WEBVTT - The 2022 Ig Nobel Prizes, Part 1 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:05.360 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of My 0:00:05.480 --> 0:00:14.800 Heart Radio. Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:18.079 My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Seth Nicholas Johnson. 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:20.239 That's right, Joe is still out on par rental leave. 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:23.759 But we gotta we gotta keep the show rolling, and 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:26.240 we find ourselves at that time of year when we 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:30.800 tend to cover the ig Nobel Prizes. Uh So, this 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:33.919 episode and probably a second episode are going to look 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:35.800 at some of the Igno bell winners from this year. 0:00:36.080 --> 0:00:39.080 I mean, we couldn't skip Igno bells just because Joe 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:42.280 is out on paternity leave. Igno bells are tradition around here, 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:44.879 that's right. Yeah, we've been covering the Igno bells for 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:47.800 many years. I'm not even sure when we started covering 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:50.599 it on the show. We generally don't cover them right 0:00:50.640 --> 0:00:54.400 away because the awards usually come out during September. Usually 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:56.960 it's like late mid to late September or very early 0:00:56.960 --> 0:01:00.640 October perhaps for a couple of years, and were often 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:03.440 wrapped up in Halloween stuff by that point. But the 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:07.000 Ignal bells usually make for a fun episode or two 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:10.480 in early November for us. In a way. It sometimes 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:13.399 it's a nice palate cleanser after a bunch of Halloween content. 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:16.679 Uh so we yeah, again, we tend to use it 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:19.720 later than usual. But the two thousand twenty two awards 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:24.600 were handed out septembo. It's kind of like the World 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:28.080 Series versus Halloween. They both usually end up around the 0:01:28.080 --> 0:01:30.640 same time, and at least in my life growing up, 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:33.120 it was always kind of a flip of the coin 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:36.000 whether or not the World Series would interfere with the 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:40.080 Simpsons annual Treehouse of Horror. It was oh yeah, sometimes 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:42.759 they would air a Treehouse of Horror really really early 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:45.800 to get it out of the way beforehand. Sometimes, and 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:47.960 these were the years I hated the most. They would 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:53.240 air Simpsons Treehouse of Horror after Halloween, which just flu 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:56.480 next me. I hated those years. Yeah, I mean, I 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.320 think you've pointed out before. It's also a reason why 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:03.120 we can feel feel good about doing halloweeny things in 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:07.240 the weeks following Halloween because the Simpsons President is there. Yes. 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:10.920 By the way, Uh, this is real quick. Did you 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:14.560 watch this year's rob I I didn't. I We as 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:17.840 a family we rewatch the five or so tree ousis 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:21.640 that we always rewatch, but I'm I'm I'm just I don't. 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:24.280 I know. You've given me advice on watching more recent 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:27.600 episodes in the past, but I'm just I'm kind of scared. 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:29.680 I just I tend to stick to exactly what I know, 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:32.880 even though so many of the jokes, not all of them, 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:35.400 but there are certain jokes that are way outdated or 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:37.840 haven't stood the test of time, or I just have 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:40.200 to explain them to my ten year old. The one 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:43.760 this year, I have to say, was particularly good. I'm 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:46.160 recommending it to you and to all the listeners out there. 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:49.960 There was a Baba Duke parody, there was a West 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:53.920 World parody, and there was a Death Note parody, and 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:57.560 the Death Note parody was done exclusively in anime style 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:01.040 and it was gorgeous. So anyway, anyway, if people like 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:02.960 The Simpsons, or even a few don'ts I don't care, 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.280 go watch this year's Treehouse of Horror in the year two. 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:09.120 It was beautiful. I'll have to see all the source 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:11.359 material for those though. I still haven't seen the Baba Duke, 0:03:11.440 --> 0:03:14.680 but I saw the episode of Guiana de Toro's Cabinet 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:20.160 of Curiosities that had the same director. Anyway, Sorry, back 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:22.760 to the Igno Bells. Yes, yes, so the Igno Bells 0:03:22.960 --> 0:03:26.040 um if you're not familiar with these. The Igno Bells 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:28.440 are a series of awards given out once a year 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:32.120 by a scientific humor journal called The Animals of Improbable Research, 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:35.480 edited for many years now by Mark abrams Uh. Their 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:38.960 stated purpose is to quote honor achievements that first make 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:43.880 people laugh and then make them think so um, and 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:46.600 I'll also without it probably goes without saying that this 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:49.440 is also kind of a parody of the Nobel Prizes. 