Why Birds Wore Funny Hats for Science

Learn about how curiosity gives your memory a boost; what happened when researchers put feathered hats on birds to see if other birds found them sexy; and how we trick bacteria into making insulin for us.

How Curiosity Gives Your Memory A Boost by Cody Gough

• Gruber, M. J., Gelman, B. D., & Ranganath, C. (2014). States of Curiosity Modulate Hippocampus-Dependent Learning via the Dopaminergic Circuit. Neuron, 84(2), 486–496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2014.08.060
• How curiosity changes the brain to enhance learning. (2014, October 2). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-10/cp-hcc092514.php
• Saville, E. (2014, October 2). Curiosity changes the brain to boost memory and learning. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/curiosity-changes-the-brain-to-boost-memory-and-learning-32296
• Bushak, L. (2014, October 2). How Curiosity Enhances The Brain And Stimulates The Reward System To Improve Learning And Memory. Medical Daily. https://www.medicaldaily.com/how-curiosity-enhances-brain-and-stimulates-reward-system-improve-learning-and-memory-306121

Researchers Once Put Feathered Hats on Birds to See if Other Birds Found Them Sexy by Cameron Duke

• Basolo, A. L. (1990). Female Preference Predates the Evolution of the Sword in Swordtail Fish. Science, 250(4982), 808–810. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.250.4982.808
• Burley, N. T., & Don Ricardo Korski. (1999). “A Taste for the Beautiful”: Latent Aesthetic Mate Preferences for White Crests in Two Species of... ResearchGate; University of Chicago Press. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23276464_A_Taste_for_the_Beautiful_Latent_Aesthetic_Mate_Preferences_for_White_Crests_in_Two_Species_of_Australian_Grassfinches
• Picture of birds in hats: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Artificial-white-crest-worn-by-male-long-tailed-finch-left-and-male-zebra-finch_fig2_23276464

We Trick Bacteria Into Making Insulin For Us by Cameron Duke

• Gallegos, J. E. (2018, September 14). After a century, insulin is still expensive – could DIYers change that? Medicalxpress.Com; Medical Xpress. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-09-century-insulin-expensive-diyers.html
• Terry, M. (2018). First Recombinant Insulin Marks 36th Year of DNA Technology | BioSpace. BioSpace. https://www.biospace.com/article/first-recombinant-insulin-marks-36th-year-of-dna-technology/
• Gebel, E. (2013). Making Insulin. Diabetes Forecast. http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2013/jul/making-insulin.html
• Johnson, I. (1983). Human insulin from recombinant DNA technology. Science, 219(4585), 632–637. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.6337396
• Recombinant DNA Technology - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. (2017). Sciencedirect.com. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/recombinant-dna-technology
• The History of a Wonderful Thing We Call Insulin | ADA. (2019). Diabetes.org. https://www.diabetes.org/blog/history-wonderful-thing-we-call-insulin
• Two tons of pig parts: Making insulin in the 1920s. (2013, November). National Museum of American History. https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2013/11/two-tons-of-pig-parts-making-insulin-in-the-1920s.html
• Calculating Insulin Dose :: Diabetes Education Online. (2010). UCSF.edu. https://dtc.ucsf.edu/types-of-diabetes/type1/treatment-of-type-1-diabetes/medications-and-therapies/type-1-insulin-therapy/calculating-insulin-dose/

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