Science helps us to understand the world around us. However, sometimes scientific endeavors can wander into weirdness. I’m your host Leah. I’m Phil And I’m Steve. Today we head to the lab of curiosity as we explore some wonderfully bizarre science.
Did you enjoy science when you were in school? I did. I had some terrific science teachers back in my old hometown of Kerrville, Texas. When I was in the 8th grade it was 1972 and they were building Interstate 10 right through the hills near our town. Our earth science teacher, Mr. Ahrens, got permission from the highway department to take us out to explore some of the road cuts that had been made through the hills. This was just before they opened the highway. We found tons of fossils of seashells and clams which are called Texas Hearts and all kinds of remnants of ocean life from eons ago. I think about that every time I drive through those hills. I also remember a high school biology teacher who was appropriately named Mr. Bone. Perhaps my favorite science teacher was from my freshman year in high school, an older gentleman named Mr. McKnight, but we all called him Pop. Pop McKnight taught physical science and we all loved him. I thought so much of him that I decided that when I had grandchildren, I wanted them to call me Pop.
As a history teacher I often had opportunities to collaborate with some of the very talented science teachers that I worked with. It was always fun to watch them masterfully reveal the wonders of our world to their students. I’m grateful for the talents of extraordinary science teachers. But so much for the nice stuff. We know what our listeners really like. “Bring on the bizarre science!”, we hear you clamor. Well wait no more.
Horsehair Worms or Gordian Worms
The following information comes from an entertaining article in wired.com and also from the University of Kentucky entomology department.
Back in 333 BC Alexander the Great was tromping through the land when he happened upon the city of Gordian. Locals told him of the Gordian Knot which was a massive knot in need of untying. Legend had it that the person who untied this knot would rule all of Asia. Try as he might, Alexander couldn’t untie the knot, so in a fit of anger he drew his sword and sliced right through the knot, cutting it into short pieces. Rather than rule all of Asia he accepted the consolation prize of just ruling the eastern end of the Mediterranean. His act of slicing through the Gordian Knot has come to symbolize solving a difficult problem by over-the-top means. And it has also leant its name to one of the most bizarre creatures of the insect kingdom, the Gordian Worm.
The Gordian Worm, also called the Horsehair Worm because its long skinny shape is similar to horse hairs, begins their existence as larvae at the bottom of rivers, streams, ponds, livestock water troughs, or most any other bit of convenient water. According to researchers at the University of New Mexico, the Gordian larvae laze around until they are eaten by the larvae of another insect like a mayfly or mosquito, however they do not dissolve in the digestion of the consumer. Rather they bide their time in the body of the larvae host until that host metamorphizes into the full-grown insect and emerges from the water. Then with any luck the host mosquito will get eaten by an otherwise unsuspecting cricket.
This is when the Gordian Worm snaps into action. Once inside the host cricket the Gordian Worm transforms from larvae into its skinny jeans wormlike state, growing as much as a foot long, and then begins boring holes inside the gut of the cricket. The worms don’t even have mouths, they absorb their nutrients from the cricket’s body right through their wormy skin. Soon they will weigh as much as the crickets themselves. They tangle themselves up in nightmarish knots as they freeload off the cricket hosts.
But if that isn’t frightening enough, next they produce large amounts of neurotransmitters that allow it to control the cricket’s brain. In effect the worm has turned the cricket into its own mode of transportation and can control the cricket’s movements. The first thing it does is shut off all that chirping. If you happen to run across a cricket that is not chirping, it may be under the control of a Gordian Worm.
Then for the grand finale, the worm turns the cricket into a dive bomber. Generally, crickets avoid large areas of water, they are not good swimmers, and they are also a fish delicacy. Just ask anyone who has ever used crickets as fish bait. But a cricket possessed by a Gordian Worm will suddenly become convinced that it is an Olympic diver and plunge itself into the nearest river, lake, stream, or horse trough.
