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Useful Science

Author: Useful Science

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Science is useful, but its usefulness isn't always obvious. In this podcast we dive deep into scientific research to figure out how the science was done, what was discovered, and how you can use it to improve your life.
67 Episodes
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https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/60This week we're talking about climate anxiety and winter sports.Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us on Twitter as @usefulsci, Instagram as @usefulscience, or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show NotesThe 2021 Western North American heat dome increased climate change anxiety among British Columbians: Results from a natural experimenthttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667278222000050#bib0024Association Between Ambient Heat and Risk of Emergency Department Visits for Mental Health Among US Adults, 2010 to 2019Climate change is predicted to make European wine regions hotter and drier, shorten the grape growing season, shift growing regions, and change wine chemistry by altering levels of alcohol, acid, and aroma.Only ‘one reliable host city’ will be left for Winter Olympics if global emissions are not curbed: study
21 Rerelease: Sleep

21 Rerelease: Sleep

2022-01-2001:15:071

http://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/21This week we're talking about sleep.Follow us @usefulsci or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show NotesPeople who slept less than 6 hours a night were 4 times more likely to catch a cold.Higher nighttime temperatures due to climate change are projected to disrupt summer sleep patterns, particularly for people who cannot afford air conditioning and people who are more sensitive to heat, like the elderly.Not sleeping enough (staying up for 17 hours straight) impaired performance in the same way as a blood alcohol level above the legal driving limit would (BAC 0.05%).
https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/59This week we're talking about dog ownership and gift giving.Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us on Twitter as @usefulsci, Instagram as @usefulscience, or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show NotesDog owners have a 24% lower risk of dying early and a 31% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.The Gift of Psychological Closeness: How Feasible Versus Desirable Gifts Reduce Psychological Distance to the Giver
https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/58This week we're talking about fatigue & risk management in healthcare workers.Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us on Twitter as @usefulsci, Instagram as @usefulscience, or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show NotesAssociation of residency work hour reform with long term quality and costs of care of US physicians: observational studyEducation Outcomes in a Duty-Hour Flexibility Trial in Internal MedicineFiguring in fatigue: A commentary on Schwartz et al., “Fatigue in surgical residents: An analysis of duty-hours and the effect of hypothetical naps on predicted performance”Addressing fatigue in medical residents with biomathematical fatigue modelingTrends in Strategic Napping in Surgical Residents by Gender, Postgraduate Year, Work Schedule, and Clinical RotationFatigue in surgical residents an analysis of duty-hours and the effect of hypothetical naps on predicted performanceBiomathematical Modeling Predicts Fatigue Risk in General Surgery Residents
https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/57Deborah talks about two intervention programs designed to address the effects of discrimination on Black youth. Alex presents the results of the Oregon Water Futures Project, which revealed inequalities in water access throughout the state.Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us on Twitter as @usefulsci, Instagram as @usefulscience, or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show NotesElevating Water Priorities for Oregon Communities.Program Profile: Adults in the Making (AIM)Program Profile: Strong African American Families (SAAF)Strong African American Families ProgramThe Adults in the Making Program: Long-term Protective Stabilizing Effects on Alcohol Use and Substance Use Problems for Rural African American Emerging Adults
https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/56This week we're talking about racial disparities in health and medicine. Ian and Deborah present research focusing on differences in cancer treatments for Black patients in contrast to White patients, and also discuss athlete head trauma and concussion education in the US.Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us on Twitter as @usefulsci, Instagram as @usefulscience, or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show NotesBlack patients in the U.S. are less likely to receive surgery as treatment for esophageal cancer, making them more likely to die from this type of cancer than white patients.Even though 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime, survival rates have been improving over the last three decades. However, black women are still 40% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women in the U.S.Assessing Differences in Concussion Symptom Knowledge and Sources of Information Among Black and White Collegiate-Athletes
https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/55This week we're talking about neighborhood connections and green spaces.Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us on Twitter as @usefulsci, Instagram as @usefulscience, or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show Notes‘It's real, not fake like a park’: Residents’ perception and use of informal urban green-space in Brisbane, Australia and Sapporo, JapanResidential relocation and change in social capital: A natural experiment from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami
Cultural Change

Cultural Change

2021-05-1253:25

https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/54This week we're talking about cultural change.Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us on Twitter as @usefulsci, Instagram as @usefulscience, or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show NotesGlobal Increases in IndividualismSocial Structure, Infectious Diseases, Disasters, Secularism, and Cultural Change in AmericaTuning in to psychological change: Linguistic markers of psychological traits and emotions over time in popular U.S. song lyrics.Temporal Changes in Individualism and Their Ramification in Japan: Rising Individualism and Conflicts with Persisting CollectivismThe Church, intensive kinship, and global psychological variationLarge-Scale Psychological Differences Within China Explained by Rice Versus Wheat AgricultureStatus Quo Bias in Decision Making
Food and Allergies

Food and Allergies

2021-04-1332:24

https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/53This week we're talking about food and allergies.Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us on Twitter as @usefulsci, Instagram as @usefulscience, or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show NotesWhen surveyed, almost 1 in 5 Americans report that they have a food allergy, but only 1 in 10 report symptoms consistent with food allergies or have received a diagnosis from a physician. This suggests that around twice as many Americans believe they have a food allergy than actually do.Foods that mothers eat regularly while breastfeeding are later more accepted by their infants.
Behavior Change

