Loading summary
Transcript144 lines
- [00:01]
Ryan Reynolds
Dude, did you order the new iPhone 17 Pro? Got it from Verizon, the best 5G network in America. I never looked so good.
- [00:07]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
You look the same.
- [00:08]
Ryan Reynolds
But with this camera, everything looks better. Especially me.
- [00:11]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
You haven't changed your hair in 15 years.
- [00:14]
Verizon Announcer
Selfies check, please with Verizon. Get the new iPhone 17 Pro. Designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever. Plus a new iPad and Apple One. No trade in needed. Offer ends November 5th with a new line on Unlimited Ultimate Best 5G Tours. Route Metrics Data, United States, 2020, 25. All rights reserved. Additional terms apply for all offers. See verizon.com for details.
- [00:30]
Ryan Reynolds
Mint is still $15 a month for premium wireless. And if you haven't made the switch yet, here are 15 reasons why you should. One, it's $15 a month.
- [00:40]
Dr. Lindsay Cahill
Two.
- [00:40]
Ryan Reynolds
Seriously, it's $15 a month. Three, no big contracts. Four, I use it. Five, my mom uses it.
- [00:46]
Kyne Santos
Are you.
- [00:47]
Ryan Reynolds
Are you playing me off? That's what's happening, right? Okay, give it a try. @mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 per three month plan.
- [00:54]
Verizon Announcer
$15 per month equivalent required. New customer offer first three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra.
- [00:59]
Jerry Insurance Announcer
See mintmobile.com Are you noticing your car insurance rate creep up? Even without tickets or claims? You're not alone. That's why there's Jerry, your proactive insurance assistant. Jerry handles the legwork by comparing quotes side by side from over 50 top insurers so you can confidently hit buy. No spam calls, no hidden fees. Jerry even tracks rates and alerts you when it's best to shop. Drivers who save with Jerry could save over $1,300 a year. Don't settle for higher rates. Download the Jerry app or visit Jerry AI acast today.
- [01:38]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Welcome to Curiosity Weekly. Grab your morning coffee, your midday tea, or little matcha treat wherever you are in your day. Because we're diving into a new study that explores how caffeine shapes our thinking and keeps us pushing through tough tasks. Then get ready to fall in love with math. We'll chat with my good pal Kyne Santos, also known as the math queen. And remember that wild story we covered in our episode titled Mapping Minds is the White Whale of Brain Science? The story described research suggesting there's a plastic spoon's worth of microplastics in the brain. You had questions, I dug deeper, and I'll share my take on what I found. I'm Dr. Samantha Yamin, and this is Curiosity Weekly. Oh, caffeine. It fuels our mornings and powers our days. But despite being the most popular psychoactive drug on the planet, scientists are still learning all the different ways it shapes our thinking and behaviors. There's a new study from Amherst College that dives into an intriguing does caffeine make us more persistent when we face a problem that can't be solved? For one of their experiments, the team sorted participants into three groups. Group one, where each person had to chew on a piece of gum containing 40 milligrams of caffeine. Group two, they chewed on uncaffeinated gum. And group three didn't chew anything. Then they had each participant complete two tasks. There was one that was a hidden picture task, something like Where's Waldo? But you have to find like 10 Waldos. The second task was a series of word scrambles. Now both of these were unsolvable. The hidden picture task didn't even have all the pictures. And one of the word scrambles didn't actually have an answer. Just 40 milligrams of caffeine didn't have an effect on how long the participants tried to solve the problems. But in a follow up experiment, the researchers upped the caffeine to 100 milligrams. That's roughly the amount in a strong cup of coffee. And then the results were different. The group who consumed the caffeine spent significantly more time trying to solve the hidden picture task. The team thinks that perhaps caffeine could be altering our brain's effort reward calculations and maybe there could be a follow up study on that with brain imaging. On average though, Those chewing the 100mg caffeine gum spent more time searching for the missing image about a third longer compared to those with regular gum. But that same persistence didn't apply to the unsolvable word search, which led the researchers to conclude that caffeine does make us more persistent in spite of specific tasks depending on the structure of the difficulty. This was especially true in participants that were stressed in a follow up experiment. Persistence is a complicated human behavior that has a lot of external influences. But next time I have to sort through my taxes or find my missing AirPods, maybe a bit of caffeine will help me stay the course.
- [04:32]
Ryan Reynolds
Dude, did you order the new iPhone 17 Pro? Got it from Verizon, the best 5G network in America. I never looked so good.
- [04:39]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
You look the same.
- [04:39]
Ryan Reynolds
But with this camera everything looks better. Especially me.
- [04:42]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
You haven't changed your hair in 15 years.
- [04:45]
Verizon Announcer
Selfies check please with Verizon. Get the new iPhone 17 Pro. Designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever, plus a new iPad and Apple One. No trade in needed. Offer ends November 5th with a new line on Unlimited Ultimate Best 5G Tours. Route Metrics the United States 2020 25. All rights reserved. Additional terms apply for all offers. See verizon.com for details.
