47: The Abyssopelagic Zone, The Crystal Healing Boom, and Time Capsules

Episode notes

What lies below the depths of the sea… and why should we stop being so afraid of it?  Okay we know crystals can’t heal you, but could they actually do… something?  And why are time capsules more complicated than you’d think, and why should we love them anyway?

Images/Videos we talk about:
The Phantom Jellyfish (warning for Thalassophobia)

The Venus Flow Basket Sponge

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Timestamps:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:05:04) The Abyssopelagic Zone
(00:54:21) The Crystal Healing Boom
(01:26:19) Time Capsules
(01:54:18) Outro

We also learn about:  The Zones of the Ocean, the midnight zone, the hadal zone in the trenches, Tom forgets that water freezes, cold water and thermal vents, pompeii worm’s bacterial jacket, chemosynthesis, the deep see adaptation alarm, pisolite, it’s a myth that more people have been to space than the bottom of the ocean, the challenger deep, deep sea and moon exploration were happening around the same time, we actually DO know more about the sea than the moon, the abyssal plains is half the planet… but people don’t care, thalassophobia, there are no amateur deep sea explorers, the enigmitization of the deep sea, deep sea gigantism, why not visit the deep and eat delicious foot long shrimp, phantom jellyfish, venus flower baskets symbiosis is WILD, 500 sea pigs facing in the same direction, the burglar alarm atolla jellyfish, artificial E Jelly lure, gelatinous little guys, “i thought that bit was gonna be way better than it was”, lateral line, the cusk eel is the deepest fish, whales dive deeper to send messages farther, marine snow, Ella pulls a Caroline, deep sea nodule mining, we can still like things and not believe in them scientifically, crystals DON’T date to ancient Egypt, amethyst hangover cure, to be fair they didn’t even know what crystals were, bad economic or healthcare pressures may push folks to crystals, crystals do actually have vibrational properties just not those kinds! the piezoelectric effect, quartz watches and pickups, paranormal powers placebo or priming, a great psych experiment where no one had to take LSD, we love a repeatable study, the real benefits of crystals from placebo and community, confirmation bias is powerful and good, actually harmful crystals, don’t give babies crystals for teething, gems are just shiny, you can ship of theseus the voyager topic from every time we mention it, foundation deposits weren’t exactly time capsule but were cool, leaving notes in houses, Time Capsules are optimistic and kind of silly, the dissappointed norweigan time capsule kids, deciding what to put in a capsule is really really tricky, what is sublime and what is trivial? taking a picture of a polroid, the interesting complications of time capsules, the time travel fever, “artificial special collections”, Tom’s own time capsule from 6th grade, good teachers are so good. Caroline’s gonna cry again!

Sources:

The Deep Ocean: Life in the Abyss
The Abyssal Zone
How Do Animals Survive in the Deep Ocean?
Chemosynthesis
We Know More About the Moon
We Know More About the Moon 2
Gene Feldman
Fear and loathing of the deep ocean: why don’t people care about the deep sea?
“Venus Flower Basket ”
Eye in the Sea
How We Found the Giant Squid
Human Impact
Species in the CCZ
—
The Guardian: American Anxiety Drives A Crystal Boom
Oprah Daily: Healing Crystals
Stanford: Understanding People’s Obsession with Crystals
Time: Do Crystals Work
Livescience: Crystal Healing
OED: Amethyst
Robert Boyle: An Essay About the Origine & Virtues of Gems
1981 Paper: Piezoelectric Effects in Quartz-Rich Rocks
Piezoelectricity and Its Applications
2008 Paper: Prescribing “placebo treatments”: results of national survey of US internists and rheumatologists
The New England Journal of Medicine: Why Unconventional Medicine?
2010 Paper: Mystical Stones in Oncology: Crystal Healing Power or Perfect Nonsense?
Stanford Medicine: Patient Mindset Matters in Healing and Deserves More Study
Forbes Health: Healing Crystals
Nationwide Children’s: The Dangers of Amber Teething Necklaces
IGS: Gemstone Toxicity Table
—
William E Jarvis Paper on Time Capsules
Egyptian Foundation Deposits
Matt Novak Interview on Time Capsules
Boring Norwegian Time Capsule
Atlantic’s “The Paradox of Time Capsules”
History of Westinghouse Time Capsule
The Book Inside the Westinghouse Time Capsule
The Local Michigain Time Capsule