Once the cricket has submerged, the Gordian Worm bores a hole through the cricket’s exoskeleton, crawls out, and begins looking for a mate. (It makes me wonder if the artfulness of the cricket’s dive is intended to impress potential Gordian Worm mates)
The male immediately dies after mating. The female will live a while longer and produce some 150 million eggs which lay as larvae in the bottom of the river and the whole process starts over again. Surprisingly enough, if the cricket doesn’t get eaten by a fish, they can survive this ordeal and go on to live out their normal, albeit somewhat confused life.
Teaching Goldfish How To Drive
Now we go to the country of Israel, the Land of the Bible. The New Testament of the Bible makes numerous references to fish and water (the immense catch of fish, and Jesus walking on water). Well then, perhaps it is appropriate that in 2022 scientific researchers at Ben-Gurion University taught six goldfish how to drive. Yes, you heard that correctly.
According to an article in sciencedirect.com, the researchers constructed six fish tanks with motorized wheels that were designed to move forward and make left and right turns based on the movements of the goldfish that was swimming in its tank. The Fish Operated Vehicles, or FOVs as they came to be called, were equipped with a camera that recorded the fish’s movements. A computer transferred this info to the motor and steering devices of the FOV and directed it to move in a corresponding way.
The fish driving arena was a 10’ X 13’ room with white walls. A pink target was placed on the floor at a random location within the room. When the fish drove his tank over the pink target a food pellet was dropped into its tank. The scientists were amazed to find that all six fish were able to quickly learn to navigate to the pink target. So then they began putting obstacles in their way, but amazingly enough, the fish managed to navigate their tanks around the obstacles, even avoiding dead ends, and finding their way to the target.
The scientist recorded in their journal that they utilized three male fish, one female fish, and two that were undetermined. Evidently these last two were noted as “Touching up their mascara in the rearview mirror but would not stop and ask for directions.” OK, I just made that part up.
So why did the researchers conduct this experiment? Well, it was basically a study of how animals navigate, especially how they might be able to navigate in a completely foreign environment. Quoting directly from their summary, “These results demonstrate how a fish was able to transfer its space representation and navigation skills to a wholly different terrestrial environment, thus supporting the hypothesis that the former possess a universal quality that is species-independent.”
I’m glad that compelling question has finally been cleared up!
Green Blood
Fans of the original Star Trek TV show will no doubt recall the somewhat friendly rivalry between Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock. One of McCoy’s go to phrases (Other than “Jim, I’m a doctor, not a plumber”) was to poke fun at Mr. Spock’s green Vulcan blood. But did you know that there is a rare condition that can cause humans to display green blood?
According to articles in newscience.com and also McGill University in Montreal, there is a condition called sulfhemoglobinemia (sulf hemoglob inemia). This interesting phenomenon occurs when a hemoglobin molecule (the molecule that allows our red blood cells to transport oxygen around our bodies) incorporates a sulfur atom into its structure. Evidently hemoglobin contains an element of iron which binds it with oxygen. Oxygen is what gives our blood its red color. However, in sulfhemoglobinemia, the sulfur atom prevents the iron from binding to oxygen. This can cause the blood to appear green, blue, or even black. Patients with sulfhemoglobinemia exhibit cyanosis, or a bluish tinge to their skin. This is caused by the tissues on the periphery of their bodies, like the fingertips, not receiving enough oxygen.
So, what can cause this strange condition? Well, as the name suggests, sulfehemoglobinemia is caused by excessive exposure to sulfur containing compounds. The most common source of sulfur containing compounds is medication containing sulfonamides.
Recently surgeons in Canada were operating on a 42 year old man when they were shocked to find that his blood was dark green. After lab tests they determined that his condition was due to medication that he was taking for migraines. This medication is called sumatriptan and it contains sulfonamide compounds. It appears that this particular patient was exceeding the prescribed dosage.
