Tag: of
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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]
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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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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]
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Trip Down The Stares
In 2015, a psychologist in Italy figured out how to induce a drug-free altered state of consciousness by asking 20 volunteers to sit and stare into each other's eyes for 10 minutes straight. Not only did the deceptively simple task bring on strange 'out of body' experiences for the volunteers, it also caused them to see hallucinations of monsters, their relatives, and themselves in their partner's face. Jeff and Anthony have been recording this podcast for years, facing each other. We finally have an explanation for some of the more unhinged episodes. [more]
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Permanent Record
When considering musical artists, your favorite record of theirs is often the first to which you listened. It makes sense that the first album one encounters of a band will, over time, accumulate the most repeat listens. It has the chance to rack up plays before the listener explores the rest of the catalog. However, there might be more to this. Jeff and Anthony liked this study better after a few reads through. [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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Sleep Depredation
A study by University of Manchester researchers has shown for the first time that a bad night’s sleep is associated with suicidal thoughts the next day in people with depression. That data revealed that poor sleep quality and short sleep duration were both associated with higher feelings of suicidal thoughts the next day. In hopefully unrelated news, Jeff just had his second child. [more]
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Trouble Stuffed
Judges of the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year have disqualified a winning contestant after the anteater in his prize-winning photograph was judged “highly likely” to be a taxidermy specimen. Called “The Night Raider,” the image was taken by photographer Marcio Cabral and depicts an anteater underneath starry skies next to a termite mound dotted with glowing bioluminescence. Jeff and Anthony knew it was Photoshopped as they could see the pixels. [more]
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How the Sausage is Maid
A Canadian man finally got the chance to clear his name after 17 years in exile from a hotel in British Columbia. His ordeal began in 2001, involving a flock of seagulls (the animals, not the band) and a suitcase full of pepperoni. Jeff and Anthony discuss the value of a good apology. [more]
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Nowhere You Are
In a triumph of data collection and analysis, a team of researchers based at Oxford University has built the tools necessary to calculate how far any dot on a map is from a city — or anything else. The research allows us to pin down a question that has long evaded serious answers: Where is the middle of nowhere? The Washington Post processed every pixel and every populated place in the contiguous United States to find the one that best represents the “middle of nowhere.” Of all towns with more than 1,000 residents, Glasgow, home to 3,363 people in the rolling prairie of northeastern Montana, is farthest — about 4.5 hours in any direction — from any metropolitan area of more than 75,000 people. Jeff and Anthony consider the simple life. [more]
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