Six Degrees of Rumination

Episode 111 - “Animus Prime - who let Mike out of the basement?” - 12/16/24

Welcome to episode 111, after about a year's hiatus!

"Animus Prime - who let Mike out of the basement?" is filled with wacky animal stories, as our episodes are prone to do.  Albatrosses, dragons, and military dolphins are just some of the friends we encounter in our second to last episode of 2024.

 

 

Giant sperm found trapped in amber

https://archaeology-world.com/100-million-year-old-giant-sperm-found-trapped-in-amber/?

 

 

 

Ancient dragon

https://www.sciencealert.com/ancient-dragon-unearthed-in-japan-is-unlike-anything-weve-ever-seen

 

 

Nuclear codes

https://www.iflscience.com/your-password-may-be-stronger-than-us-nuclear-codes-during-the-cold-war-77173

 

 

Military dolphins

https://www.iflscience.com/military-dolphins-still-protect-around-a-quarter-of-the-uss-nuclear-arsenal-77088

 

 

Orcas attacking boats

https://newatlas.com/biology/orcas-killer-whales-boats/

 

 

Cocaine pollution in the ocean

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/cocaine-sharks-brazil-pollution-contaminated-water

 

 

 

Slingshot spiders

https://www.npr.org/2024/12/06/nx-s1-5214779/slingshot-spiders-rely-on-good-vibrations-to-catch-supper

 

 

Robot mushroom

https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/robot-mushroom-biohybrid-robotics-cornell-b2610411.html

 

 

Stop planting trees

https://www.wired.com/story/stop-planting-trees-thomas-crowther/?

 

 

Don’t plant trees in the wrong places

https://www.sciencealert.com/study-planting-trees-in-wrong-places-actually-boosts-global-warming

 

Wisdom the albatross

https://www.npr.org/2024/12/06/nx-s1-5220094/shes-74-and-expecting-wisdom-the-albatross-astounds-once-again

Episode 110 - “Br-AI-n: Listen to episode 109 First” - 1/3/24

Welcome to Episode 110 and a whole new year!  But wait, before you forget about 2023 completely, we ask that if you have not yet listened to Episode 109 (air date 12/20/23), go back and do so before enjoying Episode 110.  There are lessons to be learned before you delve further into the holy terror that is AI....

 

Elongated skulls in Rome

https://www.iflscience.com/cemetery-full-of-deformed-long-skulls-reveals-the-chaos-after-the-fall-of-rome-55862

 

The Mandela Effect

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/unserious-psychology/202312/the-psychology-behind-the-mandela-effect

 

 

Theta waves

https://singularityhub.com/2023/07/23/scientists-found-the-source-of-a-key-brain-wave-for-memory-and-creativity/

 

 

Shape of the brain

https://scitechdaily.com/century-old-paradigm-overturned-brain-shape-matters-more-than-neural-connectivity/

 

 

AI scores in top percentile for creative thinking

https://www.psypost.org/2023/12/ai-scores-in-the-top-percentile-of-creative-thinking-214895

 

 

AI can read your thoughts

https://www.iflscience.com/ai-brain-activity-decoder-can-translate-thoughts-into-written-words-68686

 

 

A breakthrough in understanding whale language

https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a35kp/scientists-have-reported-a-breakthrough-in-understanding-whale-language

 

 

AI lie detector

https://www.freethink.com/robots-ai/ai-lie-detector#Echobox=1680279620

 

AI faces perceived as more real than human ones

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/urban-survival/202311/people-now-see-ai-generated-faces-as-more-real-than-human-ones

 

Episode 109 - “Shadow Work on the Way to Mars (Producer Mike was Right)” - 12/20/23

Producer Mike LOSES HIS MIND and treats us to his best rant ever.  Enjoy Episode 109 during your holiday travels or when you want to escape familial joy for a bit and indulge in some sarcasm.  We cover hibernation, 3D printing (food and otherwise), caffeine intake, and of course - artificial intelligence.

 

Hibernation for space travel

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/may/25/hibernation-artificially-triggered-in-potential-space-travel-breakthrough?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

 

 

Astronauts going to Mars should be all women

https://www.iflscience.com/astronauts-going-to-mars-should-be-only-women-its-basic-science-68736

 

 

Are AI relationships cheating?

