More on how under-rated our sense of smell is – and how loss of smell can be an early indicator of COVID-19. In your DNA many of the genes associated with smell are located right next to a big bunch of genes that form your immune system. As a baseline, pre-COVID-19, about 1-5% of the general population had no sense of smell, and another 5-13% had a lessened sense of smell. But COVID-19 has bumped these percentages way up.

Smell, part 2

We see our human sense of smell as woefully inadequate compared to other animals – but awareness of our sense of smell has become more of a hot topic recently with the COVID-19 pandemic. A significant number of people who get the virus lose their sense of smell early on. It seems that a loss of smell can be a very good early sign of COVID-19 infection.

Smell, part 1

In a classic scientific 'urban myth' a physics student is asked to measure the height of a building using a barometer. In 2020 French and Italian physicists wrote a paper called 61 Ways To Measure The Height Of A Building With A Smart Phone. This opened up a bunch of extra-modern measuring methods because of the smartphone's array of internal sensory gadgets.

How to measure a building

Modern, pre-COVID, travel means it’s possible to trip around the world quite quickly. What if we had a super-advanced future rocket technology that could keep us accelerating at 1G. You could travel billions of light years - in less than a human lifetime!

Universe in a lifetime

During World War II a curious aircraft was built by the German air force. Its purpose was to combat Allied bombers, but not everything went to plan. What sounded like a ‘good idea at the time’ became, probably, the Worst Plane of World War II.

The worst plane of WW2

Why would the fossil fuel company BP promote the idea of reducing our individual 'carbon footprint'?

BP's Carbon Campaign

Climate change has begun displacing species, but just how many are on the move?

Migrating Species

What was the mysterious Carrington Event of 1859? And why did it affect telegraph systems?

Carrington Event

Is it true that our bodies would prefer the 'Paleo diet'?

Palaeolithic Dieting

What twisted trickery causes ribbons to curl?

Ribbon Curling

From the ground breaking and life saving to the wacky and implausible, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki reveals some of the best moments in science.

What's the maximum number of hot dogs someone could eat in 10 minutes?

Hot Dog Eating

Where does the world's dust come from? And how does it constantly fill up our homes!?

Dust

Are discussions about your individual 'carbon footprint' really a distraction, shifting blame onto everyday citizens?

Carbon Footprints

Would you eat a hamburger patty that was grown in a lab? What about fake meat that looks and tastes just like the real thing?

Future Hamburgers

A cuppa tea can be a life-saver - sometimes, literally!

Tea Bag Saves Space Station

Understanding thyself, and taking the middle path, can lead to a much faster and calmer parking experience

Parking, science-style

Could we really rid the world of Hepatitis C?

The a-b-c of hepatitis - part 2

Hepatitis C is one sneaky little disease, caused by an equally sneaky virus.

The a-b-c of hepatitis - part 1

Spag Bol

What is it with red food and stains? So many things!

Beetroot wee and spag bol stains

Regrowing your tail is one thing - but what if you lose more than your tail in the first place?

The 'tail' of the missing anus

I like this podcast and look forward to each new episode. Good audio quality. Fascinating host. Try it :-)

Good information in a fun format

Outstanding!

Great Moments In Science

What our brains do when we clock off for the night...

Why do we sleep?

If you're bursting to shout "Bernoulli!", think again ... Also, CONGRATULATIONS to Dr Karl from all of us at ABC Science! http://ab.co/2raH8Wj

If you're bursting to shout "Bernoulli!", think again ... Also, CONGRATULATIONS to Dr Karl from all of us at ABC Science! <a href="http://ab.co/2raH8Wj" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://ab.co/2raH8Wj</a>

How do planes really fly?

Have you ever been winded? You suddenly lose the ability to do something you've done 15 times each minute of your life. But why?

What happens when you get winded?

5G promises incredibly fast download speeds - but what about those cancer rumours?

5G hysteria is coming ...

Obesity has been on the rise since the mid-seventies. As have ultraprocessed foods. Co-inky-dink?

