Welcome to the Jetpack Future
We Have Concerns
The New Zealand-based Martin Aircraft Company, now listed on the Australian stock exchange, is taking orders for the "world's first practical jetpack" and Jeff couldn't be more excited. But at $200,000 and at its current size, Anthony wonders if practical is really the right word. Also, the guys pitch their idea for Jetpack Rescue Squad and Anthony eats during the show, like a real professional. ...
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Zen and the Art of Suicidal Maintenance
We Have Concerns
The mummified remains of a Buddist monk have been discovered inside a statue that dates back over 1,000 years. Even more fascinating, studies reveal that the monk may have been self-mummified! Jeff and Anthony learn the excruciating, lengthy procedure once used to begin the embalming process while still alive, and wonder how enlightened one must be to attempt it. ...
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Gross Income (Live from Nerdmelt)
We Have Concerns
A very special 100th episode of We Have Concerns, recorded in front of a live audience at the Nerdmelt Showroom in Los Angeles! Anthony and Jeff discuss the potential to sell your feces to science for use in treating patients with C diff. Donors can earn up to $13,000 per year for their excrement, but the standards are quite high for what constitutes sellable poop. ...
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Why We Can't Have Mice Things
We Have Concerns
A new article on i09 describes animal behaviorist John Calhoun's quest to create the perfect mouse city, complete with abundant food, recreation, and even rodent apartments. Now referred to as the "Behavioral Sink", the utopian underground mouse habitat quickly degraded into an apocalypse, as the mice turned on one another and the bloated population died out. Anthony and Jeff can't help but see parallels to modern life, but also take a moment to consider what kind of guy spends his time attempting to perfect rat cities. ...
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The No Deathbot Guarantee*
We Have Concerns
*not necessarily a guarantee ...
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Hale Hydra
We Have Concerns
The tiny organism known as the hydra is a half inch tube of jelly that inhabits fresh water all over the world, and it may well be functionally immortal. What does that mean? Anthony and Jeff try to make sense of a creature that can re-grow any part of itself and live for thousands of years - and imagine what that might be like for them. ...
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Harvest Moon
We Have Concerns
Now that private companies are getting into space, the legalities of who can own celestial bodies comes into question. Specifically, a company called Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas wants to start selling inflatable habitats and property on the moon. Jeff and Anthony discuss the archaic treaties and laws that govern space ownership now, how it might change, and, of course, space pirates. ...
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Spousal Recall
We Have Concerns
According to researchers at Macquarie University, couples in long-term relationships develop inter-connected memory systems. Each partner can remember only a few details, but together they piece together a more accurate whole, ostensibly off-loading parts of the job to the other. Anthony is intrigued by this, and what it means for replacing human interaction with machines, while Jeff wonders how much can just be attributed to laziness and coincidence. ...
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Super Villain Face
We Have Concerns
A Venezuelan man had his face surgically altered to look like the Red Skull - Captain America's arch-nemesis in Marvel Comics. His nose was removed, his brow was enlarged, his skin was reddened, and even his eyeballs were tattooed black. Jeff thinks this is horrifying and has very bad implications for the man's state of mind. Anthony thinks we only get one shot at life and if this makes him happy, so be it. Both of them wonder what his kid must go through at school. ...
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Running is for Dicks
We Have Concerns
A new study shows that longer, fast-paced running sessions are just as bad for you as not running at all. How much exercise is genuinely good for you? And why do we always think more is better? ...
info_outlineAnthony found an article outlining the evidence that Earth is headed for its 6th great extinction event. Animals going extinct, global food tables imbalanced, resource scarcity, all lead up to a massive, worldwide catastrophe. He proceeds to use these facts to completely bum Jeff out. Listen as the show decends into total depression.
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Anthony on Twitter: http://twitter.com/acarboni
Today's story: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/14/earth-faces-sixth-great-extinction-with-41-of-amphibians-set-to-go-the-way-of-the-dodo
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