Anthony and Jeff delve into perhaps the most disturbing topic they have ever tackled. An article in National Geographic features the top 5 most terrifying "zombie" creatures - parasites that get inside of other creatures and force them to change their behavior, malform, or otherwise serve the parasite's procreation. These are some of the most horrible organisms in the natural world. This episode is not recommended for sensitive listeners. This show is entirely listener supported. To find out how...
Dec 19, 2014•20 min•Ep. 72
New anaysis suggests that the bronze computing device known as the Antikythera, discovered at the bottom of the Aegean Sea in 1901 is even older than previously thought. In fact, this computer dates back to 200 BC and represents a incredible feat of pre-historic human engineering. Anthony and Jeff marvel at a people that could devise such a thing, and rail at the Dark Ages for stealing away so many awesome advancements. This show is entirely listener supported. To find out how to help AND get ea...
Dec 17, 2014•21 min•Ep. 71
According to quantum physics, Planck's Constant is the smallest unit of measure in the universe, beyond which nothing can be further divided. Scientists at the Fermilab are building a Holographic Interferometer, or Holometer, with which they intend to test this theory. If true, it could mean that our entire dimension is a hologram, projected into 3D space like a pixelized image on your computer screen. Heavy stuff, but Jeff and Anthony wonder if it is cause for existential crisis or if it would ...
Dec 15, 2014•22 min•Ep. 70
Researchers at the University of Bristol are using ultrasound to create invisible objects in the air that you can reach out and touch. Of course, Anthony and Jeff see this as the first step toward full holodeck technology, and and try to determine which industry can accelerate progress to that goal fastest. Hint: it's porn. This show is entirely listener supported. To find out how to help AND get early episodes and bonus content, head to http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you're enjoying ...
Dec 12, 2014•18 min•Ep. 69
An NPR story about NBC's Peter Pan Live television event points out that a significant portion of the audience of major TV hits are people who self-identify as "hate-watching" the programming. In fact, some networks are even programming to take advantage of these tendencies, embracing the live-tweeters who mock and add snide comments to the viewing experience. Jeff and Anthony have a major problem with the idea of "hate-watching", but also both enjoy a great bad movie. Are they hypocrites, or is...
Dec 10, 2014•21 min•Ep. 68
We are consuming more chocolate than we produce, and at the current deficit we may soon be facing a global cocoa shortage. As a fan of chocolatey goodies, Jeff is worried about a potential joyless chocolate-free future, while Anthony welcomes a forced worldwide dietary shift. One thing's for certain, this episode is totally sweet. This show is entirely listener supported. To find out how to help AND get early episodes and bonus content, head to http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you're en...
Dec 08, 2014•21 min•Ep. 67
By actually printing DNA, researchers are now able to create entirely new species. They started with a glow-in-the-dark plant, and now have plans to design microbes that will live in your stomach and actually change the smell of your fecal matter. Even crazier, they may be able to associate particular gas odors with biological states, so you can effectively have an early warning system built inside you. Anthony couldn't be more excited, but Jeff wonders when our Frankenstein microbes will inevit...
Dec 05, 2014•21 min•Ep. 66
Researchers from the University of Southern Denmark have synthesized crystalline materials that can bind and store oxygen in high concentrations. That means that we may be able to use crystals to replace oxygen tanks or even allow divers to simply draw oxygen directly out of H2O through the crystal. Anthony has always wanted to breathe underwater, but Jeff is worried about sucking on crystals for more than good vibes. This show is entirely listener supported. To find out how to help AND get earl...
Dec 03, 2014•20 min•Ep. 65
Anthony and Jeff's debate about the joy to be found in running and exercise contuinues. This time, Jeff has an article from the New York Times about a study which showed that mice will spend time on a running wheel, even when they don't have to. When placed out in the woods, completely unattended, mice and other creatures would jump onto a wheel, and spend time running on it... for fun. Is this the proof Jeff has always wanted, or are these just Anthony's alpha Brock mice? This show is entirely ...
Dec 01, 2014•19 min•Ep. 64
An open source group has recreated the brain of a worm, neuron for neuron, and recently programmed this data into the body of a Lego Mindspring robot. Rather than dictating specific behavior into the software, the program simply fires each neural imulse exactly as a worm's brain would. The result is remarkably worm-like behavior in Lego form. While Jeff can't exactly pin down the size of this creation, he is excited about what it means, but Anthony is worried worm-behavior is a low bar for judgi...