Another source of sulfur which can cause sulfhemoglobinemia is excessive consumption of certain green vegetables such as spinach. This condition is extremely rare and is usually only found in infants. In order to develop sulfhemoglobinemia you would have to consume an inordinately large amount of green veggies.
Fortunately, sulfhemoglobinemia can be corrected with time and eliminating the source of sulfur. Every three months or so a human’s red blood cells completely reproduce themselves. Thus, any blood cells containing excessive sulfur will be recycled and replaced with new fresh cells within 100 days and the blood will return to its robust red color.
Info from newscientist.com, article by Ada Mcvean for mcgill.ca/oss
Annoyed Octopuses Sling Mud At Each Other
Speaking of off colored blood, let’s talk about octopuses who, by the way, have blue blood.
Anyone who knows about Remnant Stew knows that we love octopuses! In fact, one of our earliest episodes, S1E5 was entirely dedicated to the Octopus. I remember one story in which an octopus crawled out of its tank, made its way down a hallway, and threw a sour shrimp on the desk of one of its handlers. Our octopus mascot, Sir Kraken, has traveled the world to advance the cause of being kind and staying curious. Well, according to cosmosmagazine.com Sir Kraken may need to pay a visit to Australia where a photographer recently captured on video a group of octopuses throwing stuff at each other in an apparent angry rage.
Underwater footage, from Jervis Bay in New South Wales, shows what are known as Gloomy Octopuses (Octopus tetricus) throwing debris, mainly silt, shells and algae, at other octopuses! One amazing bit of the video shows a female octopus hurling a cloud of debris at a male who was attempting to mate with her. (We’re going to pause a minute and allow you to insert your own joke here.)
During the dozens of hours of filming over 100 throws were recorded. Of these, 90% were by females. (Again, whatever you are thinking is probably funnier than whatever we would come up with here. This is the listener participation aspect of our podcast.) One female octopus was recorded throwing 17 times in the space of an hour, with nine throws hitting other octopuses who sometimes ducked or raised their tentacles in defensive posturing.
Quoting from the cosmos article, “Having gathered their ammunition, octopuses hurled their material by using a jet of water from their siphon (a tube-shaped structure that can eject water at high speed) to propel it between their arms.” They further note that in order to perform this task, the octopus has to move their siphon into an unusual position, indicating that this is a deliberate action. If you have ever tried to throw anything underwater, you know it can be difficult. However, the octopuses were recorded throwing material several body lengths away from themselves which is quite impressive!
The researchers claim that this is the first-time throwing motions have been recorded in octopuses. I’d like to suggest that they change the name from Gloomy Octopus to Grumpy Octopus.
(Remember the Fox TV show from the early 2000s called Titus?)
Octopus DNA shows that Antarctica has melted before.
You know we hear a lot about climate change these days. But some recent research, again involving octopuses, appears to indicate that climate change is not a new phenomenon. Now in saying this, we’re not meaning to dismiss those who claim that we have serious concerns involving our environment, particularly involving the effects of human activity. But solid research does indicate that the Earth’s climate has historic patterns of heating up and cooling off.
From atlasobscura.com we learn about a study in Antarctica involving the Turquet’s Octopus. If you look at a map of Antarctica, you will see something labeled as the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. This large barrier of ice separates two distinct bodies of water; The Weddell Sea and the Ross Sea. We talked about this a bit during our S4E6 Race to the South Pole episode. Well, geologists speculated that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has not always been there. This was an interesting idea, but there was no way to prove it using geology, so they turned to the Turquet’s Octopus.
There are two distinct populations of Turquet’s Octopuses; one living in the Weddell Sea and the other in the Ross Sea. But recent DNA analysis shows that these two populations share the same DNA. This could only have happened had the two species mated, and that could only happen if the ice barrier was missing.
Scientists estimate that approximately 125,000 years ago in what they refer to as the latest interglacial period, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapsed.
