• 39 minutes 55 seconds
    Robot Wolves, Neanderthal Brains and Why Snakes Are Winning

    Robot wolves are now being used to scare bears away from Japanese schools, scientists have grown mini Neanderthal brains and plugged them into little robots, and snakes are quietly topping the lethality leaderboard while everyone keeps blaming sharks. This week, Will and Rod bounce between wildlife deterrence, prehistoric brain tech, and a public health reality check that hits harder than any movie monster.

    We start in Japan, where bears have been wandering into supermarkets and school grounds, and the solution is peak Japan: “monster robot wolves” with sensors, lights, and loud noises designed to scare bears off without harming them. They look like an 80s horror prop, but the goal is serious, keep people safe and avoid lethal control.

    Then we head into the lab, where researchers have grown tiny Neanderthal brain organoids, nicknamed Neanderoids, and connected them to small crab like robots. It is fascinating, slightly unsettling, and a reminder that science will always find a way to make the past feel uncomfortably present.

    Finally, we look at snakes as one of the world’s biggest killers, with India carrying a huge share of snakebite deaths, and we end with a cybersecurity story where a pen tester talked IT into handing over access on a phone call. Not ideal.

     

     

    00:00 Japan Bear Surge

    01:20 Meet the Hosts

    02:58 Robot Wolf Deterrents

    06:37 Upgrades and Risks

    08:27 Neanderthal Mini Brains

    12:03 Brains Wired to Robot Crabs

    13:31 Fascism and Underlings

    15:51 Torture Battalion Data

    21:46 Animal Killers Teaser

    22:35 Mosquitoes Kill Indirectly

    23:30 Snakes Top the List

    23:40 Floods and Snake Spikes

    24:13 India Snakebite Mystery

    25:07 Verbal Autopsies Explained

    26:51 Antivenom Access Problem

    28:22 Next Deadliest Animals Rundown

    28:56 Parasites and Kissing Bugs

    31:07 Elephants and Hunter Karma

    33:15 Bears Sharks and Big Cats

    35:06 Social Engineering Hack Story

    38:40 Phone Calls Beat Security

    39:05 Podcast Wrap and Callouts

     

    SOURCES:

    https://uk.news.yahoo.com/japan-robot-wolves-high-demand-075406454.html

    https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/japan-built-robot-wolves-to-thwart-bear-attack-and-theyre-flying-off-the-shelves/

    https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01533-8/abstract

    https://theconversation.com/your-gluten-sensitivity-might-be-something-else-entirely-new-study-shows-267098

    https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/489067/snakebite-antivenom-deaths

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

    https://elifesciences.org/articles/54076

    https://www.science.org/content/article/exclusive-neanderthal-minibrains-grown-dish

    https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/05/14/to-gain-root-access-intruder-just-had-to-ask/5239853

    https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/world/americas/actually-democracy-dies-in-hr.html

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    26 May 2026, 5:00 pm
  • 46 minutes 57 seconds
    Mouse Utopia Experiment, Constipation & Heart Attacks, and Phrases For When Things Go Wrong

    A 1960s mouse utopia that collapsed into a vanity-obsessed apocalypse, a global database of 150,000 enthusiastic stool photos, and a scientific quest to help humans regrow limbs like a salamander. This week, we bounce between rodent dystopias, AI-powered gut tracking, regenerating toes, and international idioms for absolute chaos.

    We start in the late 1960s with Universe 25, an experiment that gave mice everything they wanted and accidentally proved that absolute perfection leads to a total social meltdown and a faction of self-obsessed, grooming-addicted rodents. Then, shifting gears with a violent jerk, we check in on a health app that has amassed a staggering database of 150,000 human poo images to train AI to analyse gut health.

    From there, we look to the future, where scientists are trying to steal a trick from the salamander to see if mice and eventually humans can regrow missing limbs. And to end the episode, we take a quick detour into international linguistics to look at how different cultures describe things going completely wrong, from Swedish blue cupboards to vivid Brazilian panic.

