Blood Pressures, Mercury’s Crusty Diamonds, Dad or Mom Genes

Today, you’ll learn about how high blood pressure can reduce the gray matter in your brain, why scientists think the surface of Mercury is covered in diamonds, and how while we have gene pairs from both parents, our bodies will use one parent’s gene over the other’s depending on the circumstances.

50 Shades of Gray Matter

• “Study: An Early Spike in Blood Pressure Can Pummel Your Brain” by Nick Keppler
  • https://www.inverse.com/mind-body/high-blood-pressure-brain-health
• “10 Ways to Control High Blood Pressure Without Medication” by Mayo Clinic Staff
  • https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/in-depth/high-blood-pressure/art-20046974

Diamonds a Plenty

• “Diamonds may stud Mercury’s crust” by Nikk Ogasa
  • https://www.sciencenews.org/article/mercury-diamond-surface-crust-meteorite-impact-graphite
• “Mercury Could Be Littered With Diamonds” by Ramin Skibba
  • https://www.wired.com/story/mercury-could-be-littered-with-diamonds/
• “Diamonds Unearthed” by Cate Lineberry
  • https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/diamonds-unearthed-141629226/

Mom and dad genes aren’t just at the mall.

• “Parental Control: How Genes From Mom Or Dad Shape Behavior” by Jennifer Michalowski
  • https://healthcare.utah.edu/publicaffairs/news/2022/03/genes-behavior.php
• “Researchers uncover how parent’s genes shape behavior, parental controls”
  • https://theprint.in/features/researchers-uncover-how-parents-genes-shape-behavior-parental-controls/941227/
• “Brain Basics: Genes At Work In The Brain” by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
  • https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/patient-caregiver-education/brain-basics-genes-work-brain

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Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/blood-pressures-mercurys-crusty-diamonds-dad-or-mom-genes

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