A 1960s mouse utopia that collapsed into a vanity-obsessed apocalypse, a global database of 150,000 enthusiastic stool photos, and a scientific quest to help humans regrow limbs like a salamander. This week, we bounce between rodent dystopias, AI-powered gut tracking, regenerating toes, and international idioms for absolute chaos. We start in the late 1960s with Universe 25, an experiment that gave mice everything they wanted and accidentally proved that absolute perfection leads to a total social meltdown and a faction of self-obsessed, grooming-addicted rodents. Then, shifting gears with a violent jerk, we check in on a health app that has amassed a staggering database of 150,000 human poo images to train AI to analyse gut health. From there, we look to the future, where scientists are trying to steal a trick from the salamander to see if mice and eventually humans can regrow missing limbs. And to end the episode, we take a quick detour into international linguistics to look at how different cultures describe things going completely wrong, from Swedish blue cupboards to vivid Brazilian panic. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Introduction 02:20 Why Universe 25 Happened 04:58 Building Mousetopia 08:43 Utopia Turns Violent 11:53 Behavioural Sink Theory 14:04 Misuse And Critiques 18:45 Poop App Citizen Science 24:58 Sharing Stool Online 25:44 Selling Poo Data 27:25 AI Data Hunger 28:23 Elvis Toilet Death 29:43 Constipation Studies 35:02 Mouse Toe Regrowth 41:17 Cactus And Sayings SOURCES: https://www.404media.co/ai-poop-analysis-app-offered-to-sell-me-access-to-its-users-poops/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-72066-8 https://bsky.app/profile/adamcsharp.bsky.social/post/3mlqozoour22z https://theconversation.com/constipation-increases-your-risk-of-a-heart-attack-new-study-finds-and-not-just-on-the-toilet-237209 https://www.mamamia.com.au/elvis-constipation/ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-38068-y https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32873621/ https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/nov/21/the-mad-egghead-who-built-a-mouse-utopia-john-b-calhoun See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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