We Have Concerns

NASCAR driver Kurt Busch is attempting to skirt allegations of domestic abuse by claiming that his girlfriend is a trained assassin.  Jeff and Anthony proceed to mock any man who would physically assault his partner, and this man in particular for trying to avoid the issue in such an unbelieveable way. We Have Concerns is entirely listener supported! To keep us ad-free and get early episodes/bonus...

The Australian Gympie-Gympie plant is the one of the most painfully poisonous in the world. People who have just rubbed up against it have gone mad with pain and tried to shoot off their own appendages with guns. So, like... Would you touch it? Maybe... Maybe we should touch it. Join us for a live video hangout on Thursday, January 29th at 5 PM PT! We can all just hang and talk and stuff. It'll be...

A 23 year-old man has been experiencing constant deja vu for seven years. What would it be like to have the feeling that everything you experienced has happened before? Powerful? Boring? Maddening? Powerful? Boring? Maddening? (see what I did there?) We have a live video hangout coming up on the 29th! If you'd like to come chat with us, you can get the details at  http://hangout.wehaveconcerns.com...

A new study finds that men who interact with women during the fertile period of their menstrual cycle tend to be more creative with their grammar. Anthony is impressed that human "peacocking" extends into speech patterns, while Jeff is just amazed that men can pick up on when women are most fertile. This show is entirely listener supported. To find out how to help AND get early episodes...

Anthony found an article outlining the evidence that Earth is headed for its 6th great extinction event.  Animals going extinct, global food tables imbalanced, resource scarcity, all lead up to a massive, worldwide catastrophe.  He proceeds to use these facts to completely bum Jeff out.  Listen as the show decends into total depression. This show is entirely listener supported! Get early episodes,...

A group of researchers studying the effects of alcohol on speech decided to get some birds drunk.  They divided a group of zebra finches - birds that learn and produce sounds similar to humans - into two groups.  One sipped pure juice and the other a mixture of ethanol and juice.  The results may shock you.  Or not.  Jeff and Anthony wonder how a group of researchers can spend grant money intoxica...

A review led by a brain scientist at MIT found growing evidence that brain scans can predict future behaviors.  If, one day, we are able to simply scan our brains to determine what kinds of activities we are more inclined to excel at, or problems we may encounter, will that lead to a healthier, more adaptive populace, or one shackled to in-born tendencies?  Anthony and Jeff wrestle with that quest...

NASA is conducting a study about the long-term effects of weightlessness by asking applicants to stay completely horizontal for 70 days.  In exchange for staying in bed and never standing up up, even to use the restroom or shower, NASA will pay test subjects $18,000, which works out to $1,200 per week or $257 per day.  Anthony and Jeff wonder if they could stand it, and why NASA is holding out on...

A court in Argentina just upheld an animal rights group's request to have an orangutan appear in a court, saying it's illegal to hold 'non-human persons' in cages. Whoops, apes are people now. So is this a good thing? How smart are animals? What sort of rights should they have? Also: what kind of animal skin makes the best sneakers? This show is entirely listener supported! Get early episodes, ext...

In order to find a way to stop bedbugs, Regine Gries allowed herself to be bitten by them 180,000 times over a period of five years. Also, did you know that there's billionaire dinosaur porn? That's unrelated, but it doesn't mean we're not going to talk about it for 10 minutes or whatever. Hey! If you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to liste...

What makes you you? Is the self somewhere in the body or the brain? If you downloaded your brain into a new body, would it be you? ANSWER ME (whatever 'me' is) Hey! If you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here's the iTunes link:  http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns Jeff on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/jeffcannata Anthony on Twitter:  http...

A woman has a condition that makes her see dragons wherever she goes. Anthony and Jeff discuss perception and reality, and if we know what we see is real. Hey! If you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here's the iTunes link:  http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns Jeff on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/jeffcannata Anthony on Twitter:  http://tw...