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:52.160 I'm sure that a mistake has been made many times 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:56.040 in the past. So occasionally the papers that get selected 0:03:56.080 --> 0:04:00.680 are themselves intended to be satirical, and or how satirical 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:03.600 notes to them at any rate. An example that comes 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:07.080 to mind was a study of the Disgusted whether cats 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:10.280 should be considered a solid or a liquid um. You know, 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:13.760 obviously there is a fair amount of humor already there. 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:18.440 Other times it's just a straightforward study that deals with 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:21.479 a topic or deal, or there's some detail to the 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:27.520 experiment involved that is laughter inducing, or it's just weird, 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:30.280 or it's other times it's a study that that does 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:33.479 seem to be sort of testing out or exploring something 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:35.480 that we just take as a given that just seems 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:38.640 completely obvious and in perhaps it's a little humorous that 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:41.279 there's a study about it, even though this is how 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:44.040 we've sort of scientifically prove out the world around us. 0:04:44.520 --> 0:04:46.440 And I think we're covering both. I think we have 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:49.960 a wide selection here, covering both the surprisingly impractical and 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:53.280 the surprisingly practical. Yeah, so in each of these we're 0:04:53.320 --> 0:04:55.080 definitely going to talk about why it is funny, but 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:58.159 also why it is important, like why it matters because 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:04.599 again the stated purpose. Uh, stuff different studies and papers 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:06.560 that make you laugh but then make you think. So 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:09.720 it's not just that they're funny, they also are are 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:13.840 legitimate scientific papers. Now there, we're not gonna cover all 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:16.120 the winners. If you want to see the full list 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:20.080 of winners for this year plus all subsequent years, you 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:24.040 can go to the journal's web page at Improbable dot com. Uh. 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:26.840 Either way, you should definitely check out the website. It's 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:29.719 just all on one page all the winners throughout the years, 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:33.080 and it can be a fun exercise. You just search 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:35.720 for various keywords on that page and see what has 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:38.039 been honored. So, yeah, we're just gonna trade back and 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:40.760 forth here on some for this episode, and we'll probably 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:43.479 come back in the next episode as well. When I 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:46.440 initially scanned it, another thing about it is that a 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:49.039 lot of times they are very recent studies. Sometimes they're 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:52.120 older studies, and sometimes their their studies that are that 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:54.360 are kind of checking in on a on a strange 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:57.120 topic and maybe giggle inducing topic that's been around for 0:05:57.160 --> 0:06:02.240 a little bit. And so I was instantly interested in 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:05.559 the Biology Prize for this year because it does touch 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:09.080 on a topic, though not a specific study, that Joe 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:11.520 and I have discussed on the show um at least 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:14.039 a couple of times. There are a trio of studies 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:19.240 honored here by the author's Garcia, Hernandes, and Machado and 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:22.160 uh in particular, there's a there's one just to give 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:24.400 you a taste of what we're getting into. This one 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:29.240 is from in the journal Integrative Zoology Short and Long 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:33.679 Term Effects of an extreme case of auto Tommy colon. 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:38.479 Does tail loss and subsequent constipation decrease the locomotive performance 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:45.840 of male and female scorpions? So specific yes, So this 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:48.960 gets into a really weird area that that again, longtime 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:52.080 listeners of the show might remember. Needless to say, the 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:54.520 tale of a scorpion is easily one of the most 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:57.840 interesting tales you'll find in the animal world. You can 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:00.560 go vertebrate or invertebrate. The scorpion and is still going 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:03.160 to be up there at the top, because I mean, 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:06.480 just just the image of it, this this curled tail, 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:10.800 just posed and ready to strike out with that stinger. 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:13.520 I mean, it's so good. It becomes part of our monsters, 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:15.720 right like we we can't help but blow it up. 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:18.680 We can't help it blow up the scorpion, as Ray 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:21.720 Harry Housing did and clash of the of of the Titans. 