From environmental impacts of AI politeness to the linguistic mysteries of snow, today's science roundup may leave you with more questions than answers, and that’s the way we like it. We're exploring a world where being nice to robots could harm the planet, scientists gave elephants LSD (yes, really), and Australian’s get creative with their election day propaganda. 

Got thoughts? Wild theories? Stories about other elephants on acid? (Please don't actually give elephants acid.) Drop us a line at cheers@alittlebitofscience.com.au. 

Stay curious, stay weird, and maybe ease up on the pleases and thank yous to your robot friends!

 

Sources:

Tool We Mentioned: https://charleskemp.com/code/lexicalelaboration_conversation.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/technology/chatgpt-alexa-please-thank-you.html

https://futurism.com/altman-please-thanks-chatgpt

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010027724002233

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2417304122

http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~gpullum/EskimoHoax.pdf

https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-science-behind-cocaine-bear-and-other-inebriated-animals

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/feb/26/research.science

https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/declassified-cold-warera-cia-files-detail-soviet-clash-with-aliens-who-witnesses-say-turned-soldiers-to-stone/news-story/e8ced6d1fdca4df3454e79049533f8f8

https://futurism.com/altman-please-thanks-chatgpt?utm_term=Futurism%20//%2004.21.25&utm_campaign=Futurism_Actives_Newsletter&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email

From environmental impacts of AI politeness to the linguistic mysteries of snow, today's science roundup may leave you with more questions than answers, and that&rsquo;s the way we like it. We're exploring a world where being nice to robots could harm the planet, scientists gave elephants LSD (yes, really), and Australian&rsquo;s get creative with their election day propaganda.&nbsp;
Got thoughts? Wild theories? Stories about other elephants on acid? (Please don't actually give elephants acid.) Drop us a line at cheers@alittlebitofscience.com.au.&nbsp;
Stay curious, stay weird, and maybe ease up on the pleases and thank yous to your robot friends!
&nbsp;
Sources:
Tool We Mentioned:&nbsp;<a href="https://charleskemp.com/code/lexicalelaboration_conversation.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://charleskemp.com/code/lexicalelaboration_conversation.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1746486586369000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2tvkMaYxQ30_IXwHfxpZrk">https://charleskemp.com/code/lexicalelaboration_conversation.html</a>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/technology/chatgpt-alexa-please-thank-you.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/technology/chatgpt-alexa-please-thank-you.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1746486586369000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1e9cuy2pAb4C-pIoYjHZ9f">https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/technology/chatgpt-alexa-please-thank-you.html</a>
<a href="https://futurism.com/altman-please-thanks-chatgpt" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://futurism.com/altman-please-thanks-chatgpt&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1746486586369000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0BG5Uav7Gtvk0m3vlzngX5">https://futurism.com/altman-please-thanks-chatgpt</a>
<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010027724002233" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010027724002233&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1746486586369000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2T6mMDyrUnVmA4gLrTbfnk">https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010027724002233</a>
<a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2417304122" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2417304122&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1746486586369000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1LP8VI5VreP-hFJMsbBla8">https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2417304122</a>
<a href="http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~gpullum/EskimoHoax.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~gpullum/EskimoHoax.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1746486586369000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3j-kSYjG405ywV5_anq9Sx">http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~gpullum/EskimoHoax.pdf</a>
<a href="https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-science-behind-cocaine-bear-and-other-inebriated-animals" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-science-behind-cocaine-bear-and-other-inebriated-animals&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1746334226099000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3Gbhjh238mtKiTY1W0I1iO">https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-science-behind-cocaine-bear-and-other-inebriated-animals</a>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/feb/26/research.science" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/feb/26/research.science&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1746334226099000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1EUm8z8VPw0nNKnPF_PR87">https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/feb/26/research.science</a>
<a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/declassified-cold-warera-cia-files-detail-soviet-clash-with-aliens-who-witnesses-say-turned-soldiers-to-stone/news-story/e8ced6d1fdca4df3454e79049533f8f8" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/declassified-cold-warera-cia-files-detail-soviet-clash-with-aliens-who-witnesses-say-turned-soldiers-to-stone/news-story/e8ced6d1fdca4df3454e79049533f8f8&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1746334226099000&amp;usg=AOvVaw28d7YSdr7kaklQfbMIaMuE">https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/declassified-cold-warera-cia-files-detail-soviet-clash-with-aliens-who-witnesses-say-turned-soldiers-to-stone/news-story/e8ced6d1fdca4df3454e79049533f8f8</a>
<a href="https://futurism.com/altman-please-thanks-chatgpt?utm_term=Futurism%20//%2004.21.25&amp;utm_campaign=Futurism_Actives_Newsletter&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://futurism.com/altman-please-thanks-chatgpt?utm_term%3DFuturism%2520//%252004.21.25%26utm_campaign%3DFuturism_Actives_Newsletter%26utm_source%3DSailthru%26utm_medium%3Demail&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1746334226099000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1Mk9t4s51__FuN5CW0cR3d">https://futurism.com/altman-please-thanks-chatgpt?utm_term=Futurism%20//%2004.21.25&amp;utm_campaign=Futurism_Actives_Newsletter&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email</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

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