What's the Word: Eutrophication; News Items: Astronaut John Young Dies, Raw Water, Space X Loses Satellite, Human WiFi, Cancer Deaths Declining; Who's That Noisy; Science or Fiction
As cryptocurrencies hit new highs, is federal regulation far behind? And if it is, can regulators really do anything to crack down on these decentralized networks? Jerry Brito of Coin Center offers an analysis.
On The Gist, Mike examines Trump’s bottom-of-the-barrel statements on immigration.
In the interview, Dina Temple-Raston explains how she became fascinated by the teenage brain. After years of covering terrorism for NPR, she was stunned to see so many young people leaving their homes to join ISIS. Teenagers aren’t just prone to falling in with terrorist recruiters: Their underdeveloped minds make them more susceptible to video gaming compulsions and violent behavior. Why? Temple-Raston finds answers in her Audible Original series, “What Were You Thinking?”
In the Spiel, a skit about the science (and lopsided sex ratio) of turtle love.
On The Gist, Mike skewers a columnist for concluding that President Trump is sane.
In the interview, comedian Judah Friedlander wants to let you know that his new comedy special is all him, even though it’s got Netflix’s name on it. The 30 Rock alum talks about matters of social justice, satire, and jingoism.
In the Spiel, Democrats should stop questioning Trump’s mental acuity and focus on midterms instead.
Most of us instinctively know when someone’s singing and when they’re talking. But since music and speech are both just sounds, how do our brains tell them apart? This week’s question comes from Eugene, a music teacher in Northern Ireland, who often hears music in people’s speech, and wonders why.
Step forward, the ‘speech-to-song illusion’. This curious phenomenon means that when certain spoken phrases are repeated, they turn into music as if by magic. We talk to the Diana Deutsch, the scientist who discovered this illusion, and find out what it reveals about how the brain is adapted to understand both music and speech.
But are some languages more musical than others? Many people around the world speak tone languages, where the pitch of a word affects its meaning. One such language is Dinka, spoken in South Sudan; we meet a Dinka speaker and hear how respecting the melody of the language is essential when writing songs.
Facebook makes a big change. Walmart boosts pay and closes some Sam’s Club stores. And Activision Blizzard bumps up its game. Plus, best-selling author Dan Pink talks about his new book, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing.
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