Diets like carnivore have been popping up all over the place. People who go carnivore aim to eat nothing but a select few animal products, like meat and eggs.

So why are some people turning to an all-meat diet? And why do they say they feel good doing so?

On this episode of Cooked, we sift through some of the counterintuitive findings around carnivore — the scientific pitfalls you need to be aware of when reading the research — and the health effects in the short and long term.

Guests:

Mick and JennyNew South Wales, Australia

Dr Jacob MeyAssistant Professor and Registered Dietitian, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana

Dr Richie KirwanLecturer, Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, Liverpool John Moores University

Dr Janet ChrzanNutritional anthropologist, University of PennsylvaniaAuthor, Anxious Eaters: Why We Fall For Fad Diets

Credits:

• Presenter: Dr Emma Beckett
• Producer: Carl Smith
• Senior Producer: James Bullen
• Sound Engineer: Angie Grant

This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Wurundjeri, Jagera and Turrbal peoples.

More information:

Behavioral Characteristics and Self-Reported Health Status Among 2029 Adults Consuming a "Carnivore Diet" - Current Developments in Nutrition, 2021.

Limitations of Self-Reported Health Status and Metabolic Markers Among Adults Consuming a “Carnivore Diet” - Current Developments in Nutrition, 2022.

Anxious Eaters: Why We Fall For Fad Diets - Columbia University Press, 2022.

What is the carnivore diet? - Harvard Health Publishing, 2024.

Two decades ago, nutritional epidemiologists made a startling finding – that people eating more ice cream were less likely to develop diabetes.

In the years since, various groups have tried to account for this peculiar scientific signal — with limited success.

In multiple studies the link between ice cream and a reduced risk of diabetes persists. Yet nutrition experts globally still aren’t convinced.

But if it’s not true, what’s causing the signal?

Grab a spoon and dig into culture, causation and confounders — and the joy of a tub of ice cream.

Credits:

• Presenter: Dr Emma Beckett
• Producer: Carl Smith
• Senior Producer: James Bullen
• Sound Engineer: Nathan Turnbull

This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Jagera and Turrbal peoples.

More information:

Nutrition Science's Most Preposterous Result - The Atlantic.

Here's the scoop on the new thinking about ice cream, yogurt, cheese and health - WBUR.

Dairy and your heart health - Heart Foundation.

For Science Friction, a new series — Cooked!

On Cooked, we dig into the nuance of nutrition. Why are studies showing that ice cream could be good for you? Do we really need as many electrolytes as the internet says? And why are people feeling good on the carnivore diet?

Nutrition and food scientist Dr Emma Beckett helps comb through the evidence on food groups and ingredients like meat, dairy and salt — to unpick why nutrition studies can be so conflicted and confusing.

Behind the rise of AI there's big questions about where this technology is going.

Is it going to be super intelligent — and if that happens — is it going to kill us all?

In our final episode, we're diving into the future and unpacking the full spectrum of expert predictions, from the idea that we're on the brink of creating human-level AI, to fears that AI will make humanity extinct.

Come meet our future AI overlords.

2023 was the year powerful new AI technology went mainstream, with image generators and tools like ChatGPT.

And people quickly started wondering where these advances were taking them.

This is the story of 2023 in three chapters: the first contact, the backlash that followed, and the new reality.

It's the story of actors fighting back against plans to replace them with digital clones, writers suing AI companies for stealing their words, and students figuring out how to use their new magical writing tool.

AI is often portrayed as being all about technology. But it is also about money and control. Because those who control AI, may control the world.

In the AI world, there are two names that keep coming up: OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, and its CEO, Sam Altman.

Who is Sam Altman? How did his tiny company leapfrog the tech giants and win the scramble for control of AI? And what are Altman's plans for the future?

When you think about a driverless car future, perhaps your mind goes to being driven around, watching movies from the backseat and drinking martinis.

For over a decade, perfect driverless cars have seemed only a few years away. But in reality, they were nowhere close.

Now, driverless cars are finally being rolled out in some cities.

But (like humans) they're crashing and causing chaos.

So are driverless cars finally here? Or is teaching a car to drive simply too difficult?

As ChatGPT shows us, AI can do some amazing stuff. But it does some creepy stuff as well. And it's already been responsible for locking up innocent people.

The story of how AI scanned millions of drivers licences and accused Michigan man Robert Wiliams of a crime he didn't commit.

When human biases lead to neural networks going rogue.

The world is experiencing a boom in artificial intelligence (AI). It's everywhere. In just a few years, computers have learned to paint a picture, write a novel, translate languages and consume the entire internet.

But how we got here goes back decades to two men who couldn't agree on the best way to teach a thinking machine.

The AI world was divided. Then a new kind of machine beat a human at Go, a game it was never supposed to be able to win.

2023 has been the breakout year of artificial intelligence. After decades of investment and improvement, the technology suddenly went mainstream.  For many, it was as though a miraculous machine was plonked in our midst.

But AI didn't come from nowhere. And it hasn't been a smooth and simple process. It's been a story rife with drama, conflict, and disagreement.

So where did it come from? Who made it? Who controls it?

Welcome to our new Science Friction series Hello AI Overlords!

Across six fascinating episodes, we'll tell you the human stories that shaped the emergence of today's AI technology over more than half a century and where we might be heading.

First episode out Wednesday 25th October