Katherine Johnson’s Legacy, The World’s First Living Robots, and Zinc Doesn’t Cure Colds

Learn about the legacy of the trailblazing NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson; how scientists recently built xenobots, the world’s first living robots; and why zinc probably isn’t as good for colds as you think.

Katherine Johnson Is the Human 'Computer' Who Helped Us Go to Space by Ashley Hamer

• Hamer, A. Katherine Johnson Is the Human “Computer” Who Helped Us Go to Space. (2016, December 13). Curiosity.com. https://curiosity.com/topics/katherine-johnson-is-the-human-computer-who-helped-us-go-to-space-curiosity/

Xenobots: the World’s First Assembled Organisms by Cameron Duke

• Team Builds the First Living Robots. (2020, January 13). Uvm.edu. https://www.uvm.edu/uvmnews/news/team-builds-first-living-robots
• Simon, M. (2020, January 13). Meet Xenobot, an Eerie New Kind of Programmable Organism. Wired; WIRED. https://www.wired.com/story/xenobot/
• Kriegman, S., Blackiston, D., Levin, M., & Bongard, J. (2020, January 28). A scalable pipeline for designing reconfigurable organisms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(4), 1853–1859. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1910837117

Zinc Probably Isn't as Good for Colds as You Think by Grant Currin

• Can zinc zap a cold? (2017). Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/common-cold/expert-answers/zinc-for-colds/faq-20057769
• Zinc lozenges did not shorten the duration of colds. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/uoh-zld012820.php
• Hemilä, H., Haukka, J., Alho, M., Vahtera, J., & Kivimäki, M. (2020). Zinc acetate lozenges for the treatment of the common cold: a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open, 10(1), e031662. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-031662
• Stark, L. (2009, June 16). Zicam Zinc Nasal Sprays May Damage Sense of Smell, FDA Says. ABC News; ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/ColdandFluNews/story?id=7853178&page=1

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Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/katherine-johnsons-legacy-the-worlds-first-living-robots-and-zinc-doesnt-cure-colds

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