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:26.360 But the the scorpions tail or meta soma, is composed 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:31.119 of five segments as well as the Tellson Tellson isn't 0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:32.960 so much a full segment as just sort of the 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:37.000 posterior most division of the creature's body, and this contains 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:40.800 venom glands, which of course feed the zinc harden stinger 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:43.760 at the end of the tail. The scorpion will use 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:47.560 this tail stinger, along with its claws, both offensively and 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:51.880 defensively against its many many enemies, because of course it's 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:54.400 trying to prey on various creatures. But lots of things 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:57.480 are trying to prey on it, and it also has 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:00.440 to deal with the dangers of posed by other scorpions, 0:08:00.520 --> 0:08:03.440 even of its own species. But there's an interesting quirk 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:06.800 of evolution with the scorpions. Uh. And this is when 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:08.440 I first read about this. It was in an ed 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:13.960 Young paper from that appeared on the National Geographic website, 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:18.600 and in it, Young points out that the scorpions anus 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:23.080 isn't where you think it might be, so just that 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:24.800 that's kind of kind of leading into it. But I 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:26.760 don't know, did did you have set did you have 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:30.240 a a notion in your head about where you might 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:33.200 find a scorpions anus. I would compare it to all 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:35.960 other animals that I'm aware of and put it's below 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:38.560 the tail. That's where I would put it. Right that 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:40.800 that would have been my guess. And and even more 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:44.920 so after discussing this bit about the Tellson, you know 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:47.079 this idea that it's it's not the tail proper, but 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:50.199 it's kind of like it's far back on the animals 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:53.079 you can get before getting to the tail segments. I mean, 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:55.280 that's already where you're going to have the venom glands. 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:57.560 It seems to make sense that you would also have 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:00.439 the termination of the gut there, that that's where the 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:03.320 anus would be, that's where poop would come out. I 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:06.240 still think it's a good guess, but it is absolutely wrong. 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:10.760 The anus is on segment five of the tail, meaning 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:14.360 that the gut cavity of the scorpion extends through the 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:17.360 entire tail and then poops out just short of the 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:21.320 stinger itself. That's fascinating. So then picture in your mind 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:24.160 if it was typically where you would think it would 0:09:24.200 --> 0:09:28.040 be on on any creature. So move its back legs 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:30.920 all the way up to the fifth segments you know 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:34.280 of of the stinger and that's it would It would 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:36.040 be almost like a like a doc sinto like a 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:40.240 big long winer dog body. And yeah, that makes sense 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:43.720 in its own strange way. Yeah, And it's it's so 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:47.160 different from what we tend to expect from animals that 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:49.959 have not not even similar morphology, because it's not like 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:53.559 not like a cow is similar to a scorpion in 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:56.120 in most major concerns. But but you know, there's a 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:59.240 there's a certain rhythm to the way things are laid out. 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:02.920 You you grow to expect to find the anus in 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:06.840 certain positions compared to the tale of a creature, especially 0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:10.520 when it seems so consistent. Yeah, now this is already 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:12.840 pretty weird. But the kicker to all of this is 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:16.040 that there is a rare group of South American scorpions, 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:20.400 and Young points this out that practice auto Tommy. This 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:23.280 is the act by which a creature can shed parts 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:27.160 of its body, typically a tail. The most famous example 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:30.679 of this our little little lizards like backyard skinks and 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:33.440 so forth. That I think if you, if you grew 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:35.760 up in a world where lizards were running about, you 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:38.200 were familiar with this because occasionally you might catch a 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:40.560 lizard and its tail would fall off, or you would 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:43.920 find that tail. Perhaps you'd find a bird or a 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:46.719 cat playing with the tail as it's still kind of 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:51.480 bops around with some last you know, last ounce of energy. 