So, big deal, why is that important? Well, the thinking goes that if it collapsed before, it is likely to do it again. They cite studies indicating that worldwide temperatures during this latest interglacial period were about 2 degrees warmer than they were in the pre-industrial period of 150 years ago, and similar to worldwide temperatures today. The melting of the ice sheet and glaciers could lead to a rise in sea levels. Scientists estimate that sea levels in the interglacial period were between 16 and 33 feet higher than they are today, so you might want to hold off on buying that beach front property that you’ve had your eye on. Info from AtlasObscura.com
Genetically Modified Mosquitoes
I don’t know about you, but I hate mosquitoes. Not only are they a bothersome nuisance, but certain strains of them can carry serious diseases. One particularly nasty member of the mosquito family is called the Aedes aegypti [a-ee-deez ah-gyp-tie] mosquito, which can spread dengue fever, Zika virus and yellow fever, as well as heartworm to pets and farm animals. This type of mosquito was traditionally only found in Africa and parts of Asia, but, according to Smithsonian.com, they have recently been showing up uninvited in the U.S., especially in Florida and California.
Andrea Leal, the director of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District recently noted that sprays and insecticides can have harmful side effects and are becoming less effective as the mosquitoes are becoming more resistant to them. “We need to look for a new solution, and I think we have found one,” said Leal in an April 2021 press release.
The Florida Department of Agriculture, along with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency, have been working with a British firm called Oxitec for a unique new solution to the problem. Here’s what they came up with, a genetically modified mosquito!
The idea is that these genetically modified non-biting males will mate with biting females. Any resulting female offspring would be unable to survive. To test this theory, in April of 2021, 144,000 modified male mosquitoes were released into the Florida Keys. After 13 weeks, the population of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito was suppressed by 95%!
“It’s ingenious,” exclaimed one researcher. “Instead of using a human being to apply a pesticide to kill these mosquitoes, we’re using male mosquitoes to do the job for us…It’s nature against nature. Heh Heh!”
As you might expect, the release of modified mosquitoes has drawn its share of critics.
“There’s no such thing as 100 percent effective in science,” Dana Perls, the food and technology program manager with Friends of the Earth, was quoted. “Yet the public is being asked to trust that Oxitec’s experiment will work and no genetically-engineered female mosquitoes will survive. But how do we know that?”
One concern is that the female mosquitoes could come in contact with Tetracycline, an antibiotic used in agriculture. “What if a female mosquito gets a hold of the antibiotic and manages to survive? We could have genetically powered super mosquitoes!” exclaimed one protester.
Nevertheless, the success of the Florida Keys experiment in 2021 led the EPA to approve a release of 2.4 billion genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida and California in 2022. We were not able to locate any data as to the result of this massive release, but we will follow up as soon as information becomes available.
Robot Spider
A research organization called Wiley Advanced Materials located in Hoboken, New Jersey recently published an article that may give you the willies. In the publication on their website onlinelibrary.wiley.com researchers saw fit to take an ordinary wolf spider, freeze it to death, and then insert a robot brain into its body. The authors explain that, like, you know, like, we are already creating robots that have animal-like characteristics (Remember the robot dog that guards the Pompeii ruins?).
This new field of research is called Necrobotics, or using previously owned biological materials (a nice way of saying Dead Things) as “Activators” for Robot Action!
Okay, this doesn’t mean you can dig up grandma and reanimate her body with a robot. But it does appear to work with spiders. The reason for this is that, unlike mammals who use a series of muscles to move and extend their limbs, spiders use a sort of hydraulic fluid. The organ which regulates this fluid is called the prosoma chamber. The scientists discovered that the prosoma chamber remains present and intact for several weeks after the spider has expired.
To reanimate the ex-spider, the team sealed a sensor in its prosoma using a needle and some superglue. This procedure allows them to inject air into the spider’s legs. Increasing the air pressure stretches the legs out, while reducing it makes them contract inwardly. Utilizing these motions, the spider’s body has now become a utilitarian gripper. The scientists claim that the gripper can pick up items heavier than its own weight. The entire process, from inserting the needle to the setting of the glue to creating a fully operational gripper, can be performed in approximately ten minutes.
