1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:03,840 Speaker 1: I'm Kristin Conger and I'm Caroline Irvin, and we're hosts 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: of the podcast Stuff Mom Never told you. That gets 3 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:10,160 Speaker 1: down to the business of being women from every imaginable angle. 4 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: That's right. Kristen and I skillfully decode the biology, psychology, 5 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: and sociology of ladies and gents from their evolutionary past 6 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,720 Speaker 1: a millennial present to better understand all of that stuff 7 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: Mom never told you. No offense moms Now be sure 8 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to House 9 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:34,239 Speaker 1: to Works Now. I'm your host, Lauren Vogelbaum, a researcher 10 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:40,559 Speaker 1: and writer here at How Stuff Works. Every week, I'm 11 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: bringing you three stories from our team about the weird 12 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 1: and wondrous developments that we've seen in science, technology, and culture. 13 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: This week, humpback whales are the righteous vigilantes of the sea, 14 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:57,240 Speaker 1: saving other animals from killer whales and unrelated. Just as 15 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: we humans have almost eradicated the parasitic anyworm, the creators 16 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,919 Speaker 1: have jumped to a new host species. But first, Senior 17 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: writer and unabashed they might be giants. Super fan Jonathan 18 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: Strickland reports on a study into musical tastes and personality 19 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: The study concludes that your personality traits have a bigger 20 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: influence on the type of music you like than your 21 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: socio economic status, your gender, your age, or your cultural background. 22 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: So what does your playlist say about you? It's not 23 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: news that music can affect your mood. The typical medical 24 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 1: waiting room has soothing songs to help ease tension and anxiety. 25 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,760 Speaker 1: Jim's Pump in the upbeat driving music to motivate people 26 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: to get moving, and I like listening to melodramatic show 27 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: tunes after a hard day, no judging, this is a 28 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:49,280 Speaker 1: safe space. But beyond affecting our moods, our musical tastes 29 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: are linked to our personalities, and now we know that 30 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: the two are more closely related than previously thought because science. 31 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: A team of researchers from Stanford in the University of 32 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: Cambridge conducted studies on musical taste and personality, but they 33 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: almost immediately disregarded the concept of music genres. That's because 34 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: genres are fuzzy categories that are really only useful to 35 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 1: the music industry for marketing purposes. Within each genre, you'll 36 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: find very different types of music. One song may have 37 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: a faster beaten poppy lyrics, while another slows things down 38 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: and challenges the listener with complex melodies. Even though both 39 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 1: songs are in the same genre, the team wanted to 40 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: go a level deeper than genre to the qualities that 41 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 1: define Western music. They identified three broad dimensions of music, arousal, valence, 42 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: and depth. A song with an intense beat and driving 43 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 1: music has a high rating, and arousal valence is a 44 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:50,359 Speaker 1: term in psychology that refers to emotional reactions. Generally speaking, 45 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,640 Speaker 1: positive valence means the music is happy, and negative valence 46 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: means the music is sad. And depth is a measure 47 00:02:56,440 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: of a song's complexity. Simple tunes have low depth. The 48 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: researchers conducted surveys in which nine thousand, five hundred people 49 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: listened to short clips of music unfamiliar to them. The 50 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: subjects rated the clips, which represented a wide variety of 51 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 1: music with different levels of arousal valence and depth. The 52 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:17,080 Speaker 1: subjects also took a personality test, and that's when the 53 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: team saw how the same personality types gravitated toward music 54 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:25,399 Speaker 1: with similar levels of those three dimensions. According to the researchers, 55 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 1: open minded liberals gravitate toward complex music with high depth, 56 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: The more neurotic among us tend to listen to high intensity, 57 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: emotionally negative tunes. Extroverts like me tend to like happy 58 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 1: songs with positive valence, which is why I serenade the 59 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: office with Walking on Sunshine at least once a month. 60 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: Perhaps we'll be able to learn more about ourselves by 61 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: taking a closer look at the music that moves us, 62 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 1: and services like Spotify or Pandora could use this research 63 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 1: to tweak recommendation algorithms so that you're more likely to 64 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: hear stuff that appeals to you based on your personality. 