Tag: biology
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Sum Answer Bee
Bees seem to understand the idea of zero – the first invertebrate shown to do so. When the insects were encouraged to fly towards a platform carrying fewer shapes than another one, they apparently recognised “no shapes” as a smaller value than “some shapes”. Jeff and Anthony zero in on the topic. [more]
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Put Your Foot in Your Mouth
If you could taste human flesh in an ethical way, would you? A man was recently in a motorcycle crash that put him face-to-face with the macabre hypothetical. When a car hit his bike and sent him careening into a nearby forest, his foot was shattered to the point that he would never walk on it again. When the doctor asked if he wanted to amputate, his one question was, “Can I keep it?” He invited his closest friends for a very personal dinner. Jeff and Anthony make a pact. [more]
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Mistake Your Vitamins
A new study aimed to examine the benefits of vitamin and mineral supplements for prevention of heart disease, stroke and premature death. This found the most commonly studied ones had no effect, while some less common ones did have an effect. The review also found some supplements can be harmful. Jeff and Anthony will comment after they finish fighting over the good Flinstones vitamin flavors. [more]
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Loch Screen
A global team of scientists plans to scour the icy depths of Loch Ness next month using environmental DNA (eDNA) in an experiment that may discover whether Scotland’s fabled monster really does, or did, exist. Whenever a creature moves through its environment, it leaves behind tiny fragments of DNA from skin, scales, feathers, fur, faeces and urine. This story has really left a mark on Jeff and Anthony. [more]
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Working Like a Dog
If you're a dog lover, just being with your pet feels good. So it's no surprise that therapy dogs are healing companions for people with health conditions. Research confirms that the benefits of pet therapy are real—but what do dogs think about helping humans? Science has considered this question too, and the results are reassuring. Jeff and Anthony discuss whether or not these findings apply to Anthony's perfect prince. [more]
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High Blood Treasure
James Harrison, an Australian man whose blood contains a rare antibody that can create a treatment that saves babies' lives, has donated plasma one last time. Harrison, known as "the man with a golden arm," has donated blood and plasma regularly for more than six decades, from age 18 to age 81. The service estimates that over the course of his life, he has helped save some 2.4 million babies. Jeff and Anthony want to try some of that sweet, sweet blood. [more]
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Organ Web
A study claims to have discovered a new human organ that could help scientists better understand its impact on diseases such as cancer. Reports suggests this organ, called the interstitium, is a series of interconnected, fluid-filled compartments found throughout the body. The study also claims the interstitium is among the body's largest organs. Jeff and Anthony make it through the episode without making a joke about the body's largest organs. [more]
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Tooth Bomb
In the 19th Century, a Pennsylvania dentist called WH Atkinson came across a condition that sounds like the stuff of nightmares. Writing in The Dental Cosmos, the first major journal for American dentists, Atkinson documented an outbreak of exploding teeth. Jeff and Anthony chew this story over. [more]
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Bio Shock Intimate
When Josiah Zayner watched a biotech CEO drop his pants at a biohacking conference and inject himself with an untested herpes treatment, he realized things had gone off the rails. Zayner is no stranger to stunts in biohacking—loosely defined as experiments, often on the self, that take place outside of traditional lab spaces. Most notoriously, he injected his arm with DNA encoding for CRISPR that could theoretically enhance his muscles—in between taking swigs of Scotch at a live-streamed event. So when Zayner saw Ascendance Biomedical’s CEO injecting himself on a live-stream earlier this month, you might say there was an uneasy flicker of recognition. Jeff and Anthony discuss the body mods they're most excited for. [more]
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Retro Virus
Inside the brain, proteins don’t stick around longer than a few minutes. And yet, our memories can hang on for our entire lifetime. Recently, an international collaboration of researchers discovered something strange about a protein called Arc. This is essential to long-term memory formation. What they found was that it has very similar properties to how a virus infects its host. Jeff and Anthony consider what life could have been like without the ability to remember. [more]
Do NOT join our secret society. You’ll just wind up with a bunch of cool stuff. It’s gross.