- [05:01]
Marc Maron
Hey folks, it's Marc Maron from WTF. Today I want to talk to you about Boost Mobile offering reliable nationwide coverage backed by a 30 back guarantee. Love your service or get your money back, no questions asked. Boost Mobile offers the coverage, network speed and service you're used to, but at more affordable prices. Why pay more if you don't have to? You can get an unlimited plan for $25 a month that will never increase in price, ever. No price hikes, no multi line requirements. No stress. Visit your nearest Boost Mobile store or find them online@boost mobile.com After 30 gigabytes, customers may experience slower speed speeds. Customers will pay $25 per month as long as they remain active on the Boost Unlimited plan.
- [05:50]
Kyne Santos
Ready to order?
- [05:51]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Yes. We're earning unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment with a Capital One Saver Card. So let's just get one of everything.
- [05:58]
Kyne Santos
Everything.
- [05:59]
Capital One Server
Fire everything. The Capital One Saver card is at table 27 and they're earning unlimited 3% cash back.
- [06:05]
Dr. Lindsay Cahill
Yes, Chef.
- [06:07]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
This is so nice.
- [06:08]
Capital One Server
Had a feeling you'd want 3% cash back on dessert.
- [06:11]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Ooh, tiramisu.
- [06:12]
Capital One Server
Earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment with the Capital One Saver card. Capital One. What's in your wallet?
- [06:18]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Terms apply. See capital1.com for details.
- [06:20]
Paige Desorbo
Hey, I'm Paige Desorbo and I'm always thinking about underwear.
- [06:24]
Hannah Berner
I'm Hannah Berner and I'm also thinking about underwear, but I prefer full coverage. I like to call them my granny panties.
- [06:30]
Paige Desorbo
Actually, I never think about underwear. That's the magic of Tommy John.
- [06:35]
Hannah Berner
Same. They're so light and so comfy. And if it's not comfortable, I'm not wearing it.
- [06:39]
Paige Desorbo
And the bras? Soft, supportive and actually breathable.
- [06:42]
Hannah Berner
Yes. Lord knows the girls need to breathe. Also, I need my PJs to breathe and be buttery, soft and stretchy enough for my dramatic tossing and turning at night. That's why I live in my Tommy John pajamas.
- [06:54]
Paige Desorbo
Plus they're so cute because they fit perfectly.
- [06:57]
Hannah Berner
Put yourself on to Tommy John.
- [06:58]
Paige Desorbo
Upgrade your drawer with Tommy John. Save 25% for a limited time at tommyjohn.comfort. see site for details.
- [07:11]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Of all the subjects we learn in school. People tend to have a unique relationship with math I loved it. And don't make fun of me. I even signed up for math competitions for fun, but for the majority, I know math can be a real source of anxiety. Not just in school, but every day. Calculating a tip on a bill, converting cups to ounces or milliliters, that one still trips me up. Today's guest is giving math a new brand and a glamorous one at that. Known as the Math Queen. Kyne is a math communicator and drag queen who breaks down the history and joy of math across social media to show that math is fun, artistic and inclusive. Author of the book Math in Drag and everywhere that you're scrolling at onlinekyne, that's K, Y, N, E. If anyone is going to make you love math, it's Kyne. And I dare you to tell me that you don't like math after listening to this. Welcome to Curiositykine.
- [08:08]
Kyne Santos
Hi Sam, thanks for having me.
- [08:11]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
So excited to chat with you officially on a recording. Yes, now you're the resident Math Queen of TikTok. I'm claiming that title for you, if you haven't already. What first drew you to math, like math itself as a topic to study, but then also as something that you wanted to talk about and share joy for?
- [08:33]
Kyne Santos
Well, like you, I also did math competitions for fun when I was a kid. I guess I really liked all of my subjects in school. Like I was such a teacher's pet when I was a kid. It was just something that my parents kind of drilled into me. My dad was an engineer at Toyota and math was like his favorite subject in school as well. So I guess he rubbed off on me a little bit. So I think I was always kind of alright at math, but I didn't really start loving it the way I do now until high school when I started doing those math competitions and I started seeing that, oh, actually math can be really fun and really artistic because there's math problems that you solve on the blackboard that are kind of just solving for X and following the step by step algorithm, which, don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that. But I didn't really understand what was so amazing about it until I learned that there were these open problems that even the smartest mathematicians in the world hadn't solved and that these were problems that required a lot of creativity. When I started seeing this element of creativity in math that I already loved in art and makeup, that's when I started to really identify with it and become this preacher that I am now.
- [09:57]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
I was going to ask, because a lot of people think of math as, like, quite rigid. And there's a right answer and there's a wrong answer. Two plus two always equals four. But math can play a big role in art, as you're saying, from graphic design to music. Do you also find there's a lot of math into getting into drag? Like, is it all about symmetry or something there?
