A Little Bit Of Science
Melting Ice Unplugs Volcanoes, Medieval Medical Madness, and The Original Technocrat
31 Jul 2025
Today, we’re talking about the explosive side effects of climate change - literally. Patagonian glaciers are melting so fast they're uncorking volcanoes that have been sitting quietly under the ice for millennia. We’re also taking a look at the bizarre world of 16th-century medicine where doctors kept patient records that read like Harry Potter spells, complete with astrological charts and alchemical recipes that’ll make you pretty grateful for modern healthcare. Plus, we revisit the 1930s technocracy movement where engineers genuinely believed they could run society better than politicians using energy units instead of money. On the ecommerce side of things, did you know that in America's digital gun marketplace, you can now buy assault rifles online easier than getting decent pizza delivered? Because apparently there are more gun shops than McDonald's and Starbucks combined. From volcanic eruptions triggered by global warming to the Wild West going digital, this episode proves humanity has a special talent for making everything simultaneously fascinating and terrifying. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Introduction 00:39 Volcanoes Unleashed by Melting Ice 02:18 Historical Medical Records and Practices 02:49 Astrology and Self-Taught Doctors 03:58 Bizarre Medical Treatments 13:56 Dog Flatulence and Animal Farts 24:03 Technocracy and Historical Predictions 30:55 Technocracy: The Vision and Ideals 41:23 Plant Perception: Can Plants See? 47:20 The Surprising Number of Gun Stores in the US 52:39 Conclusion SOURCES: Flatulence in pet dogs #DoesItFart Does It Fart?: The Definitive Field Guide to Animal Flatulence Flatulence of humans in art Expansion and contraction of the Patagonian ice sheet Flatulence in pet dogs #DoesItFart Does It Fart?: The Definitive Field Guide to Animal Flatulence Flatulence of humans in art Expansion and contraction of the Patagonian ice sheet https://bostonraremaps.com/inventory/technocracy-inc-technate-of-america-1940/?srsltid=AfmBOorbLyYscmwozM57Wjrr_Kgv5DAoAhG1q9oq7Y4KAcrfHbRaYJpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technocracy_movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Scott_(engineer) https://web.archive.org/web/20100728093447/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,744852,00.html https://futurism.com/trump-junior-gun-failure https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/16/purges-angels-and-pigeon-slippers-methods-of-elizabethan-quacks-finally-deciphered https://www.earlystuartlibels.net/htdocs/overbury_murder_section/H0.htmlSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
No persons identified in this episode.
This episode hasn't been transcribed yet
Help us prioritize this episode for transcription by upvoting it.
Popular episodes get transcribed faster
Other recent transcribed episodes
Transcribed and ready to explore now
SpaceX Said to Pursue 2026 IPO
10 Dec 2025
Bloomberg Tech
Don’t Call It a Comeback
10 Dec 2025
Motley Fool Money
Japan Claims AGI, Pentagon Adopts Gemini, and MIT Designs New Medicines
10 Dec 2025
The Daily AI Show
Eric Larsen on the emergence and potential of AI in healthcare
10 Dec 2025
McKinsey on Healthcare
What it will take for AI to scale (energy, compute, talent)
10 Dec 2025
Azeem Azhar's Exponential View
Reducing Burnout and Boosting Revenue in ASCs
10 Dec 2025
Becker’s Healthcare -- Spine and Orthopedic Podcast