Behavior Change

2021-03-2352:091

https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/52On this episode we're joined by special guest, Erika Kirgios, whose research explores strategies for promoting prosocial behavior. Familiar hosts Avaneesh, Uyen, and Cameron discuss two of Erika's recent studies. One investigates “temptation bundling,” the process of pairing a pleasurable indulgence with a less-pleasurable behavior that confers delayed rewards in order to make it seem more appealing in the short-term. A second study demonstrates the concept of “motivation laundering,” when individuals who behave in accordance with financial incentives later forgo their monetary rewards in order to signal to others (or convince themselves) they acted out of purer motives. Erika is a researcher with The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us on Twitter as @usefulsci, Instagram as @usefulscience, or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show NotesTeaching temptation bundling to boost exercise: A field experimentForgoing earned incentives to signal pure motives
Parenting, Part 2

Parenting, Part 2

2021-03-0201:00:08

https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/51This week we're talking about parenting.Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us on Twitter as @usefulsci, Instagram as @usefulscience, or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show NotesCurious Neuron
Parenting, Part 1

Parenting, Part 1

2021-02-0901:11:50

https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/50This week we're talking about parenting.Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us on Twitter as @usefulsci, Instagram as @usefulscience, or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show NotesMothers In Science
Vaccine Skepticism

Vaccine Skepticism

2021-01-1957:25

https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/49The COVID vaccine is a major medical triumph. But not everyone is so excited to receive it. What do we know about vaccine hesitancy? How about its more radical cousin, vaccine rejection? And how does the situation in the United States differ from other countries, like Australia? All that and more on this episode of the podcast, featuring Duncan, Avaneesh, and Cameron.Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us on Twitter as @usefulsci, Instagram as @usefulscience, or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show NotesVaccine Rejection and Hesitancy: A Review and Call to Action(http://currents.plos.org/outbreaks/index.html%3Fp=70808.html)Gizmodo: The Last of the Iron LungsEpidemic prevalence information on social networks can mediate emergent collective outcomes in voluntary vaccine schemes
Sleep and Lunch Breaks

Sleep and Lunch Breaks

2020-12-2901:01:211

https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/48The pandemic has affected all of us – and while we continue to manage the ongoing tragedy and loss, many have begun to look for silver linings as well. Here are two that can result from spending more time at home than usual: (1) nightly sleep among university students appears to have improved, and (2) having more flexibility in how you spend your lunch break (walking to a park, doing yoga) may decrease stress and fatigue, and increase concentration, for those working from home. Our hosts Ian, Josh, and Cameron provide the full scoop in this episode of the podcast.Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us on Twitter as @usefulsci, Instagram as @usefulscience, or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show NotesEnhancing daily well-being at work through lunchtime park walks and relaxation exercises: Recovery experiences as mediators.Sleep in university students prior to and during COVID-19 Stay-at-Home orders
Blind Cooperation

Blind Cooperation

2020-12-1541:59

https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/47The way we make decisions says a lot about us. In this episode, we highlight two studies that delve into the idea of “Blind Cooperation.” It turns out that being the kind of person who spontaneously cooperates with others and offers help without calculation can confer social benefits in the long run. Namly, it’ll earn you the reputation of being trustworthy.Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us on Twitter as @usefulsci, Instagram as @usefulscience, or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show NotesPreferential interactions promote blind cooperation and informed defectionUncalculating cooperation is used to signal trustworthiness
The Ig Nobel Prize

The Ig Nobel Prize

2020-11-2436:34

https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/46In an annual ceremony at Harvard University, the Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that "first make people LAUGH, and then make them THINK.” It's a quirky and entertaining tradition, and we've featured their 2020 ​A​wards in this episode of the podcast. Hear from Susan, Duncan, and Camerom, who discuss their favorite Ig Nobel Prize winners, and learn more about the ​30-year-old tradition organized by the Annals of Improbable Research. "The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology."Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us @usefulsci or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show Notes30th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize
https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/45Not all laughter is created equal, and the truth is you probably laugh differently around people you don’t know than you do with friends and family. While subtle, many people can tell the difference. And do social media sites like Facebook provide a replacement for real interactions? A famous study from 2013 says no. Facebook may even make people less happy. Find out more in this episode on Social Connection.Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us @usefulsci or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show NotesOver a two-week period, young adults' Facebook use predicted decreased self-reported well-being. This was true for individuals with both small and large social networks.Detecting affiliation in colaughter across 24 societies
https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/44Research suggests that higher local temperatures are associated with a greater incidence of antibiotic-resistant infections. In other words, climate change may exacerbate the already growing problem of antibiotic resistance in humans. On the flip side, scientists in Portland, Oregon find that planting more vegetation, using reflective materials on hard surfaces, and installing green roofs on buildings may help cool urban areas susceptible to extreme heat. Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us @usefulsci or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show NotesAntibiotic resistance increases with local temperatureA combination of planting more vegetation, using reflective materials on hard surfaces, and installing green roofs on buildings may help cool urban areas susceptible to extreme heat.
Microplastics

Microplastics

2020-10-0643:271

https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/43The average person eats at least 50,000 microplastics a year, and inhales a similar amount. Microplastics have been found in every part of our digestive tract, and are deleterious to the liver and gut. There is good news, however: researchers at Penn State are working on eco-friendly and biodegradable substitutes. They're made from squid teeth.Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us @usefulsci or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.Show NotesSquid-Inspired Tandem Repeat Proteins: Functional Fibers and FilmsHuman Consumption of MicroplasticsPlastic and Human Health: A Micro Issue?
5-Year Anniversary

5-Year Anniversary

2020-09-2232:26

https://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/42b5-Year Anniversary Special.Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.Follow us @usefulsci or email us at podcast@usefulscience.org.
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