- [10:19]
Kyne Santos
I mean, people always ask me this. I really don't think so. I think that, you know, we can talk about the math of symmetry, but at the end of the day, I think beauty is something that is subjective. And there may be math to, you know, what colors look good together, or what musical notes sound pleasing to our ears, or what kind of shapes and colors are pleasing to the eyes. But that's where it becomes more like an art. And it's up to the human to determine which colors to use in the eyeshadow palette or which notes to play on the piano. So there's a little bit of math underneath it, but it's also totally up to you. And so that's where I enjoy the interplay between those two worlds.
- [11:06]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
I mean, and drag is subversive almost by definition. And I could see that that same creativity that would make a drag queen really stand out is also helpful in math. I feel like it's almost the creativity that's an overlap to solve those open problem that you mentioned.
- [11:20]
Kyne Santos
Oh, yeah. And, I mean, a lot of the great leap forwards that we've had in math have been because of these rebels who thought of things in a different way. All the times that we have invented new numbers, like, 0 was a number that we didn't always have in our lexicon of numbers. And then we discovered that zero could be a number and that negative numbers could exist, and even imaginary numbers, which are like the square roots of negative numbers. All of these things that at some point would have broken the rules and your math teachers would have said, no, that doesn't make any sense. That's totally wrong. Actually contributed to these new discoveries that helped push the world forward because of creative thinkers.
- [12:09]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Ooh, I love that. That's very, like, drag. Just like, okay, this is how it should be. Let me do it a new way. Imaginary numbers are now a thing.
- [12:17]
Kyne Santos
Exactly.
- [12:19]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
That's iconic. I love that you highlight math in our everyday lives in your book Math and Drag and online, can you share some examples with our audience of where they might experience math in their life without maybe realizing?
- [12:35]
Kyne Santos
I mean, I think that, like, statistics and probability is probably the first Thing that comes to mind to me, like every day when you're getting dressed in the morning or deciding what you're going to do for the day, your mind is doing some sort of probabilistic analysis of thinking what is likely to happen today. Because we don't know the future. What we can do is try to guess at what the future will hold, like, what is the weather forecast going to be tomorrow or what is traffic going to be like tomorrow or this afternoon. And sure, we can get by on these rules of thumb or this experience that we have just internally, but when we use math and actually put these ideas to paper and make really robust mathematical models, our estimates of the future can be a lot more precise. And I mean, now we can totally take it for granted how we can just open up a phone and check what the weather is outside, when really there's so much data being collected there and so much math that has to happen for us to, you know, forecast the future, that it's easy to take it for granted. But before we had all of that, we had to just go by these rules of thumb, which still, you know, involved some sort of cost benefit analysis in our minds.
- [13:57]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
We got to work together this year when you performed at our show Science is a Drag. And you absolutely blew the mind of everyone in the crowd with another example of math in our everyday lives, and it was our credit card numbers. You showed us how, like, every number in a credit card actually has a function and is in. Can you just explain it? Because I was absolutely gagged.
- [14:19]
Kyne Santos
Yeah. So your credit card number is this 16 digit number which, you know, has something to do with your bank details and your credit history. And it's how you pay for things online or even in a store. And it's somehow linked to you, Right? Well, the first 15 digits of that number are linked to your bank account and you. The last digit of your credit card is what's called a check digit. It's basically there to make sure that you've entered all the other digits correctly. So how it works is if you take your 16 digit credit card number and write all 16 digits down and then replace every odd digit with its double. So like the first digit, the third digit, the fifth digit, double them. So like four doubles to eight, three doubles to six. If it's six, which doubles to 12, you want to add those digits together. So instead of 12, you just replace it with 1 plus 2, which is 3, and do that with the entire number and then add all of those digits together and it should be a multiple of 10. And the way that it works is the last digit is chosen specifically so that the entire sum works out to be a multiple of 10, because the last digit could be anywhere from 0 to 9. So it would just be the number that makes that whole answer a multiple of 10. And the reason why is because if there's a user that's inputting their credit card number on a form online or even over the phone, if they accidentally enter a number wrong, then that algorithm that's called the loon algorithm would pick up that there was an error there, right? So if you're, like, putting in your credit card number online and it says, like, oh, please enter a valid credit card number, and you're thinking, oh, why? What is a valid credit card number? And what's an invalid credit card number? That's one of those, like, really simple algorithms that can check right away if this is a real credit card number or not.
- [16:23]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
I've always wondered how it instantly knows. I'm like, how are you running a check that quickly for all credit cards in the world? So it's because they're doing this quick mathematical check that you just described that they know it's not a real credit card number if you enter something fake.
- [16:40]
Kyne Santos
Yeah.
- [16:41]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
So cool.