     

    CHAPTERS:

    00:00 Introduction

    02:20 Why Universe 25 Happened

    04:58 Building Mousetopia

    08:43 Utopia Turns Violent

    11:53 Behavioural Sink Theory

    14:04 Misuse And Critiques

    18:45 Poop App Citizen Science

    24:58 Sharing Stool Online

    25:44 Selling Poo Data

    27:25 AI Data Hunger

    28:23 Elvis Toilet Death

    29:43 Constipation Studies

    35:02 Mouse Toe Regrowth

    41:17 Cactus And Sayings

     

    SOURCES:

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    20 May 2026, 2:26 am
  • 41 minutes 14 seconds
    The Little Death, the Big Fraud, and the Bird That Stole Your Jerkin

    A poll has asked people if they could win in a fist fight against Donald Trump, a survey on female orgasms has wandered into yawning, crying, and hallucinations, and vulture nests are quietly operating as accidental museums of human history. This week, Will and Rod bounce between political fantasy, private biology, and birds that apparently have a better archive system than most institutions.

    We start with the poll that turned politics into Fight Club, which is less about combat and more about confidence, identity, and how people relate to power. Then we get into the science of female orgasms, and why the data is far stranger than the usual “fireworks” story, with reports ranging from tears to yawns to hallucination like effects.

    Finally, we head to the vultures, whose nests can preserve scraps and artefacts for decades, creating accidental time capsules for archaeologists. And to end on a rare positive note, we’ve got some good climate news: renewable energy is still surging in the US, despite all the noise.

     

    CHAPTERS:

    00:00 Political Science Milestones

    00:44 Poll Who Beats Trump

    01:56 Meet the Hosts

    02:50 Science Missed Female Biology

    04:00 Mapping the Clitoris

    05:49 Surveying Orgasm Effects

    08:47 Peri Orgasmic Symptoms

    14:08 Taboo and Medical Framing

    15:20 Case Report Finger Cure

    19:38 Altruism Games

    21:38 Resenting Do Gooders

    24:05 Tainted Altruism

    27:07 Academic Award Hoax

    30:49 Self Made Medals

    34:11 Vulture Nest Time Capsules

    40:07 Climate News Uplift

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    12 May 2026, 5:00 pm
  • 42 minutes 16 seconds
    Gut Microbiome Romance, Defensive Rewilding and Sharks on Cocaine

    High school students launch blood samples into near space, a real life love story involves a faecal microbiota transplant (FMT), and scientists find cocaine in sharks off The Bahamas. Today we bounce between space medicine, the gut microbiome and mental health, and the uncomfortable reality of ocean pollution.

    We break down what those student rocket experiments could mean for space exploration and future medical procedures, then dive into the emerging science of gut bacteria, antibiotics, and how the microbiome may influence conditions like bipolar disorder. It is fascinating, hopeful, and also a bit gross, which is basically the scientific sweet spot.

    Then we hit the ocean for the headline nobody asked for: sharks on cocaine. It is not just a meme, it is a sign of how far human contaminants travel through marine ecosystems, and why environmental science keeps finding our mess in places we thought were pristine.

    We also unpack why we yawn, including research on brain temperature regulation and whether yawning patterns act like a physiological fingerprint. 

     

    CHAPTERS:

    00:00 Introduction

    01:08 Chivalry Frog Meet Cute

    03:37 Bipolar Confession Backstory

    05:21 Gut Brain Link Evidence

    06:50 DIY FMT Love Story

    08:27 FMT Risks And Hype

    11:10 Defensive Rewilding Idea

    16:40 Cocaine Sharks Explained

    17:52 Bahamas Study Findings

    22:40 Pollution Everywhere

    23:30 Why We Yawn

    26:00 Contagious Yawns

    27:22 Yawns in the MRI

    28:37 Yawning Fingerprints

    30:21 Brain Goo Hypothesis

    32:06 Student Science Journal

    38:12 Blood to Space

    39:39 Four-Dimensional Minds

     

    SOURCES:

    • https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-28/faecal-microbiota-transplant-credited-with-curing-bipolar/105541522
    • https://futurism.com/science-energy/sharks-high-levels-of-cocaine
    • https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969724049477
    • https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749126001880
    • https://emerginginvestigators.org/
    • https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03071847.2026.2646067#d1e362
    • https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1569904826000340?via=ihub

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    6 May 2026, 2:09 am
  • 35 minutes 12 seconds
    Bixonomania, Adversarial Hermeneutics, and Strontium in Baby Teeth

    AI chatbots (and lazy researchers) can be convinced a fake disease is real, Gen Z is side-eyeing the whole “helpful assistant” thing, and apparently, the best way to jailbreak AI is to ask it nicely in the form of cyberpunk short fiction. This week, we bounce between medical misinformation, bureaucratic chaos, nuclear fallout hiding in baby teeth, and the U.S. Space Force anthem doing whatever it is doing, which is a lot to process in one sitting, but here we are.


