Six Degrees of Rumination

Episode 117 is one of our favorite types: a delightful grab bag of random topics! There's a section all about trends: fashion trends in the chimp community, wellness trends among orca, trends in human coolness over the years; a section about food (talking mushrooms and bitter honey); why deaf people sneeze differently than hearing people; and, of course - chlamydia in koalas.   6 traits of coolnes...

Welcome to Six Degrees of Rumination's "Non-Christmas Christmas episode!"  It's co-host Reno's revenge on co-host Nina and producer Mike, for all the Christmas specials they made him record over the years.  This episode is short and sweet, but spans over thousands of years of history as Reno takes us on a journey from the ancient Mayan pyramids to present day pagan customs.  Also included are the...

In a series of unfortunate events, somehow our diabolical producer, Mike, has taken us hostage and forced us to read articles of his choosing.  In this episode we were forced to discuss why Yoga sucks, how your gluten allergy is bullsh*t, and why Vegans are murderers.   Send help...Please....we don't have much time left...   6 degrees episode 115   Mondays are more stressful than other days https:...

Welcome to episode 114 with guest Nicole Armour.  So we did not come up with a creative title for this episode - we'd give our eyeteeth for one!  Perhaps it was difficult because the articles this episode really run the gamut.  Join us for a science grab bag of surgical advancements (and surgical setbacks), strange amphibians, lingering human ancestors, and more.     Eyeteeth     Don't have surger...

Enjoy Episode 113 with special guest Nicole Armour! We get into one of our favorite topics: the inner workings of the mind.  Find out how to improve your mood, explore your own brand of spirituality, and prevent brain rot. Oh and also, do dogs actually watch TV when they're hanging out with us?    Prevent brain rot   Exploring your spirituality   How to get caffeine out of your system   Pooping af...

Welcome to our last episode of 2024! Episode 112, "Back to the Basement, Producer Mike!" is, be warned, one of our longest episodes. So settle in, hopefully as you're starting a long drive to friends or family for the holidays, and prepare to be entertained with an all out throw down on socio-psychological-cultural-conspiracy theory issues, from chemtrails to astrology to coin tosses to artificial...

Welcome to episode 111, after about a year's hiatus! "Animus Prime - who let Mike out of the basement?" is filled with wacky animal stories, as our episodes are prone to do.  Albatrosses, dragons, and military dolphins are just some of the friends we encounter in our second to last episode of 2024.     Giant sperm found trapped in amber https://archaeology-world.com/100-million-year-old-giant-sper...

Welcome to Episode 110 and a whole new year!  But wait, before you forget about 2023 completely, we ask that if you have not yet listened to Episode 109 (air date 12/20/23), go back and do so before enjoying Episode 110.  There are lessons to be learned before you delve further into the holy terror that is AI....   Elongated skulls in Rome https://www.iflscience.com/cemetery-full-of-deformed-long-...

Producer Mike LOSES HIS MIND and treats us to his best rant ever.  Enjoy Episode 109 during your holiday travels or when you want to escape familial joy for a bit and indulge in some sarcasm.  We cover hibernation, 3D printing (food and otherwise), caffeine intake, and of course - artificial intelligence.   Hibernation for space travel https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/may/25/hibernation-ar...

It's Episode 108! We're glad to be back after such a long time away. What better way to say hello to you all again than with weird animal articles? Some of our favorites!  Hear about reanimated pigs, what snakes have that some humans also have, and how monkeys have made wolves do their bidding. Oh, and dolphins make an appearance, of course.   Snakes have clitorises   https://www.sciencenews.org/a...

Welcome to Episode 107, a delightful romp about the psychology of being human.  We're glad to be back after a long and sort of accidental hiatus.  Join us for this semi-focused discussion on all things psychology, like analyzing stress through typing patterns and the particular strategies of raising a genius. Also covered are ketamine spas, mystical thinking vs. psychosis, and lots and lots of bra...

Episode 106 - Big Questions, Little Answers In this episode, we explore the macro "why"s: why are we here, what entity or unseen force made this universe we live in, why are there so many mysteries surrounding our earth and the space around it?  These "why"s don't always have concrete answers, but we found a few!   Where are we relative to the Big Bang?   Our sun used to have a twin   The first sp...

Episode 105 - Life and Living in Space Ever wondered about the day to day ins and outs of living in space?  How does the altered environment affect your bodily functions, daily routine, and mental state? You might be surprised by some of the answers...     Collaboration with aliens   Precursor to life   Red blood cell loss in space   9 reasons sex in space is difficult   Peeing and pooping in spac...

