A relaxing trip to Japan turns into an accidental run down a double black diamond, a mathematician solves “impossible” problems because nobody told him they were impossible, and missing scientists get pulled into UFO flavoured rumours. This week, Will and Rod bounce between snowboarding psychology, statistical legend, conspiracy culture, and the strange ways expectations shape what we think we can do.

We start on the slopes, where fear is sometimes just signage, then jump to George Dantzig, who solved famous unsolved statistics problems after mistaking them for homework. Same theme, different setting: not knowing the odds can be a weird kind of advantage.

Then things get darker with disappearances, military secrecy, and the internet’s favourite genre, plus a look at the gluten conundrum and why non coeliac gluten sensitivity is still messy science. Bodies are complicated, and belief can play a bigger role than people like to admit.

Finally, we head to the Marshall Islands, where a concrete dome covering radioactive waste from US nuclear testing sits in the Pacific like a “temporary” fix that has to survive storms, rising seas, and time.

CHAPTER MARKERS

00:00 Science Snack Intro

00:43 Snowboarding The Hard Way

02:48 Expectations And Limits

03:16 Dantzig And The Simplex

06:02 Accidental Unsolved Problems

09:26 Never Tell Me The Odds

10:04 Missing General UFO Links

12:52 List Of Scientist Cases

16:28 Politics And FBI Probe

18:07 Conspiracy Dots And Anti Gravity

21:05 Flood The Zone Meteorology Tease

22:10 Hurricanes Go Backwards

23:02 Weather Control Conspiracies

25:02 Meteorologists Under Threat

27:47 Lessons From Misinformation

28:40 Nuclear Tests In Paradise

30:34 Inside The Runit Dome

34:20 Cracks Leaks And Sea Rise

36:57 Good Gluten News

40:19 Gluten Sensitivity Reality Check

42:35 Nocebo FODMAPs And Advice

46:16 Wrap Up And Listener Callout



SOURCES:

https://futurism.com/conspiracy-meteorologists-hurricanes

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/07/marjorie-taylor-greene-hurricane-helene

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/hurricane-milton-misinformation-meteorlogist-death-threats-1235130352/

https://futurism.com/space/fbi-investigating-deaths-disappearances-top-scientists

https://futurism.com/space/another-military-ufo-guy-died

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fbi-investigating-possible-links-between-deaths-and-disappearances-of-at-least-10-scientists/

https://www.sciencealert.com/this-infamous-radioactive-tomb-is-leaking-and-experts-are-worried

https://theconversation.com/your-gluten-sensitivity-might-be-something-else-entirely-new-study-shows-267098

A relaxing trip to Japan turns into an accidental run down a double black diamond, a mathematician solves &ldquo;impossible&rdquo; problems because nobody told him they were impossible, and missing scientists get pulled into UFO flavoured rumours. This week, Will and Rod bounce between snowboarding psychology, statistical legend, conspiracy culture, and the strange ways expectations shape what we think we can do.
We start on the slopes, where fear is sometimes just signage, then jump to George Dantzig, who solved famous unsolved statistics problems after mistaking them for homework. Same theme, different setting: not knowing the odds can be a weird kind of advantage.
Then things get darker with disappearances, military secrecy, and the internet&rsquo;s favourite genre, plus a look at the gluten conundrum and why non coeliac gluten sensitivity is still messy science. Bodies are complicated, and belief can play a bigger role than people like to admit.
Finally, we head to the Marshall Islands, where a concrete dome covering radioactive waste from US nuclear testing sits in the Pacific like a &ldquo;temporary&rdquo; fix that has to survive storms, rising seas, and time.
CHAPTER MARKERS
00:00 Science Snack Intro
00:43 Snowboarding The Hard Way
02:48 Expectations And Limits
03:16 Dantzig And The Simplex
06:02 Accidental Unsolved Problems
09:26 Never Tell Me The Odds
10:04 Missing General UFO Links
12:52 List Of Scientist Cases
16:28 Politics And FBI Probe
18:07 Conspiracy Dots And Anti Gravity
21:05 Flood The Zone Meteorology Tease
22:10 Hurricanes Go Backwards
23:02 Weather Control Conspiracies
25:02 Meteorologists Under Threat
27:47 Lessons From Misinformation
28:40 Nuclear Tests In Paradise
30:34 Inside The Runit Dome
34:20 Cracks Leaks And Sea Rise
36:57 Good Gluten News
40:19 Gluten Sensitivity Reality Check
42:35 Nocebo FODMAPs And Advice
46:16 Wrap Up And Listener Callout 
SOURCES:
<a href="https://futurism.com/conspiracy-meteorologists-hurricanes">https://futurism.com/conspiracy-meteorologists-hurricanes</a>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/07/marjorie-taylor-greene-hurricane-helene">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/07/marjorie-taylor-greene-hurricane-helene</a>
<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/hurricane-milton-misinformation-meteorlogist-death-threats-1235130352/">https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/hurricane-milton-misinformation-meteorlogist-death-threats-1235130352/</a>
<a href="https://futurism.com/space/fbi-investigating-deaths-disappearances-top-scientists">https://futurism.com/space/fbi-investigating-deaths-disappearances-top-scientists</a>
<a href="https://futurism.com/space/another-military-ufo-guy-died">https://futurism.com/space/another-military-ufo-guy-died</a>
<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fbi-investigating-possible-links-between-deaths-and-disappearances-of-at-least-10-scientists/">https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fbi-investigating-possible-links-between-deaths-and-disappearances-of-at-least-10-scientists/</a>
<a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/this-infamous-radioactive-tomb-is-leaking-and-experts-are-worried">https://www.sciencealert.com/this-infamous-radioactive-tomb-is-leaking-and-experts-are-worried</a>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/your-gluten-sensitivity-might-be-something-else-entirely-new-study-shows-267098">https://theconversation.com/your-gluten-sensitivity-might-be-something-else-entirely-new-study-shows-267098</a>

From tales of historical idiocracy and scientific genius to weird and wacky cultural phenomena, Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant are here to take you on a wild conversational journey, deep diving into the crevices of science, history and culture that you never knew existed. 

From tales of historical idiocracy and scientific genius to weird and wacky cultural phenomena, Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant are here to take you on a wild conversational journey, deep diving into the crevices of science, history and culture that you never knew existed.

Bizarre science history from academics with beers