Episode Details

Today, you’ll learn about why symmetry dominates the natural world, how it may be possible to conserve water using solar panels, and why growing vegetables might soon involve a trip to the Moon.

Two halves make a whole.

• “Life’s Preference for Symmetry Is Like “A New Law of Nature” by Kate Golembiewski
  • https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/science/symmetry-biology-evolution.html
• “What is RNA?” by Michael Dhar
  • https://www.livescience.com/what-is-RNA.html
• “The Origins of Asymmetry: A Protein That Makes You Do the Twist” by Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique
  • https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181123135026.htm

Sun = more water.

• “California Is About to Test Its First Solar Canals” by Roger Bales
  • https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/california-is-about-to-test-its-first-solar-canals-180979637/
• “Project Nexus: Water & Energy Integration for the Future” by TID Water and Power
  • https://www.tid.org/about-tid/current-projects/project-nexus/
• “Energy and Water Co-Benefits from Covering Canals with Solar Panels” by Brandi McKuin, et al.
  • https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00693-8
• “NOAA Drought Task Force Report on the 2020–2021 Southwestern U.S. Drought” by NOAA Drought Task Force IV
  • https://www.drought.gov/documents/noaa-drought-task-force-report-2020-2021-southwestern-us-drought
• “New NOAA Report: Exceptional Southwest Drought Exacerbated” by Human-Caused Warming by NOAA/NIDIS
  • https://www.drought.gov/news/new-noaa-report-exceptional-southwest-drought-exacerbated-human-caused-warming
• “California Approves New Water Restrictions Amid Worsening Drought” by Soumya Karlamangla
  • https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/25/us/california-drought-water-restrictions.html
• “California State Water Project” by Wikipedia
  • ​​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Water_Project
• “California Agricultural Production Statistics” by California Department of Food and Agriculture
  • https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/statistics/

Grocery shopping on the moon.

• “A first: Scientists grow plants in soil from the Moon” By Phys.org
  • https://phys.org/news/2022-05-scientists-soil-moon.html
• “Scientists Grow Plants in Moon Soil for the First Time” by Shea Swenson
  • https://modernfarmer.com/2022/05/plants-grow-in-moon-soil-nasa/

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Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/why-symmetry-wins-solar-covered-canals-plants-on-the-moon