Learn why periodical cicadas come out every 13 or 17 years; why people with high cognitive abilities tend to choke under pressure; and how DNA analysis could solve the mystery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Why periodical cicadas come out every 13 or 17 years by Cameron Duke

• Bradford, A. (2017, February 9). Facts About Cicadas. Livescience.com; Live Science. cicada-facts.html">https://www.livescience.com/57814-cicada-facts.html
• McKeever, A. (2020, June 3). Millions of cicadas are emerging in the U.S. right now. Here’s why. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/06/millions-cicadas-emerging-now-united-states/
• Salisbury, D. (2011, May 19). What scientists know about cicadas. Vanderbilt University; Vanderbilt University. https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2011/05/19/cicadas-environmental-role/
• What’s that noise? The 17-year cicadas are back. (2020). Vt.edu. https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2020/05/CALS-periodical_cicada_2020.html
• What’s the difference between the 13-year and 17-year cicada? (1998, July 6). Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/whats-the-difference-betw/
• Williams, K. S., & Simon, C. (1995). The Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution of Periodical Cicadas. Annual Review of Entomology, 40(1), 269–295. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.en.40.010195.001413

People with high cognitive ability tend to choke under pressure by Kelsey Donk

• High IQ (but not low IQ) people do better with a ‘do-your-best’ mentality — the behaviorist. (2019, March 4). the behaviorist. The Behaviorist. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/goal-setting-and-iq
• Howe, M. (2019). General mental ability and goal type as antecedents of recurrent adaptive task performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 104(6), 796–813. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000379
• Beilock, S. L., & Carr, T. H. (2005). When High-Powered People Fail. Psychological Science, 16(2), 101–105. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0956-7976.2005.00789.x

The mystery of the Dead Sea Scrolls might be solved with DNA analysis by Grant Currin

• Anava, S., Neuhof, M., Gingold, H., Sagy, O., Munters, A., Svensson, E. M., Afshinnekoo, E., Danko, D., Foox, J., Shor, P., Riestra, B., Huchon, D., Mason, C. E., Mizrahi, N., Jakobsson, M., & Rechavi, O. (2020). Illuminating Genetic Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Cell. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.046
• Fox, A. (2020, June 5). Ancient DNA Helps Unlock Dead Sea Scroll Puzzle. Smithsonian Magazine; Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-dna-helps-unlock-dead-sea-scroll-puzzle-180975041/
• Piecing together the Dead Sea Scrolls with DNA evidence. (2020). EurekAlert! ptt052820.php">https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/cp-ptt052820.php

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Find episode transcript here: daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/periodical-cicadas-101-why-smarter-people-choke-under-pressure-and-analyzing-dna-to-solve-the-dead-sea-scrolls-mystery">https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/periodical-cicadas-101-why-smarter-people-choke-under-pressure-and-analyzing-dna-to-solve-the-dead-sea-scrolls-mystery