Curiosity Weekly: “Who Says Science Can’t Be Silly?”

Podcast: Curiosity Weekly
Host: Dr. Samantha Yammine
Guest: Dr. Carly Anne York, author of The Salmon Cannon and the Levitating Frog
Release Date: September 24, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode explores the joy, impact, and often underestimated power of "silly" science—research inspired by curiosity rather than immediate practical goals. Host Dr. Samantha Yammine speaks with Dr. Carly Anne York about the importance (and long-term impact) of fundamental, curiosity-driven scientific discoveries. The episode also recaps highlights from the 2025 Ig Nobel Prizes, which honor research that first makes you laugh, then makes you think. Finally, the team discusses a fascinating new study about how plants "talk" and how animals listen.

1. The Power and Purpose of Silly Science

The Case for Curiosity-Driven Research (02:20–16:05)

• Dr. Yammine’s Introduction:
  Science’s greatest breakthroughs often arise from experiments and studies that, at first blush, look frivolous or impractical.
  “Branding this kind of research as useless or frivolous can take away from not just the fun of science, but potentially massive discoveries that do have the potential to change the world.” (02:27)

• Guest Introduction:
  Dr. Carly Anne York—author, animal behaviorist, physiologist—shares her passion for stories where oddball research leads to extraordinary impact.

• Favorite Example: The Mantis Shrimp “Fight Club”

  • Dr. Sheila Patek (Duke University) studied just how fast a mantis shrimp can punch—research initially laughed off as “shrimp fight club”.
    → Resulted in insights relevant to material science and engineering, e.g., creating resilient materials based on biological mechanisms.
  • “She just wanted to know how this mantis shrimp can punch so fast … and [...] it has some really neat applications that came from it. They weren’t her goal at all.” —Dr. York (07:21)

• On “Silliness” and Scientific Value

  • Dr. York recalls struggling to defend her squid physiology research when first asked its value:
    “I was actually asked ... what my research was going to do and I didn’t have a good answer … My husband was actually with me. He’s the one who told me just how badly I bumbled it.” (10:45)
  • Her book is her “attempt to ... think out an argument as to why this kind of research matters.” (11:15)

• Science Funding & Public Perception

  • There’s a legitimate expectation for scientific research to justify its funding—but rigid demands for immediate utility can choke fundamental progress.
  • The National Science Foundation (NSF), set up by Vannevar Bush, once held curiosity-driven research as a priority—but its funding is in decline.
  • “The 2024 NSF budget was 9 billion and [they’re] talking about slashing it to 3 or 4 billion.” —Dr. York (13:50)
  • Industry often won’t fund basic research due to lack of guaranteed product/solution, making federal or alternative support crucial.

• Humor and Playfulness in Science

  • Delight in silly research names—like the “sonic hedgehog” gene in fruit flies, which gained unintended clinical significance.
  • “Scientists are humans, and you’re going to absolutely have your group that has a lot of fun with what they do ... Humor’s great. And I love the papers that come out with, like, witty little puns.” —Dr. York (16:05)
  • Sometimes, public communication requires timing the joke right—especially when “silly” gene names become important in medical conversations.

2. 2025 Ig Nobel Prize Highlights

Celebrating Science That Makes Us Laugh and Think (20:12–37:26)

• About the Ig Nobels:

  • Honors bizarre or humorous research since 1991; designed to ignite public interest and demonstrate science’s creativity.
  • “The IGs ... celebrate research that makes people laugh, then think.” —Dr. Yammine (20:12)

• Prize Highlights from 2025:

  • Nutrition Prize:
    • Study found that rainbow lizards in Togo prefer four-cheese pizza above other foods.
      “Their research question was what happens when a lizard discovers cheese and carbs?” —Dr. Yammine (22:45)
      → Group jokes about New York rats’ pizza preferences.
  • Biology/Zoology Prize:
    • Japanese team showed that cows painted with black-and-white zebra stripes get fewer fly bites.
      “Apparently having the stripes, specifically black and white, reduce[s] the number of biting flies ... and other types of paint didn’t.” (25:16)
      → Raises agricultural questions.
  • Peace Prize:
    • Experiments from Europe: A small amount of alcohol improved people’s foreign-language pronunciation—though not their own self-perception of skill.
      “It was like a confidence thing, ... inhibiting that critical part of the brain...” —Dr. Yammine summarizing the researchers (29:50)
      → Panel points out: not a method to recommend for language learning.
  • Physics Prize:
    • Cacio e pepe pasta study: Italian research on phase transitions and ideal conditions for creating a smooth, non-clumping cacio e pepe sauce.
      “We read that. We covered that. And you went all the way to Italy to taste it? Yes, that was the purpose of my trip.” (34:40)
      → Joy at being “bellwethers” for Ig Nobel winners.