Ultraprocessed foods

If you're pregnant, a bloke or a beer drinker, you're a prime target for mosquitos.

Are you a mozzie magnet?

Spiderman has got nothing on geckos when it comes to sticking to walls.

Atomic gecko

The science behind our cataclysmic bushfire season

Australian bushfires - part 1

Are these bushfires really unprecedented and related to global warming?

Australian bushfires - part 2

Coffee naps

Can you be truly healthy on a diet that excludes both meat and dairy?

Is a vegan diet healthy?

If mobile phones don't cause cancer, why did two US studies show they do?

5G hysteria is coming: part 2

The truth behind NASA's 'billion dollar' space pen.

NASA's space pen

Have you heard that you shouldn't put your sharp stainless steel kitchen knives in the dishwasher because they might go blunt?

Knife in the dishwasher: part one

At last - the answer to the burning question in kitchens the world over: does the dishwasher blunt your sharp knife?

Knife in the dishwasher - part two

The best philosophy podcast episodes. Asking questions about how to live a better life, what it means to be and do good, to the idea of God. This topic includes episodes that bring about important questions that everyone should be asking themselves. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!

OwlTail

Michael Sandel explores the philosophical justifications made for national borders. Using a pioneering state-of-the-art studio at the Harvard Business School, Professor Sandel is joined by 60 participants from over 30 countries in a truly global digital space. Is there any moral distinction between a political refugee and an economic migrant? If people have the right to exit a country, why not a right to enter? Do nations have the right to protect the affluence of their citizens? And is there such a thing as a 'national identity'? These are just some of the questions addressed by Professor Sandel in this first edition of The Global Philosopher.Audience producer: Louise ColettaProducer: David EdmondsEditor: Richard Knight(Image taken by Rose Lincoln)

The Public Philosopher

Michael Sandel explores the philosophical justifications made for national borders. Using a pioneering state-of-the-art studio at the Harvard Business School, Professor Sandel is joined by 60 participants from over 30 countries in a truly global digital space. Is there any moral distinction between a political refugee and an economic migrant? If people have the right to exit a country, why not a right to enter? Do nations have the right to protect the affluence of their citizens? And is there such a thing as a 'national identity'? These are just some of the questions addressed by Professor Sandel in this first edition of The Global Philosopher. Audience producer: Louise Coletta Producer: David Edmonds Editor: Richard Knight (Image taken by Rose Lincoln)

The Global Philosopher: Should Borders Matter?

In this episode of the Making Sense podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Yuval Noah Harari about his new book “21 Lessons for the 21st Century.” They discuss the importance of meditation for his intellectual life, the primacy of stories, the need to revise our fundamental assumptions about human civilization, the threats to liberal democracy, a world without work, universal basic income, the virtues of nationalism, the implications of AI and automation, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to continue listening and gain access to all content on samharris.org/subscribe.

Making Sense with Sam Harris

In this episode of the Making Sense podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Yuval Noah Harari about his new book “21 Lessons for the 21st Century.” They discuss the importance of meditation for his intellectual life, the primacy of stories, the need to revise our fundamental assumptions about human civilization, the threats to liberal democracy, a world without work, universal basic income, the virtues of nationalism, the implications of AI and automation, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to continue listening and gain access to all content on <a href="https://samharris.org/subscribe/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">samharris.org/subscribe</a>.

#138 — The Edge of Humanity

Best Episodes on Practical Philosophy & How To Live

What is this?
1 quote, 3 ideas & 1 question from a carefully curated podcast episode.
Every Monday & Wednesday.

Want a 3rd insight and episode every week? Email me at curation@owltail.com.

How our mind explains things:[topic-start]
“The way that the mind works, very frequently, is that we start from a decision, or we start from a belief, and then the stories that explain it come to our mind. Conclusions come first, and rationalizations come later.”[topic-end]
How we come to believe things:[topic-start]
"The real cause of your belief in a political position, the real causes are rooted in your personal history. They’re rooted in who are the people that you trusted and what they seemed to believe in, and it has very little to do with the reasons that come to your mind, why your position is correct and the position of the other side is nonsensical."[topic-end]
Who is Daniel Kahneman:[topic-start]
Nobel prize winning psychologist and economist who helped created the field of behavioural economics.

