Six Degrees of Rumination

Episode 92 is all about the silly things humans do—except the Oxford comma. That’s serious, important, and irreplaceable.     Grant for Hookers for Jesus   https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2018-01-23/tribal-divisions-created-by-religion-most-harmful-in-global-conflict-experts-say?utm_source=usn_fb&fbclid=IwAR0bN1RVKH88cK6O2Hg-x365ep-OfRatp05UdCjJUwJx2Hra0l_W_v0ZwLc       https:/...

Six Degrees rings in the New Year just as you’d expect – with a wide selection of science articles ranging from zany to outright f*cked up!   We discuss everything from the age you discover the meaning of life to what elderly female whales do when their reproductive years are at an end.  Oh, there's also a fair amount on what new horrors the overuse of technology may have in store for us, a story...

Celebrate this holiday Six Degrees of Rumination style!  Episode 90 is full of Christmas cheer - and a little Christmas caution.  Sure, the holidays are awesome and most people love them, but if you're one of those individuals who worries more about the waste Christmas generates than how much joy you're spreading, then boy do we have articles for you!  Don't worry, there are plenty of articles abo...

We're almost at Episode 90!  We really wanted to get there, so we thought we'd make Episode 89 short.  Except for the part where producer Mike talks about Terminator for twenty minutes... After that, Reno explains that plants are renewable and therefore should be eaten by robots, and everyone tries to figure out whether people are growing horns due to cell phone use. Good thing we end on a high no...

The world is a strange place, as we’ve learned on this podcast again and again.  Enjoy this collection of the weird, the hilarious, and the terrible.  Life’s just a bowl of cherries...or, sometimes, a bucket of heads. Thoughts and prayers https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/16/economists-calculate-monetary-value-thoughts-and-prayers? CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other&fbclid=IwAR3KhuaEEgTMiFqPlQ0Lw25P0...

Last episode we brought you tales of humanity...now we bring you tails of animals.  Oh yes we did! Animals are just as crazy as humans, if not more.  Although, since we're the ones studying them, can we really say the evidence isn't biased by the observer?   Cats know their names even if they pretend not to   People in New Jersey are getting high off catnip   A toxic garbage fire in Arkansas   Som...

Six Degrees presents you with episode 86 - tales of humanity.  Oh, how crazy we are.   A cop can't pull you over for flipping them off   Phasing out gas powered leaf blowers in DC   A material that cancels sound   Herbalist is jailed for replacing insulin treatments with lavender oil   This woman can smell Parkinson's   Anger can be contagious     Death metal doesn't desensitize you to violent ima...

Have you ever wondered why animals act or look the way they do? What about those really rare strange type of animals you never knew existed—and now that you know, you’re terrified!? Well, Six Degrees covers them all in episode 85, from discussing squirrels of unexpected colors to why zebras have stripes. Oh, and some unborn sharks are cannibals…     Flying squirrels glow in the dark   The answer t...

It's 1984!  Yes, that's right, you are about to experience the Six Degrees episode bearing that name, BUT ALSO, looking at scientific trends these days, we are apparently living in the horrifying society from the prophetic dystopian novel!  Join hosts Reno and Nina (who are both experts on 1984 since they were born then) as they discuss all of technology's beautiful and terrifying capabilities.  O...

Enjoy our last episode of the year! Six Degrees wraps up the year with random articles that are somehow crazier and more fantastical than all the articles of 2018 combined.  China makes plans to launch a second moon, nanorobots are now capable of drilling drugs directly into your eyes, and anti-vaxxers strike once more before 2019. Hope you have a happy new year!

Much to Reno’s dismay, it’s the Holiday Season!  Take a listen as Host Reno Gorman lists all the reasons why he doesn’t like Christmas while Host Nina Boyd and their Producer Mike tell him he’s wrong. Merry Christmas everyone!!   https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/dark-side-christmas-saturnalia-christmas-carol-dickens-norse-mythology-festive-traditions-a8112341.html   https://news.natio...

In episode 81 (the second installment of a two part episode) Six Degrees covers the "nurture" side of "nature vs. nurture."  This installment is the darker of the two--well, except for the cannibalism in the first installment!--and includes such gems as a vending machine dispensing crack pipes, street corner urinals shaped like mailboxes, and what happens when you leave contact lenses in for twent...

