A relaxing trip to Japan turns into an accidental run down a double black diamond, a mathematician solves “impossible” problems because nobody told him they were impossible, and missing scientists get pulled into UFO flavoured rumours. This week, Will and Rod bounce between snowboarding psychology, statistical legend, conspiracy culture, and the strange ways expectations shape what we think we can do. We start on the slopes, where fear is sometimes just signage, then jump to George Dantzig, who solved famous unsolved statistics problems after mistaking them for homework. Same theme, different setting: not knowing the odds can be a weird kind of advantage. Then things get darker with disappearances, military secrecy, and the internet’s favourite genre, plus a look at the gluten conundrum and why non coeliac gluten sensitivity is still messy science. Bodies are complicated, and belief can play a bigger role than people like to admit. Finally, we head to the Marshall Islands, where a concrete dome covering radioactive waste from US nuclear testing sits in the Pacific like a “temporary” fix that has to survive storms, rising seas, and time. CHAPTER MARKERS 00:00 Science Snack Intro 00:43 Snowboarding The Hard Way 02:48 Expectations And Limits 03:16 Dantzig And The Simplex 06:02 Accidental Unsolved Problems 09:26 Never Tell Me The Odds 10:04 Missing General UFO Links 12:52 List Of Scientist Cases 16:28 Politics And FBI Probe 18:07 Conspiracy Dots And Anti Gravity 21:05 Flood The Zone Meteorology Tease 22:10 Hurricanes Go Backwards 23:02 Weather Control Conspiracies 25:02 Meteorologists Under Threat 27:47 Lessons From Misinformation 28:40 Nuclear Tests In Paradise 30:34 Inside The Runit Dome 34:20 Cracks Leaks And Sea Rise 36:57 Good Gluten News 40:19 Gluten Sensitivity Reality Check 42:35 Nocebo FODMAPs And Advice 46:16 Wrap Up And Listener Callout SOURCES: https://futurism.com/conspiracy-meteorologists-hurricanes https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/07/marjorie-taylor-greene-hurricane-helene https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/hurricane-milton-misinformation-meteorlogist-death-threats-1235130352/ https://futurism.com/space/fbi-investigating-deaths-disappearances-top-scientists https://futurism.com/space/another-military-ufo-guy-died https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fbi-investigating-possible-links-between-deaths-and-disappearances-of-at-least-10-scientists/ https://www.sciencealert.com/this-infamous-radioactive-tomb-is-leaking-and-experts-are-worried https://theconversation.com/your-gluten-sensitivity-might-be-something-else-entirely-new-study-shows-267098See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.