    We start with a medical warning that is both funny and genuinely unsettling. A researcher basically invented a fake illness, “Bixonomania”, then seeded enough convincing-looking nonsense online that AI chatbots started repeating it like it was in a textbook.


    After that, we head into one of the most ridiculous corners of AI safety. Researchers have found that you can sometimes trick chatbots into revealing restricted information by wrapping your request in a poem, or a short story, or a cyberpunk scenario. This has a name, adversarial hermeneutics, which sounds like a philosophy seminar, but is really just “jailbreaking with vibes”.


    Among other little bits of science, to finish, we step back to the 1950s, when researchers collected thousands of baby teeth to track radioactive strontium from nuclear fallout. It is one of those stories that feels spooky even when you know it helped. Tiny teeth, big consequences. The data showed contamination rising, and it played a role in pushing back against atmospheric nuclear testing.

    CHAPTERS:
    00:00 Science Chat Kickoff
    00:51 Fake Disease Goes Viral
    02:04 How It Fooled Chatbots
    03:55 LLMs Repeat It Everywhere
    04:55 From Preprints to Journals
    07:02 Medical Chatbot Accuracy Reality
    09:43 Gen Z Turns on AI
    13:29 Workplace AI Sabotage
    15:06 Adversarial Hermeneutics Hacks
    17:43 Adversarial Hermeneutics Hacks
    18:49 AI Flooding Regulations
    22:28 Gemini Speed vs Safety
    23:46 Humans as Test Cases
    24:45 Baby Teeth Fallout Study
    28:54 Strontium 90 and Test Ban
    29:40 Space Force Theme Song
    32:00 Wrap Up and Plug

    SOURCES:
    https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01100-y?_bhlid=a10e41ad7eb12d68ab8fd4f81a75625fc74323ac
    https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/please-dont-trust-your-chatbot-for
    https://ahb.icaro-lab.com/index.html
    https://www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/ai-is-10-to-20-times-more-likely-to-help-you-build-a-bomb-if-you-hide-your-request-in-cyberpunk-fiction-new-research-paper-says/
    https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/trump-regulations-ai
    https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-artificial-intelligence-google-gemini-transportation-regulations
    https://www.gallup.com/analytics/651674/gen-z-research.aspx
    https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/zoomers-ai-sabotage
    https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/gen-z-attitude-ai

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    28 April 2026, 5:00 pm
  • 35 minutes 12 seconds
    Bank-Swindling Deepfakes, Cigarette Butt Bird Nests, & Ocean Current Chaos

    Deepfake scammers are now running full Zoom meetings, birds are lining their nests with cigarette butts like it’s a homewares trend, and Europe’s climate could be one ocean current wobble away from doing something dramatic. This week, Will and Rod bounce between AI crime, urban wildlife hacks, climate tipping points, and a fruit fly brain getting uploaded like it’s just another file transfer.

    We start in Hong Kong, where scammers used AI deepfakes to impersonate colleagues on a video call and convinced a CFO to transfer a huge amount of money. We then headed outside, where birds have started collecting cigarette butts for their nests.

    From there, we get serious with the ocean currents that help keep Europe mild, and why scientists are worried about what happens if that system collapses. And because the future refuses to wait its turn, we also look at a fruit fly brain mapped neuron by neuron and uploaded into a virtual simulation, plus a quick detour into hats as status symbols and tools of punishment.

     

    CHAPTERS:

    00:00 AI Zoom Scam

    01:31 Show Intro and Lineup

    03:02 Pipe Smoking Animal Tales

    06:28 Birds Using Cigarette Butts

    08:32 Nicotine as Parasite Control

    11:20 School Smoking and Odd Uses

    15:29 AMOC Climate Tipping Point

    19:33 Uploading Brains Fruit Fly Model

    23:50 Connectome Driven Fly

    24:47 Virtual Embodiment Claims

    25:20 Scaling Up To Mouse

    26:48 Hybrid Bio Machine Futures

    28:13 Hat History Detour

    30:27 Hats As Social Signals

     

    SOURCES:

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    22 April 2026, 1:08 am
  • 50 minutes 17 seconds
    Organ-Growing Meat Sacks, Fart-Measuring Underwear, and Tropical Tree Friendships

    Cloning is getting more useful and more unsettling, tropical trees may be better at cooperation than we are, and smart underwear is now tracking human flatulence in extraordinary detail. This week, Will and Rod move from organ-growing biotech to forest teamwork, fart analytics, and a deeply worrying case of AI gone wrong.

