The Wholesome Show

35 minutes 40 seconds

Radiation Flight Attendants, Belly Button Lasers and Plastic Protein Cookies

This week’s episode is a reminder that science is basically a grab bag of “that’s amazing” and “please don’t make me think about that”. We’ve got flight attendants quietly racking up cosmic radiation exposure, lasers that can “smell” disease, NASA flirting with the idea of turning plastic into food, and a deep-sea stash of radioactive barrels that looks like the world’s worst scavenger hunt.

First up, the hidden cost of being nice at 30,000 feet. Flight attendants and aircrew aren’t just dealing with turbulence and weird passenger behaviour, they’re also exposed to higher levels of cosmic radiation because there’s less atmosphere protecting them at cruising altitude. It’s the kind of risk you can’t see or feel, which makes it easy to forget it’s even there.

Then we get into disease detection, featuring Joy Milne, who can literally smell Parkinson’s. Scientists have taken that idea and used lasers to detect chemical signatures our bodies give off, because those compounds can change when disease is present. It’s promising for earlier diagnosis, even if “belly button swab” is not a phrase anyone wanted in their life.

We finish with two flavours of “humanity, please”: turning plastic waste into edible protein for long space missions, and imaging radioactive waste barrels dumped on the ocean floor. The plastic-to-protein idea is gross but practical in a closed system, and the barrel footage is unsettling, even if early findings suggest radiation levels aren’t as catastrophic as you’d expect and marine life is still moving in.

CHAPTER MARKERS:

00:00 Intro

03:32 Cosmic Rays Explained

03:49 Radiation Limits Basics

10:37 Smelling Parkinsons

13:45 Swabs and Laser Sniffing

16:42 Belly Button Swab Tech

18:39 Plastic Cookie Protein

21:00 Microbes Upcycle Waste

26:37 Radioactive Sea Dumping

32:30 Radiation Levels Findings

SOURCES:

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-turn-plastic-waste-into-protein-rich-cookies/?_bhlid=f36f164206868ff7a2c8a47605943918f6cb498c

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-68298-9

https://www.sciencealert.com/150000-tons-of-radioactive-waste-were-dumped-in-the-atlantic-decades-later-its-visibly-oozing

https://www.sciencealert.com/experiment-tested-out-of-body-experiences-two-reported-seeing-things-scientists-cant-explain

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out-of-body_experience

https://www.futurity.org/psychiatrists-agreement-diagnosis-3344852/

https://www.sciencealert.com/job-with-highest-risk-of-radiation-cancer-revealed-out-of-over-500-occupations

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2852504#google_vignette

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight-time_equivalent_dose

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

29 September 2026, 5:00 pm

23 minutes 39 seconds

Alien Mega Structures, Black Hole Stars and Autonomous Drones

This week’s episode is a reminder that science can make you feel tiny and powerful in the same breath. One minute we’re scanning the sky for signs of alien engineering, the next we’re looking at something that behaves like a star and a black hole at the same time, and then we’re back on Earth asking the least fun question of all: should we be building machines that can decide who lives and who dies?

First up, alien mega structures. We talk Dyson spheres, the idea that an advanced civilisation could wrap its star in solar collectors and turn a sun into a power station. You wouldn’t see the structure directly, but you might detect the heat it gives off, which is why Project Hephaistos is hunting for strange heat signatures that could hint at something artificial.

Then there’s the “black hole star”, which sounds made up but is very much being taken seriously. James Webb observations point to an object pumping out a ridiculous amount of energy, far beyond what normal nuclear fusion should allow. The leading idea is that it’s some kind of hybrid, where a black hole is involved in powering the light, which is not how we usually think of black holes behaving.

And finally, we land back on Earth with autonomous drones, where the vibe shifts from curiosity to ethics. These systems are moving beyond remote control and into selecting and engaging targets without direct human input, which raises the big question: if a machine makes the call, who’s responsible when it goes wrong?

