We Have Concerns

Jeff has been deeply affected by the death of Prince Rogers Nelson this past week, so Anthony decides it might be good to take an episode and talk through the feelings around the loss of this unique musical talent.

The Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that nearly every expert scientific witness gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period before 2000. Specifically, cases where hair samples, fingerprints, and other scientific evidence led to conviction, almost every single expert witness misled the jury. Jeff and Anthony unpack what it means to misuse science on such a large an important scale.

The Toronto Zoo is investigating a video that shows a woman climbing into part of its tiger enclosure to retrieve her hat. That's right, she scaled a fence and got into a tiger cage to save... a hat. Anthony and Jeff discuss the type of person who might do this, and wonder what kind of item would compel them to do the same.

Robert Fidler built a castle at Salfords in Surrey, England without planning permission and hid it behind straw bales for four years. He has now been ordered to tear it down or face 4 months on prison. Jeff and Anthony discuss the merits of having your own castle, and the strategy of hiding it inside 3 stories of hay.

Although Boaty McBoatface decisively won a public poll that Britain's Natural Environment Research Council launched last month to whip up enthusiasm about science, it turns out that will not be the name of their $300 million new vessel. Jeff and Anthony talk about crowdsourcing, the internet, and missed opportunities.

The Flyboard Air, made by Franky Zapata‘s Zapata Racing is either a clever fake, or the most impressive hoverboard yet in action. Jeff and Anthony are thrilled byt the possibilities, and imagine gliding through the city skies avoiding Spider-Man. Now if they can just afford some Pumpkin Bombs.

Writer and programmer Paul Ford decided to outsource his anxiety by writing a piece of software that would email him expressions of his worst fears every morning. The idea being, that if all his worries seemed like spam, then perhaps he might disregard these distractions the same way he does actual spam. Anthony and Jeff have their own anxieties they'd like to minimize, but would this plan work?

An octopus at the National Aquarium of New Zealand sliped out of its tank, crawled across floor, and escaped down pipe to ocean, leading Anthony and Jeff to worry that the cephalopod uprising has begun. What is the ramifications of intelligent octopi escape their confines when we know... they's aliens!

In Portugal, thousands of storks have chosen to forgo their typical winter migration to sub-Saharan Africa in favor of sticking around to gorge on garbage at open-air landfills. Jeff and Anthony discuss this smorgasbord of trash, what it is doing to the ecology of birds, and whether stopping it is even the right thing to do.

Science host Greg Foot tries to get to the secret of what human flesh tastes like by performing a biopsy of his leg muscle to smell the aroma of his own cooked flesh. Anthony and Jeff discuss the circumstances that might make them attempt to eat humans, and how they think they'd taste.

Scientists have managed to thaw out and perform an autopsy on an ancient frozen puppy, which was mummified in the Russian permafrost some 12,400 years ago. The next? Obviously, someone wants to clone it. Jeff and Anthony have some reservations about bringing back a long-extinct breed of dog, adorable puppy or no.

Microsoft introduced a chatbot that was built to learn from its interactions with Twitter users, but had to disable it after it began spouting some very troubling rhetoric. Anthony and Jeff consider what we should learn from the sad and brief life of AI known as Tay.

The community of Delta, B.C. is looking at updating its Annieville playground with riskier equipment, after a public health expert told the council that kids who play safe when they're young show more signs of depression and anxiety later in life. Anthony and Jeff have some strong opinions about playing it safe, and debate the merits of "helicopter parenting".

Scientists from Cornell University and the Italian Technology Institute in Pontedera have developed an elastic robotic skin that is able to stretch up to five times its size, change colors, and even detect pressure. Anthony is ready to replace his own skin immediately... until Jeff tells him it basically makes him just like an octopus.

A mountain lion miraculously surviving in the urban mountains in Los Angeles is believed to have breached a 9-foot fence at the Los Angeles Zoo and mauled an 18-pound koala at night. However, all the evidence is circumstantial. Jeff and Anthony take a look at those circumstances and come to their own conclusions about the mountain lion known as P-22.