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:54.720 And of course this is generally about enabling a better 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:57.320 chance of survival for the creature. And I think there 0:10:57.559 --> 0:10:59.200 I remember talking about this in the show in the past. 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:01.160 There a few different ways of looking at this. It's 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:04.320 kind of a distracting lure. If a lizard jettison's a 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:07.520 tail and that tail still moving around, while that distracts 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:10.120 a predator, it also is kind of a bribe, like 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:12.800 you're not gonna eat me, but here, here's a piece 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:16.240 of me. Have at it. I'm delicious, but I'm also 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:18.960 running away. So we have this rare group of South 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:23.400 American scorpions that can do this. They can shed their tail, 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:28.000 but since their anus is on the fifth tail segment, 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:32.439 they also lose that as well. Um and I believe 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:35.000 in the case of these scorpions we're talking about the 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:38.560 the the shed occurring, the the uh that they lose 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:42.280 the tail somewhere at the second or third segment, which 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:45.640 which also seems crazy, right because it's like, come on, scorpions, 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:47.720 if you just you could have the anus on the tail, 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:51.440 but maybe just an earlier segment, and you could still 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:54.160 do this without losing your ability to poop. But no, 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:57.520 there they have the anus on the fifth segment. They're 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:00.200 losing their tail at the second or third segment, and 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:04.160 so it leaves the scorpion without a tail and without 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:07.199 an anush to live out the rest of its life, 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:11.160 because it does continue to live and and I believe 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:15.160 that we're talking something like maybe eight months more of life, 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:18.800 but still enough life to where these scorpions are still 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:24.200 going to continue hunting for food, feeding, and even successfully breeding. Wow. 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:26.760 But yeah, yeah, it's like you're saying, if there was 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:30.080 a focus group to redesign the scorpion, we should either 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:34.600 move its anus further up on these segments of the 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:39.400 tail or um have the portion of the tail that 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:45.240 does disconnect begin after the fifth segments. But but but no, no, 0:12:45.320 --> 0:12:50.200 it's just just kind of a sad Cronenberg situation. Yeah, so, 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:52.840 I don't know what the the creation has taken. All 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:54.960 this is. I actually don't don't care what the creation, 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:57.319 but it seems like it would it seems like it 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:04.160 would pose some some some questions. Yeah. So as though, obviously, 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:07.000 what happens when a creature cannot poop but it's still 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:10.880 continuing to live and eat, well, it begins to swell up. Uh. 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:13.319 And they're actually you can find images I think Ed 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:15.440 Young has some of these in his his article where 0:13:15.480 --> 0:13:19.040 you can see these like white globs through the skin 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:22.199 of the scorpion. And this is the scorpion swelling up 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:26.360 with its own extrement because it cannot poop. It reminds 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:30.560 me of seeing um, perhaps a crab getting ready to molt. 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:32.840 You know where we're like you can see like it's 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:37.520 exterior kind of they're they're getting very uncomfortable. In fact, 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:39.640 I actually just saw some footage last night of a 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:42.679 of a blue crab. It was given its favorite food, 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:45.559 and it wouldn't eat any just simply because it didn't 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:48.640 have room for its body to expand after eating. And 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:50.120 so what it would do I believe it was a 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:52.480 piece of mango that the crab would just kind of 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:54.920 put it in its mouth to taste it and then 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:57.160 just set it back down because they didn't have room 0:13:57.240 --> 0:13:59.679 for the food inside it's it's too small body. It 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:04.400 had to wait until it molted to be able to finish. So, 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:07.000 as Young points out in this article, the scorpion is 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:09.960 on borrowed time. At this point, it's defensive and offensive 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:13.920 powers are reduced, plus again steadily swelling up with poop, 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:18.120 so much so that the swelling apparently sometimes pops off 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:22.000 one of the remaining tail segments or stumps. They're kind 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:25.080 of like a vest button bopping, you know, popping off 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:28.800 of a stuffed human diner in a cartoon. So here's this, 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:33.400 this steadily swelling scorpion, no tail, no stinger. They have 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:35.680 to end up having to prey on smaller prey because 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:39.560 they can't handle the bigger stuff without their their main bioweapon. 