CHAPTER MARKERS:

00:00 Intro

00:42 Dyson Spheres Explained

02:08 Project Hephaistos Hunt

05:09 Apollo 11 Quarantine Story

07:16 Space Biosecurity Risks

09:30 Moon Stopover Containment Plan

11:01 We Already Contaminated Mars

11:47 Biosecurity Costs and Stakes

15:28 Black Hole Star Idea

18:25 AI Drones and War Crimes

20:48 Autonomous Targeting Fears

SOURCES:

https://esawebb.org/

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2607.09460

https://www.sciencealert.com/thermodynamics

https://www.astro.uu.se/~ez/hephaistos/hephaistos.html

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-026-02428-5?ref=404media.co

https://www.sciencealert.com/oldest-known-maya-monument-could-be-a-map-of-the-universe

https://www.sciencealert.com/a-famous-golden-palace-in-spain-is-turning-purple-and-now-we-know-why

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2023.100486

https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511760822.013

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774317000774

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/russia-fully-ai-controlled-drones-kill-ukrainians

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

22 September 2026, 5:00 pm

34 minutes 20 seconds

Dinosaur Bone Moguls, Spider-tailed Vipers and Seasonal Crimes

This week’s episode is a reminder that humans will try to make money from anything, and nature will always be stranger than we expect. We jump from dinosaur bones as luxury investments, to an AI school that claims it can speed up learning, to a snake with a tail that looks like a spider, and then to crime patterns that change with the seasons.

First up: dinosaur fossils. Dinosaur skeletons are being bought and sold like high-end art, with buyers ranging from celebrities to finance types who want something rare for their collection.

Then we head to Iran for the spider-tailed viper, a snake that uses its tail like bait. The tail looks like a spider, so birds get curious and come closer, and the snake strikes. It’s clever, unsettling, and a good reminder that behaviour can be just as important as bones when it comes to evolution.

We also look at Alpha School, which says AI can help kids finish core learning in a couple of hours, then spend the rest of the day on skills and personal interests. It sounds exciting, but we keep one eyebrow raised, because, well, it’s called “Alpha School”.

We finish with seasonal crime, where burglary peaks in winter in the UK but summer in North America, and bike theft spikes in summer because that’s when bikes are everywhere and easiest to steal.

CHAPTER MARKERS:

00:00 Intro

01:48 Record Fossil Auction Prices

05:36 Who Buys and Public Access

08:54 Is It a Good Investment

10:20 Spider Tailed Viper

16:31 Alpha School and Two Hour Learning

19:48 Social Media Grading

20:37 Unpaid Grit Assignments

21:46 Heart Rate Test

25:57 Crime Seasonality Explained

32:35 Biggest Seasonal Crime

SOURCES:

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-89047-001?doi=1

https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.70308

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43762-023-00094-x

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-much-should-a-dinosaur-cost/

https://www.sciencealert.com/extremely-rare-rapunzel-syndrome-can-cause-a-hairball-so-large-it-requires-surgery

https://www.swinburne.edu.au/news/2016/10/what-is-rapunzel-syndrome-and-why-do-some-people-eat-hair/

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-alpha-school-education-heart-monitor

https://alpha.school/the-program/#love

https://buildcognitiveresonance.substack.com/p/special-report-my-so-called-alpha

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

15 September 2026, 5:00 pm

39 minutes 30 seconds

Cyborg Cockroaches, Splash-free Urinals and Snortable Nanobots

This week’s episode is what happens when science stops asking “should we?” and gets very focused on “could we?”. Cockroaches are being upgraded into tiny rescue workers, a Silicon Valley crew pitching brain tech you might one day take through your nose, and the Ig Nobels are back to remind everyone that the line between genius and ridiculous is thin.

First up, cyborg cockroaches. Engineers in Seoul are developing “Paraborgs”, insects fitted with cameras and tiny syringe systems designed to crawl through disaster zones and reach people trapped under rubble. The research claims a 95% success rate for close-range injections, which is impressive, even if it does mean trusting a cockroach to stay on task.

Then we swing into the future with Ray Kurzweil and a startup working on brain-computer interfaces without surgery, using nanobots instead of implants. The part you’ll remember is the proposed delivery method: you might one day “snort” the nanobots like a nasal spray, and they’d travel up to help create a connection between your brain and your devices. It’s early days, but the message is clear: tech wants to move in closer.

To round it out, we hit the Ig Nobels for silly science with real curiosity, from cockroach milk as an energy-dense food source to a splash-reducing urinal redesign, then a quick detour into a wholesome data point: Dolly Parton’s bipartisan popularity in the US.

So that’s the week: bugs with medical kits, brain bots via the nose, science that makes you laugh before it makes you think, and Dolly reminding us that being likeable is still a rare superpower.