65 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: Beyond that, music can help improve physical and mental health. 66 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 1: Who knows, maybe in the future, the docs prescription will read, 67 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: listen to two Wheezer albums and call me in the morning. 68 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:15,840 Speaker 1: Next up, my fellow writer and researcher Christian Saker brings 69 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 1: us the story of how humpback whales frequently intervene in 70 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: orca attacks on other animals. But why are they altruistic? 71 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: Are they keeping killer whales in their place or humpbacks 72 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:33,720 Speaker 1: out for revenge? A pod of killer whales in Antarctica 73 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: has a seal cornered on an ice flow. Just as 74 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 1: they knock it off and close in for the kill. 75 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: A humpback whale bursts upward beneath them. It uses its 76 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: flippers to hold the seal on its upturned belly, keeping 77 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: it out of the water until the predators leave. We 78 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,360 Speaker 1: all love it when someone stands up to a bully, 79 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 1: and there are records of humpbacks saving all kinds of 80 00:04:55,560 --> 00:05:00,240 Speaker 1: animals from killer whales, including sea lions, sunfish, sea wills, 81 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 1: and gray whales. But are they doing this intentionally? Are 82 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:08,159 Speaker 1: humpbacks the superheroes of the sea. The marine ecologist who 83 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: saw the humpback seal scenario I just described is Robert Pittman. 84 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 1: His team has published a new study in the Journal 85 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 1: of Marine Mammal Science that takes a closer look at 86 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: what's going on here. An adult humpback is so enormous 87 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,160 Speaker 1: that it's pretty much invulnerable to a group of killer whales, 88 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 1: and when it gets in the middle of a brawl, 89 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: it uses its massive pectoral flippers to basically say ah, 90 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,680 Speaker 1: hell no, step back son. They slap the water and bellow, 91 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 1: pushing the killer whales back. This mobbing behavior is a 92 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: response we also see in birds, insects, fish, and other 93 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:47,279 Speaker 1: mammals to chase off potential predators. Humpbacks have foiled killer 94 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: whales everywhere from Antarctica to the North Pacific. Sometimes they 95 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:54,480 Speaker 1: even work in pairs and will travel over two kilometers 96 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: to ruin a killer whale hunt, They've been observed to 97 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: keep fighting for up to seven hours until the prey 98 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: can escape. The team's research looked at a hundred and 99 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: fifteen documented interactions between humpbacks and killer whales from nineteen 100 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: fifty one to two thousand and twelve, and they found 101 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:17,799 Speaker 1: that almost exclusively, they went after mammal eating killer whales 102 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: instead of those that just eat fish. We're talking more 103 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: like the nineteen seventies seven horror movie Orca than we 104 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: are free Willie here. And while humpbacks do mob killer 105 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:31,159 Speaker 1: whales attacking their own calves eight nine percent of the time, 106 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: they're saving other species entirely. So why are humpbacks doing this. 107 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:38,359 Speaker 1: They're not known to mingle with these other species in 108 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:42,279 Speaker 1: any other circumstance. Pittman's team thinks the humpbacks are drawn 109 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:45,839 Speaker 1: to the scene by the sounds killer whales make during 110 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 1: their attack, and there's three possible motivations driving this behavior. 111 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:52,839 Speaker 1: One a proactive warning to killer whales not to mess 112 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:58,920 Speaker 1: with their kin to altruism or three pure revenge. Since 113 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:03,000 Speaker 1: killer whales do attack young humpbacks, it's possible the adults 114 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:07,160 Speaker 1: respond to all attacks with extreme prejudice. But humpbacks are 115 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: capable of sophisticated thinking and communication, so it's also plausible 116 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: that they display a regard for other species. Dolphins do, 117 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: and so do we sometimes. But what if it's simply 118 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: humpback reciprocity for past killer whale attacks on their family? 119 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: Remember that shark and Jaws for the revenge. It's like that, 120 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,880 Speaker 1: except for instead of chasing Michael Caine there after killer whales. 121 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 1: Or maybe we shouldn't try to interpret their behavior through 122 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 1: human experience at all. There's more research to be done, 123 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: and even Pittman contends that this behavior may unintentionally arise 124 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: out of self interest. We just don't understand yet. Finally, 125 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: this week, senior writer Robert Lamb has some parasites for 126 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:59,160 Speaker 1: us you might not want to be eating during this segment. 