We Have Concerns
Episodes
A Touching Discussion
18 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists from the University of Oxford and Aalto University, Finland, have created “body maps” that show where we feel most uncomfortable gettin...
I Be Dead People
16 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Cotard's Syndrome is a rare neurological illness that makes you believe, beyond any rational analysis, that you are dead. Jeff and Anthony discuss a ...
Running is for Neurons
13 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In a recent TED Talk, neuroscientist Sandrine Thuret explains how our brains can grow new brain cells through neurogenesis. The more active neurogenes...
Otter Not
11 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Most people think otters are cute and cuddly creatures of the sea, but a new story on Vox reveals them to be violent, aggressive animals that engage i...
Making the Sound Barrier
09 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A team of engineers from the Universities of Sussex and Bristol built a sonic tractor beam that uses sound waves to remotely manipulate objects. They...
Chimera-can Horror Story
06 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A man failed a paternity test only to discover that his unborn twin is the biological father of his son. The explanation? He's actually a living chi...
And the Weiner Is...
04 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A company called Clear Foods, which purports to "use genomic technology to analyze the world's foods at a molecular level, ingredient by ingredie...
Shock to the Belief System
02 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A new study published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience claims that disabling certain areas of the brain with transcranial ma...
The Amazing Spider-Plan
30 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
One of the world's deadliest spiders - the funnel-web spider is native to Australia. No surprise to Anthony and Jeff, who have been chronicling the v...
Bearly Lethal (w/Adam Sessler)
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
UPDATE: This story is actually FAKE. We were duped. :( A team of Japanese engineers has designed an adorable robotic bear to aid in assisted suicide. ...
Star Wipes
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Several amateur astronomers, gazing at data from the Kepler telescope, discovered an odd flickering from one particular star, usually caused by object...
Precogs and Gears
23 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Bioengineers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have developed a mathematical algorithm that can "see" your intention while performing...
The Bitter Angles of Our Nature
21 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A new study find that people who like bitter foods are more likely to display psychopathic tendencies. Since Anthony loves his coffee black, this lea...
Jog Your Mind
19 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In their ongoing debate over whether running is cool or stupid, Anthony and Jeff consider the new study which links the euphoric feeling from long dis...
Robot Dick Rising
16 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Roboticists have created an automaton with the appearance and behavior of legendary science fiction author, Phillip K. Dick. Quotes from actual inter...
Mist Dirt Clean w/Allie Goertz
14 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
David Whitlock is a chemist who hasn't showered in 12 years, but reportedly does not stink. Instead of bathing, he has been spraying himself with a c...
Cloudy with a Chance of Lampreys
12 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
One day in June, the Value Village in Fairbanks, Alaska was alerted to a 15 foot long bloodsucking fish in their parking lot.. What could possibly ca...
Conclusion Delusion
09 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff and Anthony have often discussed the brain's annoying propensity to latch on to erroneous conclusions by relating two disparate pieces of data, a...
Double Dog Pair
07 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
When Phillip and Paula Dupont learned their dog Melvin was going to die, they decided to spend $100,000 at a South Korean lab to have him cloned. The...
Russian to Try It
05 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A Russian scientist admits injecting himself with 3.5 million year old 'eternal life' bacteria, and reports working harder, with reviewed energy. Ant...
Choice Words
02 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Anthony has become fascinated by British psychologist Elizabeth Stokoe's studies into how simple, subtle phrasing changes can have a huge impact on be...
Short Ape-ttention Span Theater
30 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A new study using eye-tracking software finds that chimps enjoy watching movies featuring humans dressed in ape costumes. Even more surprising, the p...
Stupid Human Tricks
28 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A Shaolin monk in China recently ran 125 meters across 200 thin planks of wood floating on the water, an incredibly difficult and unprecedented feat s...
Bucket Up
25 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
While many people derided the ice bucket challenge that spread over social media in 2014 as "slacker activism", the truth is that the huge s...
Ominous Hominid
23 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Amateur cave explorers in South Africa's famous Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site recently made a remarkable discovery: exquisitely preserved re...
