Breaking Bad looks a little more plausible than you would hope, the chainsaw has a deeply unsettling medical origin story, and people are now asking whether AI can guide them through a psychedelic trip. This week, we bounce between crime, childbirth, and chatbot consciousness, which is not a sentence anyone should have to write, but here we are.

We start with the so-called Breaking Bad effect, looking at research from Denmark suggesting that a life-changing diagnosis like cancer can increase the likelihood of criminal behaviour. When people feel like time is running out, the usual rules can start to look a lot less solid, which makes Walter White feel slightly less fictional than anyone would like.

Then we head into the darkest corner of medical history, where the chainsaw turns out to have been invented for childbirth. Long before it became a tool for cutting timber or starring in horror films, it was used in procedures designed to make difficult deliveries possible. It is grim, fascinating, and a very effective way to make modern medicine look fantastic.

Finally, we look at the strange idea of AI as a psychedelic trip sitter. While a chatbot might be able to offer calm prompts and simulated reassurance, it still has one major limitation. It has never had a body, never been high, and never experienced consciousness the way humans do. Like, subscribe, and tell us which weird science story we should chase next.

 

00:00 Breaking Bad Setup

01:10 Science Show Preview

02:03 Danish Cancer Crime Study

04:36 Why Crime Increases

06:23 Shorter Survival More Crime

07:44 Chainsaw Origins Quiz

09:16 Childbirth Before Modern Medicine

14:09 First Medical Chainsaws

16:00 From Obstetrics to Amputations

18:21 Portable Chainsaws Arrive

20:05 Time Travel Tradeoffs

20:40 Contact Lens Horror Story

24:31 AI Trip Sitters

27:44 Can AI Get High

28:57 LLMs Simulating Psychedelics

33:06 Brain Cells Play Doom

38:07 Mailbag Strandbeests Gelatin

41:10 Wrap Up And Ratings

 

SOURCES:

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-40630852

https://www-bmj-com.virtual.anu.edu.au/content/358/bmj.j2783

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1633599/full?ref=404media.co

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-breaking-bad-effect-from-cancer-is-real-study-finds\

https://www.iflscience.com/can-artificial-intelligence-get-high-and-why-are-scientists-even-trying-82560

https://futurism.com/ai-therapy-psychedelic-trip-sitter

https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-8682370/v1

https://erowid.org/experiences/exp_info3.shtml

https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/why-were-chainsaws-invented.htm

Breaking Bad looks a little more plausible than you would hope, the chainsaw has a deeply unsettling medical origin story, and people are now asking whether AI can guide them through a psychedelic trip. This week, we bounce between crime, childbirth, and chatbot consciousness, which is not a sentence anyone should have to write, but here we are.
We start with the so-called Breaking Bad effect, looking at research from Denmark suggesting that a life-changing diagnosis like cancer can increase the likelihood of criminal behaviour. When people feel like time is running out, the usual rules can start to look a lot less solid, which makes Walter White feel slightly less fictional than anyone would like.
Then we head into the darkest corner of medical history, where the chainsaw turns out to have been invented for childbirth. Long before it became a tool for cutting timber or starring in horror films, it was used in procedures designed to make difficult deliveries possible. It is grim, fascinating, and a very effective way to make modern medicine look fantastic.
Finally, we look at the strange idea of AI as a psychedelic trip sitter. While a chatbot might be able to offer calm prompts and simulated reassurance, it still has one major limitation. It has never had a body, never been high, and never experienced consciousness the way humans do. Like, subscribe, and tell us which weird science story we should chase next.
&nbsp;
00:00 Breaking Bad Setup
01:10 Science Show Preview
02:03 Danish Cancer Crime Study
04:36 Why Crime Increases
06:23 Shorter Survival More Crime
07:44 Chainsaw Origins Quiz
09:16 Childbirth Before Modern Medicine
14:09 First Medical Chainsaws
16:00 From Obstetrics to Amputations
18:21 Portable Chainsaws Arrive
20:05 Time Travel Tradeoffs
20:40 Contact Lens Horror Story
24:31 AI Trip Sitters
27:44 Can AI Get High
28:57 LLMs Simulating Psychedelics
33:06 Brain Cells Play Doom
38:07 Mailbag Strandbeests Gelatin
41:10 Wrap Up And Ratings
&nbsp;
SOURCES:
<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/health-40630852">https://www.bbc.com/news/health-40630852</a>
<a href="https://www-bmj-com.virtual.anu.edu.au/content/358/bmj.j2783">https://www-bmj-com.virtual.anu.edu.au/content/358/bmj.j2783</a>
<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1633599/full?ref=404media.co">https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1633599/full?ref=404media.co</a>
<a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/the-breaking-bad-effect-from-cancer-is-real-study-finds%5C">https://www.sciencealert.com/the-breaking-bad-effect-from-cancer-is-real-study-finds\</a>
<a href="https://www.iflscience.com/can-artificial-intelligence-get-high-and-why-are-scientists-even-trying-82560">https://www.iflscience.com/can-artificial-intelligence-get-high-and-why-are-scientists-even-trying-82560</a>
<a href="https://futurism.com/ai-therapy-psychedelic-trip-sitter">https://futurism.com/ai-therapy-psychedelic-trip-sitter</a>
<a href="https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-8682370/v1">https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-8682370/v1</a>
<a href="https://erowid.org/experiences/exp_info3.shtml">https://erowid.org/experiences/exp_info3.shtml</a>
<a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/why-were-chainsaws-invented.htm">https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/why-were-chainsaws-invented.htm</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