The Nobel Prize-winning psychologist on why we think and act the way we do — and why facts matter less than we think in forming our beliefs.
With his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman emerged as one of the most intriguing voices on the complexity of human thought and behavior. He is a psychologist who won the Nobel Prize in economics for helping to create the field of behavioral economics — and is a self-described “constant worrier.” It’s fun, helpful, and more than a little unnerving to apply his insights into why we think and act the way we do in this moment of social and political tumult.
Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.

On Being with Krista Tippett

Daniel Kahneman — Why We Contradict Ourselves and Confound Each Other

Real scenarios of a hospital during a war:[topic-start]
“... we were hand squeezing his ventilator as we ran out of oxygen" and when we finally found the physician to get more oxygen, he said "We don't have any oxygen left, you're going to have to let him go"[topic-end]
Who is Sheri Fink:[topic-start]
An investigative journalist who won the Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of Memorial Hospital (the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina).

Sheri Fink on the tragedy of being forced to choose who's life to save

When people are dying and you can only save some, how do you choose? Maybe you save the youngest. Or the sickest. Maybe you even just put all the names in a hat and pick at random. Would your answer change if a sick person was standing right in front of you? In this episode, we follow New York Times reporter Sheri Fink as she searches for the answer. In a warzone, a hurricane, a church basement, and an earthquake, the question remains the same. What happens, what should happen, when humans are forced to play god? Produced by Simon Adler and Annie McEwen. Reported by Sheri Fink.  In the book that inspired this episode you can find more about what transpired at Memorial Hospital during Hurricane Katrina, Sheri Fink’s exhaustively reported Five Days at Memorial You can find more about the work going on in Maryland at: www.nytimes.com/triage Very special thanks to Lilly Sullivan.  Special thanks also to: Pat Walters and Jim McCutcheon and Todd Menesses from WWL in New Orleans, the researchers for the allocation of scarce resources project in Maryland - Dr. Lee Daugherty Biddison from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Howie Gwon from the Johns Hopkins Medicine Office of Emergency Management, Alan Regenberg of the Berman Institute of Bioethics and Dr. Eric Toner of the UPMC Center for Health Security.  Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.    

Radiolab

When people are dying and you can only save some, how do you choose? Maybe you save the youngest. Or the sickest. Maybe you even just put all the names in a hat and pick at random. Would your answer change if a sick person was standing right in front of you? In this episode, we follow New York Times reporter Sheri Fink as she searches for the answer. In a warzone, a hurricane, a church basement, and an earthquake, the question remains the same. What happens, what should happen, when humans are forced to play god? Produced by Simon Adler and Annie McEwen. Reported by Sheri Fink.  In the book that inspired this episode you can find more about what transpired at Memorial Hospital during Hurricane Katrina, <a href="http://www.sherifink.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sheri Fink’s</a> exhaustively reported <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Five-Days-Memorial-Storm-Ravaged-Hospital/dp/0307718972/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1471783956&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=five+days+at+memorial" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Five Days at Memorial</a> You can find more about the work going on in Maryland at: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/triage" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.nytimes.com/triage</a> Very special thanks to Lilly Sullivan.  Special thanks also to: Pat Walters and Jim McCutcheon and Todd Menesses from WWL in New Orleans, the researchers for the allocation of scarce resources project in Maryland - Dr. Lee Daugherty Biddison from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Howie Gwon from the Johns Hopkins Medicine Office of Emergency Management, Alan Regenberg of the Berman Institute of Bioethics and Dr. Eric Toner of the UPMC Center for Health Security. Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at <a href="https://pledge3.wnyc.org/donate/radiolab-it/onestep/?utm_source=wnyc&amp;utm_medium=radiolab-redirect&amp;utm_campaign=pledge&amp;utm_content=show-notes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Radiolab.org/donate</a>.

Great Moments In Science

Weekly hand curated podcast episodes for learning