Stroll back in time to look ahead at the future with Tangents in this compilation of episodes investigating the science and innovations that have pushed humanity and technology ever on down the road of advancement! 

Episodes in this compilation:

S1 E15 - Artificial Intelligence, original airdate: February 19, 2019 

S2 E23 - Robots, original airdate: April 14, 2020 S4 E2 - Computers, original airdate: March 8, 2022 

S4 E44 - Lasers, original airdate: February 28, 2023 

S5 E29 - Machine Learning, original airdate: April 30, 2024 

Sources for each episode can be found in the descriptions of the original episodes on your preferred podcasting platform. 

SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! 

And go to https://complexly.store/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch! 

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on socials: 

Ceri: @ceriley.bsky.social @rhinoceri on Instagram 

Sam: @im-sam-schultz.bsky.social @im_sam_schultz on Instagram 

Hank: @hankgreen on X

The day has arrived- this is our very last episode of Tangents ever! So of course, we had to talk about a topic that's near and dear to our hearts forever: Tangents. Ride down memory lane with us and returning original host Stefan Chin as we reminisce, try to remember what we've learned, and still learn new stuff in an episode that's the true encapsulation of everything we love about this show. 

SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! 

And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen

[This or That: SciShow or Tangents or Both]

Eyedrops to deliver a drug called pilocarpine

https://nerdfighteria.info/v/ekmb6KQahuk/

African crested rat with toxin-loaded fur

https://www.livescience.com/crested-rats-have-poison-fur.html

https://www.npr.org/2020/11/27/938878618/for-rats-that-coat-themselves-in-poison-these-rodents-are-surprisingly-cuddly

https://nerdfighteria.info/v/CQAVcAJQsEM/

Spleen cells creating splenunculi 

https://nerdfighteria.info/v/3xXyBCckWsM

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/12/13/505349283/meet-the-spleen-the-strange-little-organ-that-can-multiply

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27226272/

Car transmission failures due to endangered species act

https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/17/archives/transmission-problems-in-cars-linked-to-ban-on-whale-killing.html

https://magazine.washington.edu/feature/the-innovation-file-solving-a-whale-of-a-problem/

https://io9.gizmodo.com/how-the-jojoba-plant-saved-the-sperm-whale-1716719552

https://www.nytimes.com/1975/05/15/archives/oil-from-a-shrub-found-in-desert-may-save-the-sperm-whale.html

https://www.lubesngreases.com/magazine/whale-oil-biobased-and-bygone/

[The Gauntlet]

Preventing snails from growing external shells

https://www.wired.com/2010/10/snails-slugs-shell-evolution/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101011090229.htm

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1525-142X.2010.00433.x

Female mouse pee compound that decreases pain and increases stress in males

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abi9366

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/953803

Niagara falls 1969 project

https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-geology/american-dry-falls/

https://slate.com/technology/2019/05/niagara-falls-june-1969-dewatering.html

https://m.ammoth.us/blog/2010/03/absent-rivers-ephemeral-parks/

Wolf puppies acting like domesticated dogs

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/824375

https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(19)30557-7

Ethyl mercaptan-sniffing animals

https://nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/0894.pdf

https://bedfordaudubon.org/2016/01/07/turkey-vulture-and-black-vulture/

https://www.birdnote.org/podcasts/birdnote-daily/turkey-vultures-and-gas-pipelines

Ika-tako computer virus

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/japanese-virus

https://www.computerworld.com/article/1343317/hacker-s-p2p-virus-replaces-files-with-sea-creature-manga.html

Frogs that don’t have middle ears but can still hear

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1302218110

https://phys.org/news/2013-09-frogs-ears-mouth.html

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3023005/

[Ask the Science Couch]

Mathematical uses for tangents

https://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/classes/calciii/TangentNormalVectors.aspx

http://www.braeunig.us/space/orbmech.htm

https://science.nasa.gov/learn/basics-of-space-flight/chapter4-1/

https://www.nasa.gov/ames-engineering/spaceflight-division/flight-dynamics/trajectory-design/

https://willkempartschool.com/compostional-mistakes-in-drawing/

[Butt One More Thing]

Young turquoise killifish gut microbes made old fish live longer

https://www.nature.com/news/young-poo-makes-aged-fish-l

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/120980v2

We're thrilled to be joined for a special return to the topic of Cancer by our own magnificent editorial assistant, Deboki Chakravarti! We cover a ton in this beefy episode, so grab a snack, get comfy, and prepare to dive deep on a topic that's well worth the revisit. 

SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! 

Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! A big thank you to Patreon subscriber Garth Riley for helping to make the show possible!

And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen

[Truth or Fail]

Water-logged diaper scans

https://www.nist.gov/pml/about-pml/pml-working-you/pml-working-you-archives/fighting-cancer-diapers

https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2017/11/how-disposable-diapers-can-improve-measurements-tumor-growth

Toothbrush cancer camera

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2022/09/22/why-billionaire-eric-schmidt-is-backing-a-high-school-senior-making-a-cancer-detecting-toothbrush-and-other-brilliant-teens/

https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/obstetrics-gynecology/news/a-substantial-step-toward-earlier-endometrial-cancer-detection/mac-20560620

Cancer-cell kleenex

https://www.statnews.com/2017/09/06/masspec-pen-cancer/

[This or That: Researcher, Patient, or Both]

Round 1 - Sister Mary Joseph Nodule

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468294222000089#sec0006

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00261-016-1031-1

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31864-6/abstract

Round 2 - Trousseau sign of malignancy

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468294222000089#sec0002

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1022062/

Round 3 - AOH1996

https://www.alexslemonade.org/blog/chance-meeting-leads-promising-cancer-treatment

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10592352/

https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05227326

Round 4 - Papanicolaou (Pap) test

https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cncy.22734

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213294514002178

[Ask the Science Couch]

Proposition 65 in the state of California & carcinogens in studies

https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/about-proposition-65

https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/proposition-65-list

https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/how-chemicals-are-added-proposition-65-list

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6349368/

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10311-023-01668-1

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/wood-dust

Patreon bonus: Treatments for different cancers and why there’s no singular cure

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types

https://www.aacr.org/patients-caregivers/about-cancer/what-is-cancer/

https://www.cancercenter.com/community/blog/2023/10/cancer-is-not-one-disease

https://medlineplus.gov/cancer.html

[Butt One More Thing]

A trained dog could sniff out colorectal cancer in poop samples

https://gut.bmj.com/content/60/6/814

https://www.cshl.edu/the-doctor-will-sniff-you-now/

Would it really be a conversation about plagues if noted plague-hater and tuberculosis-fighter John Green wasn't a part of it? In this episode John makes his Tangents debut at last, and we dig deep into whether we could fight an old, fat beaver and win, among other things.

SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! 

Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! A big thank you to Patreon subscriber Garth Riley for helping to make the show possible!

And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen

[Truth or Fail Express]

Hunter-gatherer from 5000 years ago infected with plague

https://www.livescience.com/5000-year-old-man-had-plague.html

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/oldest-strain-of-black-death-bacteria-found-in-5000-year-old-human-remains#Less-deadly-and-less-contagious

Isaac Newton plague cure 

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/sir-isaac-newtons-plague-prescription-toad-vomit-lozenges-180975039/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/isaac-newton-plague

Sewer pipes in Hanoi let plague-bearing rats breed

https://feralatlas.supdigital.org/poster/colonial-sewers-led-to-more-rats

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/hanoi-rat-massacre-1902

[The Scientific Definition]

Four thieves vinegar

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7485289/

https://nutritionalgeography.faculty.ucdavis.edu/clove/

https://www.si.edu/es/object/die-mondsuchtigen:nmah_994026

The Vicary method / The live chicken treatment

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1472106/

https://muse.jhu.edu/article/665487

https://libguides.umn.edu/healthmisinformation

Zenexton 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/44444207

https://archive.org/details/b30341681/page/n7/mode/2up

[Ask the Science Couch]

HIV resistance through genetic mutation and selective pressure (possibly from plagues)