So what could be the practical use of a dead spider turned into a gripper? Researchers claim that they have utilized the gripper to construct an electronic motherboard. The spider / gripper has proven to be very dexterous and maneuverable. The authors of the study believe that potential uses could include tech and medical fields. Info from onlinelibrary.wiley.com
ODJ: Top Ten Bizarre TSA Confiscated Items of 2022
We enjoyed this so much last year that we have decided to bring it back again. As 2022 was the year that saw air travelers return to the sky in large numbers, it’s not surprising that some of them tried to sneak prohibited items onto the plane. Here now are the top ten bizarre items confiscated by the Transport Security Administration or TSA in 2022.
- At El Paso International Airport in El Paso, Texas someone tried to sneak “Soiled Banknotes” that were concealed in a pair of crutches. The article didn’t explain exactly what “Soiled Banknotes” were, but it did say they gave off a pungent odor.
- A passenger in Milwaukee attempted to board a plane with a grenade. Fortunately, it was inert, but still, you would expect cheeseheads to know better.
- Then in Washington D.C. someone walked into the airport and checked a guitar case for their flight. The X-Ray machine showed that it contained a cattle prod inside instead of a guitar. You just can’t make this stuff up!
- Down South at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport a passenger checked in with a play station console inside their bag. What’s wrong with that? Well, the electronics had been removed and a pistol inserted inside the casing. “No really, its for Duck Hunt!” pled the passenger. “Game Over,” replied the TSA agent.
- Up in Idaho at the Boise airport a woman attempted to conceal a considerable amount of illegal drugs in her hair scrunchy.
- 5. Similar to the Play Station incident, a traveler at the Richmond Virginia airport had hidden a collection of knives in a hollowed out laptop computer.
- Up in the state of New York a traveler with his arm in a sling attempted to sneak a loaded pistol through security. The pistol was inside his sling. Alert TSA agents at the Rochester International Airport pulled the gentleman aside and took the weapon from him. The gentleman replied, “I forgot that was there!”
- Sticking with the Guns in New York theme, a sneaky traveler at Kennedy Airport in NYC had taken a pistol apart, sealed the pieces in plastic, and placed them into two jars of Jiff Peanut Butter. The TSA caught them of course. They didn’t specify if it was creamy or crunchy.
- In Ft. Lauderdale, Florida a passenger had an entire raw chicken in their bag. Worse yet, there was a pistol inside the chicken carcass. My question is, How many drugs do you have to consume before this sounds like a plausible idea?
And the # 1 Strangest Thing Confiscated by the TSA in 2022
Out in California at Los Angeles International someone tried to get on an airplane with some 12,000 fentanyl pills sealed inside Skittles bags and other candy wrappers.
This information comes to us from loveexploring.com
Blue China Tears
We mentioned this phenomenon in one of our earliest episodes, in fact it was S1E3 called All Aglow which was about glowing things. In various parts of the world one can find a luminescent blue algae that gathers on the shorelines of bays and islands. According to a recent article in livescience.com, the blue algae appears to be growing rapidly in the China Sea. This specific variety of blue algae has come to be called China’s Blue Tears.
China’s Blue Tears is actually caused by a bloom of tiny, bioluminescent creatures called dinoflagellates [dino flaj a lets]. Though the bloom is pretty to look at and even attracts tourists, it is also toxic, and it appears to be growing every year. Researchers have used satellite data to track the growth of the blue algae over the past twenty years. Originally it was only located along the shorelines, it now appears to be spreading to deeper water. That can be a problem for sea life.
The blue tears phenomenon can poison sea life, from fish to sea turtles. The bloom can even make humans sick. The dinoflagellates aren't toxic themselves; the problem comes when they start eating. Toxic algae is their food of choice, and as they eat, they release ammonia and other chemicals that poison the water around them.
