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Deep inside the mud at the bottom of the ocean, scientists have found life that is so unusual they’ve had to create new branches on the tree of life to put it on. These life forms are not extraterrestrials: They’re “aliens” from Earth.

Guest: Karen Lloyd, microbiologist and author of Intraterrestrials: Discovering the Strangest Life on Earth

For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts

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Scientists have been searching for aliens for decades. But if we ever do get a signal someday, how will we communicate back? And will anyone out there be able to understand us?

Guests: Doug Vakoch, president of METI, and Sheri Wells-Jensen, linguist at Bowling Green State University

For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts

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What can we actually do as our world gets populated with more and more robots? How can we take control? Can we take control?

This is the final episode of our four-part series about the stories shaping the future of AI.

Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team.

For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts

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A simple parable about a drowning child sparks a moral revolution. Is building AI the way to do the most good in the world?

This is the third episode of our new four-part series about the stories shaping the future of AI.

Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. Episodes will be released on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts

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And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com

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When a robot does bad things, who is responsible? A group of technologists sounds the alarm about the ways AI is already harming us today. Are their concerns being taken seriously?

This is the second episode of our new four-part series about the stories shaping the future of AI.

Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. Episodes will be released on Wednesdays and Saturdays over the next two weeks.

For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts

For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable

And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com

We read every email.

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Before AI became a mainstream obsession, one thinker sounded the alarm about its catastrophic potential. So why are so many billionaires and tech leaders worried about… paper clips?

This is the first episode of our new four-part series about the stories shaping the future of AI.

Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. Episodes will be released on Wednesdays and Saturdays over the next two weeks.

For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts

For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable

And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com

We read every email.

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This week on Unexplainable or Not, the newest member of our team, Julia Longoria, tries to figure out which of three scientific mysteries about the sea, the land, and the sky has actually been solved.

Guest: Admir Masic, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at MIT.

For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts

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Dylan got malaria on purpose. And he thinks you should, too.

Guest: Dylan Matthews, senior correspondent at Vox’s Future Perfect

This episode was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team.

For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts

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We read every email.

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A neuroscientist argues that the focus on dreams has held back the scientific understanding of sleep. So he took dreams out of the picture and uncovered a new potential connection between the mind and body.

Guest: Mark Blumberg, behavioral neuroscientist at the University of Iowa

For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts

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Funding cuts and research censorship have shaken the foundations of America’s health and science agencies, leaving researchers shocked, confused, and afraid. What does this mean for the future of science?

For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts

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We read every email.

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