Every Autumn, falling leaves create hazards for the railways. Trains compress the debris by running over it, and the resulting surface becomes slick and unsafe.  The solution? Lasers! One Dutch company has developed a way to blast the rails clean with high-tech lasers mounted to the front of the trains - which, of course, inspires Jeff and Anthony to pitch their new action/adventure trilogy, Laser...

Adrian David Cheok, the founder and director of the Mixed Reality Lab in Singapore, is attempting to record odors digitally, and recreate them without the use of chemicals.  While a breakthrough in the area is still a long way off, the idea of digital smells has Jeff and Anthony wondering what this technology could possibly be used for, and, moreoever, what working in a place called the Mixed Real...

Scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York have successfully implanted human glial cells into the brains of mice to shocking result.  Not only were the cells not rejected, but the human cells completely dominated the mouse brain cells.  More incredibly, this led to mice which demonstrated a much higher capacity for memory and cognitive skill.  Yep, Anthony and Jeff are th...

A New Yorker article all about passwords has Jeff musing on what Anthony's passwords mean about him.  It is a secret people tell themselves every time they log on to something, so what are the most common topics that appear in passwords?  What are the smartest passwords?  How can they can used to hack your life? This show is entirely listener supported. To find out how to help AND get early episod...

A new study suggests that using hand dryers in public restrooms is actually less hygienic than using paper towels.  This leads Jeff and Anthony to discuss bathroom etiquette, personal hygene, germophobia, assumptions about cleanliness, and the coolest way to dry your hands. This show is entirely listener supported. To find out how to help AND get early episodes and bonus content, head to  http://p...

Anthony and Jeff delve into perhaps the most disturbing topic they have ever tackled.  An article in National Geographic features the top 5 most terrifying "zombie" creatures - parasites that get inside of other creatures and force them to change their behavior, malform, or otherwise serve the parasite's procreation.  These are some of the most horrible organisms in the natural world.  T...

New anaysis suggests that the bronze computing device known as the Antikythera, discovered at the bottom of the Aegean Sea in 1901 is even older than previously thought.  In fact, this computer dates back to 200 BC and represents a incredible feat of pre-historic human engineering.  Anthony and Jeff marvel at a people that could devise such a thing, and rail at the Dark Ages for stealing away so m...

According to quantum physics, Planck's Constant is the smallest unit of measure in the universe, beyond which nothing can be further divided.  Scientists at the Fermilab are building a Holographic Interferometer, or Holometer, with which they intend to test this theory.  If true, it could mean that our entire dimension is a hologram, projected into 3D space like a pixelized image on your computer...

Researchers at the University of Bristol are using ultrasound to create invisible objects in the air that you can reach out and touch.  Of course, Anthony and Jeff see this as the first step toward full holodeck technology, and and try to determine which industry can accelerate progress to that goal fastest. Hint: it's porn. This show is entirely listener supported. To find out how to help AND get...

An NPR story about NBC's Peter Pan Live television event points out that a significant portion of the audience of major TV hits are people who self-identify as "hate-watching" the programming.  In fact, some networks are even programming to take advantage of these tendencies, embracing the live-tweeters who mock and add snide comments to the viewing experience.  Jeff and Anthony have a m...

We are consuming more chocolate than we produce, and at the current deficit we may soon be facing a global cocoa shortage.  As a fan of chocolatey goodies, Jeff is worried about a potential joyless chocolate-free future, while Anthony welcomes a forced worldwide dietary shift.  One thing's for certain, this episode is totally sweet. This show is entirely listener supported. To find out how to help...

By actually printing DNA, researchers are now able to create entirely new species.  They started with a glow-in-the-dark plant, and now have plans to design microbes that will live in your stomach and actually change the smell of your fecal matter. Even crazier, they may be able to associate particular gas odors with biological states, so you can effectively have an early warning system built insi...

Researchers from the University of Southern Denmark have synthesized crystalline materials that can bind and store oxygen in high concentrations. That means that we may be able to use crystals to replace oxygen tanks or even allow divers to simply draw oxygen directly out of H2O through the crystal.  Anthony has always wanted to breathe underwater, but Jeff is worried about sucking on crystals for...