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1377146/

https://jmg.bmj.com/content/42/3/205

https://www.nature.com/news/2005/050307/full/news050307-15.html

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050325234239.htm

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC299980/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16880184/

Plague doctors probably didn’t look like birds (until later / after theater) 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_F%C3%BCrst,_Der_Doctor_Schnabel_von_Rom_(Holl%C3%A4nder_version).png

https://deathscent.com/2020/05/15/the-redolent-plague-doctor/

https://www.livescience.com/plague-doctors.html

[Butt One More Thing]

Using pastes made with human feces to treat bubonic plague

https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2021/04/medieval-pandemic-cures-that-were-medieval/

https://hosted.lib.uiowa.edu/histmed/plague/

Is it usefulness, accidental genius, or sheer dumb luck that produces inventions? Well, after this episode, we at least know for sure what Batman's answer would be. As for the rest of it, you'll just have to listen along while we dive into one of Ceri's dream topics: Inventions!

SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! 

Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! A big thank you to Patreon subscriber Garth Riley for helping to make the show possible!

And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen

[This or That]

Pacemaker

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3232561/

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jul/11/from-viagra-to-valium-the-drugs-that-were-discovered-by-accident

Snow globe

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-25298507

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-an-experiment-to-amplify-light-in-hospital-operating-rooms-led-to-the-accidental-invention-of-the-snow-globe-180985742/

Stethoscope 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1570491/

https://www.thoughtco.com/rene-laenecc-stethoscope-1991647

[The Scientific Definition]

Pigeon Vest

https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/pigeons-bras-go-war

Bat Bomb

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/1090bats/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-almost-perfect-world-war-ii-plot-to-bomb-japan-with-bats

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/04/old-weird-tech-the-bat-bombs-of-world-war-ii/237267/

Chicken Eyeglasses

https://gizmodo.com/thousands-of-chickens-once-wore-glasses-to-stop-them-ki-1700343874

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1989/11/27/entrepreneur-wants-a-lens-in-every/

https://extension.psu.edu/poultry-cannibalism-prevention-and-treatment

https://patents.google.com/patent/US730918

Experiment (patent in category “Boats to ascend rivers”)

https://books.google.com/books?id=K1YdAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA120#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/nautarch/nwl/lake-champlain-projects/hoofbeats-over-the-water-ina-research-on-horse-powered-ferryboats/

https://books.google.com/books?id=z0Avt3ruFx0C&pg=PA294#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://www.uspto.gov/blog/the-search-for-lost-x

[Ask the Science Couch]

“Ahead of their time” inventions (Undersea cables, Antikythera mechanism, electric cars) 

https://www.nps.gov/caco/learn/historyculture/french-transatlantic-cable.htm

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-84310-w

https://www.youtube.com/@clickspring

https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-early-electric-cars

Patreon bonus: Patent law and whether you can apply without a prototype

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/35/100

https://www.legal.uillinois.edu/services/legal_guidance/inventions_and_patents

https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s2109.html

https://improbable.com/2014/02/21/the-blonsky-centrifugal-birthing-device-in-dublin/

[Butt One More Thing]

John Henry Kellog’s vibratory dining chair for bowel movements

https://www.museumofquackery.com/devices/k-chair.htm

https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health-nutrition-history-quackery/enigmatic-dr-kellogg

Do you want to play a game? Well, we sure do! We're joined by Sam's dream guest Jo Firestone, a comedian, podcaster, and game author and enthusiast to celebrate the joy (and evil) of playing games, especially the games on Tangents! 

SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! 

Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! A big thank you to Patreon subscriber Garth Riley for helping to make the show possible!

