Tag: life

• Another One Fermi

  The Fermi Paradox is the story that started We Have Concerns, and Anthony and Jeff return to the topic this week. There is new research that might explain why we haven't seen evidence of alien life in the universe, and it's shockingly simple. [more]

  March 3, 2023Episodes

• How Many People Have Ever Lived?

  It is a simple question that requires some pretty complicated investigation. Calculating the number of people who have ever lived since the dawn of humanity is part science and part art. Jeff and Anthony dig in to the fascinating process by which scientists have come up with a pretty definitive answer. Are you able to guess it? [more]

  January 27, 2023Episodes

• Exo Wombs and the Faint Young Sun Paradox

  To combat low population growth, some countries are looking into using artificial wombs to grow new humans. Anthony and Jeff examine this dystopian idea to see if it might actually make sense. Then, we know the sun - and all stars - get hotter and hotter until they die. But what we rarely consider if how a younger sun would have been dimmer and cooler. Jeff and Anthony take a look at the paradox of how life on Earth emerged when it would have been too cold for oceans to flow. [more]

  February 4, 2022Episodes

• 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

• Octopus Punch and HIIT for Life

  Well, it has finally happened. Octopuses have been observed punching fish. Out of spite. Anthony and Jeff keep their eye on the cephalopods and reiterate their vie that they's aliens. Then, exercise has been linked to longevity - but what kind of exercise? Jeff and Anthony take a look at a new study that may well answer that question in a very encouraging way. [more]

  January 1, 2021Episodes

• One Last One Fermi

  The sheer abundance of stars in the universe suggests that, somewhere, an intelligent lifeform should be warming itself on a distant planet. Even if life evolves rarely, ET should be phoning. Yet, by all appearances, humanity seems to be flying solo in our galaxy, and perhaps the universe. Many solutions have been proposed to solve this riddle, known as the Fermi Paradox. Researchers of Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute believe It’s likely intelligent life doesn’t exist at all, outside of Earth. Jeff and Anthony think we're lacking supporting evidence of such. [more]

  July 1, 2018Episodes

• Alien vs Temperature

  Did climate change already kill all the aliens we've been searching for? According to astrophysicist Adam Frank, it's certainly a possibility — and whether humans are doomed to the same fate may already be out of our hands. Jeff and Anthony once again consider the repercussions of running the air conditioner during a recording session. [more]

  June 20, 2018Episodes

• Been Taught Stealin’

  The number of self-check out terminals around the world is predicted to reach 325,000 by 2019 and some stores have even become fully self service. But for some supermarket customers, the removal of store clerks has been a green light for dishonest behaviour. Customers are now relatively autonomous in the picking, payment and packing of goods they wish to purchase, but trusting them to process an honest and correct transaction is not without problems. Jeff and Anthony have an unexpected item in the bagging area and need some help. [more]

  May 28, 2018Episodes

• The Odds in Your Flavor

  893.35 quadrillion to one. That’s the likelihood of what’s happened to 20-year-old Dylan McWilliams. He was bitten by a shark, attacked by a bear, and bitten by a rattlesnake—all in just over three years. .He’s one of the unluckiest guys on the planet. How unlucky? Since each event is independent the odds of each are multiplied together, he said, making the odds of this happening 893.35 quadrillion to one. Jeff and Anthony are going to politely decline your camping invitation. [more]

  May 9, 2018Episodes

• Lethal Collection

  "What if we told you we could back up your mind?" That's the business pitch of Nectome, a preserve-your-brain-and-upload-it company. The catch? They have to kill you first. Its chemical solution can keep a body intact for hundreds of years, maybe thousands, as a statue of frozen glass. The idea is that someday in the future scientists will scan your bricked brain and turn it into a computer simulation. That way, someone a lot like you, though not exactly you, will smell the flowers again in a data server somewhere. Jeff and Anthony accuse each other of already having undergone the procedure. [more]

  March 26, 2018Episodes