Better Than Human

It is believed that the first Unicorn image was recorded by the Indus Valley Civilization on the Unicorn Seal found at the archaeological site Mohenjo-daro, but it was the Greeks that popularized the creature. Greeks did not think that Unicorns were myths, they recorded them in their history books. Then they became popular during the middle ages, due to a poor translation of the bible, and from the rediscovery of Greek writings. But how did they go from a symbol of religion in the Middle Ages to our modern pop culture icon? And how did they become so ingrained in our culture? Learn more in this week's episode of Better Than Human. 

Note: Jennifer meant Plato not Aristotle at the beginning of the episode, and Amber was right, it was Robot Chicken. (Amber is always right ;p)

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In this week's current events, we talk the landmark Supreme Court case which ruled LGBTQ workers are protected from job discrimination. About time. 

Then we delved right back into our two part series on the Glorification of Stupidity. This week we want to explore how stupidity became so popular in our modern day culture. 

Does it start with Paul the Apostle, a man who never met Jesus, and yet wrote 13 out of 27 books of the New Testament and influenced a lot of the dogma surrounding the early church. . We discuss the evidence of his views on learning, philosophy, and how this has affected the world we live in now. 

Does education lead to less 'stupid' people? We think it does, so why are we constantly de-funding schools? Is it because dumb people are easier to control? Are the people controlling where our tax money goes trying to keep us uneducated?  Maybe, but we don't know. What we do know is we need a change in mentality in our county to value education and logical thinking, and to de-value stupidity.  

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In this week's episode of Better Than Human, Amber shares some positive experiences of her day, and can't we all use some positivity these days. 

We talk about the Milgram experiments which showed that ordinary people are likely to follow orders given by an authority figure, or did it? Does absolute power corrupt? Probably.  Should we let it? No.

That leads to our topic this week, the Glorification of Stupidity. 

Why do praise stupid people? (Think reality TV shows). 

First we have to decide what we mean by stupidity? Is it someone lacking intelligent, or it it someone who refuses to listen to reason and facts? When someone is presented with facts and refuses to believe those facts? And, why do we always underestimate the amount and power of stupidity? Why do we let them bring our culture down?

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First, a moment of silence for George Floyd and all the other Black lives lost to police brutality, racial injustice, and white supremacy. We need to stay angry, make change, and vote for people who will hold these murderers accountable. It is important that we do not forget.

Better Than Human stands in solidarity with the Black community and the protesters who are challenging systemic racism and inequality. If you are as outraged by racism as we are, but not sure how to help, these are some good places to donate to:
 
ACLU: https://action.aclu.org/give/now
George Floyd Memorial Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd
Justice For Breonna Taylor: https://justiceforbreonna.org/
Run With Maud: https://www.runwithmaud.com/
Campaign Zero: https://www.joincampaignzero.org/#vis...
The Bail Project: https://bailproject.org/
Bail Funds For Protesters By City/State: https://www.communityjusticeexchange
#BlackLivesMatter

Then onto Turritopsis dohrnii, the Immortal Jellyfish. Is it really immortal? Depends on your definition of immortal. Jennifer and Amber argue their definitions, and just like the ketchup on eggs argument, cannot agree. Most jellyfish species have a fixed life-span, which varies by species from hours to months. Turritopsis dohrnii is the only jellyfish known to have developed the ability to return to its infant from, and then start it's life over again indefinitely through transdifferentiation.  Listen and learn about this interesting species, and it's implications for science. 

Note: Jellyfish ARE animals (says Jennifer), and the movie talked about near the end of the episode is "In Time."

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Hemp, what is it good for? Apparently, absolutely everything. Except getting high, it cannot get you high, so don't smoke it.

This week, we have a special guest Moxie, from the Your Brain on Facts Podcast. Find her awesome website here: http://yourbrainonfacts.com/

Did you know George Washington grew hemp, and that hemp used to be on the 10 dollar bill? Hemp can be used to make the follow commercial items: paper, textiles, clothing, biodegradable plastics, paint, insulation, biofuel, food, and animal feed. It can also be used for water, soil purification, and weed control. So why has it been illegal so long, in so many places? Simple answer, human greed and stupidity.

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Welcome back to Better Than Human, the Podcast. In this week's episodes, Jennifer recalls the harrowing tale of the time she fell off a horse.  Humorous anecdote, or is it related to this week's topic?

Speaking of our topic this week, it's the Caspian horse. Once prized by monarchs of the Persian empire, the Caspian were thought extinct until re-discovered by Louise Firouz in 1965 in Iran. Lost in time for centuries, the Caspian is believed to be the oldest domesticated horse species in the world and could have been lost to us again if not for the dedicated work of Firouz. 

Put on your weird hats, and get ready for another riveting episode. 

Note: Jennifer was 13 years off on the discover of the structure of DNA it was discovered in 1953, but was right that the first genetic tests for horses became available in the 1990s.

