We Have Concerns

A team of engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has shown that nearly any material can be turned into a device that continuously harvests electricity from humidity in the air. Jeff and Anthony think this could be a paradigm-shifting breakthrough, and discuss how it is being done and why it might change everything.

US health officials have approved the first pill made from healthy bacteria found in human waste to fight dangerous gut infections – an easier way of performing fecal transplants. Anthony and Jeff talk about how the poop pill might change the world, and the mega corporation that could make it palatable.

A study was published in Nature examining communication among chimpanzees. It found that chimps use "words," and can combine the words into "syntactic-like structures," the beginnings of phrases and sentences. Jeff and Anthony dig into how the researchers came to this conclusion, and discuss how this might alter their perception of primates.

By combining fMRI brain imaging with an AI predictive text system, researchers have demonstrated a process that is akin to mind reading. Anthony and Jeff discuss the methodology and ramifications of such a system, and decide whether they'd sign up for a COU mind-meld.

A Spanish extreme athlete has emerged from a cave after spending 500 days with no human contact, in what could be a world record. Jeff and Anthony discuss what went into the feat, and whether it qualifies for Chronicles of a Badass!

An Australian company revealed a meatball made of lab-grown cultured meat using the genetic sequence from the long-extinct mammoth. Anthony and Jeff decide whether they'd eat such a thing, and dig into the real purpose behind this headline grabbing stunt - to fire up public debate about sustainability

A new study suggests that Future Oriented People - those you act in ways that affect their future states, rather than their current well-being - are happier, more at peace, and better able to sleep at night. Anthony and Jeff analyze this notion and compare it to their own experiences as... well, as people who don't generally live like that.

Scientists from the University of Manchester have created a new building material dubbed ‘StarCrete’ that could be the key to settling Mars and the Moon. Jeff and Anthony discuss the amazing breakthrough, and the dark road to its discovery.

An international team of researchers has done a global analysis on the potential of floating solar panels, and the results are striking. Jeff and Anthony discuss the feasibility of using reservoirs to harness solar energy, and why more countries aren't doing it.

Back in 2003, an artists collective calling themselves the Tummerkind moved into a gap between stores in a shopping mall in Providence, Rhode Island. Over the next few years, they lived rent free in that very public space, unbeknownst to the shoppers and retailer alike. Anthony is fascinated with this story and presents it to Jeff as a Chronicle of a Badass. Do you agree?