CHAPTER MARKERS:

00:00 Intro

01:43 Roaches With Cameras

03:19 Paraborgs Explained

04:47 Remote Syringe Injections

08:00 The Ig Nobels

18:03 Bucket Bong Rabbit Hole

21:17 King Zog Chain Smoking

25:37 Joint Year Metric

26:55 Dolly Parton Popularity Data

32:03 Kurzweil Brain Interface

37:00 Snortable Nanobot BCI

SOURCES:

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

8 September 2026, 5:00 pm

34 minutes 7 seconds

Doomsday flight trackers, trebuchet trauma, worm-flies and sugar-rationed babies

This week’s line-up is a reminder that humans can turn literally anything into a warning sign. A flight tracker becomes an apocalypse detector, a medieval siege weapon becomes a forensic crime scene, and wartime sugar rationing turns into an accidental public health intervention. All of these stories are weirdly useful.

First up: the DIY apocalypse forecast. Kyle MacDonald’s idea is that unusual patterns in private jets and military flights might act like an early-warning system, because the rich and strategic tend to move first when something big is coming. It’s half conspiracy, half pattern recognition, and very much a sign of the times.

Then we head back to medieval “workplace safety”, which mostly meant “try not to die”. A skeleton found with more than 160 fractures is being linked to a trebuchet accident, which makes grim sense once you remember these machines were built to launch massive projectiles with terrifying force. If you ever find a time machine, here’s the advice: do not stand near the trebuchet.

Finally, we jump to WWII, where sugar rationing wasn’t a wellness trend, it was scarcity management. Research suggests that lower sugar intake in the first 1,000 days of life may be linked to reduced risk of chronic disease later on, including some serious conditions.

So that’s the week: flight trackers as doomsday tea leaves, a medieval death that reads like a physics demo, and a reminder that early nutrition matters more than we like to admit.

CHAPTER MARKERS:

00:00 Intro

00:36 Disasters Seen From Above

02:06 Where To Survive Apocalypse

03:54 Resilience Factors Explained

07:29 Best Countries Ranked

11:24 Siege Trauma Mystery

18:29 Trebuchet War Wolf

20:35 Connectome Explained

22:30 Worm Brain Fly Body

25:56 Sugar Rationing Natural Experiment

SOURCES:

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1 September 2026, 5:00 pm

31 minutes 48 seconds

Chicken-powered nukes, lab-grown mini brains and the thalidomide-blocking badass

This week’s line-up is a perfect reminder that science is not a neat little march of progress. It’s more like a grab bag where you pull out “chicken-powered nuclear landmines”, “mini brains that can sense time”, “one woman quietly preventing a medical catastrophe” and a misinformation spiral about circumcision and autism, all in the same episode.

During the Cold War, the British came up with a plan called ‘Operation Blue Peacock’, which involved burying atomic landmines in West Germany as a deterrent against a Soviet invasion. The problem was winter. Electronics and trigger mechanisms don’t love freezing temperatures and someone needed a way to keep the bomb warm enough to function. So the proposed solution was… chickens. As in, live poultry being placed inside the casing as biological heaters.

Then we jump to the present, where in a Matrix-like manoeuvre, scientists are growing “mini brain organoids” that model some aspects of human brain development. Recent work suggests these organoids can “record” the passage of time, in the sense that their activity changes in ways that reflect time-based patterns.

Following that, we hit one of those headlines that makes you blink twice: “Male circumcision doesn’t raise autism risk.” Which immediately raises the more important question, who decided that was a thing we needed to debunk in the first place? Thanks RFK Jr. The logic was basically “circumcision rates equal painkiller exposure”, which is a pretty heroic leap when you’re talking about something as complex as autism.

Lastly, in the middle of that era, Frances Kelsey, working at the FDA, refused to approve thalidomide in the United States without stronger evidence of safety, and her insistence on proper data prevented enormous harm. It’s a story of someone doing their job with a level of rigour that the system desperately needed.

So that’s the week: nuclear deterrence warmed by chickens, mini brains that make us argue about ethics and language, a reminder that real heroism can look like paperwork, and a misinformation case study where a speculative idea got treated like a fact.

