A Little Bit Of Science

This week’s episode is a reminder that science is basically a grab bag of “that’s amazing” and “please don’t make me think about that”. We’ve got flight attendants quietly racking up cosmic radiation exposure, lasers that can “smell” disease, NASA flirting with the idea of turning plastic into food, and a deep-sea stash of radioactive barrels that looks like the world’s worst scavenger hunt. First up, the hidden cost of being nice at 30,000 feet. Flight attendants and aircrew aren’t just dealing with turbulence and weird passenger behaviour, they’re also exposed to higher levels of cosmic radiation because there’s less atmosphere protecting them at cruising altitude. It’s the kind of risk you can’t see or feel, which makes it easy to forget it’s even there. Then we get into disease detection, featuring Joy Milne, who can literally smell Parkinson’s. Scientists have taken that idea and used lasers to detect chemical signatures our bodies give off, because those compounds can change when disease is present. It’s promising for earlier diagnosis, even if “belly button swab” is not a phrase anyone wanted in their life. We finish with two flavours of “humanity, please”: turning plastic waste into edible protein for long space missions, and imaging radioactive waste barrels dumped on the ocean floor. The plastic-to-protein idea is gross but practical in a closed system, and the barrel footage is unsettling, even if early findings suggest radiation levels aren’t as catastrophic as you’d expect and marine life is still moving in. CHAPTER MARKERS: 00:00 Intro 03:32 Cosmic Rays Explained 03:49 Radiation Limits Basics 10:37 Smelling Parkinsons 13:45 Swabs and Laser Sniffing 16:42 Belly Button Swab Tech 18:39 Plastic Cookie Protein 21:00 Microbes Upcycle Waste 26:37 Radioactive Sea Dumping 32:30 Radiation Levels Findings SOURCES: https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-turn-plastic-waste-into-protein-rich-cookies/?_bhlid=f36f164206868ff7a2c8a47605943918f6cb498c https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-68298-9 https://www.sciencealert.com/150000-tons-of-radioactive-waste-were-dumped-in-the-atlantic-decades-later-its-visibly-oozing https://www.sciencealert.com/experiment-tested-out-of-body-experiences-two-reported-seeing-things-scientists-cant-explain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out-of-body_experience https://www.futurity.org/psychiatrists-agreement-diagnosis-3344852/ https://www.sciencealert.com/job-with-highest-risk-of-radiation-cancer-revealed-out-of-over-500-occupations https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2852504#google_vignette https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight-time_equivalent_dose See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s episode is a reminder that science can make you feel tiny and powerful in the same breath. One minute we’re scanning the sky for signs of alien engineering, the next we’re looking at something that behaves like a star and a black hole at the same time, and then we’re back on Earth asking the least fun question of all: should we be building machines that can decide who lives and who dies? First up, alien mega structures. We talk Dyson spheres, the idea that an advanced civilisation could wrap its star in solar collectors and turn a sun into a power station. You wouldn’t see the structure directly, but you might detect the heat it gives off, which is why Project Hephaistos is hunting for strange heat signatures that could hint at something artificial. Then there’s the “black hole star”, which sounds made up but is very much being taken seriously. James Webb observations point to an object pumping out a ridiculous amount of energy, far beyond what normal nuclear fusion should allow. The leading idea is that it’s some kind of hybrid, where a black hole is involved in powering the light, which is not how we usually think of black holes behaving. And finally, we land back on Earth with autonomous drones, where the vibe shifts from curiosity to ethics. These systems are moving beyond remote control and into selecting and engaging targets without direct human input, which raises the big question: if a machine makes the call, who’s responsible when it goes wrong? CHAPTER MARKERS: 00:00 Intro 00:42 Dyson Spheres Explained 02:08 Project Hephaistos Hunt 05:09 Apollo 11 Quarantine Story 07:16 Space Biosecurity Risks 09:30 Moon Stopover Containment Plan 11:01 We Already Contaminated Mars 11:47 Biosecurity Costs and Stakes 15:28 Black Hole Star Idea 18:25 AI Drones and War Crimes 20:48 Autonomous Targeting Fears SOURCES: https://esawebb.org/ https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2607.09460 https://www.sciencealert.com/thermodynamics https://www.astro.uu.se/~ez/hephaistos/hephaistos.html https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-026-02428-5?ref=404media.co https://www.sciencealert.com/oldest-known-maya-monument-could-be-a-map-of-the-universe https://www.sciencealert.com/a-famous-golden-palace-in-spain-is-turning-purple-and-now-we-know-why https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2023.100486 https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511760822.013 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774317000774 https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/russia-fully-ai-controlled-drones-kill-ukrainians See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s episode is a reminder that humans will try to make money from anything, and nature will always be stranger than we expect. We jump from dinosaur bones as luxury investments, to an AI school that claims it can speed up learning, to a snake with a tail that looks like a spider, and then to crime patterns that change with the seasons. First up: dinosaur fossils. Dinosaur skeletons are being bought and sold like high-end art, with buyers ranging from celebrities to finance types who want something rare for their collection. Then we head to Iran for the spider-tailed viper, a snake that uses its tail like bait. The tail looks like a spider, so birds get curious and come closer, and the snake strikes. It’s clever, unsettling, and a good reminder that behaviour can be just as important as bones when it comes to evolution. We also look at Alpha School, which says AI can help kids finish core learning in a couple of hours, then spend the rest of the day on skills and personal interests. It sounds exciting, but we keep one eyebrow raised, because, well, it’s called “Alpha School”. We finish with seasonal crime, where burglary peaks in winter in the UK but summer in North America, and bike theft spikes in summer because that’s