127 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: For the President, Jimmy Carter has vowed to see the 128 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 1: last guinea worm die before he does, and with the 129 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:10,040 Speaker 1: parasite eradicated from all but four countries, he's close, but 130 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:12,360 Speaker 1: now the enemy has found a new place to hide. 131 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:20,200 Speaker 1: Man's best friend, the guinea worm dracoon Callis metaninsus, is 132 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 1: a horrific human parasite. It's larva, in fact, tiny freshwater 133 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:28,080 Speaker 1: copa pods, which then enter the human digestive system through 134 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: unfiltered drinking water. The larva then tunnel their way through 135 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,960 Speaker 1: the host stomach and intestinal walls, where they mature and 136 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: turn the human abdominal cavity into their own kinky sex cave. 137 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 1: The males die in there, but each two foot long 138 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 1: fertilized female migrates to the host skin, generally somewhere on 139 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: the lower body, and causes an excruciating blister to form. 140 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: When the host attempts to relieve the blister with immersion 141 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:55,480 Speaker 1: in water, the female seems to sense the temperature change, 142 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 1: bursts out of the blister and excretes her foul larva 143 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:02,600 Speaker 1: to begin the cycle and new The entire human portion 144 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 1: of this life cycle takes about a year, and that's 145 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 1: when a plague of other symptoms pop up in the 146 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:12,920 Speaker 1: human host fever, itching, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and dizziness. Secondary 147 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 1: bacterial infections commonly been resulting painful disability that can disrupt 148 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: the individual's ability to work, attend school, or care for 149 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 1: family members. Now, this disability period typically last eight and 150 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: a half weeks, according to the CDC, but it can 151 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:30,280 Speaker 1: sometimes prove permanent. That's why the Carter Foundation has waged 152 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:33,440 Speaker 1: a war of extermination on the guinea worm, cutting known 153 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:37,960 Speaker 1: infections down by nine point nine from three point five 154 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 1: million cases in six to just seven cases so far 155 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,880 Speaker 1: in twenty six. But with victory so close at hand, 156 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:48,200 Speaker 1: this inhuman adversary has now a new place to hide. 157 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 1: Just as the alien and John Carpenter's The Thing took 158 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: the form of a dog to outwit its human hunters, 159 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,520 Speaker 1: so too has the guinea worm jumped to man's best friend. 160 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: As reported by mp ARE, dogs and Chad began experiencing 161 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: guinea worm infections three years ago, sometimes harboring as many 162 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:08,280 Speaker 1: as sixty two worms per host. Now, researchers aren't sure 163 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,960 Speaker 1: exactly how the jump occurred or how the cornered parasites 164 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:14,920 Speaker 1: are reaching their new host species, but six hundred dog 165 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:18,200 Speaker 1: infections popped up in Chad this year alone. Part of 166 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:20,880 Speaker 1: the problem is that dog ownership and Chad, as with 167 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:23,160 Speaker 1: much of the world isn't quite like it is in 168 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:27,880 Speaker 1: the United States. The animals generally enjoy semi feral free reign, 169 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:30,319 Speaker 1: but they need to be tied up for a solid 170 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: two week block if the worms are to safely leave 171 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: their body and die on dry land. So the Carter 172 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:39,360 Speaker 1: Center is currently providing collars and change. They're paying individuals 173 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 1: to tie up their dogs in an attempt to corner 174 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 1: the guinea worm and push this organism ever closer to 175 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:51,680 Speaker 1: the tipping point of total eradications. That's our show for 176 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: this week. I hope we haven't put you off your lunch. 177 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:57,679 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for tuning in. Subscribe now for 178 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:00,719 Speaker 1: more of the latest and strangest science news and send 179 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:02,400 Speaker 1: us a links to anything you'd like to hear his cover, 180 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:05,160 Speaker 1: plus your favorite place to go in New York City. 181 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:07,640 Speaker 1: We've got a field trip coming up. Shoot us an 182 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:10,760 Speaker 1: email at now podcast at how stuff works dot com, 183 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 1: and to access thousands of other stories like these, check 184 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:21,960 Speaker 1: out our home planet now dot how stuff works dot com.