Eureka!

This week we’re giving Rick yet another opportunity to speak enthusiastically about his beloved octopuses, as we try to determine: what is the most intelligent animal. This episode is full of fascinating animal experiments, involving crows, elephants, chimpanzees, horses and more. We also discover what the challenges are when measuring intelligence and how we can compare intelligence between different species. Rick is in his absolute element this week!

Special thanks to today’s expert, Dr Marta Halina.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we want to introduce you to one of our favourite podcasts: The Luke and Pete Show. Join Luke Moore and Pete Donaldson for an unplanned half an hour every Monday and Thursday where they talk about just about anything, from UFOs, to AI and Ancient History. In this episode, Pete recounts a story from his holiday, where he came face to face with death and Luke rejoices about some American bin men.

Look out for a new episode of Eureka next week!

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This week we’re bringing you a very special episode, as Michael reflects on some of his favourite moments from the series so far!

Rick’s very excited about the giant insects that might be replacing humans, we hear about a fascinating cancer trial which could be the key to beating the disease and we pull apart the European Academy of Paediatrics’ statement about vaping. We also look back at a hilarious moment from our episode on swearing and we hear about some fascinating research into concussion. There’s a little bit of everything in this episode - and it’s all fascinating.

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We’ve all done something bad at some point in our lives, but why? This week, we explore how we can quantify a ‘bad’ thing, what’s going on in our brains when we do something wrong and why sometimes it feels really good to do something we know is a little bit naughty. We also look at how group mentality affects our behaviour and Rick shares a truly awful story about a friend known only as ‘Evil Damien’...

Special thanks to today’s expert, Dr Jack Lewis.

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Elon Musk has been promising self-driving cars for years, but is it actually even possible? We’re exploring whether self-driving cars could reduce the number of traffic collisions, what some of the ethical issues are surrounding the vehicles and how close we are to actually seeing them on our roads. We’re also taking a look at the history of self-driving cars, considering what might happen if they were hacked and finding out how businesses like Uber have been reacting to the developing science…

Special thanks to today’s expert, Professor Jack Stilgoe.

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If you didn’t already know, we love maths! This week, Michael welcomes us to his new cult, as we talk about whether maths is provably true and whether it was invented or discovered. We’re also choosing some mathematical ‘saints’ and chatting about some of the great things maths has done for civilisation. Is our passion for maths really that different to following a religion? Let’s find out…

Special thanks to today's expert, Dr Michael Brooks (not a real doctor).

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If you’ve made some new year's resolutions and you’re hoping for a ‘new year, new me’ this is the episode for you. This week, we’re finding out if it’s really possible to consciously improve our personalities (although Rick seems to think there’s no need to improve on perfection). We’re also examining the validity of personality tests, finding out whether it’s true to say that animals have ‘personalities’ and we’re exploring the fascinating developments by machine-learning AI in personality research!

Special thanks to today’s expert, Dr Christian Jarrett.

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Have you given up meat for Veganuary? This week we’re looking at the fascinating history of human meat consumption and finding out whether we *really* need it in our diets. We’re assessing the alternatives – including introducing insects to our mealtimes, lab-grown food and meat substitutes – and we’re looking at the true effect farming animals has on the environment.

Special thanks to today’s expert, Dr Melanie Joy.

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