Nov 28, 2014•18 min•Ep. 63
A British performance artist is raising money to live inside the Oculus Rift virtual environment nonstop for 28 days. He will be connected at all times with another human being - someone he has never met - seeing what he sees, eating what he eats, sleeping and going to the bathroom only when he does. Jeff and Anthony are fascinated by this idea, but wonder when and how this experience will break down. Also the puking. There's got to be a lot of puking. This show is entirely listener supported. T...
Nov 26, 2014•19 min•Ep. 62
Scientists have found the most well preserved mammoth ever- so fresh they even took a bite of mammoth meat. Does its DNA contain enough complete information to clone it? If so, should we? What happens if we bring back exctinct species? This show is entirely listener supported. To find out how to help AND get early episodes and bonus content, head to http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. iT...
Nov 24, 2014•20 min•Ep. 61
Arizona schools are ripping pages about contraception out of text books and Anthony can't believe it. Jeff tries to figure out the motivation behind such a bonehead move, but both guys can't understand why less knowledge is ever good. It's enough to make them jump off a roof without an inflatable helmet. This show is entirely listener supported! For early episode, extra clips and bonus content, check out http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to ...
Nov 21, 2014•21 min•Ep. 60
Join us TODAY on our video hangout. Chat with us. Have a beer. Share your concerns. More info on how to join: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Researchers have just created the world's most precise atomic clock- but what do we get out of it? Isn't time just a human construct? What does 'precise' even mean in a universe where time changes depending on where you are? All of this kinda freaks Jeff out. Anthony, for once, isn't too worried about the nature of time. Hey! If you're enjoying the show,...
Nov 19, 2014•22 min•Ep. 59
The Foodini is an example of the new wave of 3D printers for food. Just fill it with fresh ingredients, and out pops meals like ravioli, pizza, and hamburgers, ready to cook. Anthony detests the tyranny of food, and doesn't have time for anything that stands in the way of productivity and effeciency. Jeff, on the other hand, can't wait to eat delicious meals shaped like all sorts of things, and sees a world where design and artful presentation is decoupled from a food's original form. This show ...
Nov 17, 2014•20 min•Ep. 58
Scientists studying the brain's ability to make choices note that the fewer inconsequential decisions you put in front of yourself, the better you'll do when it is time to face a really challenging one. Armed with that knowledge, many prominent deciders like President Obama and Steve Jobs removed the decision of what to wear from their lives. They simply wear the same clothes every day. Anthony and Jeff wonder if wearing a uniform for life might be beneficial, what that outfit might look like, a...
Nov 14, 2014•23 min•Ep. 57
Jeff is intrigued by an interview he read about Nasa's one and only Planetary Protection Officer. Her job? To protect OTHER planets from us and ensure the galaxy isn't contaminated by microbes, particles, or other detritus that might ruin it. Anthony hopes for the same attention to detail in his own life, and everybody hopes we don't ever accidently create avacado creatures. This show is entirely listener supported! For early episode, extra clips and bonus content, check out http://patreon.com/w...
Nov 12, 2014•18 min•Ep. 56
Park Rangers are asking visitors to state park and forest areas to please stop taking #bearselfies. Anthony and Jeff try to figure out what would possess a person to approach a wild, deadly creature in the woods and snap a pic, decide which type of bears are the most dangerous, and discover the absolute worst clinic to attend when you've been mauled. This show is entirely listener supported! For early episode, extra clips and bonus content, check out http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you...
Nov 10, 2014•19 min•Ep. 55
Researchers at MIT have developed a new pill that is much more efficient at delivering medicine into the bloodstream. Instead of a simple spheroid, it is covered in a multitude of tiny spikes, which stick into the stomache lining and ensure the medicine is absorbed rather than passed through the body undigested. Jeff is fascinated by the evolution of the swallow-able tablet, from its roots thousands of years ago to the more common "friable" form introduced in the 19th century - but Anthony wants...
Nov 07, 2014•20 min•Ep. 54
It's counter-intuative and perplexing, but the truth is, the less human beings know about a particular subject, the more they THINK they know about it. This has become known as The Dunning-Kruger Effectific. A new article in the Pacific Standard by David Dunning himself attempts to explain this phenomenon of confident idiots. Jeff and Anthony can relate, and try to come to terms with their own aversion to not knowing. This show is entirely listener supported! For early episode, extra clips and b...