And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen

[Truth or Fail: Express]

Researchers turned quitting smoking into competitive sport

https://www.bu.edu/sph/news/articles/2024/novel-digital-pet-game-within-smoking-cessation-app-increases-user-engagement-with-apps-tools-to-quit-smoking/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37566442/

Scientists watch a hydrogel play pong

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/aug/22/scientists-enable-hydrogel-to-play-and-improve-at-pong-video-game

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1063433

Bonus: Dead salmon FMRI study

https://www.psychology.mcmaster.ca/bennett/psy710/readings/BennettDeadSalmon.pdf

Oregon Trail decision model 

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1063290

[The Gauntlet]

Game Boy Pocket Sonar accessory

https://www.outdoorlife.com/fishing/game-boy-fishing-sonar/

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/21/nintendo-game-boy-25-facts-for-its-25th-anniversary

https://gameboy.fandom.com/wiki/Game_Boy_Pocket_Sonar

Foldit players solve puzzles with what molecules

https://fold.it/about_foldit

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2024/press-release/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/foldit-gamers-solve-riddle/

AI neural network from floppy disk to electronic game

http://www.20q.net/?history

https://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov/archive/2006-Spring/announce.burgener.html

https://openreview.net/pdf?id=FlR4Wyubayy

Jenga name in Swahili

https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/science-blog/jenga-tale-randomness-and-design

https://www.museumofplay.org/toys/jenga/

Candy Land disease epidemic

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/candy-land/

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/history-disease-outbreaks-vaccine-timeline/polio

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/07/how-polio-inspired-the-creation-of-candy-land/594424/

Jeopardy

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2007/03/19/jeopardy-has-first-3-way-tie/

https://www.npr.org/2009/12/20/121664528/sing-muse-of-the-jeopardy-three-way-tie

https://j-archive.com/showplayer.php?player_id=3578

https://www.jeopardy.com/jbuzz/behind-scenes/breaking-down-four-rare-jeopardy-scenarios

100% win rate from high-speed robot

https://ishikawa-vision.org/fusion/Janken/index-e.html

[Ask the Science Couch]

Game replayability reasons, impacts, and areas of future research

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED596614.pdf

https://www.firstpersonscholar.com/the-games-people-replay/

https://research.vu.nl/ws/files/3135888/293191.pdf

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1875952121000574

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352250X22002652

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1155/2024/5876780

Patreon bonus: Gamification, another facet of motivation psychology

https://academictechnologies.it.miami.edu/support/course-design-assistance/game-based-learning/index.html

https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1475760/1/gamification_CHI2016_preprint.pdf

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1875952119300953

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050921023255

https://online.nursing.georgetown.edu/blog/how-to-stop-procrastinating-there-is-a-science-to-it/

https://mcgraw.princeton.edu/undergraduates/resources/resource-library/understanding-and-overcoming-procrastination

[Butt One More Thing]

Original inventor of Scrabble was named Alfred Mosher Butts

https://time.com/archive/6909539/scrabble/

https://www.museumofplay.org/toys/scrabble/

Is all life predestined, or is existence blown about by the whims of entropy? If we restarted the universe with the same world generating seed a la Minecraft, would it all play out the same??? These are ginormous questions that we do not get into in this episode! Instead, we're examining slightly more manageable examples of randomness in nature, in computing, and even in ourselves. 

SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! 

Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! A big thank you to Patreon subscriber Garth Riley for helping to make the show possible!

And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen

[The Scientific Definition]

The Lost Boarding Pass Problem

https://www.varsity.co.uk/science/23162

The Secretary Problem

https://www2.math.upenn.edu/~ted/210F10/References/Secretary.pdf

https://slate.com/technology/2014/12/the-secretary-problem-use-this-algorithm-to-determine-exactly-how-many-people-you-should-assess-before-making-a-new-hire-or-choosing-a-life-partner.html

The Sleeping Beauty Problem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW27QJYNXtU

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-the-sleeping-beauty-problem-is-keeping-mathematicians-awake/

[Trivia Question]

Sum of numbers on a D120 vertex where 10 faces meet

https://www.wired.com/2016/05/mathematical-challenge-of-designing-the-worlds-most-complex-120-sided-dice/

[Fact Off]

Fastest computer worm in history was the random-scanning worm called Slammer (aka the Sapphire Worm) 

https://cseweb.ucsd.edu/~savage/papers/IEEESP03.pdf

https://www.science.org/content/article/fastest-worm-ever

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/1523881

Effectiveness of randomly promoting employees in a business instead of promoting by merit