Hyper Sleep Hype
21 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Biomedical scientist Mark Roth believes that suspended animation is within reach. He is conducting experiments using Elemental Reducing Agents to slo...
Blue Period
18 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
There is evidence to suggest that human beings may not have seen the color blue until modern times. No word for blue shows up in ancient texts, and n...
Drone the Coop
16 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A drone recently flew over the wall at the Mansfield Correctional Institution carrying drugs, cellphones, and other illicit paraphernalia, and landed ...
It Came From the Audience (LIVE from PAX 2015!!)
14 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In this special, double-length episode, Anthony and Jeff take topic suggestions directly from the crowd during their live panel at PAX 2015. Subjects...
Cephalopods from Outer Space (LIVE from PAX 2015!)
11 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Anthony has an irrational fear of octopi, the eight-armed denizens of the deep. And now, scientists have sequenced the octopus genome and discovered ...
Monkey Sear, Monkey Chew (LIVE from PAX 2015)
09 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
When given the option between raw and cooked food, chimpanzees seem to prefer the latter, even if it means delaying their gratification. This leads r...
Public Address System
07 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
To prove he lived in small village, an Irishman sent his friend a letter addressing it only "Your man Henderson, that boy with the glasses doing ...
Birth Control Control
04 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The Bill Gates Foundation has funded research on an implantable remote-controlled contraceptive microchip that can last up to 16 years. Anthony and J...
As the Crow Tries
02 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A crow recently passed a remarkably complicated, eight stage intelligence test, which required it to perform a number of actions in a specific order t...
The Time of Your Life
31 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
An Australian designer by the name of Maximilian Kiener has created an interactive representation of the way we perceive our lifespan. The younger yo...
Shoot the Moonshine (w/ Brian Brushwood, Live from Nerdtacular 2015!)
26 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A Japanese drinks company is sending 5 samples of whiskey up to the International Space Station to study the effects of zero gravity on the fermentati...
Compassionate Affirmative
24 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
An article in the New York Times outlines a series of studies which seem to point to the fact that empathy is actually a choice. Is there a benefit t...
Better Know a Brock
21 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In this very special episode on We Have Concerns, we talk about the plight of an actual Brock: Brock Leads, a young man from the UK who was playing on...
Home, Phone E.T.
19 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Stephen Hawking has teamed up with a Russian tycoon to start a new search for extraterrestrial life. The cost? $100 million... and maybe the safety of...
You Shoes, You Lose (Live from Nerdtacular 2015!)
17 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
An article on the very scientifically-titled "Healthy, Wild and Free" blog explains why wearing shoes in the house is potentially KILLING YO...
Fog of War (with Brock Wilbur)
14 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Some newly declassified documents show that the US government knowingly sprayed all of San Francisco with a biological agent after World War II. How o...
See Weed, Taste Bacon
12 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A research lab has apparently created a healthy seaweed superfood that tastes like bacon! ... Yeah, that sounds like total marketing speak to us, too....
Hitches Get Stitches
10 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We talk a lot about whether we can trust robots, but can robots trust us? HitchBOT was a robot on a goodwill tour of the world, depending on the kindn...
Vote Early, Vote Coffin
07 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Presidential Candidate Zoltan Istvan is raising money to tour the country in a bus that looks like a coffin to promote the Transhumanism philosophy of...
An Arm and a Leg (LIVE from the NerdMelt Showroom)
05 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, recorded in front of a live audience at the NerdMelt Showroom in Los Angeles, Anthony and Jeff wrestle with their feelings after seei...
Mins Words
03 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Sonja Lang has created the world's smallest functional language. Her creation, Toki Pona, contains only 123 total words, and holds simplicity as its ...
Repeat Yourself
31 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
For the last ten years, a man in the UK has been waking up every day thinking it is March 14th 2005, the day he was scheduled to receive a root canal....
The Bots Motel
29 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A hotel has opened in Japan that is staffed almost entirely by robots. While this does seem like a cheap gimmick to Anthony and Jeff, they are still ...
Fabby Road
27 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A company in the Netherlands is teaming up with the city of Rotterdam to introduce pre-fab roads made from recycled plastics, which will eliminate the...