- [16:42]
Kyne Santos
It's interesting because it's so easy for us to take for granted, like, how easy it is to live our lives digitally and pay for things digitally and send things digitally. But there's so much going on there. First of all, there's fraud and scammers out there. So there's a whole nother branch of math that is all about keeping your data safe. That's cryptography. But the example of the credit card check digit is more just a matter of not even protecting you from fraud, but just protecting you from any accidental errors. Because in any cases where it can be really expensive and cumbersome to send data or information, you want to make sure that you're sending the correct information. And so there are these types of safeguards to make sure that you haven't entered anything incorrectly. Like, another example is on a grocery store barcode. Like, the reason why you can scan it upside down or sideways is because there are these extra lines in that barcode that are making sure that the whole thing is working correctly.
- [17:48]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Oh, interesting. Oh, my gosh, a barcode. I mean, I'm sure that's a whole PhD thesis and a half just on the barcode. Well, I'm sure it is more than one. That's super cool. Rumor on the street is that you have some strong opinions about numbers as a math queen does. So what is your favorite number? I know you must have one.
- [18:15]
Kyne Santos
My favorite number. Okay, my answer to this changes all the time, but recently I've really been digging zero because I call zero a celebrity number because it's one of those numbers that changed the course of history. If you were to go back thousands of years into ancient Greece or ancient Rome, they wouldn't have thought of zero as a number. They didn't think that nothing could be something because to them, numbers had to have these physical representations. So the idea of zero would be like a line without length or a square with no area. You wouldn't call that a square, would you, if it had no area? So to them, zero just wasn't really a legitimate number.
- [18:58]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
It might be on their side. Like, that makes sense to me.
- [19:00]
Kyne Santos
Yeah, right. Because, I mean, what is the point of saying that somebody has zero bags of rice or zero sheep? I mean, you would just say they have nothing. Right? So you would use a different word for it. The idea that 0 should be up there with like 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 does require this, like, little leap of abstraction I like to call it. And that's actually fun factor. Reason why there's no year zero. So we went from like 1 BC straight to 1 AD and so the first century started in year one. And that's why, you know, you may hear that folks say that the 21st century started in 2001 instead of 2000, because all the way back then, there was no year zero to start off the first century. Anyway, I digress. Zero actually came from ancient India. And all the numbers that we have now, 0 through 10, we call the Hindu Arabic numeral system, as opposed to the Roman numerals with the I's and the v's and the x's, the numbers that we use, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, all of those digits started off in ancient India before making their way to the Islamic world and then over to Europe.
- [20:15]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
So that's the origin of zero. And then today, it's an essential part of binary language. For example, like ones and zeros that underlie computers. Is there something special about 0? Like, could it be? Could binary be written with 1 and 2? Like, why is it 0 and 1? Is there something special there?
- [20:33]
Kyne Santos
1 and 2 you could use. I mean, they're just symbols, right? But the interesting thing about zero is that it is this symbol which represents nothing. And to computers, a way to send information through a wire is through Little spurts of somethings and nothings. Like if you were to send a message to a person across the street, communicating through your windows, you know, in that Taylor Swift music video where they're, like, holding up a piece of paper saying, you belong with me. If all you could communicate with was a flashlight, then you can think of the lights as ones and the darkness as zeros. So that is where zero comes into play, as this symbol that represents nothing, which took this huge leap of faith for people to kind of swallow. Now, we can.
- [21:28]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Like Morse code, right?
- [21:29]
Kyne Santos
Yeah, like Morse code. Like dots and dashes. It turns out that all you need is a binary system of two symbols, whether it's dots and dashes, on or off, zeros and ones. Yeah, it could be one or two, but I think we use zero and one because it's an easier way to visualize on or off. And so what started with little pulses through a wire of electricity and no electricity or on or off. Now computers can use that to send everything that we do online, from videos to this podcast, to the music you listen to, it's all zeros and ones.
- [22:06]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
It makes sense, too, I guess. If you're using 1 and 2, it might be hard to know if it's 2 or if it's 2 ones versus the absence of something, or light and dark, like boats flashing lights to one another when they're far away. There's an obvious contrast there, so it kind of makes sense. Okay, I've been converted. First I didn't think zero should be a number, and now I've changed my mind back. It's hard to imagine that math theories have changed or evolved over time. And you brought up early on that there's a lot of new ideas we have in math were from breaking the rules and stuff like that. Are there some ongoing debates even related to imaginary numbers or anything like that that are still going on today that I don't know, people should know about?
- [22:58]
Kyne Santos
Oh, my gosh. Well, there's this one theorem that's called the ABC conjecture. I really shouldn't even call it a theorem. So conjecture is what mathematicians would use when something is yet to be proven. And so it's called the ABC conjecture to most of the world. There's this mathematician in Japan who said that he proved this conjecture. And so they're kind of at this impasse where this group of folks think that this theorem is solved and another group thinks, no, you haven't really convinced us. It's really interesting to think about, because as kids, we all think that Math has already been solved thousands of years ago, but there is so much cutting edge math that's still happening today.
