Many of us use artificial intelligence for help with research, work, or creative projects. But some people are getting a LOT more personal with their AI chatbots. We’re hearing stories of people treating their chatbot like a friend, or something more than a friend — with some people saying they’ve even fallen in love with their chatbot. And then there are stories of things taking a scary turn, with people’s mental health spiraling out of control after talking to these bots. So, what should we make of AI companions? Is it risky to spend a lot of time talking to an AI bot? We ask AI researcher Dr. Julian de Freitas and psychiatrist Dr. Keith Sakata. 

This episode does mention mental health issues and suicide. Here are some crisis hotlines: 

United States: US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Dial 988 (Online chat available); US Crisis Text Line Text “HOME” to 741741

Australia: Lifeline 13 11 14 (Online chat available)

Canada: Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention (See link for phone numbers listed by province)

United Kingdom: Samaritans 116 123 (UK and ROI)

Full list of international hotlines here 

Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsAiCompanions 

Chapters:

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) What’s it like to fall in love with a chatbot?

(06:59) Do chatbots help people feel less lonely?

(21:19) Chatbots during a crisis

(28:43) Red flags to watch out for

(33:17) How dangerous are they?

This episode was produced by Rose Rimler, with help from Blythe Terrell, Meryl Horn, and Michelle Dang. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Diane Kelly. Mix and sound design by Bumi Hidaka. Music written by Emma Munger, So Wylie, Peter Leonard, Bumi Hidaka and Bobby Lord. Thanks to all the researchers we reached out to, including Cathy Fang, Dr.  Linnea Laestadius, Dr. Sophia Choukas Bradley, and Prof. Stefano Puntoni. Special thanks also to Jeevika Verma. 

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for new episode notifications.

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Lots of us feel like our memories are garbage — like we’d forget our pants if they weren’t on our legs. But what if the science told us that forgetting stuff is totally normal? We dig into the weird science of why our memories work the way they do. And if we DO want better retention in our brain box, are there science-approved ways to boost our memories? We talk to cognitive neuroscientist Prof. Charan Ranganath, neuroscientist Prof. Loren Frank, and psychologist Prof. Jan Born.

Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsMemory 

Check out Charan Ranganath’s book, Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory’s Power to Hold On To What Matters: https://charanranganath.com/book/ 

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Our crappy memories

(03:50) Forgetting is the default

(08:49) Event boundaries and how to get around them

(13:30) To remember more, up the stakes

(18:33) Can supplements or crosswords boost our memory?

(24:00) How sleep can enhance our memory

(28:48) “Downtime” as a memory hack

This episode was produced by Meryl Horn, with help from Wendy Zukerman, Rose Rimler, Michelle Dang, and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Mix and sound design by Bumi Hidaka. Fact checking by Sam Lemonick. Music written by Bumi Hidaka, Bobby Lord, and Emma Munger. Thanks to all the researchers we spoke to for this episode, including Professor Bruce Miller, Dr. Christopher Madan, Professor Joel Kramer, Professor Marc Roig, Professor Sarah Raskin, and Professor Steven DeKosky. 

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications.

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We’re back, baby. In a world where we’re being swarmed by misinformation and it feels like science is under threat, we’ve got you. Science Vs is kicking off with all new episodes full of actual scientific research done by actual scientists. We’re bringing you the science on sugar — is it really a poison? Should you switch to honey? We’ll look into AI “girlfriends” and ask: How problematic is it that people are spending their days with AI chatbots? Plus episodes on how to improve our memory, how worried we should be about forever chemicals, the science of the full moon, the idea of pronatalism and much MUCH more. New Science Vs eps will be in your feeds Sept. 4.

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Autism rates are rising all over the world, and lots of people are wondering: why? In the U.S., HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said the cause is an "environmental toxin" and has vowed to get to the bottom of it. But we already have lots of science on this — so what does that research tell us? We talk with epidemiologist Professor Brian Lee, Associate Professor Karen Heffler, clinical psychologist Professor Catherine Lord, epidemiologist Professor Maureen Durkin, and Senior Science Researcher Dena Gassner.

