Episodes

Learner’s Hermit (LIVE from PAX South 2017!)

The Austrian town of Saalfelden in the state of Salzburg is looking for someone to live in a nearby hermitage which was built more than 350 years ago in steep, rocky cliffs. So they put out an ad for a …
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February 8, 2017Episodes
Pig Me (LIVE from PAX South 2017!)

Scientists have created the first successful human-animal hybrids. The project proves that human cells can be introduced into a non-human organism, survive, and even grow inside a host animal, in this case, pigs. Anthony, Jeff, and special guests Mikey Neuman …
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February 6, 2017Episodes
True to Your Self

Why do we, as humans, have a sense of self? One new theory is that a “self” actually contributes to a stronger and more robust group dynamic. In order for a group to be more capable of surviving, it needs …
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February 3, 2017Episodes
DNA to Z

Scientists have created bacteria that thrive using an expanded “genetic alphabet”. The blueprint for all life forms on Earth is written in a code consisting of four “letters”: A, T, C and G, which pair up in the DNA double …
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February 1, 2017Episodes
Fully Operational

During WWII, there was a mathematician named Abraham Wald. Wald had an idea about allied bombers. Essentially, bombers were coming back after bombing runs with a lot of damage. Engineers were saying “okay, there’s a lot of damage in the …
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January 30, 2017Episodes
O2 Joy

It’s generally thought that the evolution of complex life was a rare, once-in-4.5-billion-years event. But new research suggests that conditions were right for complex cells to evolve and die off at least once – or perhaps several times – before …
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January 27, 2017Episodes
Thirst World Problems

Everything we eat is flooded with “virtual water,” or water used indirectly to produce food from cradle to grave. In fact, 70% of the world’s water consumption feeds the agriculture industry, and demand for fresh water is increasing at a …
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January 25, 2017Episodes
Headset Mindset

After exploring a virtual world, some people can’t shake the sense that the actual world isn’t real, either. Does the new technology of VR bring with it a new kind of depression? Anthony and Jeff discuss a world where real …
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January 23, 2017Episodes
Goos of Egypt

Plastic surgeon Stanley Jacobs was obsess with an ancient Egyptian text about surgery known as the Edwin Smith Papyrus. Particularly, a recipe at the back of the book, titled “Transforming an Old Man Into a Youth.” His investigation into what …
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January 20, 2017Episodes
Append and Cite Us

Scientists have never been certain what the appendix used to do — and if it is still, in fact, useless. On Jan. 9, a team of researchers led by scientists at Midwestern University Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine published a …
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January 18, 2017Episodes