- [23:40]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Do you think it solved? What's your hot take?
- [23:45]
Kyne Santos
I mean, the thing is, whether it's solved to one person, I think doesn't really make a difference. I think for the community to all agree that it's solved, we all have to come to some consensus. And mathematicians also have to be science communicators and math communicators and communicate their ideas and results to the world in order for it to kind of enter our, our collective consciousness.
- [24:11]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Math and science aren't done until they're shared and understood. That's the, the communicator's mantra right now. Math anxiety is real. I was trying to look up numbers and it's like 17% of US adults and 30% of UK adolescents report high levels of math anxiety. It's much more common to have some sense, but like high levels of is still pretty high. And there's some recent evidence suggesting that a parent's math anxiety can impact their child's mathematical skill. So I'm wondering if you have a thought as to why this concept of math anxiety and math being scary is still so pervasive and if there's advice for how we can redefine our relationship with math.
- [24:58]
Kyne Santos
I mean, you heard from the start of this I said to you, part of my math story was that my dad loved math and he was an engineer. And so I think that immediately made it okay for me to like math, for me to apply myself. I hear so many folks saying, like, how math really scares them. And I think if we have that message sort of pervading our minds and if kids hear this message from adults, I mean, they're not really going to be encouraged to try if they hear that their parents hate math and their teacher doesn't even really understand it. I think that the way that we talk about math really matters a lot. We have this idea that there are math people and there are like art people. I don't really believe that. I mean, I'm a math person and I'm also an art person. And if tomorrow I wanted to be a soccer person, I mean, you better believe I would lace up my shins and start practicing and get to it. I feel if I put my mind to something, I can do it. And I think that everybody can also apply that to math. I think that the way that we talk about math puts so many limiting beliefs on ourselves and on young people. And we should think of it as Something that you can just practice and get better at. Just like getting better at a sport or getting better at a musical instrument. You don't have to be a genius to be able to solve a math problem. The reason why we think it takes geniuses is the same reason why if you saw somebody playing the piano amazingly, you would think that, wow, they're such a genius. But no, they just had to practice a lot. If you think that being good at math is the same as finding it easy, you're eventually going to hit a problem that you're challenged by and you're going to have to work through it. So instead of teaching kids that when math is difficult, maybe that means that. That it's not for you. Maybe we should just be encouraging them to work through that difficulty and see it as something that is a skill that can be improved.
- [27:01]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
I mean, it's great to hear that even the top mathematicians in the world can't agree on a proof because they're not all, I guess, going about it in the same way. So there's even difficulty and challenge there. Even amongst people who are objectively the best in the world at math, they're not all agreeing and doing things the same way or proving things the same way.
- [27:24]
Kyne Santos
Oh, my gosh. I thought. I thought I was the best at math because, like, in high school, I was, like, the top of my class. Right. But then you go to university and you're put in with everybody else who was at the top of their class in school, and I realized, like, oh, like, crap. I'm, like, actually so average, like, in this cohort of folks. And, like, I was hitting roadblocks and, like, I had, like, tests that completely bombed in university, and I was, like, studying and going to lectures for, like, 40 to 60 hours a week, like, putting in so much work, and I still found it challenging.
- [27:58]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Now, speaking of school, you're going back for your Master's?
- [28:01]
Kyne Santos
I am.
- [28:02]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
What are you studying?
- [28:04]
Kyne Santos
I'm going to be studying math, which is maybe no surprise. Yeah, I'm doing my Master of Science in Applied Math at Toronto Metropolitan University here in downtown Toronto. And it's been a couple of years since I've been out of school. I graduated, like, four years ago, maybe closer to five now. But I decided I wanted to go back because I really missed it. Like, I felt like being a math communicator online. Like, I loved that. But then I kind of reached a point where I had kind of, like, shared all of the stuff that I knew, and I wanted to keep filling my Cup. And I wanted to keep learning, so that's why I decided to go back.
- [28:50]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
You inspired yourself. Oh, wow. You're like, wow, I'm so good. Even I want to learn more.
- [28:57]
Kyne Santos
Honestly, it was a little bit like that because my, my bachelor's degree I did mathematical finance. So, like, it was setting me up to like go work as like a quant, basically, like doing math with like the stock market. But while I was doing my undergrad, I started posting on TikTok about math. I also got on Canada's Drag Race. And so I was really feeling like I wanted to just share my math degree online with people because we were online and we were like doing digital drag. And so I was like thinking that it could just be like a funny little gag to do some math riddles. And then it completely blew up and I just really poured myself into it because I was able to blend my two passions, math and drag, and do something that somehow still used my degree while also being really creative. So I've had the most amazing experiences and memories through doing this. Now I just feel like starting a new chapter.
