A Little Bit Of Science

This week, AI is casually reaching for the nuclear button, a Norwegian scientist has accidentally recreated something that looks a lot like Havana Syndrome, and a brain lesion has turned a marathon runner into an intense foodie. It is a neat little trio of stories that sits right on the edge of science fiction, except the uncomfortable part is that it is all real. We start with simulated war games where major AI models were put in charge of military decision making. The result is grimly simple. In these scenarios, the systems chose to deploy tactical nuclear weapons most of the time, showing none of the cultural taboo or restraints humans have built around nuclear escalation. Then we head to Norway, where a scientist tested a pulse energy device on himself to see if it could plausibly cause Havana Syndrome-style symptoms. It did. Which is both a scientific result and a personal mistake, and it raises the obvious question of what happens when this kind of technology moves from theory to wider interest. Finally, we look at Gorman Syndrome, a neurological twist where a brain lesion appears to flip someone from long distance running to an intense obsession with fine food. It is funny, strange, and a sharp reminder that personality can be less fixed than we like to believe.    CHAPTERS:   00:00 Fire Alarm AI Fail 00:46 LLMs in War Games 06:34 Nukes and No Surrender 09:36 Pentagon Wants Anthropic 10:33 Testing AI Weirdness 12:50 Dead Cow Prompt Update 15:07 Car Wash Question Trap 18:10 Lost in the Middle Fix 22:01 Maps and Recursive Islands 23:32 Chasing Longest Line of Sight 26:53 All the Views Map 27:49 What Limits Sightlines 29:23 Havana Syndrome Emerges 31:58 Theories and Investigations 35:14 Norwegian Microwave Experiment 42:20 Official Stance and Confusion 44:04 Extreme Foodie Case Study 47:39 Gourmand Syndrome Explained 51:21 Brain Lesions and Cravings SOURCES: AIs can’t stop recommending nuclear strikes in war game simulations AI Arms and Influence: Frontier Models Exhibit Sophisticated Reasoning in Simulated Nuclear Crises The Longest Line Of Sight https://pub.towardsai.net/the-car-wash-question-that-breaks-every-ai-and-the-2-word-fix-nobody-talks-about-21db5c78fc29 https://www.vice.com/en/article/brain-damaged-gourmand-syndrome-foodies-cant-register-your-disgust/ https://www.iflscience.com/gourmand-syndrome-when-brain-injuries-spark-an-obsessive-craving-for-fine-food-and-gastronomy-82546 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/gourmand-syndrome-26067295/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/02/14/havana-syndrome-cia-norway-experiment/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havana_syndrome https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pentagon-reportedly-testing-radio-wave-device-linked-to-havana-syndrome/ https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/13/politics/havana-syndrome-device-pentagon-hsi See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we have hippos with hidden bits, hearts that take a mechanical detour, and a medical case study that will make you sit down and reconsider every life choice that led you to having a body. It is science at its best and worst, fascinating, useful, and deeply inconvenient. We start at the zoo, where hippo castration is a real population control tool, partly to manage breeding and partly to reduce aggression. The catch is hippo anatomy is not built for human convenience, with internal testes that turn the whole procedure into a high stakes game of hide and seek inside a very large, very grumpy animal. Then we move from hippos to hearts, looking at cardiac surgeries that use a heart lung bypass machine. Some patients report a temporary cognitive dip afterward, often called pump brain, and nobody is fully sure why it happens. It might be the machine, the stress of surgery, or subtle changes in blood flow and inflammation, but the mystery is still very much alive. Finally, we end with a story that makes every listener cross their legs in sympathy. A man developed a rectal urethral fistula after previous surgery, likely linked to a catheter complication during a coma, and his internal plumbing rerouted itself in the most unhelpful way possible. The takeaway is simple. Bodies are fragile, embarrassment is useless, and if something feels wrong, get it checked. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Hippo Castration Study 05:50 Why Zoos Castrate Hippos 08:11 Internal Anatomy Surprise 13:04 Surgery Method and Timing 15:14 Recovery and Blood Sweat 17:12 Aftereffects and Social Dynamics 18:11 Science Communication Pivot 18:46 Alcohol Messaging Study Setup 21:27 Violence as Communication 21:57 Alcohol Messages That Work 23:25 Counting Drinks Cancer Risk 25:08 Comfortable With Surgery 25:49 Heart Bypass Miracle Machine 29:12 Pumphead Cognitive Decline 33:43 Why the Pump Makes You Dumber 35:46 Fistula Case From Catheter 42:34 Spinosaurus Tank Top Sendoff SOURCES: Rosetta scientist Dr Matt Taylor apologises for ‘offensive’ shirt Astonishing Spinosaur Unearthed in The Sahara Is Unlike Any Seen Before There's One Simple Method to Lower Alcohol Intake, And It Works  A randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of combinations of ‘why to reduce’ and ‘how to reduce’ alcohol harm-reduction communications Westbury, C., & Hollis, G. (2019). Wriggly, squiffy, lummox, and boobs: What makes some words funny? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 148(1), 97–123. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000467 https://people.howstuffworks.com/why-poop-and-wiggle-are-funny-words-according-to-science.htm? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000169182600171X https://futurism.com/health-medicine/exercise-cardio-stress-research https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0093691X13004275 https://www.discovermagazine.com/why-its-nearly-impossible-to-castrate-a-hippo-4775 https://futurism.com/neoscope/doctors-rectourethral-fistula https://www.cureus.com/articles/68327-a-curious-case-of-rectal-ejaculation#!/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens to the economy if aliens show up? Not the movie version. The real version where markets panic, confidence collapses, and everyone suddenly forgets how money is supposed to work. This week, we dig into the idea that confirming UFOs or UAPs could trigger an ontological shock that rattles financial systems in ways no central bank has a policy for. Then we head into dream engineering, where researchers are testing whether your sleeping brain can be nudged to solve problems while you are out cold. Using targeted memory reactivation, the idea is to plant cues that help your mind keep working in the background, like a night shift you never agreed to. And because the universe loves balance, we finish with an emergency room story that escalates into a full hospital evacuation. Yes, it involves an artillery shell lodged where it absolutely should not be, and yes, it ends with the bomb squad being called. So that is the episode. UFO economics, puzzle solving in your sleep, and a reminder that humans will always find new ways to surprise medical professionals. Like, subscribe, and tell us what weird science story we should chase next. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Ex–Bank of England Analyst Warns: Aliens Could Crash the Economy 03:35 Ontological Shock 101: When Reality Breaks 05:00 From Panic to Euphoria: How Markets Might React to UAP Disclosure 11:16 Can Sleep (and Dreams) Help Solve Hard Problems? 15:13 Dream Engineering & Lucid Dreaming: Hacking Sleep for Creativity 17:21 Inside the Experiment: Puzzles, Sound Cues, and Watching Inception 18:51 Dream Cues for Puzzle-Solving (and Lucid Dream Strategies) 20:40 ‘Rent a Human’: AI Agents Hiring People for Real-World Tasks 21:41 Proof, Crypto Payouts, and the Weirdest Job Examples 27:31 ER Evacuations: When ‘Foreign Objects’ Become a Public Safety Issue 28:58 Annual ‘Stuff Stuck in Bodies’ Highlights (Yes, Mostly Butts) 39:11 Mailbag & Sign-Off SOURCES:   https://defector.com/what-did-we-get-stuck-in-our-rectums-last-year-6 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0735675723001535 https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-man-wwii-shell-lodged-in-rectum-bomb-squad-called-2021-12 https://futurism.com/future-society/hospital-evacuated-man-ww1-shell https://futurism.com/space/alien-life-financial-collapse https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bank-england-warned-prepare-aliens-212252751.html https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/bank-of-england-must-prepare-for-ufo-announcement-f3mh8l9vh https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-rent-human-bodies https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-agents-incapable-math Creative problem-solving after experimentally provoking dreams of unsolved puzzles during REM sleepSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Winter Olympians are allegedly gaming their suit seams for extra lift, the ocean is still capable of throwing an absolutely giant wall of water at your face with no warning, and somewhere in Queensland, a blob of pitch is taking nearly a century to prove it is