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/jun/15/a-bot-on-the-side-is-it-adultery-if-you-with-an-ai-companion?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

 

 

Human skin 3D printing

https://www.iflscience.com/we-built-a-human-skin-printer-from-lego-and-we-want-every-lab-to-use-our-blueprint-68664

 

 

3D printed cheesecakes

https://www.iflscience.com/scientists-create-3d-printed-cheesecakes-cooked-to-perfection-with-lasers-68071

 

 

How much caffeine is too much?

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-much-caffeine-is-too-much/

 

 

Optimism affects decision making

https://neurosciencenews.com/optimism-cognition-decision-making-25307/

 

Dinosaur legs on chickens

https://www.iflscience.com/dinosaur-legs-grown-genetically-modified-chickens-world-first-34465

Episode 108 - All Creatures Great and Small and Awkwardly Terrifying - 12/1/23

It's Episode 108! We're glad to be back after such a long time away. What better way to say hello to you all again than with weird animal articles? Some of our favorites!  Hear about reanimated pigs, what snakes have that some humans also have, and how monkeys have made wolves do their bidding. Oh, and dolphins make an appearance, of course.

 

Snakes have clitorises

 

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/scientists-snakes-clitorises-evolution

 

Dolphins and snakes

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/dolphins-seen-playing-with-anaconda-while-sexually-aroused-study-2022-5

 

Monkeys have domesticated wolves

 

https://www.zmescience.com/science/monkeys-and-wolves-domestication-423/

 

 

 

The hidden language of chimpanzees

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/thousands-of-recordings-of-chimpanzees-reveal-a-hidden-language-we-never-knew-about

 

 

AI talking to animals

 

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jul/31/can-artificial-intelligence-really-help-us-talk-to-the-animals?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

 

 

Plants make noise

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/plants-really-do-scream-out-loud-we-just-never-heard-it-until-now

 

 

 

Mass of humans vs animals in the world

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/18/a-wake-up-call-total-weight-of-wild-mammals-less-than-10-of-humanitys?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

 

 

 

Reanimated pigs

 

https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/zombie-pigs-brainex/#Echobox=1646437812-1

 

Episode 107 - Brainalysis - 11/15/23

Welcome to Episode 107, a delightful romp about the psychology of being human.  We're glad to be back after a long and sort of accidental hiatus.  Join us for this semi-focused discussion on all things psychology, like analyzing stress through typing patterns and the particular strategies of raising a genius. Also covered are ketamine spas, mystical thinking vs. psychosis, and lots and lots of brain stuff.

 

You’re probably using these psychological terms wrong

 

https://lifehacker.com/youre-probably-using-these-psychological-terms-wrong-on-1848582251

 

 

Identifying stress through typing

 

https://www.iflscience.com/how-you-use-your-mouse-or-type-says-a-lot-about-your-stress-levels-at-work-68444

 

 

AI reads emotions with radio signals

 

https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-emotions-radio-signals

 

How to raise a genius

 

https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/how-to-raise-genius-kids/#Echobox=1652422457

 

 

Creative brains

 

https://neurosciencenews.com/creativity-connectivity-20274/

 

Mystical or psychosis?

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/traversmark/2022/03/03/are-mystical-experiences-a-sign-of-a-healthy-mind/?sh=35d87921f89d

 

 

Presence, not impostor sydrome

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lidijaglobokar/2022/03/08/meet-presence-your-antidote-to-the-impostor-syndrome/?sh=36033e93c4cd

 

 

Types of sleep patterns

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-split-up-adult-sleep-into-16-distinct-types

 

 

Ketamine spas

 

https://apple.news/A5tNvzsdJSHSzTQpvbMHxsA

https://apple.news/A5tNvzsdJSHSzTQpvbMHxsA

 

 

Situationships

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/relationships/here-s-why-ending-a-situationship-may-be-harder-than-a-relationship-breakup/ar-AA1abTIm

Episode 106 - Big Questions, Little Answers

Episode 106 - Big Questions, Little Answers

In this episode, we explore the macro "why"s: why are we here, what entity or unseen force made this universe we live in, why are there so many mysteries surrounding our earth and the space around it?  These "why"s don't always have concrete answers, but we found a few!