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:41.760 But they still managed to do it. They still managed 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:45.080 to mate and reproduce in their remaining eight months or 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:49.280 so on average, So this much was known. These latest 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:52.040 studies that are that are that are honored by the 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:58.760 Ignoble Prizes. They look specifically at the scorpions locomotion post autotommy, 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.200 So how are they moving around? How are they continuing 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:05.520 to function and reproduce after they've lost that tale? Now 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:08.720 why is it funny? I don't, Well, it's constipated scorpions 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:11.680 who threw away their anus, So I guess it's it's 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:15.000 inherently funny on some level or another. And why is 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:18.280 it important? Well, it is a crucial question about how 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:21.120 the creatures survive in the wild after losing their tail, 0:15:21.560 --> 0:15:24.360 and given that mating still goes on after this point. 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:28.680 It's a question with ramifications of evolutionary concern as well, 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:32.200 because there the selection pressures are still applying. It's not 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:34.880 one of these situations where you could say, well, they've 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:37.200 lost their tail, but it's not like they're reproducing anymore. 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:39.480 You know, they're they're essentially dead. At this point. No, 0:15:39.640 --> 0:15:42.280 they still have life to give and they give it. 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:45.680 So again, a trio of studies that were honored here 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:51.480 by Garcia, Hernandez and Machado from one and I'm just 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:54.720 going to single out the key findings here. Um, we 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:58.800 read a couple of quotes from from the papers. First quote, 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:02.920 tail loss has no mediate effect on the locomotive performance 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:06.520 of scorpions. The long term decrease in the locomotive performance 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:11.680 of autotomized males may impair mate searching. However, because death 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:15.520 by constipation takes several months, males have a long time 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:19.400 to find mates and reproduce. Thus, the prolonged period between 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:23.480 autotomy and death by constipation is crucial for understanding the 0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:26.760 evolution of one of the most extreme cases of autotomy 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:29.600 and nature. Fair enough, and also they got to use 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:34.600 death by constipation twice there um, But then then it 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:38.040 gets more interesting as well. Quote. Although the male tail 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:41.880 is used during courtship and sperm transfer, autotomy has no 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:45.960 effect on male mating success. The combined effect of increased 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:52.680 mortality and reduced fecundity resulted in automatized females producing nearly 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:56.960 thirty five percent fewer offspring than intact females. In conclusion, 0:16:57.240 --> 0:17:00.840 the negative effects of tail autotomy are clearly sex dependent, 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:04.240 probably because the factors that influence reproductive success in males 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:08.080 and females are markedly different. So the basic take home 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:10.800 there being that, yeah, it doesn't seem to really have 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:13.760 an impact on how males are mating, but it does 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.000 have an impact on the way the females are. And 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:19.800 then finally they point out the stinger loss reduced UH 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:23.719 their ability to subdue both small and large prey, and 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:28.560 that tail autotomy is costly because it decreases predation success. 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:32.760 It just makes these little scorpions less good at being 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:36.720 little scorpions. Makes sense, So, you know, these are these 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:40.400 are not studies that I guess um, they're not completely 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:43.200 groundbreaking or anything. They're not revealing something in the natural 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:46.159 world that we didn't completely you know, there was just 0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:49.400 a mystery to us. But it does answer more questions 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:54.639 about this already weird situation that's occurring with UH, a 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:57.800 particular variety of scorpion in the wild. And it also 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:00.320 just broadens the mind in general. Like, for exact ample, 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:03.080 if you would have said to me, you know, I'm 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:06.360 gonna bet you fifty dollars that you can't show me 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:09.399 where a scorpions anus is. I would have taken that 0:18:09.440 --> 0:18:11.880 bet before this study. I would have said, of course 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:14.960 I know where it is. But but now now I 0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:16.879 I just can't take these things for granted. You know 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:22.720 there there's a broad spectrum of