- [30:01]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Last quick thing. Is there any example of a discovery or innovation that we wouldn't have had it not been for a new math theory?
- [30:09]
Kyne Santos
Well, I'll give you this. I had touched on cryptography a little bit before talking about the way that our data is sent through the Internet. One of the age old problems with sending information was always, how could you send information privately? Which a lot of this came about because of World War II and everything that happened last century. And people wanted to find out, you know, how can I send a message to you, Sam, without anybody intercepting it? And it turned out that the formula or the mathematical theorem that really helped, it was all about prime numbers, which are numbers like 3, 5, 7, 11. These are numbers where the only factors are 1 and itself. What's crazy about them is that multiplying two prime numbers like say 11 times 13, would be 341. That's pretty simple to do in one direction, but it can be really hard to do the other direction. If I give you a number like 341 and ask you to find the prime factors, and it was this type of mathematical problem that's easier to solve in one direction, but harder to undo in the other direction, that answered our problem of how to send information, because it ended up being really important for what's called a public key and a private key. I'll explain it like this. So say I want to send you a message, a way for me to keep it private, maybe to scramble it around. Right.
- [31:47]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
But.
- [31:47]
Kyne Santos
But then I have to also send you the instructions to unscramble it, which is a problem, because how do I make sure that those instructions are safe? Right. So one of the solutions that people came up with was what's called a public key and a private key, meaning that the instructions to scramble it were different from the instructions to unscramble it. And so that's where this work with prime numbers comes into play, because it's asymmetric in the sense that it's easy to solve in one direction, but harder to solve in the other direction. And what's really the most interesting thing about it is that for the hundreds of years prior to this discovery, we all thought that prime numbers were just this theoretical thing that had no practical application.
- [32:33]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
That's what I always thought.
- [32:35]
Kyne Santos
Funny, because a lot of math actually works out this way. You'll find that these ancient Greeks were talking about it thousands of years ago because they were just philosophers that just liked to yap, basically, without really expecting it to be helpful in any practical application. And so kids will say, what's the practical application of the quadratic formula or of the Pythagorean theorem? And yes, math has so many amazing practical applications, but sometimes it doesn't. And sometimes the practical application is just having fun with using our brains in different ways and thinking about challenging problems. And sometimes the practical application doesn't even get discovered until thousands of years down the line where somebody says, hey, actually, this problem fits the answer to this other problem that we have been trying to solve. And so, you know, prime numbers in cryptography is just one example of math that went from purely theoretical to now, like the bedrock of all our digital communication.
- [33:44]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Thank you so much, Kyne. Kyne Santos is a math communicator, drag queen and the author of Math in drag. Learn more about the joy of math through the art of drag by followingkind k y n e on Instagram and TikTok. Thank you kind.
- [34:00]
Kyne Santos
Thanks, Sam.
- [34:05]
Ryan Reynolds
Dude, did you order the new iPhone 17 Pro? Got it from Verizon, the best 5G network in America. I never look so good.
- [34:12]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
You look the same.
- [34:13]
Ryan Reynolds
But with this camera, everything looks better. Especially me.
- [34:15]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
You haven't changed your hair in 15 years.
- [34:18]
Verizon Announcer
Selfies check, please with Verizon. Get the new iPhone 17 Pro, designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever, Plus a new iPad and Apple One. No trade in needed. Offer ends November 5th with a new line on Unlimited Ultimate Best 5G. Sweet Metrics Data United States 2020 25. All rights reserved. Additional terms apply for all offers. See verizon.com for details.
- [34:35]
Jerry Insurance Announcer
Are you noticing your car insurance rate creep up? Even without tickets or claims, you're not alone. That's why there's Jerry, your proactive insurance assistant. Jerry handles the legwork by comparing quotes side by side from over 50 top insurers so you can confidently hit buy. No spam calls, no hidden fees. Jerry even tracks rates and alerts you when it's best to shop. Drivers who save with Jerry could save over $1,300 a year. Don't settle for higher rates. Download the Jerry app or visit Jerry AI Acast today.
- [35:08]
Ryan Reynolds
Hey, Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. Now I don't know if you've heard, but Mint's Premium Wireless is $15 a month. But I'd like to offer offer one other perk. We have no stores. That means no small talk crazy weather we're having.
- [35:24]
Kyne Santos
No, it's not.
- [35:24]
Ryan Reynolds
It's just weather. It is an introvert's dream. Give it a try@minmobile.com switch upfront.
- [35:31]
Verizon Announcer
Came in a 45 for 3 month plan, $15 per month equivalent required. New customer offer first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra.
- [35:37]
Paige Desorbo
See mintmobile.com hey, I'm Paige Desorbo and I'm always thinking about underwear.
- [35:41]
Hannah Berner
I'm Hannah Berner and I'm also thinking about underwear, but I prefer full coverage. I like to call them my granny panties.