We want to hear your ideas for new episodes of Science Vs! Tell us via:

Instagram at science_vs

Bluesky at sciencevs

X at @sciencevs 

Email at [email protected]

Voicemail at +1(774) 481-1238‬ 

Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsAutism 

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Rates of autism are going up

(03:33) The hunt for the cause of the ‘autism epidemic’

(13:43) Could screen time be causing autism?

(20:10) The changing definition of autism

(27:48) Could this explain the rise in autism?

This episode was produced by Meryl Horn, with help from Wendy Zukerman, Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, Michelle Dang, and Rose Rimler. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking, research assistance, and consulting by Erica Akiko Howard. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Emma Munger, So Wylie, Peter Leonard, Bumi Hidaka and Bobby Lord. A special thanks to the researchers we reached out to, including Professor Karen Pierce, Professor David Mandell, Professor Deborah Bilder, Professor Frédérique Bonnet-Brilhault, Dr. Helen Tager-Flusburg, Dr. Isabella de la Lara, Katherine Byrne, Professor Sven Bölte, and Dr. Whitney Worsham. Special thanks also to Lynn Keeys and Mbella Beseka, Chris Suter, Elise and Dylan, Jack Weinstein and Hunter, and Joseph Lavelle Wilson and the Zukerman Family.

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. 

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A lot of influencers are going on all-meat diets, saying that all this meat is clearing up inflammation, healing their guts, and sharpening their focus. But others say, hold up — this diet is sure to lead to heart disease, cancer, and even scurvy. So we’re asking: Is it possible to live on meat alone? Is there any benefit to the carnivore diet? And what are the risks? We talk to nutritionist Prof. Caryn Zinn and internist Dr. Adrian Soto-Mota. 

Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsCarnivore 

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Carnivores Bring the Meat

(04:28) They’re Gonna Get Scurvy, Right?

(13:09) Fiber? Cholesterol? Heart Disease? Cancer?

(20:11) A Miracle Diet?

(22:31) Are Plants the Enemy?

(25:57) Is it Just Keto?

(27:50) Weight Loss

(28:50) Should You Go Carnivore?

This episode was produced by Rose Rimler, with help from Wendy Zukerman, Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, Michelle Dang, and Meryl Horn. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Erica Akiko Howard. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Emma Munger, So Wylie, Peter Leonard, Bumi Hidaka and Bobby Lord. A special thanks to the researchers we reached out to including Dr. Lawrence David, Dr. Andrija Karačić and others. 

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications.

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Fitness buffs online can’t stop raving about creatine. They say it is THE supplement to get you shredded in no time — and that it can even boost your brain and memory too. Are they right? We dive into the science of creatine and talk to anatomy Professor Darryn Willoughby, physicist Dr. Ali Gordji-Nejad, and psychology researcher Julia Fabienne Sandkühler.

Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsCreatine

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) The hype around creatine

(02:40) How creatine builds muscle

(08:41) Are the gains all muscle? 

(17:23) Does creatine help with sleep deprivation? 

(22:10) Does creatine boost cognition?

(27:05) Is creatine safe?

This episode was produced by Michelle Dang, with help from Wendy Zukerman, Meryl Horn, Rose Rimler, and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Marlowe Starling. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Emma Munger, So Wylie, Peter Leonard, Bumi Hidaka and Bobby Lord. A special thanks to the researchers we reached out to, including Dr. Imtiaz Desai and Prof. Phil Chilibeck. Thanks to Larry Lee and Lee Physical Therapy & Wellness.

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. 

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This year there was huge news when scientists at the company called Collosal brought back the dire wolf! Some say these cute, white pups are not really dire wolves, but that didn't stop a huge media buzz. One of the wolves even made the cover of TIME Magazine … with the line "He's a dire wolf. The first to exist in 10,000 years. Endangered species could be changed forever." 

So, what exactly is going on here? Who is this company? And, is this a good idea or could it have dire consequences??  

This story comes to us from our friends at Vox's Today, Explained.

Transcript: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsTodayExplainedDireWolves 

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Meet the pups

(02:06) Did we really bring back the dire wolf?

(14:34) Should we be doing this? 