Group Think
24 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists have linked together the brains of monkeys to collectively control the movements of an artificial arm, proving that connected brains can co...
Meal Ordeal
22 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A new paper, published in the Journal of Sensory Studies, attempts to categorize different kinds of picky eaters, in an effort to help parents better ...
Butterflight Patterns
20 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Monarch butterflies make an incredible, multi-generational migration from Canada to Mexico, but, strangely, they do not take the the most direct route...
Phoney Science
17 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A new study that claims smart phone users are becoming addicted to their devices has garnered alarming headlines like "iPhones Cause Separation A...
Pro Sting Boasting
15 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In their continuing quest to explore the most terrifying creatures on the planet, Jeff and Anthony take a look at the Tarantula Hawk - a wasp with a s...
Please Advise
13 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Why is it so hard to take our own advice? A new article breaks down the phenomenon, and suggests some reasons as to why it may be the case. Anthony a...
Hear Here
10 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
New, wireless earbuds on Kickstarter promise to personalize live audio by masking out unwanted noises and equalizing sounds in the world around you in...
Prints Across the Water
08 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A company called MX3D has developed a new 3D printer that can print using molten steel. To prove the capability of their invention, they plan to prin...
Eye Lens of the See
06 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
New bionic implant has been developed that can replace the human eye lens. If approved, the surgery would take only 8 mins and give the recipients 3x...
Fear Less
03 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
New research indicates that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder may be linked to a physical swelling in the brain. This leads scientists to believe that b...
Robodogs Go To Heaven
01 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Back in 1999, Sony released a robot dog called Aibo. Now, 15 years later, these toys have started to break down, and Sony has ceased repairing them o...
Dreams of Electric Sheep
29 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In an effort to create a more accurate image recognition system, researchers have been training Google's neural network to pick out objects obscured b...
A Taste of Prison
26 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
As a way to raise funds, some US prisons are offering visitors a way to eat what inmates eat. This experience promises to be the "worst meal of ...
Sprout on a Limb
24 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
For the first time, scientists have managed to grow an arm in a lab. This rat forelimb seems to be functional and able to circulate blood, giving hop...
Poo Done It? (with Greg Miller)
22 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A London borough has decided to get to start DNA testing abandoned dog droppings and delivering retroactive tickets to the irresponsible owners. Anth...
Placenta and Minus... enta
19 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A new review of scientific literature finds that there is no evidence that eating the afterbirth is good for the mother. It could even be harmful. W...
Cave Man Returns
17 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The de-extinction movement is in full swing, which leads some scientists to consider reconstructing the DNA of Neanderthals. Could that be possible? ...
Running Man
10 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Dean Karnazes has a rare physiological condition that allows him to process lactic acid more efficiently than other humans and effectively run forever...
Awesomer Gossamer
08 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists have discovered that getting spiders to ingest carbon nanotubes will cause them to weave spider silk that is even stronger than their natur...
Under Age Thinking
03 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists now believe that they have isolated the specific parts of DNA that cause aging in humans. Which leads Anthony and Jeff to think, if they'v...
Iron Chef
01 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A London-based company has developed highly articulated robotic hands, and has decided to use the technology to create an in-home product: stand-alone...
Meet Me in the Uncanny Valley
28 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A new virtual reality startup called Project Elysium aims to give Oculus Rift users the ability to have conversations with their deceased loved ones b...
Embry-Oh No!
27 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Whelp, it's happening. Scientists in China have begun genetically modifying human embryos. While these initial attempts to replace potentially fatal...
Take My Pulse
22 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
When his heart was replaced with a constant, flowing artificial pump in March of 2011, Craig Lewis because the first human ever to live without a puls...
Less is Moore's
20 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Moore's Law states that every 2 years the number of transistors on a chip will double. But some scientists predict that in just 10 years, we will hit...
No Way, No Cow
18 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A group of biohackers is working on a way to create cheese without ever using an animal. The idea is to take custom-fabricated snippets of DNA and in...