- [35:48]
Paige Desorbo
Actually, I never think about underwear. That's the magic of Tommy John.
- [35:52]
Hannah Berner
Same. They're so light and so comfy and if it's not comfortable, I'm not wearing it.
- [35:56]
Paige Desorbo
And the bras? Soft, supportive and actually breathable.
- [36:00]
Hannah Berner
Yes. Lord knows the girls need to breathe. Also, I need my PJs to breathe and be buttery, soft and stretchy enough for my dramatic tossing and turning at night. That's why I live in my Tommy John pajamas.
- [36:11]
Paige Desorbo
Plus they're so cute because they fit perfectly.
- [36:14]
Hannah Berner
Put yourself on to Tommy John.
- [36:16]
Paige Desorbo
Upgrade your drawer with Tommy John. Save 25% for a limited time at tommyjohn.com comfort See site for details.
- [36:28]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
A few episodes back, I covered a study published in Nature Medicine that found plastic in the human brain and attempted to measure the quantity in the press. Scientists compared their measurements as the equivalent of a spoon's worth by mass of micro and nanoplastics in the human brain. That's like taking a plastic spoon, grinding it up in a blender and sprinkling it throughout the brain but some of you reached out through my Instagram to let me know that there may have been some issues with the methodologies in the paper from the team at the University of New Mexico. And that sent me on a whole spiral about microplastics research. So I'm not breaking news, but I'm going back and sprinkling my analysis into this research. So let's dive in. I called Dr. Lindsay Cahill, professor in the Department of Chemistry at Memorial University in Newfoundland, to find out more.
- [37:16]
Dr. Lindsay Cahill
There's several papers out there now showing microplastics in human tissue. So it wasn't surprising to me that we would see microplastics in the brain. Of course, it's very concerning, and we need to understand if that has an impact. I was quite surprised by how high the levels are.
- [37:32]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Dr. Cahill wasn't part of the original study, but she helped me better understand the field of microplastics research and how scientists look for plastics in the human body.
- [37:40]
Dr. Lindsay Cahill
The markers that they're looking for to look for polyethylene are going to be similar to lipids, right? Because polyethylene is just a chain of carbon and hydrogen.
- [37:48]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
There are many different types of plastic. And the team from the University of New Mexico found samples of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyvinyl chloride. That's pvc in the brain. They used a method called paralysis gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, let's just call it pygcms. That was used to measure how much plastic is in the tissues. Then they used high resolution microscopy to try to see the plastic particles and contextualize their findings. So PYGCMS gave them the numbers, while the other methods tried to show them the tiny plastic bits. But the PYGCMS technique, it has a caveat. You see, the brain is naturally full of lipids or fats. And it turns out the technique isn't quite sensitive enough to tell the difference between the plastic called polyethylene and lipids. I reached out by email to Dr. Matthew J. Kempin, the senior author of the study, to try to learn more about this. And in his reply, he wrote that, yes, there are reasonable concerns that polyethylene can be falsely detected because of lipids interfering. He then added, we discussed this concern in the paper. To deal with the problem of fats in the brain looking similar to plastics, the researchers chemically treated the brain tissue to break down most of the fats. They also openly acknowledged this limitation in their paper and something Dr. Cahill, who again, wasn't involved in that particular study. Something she said about plastics research in general had me digging further.
- [39:12]
Dr. Lindsay Cahill
Biobanks want to use plastics to store their materials. That makes sense, right? Then they don't have to worry about it breaking in their fridge and spilling anywhere. But it makes it really challenging for microplastics researchers to use these samples.
- [39:25]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Micro and nanoplastics are tiny and they're everywhere. So you can't just use any human samples, because if they were stored in plastic tubes instead of glass in the lab, or let's say, handled with plastic pipette tips, that could be a big risk of contamination. Now, in Dr. Campen's study, the team collected their samples to minimize the risk of exposure to plastics during storage. In a news report by the radio station KUNM, Dr. Campin attempted to illustrate the amount of plastics in the brain by comparing it to a plastic spoon, while also cautioning that the methods are still being developed. And this could be an over or underestimation because of current technological limitations. To that end, when I double checked the math behind the plastic spoon comparison, as I do, I noticed they only measured plastics in the frontal cortex. But what if there's more there than in the rest of the brain or less? I have no doubt that there are micro and nanoplastics in the body, including in the brain. In fact, previous work from another research group found microplastics in the olfactory bulb. The bigger question is how much and what their impact is. Here's Dr. Cahill again.
- [40:29]
Dr. Lindsay Cahill
I mean, we've been studying microplastics in the environment for a very long time, but it was only in 2021 where microplastics were detected in human placenta that we really started worrying about the impact in humans.
- [40:42]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Scientists are increasingly warning that microplastics are showing up in the human body, and their health effects may be far reaching. While past research has linked certain plastic chemicals to cancer, some newer studies suggest these particles could lodge in blood vessels and raise the risk of cardiovascular events.