when bikes are everywhere and easiest to steal. CHAPTER MARKERS: 00:00 Intro 01:48 Record Fossil Auction Prices 05:36 Who Buys and Public Access 08:54 Is It a Good Investment 10:20 Spider Tailed Viper 16:31 Alpha School and Two Hour Learning 19:48 Social Media Grading 20:37 Unpaid Grit Assignments 21:46 Heart Rate Test 25:57 Crime Seasonality Explained 32:35 Biggest Seasonal Crime SOURCES: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-89047-001?doi=1 https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.70308 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43762-023-00094-x https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-much-should-a-dinosaur-cost/ https://www.sciencealert.com/extremely-rare-rapunzel-syndrome-can-cause-a-hairball-so-large-it-requires-surgery https://www.swinburne.edu.au/news/2016/10/what-is-rapunzel-syndrome-and-why-do-some-people-eat-hair/ https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-alpha-school-education-heart-monitor https://alpha.school/the-program/#love https://buildcognitiveresonance.substack.com/p/special-report-my-so-called-alpha See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s episode is what happens when science stops asking “should we?” and gets very focused on “could we?”. Cockroaches are being upgraded into tiny rescue workers, a Silicon Valley crew pitching brain tech you might one day take through your nose, and the Ig Nobels are back to remind everyone that the line between genius and ridiculous is thin. First up, cyborg cockroaches. Engineers in Seoul are developing “Paraborgs”, insects fitted with cameras and tiny syringe systems designed to crawl through disaster zones and reach people trapped under rubble. The research claims a 95% success rate for close-range injections, which is impressive, even if it does mean trusting a cockroach to stay on task. Then we swing into the future with Ray Kurzweil and a startup working on brain-computer interfaces without surgery, using nanobots instead of implants. The part you’ll remember is the proposed delivery method: you might one day “snort” the nanobots like a nasal spray, and they’d travel up to help create a connection between your brain and your devices. It’s early days, but the message is clear: tech wants to move in closer. To round it out, we hit the Ig Nobels for silly science with real curiosity, from cockroach milk as an energy-dense food source to a splash-reducing urinal redesign, then a quick detour into a wholesome data point: Dolly Parton’s bipartisan popularity in the US. So that’s the week: bugs with medical kits, brain bots via the nose, science that makes you laugh before it makes you think, and Dolly reminding us that being likeable is still a rare superpower. CHAPTER MARKERS: 00:00 Intro 01:43 Roaches With Cameras 03:19 Paraborgs Explained 04:47 Remote Syringe Injections 08:00 The Ig Nobels 18:03 Bucket Bong Rabbit Hole 21:17 King Zog Chain Smoking 25:37 Joint Year Metric 26:55 Dolly Parton Popularity Data 32:03 Kurzweil Brain Interface 37:00 Snortable Nanobot BCI SOURCES: https://improbable.com/2026/09/03/the-2026-ig-nobel-prize-winners-are-announced/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9872797/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12516480/ https://bsky.app/profile/eschares.bsky.social/post/3mueyi6xb322h https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11419-023-00666-w https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10622464/ https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/27/cockroaches-used-search-rescue-earthquakes-science-technology-australia https://news.uq.edu.au/2026-08-paramedic-cockroaches-cyborg-care-when-rescuers-cant-reach https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/russia-fully-ai-controlled-drones-kill-ukrainians https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/mark-zuckerberg-anti-dolly-parton https://apple.news/AlfcS_7EHRb2WOOl6kZgrug https://apple.news/AKEsFCvmfSWWAAt1iqE88wg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s line-up is a reminder that humans can turn literally anything into a warning sign. A flight tracker becomes an apocalypse detector, a medieval siege weapon becomes a forensic crime scene, and wartime sugar rationing turns into an accidental public health intervention. All of these stories are weirdly useful. First up: the DIY apocalypse forecast. Kyle MacDonald’s idea is that unusual patterns in private jets and military flights might act like an early-warning system, because the rich and strategic tend to move first when something big is coming. It’s half conspiracy, half pattern recognition, and very much a sign of the times. Then we head back to medieval “workplace safety”, which mostly meant “try not to die”. A skeleton found with more than 160 fractures is being linked to a trebuchet accident, which makes grim sense once you remember these machines were built to launch massive projectiles with terrifying force. If you ever find a time machine, here’s the advice: do not stand near the trebuchet. Finally, we jump to WWII, where sugar rationing wasn’t a wellness trend, it was scarcity management. Research suggests that lower sugar intake in the first 1,000 days of life may be linked to reduced risk of chronic disease later on, including some serious conditions. So that’s the week: flight trackers as doomsday tea leaves, a medieval death that reads like a physics demo, and a reminder that early nutrition matters more than we like to admit. CHAPTER MARKERS: 00:00 Intro 00:36 Disasters Seen From Above 02:06 Where To Survive Apocalypse 03:54 Resilience Factors Explained 07:29 Best Countries Ranked 11:24 Siege Trauma Mystery 18:29 Trebuchet War Wolf 20:35 Connectome Explained 22:30 Worm Brain Fly Body 25:56 Sugar Rationing Natural Experiment SOURCES: https://www.instagram.com/kcimc/ https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15598276261480005 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/gch2.70146 https://ews.kylemcdonald.net/?_bhlid=d6149a8e5d8c3473cfbd98e21719efed7038cc8b http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/15598276261480005 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.20.713233v1?_bhlid=3e0f11221a39630a4b2eb199e38b0c5629f0d202 https://www.science.org/content/article/shattered-skeleton-scottish-castle-first-confirmed-death-trebuchet https://apple.news/ASjFebnlsTH2yjUMlNtOZWg https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-asymmetric-brain/201907/the-surprising-neuroscience-pigeon-intelligence https://www.sciencealert.com/these-babies-grew-up-with-strict-sugar-limits-decades-later-the-results-are-dramatic See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.