1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:03,480 Speaker 1: I'm Matt, I'm Null, I'm Ben, and we are stuff 2 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:06,080 Speaker 1: they don't want you to know. Each week we cover 3 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:09,719 Speaker 1: the latest and strangest in fringe science, government cover ups, 4 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:13,399 Speaker 1: allegations of the paranormal, and more. New episodes come out 5 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: every Friday on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, in anywhere else 6 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. Welcome to How Stuff Works Now. 7 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:26,079 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Lauren voc Obamba, a researcher and writer. 8 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:32,239 Speaker 1: Here it How Stuff Works. Every week, I'm bringing you 9 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: three stories from our team about the weird and wondrous 10 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: advances we've seen in science, technology, and culture. This week, 11 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: the Achidna, the mammal that looks like a cat sized 12 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:45,239 Speaker 1: hedgehog and lays eggs like a platypus, turns out to 13 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: be a keystone species in Australia's ecosystem. And unrelated, a 14 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: study into the psychosocial well being of Facebook users has 15 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: discovered how some of us get into a vicious cycle 16 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: of increased activity and decreased self esteem. On law Line 17 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 1: but First text of host Jonathan Strickland unpacks some online 18 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:07,960 Speaker 1: politics for us. The Embassy of Ecuador that hosts Wiki 19 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: Leaks founder Joanna sange An asylum cut off his Internet 20 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: access this week. Here's what's going on and why. Assange 21 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: is the founder of Wiki Leaks, a nonprofit organization that 22 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: publishes leaked documents from governmental and corporate whistle blowers. Assange 23 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: has been living in the Ecuador embassy in London since 24 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: two thousand twelve, when he sought asylum from Swedish authorities. 25 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,360 Speaker 1: While residing in the embassy, Wiki Leaks has continued to 26 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 1: publish whistleblower accounts as the two thousand sixteen presidential election 27 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: draws closer. Those accounts have included batches of documents that 28 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 1: cast Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee in a 29 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: poor light. Some suspect that Wiki leaks, which claims to 30 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 1: only published documentation that others provide to them, received the 31 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: documents from Russian hackers. It's a complicated mess with problematic 32 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: domestic and international implications. That's what led to Ecuador severing 33 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:08,800 Speaker 1: Assanja's Internet connection. According to an official statement from the embassy, 34 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,559 Speaker 1: Ecuador took this action to prevent being associated with interference 35 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: in the US electoral process because it quote respects the 36 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:18,919 Speaker 1: principle of non intervention in the internal affairs of other 37 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: states end quote, not because of any outside pressures. But 38 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:27,239 Speaker 1: is that enough to prevent Wiki leaks from publishing more documents. 39 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: Probably not, and the statement from Ecuador concedes as much. 40 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,359 Speaker 1: Wiki leaks is more than just its founder. The organization 41 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:38,079 Speaker 1: relies on a network of staff to collect and verify documents. 42 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: While Wiki leaks isn't as decentralized as the quasi organization 43 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:47,200 Speaker 1: called Anonymous, it is capable of continuing operations without Assanja's 44 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 1: direct involvement. According to the organization's Twitter feed, Wiki leaks 45 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: has activated contingency plans. By cutting off assandea's access, Ecuador 46 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 1: can distance itself from future allegations of attempting to effect 47 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: the upcoming US election. The actual leaks will likely continue, 48 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: documents will be published, and Assange will be involved, even 49 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: if it's just over the phone. All of this adds 50 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 1: more fuel to the various theories, accusations, and wild speculation 51 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:16,880 Speaker 1: that have been part of this year's US election cycle, 52 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: and it's probable that the leak documents will create consequences 53 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,360 Speaker 1: felt by both a Sange and the Democratic Party long 54 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:30,399 Speaker 1: after November eight. Next up, Stuff to Blow Your Mind 55 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: to host Robert Lamb explores how the weird and waddling. 56 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: A kidna, which eats about forty individual ants and termites 57 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: every day, also happens to make Australia's ecosystem possible. Not 58 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: because of that eating thing, but because it burrows. We 59 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: already knew they were diggers. As a kidneas or spiny 60 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: ant eaters depend on a diet of ants, termites, worms, 61 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: and grubs. They spend a lot of time plowing the 62 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 1: earth and overturning rocks in search of their prey, but 63 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: scientists knew relatively little about their lives beyond these generalities. 