A Little Bit Of Science

AI Inflates the Ego, Ancient Drop Crocs and Gen Z Survey Findings

AI is giving people a confidence boost they might not deserve, especially among those who consider themselves tech-savvy. Studies show that using AI for problem-solving leads many to overestimate their own abilities, with higher AI literacy actually making users more likely to trust the machine and question themselves less. The smarter we think we are with technology, the more likely we are to fall for its digital flattery. Meanwhile, ancient Australia was home to predators that make today’s wildlife look tame. Fossil evidence suggests that five-metre crocodiles once hunted by dropping out of trees onto unsuspecting prey. This twist on the classic crocodile encounter adds a new layer of terror to Australia’s already legendary roster of dangerous animals. Forget snakes in the grass. Sometimes the real threat was lurking above. On the cultural front, Gen Z is challenging old standards and rewriting the rules on everything from ironing to mental health. Some in this generation long for a less digital era, question the value of traditional skills, and proudly reject the notion that neat clothes equal good character. They also claim credit for baggy jeans and even admit to being the most annoying generation to work with. From digital delusions to tree-dwelling crocs and Gen Z’s new priorities, the only thing we can count on is that the world refuses to stay boring. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Introduction 00:48 AI and the Dunning-Kruger Effect 02:11 AI Literacy and Overconfidence 02:51 AI's Impact on Self-Assessment 06:59 Australian Wildlife and Myths 07:35 Legend of the Drop Croc 08:57 Generational Differences 10:10 Gen Z's Perspective 11:03 Skills and Inventions 12:52 Annoying Generations at Work 13:40 Conclusion and Call to Action SOURCES: AI Is Causing a Grim New Twist on the Dunning-Kruger Effect Generation Conflicted: How Do Gen Zers Compare Themselves to Past Generations? Evidence of ancient tree-climbing 'drop crocs' found in Australia Australia’s oldest crocodylian eggshell: insights into the reproductive paleoecology of mekosuchinesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chickens Choose the Hot Girls, Accidental Video Game WR and Are Jackalopes Real?

It’s pretty natural for humans to gravitate towards the most attractive person in the room. But do animals do it too? At Stockholm University, researchers decided to see if chickens could spot a hottie. They trained these birds to peck at faces on a screen and found that chickens prefer the same facial features that humans rate as attractive. Apparently, hotness isn’t just a matter of human opinion. Even a chicken can pick out a looker. Does that make us RSPCA approved? Accidentally Breaking a Video Game World Record In 2007, Billy Baker started writing a book about jugglers. At the time,  there was a controversial movement to turn the performance art of juggling into a competitive sport but this story isn’t about juggling. It’s about video games. During his research, Baker’s curiosity led him from online juggling forums down the rabbit hole of video games where he learned the world record of Tetris stood at 327 lines. Here’s the twist…his own wife easily scored up to 500 or 600 lines on her old Game Boy at home. She was just casually breaking a video game world record without even knowing. Jackalopes: When Myth Meets Mutation You’ve heard of the jackalope, right? That legendary rabbit with antelope horns. Turns out, they might just be real. Back in 1933, virologist Richard Shope discovered a virus that causes rabbits to grow cancerous horn-like growths all over their face. Suddenly, the jackalope isn’t just a campfire story. What if the tales we’ve written off to be myths were actually sightings of cancerous rabbits? CHAPTERS: 00:00 Theories of Physical Attractiveness 02:29 Chickens and Human Hotness 06:27 Juggling and Competitive Sports 07:46 Speedrunning Super Mario Brothers 10:37 Cryptozoology and Mythical Creatures 11:47 The Jackalope: America's Mythical Creature 12:15 Historical References to Horned Rabbits 14:38 The Shope Papilloma Virus Discovery 17:08 Modern Day Jackalope Sightings SOURCES: 'Bizarro World’: That's what my wife and I entered when we drove up to an arcade in Weirs Beach, New Hampshire, where she would attempt to break an official world record in the classic video game Tetris. Ghirlanda S, Jansson L, Enquist M. Chickens prefer beautiful humans. Hum Nat. 2002 Sep;13(3):383-9. doi: 10.1007/s12110-002-1021-6. PMID: 26192929. INFECTIOUS PAPILLOMATOSIS OF RABBITSSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Radio Ventriloquism, Conkers Controversy and Stone Skimming Cheaters