Nov 05, 2014•18 min•Ep. 53
A new article describes the benefits of long-form reading and suggests that the tactile feedback of printed books results in better retention than e-readers. While Jeff and Anthony are definitely on board with reading, they challenge the idea that enjoying books on digital screens is any less effective. This show is entirely listener supported! For early episode, extra clips and bonus content, check out http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to r...
Nov 03, 2014•24 min•Ep. 52
On this special Halloween episode, Anthony and Jeff consider the nature of of the trick or treat tradition and the urban legend of poisoned Halloween candy. Is asking strangers for food an inherently unsafe activity, or did we manufacture a scare that isn't real? Like the show? Want early episodes and extra content? Support us on Patreon! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here’s the iT...
Oct 31, 2014•17 min•Ep. 51
A new Wired article recounts the medieval myth that beavers, when cornered by hunters, would castrate themselves by chewing off their own testicles. Jeff and Anthony unpack the myth and try to figure out why the Dark Ages were filled with so much dumb. Like the show? Want early episodes and extra content? Support us on Patreon! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here’s the iTunes link: ...
Oct 29, 2014•19 min•Ep. 50
Previously on We Have Concerns... in the Welcome to the Hoverboard Future episode Anthony mocked Jeff's enthusiasm for a mind-bending new technology that indicated that hoverboards may, in fact be possible. Now, there is a new article on Engadget that describes a working prototype soon making its way onto Kickstarter. Does Jeff get the last laugh, hovering his way back into the future he's always wanted, or is Anthony still able to poke penny-sized holes in the dream? Like the show? Want early e...
Oct 27, 2014•20 min•Ep. 49
A new article describes a study in which doctors told patients they would just be getting a shot of vitamins, but instead gave them something a thousand times more powerful. Whether these subjects thought something strange was happening or not depended entirely upon what the doctors told them they should expect. This leads Jeff and Anthony to wonder just how much impact our conscious mind can have on our reality, and whether or not we can use this to our advantage. Like the show? Want early epis...
Oct 24, 2014•23 min•Ep. 48
Anthony found an article that describes the community around the IBM Model M keyboard, a sublimely clicky keyboard that has spawned cult-like devotion and a second hand black market. It makes him consider our fetishization of things, and the ties to productivity they create. Jeff just thinks all those objects are yelling at him. Like the show? Want early episodes and extra content? Support us on Patreon! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to ...
Oct 22, 2014•23 min•Ep. 47
Researchers have discovered that employees are actually more content taking orders from a robot than a human being in the workplace. This prompts Anthony and Jeff to wonder what it might take to promote robots into middle management, what the perfect form factor for a boss-bot might be, and how companies might implement their new robo-supervisors. Like the show? Want early episodes and extra content? Support us on Patreon! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, pleas...
Oct 20, 2014•22 min•Ep. 46
As a runner himself, Jeff was very impressed to read of James Lawrence, the endurance athlete who is attempting 50 ultra-distance triathlons, in 50 different states, in 50 straight days. Anthony, on the other hand, thinks it is unhealthy, obsessive, and downright stupid to push your body to that extreme. Is this just the Brock Life pushing human abilities to new heights, or a crazy person receiving misplaced admiration for a self-destructive act? Like the show? Want early episodes and extra cont...
Oct 17, 2014•21 min•Ep. 45
Anthony has found a story about a Missouri family fleeing their home because between 4500 and 6000 spiders came "bleeding out of the walls". To which Jeff of course wonders, "What the #%$#?!" Spider senses tingle, spider stories are shared, and everybody asks how this could possibly happen. Like the show? Want early episodes and extra content? Support us on Patreon! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you ...
Oct 15, 2014•19 min•Ep. 44
Google's Auto Awesome will take the best areas of slightly different photographs and combine them into one new, never-quite-was best version. A new article suggests that this kind of artful interpretation of history may prove problematic when AI determines what parts of photos are important. Anthony argues that no photograph is a true depiction, while Jeff wonders if we will ever remember something accurately again. Like the show? Want early episodes and extra content? Support us on Patreon! htt...
Oct 13, 2014•21 min•Ep. 43