64 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: In a recent study publishing the Journal of Experimental Biology, 65 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 1: a team of Australian biologists unlocked the secrets of the 66 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: life of kidna. They strapped GPS and accelerometer equipped trackers 67 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:18,599 Speaker 1: to twelve short beaked to kidnas and let them run wild. 68 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: The resulting data filled in a number of details surrounding 69 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 1: their bug sucking dirt digging lifestyles. They learned that a 70 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:29,160 Speaker 1: kidneys both shorter stride lengths and shorter frequencies than other 71 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:32,719 Speaker 1: animals their size, and that their daily activity levels depend 72 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: greatly on ambient air temperatures, with springs standing out as 73 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: their busiest season. This makes perfect sense because the kidneys 74 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:42,279 Speaker 1: have the lowest body temperature of any mammal eighty nine 75 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: degrees fahrenheit or thirty two degrees celsius. They also lacked 76 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: the temperature control of most other mammals, causing their body 77 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 1: temperature to fluctuate by several degrees in the course of 78 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:53,840 Speaker 1: a given day. As such, they live a little more 79 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:56,599 Speaker 1: like cold blooded reptiles than the rest of their warm 80 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: blooded kin and limit their activity during the heat of 81 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,160 Speaker 1: the summer. But the study's coolest finding was that a 82 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: kidnays spend an average of twelve percent of their time 83 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 1: digging and in the process move a colossal amount of soil. 84 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: One of the researchers predicts that the dozen specimens tracked 85 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: in their study collectively move an Olympic sized swimming pool's 86 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 1: worth of dirt every year. In this they aerate and 87 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:21,280 Speaker 1: mix the Australian soil, and since they're one of just 88 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,919 Speaker 1: a few surviving native Australian burrowers, they're not just a 89 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:29,240 Speaker 1: biological oddity. They're a true keystone species. Though to be fair, 90 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:32,000 Speaker 1: at kidnas will always stand out as a little bit odd. 91 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: Only four species remain spread out across the long isolated 92 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:39,719 Speaker 1: ecosystems of Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea. Like the platypus, 93 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:43,840 Speaker 1: they're egg laying monotreams, and they also seem to exemplify 94 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:48,400 Speaker 1: a chimerical blend of anatomical features the spines of a porcupine, 95 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: the toothless speak of a bird, and the pouch of 96 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:53,839 Speaker 1: a marsupial. But if that wasn't enough, the wonderful and 97 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 1: weird at kidna also lives up to fifty years in 98 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 1: captivity thanks to their slow metabolisms. Females lac date through 99 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:03,840 Speaker 1: milk patches in their pouches, while males are somewhat famous 100 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: for their foreheaded penises. The males are also known to 101 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: sneak into burrows to mate with hibernating females, which is 102 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,559 Speaker 1: a departure from the so called mating trains they employ 103 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 1: the rest of the time, in which a line of 104 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: male suitors simply follow a female around for up to 105 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: six weeks. And if that still wasn't enough, they also 106 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: play host to the largest fleas on the planet, which 107 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 1: are point fifteen inches or four millimeters in length. Againness 108 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 1: are cute, sure, but it also makes sense that we 109 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: named them after the Greek mother of monsters. Finally, this week, 110 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:40,040 Speaker 1: I've got a story about social media. It's a modern boogeyman, 111 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,720 Speaker 1: blamed for the downfall of community and propriety and even 112 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: our own sanity. New research brings us closer to answering 113 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:50,800 Speaker 1: a question at the heart of this concern, does being 114 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 1: so connected make us more happy or less? In psychology 115 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: and sociology, there's been a bunch of discussion about how 116 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,360 Speaker 1: social networks like Facebook can contribute to what's called the 117 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,600 Speaker 1: fear of missing out. It's the anxiety many of us have, 118 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,480 Speaker 1: some more acutely than others, that we're not living our 119 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 1: best lives, especially compared