- [40:58]
Dr. Lindsay Cahill
We're also worried about what's attached to the plastics. What kind of chemicals do you get absorbed to plastics and then get distributed around our body? There's so many plastics come with plasticizers, right? Or there's flame retardants or lots of things that have been added to them. So even if plastics themselves don't prove to be particularly negative in terms of health impacts, we know some of these chemicals are bad for us.
- [41:25]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
We often want a hard answer. The exact amount of plastic in all our brains. But in an early study like this, we just won't get that. So we have to take these findings with a grain of salt or a grain of plastic. The study isn't unreliable, but it's a transparent, if imperfect step in a difficult new field. The authors do acknowledge the limits of their work, and that cautious approach and this back and forth from the scientific community is science in action. Even Dr. Campen told Kunm, the methods are still being developed and considered by other scientists around the world, and we're working hard to get to a very precise estimate. So thanks for going down the rabbit hole with me and to our listeners who responded on Instagram with such passion, thank you. Honestly, this kind of open dialogue is exactly like a good old fashioned journal club, that regular meeting where scientists gather to discuss scientific papers and learn from one another. It's how science moves forward. For Warner Brothers Discovery Curiosity Weekly is produced by the team at Wheelhouse DNA. The senior producer and editorial correspondent is Teresa Carey. Our producer is Chiara Noni, our audio engineer is Nick Kimi, and head of Production for Wheelhouse DNA is Cassie Berman. And I'm Dr. Samantha Yamin. Thanks for listening.
- [42:57]
Ryan Reynolds
Dude, did you order the new iPhone 17 Pro? Got it from Verizon, the best 5G network in America. I never looked so good.
- [43:03]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
You look the same, but with this.
- [43:05]
Ryan Reynolds
Camera, everything looks better. Especially me.
- [43:07]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
You haven't changed your hair in 15 years.
- [43:10]
Verizon Announcer
Selfies check please with Verizon. Get the new iPhone 17 Pro, designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever, plus a new iPad and Apple One. No trade in needed. Offer ends November 5th with a new line on Unlimited Ultimate Best 5G Swords. Route Metrics Data United States 2020 25. All rights reserved. Additional terms apply for all offers. See verizon.com for details.
- [43:26]
Kyne Santos
Ready to order?
- [43:27]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Yes. We're earning unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment with a Capital One Saver card. So let's just get one of everything.
- [43:34]
Dr. Lindsay Cahill
Everything.
- [43:35]
Capital One Server
Fire everything. The Capital One Saver card is at table 27 and they're earning unlimited 3% cash back.
- [43:41]
Dr. Lindsay Cahill
Yes, chef.
- [43:42]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
This is so nice.
- [43:44]
Capital One Server
Had a feeling you'd want 3% cash back on dessert.
- [43:46]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Ooh, tiramisu.
- [43:48]
Capital One Server
Earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment with the Capital One Saver Card. Capital One, what's in your wallet?
- [43:54]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Terms apply. See capital1.com for details.
- [43:56]
Paige Desorbo
Hey, I'm Paige Desorbo, and I'm always thinking about underwear.
- [43:59]
Hannah Berner
I'm Hannah Berner, and I'm also thinking about underwear, but I prefer full coverage. I like to call them my granny panties.
- [44:06]
Paige Desorbo
Actually, I never think about underwear. That's the magic of Tommy John.
- [44:11]
Hannah Berner
Same. They're so light and so comfy. And if it's not comfortable, I'm not wearing it.
- [44:14]
Paige Desorbo
And the bras? Soft, supportive and actually breathable.
- [44:18]
Hannah Berner
Yes. Lord knows the girls need to breathe. Also, I need my PJs to breathe and be buttery, soft and stretchy enough for my dramatic tossing and turning at night. That's why I live in my Tommy John pajamas.
- [44:29]
Paige Desorbo
Plus they're so cute because they fit perfectly.
- [44:32]
Hannah Berner
Put yourself on to Tommy John.
- [44:34]
Paige Desorbo
Upgrade your drawer with Tommy John. Save 25% for a limited time at tommyjohn.comfort. see site for details.
- [44:43]
Ryan Reynolds
Why choose a Sleep number Smart bed?
- [44:45]
Dr. Samantha Yamin
Can I make my site softer?
- [44:46]
Kyne Santos
Can I make my site firmer?
- [44:48]
Ryan Reynolds
Can we sleep cooler? Sleep number does that cools up to eight times faster and lets you choose your ideal comfort on either side your Sleep Number setting. Enjoy personalized comfort for better sleep night after night. It's our Black Friday sale Recharge this season with a bundle of cozy, soothing comfort. Now only $17.99 for our C2 mattress and base plus free premium delivery. Price is higher in Alaska and Hawaii. Check it out at a Sleep number store or sleepnumber.com today.