Six Degrees had so many good articles this time around, we decided to record TWO episodes at once!  This first of the two has a more positive bent, and is the "nature" side of "nature vs. nurture" if you will (and Reno will).  Learn why elephants get cancer less often than other mammals, how producer Mike would deal with a robot begging for its life, and oh--just so things don't get too serious, S...

Six Degrees welcomes Reno's brother on their 79th episode!  Chris is like Reno but with less Reno and more Chris. This episode is a collection of articles demonstrating how amazing - and how terrifying - science is getting: reattaching legs backwards, growing brains with Neanderthal DNA, getting pregnant by eating undercooked seafood...it's a strange and beautiful world we live in. Also, a shout o...

Join Six Degrees for producer Mike's longest episode, in which he is so angry his co-hosts started late that he cuts them off even before their first segue... The world doesn't disappoint in its strangeness; this episode's articles range from trying to prove small talk can actually be interesting to how a turtle can breathe through its genitals.  Oh, and did you already think platypuses (platypi.....

Episode 77 is full of bears, bees, (no birds though), legal and illegal drugs, and what's next for human improvement on a bionic level.  Also discussed is the case of a dead man who couldn't prove he was alive in a court of law. Oh, and heaps and heaps of jokes about cocaine.    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/03/21/woman-dies-after-acupuncture-session-that-used-live-bee...

Six Degrees maintains our streak of doing an episode once every time we all meet up with microphones!  This one is all about those odd cases in science, from animals' unusual coping mechanisms to how a change in climate turns mummies into creatures from the black lagoon.  Discussed also are deer who move slower than deer in the headlights and how the Y chromosome of human beings may be on its way...

For their 75th episode, Six Degrees is joined by guest Sean Keehan, and celebrates with a plethora of topics, including the alarming number of body parts in the Pacific Ocean, a gene that almost eliminates pain, what LSD does to dolphins (and humans living with dolphins), plus one very special story about Jesus.   https://nypost.com/2017/11/29/300-year-old-note-found-inside-butt-of-jesus-statue/?u...

Six Degrees discusses surgery to shrink a penis, why toilet paper is destroying parts of the planet, and what 65 cats are capable of when given the proper training.  *They do hit a serious note for one article*  Well, for a few seconds, anyway...       https://www.inquisitr.com/4582284/mans-3-foot-penis-and-11-pound-scrotum-gone-surgeons-give-20-year-old-new-lease-on-life/?utm_content=inf_11_3140_...

It’s a scary...ish episode just in time for Halloween!  With topics ranging from sweating blood to robot offspring, Six Degrees covers just what makes us humans cringe, gasp, and scream!   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5008295/Woman-21-sweats-BLOOD-face-palms-hands.html? ITO=applenews https://apple.news/AmkAlb4mGSJmAfTGsNpsnLg http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-turn-conservatives-li...

Six Degrees returns with a plethora of articles, from what dolphins could do with opposable thumbs to what some people do with their placentas.  Also discussed are the inclusion of hover bikes into policing and how hackers could be plotting your demise through your seemingly innocent sex bot. Enjoy!     http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/california-passes-law-to-ban-the-sale-of-dogs-from...

Six Degrees welcomes guest Cody Tudor, and quickly degenerates into a frank and appetizing discussion about cannibalism.  Other topics included are human pig chimeras, gene editing, the health benefits of dragon's blood (...Komodo Dragons...), and the latest venture from Elon Musk.   http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/02/22/515668867/cannibalism-its-perfectly-natural-a-new-scientific-history...

Special guest Amanda Kelly Van Winkle miraculously returns for a second episode!  We must not have scared her off too much.  Six Degrees covers the mechanics of speech in monkeys, giraffes becoming an endangered species, and the mysteries of antimatter.  Reno loses his ability to speak coherently for a few minutes, and we all discuss how we feel about Christmas songs.   http://www.npr.org/sections...

Six Degrees takes on another guest, Amanda Kelly Van Winkle!  After she is properly intiated by producer Mike, she jumps in the discussion of cryogenics, two brothers who are paralyzed during the day, and talking sex robots with warm genitals.  Also, Nina and Reno have a heated debate on why AI judges and lawyers could never argue the existence of Santa Claus.   http://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-...