Lounge Lizards in Space
15 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
No one had ever observed geckos exhibiting behavior that could be described as "play". That is, until the reptiles were jettisoned into spa...
Live Long and Proper
13 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A new study pinpoints the geographic locations where the longest-living humans are most concentrated. Analysis of these "Blue Zones" reveal...
Zooslander
11 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The Lujan Zoo outside of Buenos Aires has been dubbed the "World's Most Dangerous Zoo" because it allows visitors to cuddle, fondle, and fee...
Go Pluck Yourself
08 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A new study at USC shows evidence that men who are going bald may actually be able to stimulate their dormant follicles by violently plucking out the ...
Your Head a Splode
06 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Anthony and Jeff learn about the affliction known as Exploding Head Syndrome, which, it turns out, is a really misleading name. It leads them to disc...
Octopush
04 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
An octopus at the Sea Life Aquarium in New Zealand has been trained to take photos. When visitors stand in front of his tank, Rambo the octopus reach...
Detour a Head
01 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A 30-year-old Russian man Valery Spiridonov has volunteered to become the world's first head transplant. His terrible, degenerative spinal disease ha...
You'll Put Your Eye Out (w/ Trisha Hershberger)
29 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A new biotech startup aims to have synthetic, bioprinted eyeballs on the market by 2027. These could not only solve vision problems, but actually upg...
From a Galaxy Far a Weigh
27 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Cosmologist Fergus Simpson published a new scientific paper in which he suggests that intelligent aliens, if they exist, are likely enormous, weighing...
Speedy Spider Spasms
24 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Researchers studying the movements of tarantulas in different climates have discovered that at higher temperatures spiders can actually move much fast...
Medieval Solution
22 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Historians uncovered an Old English book of Medieval remedies and decided to recreate and test them in modern conditions. Shockingly, one of the poti...
Paint Your Poison
20 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Seattle cancer researchers are hoping that they will be able to use scorpion venom to fight deadly brain cancer through a new product called "Tum...
Blob Water
17 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Plastic water bottles are a massive global pollution problem, but new biotech aims to replace traditional non-biodegradable containers with a thin alg...
Slug Life
15 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists recently discovered a species of sea slug takes genes from the algae it eats, allowing it to photosynthesize like a plant and survive for m...
Addiction, Affliction, or Avocation
13 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Anthony and Jeff consider the plight of mice in a cage, given the opportunity to drink clean, natural water, or water laced with illicit drugs. Is th...
The Opticals of Riddick
10 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A group of biohackers in Tehachapi, California have figured out a way to give themselves night vision by squirting a kind of chlorophyll analog called...
Scared to Death
08 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
[UPDATE: It turns out this story isn't true, but our reactions to it still are.] This year the annual haunted house in Waukegan, Illinois provided an ...
Urban Vermin Surgeon
06 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A dog walker in New York city has turned her apartment into a veterinarian clinic and rehabilitation center for injured squirrels, pigeons, and other ...
Altered Beasts
03 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Evidence that a hallucinogenic fungus was readily available to Dinosaurs has some scientists speculating that prehistoric creatures were getting high....
Con Charter of Mars
01 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Anthony and Jeff had such high hopes for Mars One - the non-profit offering one-way trips to the red planet to anyone willing to apply. But according...
The Dogtor Will Smell You Now
30 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A scent-trained dog was able to identify the presence or absence of thyroid cancer in human urine more accurately than lab tests, which leads Anthony ...
Snow Crapped Peaks (w/ Hal Lublin)
27 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
So much frozen, un-biodegradeable human waste has been left on Mt Everest by climbers, that it is becoming a problem. In fact, Nepal is now requiring...
Growing Brains
25 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists from the University of Wollongong in Australia are 3D-printing their own tiny, artificial human brains to study the physical properties of ...
Beetleuse
23 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Researchers have created remote-controlled crawling insects before, forcing a bug’s legs to move by electrically stimulating its muscles. But now, f...
Not Really Thereomones
20 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
It turns out the idea of human pheromones, tiny molecules that can attract a mate, or make you more likable, are a total fabrication invented to sell ...