00:00 Introduction

00:36 Biowarfare

04:32 Operation Blue Peacock

06:49 Chickens Inside Nukes

09:06 Why The Plan Died

10:10 Brain Organoids Explained

12:55 Can Mini Brains Sense Time?

16:44 Circumcision Autism Shock

21:37 Thalidomide FDA Standoff

27:30 Kelsey’s Legacy

29:52 Conclusion

SOURCES:

https://www.travelpulse.com/news/airlines-airports/worlds-largest-electric-aircraft-completes-first-flight

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10877-x

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Oldham_Kelsey

https://www.futurity.org/circumcision-autism-risk-3342752/

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2852526#google_vignette

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wfjXnQ_0wmI

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/21/fact-checking-rfk-jrs-false-claim-linking-autism-to-circumcision

https://researchcentre.army.gov.au/library/australian-army-journal-aaj/number-1-july-1948/biological-warfare

https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-developed-chicken-warmed-nuclear-landmines-2016-11

https://www.iflscience.com/in-the-1950s-the-uk-tried-to-make-a-nuclear-bomb-filled-with-live-chickens-77749

https://www.sciencealert.com/psychopathic-tendencies-are-linked-to-microbes-inside-your-body-study-reveals

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-026-04052-z

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

25 August 2026, 5:00 pm

32 minutes 54 seconds

River bomb archaeology, AI viruses and Viagra cancer cures

This week’s science news is a perfect example of the universe having a weird sense of timing. The Danube River hits record low water levels and suddenly Europe starts coughing up skeletons, WWII war relics, and Roman engineering like it’s doing a historical clear-out. If you’re into archaeological discoveries, ancient history, and the climate change impacts hiding in plain sight, this episode will be right up your alley.

We dig into what the shrinking Danube is revealing, from a Wehrmacht motorcycle and German military remains in Hungary to the reappearance of the Constantine Bridge foundations in Bulgaria. It’s fascinating, grim, and a solid reminder that extreme drought and low rivers don’t just change ecosystems; they change what history we can literally see.

Then we jump straight into modern science fiction: AI-designed viruses. Researchers used artificial intelligence to design viral genomes, creating bacteriophages that target bacteria like E. coli, and a small number of those AI-generated viruses actually worked. It’s exciting for medicine and antibiotic alternatives, but it also raises big biosecurity and ethics questions about what happens when powerful biotech tools get easier to use.

And finally, Viagra shows up with a surprise side quest into cancer research. Studies suggest Sildenafil may be linked to better survival outcomes in men who later develop cancer, especially when combined with statins, possibly by limiting cholesterol pathways cancer cells use to spread (but yes, it’s correlation, not a DIY treatment plan). So that’s the week: Danube archaeology, AI virus design, and Viagra in oncology conversations it was never meant to be part of.

CHAPTER MARKERS

00:00 Introduction

00:32 The Danube and Nuclear Plants

04:04 Low River Reveals Mammoth

04:31 Wartime Wrecks and Remains

07:41 Constantine Bridge Unearthed

11:31 Mohenjo-daro Inequality Math

17:56 AI Designed Viruses

23:53 Science Upside vs Risk

28:37 Viagra and Cancer Link

SOURCES:

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

18 August 2026, 5:00 pm

41 minutes 33 seconds

Snakes have necks, giant sperm physics and fungus fashion

Someone once described a snake as “a tail with a face”, and honestly, it’s hard to unsee it. Snakes look like pure commitment to the tube lifestyle, with very little going on besides forward motion and mild judgement. Except a 2015 study basically ruined the idea that snakes are neckless noodles by pointing out they do have a neck, it’s just short.

From snakes we zigzag into sperm gigantism, which is exactly what it sounds like and exactly what you wish it wasn’t. Some species produce sperm so long it becomes a genuine physics and storage problem.

Then we jump into the world of living textiles, where fungi are being used to create materials that can self-repair and transform. The star here is Cordyceps militaris, which already sounds like it should come with a hazard symbol.

The pitch is genuinely cool. You can grow materials, engineer colour using yeast, and make textiles that biodegrade fast, like within 40 days in the right conditions.

Still, the idea that your clothes could heal themselves is tempting. It’s just a shame the same feature might also mean they can quietly disappear.