Worse than that, China Blue Tears take in an alarming amount of oxygen. The oxygen level in the coastal waters is so low that many fish and other animals die.
What causes the Blue Tears isn’t known for certain, but many researchers believe that agricultural pollution from the Yangtze [Yang see] River may contribute to the problem. The river dumps fertilizer into the East China Sea, giving blue tears massive doses of the nutrients it needs to grow. One point that supports this theory is that during the construction of the Three Gorges Dam from 2003 – 2006 the flow of the Yangtze was greatly restricted. During those same years, the quantity of China Blue Tears was also greatly diminished. When the river flow increased in 2007, the blue algae bloomed brightly again. Info from livescience.com
Potty Training Cattle
Speaking of agricultural fertilizer, if you have ever spent any time around cows, you likely have noticed their rather casual habits concerning personal hygiene. Watch your step when you cross that pasture, because to a cow, all the world is a bathroom. Of course, cow manure can make terrific fertilizer, but the process of collecting the smelly stuff is inconvenient at best and can be quite problematic. What to do, What to do?
Well worry no more because according to sciencenews.org researchers in Germany have trained cows to relieve themselves in a small fenced in area covered by artificial turf. That’s correct! The cows have been potty trained. OK, maybe not quite potty trained, but trained to use a designated area for relieving themselves similar to a cat litter box or puppy pads.
The motivation behind this project was to study how farmers might capture and treat cow urine, which often pollutes air, soil, and water. The average cow can pee tens of liters per day, and there are some 1 billion cattle worldwide. In barns, cow pee typically mixes with poop on the floor to create a muck that emits the air pollutant ammonia. Out in pastures, cow pee can leach into nearby waterways and release the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. However, components of cow urine include nitrogen and phosphorus which can be converted into fertilizer. So, capturing cow urine can have a double benefit.
You may be wondering, “Just how would you go about potty training a cow?” Well according to Lindsay Matthews, a self-described cow psychologist who studies animal behavior at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, you have to start young. “Calves are basically just hanging out, socializing, grazing, and resting, so they have time to be trained.” Explained Matthews.
Each calf got 45 minutes of what the team calls “MooLoo training” per day. At first, the researchers enclosed the calves inside the makeshift bathroom stall and fed the animals a treat every time they peed. Once the calves made the connection between using the bathroom stall and receiving a treat, the team positioned the calves in an alleyway leading to the stall. Whenever animals visited the little cows’ room, they got a treat; but when they peed in the alleyway, they got sprayed with water. Matthews claimed that 70% of the calves were trained within ten days. “The rest of them probably could have been trained, but we ran out of time,” explained Matthews. At my school they would have been referred to Bovine Remediation. But Matthews claims that cattle are smarter than we give them credit for.
Seaweed for cattle feed
Speaking of cattle, climate researchers have claimed that they are a significant source of methane gas (the cattle, not the researchers themselves though some may doubt that). It evidently has to do with a cow’s complex digestive system which contains four separate stomachs. While processing the vast quantities of grass and grain that they eat, their systems emit methane gas. This is considered a greenhouse gas which many scientists claim contributes to climate change. As a result, some climate activists have attempted to encourage people to give up eating beef, to which people throughout the world responded, “Sorry Earth, but No!” “Find another solution, but stay away from my beef!”
Well perhaps another solution has been found. A website called mostpolicyinitiative.org has recently reported that introducing seaweed into a cow’s diet can greatly reduce the amount of methane gas produced during cattle digestion. In fact, recent studies have shown that incorporating just 1% of seaweed into a cow’s diet reduces methane production 67% in dairy cows and 98% in beef cattle.
The article further states that seaweed can help in cattle growth and production. Specifically dairy cattle who feed on seaweed produced more milk than those who ate ordinary diets. However, they caution that some seaweed contains iodine and bromoform which, in high doses can have negative health side effects. They also point out that currently the U.S. doesn’t produce enough agricultural seaweed to meet the demand of the cattle industry. Still, these are encouraging signs for those who love both the Earth and their beef too.
