Tag: cell

• Alien Dust-os and Pong Brains

  New observations of the star known as KIC 8462852, or Tabby's Star, do not close the door on the idea of an advanced alien civilization. Jeff and Anthony step through the new data and imagine the possibilities. Then, a group of brain cells in a jar has been taught to play the video game Pong - and it does it better than artificial AI. Anthony and Jeff work through their feelings about a bio-computer. [more]

  January 14, 2022Episodes

• Leave Your Phone and Why You Left?

  Is your cell phone making you dumber, just by being near you? Researchers now have evidence that the closer your smart device is to you, the less smart you actually are. Anthony and Jeff discuss phone addiction, and what to do with this research. The, both Jeff and Anthony are left-handed. But what does that mean scientifically? And why? They delve into the murky waters of handedness and sort through the prevailing theories. [more]

  September 4, 2020Episodes

• Sight off the Bat

  While hunting for dinner, the big brown bat must hone in on flitting insects and keep track of its surroundings to avoid crashing into them. Now, scientists have taken a peek at what’s going on in these bats’ brains while they swoop and dive. They identified a brain region that helps the animals map where objects are in relation to their own bodies, and saw that individual brain cells changed their behavior while the bats focused their attention on a particular object. The findings could help us understand certain aspects of attention issues in people as well as how bats and animals navigate while on the move. Jeff and Anthony check with their doctors to see if Batterall is right for them. [more]

  April 25, 2018Episodes

• Special Aged

  It's pretty extraordinary for people in their 80s and 90s to keep the same sharp memory as someone several decades younger, and now scientists are peeking into the brains of these "superagers" to uncover their secret. The work is the flip side of the disappointing hunt for new drugs to fight or prevent Alzheimer's disease. Parts of the brain shrink with age, one of the reasons why most people experience a gradual slowing of at least some types of memory late in life, even if they avoid diseases like Alzheimer's. But it turns out that superagers' brains aren't shrinking nearly as fast as their peers'. And autopsies of the first superagers to die during the study show they harbour a lot more of a special kind of nerve cell in a deep brain region that's important for attention. Jeff and Anthony remember to try and stay on topic. [more]

  March 12, 2018Episodes