Sleep paralysis, cool 13-year-olds, toxoplasmosis, and Wikipedia reliability

http://www.usefulscience.org/podcast/0

This week we learn about sleep paralysis, whether cool 13 year olds have already washed out by the age of 22, is your cat’s poop affecting your behavior, and how reliable is medical information on Wikipedia.

The is the first ever episode of the Useful Science Podcast. We're still figuring this thing out, and we can really use your help to make it as good as possible. Let us know what you think at [email protected].

Show Notes:

• Sleep paralysis, in which a temporary inability to move occurs as one wakes up, is fairly common (~7.6% of general population). It can be frightening and sometimes occurs with hallucinations, but quickly goes away.


• The 'cool kids' at age 13 tend to be less popular and have worse social skills than others by the time they turn 22.


• People who own cats are more likely to be infected with the Toxoplasma gondii parasite. This parasite causes behavior changes in infected mice and may affect human behavior as well.


• Wikipedia articles about the top 10 most costly medical conditions have been found to contain many errors.