that

6:09

activates testosterone. But researchers

6:12

didn't really understand exactly how

6:14

testosterone is linked to cardiovascular

6:16

health. Which would be

6:18

why they thought the effects might be adverse. Exactly.

6:22

So, they analyzed data from a survey

6:24

of 4,800 participants and found that

6:26

men who used finasteride showed an average of 30

6:29

points lower cholesterol compared to

6:31

non-users. Okay, that seems pretty

6:33

significant. It absolutely is. But

6:36

there's a catch. Out of those 4,800

6:38

participants, only 155 of them used the drug. So,

6:42

it was a pretty small sample size. And

6:45

to make matters even more tricky, it was an

6:47

observational study. In other words, it didn't have

6:49

all of the scientific rigor that would make it

6:51

past muster. So, they set up a

6:53

new study using mice. Okay,

6:56

did the findings hold? Not only

6:58

did they hold, they also found

7:00

that mice that were given a

7:02

megadose of the drug had lower

7:04

plasma cholesterol levels, reduced liver inflammation,

7:06

and delayed atherosclerosis progression. In

7:09

other words, less liver inflammation

7:11

and healthier hearts. Better

7:13

cardiovascular health in general. So

7:16

this study had a few knock-on effects.

7:18

The first is that researchers have a

7:20

new understanding of hormonal impacts on heart

7:22

health. This will lead to all

7:24

new lines of inquiry and new studies they didn't

7:27

anticipate. And that leads to

7:29

another surprise. This finding could be

7:31

especially relevant for transgender individuals. Wait

7:34

a second, why is that? So transgender

7:36

people are at a higher risk of

7:38

cardiovascular disease, probably because of

7:40

the hormonal changes that occur during transition.

7:43

Another side effect of transitioning is hair

7:45

loss. Wow, so this study uncovered

7:48

a lot of surprises. But you

7:50

mentioned that the mice were given a megadose.

7:52

Is that even something humans can handle? In

7:55

short, no. But they think that

7:57

humans might not need such large doses to see

7:59

these. effects. And of

8:01

course the evidence of that is the

8:03

fact that in their observational study they

8:05

found the positive outcomes and these participants

8:07

were generally taking normal doses. So

8:10

what's the next step? They need to do

8:12

further research of course and they would love

8:14

to conduct clinical trials but the exciting thing

8:16

is that this drug is already approved for

8:18

other uses. In other words it's safe, it's

8:21

effective for its intended uses. This is just

8:23

the icing on the cake. Ryan

8:30

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Slows. mintmobile.com. We

9:02

talk a lot about food production on

9:04

the show. Oh absolutely. If you think

9:06

about it, food is sort

9:08

of important. I mean yeah sort of. Like

9:10

we literally can't live about it. Plus

9:13

even if farming feels like an ancient

9:15

practice it's actually a science. Right.

9:17

There's so much to explore when it comes to

9:20

food production. Everything from creating new

9:22

crops that can withstand climate change to understanding

9:25

the way pollution impacts pollinators.

9:28

When it comes to food production there's a ton to

9:30

talk about. And as climate change speeds

9:32

up, food security is becoming a

9:34

primary concern for governments everywhere. And

9:37

that's why researchers have taken a second look

9:39

at a weed called Carolina Azula. I've

9:42

never heard of it. What exactly is it? So

9:44

it's a water plant native to the eastern United

9:46

States. It's also known as

9:49

mosquito fern, fairy moss and water fern.

9:51

And it has the ability to double

9:53

its biomass in only two days.

9:55

Wow. OK. That is really fast

9:57

growing. And not only that but it fixes

9:59

not. from the air and has been used

10:01

to feed poultry and livestock for a really long time.

10:05

Because of its nitrogen fixing, it can also be

10:07

used as a fertilizer. Plus, it's super

10:09

easy to grow with not much cultivation.

10:12

All right, so what's the catch? I mean,

10:14

it sounds like a miracle crop. Why are

10:16

researchers only now having another look

10:18

at this stuff? That's a great

10:20

question. It's been almost totally overlooked for

10:22

human consumption because... All

10:25

right, most varieties of Azolla are invisible for

10:27

humans. Oh, well, you

10:29

know, I guess the fact that humans can't eat it

10:31

is a pretty good reason for humans

10:34

to not eat it. Yeah,

10:36

okay. Most varieties of Azolla contain

10:38

really high phenolic content, which makes

10:40

it tough for our digestive systems

10:42

to process. Now, you may

10:44

have heard of polyphenols because they are in a

10:46

lot of foods we already eat, like fruits and

10:49

vegetables and even coffee. But

10:51

those foods generally have a phenolic

10:53

content somewhere between, say, 1 gram

10:55

and 19 grams per kilogram of

10:57

dry weight. Asian and African

10:59

Azolla species can have as much as 69 grams

11:02

per kilogram of dry weight. That sounds

11:04

like a lot. Yes, but this

11:06

research team found that Carolina Azolla sits

11:09

pretty with under 5 grams.

11:11

If you boil it, pressure cook it, or ferment

11:13

it, that number drops even lower. In

11:15

other words, Carolina Azolla is edible

11:18

for humans. Yep, they say it's

11:20

got sort of a little bit of a crunch to it

11:22

and it has this nice neutral flavor. But

11:24

the biggest thing is that it grows

11:26

like crazy without much effort and its

11:28

ability to fix nitrogen and its potential

11:30

as a green fertilizer align nicely with

11:32

sustainable agriculture practices and could lead to

11:35

a revolution in the fight against global

11:37

food insecurity. So 10 years from now,

11:39

will all that kale we've been forced to eat

11:41

be replaced by good

11:43

old mosquito fern? I

11:45

don't know about that, but in places

11:47

where crop failure is pressing down or

11:49

in regions experiencing other catastrophes, Carolina Azolla

11:51

can be a quick-growing green way to

11:54

feed a lot of hungry people. Let's

11:56

recap what we learned today to wrap up. New

11:59

research reveals our brains prefer learning

12:01

from people we like, a phenomenon

12:03

with profound implications for understanding societal

12:06

polarization and knowledge resistance. A

12:08

study has found that finasteride, a

12:10

drug commonly used to treat hair

12:12

loss and enlarged prostate, may also

12:15

significantly lower cholesterol and reduce the

12:17

risk of cardiovascular disease. Researchers have

12:19

unveiled Carolina azolla, a water plant

12:21

with rapid growth and nitrogen fixing

12:23

abilities as a potentially transformative food

12:25

source for humans, livestock, and poultry.

12:30

Curiosity Daily is produced by Wheelhouse

12:32

DNA for Discovery. You can follow

12:34

our show wherever you get your podcasts and we

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would love it if you could take a second

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to leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts.

12:49

Acast powers the world's best

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podcasts. Here's the

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show that we recommend. Hello,

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hello, it's Brooke DeVard from Naked

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