logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2024
10m 53s

Peanut Allergy, Ancient Cancer Treatment...

DISCOVERY
About this episode

Today, you’ll learn about why giving babies foods with peanuts could crack the peanut allergy problem, a wild discovery of cancer treatment 4,000 years ago, and the sneaky way cuckoos evolve to look like other birds so they can live in their nests.  

 

Peanut Allergy  

 

 

Ancient Cancer Treatment  

 

  • “‘Extraordinary’ 4,000-year-old Egyptian skull may show signs of attempts to treat cancer.” EurekAlert! 2024.  
  • “Case report: Boundaries of oncological and traumatological medical care in ancient Egypt: new palaeopathological insights from two human skulls.” by Tatiana Tondini, et al. 2024.  

 

Cuckoo Evolution 

 

 

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Calli and Nate — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+!


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Oct 22
Your Garden Is Not an Island: How to Protect Pollinators
Humans and nature have always coexisted. But, human intervention makes our modern world look very different than it once did. This episode, host Dr. Samantha Yammine digs into how humans are reshaping the wild. Sam speaks to Dr. Harland Patch about the decline of insect populatio ... Show More
27m 56s
Oct 15
Your Life Runs on GPS. And GPS Runs on Duct Tape
GPS runs our world, but the system is far from perfect and much more fragile than people believe. This episode, GPS expert Logan Scott speaks with senior producer Teresa Carey about the past, present, and future of GPS and how to avoid catastrophe when something goes wrong. Host, ... Show More
29m 41s
Oct 8
Designing Cities for a Warmer World
As the climate shifts into a new normal, plenty of questions are being asked about the state of urban planning around the world. Mainly: how can we better adapt our cities to climate change? What does it mean to create a climate-resilient city? This episode, Senior Producer Teres ... Show More
27m 20s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2025
A Germ of Truth: The 263rd Evolutionary Lens with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying
In this week’s episode, we discuss the relationship between infectious and chronic disease, and between germ theory and terrain theory of disease. Pathogens are real, and exogenous treatments like antibiotics can kill them. The health of the body is affected by diet, exercise, st ... Show More
1h 56m
Aug 22
Could Peanut Allergies Be Cured?
Peanut allergies have surged dramatically in recent decades, and scientists are still working to understand why. In this episode, journalist Maryn Mckenna, who recently authored an article on the subject, and host Rachel Feltman explore the latest research on causes, treatments a ... Show More
20m 29s
Jun 2025
Bird Flu’s Jump to Cattle Took Dairy Farmers by Surprise (Part 2)
Dairy cattle have become an intermediary between avian influenza found in wild birds and the handful of recorded H5N1 bird flu cases in humans. Senior news reporter Meghan Bartels took a trip upstate to Cornell University’s Teaching Dairy Barn. Early last year Texas dairy farmers ... Show More
22m 58s
Jun 2025
How to Fight Bird Flu If It Becomes the Next Human Pandemic (Part 3)
Creating a bird flu vaccine requires several layers of bioprotective clothing and typically a whole lot of eggs. H5N1 avian influenza infections have gone from flocks of chickens to herds of cattle and humans. Scientists at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute are taking their ... Show More
32m 51s
Jan 2025
617. Are You Really Allergic to Penicillin?
Like tens of millions of people, Stephen Dubner thought he had a penicillin allergy. Like the vast majority, he didn’t. This misdiagnosis costs billions of dollars and causes serious health problems, so why hasn’t it been fixed? And how about all the other things we think we’re a ... Show More
1h 3m
Oct 2024
Scurvy, Bird Flu and a Big Old Meteorite
An enormous meteorite’s impact 3.26 billion years ago may have made conditions on Earth more hospitable for life in the long run. Washington State is the sixth state to report cases of bird flu in humans. Weight-loss procedures and treatments could lead to an uptick in scurvy cas ... Show More
9m 27s
Oct 2024
Scurvy, Bird Flu and a Big Old Meteorite
An enormous meteorite’s impact 3.26 billion years ago may have made conditions on Earth more hospitable for life in the long run. Washington State is the sixth state to report cases of bird flu in humans. Weight-loss procedures and treatments could lead to an uptick in scurvy cas ... Show More
9m 27s
Feb 2023
Spy Balloons, Cost of Cancer Care, Seaweed, Chocolate Mouthfeel. Feb 17, 2023, Part 2
Eyes In The Sky: The Science Behind Modern Balloons This month, the news cycle has been dominated by updates about suspicious objects being detected in the stratosphere. This bonanza started with a balloon from China, and escalated as four more objects—not all confirmed as balloo ... Show More
47m 17s
Sep 26
Skull rewrites story of human evolution; Autism and Tylenol; discovery of wind coming from black hole
Episode 322 An ancient skull discovered in China may have just rewritten the story of human evolution. It’s widely accepted that the common ancestor of Homo sapiens, Denisovans and Neanderthals came out of Africa. But this skull upends that assumption - potentially showing human ... Show More
33m 57s