Scientific Weirdness in Popular Culture
OK, now let’s discuss some scientific weirdness from popular culture. Do you recall Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his lab assistant Beaker? Of course, these were two characters from the popular 1970s Muppet Show. They were always cooking up some kind of experiment that went wrong. Then I think about The Professor, one of the seven castaways on Gilligan’s Island. Those folks would have certainly perished without his helpful knowledge. A running gag on the show had The Professor setting up an important yet primitive lab experiment when bumbling Gilligan trips and crashes into the whole set up. Oh yes, I remember seeing this movie when I was a kid. Of course we can’t forget about the terrific 1961 Fred McMurray flick, The Absent Minded Professor in which he invents flubber.
https://www.popisms.com/Movie/1583/Weird-Science-1985
If I mention 1985 and a pop culture classic movie, you would probably immediately think about Back To The Future and Doc’s famous Flotz Capacitor built into the De Lorean time machine. But are you familiar with the movie Weird Science? It seems that I remember going into the first video store where I had a membership around this time, and this movie was always prominently displayed.
If you don’t remember or aren’t familiar with this flick, let me summarize it for you. This comes from popisms.com. Two teenage nerds, Gary and Wyatt, unpopular and unable to meet girls on their own, use a computer to design the perfect woman. Lacking sufficient processing power, they hack into a US Government mainframe and use its power to create a computer simulation of "the perfect woman" in order to place her in "real life situations" and see how she reacts.
A bizarre electrical storm hits their house, and they find themselves unable to shut the computer off. Mysteriously, the result is "Lisa", a real-life woman (who emerges from a red fog in their bathroom). She is a hot but kind-hearted "80's babe" with Einstein's IQ, David Lee Roth's attitude and inexplicable supernatural powers.
Lisa sets about helping Gary and Wyatt to discover their inner coolness. She takes them to a blues club and then organizes a giant 80s style party at Wyatt’s house. No, they don’t get to hook up with Lisa, but she helps them gain confidence and by the end of the movie they are striking up solid relationships with real girls their own age.
Bill Nye The Science Guy
Now I bet many folks are familiar with the educational TV show Bill Nye the Science Guy. This show was produced from 1993 – 1999 and racked up one hundred episodes which have been running in syndication ever since. Bill Nye has a real talent for explaining scientific concepts in a fun and engaging way that anyone can understand. He appears to be a bit hyper as he pops around in a blue lab coat and a bow tie while explaining scientific reasoning. The show was directed toward middle school aged kids, but anyone who watches will enjoy and learn.
But what about the man behind the show? What do you really know about Bill Nye himself?
It may or may not surprise you to learn that Bill Nye was a Boeing engineer who worked on the 747 jetliner in Seattle. He is credited for designing and building a hydraulic resonance suppressor tube for use on the 747. In his spare time, he began performing stand-up comedy and he actually won a Steve Martin Look Alike contest at a comedy club. This led to him meeting another prominent Seattle comedian named John Keester. In 1985, Nye left Boeing to join Keester in writing and performing for Almost Life, a fledgling sketch comedy show produced by the local NBC affiliate KING 5 TV in Seattle. One of the reoccurring characters played by Nye was a crime fighting superhero named Speed Walker who cleaned up the mean streets while adhering to the strict regulations of the International Speed Walking Association (heel toe heel toe). You can still catch some of these old clips on YouTube.
But it was also on Almost Live that Nye began a reoccurring segment in which he would demonstrate scientific experiments. The first one of these occurred when one of the show’s scheduled guests canceled at the last minute. This was on January 10, 1987. The shows writers decided to fill in the gap by having Nye demonstrate the potential household uses of liquid nitrogen. With little time to rehearse Nye decided to submerge an onion into a vat of liquid nitrogen and then fling it on the floor. The onion shattered into a million pieces and the studio audience went wild with enthusiasm. Thus was the beginning of the persona of Bill Nye the Science Guy.