    They look at the push to grow organs using non-conscious biological structures, and why that could transform medicine while also sounding like the start of a sci-fi horror film. Then they head into the forest, where new research suggests tropical trees are better at helping their neighbours than trees in colder climates, raising some mildly awkward questions about whether plants are beating us at community building.

    And because science never knows when to stop, the episode also dives into the world of smart underwear, digestive health, and what actually counts as a normal amount of flatulence. Along the way, there is also a sobering look at a Tennessee grandmother wrongly jailed after faulty facial recognition, which is a useful reminder that technology can be both brilliant and deeply stupid.

     

    CHAPTERS:

    00:00 Cloning Nightmares Recap

    01:45 Monkey Organ Sacks Idea

    04:34 Human Organ Replacement Debate

    07:45 How It Could Work

    08:57 Surrogates And Storage Problems

    12:39 Trees That Get Along

    15:45 Why Tropical Trees Are Friendlier

    17:25 Not All Prodigies Win

    19:47 Late Bloomers And Training Myths

    24:10 German Forest Bathing Tease

    24:52 Forest Sounds Boost Mood

    25:35 Massage Stories Detour

    27:58 Local vs Tropical Forests

    30:14 Fart Science Gets Serious

    34:37 Smart Underwear Study

    36:55 Farting Baselines Explained

    39:19 Farter Types Atlas

    43:00 AI Facial Recognition Fail

    46:53 Why AI Enhancement Lies

    49:13 Wrap Up and Callouts

     

    SOURCES:

    https://futurism.com/health-medicine/startup-pitching-cloned-human-bodies

    https://www.wired.com/story/a-billionaire-backed-startup-wants-to-grow-organ-sacks-to-replace-animal-testing/

    https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26935844-200-the-human-flatus-atlas-plans-to-measure-the-explosivity-of-farts/

    https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1115965

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590137025001268?via%3Dihub

    https://www.newscientist.com/article/2509261-high-achieving-adults-rarely-began-as-child-prodigies/

    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-023-01840-1

    https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-grandmother-jail-mistake

    https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1123556

    https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1123008

    https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1123312

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    14 April 2026, 5:00 pm
  • 35 minutes 40 seconds
    Parrot Seduction, Clone Fatigue and The Most Stressful Truck Delivery in Europe

    A parrot in New Zealand makes conservation work wildly uncomfortable, scientists cloned mice until the whole thing started breaking down, and someone has now successfully trucked anti matter across Europe. This week, we bounce between endangered parrots, biological copy and paste and the least relaxing delivery job on Earth, which is a fairly strong effort even by science standards.

    We start in New Zealand, where Sirocco, a critically endangered kakapo with famously misdirected romantic instincts, helped inspire one of conservation’s strangest inventions. Scientists designed a special helmet in the hope of collecting semen for breeding efforts, after Sirocco kept directing his attention toward human heads instead of other birds. Then we head to Japan, where researchers spent twenty years cloning mice across 58 generations before the whole line began to collapse, with mutations building up and the clones dying early. After that, we hit the road in Europe, where a trucker successfully transported a tiny cloud of anti matter, proving that one of the rarest and most volatile substances in the universe can now apparently survive a delivery run.

    Finally, we end up in Scotland, where a robotic dog with an electronic nose is being used to sniff out ethanol leaks in whisky warehouses. It sounds ridiculous, because it is, but it is also a clever way to protect barrels and cut waste in one of the world’s oldest industries. 