physiology out there. Yeah, absolutely, 0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:32.200 thank you. Let's move on to our second story here. Uh, 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:37.120 this was the Ignoble Economics Prize. This. Let's see our 0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:40.439 our authors are researchers. I believe they're all from Italy, 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:44.520 So I apologize for my lack of pronouncing Italian names 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:48.160 as as well as I should. This is by Pluccino, 0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:54.000 Beyondo and Rapisarda, and this is for explaining mathematically why 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:57.040 success more often goes not to the most talented people 0:18:57.440 --> 0:19:02.560 but instead to the luckiest. So a lot of Western cultures, 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:05.520 we can speak for us as two Americans here, but 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:07.439 I think a lot of Western cultures are this way, 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:10.119 are based on the idea that if you are talented 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:13.399 and work hard, you will be successful. That's that's the 0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:16.200 thing that everyone tells you, whether it be a teacher 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:19.000 or a parent. Uh, that that's just how it is. 0:19:19.040 --> 0:19:22.359 Work hard, you know, be, be, be more talented, be smarter, 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:25.440 study hard, all that stuff. Uh, And if you want 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:29.320 to really be successful, you need to be more talented 0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:33.040 than everyone else and work harder than everyone else. If 0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:36.720 you want to be a oh whoever, the billionaire dug 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:39.639 or just picture them in your mind, whicheveryone you're thinking 0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:45.080 of that one? Now, Um, is this true? Can we 0:19:45.119 --> 0:19:47.879 really break this apart? And can we do it with math? 0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:50.160 I think is the most important thing that these three 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:54.199 researchers were trying to figure out. Now, if you if 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:56.200 you talk to one of these people, the people who 0:19:56.240 --> 0:20:01.120 are extremely successful, a billionaire, let's say, they will tell 0:20:01.160 --> 0:20:04.639 you that, you know, it's we worked hard, we we 0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:07.560 really put our nose to the grindstone, you know. And 0:20:07.600 --> 0:20:10.119 they'll talk about the virtues of the hustle. You know, 0:20:10.240 --> 0:20:13.240 that's everything you gotta put in all those hours, neglect 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:17.440 your personal relationships, etcetera, etcetera. They got where they are 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:22.320 because of a meritocracy. Well, our researchers are here to 0:20:22.359 --> 0:20:25.840 prove that that's just not true using math. So the 0:20:25.920 --> 0:20:29.320 first claim that the researchers will make is that if 0:20:29.320 --> 0:20:33.600 we're primarily talking about two aspects here, which is talent 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:36.240 and success. They're going to need to find a way 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:40.800 to apply math to those terms. So talent, they are claiming, 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:44.920 has a Gaussian distribution. Now, I'm sure even if those 0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:48.159 of you out there aren't mathematicians, you know more or 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:50.399 less where I'm coming from, even if you don't know 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:54.040 these terms. A Gaussian distribution, a k A and normal 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:58.360 distribution is a typical bell curve along the X axis. 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:00.240 I'm sure most of you can picture that in your mind. 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:02.760 It's low on the left, it's high in the middle, 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:05.560 and it's low on the right, with a a cosine 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:08.399 curve easing in and out of each point. This is 0:21:08.520 --> 0:21:11.320 used all over the place to explain all kinds of 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:15.760 averages in numbers, but it's extremely common. Is this typical 0:21:15.840 --> 0:21:21.280 Bell curve? Okay, so our researchers are using a Gaussian 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:27.840 distribution to equate with talent, which they're equating with intelligence 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:31.640 because intelligence is a very measurable trait. Talent, of course, 0:21:31.720 --> 0:21:35.000 much more difficult to measure. So so so get that 0:21:35.200 --> 0:21:37.800 in your head first. Everyone, picture a little chart, and 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:41.040 this is for intelligence, and it's a little bell curve. 0:21:41.320 --> 0:21:43.639 There are people with very very little intelligence on the 0:21:43.720 --> 0:21:47.480 left people with extremely high intelligence on the right, and 0:21:47.520 --> 0:21:49.960 then the average most of us right in the middle. 0:21:50.000 --> 0:21:52.119 And that's where the big you know, the big body 0:21:52.160 --> 0:21:55.280 of the bell is in that bell curve. Now, Rob, first, 0:21:56.080 --> 0:21:58.520 is this a fair equivalence? Do you think? Do do? 0:21:58.520 --> 0:22:04.359 Do you think equating talent and intelligence? Is that? Is 0:22:04.400 --> 0:22:08.120 that an assumption you would be willing to make? Um? Well, 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:10.160 I mean, I think it's one of those things where 0:22:11.359 --> 0:22:15.639 the alchemy of success and even things like talent and 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:19.240 intelligence on their own or or are far more complicated 0:22:19.240 --> 0:22:21.160 than something like this is going to really be able 0:22:21.200 --> 0:22:23.960 to represent. But you gotta work with some sort of model. 0:22:23.960 --> 0:22:25.920 You gotta work with some sort of a simplified and 0:22:26.080 --> 0:22:29.520 version of reality in order to apply the mathematics improve 0:22:29.600 --> 0:22:33.239 things out right. And I do think that there is 0:22:33.640 --> 0:22:37.159 talents that of course it doesn't require you know, book learning, 0:22:37.200 --> 0:22:40.439 let's say, and um, perhaps something that you could have 0:22:40.600 --> 0:22:44.320