[Ask the Science Couch]

Humans are (maybe) bad at intuitively understanding or predicting randomness

https://cocosci.princeton.edu/tom/papers/hard.pdf

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5215234/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5933241/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010027717302895

https://zhaolab.psych.ubc.ca/pdfs/Zhao_2014_JEPHPP.pdf

Patreon bonus: pseudorandom number generators and randomization seeds

https://www.random.org/randomness/

https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/pseudorandom_number_generator

https://www.acsac.org/2003/papers/79.pdf

https://www.fourmilab.ch/hotbits/

[Butt One More Thing]

Dung beetles that attach themselves to butts to find poop non-randomly

https://www.sfzoo.org/dung-beetle/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19169550/

Hello Tangents listeners! We are off this week to rest up and enjoy the holidays, so in place of a regular episode we have a super special treat from friends of the show that we're excited to share! We're dropping an episode of a new podcast series from Chalk and Blade Productions called "Our Big Shot."

What if we could build a disease free world? Well, we almost have. We are at a point in history where we have a Big Shot to make that happen. Dr Seema Yasmin, expert in disease control, brings you the stories of disease eradication, and the pioneers who can tell us how to finish the journey. These conversations will make you smarter, entertain and surprise you, and give you hope for the future of humanity.

SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! 

Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! A big thank you to Patreon subscriber Garth Riley for helping to make the show possible!

And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen

One year passes, another is just around the bend, so let's look back on the top 6 Tangents episodes of 2024!! From intriguing topics to spooky mystery guests, this compilation truly summarizes a wild, wonderful year for Tangents. We hope you enjoy reminiscing with us, and we look forward to all that's ahead! 

Original episodes: 

6. Feathers - airdate March 19, 2024

5. Glue - airdate May 14, 2024

4. Cheese - airdate February 6, 2024 

3. Garbage - airdate March 5, 2024 

2. Roller Coasters - airdate September 17, 2024 

1. Caves - airdate October 1, 2024 

Sources for each episode can be found in the descriptions of the original episodes on your preferred podcasting platform.

SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! 

Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! A big thank you to Patreon subscriber Garth Riley for helping to make the show possible!

And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen

Is a dream really a wish your heart makes? Or is it just that your brain is an organ that never really turns off? What do your dreams even mean??? These are just some of the perplexing questions this episode posed to us and our special return guest, Trace Dominguez!

SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! 

Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! A big thank you to Patreon subscriber Garth Riley for helping to make the show possible!

And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen

[Definition]

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2814941/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-control-dreams/  

[The Scientific Definition]

Dreambooks

https://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/67/vandegrift.php#:~:text=Popular%20in%20Europe%20since%20antiquity,game%20then%20sweeping%20Northeastern%20cities.

https://web.archive.org/web/20151222092158/http://www.eastm.org/index.php/journal/article/viewFile/146/134

https://www.obafemio.com/uploads/5/1/4/2/5142021/dream_interpretation_in_ancient_china.pdf

Incubation

https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft5j49p06s&chunk.id=d0e2624&toc.id=&brand=ucpress#:~:text=Common%20throughout%20all%20antiquity%2C%20the,some%20divinely%20inspired%20dream%20vision.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/dream-sleep-experience/Dreams-as-a-source-of-divination#ref984709

https://www.dreamscience.ca/en/documents/New%20content/incubation/Incubation%20overview%20for%20website%20updated.pdf

Ominous-Vapor Watcher

https://www.obafemio.com/uploads/5/1/4/2/5142021/dream_interpretation_in_ancient_china.pdf

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zhouli

[Trivia Question]

Rapid eye movement (REM) saccade speed

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780080450469010895

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-8986.1985.tb01551.x

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-8986.1983.tb03008.x

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9406327/

[Fact Off]

Approximating dreams with generative AI

https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/heres-how-ai-could-soon-decode-your-dreams

Lucid dreaming and the effects of video games on dreams

https://academic.oup.com/nc/article/2017/1/nix009/3859602

https://theconversation.com/im-a-lucid-dream-researcher-heres-how-to-train-your-brain-to-do-it-118901