     

    CHAPTERS:

    00:00 Introduction

    02:17 Kakapo Basics

    03:59 Lek Breeding Explained

    05:24 Sirocco Imprints on Humans

    07:30 The Helmet Experiment

    12:06 Infinite Cloning Idea

    14:17 58 Generations Later

    15:40 Why Clones Degrade

    17:16 80s Cloning Logic

    18:11 Antimatter Trucking Breakthrough

    19:23 What Antimatter Really Is

    20:35 Making and Measuring Antiprotons

    23:11 Fridge Trap on the Road

    26:16 Whisky Aging and Angels Share

    28:30 Warehouse Leak Detection Problem

    31:20 Robot Dog Barrel Sniffer

    33:10 Spider Robots and Drones Next

    34:52 Wrap Up and Listener Feedback



    SOURCES:

    https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/birds/sirocco-kakapo-ejaculation-helmet 

    https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/birds/kakapo-parrot 

    https://www.audubon.org/magazine/what-heck-lek-quirkiest-mating-party-earth 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlk9u8MIv7o 

    https://futurism.com/science-energy/scientists-cloned-recloned-mouse 

    https://www.wired.com/story/meet-scotlands-whisky-sniffing-robot-dog/ 

    https://home.cern/news/press-release/experiments/base-experiment-cern-succeeds-transporting-antimatter 

    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-69765-7 

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    9 April 2026, 1:01 am
  • 41 minutes 46 seconds
    The Breaking Bad Effect, Obstetric Chainsaws and AI Trip Sitters

    Breaking Bad looks a little more plausible than you would hope, the chainsaw has a deeply unsettling medical origin story, and people are now asking whether AI can guide them through a psychedelic trip. This week, we bounce between crime, childbirth, and chatbot consciousness, which is not a sentence anyone should have to write, but here we are.

    We start with the so-called Breaking Bad effect, looking at research from Denmark suggesting that a life-changing diagnosis like cancer can increase the likelihood of criminal behaviour. When people feel like time is running out, the usual rules can start to look a lot less solid, which makes Walter White feel slightly less fictional than anyone would like.

    Then we head into the darkest corner of medical history, where the chainsaw turns out to have been invented for childbirth. Long before it became a tool for cutting timber or starring in horror films, it was used in procedures designed to make difficult deliveries possible. It is grim, fascinating, and a very effective way to make modern medicine look fantastic.

    Finally, we look at the strange idea of AI as a psychedelic trip sitter. While a chatbot might be able to offer calm prompts and simulated reassurance, it still has one major limitation. It has never had a body, never been high, and never experienced consciousness the way humans do. Like, subscribe, and tell us which weird science story we should chase next.

     

    00:00 Breaking Bad Setup

    01:10 Science Show Preview

    02:03 Danish Cancer Crime Study

    04:36 Why Crime Increases

    06:23 Shorter Survival More Crime

    07:44 Chainsaw Origins Quiz

    09:16 Childbirth Before Modern Medicine

    14:09 First Medical Chainsaws

    16:00 From Obstetrics to Amputations

    18:21 Portable Chainsaws Arrive

    20:05 Time Travel Tradeoffs

    20:40 Contact Lens Horror Story

    24:31 AI Trip Sitters

    27:44 Can AI Get High

    28:57 LLMs Simulating Psychedelics

    33:06 Brain Cells Play Doom

    38:07 Mailbag Strandbeests Gelatin

    41:10 Wrap Up And Ratings

     

    SOURCES:

    https://www.bbc.com/news/health-40630852

    https://www-bmj-com.virtual.anu.edu.au/content/358/bmj.j2783

    https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1633599/full?ref=404media.co

    https://www.sciencealert.com/the-breaking-bad-effect-from-cancer-is-real-study-finds\

    https://www.iflscience.com/can-artificial-intelligence-get-high-and-why-are-scientists-even-trying-82560

    https://futurism.com/ai-therapy-psychedelic-trip-sitter

    https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-8682370/v1

    https://erowid.org/experiences/exp_info3.shtml

    https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/why-were-chainsaws-invented.htm

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    31 March 2026, 5:00 pm
  • 25 minutes 46 seconds
    Brain-Eating Amoebas, Economists vs. Everyone and Da Vinci's Robot Lion

    Brain-eating amoebas, climate change, economists, and Leonardo da Vinci’s robot lion all collide in this week’s episode. We dig into how warming freshwater is helping dangerous amoebas spread into new places, why these rare but terrifying organisms are linked to water going up the nose, and what that means for swimmers, public health, and the very specific fear of warm lakes. It is science, climate, and nightmare fuel all in one neat package.

    We also unpack a strange finding from economics research. The more economists agree with each other, the more their views can drift away from the general public. It is a fascinating look at expert consensus, groupthink, public opinion, and why economic theory can sometimes feel completely detached from real life. If you have ever wondered why economists sound like they are living on a different planet, this one may help.