A ventriloquist once ruled the radio waves, captivating millions with stage tricks that made no visual sense but somehow worked perfectly through a speaker. The world’s love for a good illusion runs deep, stretching from ancient oracles channeling voices through their bellies to audiences mesmerised by dummies with invisible lips. Humans have always been drawn to spectacle, even when it requires a leap of imagination. The world of competitive chestnut-smashing, known in England as Conkers, has moved far beyond childhood nostalgia. Now it is a battleground for grown-up pride, world championships and the occasional controversy. When the stakes are glory and bragging rights, even a simple game can become the centre of suspicion and scandal. Even stone skimming is not immune to drama. The World Stone Skimming Championships recently faced its own rule-bending episode, with contestants trying to perfect their throws in shady ways that organisers had to address. Whether it’s radio dummies, nut-bashing or stone skipping, humans will always find a way to turn even the silliest competition into a drama. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Introduction 02:27 The Curious Case of Radio Ventriloquism 05:18 King of Conkers Controversy 08:53 Stone Skimming Championships and Cheating Scandals 12:18 Conclusion and Listener Engagement SOURCES: Cheating scandal rocks world stone skimming championships ‘King Conker’ cleared of cheating at World Conker Championships The Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy ShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ethics of Sex with Aliens, Dogs’ Cuteness Tactics and the StaffCop Office Overlord

Academics are now seriously debating the ethics of sex with aliens, with questions swirling around intergalactic consent, the boundaries of romance and whether Captain Kirk’s escapades would pass the cosmic sniff test. Some call it unnatural, others say it’s all about happiness and agreement, and a few even claim to have had their own close encounters. Until E.T. shows up with a clear answer, the verdict is equal parts fascinating and unresolved. Back on Earth, dogs have been quietly evolving to manipulate us with their eyes. Thanks to unique facial muscles and lightning-fast eyebrow moves, modern pups can pull off that “feed me” look better than any wolf ever could. We bred dogs to be emotionally expressive, and now they’re experts at tugging our heartstrings, turning the human-canine relationship into a masterclass in mutual manipulation. Meanwhile, StaffCop is turning offices into digital panopticons, logging every keystroke and screenshot in the name of productivity. While management loves the promise of accountability, for employees it means more paranoia, less privacy and a creativity drought. With science and technology serving up weirder dilemmas than ever, it’s safe to say the workplace is starting to look a little too much like 1984. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Introduction 00:47 Ethical Dilemma: Sex with Aliens 03:27 Exploring Alien Reproduction 07:53 Human-Alien Sexual Encounters 13:46 Ethics and Consent in Alien Relationships 19:07 Dogs Using Their Eyebrows to Manipulate Humans 23:01 Employee Monitoring Software 27:16 Ethical Concerns and Privacy 31:47 Conclusion and Listener Engagement SOURCES: This Guy Paints the Sex He Allegedly Has with Aliens Would you have sex with an alien? How many men here would be willing to have sex with a legitimate alien from another planet? Alien Attraction What is StaffCop? The science behind puppy-dog eyes, and other ways our canines communicate with usSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Poetry for AI Hacking, Flatulent Foods as Aphrodisiacs and Penile Tuberculosis

A Rome-based research team discovered poetry can jailbreak AI systems by bypassing safety filters that normal prompts can't crack, making verse a genuine cybersecurity vulnerability. Medieval physicians believed flatulent foods like beans and onions were aphrodisiacs because intestinal gas supposedly enhanced sexual performance, Palmer Luckey, the tech billionaire behind Oculus, now advocates for submarines that tunnel through Earth's crust for national defense, while a Dublin man contracted penile tuberculosis from working with deer in a rarely documented case of genital TB. Poetry defeats AI security by exploiting how language models process poetic structure, proving Aristotle's warnings about poets in governance were surprisingly futuristic. Medieval fart-based aphrodisiacs never worked but show humanity's eternal optimism for simple bedroom solutions, while Luckey's crust-submarine idea sounds insane until you remember he actually made VR mainstream. The Dublin TB case demonstrates that tuberculosis can infect any body part and that working with animals carries risks nobody considers - including your genitals contracting lung diseases. The biggest threats to AI are poets, the worst aphrodisiacs involved intestinal wind, crust submarines might actually happen, and deer can give you dick tuberculosis. Science is weird, history is weirder, and Palmer Luckey wants to make it weirder still. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Introduction 02:07 Plato's Republic and AI Poetry 03:54 The Power of Poetry in AI 07:59 Historical Aphrodisiacs and Fertility 19:01 Simultaneous Orgasms and Farting 19:36 Windy Meats and Fertility Myths 24:19 Palmer Luckey and Virtual Reality 31:00 Penile Tuberculosis: A Rare Case 36:50 Smart Toilets and Privacy Concerns SOURCES: ‘End-to-end encrypted’ smart toilet camera is not actually end-to-end encrypted Scientists Discover “Universal” Jailbreak for Nearly Every AI, and the Way It Works Will Hurt Your Brain Adversarial Poetry as a Universal Single-Turn Jailbreak Mechanism in Large Language Models Palmer Luckey on the Future of Warfare Beans, ale & 'windy meats': surprising 17th-century aphrodisiac When Beans were the Food of Lust Why you don’t want to get tuberculosis on your penisSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.