This episode was produced by Devan Schwartz, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Andrea Kristinsdottir and Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.

Follow Science Vs on Spotify, and if you wanna receive notifications every time we put out a new episode, tap the bell icon!

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Strange things have been happening to science in the US. An executive order is freezing research, a website with once scientific information now looks kinda like it's advertising a reality show … even milkshakes have been caught in the fray. Milkshakes! On top of this, research projects studying everything from vaccine hesitancy to Covid-19 to climate change have been cut. The Trump administration says that a big reason for the cuts is to stop government waste and boost the economy. Today on the show: What is going on with science in the US right now, and will these cuts ultimately help the economy? To find out, we talk to Nature reporter Max Kozlov, virologist Dr. Seema Lakdawala and economist Professor Andrew Fieldhouse. 

Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsWarKeepsRaging

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) A Science Milkshake Up

(08:04) Research on the Chopping Block

(12:15) How the NIH Justifies Cuts

(15:11) 25 million lives on the line

(16:48) When Nerds Fight Back

(24:46) ‘Dangerous’ Gain-of-Function Research Frozen

(27:27 ) Does Science Boost the Economy?

(36:05) Losing a Science Superpower?

This episode was produced by Wendy Zukerman, with help from Meryl Horn, Rose Rimler, Michelle Dang and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact Checking by Sam Lemonick. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Emma Munger, Bumi Hidaka, Peter Leonard, So Wiley and Bobby Lord. Thanks to Maya Golden-Krasner, Deputy Director at the Climate Law Institute at the Center for Biological Diversity – who you heard at the beginning of the show, saying this is just a daily stream of nightmare news, and also thank you Dr Shaye Wolf. Special thanks to Lindsey Cherner and Whitney Potter.

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Bird flu has been in the headlines for ages, with scientists warning that we could be headed for a pandemic. But we’ve been hearing about this H5N1 virus for so long that it’s kind of starting to feel like the boy who cried wolf. So — what’s really going on with H5N1 bird flu? How scary is it, and how likely is it that we’re going to end up in a bird flu pandemic? We talk to virologists Dr. Seema Lakdawala and Dr. Richard Webby. 

Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsBirdFlu 

(00:00) Tons of people are freaked out about H5N1 bird flu

(03:38) Why H5N1 bird flu is scary

(05:01) Birds are falling out of the sky dead

(07:32) Things get weird when bird flu gets into mammals

(18:34) What happens when humans start getting this bird flu

(23:26) Is bird flu mutating?

(29:11) Should I worry about bird flu?

(30:50) Do we have anything to fight bird flu?

(32:14) We have had some silent cases of bird flu already

This episode was produced by Blythe Terrell, with help from Wendy Zukerman, Michelle Dang, Rose Rimler, Meryl Horn and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell with help from Wendy Zukerman. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord and Sam Bair. Fact checking by Erica Akiko Howard. Music written by Bumi Hidaka, Peter Leonard, Emma Munger, So Wylie, and Bobby Lord. Thanks so much to all the researchers we spoke to for this episode, including Dr. Louise Moncla, Dr. Ted Elsasser, Dr. John Korslund, Victoria Rosado and Lindsey Adams. Thanks to Jeff DelViscio.

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications.

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Headlines are screaming that we have tons of microplastics in our brains — the equivalent of an entire plastic spoon. OK, that sounds terrifying, but is it true? We talk to chemist Prof. Oliver Jones. 

Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/PlasticSpoonBrain 

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) A plastic spoon’s worth of microplastics?!

(05:21) Something dodgy here?

(17:39) So how much plastic is in our bodies, really?

This episode was produced by Rose Rimler, with help from Wendy Zukerman, along with Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, Meryl Horn, and Michelle Dang. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Fact checking by San Lemonick. Music written by Peter Leonard, Emma Munger, So Wylie, Bumi Hidaka, and Bobby Lord. Thanks to all the researchers we spoke to for this episode, including Dr. Roger Kuhlman, Prof. Martin Wagner, Dr. Elke Fischer, Dr. Marie-France Dignac, and Rachel Kozloski. 

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications.

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