This week’s episode is a reminder that science isn’t just lab coats and breakthroughs. It’s also weird human behaviour, messy systems, and the occasional moment where you realise an entire industry is making bank off… a PDF. We’re talking academic publishing as a toll road, Rapunzel Syndrome turning a fairy tale into a medical emergency, and what babies seem to expect from the world before they can even talk.

First up, academic publishing. Scientists do the research, reviewers do the reviewing, universities pay for the work, and publishers still charge huge fees to publish or read it, with big players pulling in massive sums through processing charges. The kicker is that a lot of it is publicly funded, so taxpayers often pay for the research and then pay again to access it.

Then we get into the human side of things, from compulsive hair eating that can become life-threatening (Rapunzel Syndrome), to experiments suggesting babies expect comfort when they cry and show stress when they don’t get it. We also touch on out-of-body experiences that don’t perform better than chance in controlled tests, and the messy reality of psychiatric diagnosis, where rigid labels don’t always match real lives.

 

CHAPTER MARKERS:

00:00 Intro

00:41 Publishing Paywall Racket

03:47 Rapunzel Syndrome Explained

09:15 Babies Expect Comfort

12:59 Out of Body Claims

16:33 Tennis Shoe Case Debunked

18:43 The Astral Lab

21:18 AI Scoring Fails

25:12 Psych Diagnosis Reliability

28:48 Why Categories Break

33:10 Rethinking Mental Health Boxes

 

SOURCES:
https://bsky.app/profile/eschares.bsky.social/post/3mueyi6xb322h
https://www.sciencealert.com/extremely-rare-rapunzel-syndrome-can-cause-a-hairball-so-large-it-requires-surgery
https://www.swinburne.edu.au/news/2016/10/what-is-rapunzel-syndrome-and-why-do-some-people-eat-hair/
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-89047-001?doi=1
https://www.sciencealert.com/experiment-tested-out-of-body-experiences-two-reported-seeing-things-scientists-cant-explain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out-of-body_experience
https://www.futurity.org/psychiatrists-agreement-diagnosis-3344852/

This week&rsquo;s episode is a reminder that science isn&rsquo;t just lab coats and breakthroughs. It&rsquo;s also weird human behaviour, messy systems, and the occasional moment where you realise an entire industry is making bank off&hellip; a PDF. We&rsquo;re talking academic publishing as a toll road, Rapunzel Syndrome turning a fairy tale into a medical emergency, and what babies seem to expect from the world before they can even talk.
First up, academic publishing. Scientists do the research, reviewers do the reviewing, universities pay for the work, and publishers still charge huge fees to publish or read it, with big players pulling in massive sums through processing charges. The kicker is that a lot of it is publicly funded, so taxpayers often pay for the research and then pay again to access it.
Then we get into the human side of things, from compulsive hair eating that can become life-threatening (Rapunzel Syndrome), to experiments suggesting babies expect comfort when they cry and show stress when they don&rsquo;t get it. We also touch on out-of-body experiences that don&rsquo;t perform better than chance in controlled tests, and the messy reality of psychiatric diagnosis, where rigid labels don&rsquo;t always match real lives.
&nbsp;
CHAPTER MARKERS:
00:00 Intro
00:41 Publishing Paywall Racket
03:47 Rapunzel Syndrome Explained
09:15 Babies Expect Comfort
12:59 Out of Body Claims
16:33 Tennis Shoe Case Debunked
18:43 The Astral Lab
21:18 AI Scoring Fails
25:12 Psych Diagnosis Reliability
28:48 Why Categories Break
33:10 Rethinking Mental Health Boxes
&nbsp;
SOURCES:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/eschares.bsky.social/post/3mueyi6xb322h">https://bsky.app/profile/eschares.bsky.social/post/3mueyi6xb322h</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/extremely-rare-rapunzel-syndrome-can-cause-a-hairball-so-large-it-requires-surgery">https://www.sciencealert.com/extremely-rare-rapunzel-syndrome-can-cause-a-hairball-so-large-it-requires-surgery</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.swinburne.edu.au/news/2016/10/what-is-rapunzel-syndrome-and-why-do-some-people-eat-hair/">https://www.swinburne.edu.au/news/2016/10/what-is-rapunzel-syndrome-and-why-do-some-people-eat-hair/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-89047-001?doi=1">https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-89047-001?doi=1</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/experiment-tested-out-of-body-experiences-two-reported-seeing-things-scientists-cant-explain">https://www.sciencealert.com/experiment-tested-out-of-body-experiences-two-reported-seeing-things-scientists-cant-explain</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out-of-body_experience">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out-of-body_experience</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.futurity.org/psychiatrists-agreement-diagnosis-3344852/">https://www.futurity.org/psychiatrists-agreement-diagnosis-3344852/</a></li>
</ul>

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