We Have Concerns

Scientists in Japan have transformed mouse skin cells into eggs in a dish, and used those eggs to birth fertile pups. The report marks the first creation of eggs entirely outside a mouse. If the process could be made to work for humans, researchers could produce artificial eggs without needing to implant immature cells into ovaries to complete their development. Jeff and Anthony discuss the possib...

A two-year project by an international team of mathematicians has mapped shortest possible journey to visit 25,000 pubs across the UK, and set a new record for the longest "traveling salesman problem" ever solved. Jeff and Anthony discuss pub crawls, math, and 2 years spent on this kind of thing. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Get al...

A team of researchers led by Axel Visel at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has replaced part of a mouse's DNA—a small sequence known as ZRS— with the equivalent sequence from a snake. That tiny change was enough to “serpentize” the mouse, to stop it from developing any limbs. Jeff and Anthony discuss the ramifications of these gene modifiers, and what it could mean for our future. GET BO...

One of the busiest Starbucks in the country is the one located inside the CIA, with a captive caffeine-craving audience of thousands of analysts and agents working on gathering intelligence and launching covert operations around the world. The baristas go through rigorous interviews and background checks and need to be escorted by agency “minders” to leave their work area. There are no frequent-cu...

Though we have spent hundreds of years imagining dinosaurs as reptilian roarers, our understanding of what dinos may have actually looked and sounded like has evolved. A new study published in Nature reveals that dinosaurs may have been far less aggressive, vocally speaking, eschewing gigantic roars for a much more subtle coo or a duck’s quack. Jeff and Anthony discuss all of the misinformation ab...

An international study found that chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans seem to have the ability to see the world from someone else's point of view, even when they know that point of view is dead wrong — a trait that once was considered uniquely human It's called theory of mind, or the ability to know that others have different beliefs and perspectives. Jeff and Anthony talk about animal intelligenc...

After he was killed by a blow to the face about 9,000 years ago, the 23-year-old hunter was laid to rest in a limestone cave in what is now southwestern England. Now, say scientists astonishingly bridging 90 centuries and 300 generations, they have found a direct descendant of the Stone Age man. He lives half a mile from the burial site and teaches history. Anthony and Jeff marvel at this story of...

Travellers are used to lost luggage, booking errors and on-board delays - but now an American airline is being sued for mixing up two children and sending them to the wrong cities. Jeff and Anthony discuss this astonishing error, and try to compare their own travel woes. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Get all your sweet We Have Concerns merch...

Every swear word in the English language has been ranked in order of offensiveness. The UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, interviewed more than 200 people across the UK on how offensive they find a vast array of rude and offensive words and insults. Jeff and Anthony take a journey through the list to discuss why some words are worse than others. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VIS...

Cornish fish moving north with climate change may struggle to understand Scouse counterparts, study says, making it harder for them to mate. Experts believe the fish, which make sounds with their swim bladders to attract mates, may have regional accents – and if males cannot “chat up” females who speak a different dialect it could threaten their ability to breed. Jeff and Anthony discuss the idea...

There’s been a wave of creepy clown sightings across the United States. Going back to late August, there have been dozens of reports of threatening clowns, largely centered around schools and colleges. Anthony and Jeff weigh in on this phenomenon. Is it cause for worry, or just a media circus? GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Get all your sweet...

An 80-year-old woman said she felt like a prisoner in her own home after she was attacked repeatedly by a flock of seagulls. Barbara Cox was targeted by the birds while putting her washing out with one gripping her leg and another gouging at it. Anthony and Jeff know a thing or two about #bridprankz, so they tackle this case, to get to the bottom of this classic avian practical joke GET BONUS EPIS...

In the latest journal of Aging a UCLA genetics team recorded age-related changes to human DNA, calculating the biological age of blood and estimated a person’s lifespan. More often than not they found that the biological age was a better indicator of life expectancy than the person’s actual age. Anthony and Jeff discuss whether our DNA will determine our lifespan, and, if so, what we should do abo...

In a unique, home-spun experiment, researchers found that the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster at Disney's Magic Kingdom could help people pass kidney stone before they become a serious health-care cost. Jeff and Anthony discuss how these scientists came to their conclusion, and using theme parks to treat maladies of all kinds. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http:/...

Scientists from Deakin University in Melbourne published their findings about a new drug that mimics some of the most important effects of exercise. They were able to show that overweight mice who were given the drug no longer showed signs of cardiovascular disease. Jeff and Anthony debate the merits of a pill that can make unhealthy lifestyles safe, and wonder what the future might look like if i...

A 100-year-old tortoise named Touche, owned by the same 60-year-old woman since she was five years old, went missing from his home for 10 days before being found more than six miles away. Anthony and Jeff discuss the concept of a pet that can outlive you, and other surprising turtle tales. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Get all your sweet We H...

The Movile Cave in Romania, just a few miles west from the Black Sea, has been sealed up for around 5.5 million years. Although the air in it is poisonous and unbearably humid, scientists have so far identified 48 species – 33 of which are totally unique to this one cave. Jeff and Anthony discuss the lost world of this cave, what it means, and whether they would delve into such a deep, harsh place...

Russian scientists have driven away polar bears that besieged their weather station on an island in the Arctic Ocean for two weeks. After five scientists based at the weather station on Troynoy island, in the Kara Sea north of Siberia, were encircled by 10 adult bears and some cubs, a nearby ship was able to reach the island and supply the scientists with dogs and flares to scare off the bears. An...

Jeff is back! And he's an honest-to-goodness real life Dad! Anthony takes a moment to check in on the experience of bringing a new Cannata into the world. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Get all your sweet We Have Concerns merch by swinging by http://wehaveconcerns.com/shop Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review i...

Security researchers Abdul Serwadda and Richard Matovu recently tested a pair of EEG authentication systems to see if it was possible to identify personal information from anonymous brainwave scans. The pair created a machine learning system that compared the new brainwaves scans to EEG scans from a group of known alcoholics -- and the machine successfully identified 25-percent of persons who iden...

A man who spent the last two years raising two beloved pet dogs has had a bit of a shock. The pair of 'puppies' Wang Kaiyu bought and raised at his home in Maguan County in southwest China’s Yunnan Province, have turned out to be two Asian black bears. Anthony and special guest Kris Straub fill in for Jeff as he becomes a new Dad, and discuss the level of delusion required to mistake bears for pup...

Firefighters in Norway have pulled a man from the inside of a toilet after he lowered himself in to retrieve a friend's phone and became stuck in the tank below. Oh yes, the story gets much worse from there. Anthony and Jeff discuss the concept of diving into a toilet after a phone, and the depths of friendships. Not an episode for the squeamish. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT:...

For Hermit crabs, suitable shells are hard to come by. So they have come up with an ingenious scheme. When a crab happens upon a shell, it scopes it out – and when it is too big, the crab sits and waits, sometimes up to eight hours. More crabs show up to check out the potential new digs, and for those whom the shell is too big, they line up and wait. And get this, they line up in size order. Up to...

A new study, published in Elementa, looks at the consequences of switching the U.S. to different kinds of diet, from full vegan to various kinds of egg and cheese-supplemented vegetarian diets. And the results show that a completely vegan food chain would actually feed fewer people. Anthony and Jeff discuss the responsibility we all have as eaters, and how much that should play into our decisions....

Surgeons in India extracted 40 knives from inside the body of a police officer during a rare, five-hour operation. Surjeet Singh suffers from an uncontrollable urge to consume knives and had swallowed the knives over several months. Jeff and Anthony discuss strange compulsions, and what life must be like for someone with this condition. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http://pa...