 

Where are we relative to the Big Bang?

 

Our sun used to have a twin

 

The first spacecraft to touch the sun

 

The Earth is pulsing every 26 seconds - no one agrees why

 

Balloon borne telescope

 

 

Dark matter radio

 

Dark matter bridges

 

Are black holes holograms?

 

Two massive black holes will merge in 10,000 years

 

 

Episode 105 - Life and Living in Space - 7/18/22

Episode 105 - Life and Living in Space

Ever wondered about the day to day ins and outs of living in space?  How does the altered environment affect your bodily functions, daily routine, and mental state? You might be surprised by some of the answers...

 

 

Collaboration with aliens

 

Precursor to life

 

Red blood cell loss in space

 

9 reasons sex in space is difficult

 

Peeing and pooping in space

 

Affordable housing in space

 

ISS to break down

 

Russia threatens that ISS will drop if sanctions continue

 

Would NASA warn us if an asteroid were about to wipe us out?

 

Maybe octopuses came from space

 

World’s first skyscraper to hang from asteroid

 

 

episode 104 - Welcome to 2022 - 1/13/22

It's official - society has reached that terrifying point where technology knows more about you than your own family.  Hooray!

Welcome to a world of brain implants, AI turning your thoughts into texts, legislation for sexbots, and, of course - a toilet that recognizes you by your...well, we don't want to give everything away.

But don't be afraid! Technology can be good, too.  Technology is your friend...with technology, the sky (net) is the limit.

 

 

Redefining life

 

 

Xenobots

 

 

Tesla bot to take over boring work

 

 

Writing laws for sexbots

 

 

Brain implant turns thoughts into text

 

 

Toilets that identify their users

Episode103 - Mammals! - 12/28/21

It's the mammals episode!  From humans lucid dreaming to camel beauty contests, in this episode you'll hear everything you wanted to know about mammals - and maybe a bit more.

 

 

Mammals dream before birth

 

 

How to Lucid Dream

 

 

Analyzing the construction of spiderwebs

 

 

Octopuses classified as sentient beings

 

 

Octopuses grow extra organs - then they disappear

 

 

Squirrels have distinct personalities

 

 

Cats have 7 distinguishable personality traits

 

 

Cats can track you so watch out

 

Flesh eating plants - a 12th one found!

 

Camel beauty contests crack down on Botox

Episode 102 - A Day in the Life of a Human - 9/3/21

Welcome to episode 102! 

We'll take you on a journey through the day in the life of a human, from (before!) birth, birth defects, all those years of punching the clock, health problems, revitalizing marriages...and, finally, to the inevitable end.

 

 

Magnetic testes

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210728105602.htm?fbclid=IwAR2mpW8MJQX2qUH3Fbv81cdpbXBCODJOaAFMN-4G5PnBe3cNakfDrl2vXLM

 

 

Baby with 3 penises

https://www.sciencealert.com/a-baby-was-born-with-3-penises-in-a-world-first-medical-case?utm_campaign=AppleNews&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=AppleNews

 

 

Eight hour workday

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2021/06/8-hour-workday-is-holdover-of-old-ways-research-suggests-5-hours-is-the-office-time-sweet-spot.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=theoregonian_sf&fbclid=IwAR1ShAJ1-mu8z-dZfVzTZg9DdmMO7-L62zcBQ7vwHRWHcPvYCk18Uza1DvE

 

 

80’s and heavy metal music lowers blood pressure

 

https://consequence.net/2021/02/study-80s-pop-heavy-metal-reducing-blood-pressure-anxiety/?fbclid=IwAR0pAvrE3BGjN6b-RE0SP5bmz7DeABJe0ra-iAy5wkTafFvsSqtNbCkxv4c

 

 

Ukranian couple splits after handcuffed together

https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukrainian-couple-split-after-123-days-ha-idUSRTXDE49E

 

 

Yoga conspiracy theory

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-55957298?fbclid=IwAR10qT5pyfponnxK-DFFeNFUQFYNEIyWj10yrQbPd-TZNfnhzsxsRe1Uk80

 

 

 

Human composting funeral home

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-55957298?fbclid=IwAR10qT5pyfponnxK-DFFeNFUQFYNEIyWj10yrQbPd-TZNfnhzsxsRe1Uk80