Curiosity Daily

Today, you’ll learn about why you may want to consider letting yourself daydream, how a sense of humor might protect you from depression and anxiety, and the effects of caffeine on the performance of soccer players.  

Daydream Brain  

•“What Happens in the Brain While Daydreaming?” by Catherine Caruso. 2023.  

•“Is the role of sleep in memory consolidation overrated?” by Mohammad Dastgheib, et al. 2022.  

•“Cortical reactivations predict future sensory responses.” by Nghia D. Nguyen, et al. 2023.  

•“Why Daydreaming Is Good For Us.” by David B. Feldman Ph.D. 2017.  

Power of a Laugh 

•“Your type of humor might say something about your risk of depression and anxiety.” by Eric W. Dolan. 2023.  

•“Understanding the Association Between Humor and Emotional Distress: The Role of Light and Dark Humor in Predicting Depression, Anxiety, and Stress.” by Alberto Dionigi, et al. 2023.  

Caffeine & Soccer  

•“Caffeine highs and lows footballers should be aware of.” n.a. 2023.  

•“The effects of acute caffeine ingestion on decision-making and pass accuracy in young soccer players: A preliminary randomized controlled trial.” by Negar Jafari, et al. 2023.  

Today, you’ll learn about how babies pick up language before they’re even born, an AI that takes on the busy work for doctors, and new insight into how humans collaborate.  

Baby Language 

•“Babies’ Brains Are Primed For Their Native Language Before Birth.” by Nyla Husain. 2023.  

•“Prenatal experience with language shapes the brain.” by Benedetta Mariani. 2023.  

•“The What and When of Universal Perception: A Review of Early Speech Sound Acquisition.” by Katerina Chladkova & Nikola Paillereau. 2020.  

AI Medicine 

•“Medical AI tool from UF, NVIDIA gets human thumbs-up in first study.” by Jim W. Harper. 2023.  

•“AI Training AI: GatorTronGPT at the Forefront of University of Florida’s Medical AI Innovations.” by Mona Flores. 2023.  

•“A study of generative large language model for medical research and healthcare.” by Cheng Peng, et al. 2023.  

•“Physicians, paperwork, and paying attention to patients.” by Dr. Monique Tello. 2016.  

Human Collaboration  

•“How we play together.” n.a. 2023.  

•“The evolution of human cooperation.” Coren L. Apicella & Joan B. Silk. 2019.  

oday, you’ll learn about a new test that can show how well each of your organs are aging, some interesting links between comfort food and stress, and a surprising finding about certain snails. 

Organ Age 

•“Are your organs ageing well? The blood holds clues.” by Max Kozlov. 2023.  

•“Blood test shows if organs are ageing fast or slowly.” by Michelle Roberts. 2023.  

Comfort Food  

•“Comfort eating can impair body’s recovery from stress, study shows..” by Rachel Hall. 2023.  

•“Stress and Eating Behaviors.” by Yvonne H. C. Yau & Marc N. Potenza. 2013.  

•“Fatty foods can impair the body’s response to everyday stress - study.” by Jet Veldhuijzen van Zanten. 2023.  

Speedy Snails  

•“Japanese snail adaptation and speciation in anti-predation escape behavior.” by Yuta Morii. 2023.  

•“The divergence of mobility and activity associated with anti-predator adaptation in land snails.” by Yuta Morii, et al. 2023.  

Today, you’ll learn about a new ink that can 3D print inside your body using soundwaves, why saying no to invitations isn’t as bad as you might think, and some new drugs that could potentially make your dog live longer.  

3D Ink 

•“Soundwaves Harden 3D-Printed Treatments in Deep Tissues.” by Michaela Martinez. 2023.  

•“Dental curing light.” Wikipedia.  

•“Self-enhancing sono-inks enable deep-penetration acoustic volumetric printing.” by Xiao Kuang, et al. 2023.  

RSVP No 

•“Just say no to that invitation.” n.a. 2023.  

•“Saying No: The Negative Ramifications From Invitation Declines Are Less Severe Than We Think.” By Julian Givi & Colleen P. Kirk. 2023.  

Old Dogs 

•“Could a Drug Give Your Pet More Dog Years?” by Emily Anthes. 2023.  

•“Forget Botox. Anti-Aging Pills May Be Next.” by Andrew Pollack. 2023.  

•“We’re helping dogs like yours live longer.” Loyal website. N.d.  

•“Discovering the keys to a healthy lifespan.” Dog Aging Project website. 2023. 

Today, you’ll learn about an ancient diagnostic tool getting an AI upgrade, the world’s slipperiest surface, and some insight into the minds of everyone who loves this show!  

Healthy Tongue

•“Eyes may be the window to your soul, but the tongue mirrors your health.” University of South Australia. 2023.  

•“Ancient tongue diagnosis for the 21st century dental hygienist.” by Kathryn Gilliam. 2023.  

•“Analysis of Tongue Color-Associated Features among Patients with PCR-Confirmed COVID-19 Infection in Ukraine.” by Liudmyla Horzov. 2021. 

Slippery Surface

•“Droplet slipperiness despite surface heterogeneity at molecular scale.” by Sakari Lepikko, et al. 2023.  

•“Slippery Science: Crafting the World’s Most Water-Repellent Surface.” by Aalto University. 2023.  

Curious for Answers

•“Curiosity evolves as information unfolds.” by Abigail Hsiung, et al. 2023.  

•“Unraveling Curiosity: Why We Savor the Suspense and Shun Spoilers.” Neuroscience.com. 2023.