3. Silly Science in Action: Plants “Talking,” Moths Listening

Novel Research on Acoustic Plant-Animal Communication (44:30–48:44)

• Recent study published in eLife revealed that tomato plants emit ultrasonic “clicks” when dehydrated or stressed, frequencies within moths’ hearing range.
• Experiment Details:
  • Moths generally choose healthy (silent) plants to lay eggs.
  • When healthy and stressed plants were removed and only “stressed” plant sounds played through speakers, moths still laid eggs near the sound.
  • If moths couldn’t hear, the effect disappeared—showing the acoustic cue at work.
  • Given a choice of two healthy plants, but one with clicks added, moths chose the quieter plant.
• Implications:
  • First animal behavioral response to plant-emitted sounds.
  • Broad consequences for agriculture, pest management, and ecology.

4. The Joy of Fantastical, Hypothetical Research

Possible “Silly Studies” the Hosts Would Like to Try (52:00–53:30)

• Team members pitch ideas for future silly studies:
  • “I want to know, like, what’s the most potent type of onion I can hide, like, in my shirt collar ... that will make me cry when I’m ready to cry.” —Host (52:10)
  • Joking about research on how juggling affects reaction time—“After we cover juggling on the show, I had so many follow-up questions. My hypothesis is that juggling has an acute effect on reaction time, but maybe not long term ... Maybe someone punches me and then I have to see how many times I get hit...” (52:50)

5. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Defending “Pointless” Research:
  “Even if that answer is, I don’t know yet, but we gained this knowledge and that’s great.” —Dr. York (12:02)
• On the Risk of Predicting Outcomes Too Early:
  “Every little piece of information that we can gain about better understanding our world, I think that’s incredibly valuable.” —Dr. York (14:44)
• On Playfulness in Science:
  “Within the sciences there are a lot of silly things ... People who study fruit flies named a lot of the big genes ... off like Sonic Hedgehog...” —Dr. York (16:25)
• On the Value of the Ig Nobels:
  “You never know where curiosity can lead you. Some of the most life changing science starts from simply asking, but why?” —Dr. Yammine (20:35)
• After the Pizza-Lizard Study:
  “I think it tells us we should [eat four-cheese pizza]—scientifically proven that it's extra good.” —Show Contributor (23:30)
• On Science Communication and Public Trust:
  “It’s on us [scientists] to give [the public] answers. And even if that answer is, I don’t know yet…” —Dr. York (12:02)

6. Timestamps of Key Segments

| Time | Segment | |----------|------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:20 | Main interview with Dr. Carly Anne York begins | | 07:21 | Mantis Shrimp punch study | | 13:50 | Science funding and the story of the NSF | | 16:05 | Discussion of humor in scientific research | | 20:12 | Introduction to the 2025 Ig Nobel Prizes | | 22:45 | Four-cheese pizza lizard study | | 25:16 | Zebra-stripe painted cows and biting flies research | | 29:50 | Alcohol and foreign-language pronunciation study | | 34:40 | Cacio e pepe physics study wins prize | | 44:30 | Moths detect plant distress through ultrasonic sounds | | 52:00 | Hosts brainstorm their own “silly” research ideas |

Conclusion

“Who Says Science Can’t Be Silly?” is a spirited and enlightening journey through the lighter—and critically important—side of science. By championing “silly” research, Dr. Yammine and Dr. York reveal how fundamental curiosity leads to unforeseen innovations and discoveries, and why science must remain open to the odd, the playful, and the unpredictable. From mantis shrimp biomechanics to plant-moth acoustics, from four-cheese pizza-loving lizards to pasta physics, the episode proves that sometimes the questions that sound the strangest can change the world.