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-00817-001

https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F1053-0797.16.2.96

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-00817-001

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-19013-002

https://www.theverge.com/2014/1/21/5330636/video-games-effect-on-dreams

[Ask the Science Couch]

Neuroscience of fever dreams 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3830719/

https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/IJoDR/article/view/28492

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6997236/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033318268718077?via%3Dihub

https://www.accjournal.org/journal/view.php?number=1528

Patreon bonus: Recurring dream content and possible psychology

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2010-23497-001

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Antonio-Zadra/publication/232509978_Recurrent_dreams_Their_relation_to_life_events/links/53d673f10cf220632f3da1f7/Recurrent-dreams-Their-relation-to-life-events.pdf  

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810005000772?casa_token=Dofy4I_w2PsAAAAA:DdZ6qAtKJiS6OEE3Iu8pETHldBs5n1SH3lvSQl6WuCNVv9Xi8v09wuR9bWki5YROcyKWXAZ3CcN3

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01812/full

https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/ajp.134.12.1335

[Butt One More Thing]

Psychoanalyst Hans Thorner documenting a patient who dreamed of butt spiders

https://bgsp.edu/app/uploads/2014/12/Blechner-M-Patients-dreams-and-the-countertransference.pdf

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429477546-12/three-defences-inner-persecution-hans-thorner

Now you see it, now you don't - this episode is a true trick for the senses as we uncover the hidden wonders of Camouflage! From human ingenuity (?) to animal creativity, misdirection and subterfuge abound in this episode, so keep your eyes peeled, it's not one you'll want to miss!

SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! 

Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! A big thank you to Patreon subscriber Garth Riley for helping to make the show possible!

And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen

[This, That, or the Other: Disappearing Acts]

Stripes painted on ships and planes

Painting planes pink

Yehudi lights on planes

https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vol19/tnm_19_171-192.pdf

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1634902/

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/552503/the-secret-lives-of-color-by-kassia-st-clair/

https://books.google.com/books?id=heS0lbYrpAwC&pg=PA56&dq=yehudi+lights&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjHg8TLg6KJAxX5DkQIHUDFHHcQ6AF6BAgJEAI#v=onepage&q=yehudi%20lights&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=DUkl5bH6k6EC&pg=PA62#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042698902002675#:~:text=In%20the%20Purkinje%20shift%2C%20the,versus%20red%20into%20apparent%20motion.

[Trivia Question]

Color combinations of Bargibant's pygmy seahorses

https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Hippocampus-bargibanti

https://oceana.org/marine-life/pygmy-seahorse/

https://owlcation.com/stem/Camouflage-in-Animals-Pygmy-Seahorses

[Fact Off]

Trashline orb-weaver spiders that build self-portraits for camouflage https://web.archive.org/web/20160829062900/http://blog.perunature.com:80/2012/12/new-species-of-decoy-spider-likely.html

https://phys.org/news/2012-12-species-spider-fake-decoys.html

https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/trashline-orbweavers

https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article-abstract/10/4/372/2252323

Picture examples of stabilimenta: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabilimentum

Tricking mice with scent camouflage by adding too much wheat smell

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abe4164

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-023-01127-3

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/camouflaging-wheat-smell-pest-control

[Ask the Science Couch]

Color-changing biology in invertebrates like octopuses vs. vertebrates like chameleons

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5804272/

https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms7368

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1039/c0pp00199f

https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/invertebrates/how-octopuses-and-squids-change-color

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2936158/

Patreon bonus: Non-visual-spectrum camouflage or other senses 

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.860137

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2008.0228

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00049-004-0274-4

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2019.0183

[Butt One More Thing]

Caterpillars, spiders, and moths that camouflage themselves as bird poop

https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/citrus/giantswallowtail.htm

https://nhpbs.org/natureworks/viceroy.htm

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28124-zoologger-a-spider-that-looks-and-smells-like-bird-droppings/

https://australian.museum/learn/animals/spiders/bird-dropping-spider/

https://boingboing.net/2019/11/14/macrocilix-maia-a-moth-that-e.html