We finish with the global happiness report, because after snakes and sperm and fungus pants, we deserve a palate cleanser. And yes, Finland is back at the top because it’s an overachiever apparently.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

02:03 Spine Regions Explained

03:11 Snakes Are Not Tails

08:23 Physics Of Giant Sperm

14:09 World Happiness Rankings

18:29 How Happiness Is Measured

22:36 Trust and Lost Wallets

24:02 Why Finland Wins

26:46 Living Fungal Textiles

32:27 Self Cleaning and Biodegrading Clothes

36:55 Imaginarium of Tears

40:49 Wrap Up

SOURCES

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

13 August 2026, 3:51 am

36 minutes 47 seconds

Cannibals, MRI snuggle sacks and sex inside a whale

Is there any evidence-based reason cannibalism shouldn’t make a comeback? It’s a question that really should come with a warning label, but we couldn’t resist digging into it properly this week.

We’ve got researchers running the numbers on human-eating, rats in MRI “snuggle sacks” while tripping on mescaline, ants living their best fake-queen lives thanks to a tapeworm, and an eel story that is both medically relevant and spiritually scarring.

We also take a quick detour into the delicate art of scanning animal brains without turning the whole experiment into a panic response, plus a reminder that humans have always been weird about big animals (including the time people could literally walk into a whale’s mouth, until they ruined it for everyone).

So that’s the week: cannibalism analysed like a spreadsheet problem, parasites cosplaying queens, and a cautionary tale that should permanently retire “DIY constipation remedies” as a concept. Stay curious, stay critical, and for the love of all that is holy, keep the eels in the water.

CHAPTER MARKERS

00:00 Introduction

00:28 Should We Be Cannibals?

02:43 Math Model Approach

04:11 Disease Chain Risks

05:42 Kuru And Prions

07:19 Limits And Social Payoffs

08:34 Anthropic: Rare Books AI Scanning

10:53 Destroying Books To Digitise

14:59 Mescaline Rats In MRI

20:52 Rats Head Posts Training

22:36 Other Species Training

24:57 Malm Blue Whale Exhibit

30:10 Cordyceps Ant Zombies

31:01 Tapeworm Queen Ants

34:58 Orcas Fear Pilot Whales

35:46 Eel Medical Oddity

SOURCES:

https://www.bnr.nl/nieuws/tech-innovatie/10604219/tweedehandsboekverkopers-slaan-alarm-ai-bedrijven-kopen-obscure-boeken-op-om-te-versnipperen
https://esawebb.org/
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2607.09460
https://www.sciencealert.com/thermodynamics
https://www.sciencealert.com/amazing-footage-shows-how-eels-escape-death-after-being-swallowed
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijscr.2024.110401
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0039-6060(03)00076-X
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmoid_colon
https://www.sciencealert.com/why-you-dont-faint-every-time-you-stand-even-though-you-should
https://www.sciencealert.com/harmful-bacteria-can-trigger-pain-in-your-gut-and-now-we-know-how
https://bsky.app/profile/jordantyranny.bsky.social/post/3mrsiprbgac2k
https://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/33/gronberg_magnusson.php
https://www.404media.co/ai-companies-are-buying-tons-of-old-books-because-theyre-free-of-ai-slop/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter
https://www.sciencealert.com/mathematics-reveals-why-human-cannibalism-keeps-reappearing
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9017993/
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-hallucinogenic-compound-found-in-cacti-may-rewire-the-brains-sensory-filter
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-wild-parasite-makes-ants-live-longer-and-tricks-others-into-worshipping-them-scientists-finally-know-how

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

6 August 2026, 2:05 am

46 minutes 45 seconds

Invention of the wheelie suitcase, orphan-powered vaccines and the Barbie drug

This week’s line-up is a reminder that humans will do anything except choose the obvious option straight away. We’ve got a wheelie suitcase that was probably invented by a woman, then ignored until a man made it respectable, plus a smallpox vaccine rollout that sounds like a historical thriller, and a drug that went from medical research to TikTok tan hack with a side of “please don’t”.

First up, the wheelie suitcase. It’s such a simple idea you’d think it would have been embraced instantly, but apparently rolling your own bag was once seen as soft, feminine, and not what a “proper” man would do when he could haul it like a martyr. The suitcase didn’t change, the story around it did.

Then we head into smallpox, where public health was never just science, it was logistics with a pulse. The Balmis Expedition kept cowpox alive across an ocean by passing it through a chain of orphan children, which is horrifying now and was still pretty intense then, but it helped deliver vaccination where refrigeration didn’t exist.

