Episode Details

Learn about how studying World of Warcraft helped researchers learn how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic; how scientists described mouse facial expressions for the first time; and how social rejection can fuel creativity. Scientists studied a "pandemic" in World of Warcraft to learn how to fight a real virus by Grant Currin Fenlon, W. (2020, March 13). The researchers who once studied WoW’s Corrupted Blood plague are now fighting the coronavirus. Pcgamer; PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/the-researchers-who-once-studied-wows-corrupted-blood-plague-are-now-fighting-the-coronavirus/  World of Warcraft experienced a pandemic in 2005. That experience may help coronavirus researchers. (2020, April 9). The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2020/04/09/world-warcraft-experienced-pandemic-2005-that-experience-may-help-coronavirus-researchers/  Lofgren, E. T., & Fefferman, N. H. (2007). The untapped potential of virtual game worlds to shed light on real world epidemics. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 7(9), 625–629. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1473-3099(07)70212-8  Scientists have described mouse facial expressions for the first time by Steffie Drucker The facial expressions of mice. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-04/m-tfe033120.php  Dolensek, N., Gehrlach, D. A., Klein, A. S., & Gogolla, N. (2020). Facial expressions of emotion states and their neuronal correlates in mice. Science, 368(6486), 89–94. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz9468  In some people, social rejection can fuel creativity by Kelsey Donk Khazan, O. (2020, March 16). Are Weird People More Creative? The Atlantic; The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/04/the-perks-of-being-a-weirdo/606778/  Kim, S. H., Vincent, L. C., & Goncalo, J. A. (2013). Outside advantage: Can social rejection fuel creative thought? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142(3), 605–611. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029728  Subscribe to Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. You can also listen to our podcast as part of your Alexa Flash Briefing; Amazon smart speakers users, click/tap “enable” here: https://www.amazon.com/Curiosity-com-Curiosity-Daily-from/dp/B07CP17DJY  See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.