with our peers, that we could 120 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: be doing more things, connecting with more people, hugging more kittens, 121 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,840 Speaker 1: and having more fun. And social networking sites are linked 122 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 1: to an increased fear of missing out. We now have 123 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 1: solid digital evidence when our friends don't invite us to dinner, 124 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: or when they have a lovely moment though, like on 125 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: a vacation or in a relationship that we've never had. 126 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 1: But how do we handle that anxiety and what does 127 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 1: it mean for our overall self esteem? A new study 128 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: out of Nottingham University, published in the journal Computers in 129 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:43,160 Speaker 1: Human Behavior shows a cluster of links between increased use 130 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 1: of social media and lower self esteem, all mediated through 131 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 1: fear of missing out and previously unresearched factor online vulnerability 132 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 1: that's our exposure to negative feedback online like critical or 133 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: hurtful comments, harassment, and stalking. So four dred and eighty 134 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 1: nine particip ages thirteen seventy seven completed an online survey 135 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 1: about themselves and their Facebook habits, including their social network 136 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,840 Speaker 1: size and their willingness to share personal and emotional information. 137 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 1: There were also questions to determine their online vulnerability and 138 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: to evaluate their self esteem. The researchers crunched the numbers 139 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: and they found that when the participants experienced a fear 140 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,440 Speaker 1: of missing out due to Facebook, it drove some of 141 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: them to share and participate more on Facebook, likely in 142 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: an attempt to receive outside validation and boost their self 143 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:32,679 Speaker 1: esteem back up. But that also opened them to experiencing 144 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:35,920 Speaker 1: more negativity, which means their self esteem took another hit, 145 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:39,800 Speaker 1: which drove them to share and participate more, and so on. 146 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:42,679 Speaker 1: The researchers described it as a sort of self imposed 147 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: or self regulated limbo. It's important to note that the 148 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:48,560 Speaker 1: participants skewed young over half, or between the ages of 149 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:52,760 Speaker 1: thirteen and seventeen, and the adults were recruited via online advertisements, 150 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: and four dred and eighty nine people isn't the biggest 151 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:58,839 Speaker 1: sample size, so it's possible that the participants aren't a 152 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 1: true sample of the overall population. Also important, the study 153 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: certainly doesn't say that all users of Facebook and other 154 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:09,320 Speaker 1: social networking sites experience negative psychological effects. Some research has 155 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:12,200 Speaker 1: actually found benefits to increase social media use and lots 156 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: of populations, including increased social support and self esteem, though 157 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 1: this study did not find a direct link there. What 158 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: the study is saying is that when a person does 159 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 1: get anxious because of what they see on social media 160 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:26,920 Speaker 1: and then attempts to fix their anxiety with more social media, 161 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:30,240 Speaker 1: that can be damaging, which, when you put it that way, 162 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: sounds sort of duh. But one of the great things 163 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 1: about science is when it finds ways to bring proof 164 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: to what sounds obvious, because in some other cases, attempting 165 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:41,839 Speaker 1: to find that evidence proves the obvious wrong. And these 166 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:44,720 Speaker 1: results imply some pretty excellent advice if you're bummed by 167 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:47,839 Speaker 1: the Internet seek out better times offline instead of diving deeper. 168 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: That's a show for this week. Thank you so much 169 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,200 Speaker 1: for tuning in. Subscribe now for more of the latest 170 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:01,200 Speaker 1: science news and sentence links. Anything you'd like to hear 171 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:03,960 Speaker 1: us cover, Plus let me know your favorite episode of 172 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:06,800 Speaker 1: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I just recorded an episode about 173 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:09,400 Speaker 1: Buffy with stuff Mom never told you, and I couldn't 174 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: pick one. Maybe the musical I don't know. Um. You 175 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:14,720 Speaker 1: can send us an email at now podcast at how 176 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com, and of course, for lots of 177 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:19,640 Speaker 1: more stories like these, head on over to our home 178 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: planet Now dot how stuff works dot com.