The Reality Check

Artificial Intelligence or Artificial Creativity?  Can an AI be more creative than a human?  Darren looks at a study which attempts to answer this question.  With the upcoming solar eclipse occurring in North America on April 8th, Adam examines the risk of staring at the sun and gives some tips on how to view an eclipse safely.

I'm not saying they're aliens but … they're aliens. Adam uses hard hitting science to evaluate the validity of these allegedly non human mummified remains which were presented to the Mexican Congress in the fall. A shocking discovery which puts into question everything we know about our world or a hoax? Darren gives us a review of Peter Attia's book Outlive, an exploration of the science behind li...

Darren gives us a news roundup of some recent things happening in the world of AI including OpenAI's text to video tool Sora, Google Deepmind's Gemini 1.5, as well as what implications this and other upcoming technologies could have on our lives.  Adam tries to find out if there was ever anyone who really baked a file into a cake to break out of jail as many children's cartoons have lead us to bel...

We try something a little different on the latest episode of The Reality Check. Having recently seen the movie Oppenheimer Darren and Adam have a discussion about this great film. If you haven't seen the movie already it might be a good idea to check it out before listening to the show!

Put down that poinsettia salad, checkers.  Darren looks into a popular myth that poinsettia plants are poisonous to animals, including people.  Then Adam looks into what's been going on with Mickey Mouse and Steamboat Willie as he explores trademark, copyright and what it means to enter the public domain.

This year we retire our annual prediction segment with a final look back at how accurate, or rather how innacurate, we were in our predictions of what would happen in 2023. Darren examines the validity of a popular claim that people with Down syndrome are stronger. Finally we end the show with a special announcement from Pat and Cristina.

The crew gets to interview TRC's very own Darren McKee, author of the critically acclaimed book, 'Uncontrollable: The Threat of Artificial Superintelligence and the Race to Save the World'. We chat about the challenges of writing a first book, some of the key takeaways, and have a few laughs along the way.

Wondering what the heck is going on with AI?  Why are some people so concerned? Darren's new beginner-friendly book Uncontrollable: The Threat of Artificial Superintelligence and the Race to Save the World addresses exactly those questions. In an engaging and easy-to-read style, it explores the promise and peril of advanced AI, why it might be a threat, and what we can do about it. No technical or...

World-renowned AI expert Yoshua Bengio talks with Darren McKee and Adam Gardner about his long career, why advanced AI could be harmful, and whether open-source of powerful AI models is a risk.

Cristina delves into the latest FDA advisory announcement shedding light on the ineffectiveness of phenylephrine, a widely used ingredient in several nasal decongestants. Adam revisits the myriad of news stories and worries surrounding bees and the issue of colony collapse disorder.

It's another mashup where we give you three segments from previous shows.  First we revisit Pat's deep dive on a viral video of an amusement park ride.  Next Adam takes on an Avril Lavigne conspiracy that she died and was replaced by a double.  Finally, Cristina does what Cristina does… taking on Gwyneth Paltrow.

Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, Dall-e. Darren digs into an explanation of how artificial intelligence generates images and whether or not it is just copying.  Cristina looks at the fascinating history of why a computer glitch is called a bug.   

Adam digs into recent headlines about UFOs and whistleblower David Grusch.  Does this give any promising evidence that aliens may be among us?  Next Darren ponders how our future AI overlords might treat us. Assuming they don't eliminate us, will we make great pets?  It's a new TRC!  

Cristina kicks off the show with a deep dive into the history of forensic fingerprinting and challenges a commonly accepted notion that no two fingerprints are alike. Adam brings us a buttload of a segment when he probes into the origin and meaning of the term. Darren rounds out the show with an always fascinating look into the world of AI, specifically why given extinction concerns, AI researcher...

Darren shares some thoughts and leads an interesting discussion about what might be reasonable approaches to the difficult and complicated topic of artificial intelligence. Pat brings us another smashing game of "Name That: Spot The Fake." Can you do better than the TRC crew?  

The TRC crew brings you a mashup about fire and smoke.  Adam looks into headlines about the Amazon rainforest. The facts may surprise you.  Pat addresses a listener's question about whether the rainforest is the Earth's lungs responsible for 20% of the oxygen we breathe. Darren investigates whether wood fires pose a danger to your health.

In March of this year, auroras were seen in many places on earth.  Though the auroras are usually seen far up north on the globe they can occur further south.  But what are the risks associated with this kind of event?  "The Technology Trap" by Carl Benedikt Frey looks at how the history of technology can help us better understand economic and political polarization in the age of automation.  Darr...

A recent study done by Consumer Reports shows that dark chocolate bars contain lead and cadmium.  Should you be concerned? Cristina digs into it.  Next, after watching the movie "65", Adam looks at the debate about how dinosaurs went extinct and when.

Pat puppeteers a delicious intro. Finally, what took us so long? We had a chat with Canadian podcast pioneer and author Karl Mamer. Karl has a new book out called "The Skeptics Book of Lists". He's a fascinating character with many stories to tell. We hope you enjoy!

Welcome to episode 6-6-6! Darren does a deep dive on the digits steeped in the Book of Revelation and why some historically associate it with the 'number of the beast'. Pat challenges the crew to a fresh and always fun installment of Name That: Spot The Fake. Can you do better than the TRC crew?

Cristina investigates a pervasive belief that standing in front of a microwave oven poses health risks. Darren and Adam have another fascinating discussion with Dr. Roman Yampolskiy. This time it's about his recent work regarding the Simulation Hypothesis, which proposes that all of our existence is a simulated reality. Dr. Yampolskiy is a computer scientist at the University of Louisville where h...

Cristina digs into the rare weather occurrence called thundersnow after witnessing lightning and thunder during a recent snowstorm. Adam checks the origins of 'the customer is always right in matters of taste', and asks, are they? Darren rounds out the show with a look at Matthew Ball's best-selling book "The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything".  

Dr. Roman Yampolskiy is a computer scientist at the University of Louisville where he is the director of the Cyber Security Laboratory in the department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science. He is an author of over 100 publications including numerous books. 

In what has become a yearly ritual to highlight the futility of 'predictions', Adam, Producer Pat, and Cristina guess at what might happen in 2023 and revisit the panel's 2022 predictions to see how they did.

Happy New Year, Checkers! Darren lays out the Three Laws of Robotics, as devised by science fiction author Isaac Asimov, and why they are seemingly reasonable yet flawed. Adam bites into a segment about the Apple logo and ponders whether it's based on the biblical apple that signifies the Fall of Man.