    Then we head back to the Renaissance for one of the greatest flexes in science and engineering history. Leonardo da Vinci reportedly built a mechanical robot lion that could walk and reveal flowers from its chest, blending robotics, invention, art, and spectacle centuries before modern technology caught up. If you love weird science, history, innovation, robots, and bizarre true stories, this episode is for you.

     

    CHAPTERS:

    00:00 Introduction

    01:10 Brain-Eating Amoeba Basics

    02:43 How It Infects You

    03:57 Warming Spreads the Risk

    04:39 Economists vs Everyone

    10:10 Assumptions and Governance

    11:03 Medici Exile Storytime

    12:23 Bologna Power Play

    13:07 Medici Politics Banter

    14:32 Da Vinci Gift Idea

    16:46 Robot Knight Blueprint

    18:48 Building the Lion

    19:44 Courtroom Lion Reveal

    23:22 Modern Art Machines

    24:43 Ratings and Farewell

     

    SOURCES:

    https://www.aeaweb.org/articles/pdf/doi/10.1257/aer.103.3.636

    https://www.sciencealert.com/brain-eating-amoebas-may-pose-a-growing-global-threat-scientists-warn

    https://www.history.com/articles/da-vinci-robotic-lion

    https://www.history.com/articles/7-early-robots-and-automatons

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    25 March 2026, 1:50 am
  • 45 minutes 17 seconds
    The Psychology of Conspiracies, Mushroom Hot Pot Trip and the Longest Botany Experiment Ever

    Conspiracy theorists hate uncertainty, a mushroom hot pot in China can apparently summon tiny imaginary people, a bunch of seeds have been sitting underground since the 1800s waiting for their moment and scientists are trying to quantify why words like boobs are funny. This week is a mixed bag of psychology, botany and childish humour, which is basically the entire scientific enterprise when you strip away the grant applications.

    We start with conspiracy thinking and why it is often less about facts and more about feelings. Research suggests people who lean hard into conspiracies can struggle with ambiguity and prefer simple explanations in a complicated world. Certainty feels good, chaos feels awful and conspiracy stories offer villains, motives and a neat ending. Even when the story is wrong.

    Then we head to Yunnan, China, where prized mushrooms can cause hallucinations if they are eaten too early, including reports of seeing tiny people. Researchers still have not nailed down the exact chemical responsible, and it may be a mix of biology, preparation and expectation. The takeaway is simple. If the locals tell you to cook the mushrooms properly, listen.

    We look at one of the longest running experiments in science, where seeds buried in glass bottles in the 1800s are still being dug up and tested to see what can germinate. We also dip into the science of funny words and why certain sounds and associations make some words reliably hilarious. So, stay curious, cook your hot pot properly, and if you start seeing tiny people, maybe stop eating the mushrooms.

     

    CHAPTERS:

    00:00 Introduction

    00:48 Conspiracy Believer Traits

    03:13 New Study On Coverups

    05:14 Ambiguity And Unfairness

    06:42 Skepticism Vs Conspiracy

    07:59 Mushroom Hot Pot Warning

    10:19 Tiny People Hallucinations

    14:01 Hunting The Active Compound

    17:35 Seed Bottle Time Capsule

    21:24 Custodians And Map

    21:56 Bottles Remaining Timeline

    23:12 Succession And Secrecy

    24:51 2021 Dawn Dig

    26:30 Why The Experiment Matters

    29:10 Long Term Projects

    30:48 Science Of Funny Words

    36:31 Modeling Humor Categories

    40:21 Phonemes And Incongruity

    43:22 Destroying Humour And Wrap

     

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0092656622000423

    https://futurism.com/health-medicine/conspiracy-theories-psychology 

    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/21/science/beal-seeds-experiment.html 

    https://magazine.wfu.edu/2022/10/05/unearthing-time-in-a-bottle/ 

    https://www.sciencealert.com/the-worlds-longest-running-lab-experiment-is-almost-100-years-old?utm_source=news.sciencealert.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=superagers-have-two-key-advantages&_bhlid=8fd449a2c8ea1d56a84867da881e4444546af69c 

    https://www.mentalfloss.com/science/15-longest-running-scientific-studies-history https://people.howstuffworks.com/why-poop-and-wiggle-are-funny-words-according-to-science.htm?utm_source=HowStuffWorks+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=themed-words-3-6-25

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    17 March 2026, 5:00 pm
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