technically a liquid. This week, we bounce from sports cheating to monster waves to the slowest experiment on Earth, with science doing what it does best and refusing to be tidy. We dig into ski jumping and the art of the tiny advantage, including why the groin region has become an unexpectedly important battleground in Olympic aerodynamics. Then we hit the open ocean, where rogue waves have gone from sailor myth to measured reality, and the scariest part is how suddenly they show up. From there, climate change delivers a curveball in Svalbard, where some polar bears are getting fatter by adapting their diets and hunting patterns. We also look at 3D printable electronic skin that lets robots feel touch, and a massive Swedish study that challenges long-held assumptions about autism and gender bias. Finally, we pay tribute to the pitch drop experiment at the University of Queensland, a reminder that some scientists are built differently and will happily wait decades for goo to make a point.  CHAPTERS:    00:00 Winter Olympics Excitement 00:19 The Science of Ski Jumping Suits 01:25 Meet the Hosts 02:18 Ski Jumping Suit Scandal 10:13 Polar Bears and Climate Change 16:21 Rogue Waves: The Ocean's Hidden Danger 29:04 The Mystery of the Unsinkable Ship 29:24 The Rise of Rogue Waves 29:42 The Record-Breaking Youclue Lit Wave 30:41 Super Rogue Waves: A New Threat? 32:08 The Physics of Waves 34:06 3D Printable E-Flesh: A Technological Marvel 38:28 Autism: A Gender Perspective 45:27 The Pitch Drop Experiment: A Slow Burn 55:41 Mailbag and Final Thoughts   SOURCES: https://www.aps.org/apsnews/2018/01/existence-rogue-waves https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-04/rogue-wave-kills-us-passenger-on-antarctic-cruise/101731482 https://www.sciencealert.com/gigantic-wave-in-the-pacific-was-the-most-extreme-rogue-wave-on-record https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/21/science/beal-seeds-experiment.html https://magazine.wfu.edu/2022/10/05/unearthing-time-in-a-bottle/ https://www.sciencealert.com/the-worlds-longest-running-lab-experiment-is-almost-100-years-old? https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-running-laboratory-experiment https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/85986/15-longest-running-scientific-studies-history https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28402709 https://www.sciencenews.org/article/oldest-pitch-drop-experiment https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/feb/05/penis-injection-doping-claims-in-winter-olympics-ski-jumping-investigated-by-wada Scientists share design so you can make your own 3D-printable 'eFlesh' for robots — affordable,easy to produce, and highly-tactile robot sensor grips can be printed at home Towards the equal recognition of autism in girls and women Body condition among Svalbard Polar bears Ursus maritimus during a period of rapid loss of seaice  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we bounce between sex, psychedelics, and infectious disease, and somehow it all hangs together by the end. We unpack research on porn use that suggests the real issue is not how often people watch it, but why they are watching in the first place, with motivation shaping the impact on emotional and sexual wellbeing. Then we head into the world of magic mushrooms, where psilocybin is being studied for potential health effects that go beyond the trip. From possible links to ageing markers like telomeres, to broader associations with physical health, the science is early but intriguing. We also explore research suggesting psychedelics may influence sexual arousal and satisfaction, including for people dealing with depression and antidepressant side effects. Finally, we tackle an influenza study with a bizarre result: healthy volunteers spent time around flu sufferers and nobody caught it. Was it luck, immunity, or a sign we still do not fully understand how flu spreads in real world settings. CHAPTERS:   00:00 Introduction to Pornography Concerns 00:40 Science Steps In: Quality Over Quantity 03:52 Exploring the Concept of Gooning 06:55 Research on Pornography Usage 12:44 Human Anatomy Compared to Great Apes 19:39 Life Hacks and Psychedelic Drugs 19:46 Health Benefits of Psychedelics 21:26 Anti-Aging Properties of Psilocybin 23:36 Survival Skills and Psychedelics 27:27 Flu Transmission Study 33:57 Sexual Benefits of Magic Mushrooms 37:49 Listener Contributions     SOURCES: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3003595 https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1013153See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.