And finally, the “Barbie drug”. Melanotan II was developed with a serious purpose, but online it got rebranded into a shortcut to a tan, complete with side effects that are not cute and risks that don’t fit neatly into an influencer caption. Different centuries, same theme: culture gets involved, and suddenly the obvious, the safe, and the sensible are no longer the default.

CHAPTER MARKERS

00:00 Introduction

00:28 Gendered Tech History

01:55 Wheelie Suitcase Mystery

06:16 Sexism Blocks Adoption

13:17 Masculinity Shapes Innovation

14:42 Smallpox Devastation

19:58 Balmis Expedition Challenge

21:26 Orphans As Vaccine Carriers

25:08 Tokyo Half Pants Heat

27:05 Speeding And Emissions

29:11 Tanning Drug Priapism

36:41 Influencer Surveillance Stunts

39:09 Fitbit AI Coach

43:22 AI Health Advice Gone Wrong

SOURCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_World
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variolation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inoculation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Jenner
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowpox
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campeche
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bharat-jayaprakash-351b26159/
https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/could-your-smartphone-be-the-secret-to-cutting-vehicle-emissions-without-compromising-traffic-speed-or-safety/
https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/will-high-gas-prices-lower-carbon-emissions/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19329842/
https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/obeying-the-speed-limit-would-save-57000-tons-of-carbon-a-day-it-would-cost-you-54-seconds/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=heres-how-everyday-drivers-can-cut-tons-of-carbon-emissions-in-under-a-minute
https://www.nature.com/articles/s44458-026-00100-3
https://bsky.app/profile/molly.wiki/post/3mr4cworzeu2g
https://www.404media.co/ai-companies-are-buying-tons-of-old-books-because-theyre-free-of-ai-slop/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter
https://www.sciencealert.com/new-study-reveals-why-ancient-roman-concrete-keeps-getting-stronger
https://www.sciencealert.com/dermatologists-alarmed-by-concerning-injectable-tan-trend
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jun/24/mystery-of-wheelie-suitcase-how-gender-stereotypes-held-back-history-of-invention

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

29 July 2026, 4:58 am

43 minutes 22 seconds

Pig Orgasms, Placebo Power and How iPhones are Ruining Sex

This week we went from “surely that can’t be true” to “oh… that’s actually happening”. We fact check the legendary pig orgasm claim, then get weirdly hopeful about placebo pills that work even when you’re told they’re fake.

From there, we look at research that points a finger at the iPhone era for a chunk of the fertility slide, and what that might really be measuring in modern life. Then we’re back on humanity’s favourite hobby, trying to control the weather, now rebranded as “weather jiu jitsu”.

We finish with a satellite reality check, because apparently we’re speed running our way to a sky full of moving dots. If you like your science with a side of disbelief, this one’s for you.

CHAPTER MARKERS

00:00 Wild Orgasm Facts

01:05 Guinness Pig Claim

01:45 Meet the Hosts

03:03 Darwinian Doubts

05:50 Fact Checking Begins

06:08 Boar Taint Explained

07:37 Collecting Semen Methods

10:33 Four Ejaculation Phases

11:44 Verdict and Takeaways

12:42 iPhone Baby Bust

14:55 How the Study Works

19:00 Placebos and Aging

20:25 Open vs Deceptive Placebo

21:54 Open Placebo Ethics

22:17 Study Design Breakdown

22:43 Results That Shocked

24:16 Why Placebos Work

24:55 Open Placebos Everywhere

27:26 Weather Control Obsession

28:55 Weather Jiu Jitsu Explained

33:17 Nudging Storms Risks

35:50 Satellite Boom Warning

39:19 Night Sky Light Pollution

40:42 Governance and Fixes

42:34 Wrap Up and Contact

SOURCES:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJNwAKSL17s

https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2607/

https://journals.plos.org/water/article?id=10.1371/journal.pwat.0000562&ref=404media.co

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0349765&ref=404media.co

https://www.nber.org/papers/w35310

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/9/1665

https://apple.news/AtTrEygKCQkCxuXk4Sb6Ojg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boar_taint

https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/farms-fishing-forestry/agriculture/animal/industries/pigs/breed/boars/collect

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

21 July 2026, 5:00 pm