Link to the article Amber was talking about :
https://www.deccanherald.com/science-and-environment/coronavirus-even-animals-may-resort-to-physical-distancing-to-prevent-microbes-says-study-836263.html

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Welcome back to Better Than Human, the Podcast, this week Amber's weird hat is a full gas mask (think of the Dr. Who "Are You My Mummy" episode), because she is sick.

We talk comics briefly, Amber and Jennifer agree they would both be antiheroes, and we touch on the X-Men's New 'New Warriors' which has a non binary character called Snowflake.

Then onto "Murder Hornets" which are actually called the Asian Giant Hornet or scientifically named, Vespa mandarinia. Still waiting on the Entomological Society of America to decide on a common name, but they're leaning towards Sparrow Hornet. 

Yes, we can all agree that wasps and hornets are assholes, and are not nearly as useful as bees in the collective ecosystem. However, Asian Giant Hornets are not going to murder you and your family, aren't even found in America outside of Washington State, and one could argue that we should totally ignore the media hype around them.

Asian hornet, also known as the yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina) is not the same as this Asian Giant Hornet nor the European Hornet, and this species has not been found in North America.

We don't recommend anything, but don't kill bees, and it could be worse, it could be bullet ants.

Where to report potential sightings of the Asian Giant Hornet in Washington State:
https://www.maps.arcgis.com/apps/GeoForm/index.html?appid=e3720c303c414210967920b07bad13f5

Guardian Article: "The Chinese city living in fear of giant killer hornets"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/04/killer-hornets-chinese-city-living-in-fear

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In this week's episode, Amber is super grumpy because Jennifer hired plumbers who left without finishing their job, leaving us without water and plumbing for almost two days. Jennifer is NOT trying to kill Amber. Also, murder hornets are invading North America. 

This has been one Hell of a year.

But I guess we can talk about Tyrannosaurus rex to distract us from life. Since it was first discovered in 1905, Tyrannosaurus Rex has become the most widely known dinosaur. It is the only dinosaur that is commonly known to the general public. Tyrannosaurus rex was one of the largest land carnivores of all time, and is believed to have the strongest bite of any land animal that has ever lived.

Put on your weird hat, and get ready for some fun from a very irritated Amber, with lots of swearing. Also, Amber's microphone gave out halfway through the podcast for some unknown and irritating reason. Like, WTF! Calm thoughts, Amber, calm thoughts. 

Correction: Jennifer meant to say a "T. rex tooth embedded in a duckbill dinosaur's bone" not stegosaurus bone.  And Amber meant to say T. rex was around for two million years ... not two. 

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If a bat eats a different species of bat for dinner, is that considered bat-cannibalism? Amber and Jennifer are divided on the answer in this week's episode on the horeshoe bat, so it's up to you to be to the tie-breaker!

In current events, we call out Mike Pence and Trump for refusing to wear face masks during a global pandemic. Speaking of Covid-19, scientists have traced the origin to ... the horesehoe bat.

However, just because the horeshoe bat is the original host, does NOT mean that bats caused the pandemic. While bats may not be the cause, we can help prevent the transfer of viruses by decreasing our interactions with wild animals. Never touch a wild animal! (Not sure why so many people need to be told that.) If you do, the animal might have to be killed to do a brain biopsy, what Jennifer called a brainopsy... True that, right Amber? Hashtag #ifitdriesitdies

Listen as Jennifer and Amber lay down the facts of these adorable bats who epitomize evolution, at least in terms of navigation and bug hunting. They also explore the use of horsehoe bats in traditional medicine, including rubbing bat feces into one's eyes. Because someone ... thought that was good idea.

The serial pig killer mentioned is Robert Pickton. Want to know why we bring him up, or want to know more about him? Then enjoy this week's episode of Better Than Human.

Additional Link for this week's episode: A million tons of feces and an unbearable stench: life near industrial pig farms https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/20/north-carolina-hog-industry-pig-farms

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In 'current' events, we talk about Americans protesting the quarantine, and turns out, just like you can't fix stupid, you can't quarantine it either. Does America's Individualism, causes us to be selfish jerks?

Amber rants about hunting, and Jennifer agrees that hunting does not make you manly unless you're hunting for food that you need.

Then we're on to Amber's 2nd favorite animal, the magnificent tiger. The tiger (Panthera tigris) which is the largest cat species and is most recognizable for its dark vertical stripes on orange-brown fur. It is an apex predator with 9 subspecies, 6 of which still survive in the wild.

We debate who would win in a fight, a tiger or a lion, in theory of course, they'd never meet in the wild.

Tigers cannot be tamed and they are NOT pets, everyone who has tried to tame them has failed.

Joe Exotic does not care about animals, and he did not run a tiger sanctuary, he ran a puppy mill just with tigers.

So, how can you tell if an animal sanctuary is a legit sanctuary? Hint, if you're allowed to pet the animals, or they're breeding the animals, they're not legit. 

This is the sanctuary that Amber was talking about http://www.noahs-ark.org/, please consider donating to them, or https://bigcatrescue.org/ or https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/tiger if you'd like to help these animals. 

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We look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to you joining our cult of weirdness!

#betterthanhuman #cultofweirdness