We Have Concerns

A group of 25 scientists has proposed an ambitious project to create a synthetic human genome, or genetic blueprint, in an endeavor raises concerns over the extent to which human life can or should be engineered. Anthony and Jeff imagine if, why, and how this process should be implemented, and what kind of bizarre parent-less beings we can expect to deal with as a result.

An Australian town was reduced to breaking point by the sudden arrival of more than 100,000 giant bats who screeched incessantly and left carpets of foul-smelling droppings. Jeff and Anthony marvel at yet another example of what life can be like in Australia, and wonder how they might deal with such a problem.

Carol Howarth, 65, was amazed when a swarm of over 20,000 insects flew down onto her silver Mitsubishi Outlander, covering the back end of the vehicle. It took a team of 5 beekeepers to deal with the problem, and no one is quite sure why it happened. Anthony and Jeff have some ideas, though.

Wearing a Straw Hat after September 15th was such a fashion faux-pas in 1922 that a group of street toughs began attacking anyone with the gall to do it. The result was a series of violent outbreaks that became known at the Straw Hat Riots. Anthony and Jeff discuss fashion, unwritten rules, and the thing that would make them take to the streets themselves.

Japanese research company ALE is bidding to create an artificial meteor shower for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020. Jeff and Anthony discuss the tradition of the Olympics, the spectacle of opening ceremonies, and the audacity of humans to control celestial activity for entertainment.

Moon Ribas is a ‘cyborg artist’ who can feel every earthquake on the planet through a tiny sensor permanently grafted under her skin near the crook of her elbow. She moves to these vibrations during her artistic dance performances. Jeff and Anthony ponder whether this extra-sensory sensitivity through tech is useful, and if Moon Ribas is using it in the best way.

A Texas woman sold her seven-year-old housebroken pet bison named Bullet on Craigslist for $5,960. So, of course, Anthony and Jeff take this opportunity to discuss exotic pets, selling things online, and the curious intersection of each.

In order to become a member of the Sateré-Mawé, a tribe of roughly ten thousand members that inhabits the northern region of Amazonas, boys as young as twelve will thrust their hands into gloves full of bullet ants, whose sting is said to be the most painful thing on the planet. Anthony and Jeff discuss initiation rituals, and whether there is ever a good reason to subject oneself such intense agony.

Using an unprecedented technique of matching stars to the locations of temples on Earth, a 15-year-old Canadian student says he’s discovered a forgotten Mayan city in Mexico. Anthony and Jeff talk about what it takes to be a young person with a useful hobby, and speculate on how cool it might be to contribute to science at an early age. Be sure to stick around to the end of this episode for a surprise twist where Jeff makes his own childlike discovery.

MIT says that every year in the US there are more than 3,500 reports of swallowed batteries. If left in the stomach or esophagus these can burn the tissue. They have designed a new indigestible origami meat robot could be deployed in these scenarios to find the battery, pulling it free from the tissue and guiding it toward the colon for evacuation. Jeff and Anthony discuss the idea of robots wrapped in meat, and compare stories of swallowing the wrong things.

A small mammal has sabotaged the world's most powerful scientific instrument. The Large Hadron Collider, a 17-mile superconducting machine designed to smash protons together at close to the speed of light, went offline due to a small weasel who gnawed through a power cable. Jeff and Anthony discuss the animal kingdom's knack for causing problems, and wonder if there is more to this story than a simple lone wolf... er, weasel.

Certain people, researchers have discovered, can’t summon up mental images — it’s as if their mind’s eye is blind. This month in the journal Cortex, the condition received a name: aphantasia, based on the Greek word phantasia, which Aristotle used to describe the power that presents visual imagery to our minds. It turns out, our own Anthony Carboni might have this condition, a revelation he and Jeff work through in this episode.

According to a new patent filing, Google has devised a method to inject a device directly into your eyeballs. Per the patent filing, the device is meant to replace your eye's natural lens and is injected in a solution that congeals and attaches to your lens capsule. While this sounds like science fiction, Anthony and Jeff use this opportunity to discuss the industry of patents and the business of owning ideas.

A small city in southern Germany may be the first place in the world to introduce in-ground traffic lights. The move by authorities in Augsburg comes in response to distracted smartphone users increasingly putting themselves at risk by not looking up while crossing roads. Jeff is worried about what this means for encouraging bad habits, but Anthony actually thinks this is a fantastic idea. Listen as they hash it out.

A growing body of research in cognitive science illuminates the physical and mental toll bland cityscapes exact on residents. It turns out boring architecture may take an emotional toll on the people forced to live in and around it. Jeff and Anthony discuss the effect of architecture on mood and the importance of being stimulated by your environment.