A 1960s mouse utopia that collapsed into a vanity-obsessed apocalypse, a global database of 150,000 enthusiastic stool photos, and a scientific quest to help humans regrow limbs like a salamander. This week, we bounce between rodent dystopias, AI-powered gut tracking, regenerating toes, and international idioms for absolute chaos.

We start in the late 1960s with Universe 25, an experiment that gave mice everything they wanted and accidentally proved that absolute perfection leads to a total social meltdown and a faction of self-obsessed, grooming-addicted rodents. Then, shifting gears with a violent jerk, we check in on a health app that has amassed a staggering database of 150,000 human poo images to train AI to analyse gut health.

From there, we look to the future, where scientists are trying to steal a trick from the salamander to see if mice and eventually humans can regrow missing limbs. And to end the episode, we take a quick detour into international linguistics to look at how different cultures describe things going completely wrong, from Swedish blue cupboards to vivid Brazilian panic.

 

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Introduction

02:20 Why Universe 25 Happened

04:58 Building Mousetopia

08:43 Utopia Turns Violent

11:53 Behavioural Sink Theory

14:04 Misuse And Critiques

18:45 Poop App Citizen Science

24:58 Sharing Stool Online

25:44 Selling Poo Data

27:25 AI Data Hunger

28:23 Elvis Toilet Death

29:43 Constipation Studies

35:02 Mouse Toe Regrowth

41:17 Cactus And Sayings

 

SOURCES:

• https://www.404media.co/ai-poop-analysis-app-offered-to-sell-me-access-to-its-users-poops/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter
• https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-72066-8
• https://bsky.app/profile/adamcsharp.bsky.social/post/3mlqozoour22z
• https://theconversation.com/constipation-increases-your-risk-of-a-heart-attack-new-study-finds-and-not-just-on-the-toilet-237209
• https://www.mamamia.com.au/elvis-constipation/
• https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-38068-y
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32873621/
• https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/nov/21/the-mad-egghead-who-built-a-mouse-utopia-john-b-calhoun

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.