Tag: thoughts

• Lucid Dreaming and Alone with Your Thoughts

  An international team of researchers was able to achieve real-time dialogues with people in the midst of lucid dreams, according to a study published in Current Biology. Jeff and Anthony discuss whether they have experienced lucid dreaming, and if the excitement around this study is a bit overstated. Then, how difficult is it for humans to be alone with their thoughts? A new study shows just how far people will go to stop the silence. Anthony and Jeff make sense of the idea that people might hurt themselves rather than do nothing. [more]

  March 5, 2021Episodes

• Destroy the Sun and AI Know What You’re Thinking

  A new study finds direct correlation between proton density in the rays of the sun and seismic activity on earth, leading researchers to believe there may be a way to predict earthquakes up to 24 hours in advance. Jeff and Anthony consider the evidence that the Sun may be causing earthquakes and what it could mean. Then, scientists are connecting humans with EKG sensors to computers running AI algorithms. The resulting data is allowing the AI to be able to predict what a human is thinking. Anthony and Jeff look at the positives and negatives of such experiments. [more]

  September 25, 2020Episodes

• 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]

  May 7, 2018Episodes

• 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]

  February 5, 2018Episodes