Over the next several years Nye continued to perform odd experiments on Almost Live. When I first moved to Seattle in 1989 and saw Almost Live, I thought it was the funniest show I had ever seen. I couldn’t believe that a local station had produced such great entertainment. I remember watching Nye spray a barrel with liquid nitrogen and then tap it with a small hammer which was supposed to cause the barrel to cave in, only it didn’t work. Nye kept trying over and over again, but the stunt just wouldn’t work, and it got funnier as time went along. It soon became evident that it was Nye himself that was the entertainment rather than the experiments.
Nye began to develop the idea of a full show of just fun scientific entertainment. He described it as Mr. Wizzard meets Pee Wee’s Playhouse. The major networks turned him down, but the local PBS station decided to give it a try and helped Nye to shoot a pilot episode. This was aired by PBS Stations across the country which led to Nye receiving grants from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy. Nye has continued to promote science education since the end of the shows run.
Brain Net
Our final story comes to us from sciencealert.com and also a published paper from Cornell University. Do you remember that Mel Gibson movie from 2000 called What Women Want? The scenario was that after a freak lightening strike Mel was able to read the thoughts of all the women he encountered. The idea of reading other people’s minds has intrigued people for generations, but some researchers at Cornell University may have discovered a breakthrough in which reading the minds of others is a possibility.
The researchers call this discovery BrainNet which they claim is the first multi-person non-invasive direct brain-to-brain interface for collaborative problem solving. "The interface allows three human subjects to collaborate and solve a task using direct brain-to-brain communication,” stated the researchers.
We will spare you the tedious scientific terminology and rather explain how this works to you in laymen’s terms. Three people were connected to two devices simultaneously. One of these devices picked up brainwave activity and the other transmits the basic signals of this activity to the other participants by means of impulses.
In their experiment, two of the three participants viewed a Tetris style video game. They had to think about which way the blocks should be turned in order to fit in the puzzle. If the block needed to be turned to the right, they had to stare at a flashing LED signal to the right of the screen. If it needed to be turned to the left, they had to stare at a different signal on the left. These two signals were flashing at different intensities; different enough that their brains and thus the brain sensors attached to them could distinguish which one was being stared at. This information was then transmitted to the third participant who had control of the joystick but couldn’t see the screen. When the impulse was received this third person would manipulate the block.
Five different three-person subject groups participated in the experiment. Across the groups an 81.25% success rate was achieved. This was pretty impressive for the first attempt, though it should be noted that these findings have not been peer reviewed. Nevertheless it is an interesting concept.
You may remember our S2E16 titled Mind Games. One of our stories featured a young Canadian man named Scott who had suffered severe brain injury in a car accident. He appeared to be in a coma and unresponsive for several years. Then a researcher conducted an MRI and discovered that the young man still demonstrated significant brain activity. On a hunch the researcher said, “Scott, if you can hear me, think about walking through your house.” The MRI showed significant activity in a section of Scott’s brain. Then the researcher said, “Think about playing tennis.” Activity fired in a different part of his brain. The researcher then began asking a series of Yes or No questions and asked Scott to think about walking through his house if the answer was Yes and playing tennis if it was No. In this way he was able to communicate.
The participants in the Cornell experiment used a similar method, only rather than reading the thoughts off an MRI screen, the thoughts were received by electronic impulses directly into their brains. In conclusion, the researchers wrote, "Our results raise the possibility of future brain-to-brain interfaces that enable cooperative problem solving by humans using a 'social network' of connected brains.”
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Remnant Stew is part of Rook & Raven Ventures and is created by me, Leah Lamp. Dr. Steven Meeker and I research, write and host each episode along with commentary by our audio producer, Phillip Sinquefield. Theme music is by Kevin MacLeod with voiceover by Morgan Hughes. Special thanks goes out to Brandy Nichols, Judy Meeker, and Harbin Gould.
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