It's official - society has reached that terrifying point where technology knows more about you than your own family.  Hooray! Welcome to a world of brain implants, AI turning your thoughts into texts, legislation for sexbots, and, of course - a toilet that recognizes you by your...well, we don't want to give everything away. But don't be afraid! Technology can be good, too.  Technology is your fr...

It's the mammals episode!  From humans lucid dreaming to camel beauty contests, in this episode you'll hear everything you wanted to know about mammals - and maybe a bit more.     Mammals dream before birth     How to Lucid Dream     Analyzing the construction of spiderwebs     Octopuses classified as sentient beings     Octopuses grow extra organs - then they disappear     Squirrels have distinct...

Welcome to episode 102!  We'll take you on a journey through the day in the life of a human, from (before!) birth, birth defects, all those years of punching the clock, health problems, revitalizing marriages...and, finally, to the inevitable end.     Magnetic testes https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210728105602.htm?fbclid=IwAR2mpW8MJQX2qUH3Fbv81cdpbXBCODJOaAFMN-4G5PnBe3cNakfDrl2vXLM...

Get your brain fix here! Episode 101 is all about brains: their altered properties after death, the feats they can achieve when paired up with a little technology….or how they take to EXTRA BODY PARTS!   Oh, and there’s a little Elon Musk in here.         Brain cell activity spikes after death https://gizmodo.com/some-of-our-brain-cells-get-more-active-hours-after-we-1846537888     How to grow a b...

We made it to episode 100!  And so did you. This episode is jam packed with crazy stories from our best friend, science - everything from what happens when you’re allergic to the cold to how our unique brain signatures could help coma patients.   Oh, and also cannibalism.   Enjoy!          Allergic to cold air   Death by black licorice     Tooth extraction via hoverboard     France supersoldiers  ...

Welcome to episode 99 - almost 100! Like several of our previous episodes, we wanted to take a moment to pay tribute to the beauty and chaos of the animal kingdom - so here is another all-animal episode, featuring some classics like elephants and some of the more exotic variety: platypuses, flying ants, and those of the animal kingdom who are capable of parthenogenesis!       Killer whales   Cat R...

This episode is all about PAIN! Well, kind of.  Sprinkled within it is news about Stonehenge, another advancement in alternative energy, and public opinion on AI. BUT ALSO: Did you know swearing isn't only fun, but helps overcome adversity?  It's a painful truth for anyone who ever told you not to swear so much.  Did you know that science is experimenting with ways to help blind people "see" using...

We're back!  And we're so close to episode 100 we can taste it...it's almost as good as hallucinogenic honey.  Don't know what that is?  You're about to find out about it, along with how scientists grow organs in space, a caterpillar that saves its old heads, and the backstory of a surprising hand transplant.  Life is made up of some strange parts...and this episode captures a lot of them!     Hal...

Six Degrees discusses an eclectic collection of drug developments!  Included is micro dosing in the form of nasal spray, what caffeine cravings really are, and how ultrasound waves may help treat patients with psychiatric disorders.     Psilocybin nasal spray     LSD overdose    Caffeine cravings explained    Can we predict which anti-depressants will work for individuals?    Ultrasound waves can...

Enjoy Six Degrees' take on the post apocalyptic world with Episode 95!  We've got touchable holograms, resurrected permafrost worms, and the promise of faster travel to Mars -- hmm, the dystopian life doesn't seem so bad after all.   First touchable hologram   AI discovers antibiotic that kills drug resistant bacteria   Permafrost worms!   Mad Mike rocket crash   Plasma powered rocket engine can g...

Technology! It’s great, it’s awe-inspiring; how do we live without it? Well, some things might be able to live better if it wasn’t around. On the other hand, it does do wonderful things for some aspects of life. Maybe all we can do is embrace it when it’s good to us and make sure we don’t rely on it completely. We don’t want it taking over our lives, after all. Good thing we haven’t begun working...

We've done several episodes about humans improving life with technology, sometimes to the point of bordering on a bionic existence!  Here are four articles that will have you marveling at humans' constant hunger to evolve, adapt, and ask, "why?" Or they'll have you singing the Terminator theme.  Either one.     Downloading knowledge to your brain   Telescopic lens can zoom 3x   Why not work shorte...