Smartest Year Ever

In 1944, while war raged across Europe, 36 American men volunteered to be starved in Minnesota. But this wasn’t punishment. It was science.

In this episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy unpacks one of the most extreme human experiments ever approved: The Minnesota Starvation Experiment. Conducted by Dr. Ancel Keys, this study wasn’t about cruelty — it was designed to solve one of the biggest post-war crises facing the world: how to refeed millions of starving civilians safely.

What happened to these men during and after this infamous study? And why is their data still used in research today?

Join Gordy as he explores this intense, controversial, and deeply human story — a tale of psychological unraveling, nutritional science, and the ethical lines that science continues to walk today.

Follow Smartest Year Ever for your daily fix of curiosity, history, and clever conversation fuel. New episodes drop every single day.

Sources:

• Keys, A., Brožek, J., Henschel, A., Mickelsen, O., & Taylor, H. L. (1950). The Biology of Human Starvation. University of Minnesota Press.
  

• Tucker, T. (2006). The Great Starvation Experiment: The Heroic Men Who Starved So That Millions Could Live. Free Press.
  

• Kalm, L. M., & Semba, R. D. (2005). They Starved So That Others Be Better Fed: Remembering Ancel Keys and the Minnesota Experiment. Journal of Nutrition, 135(6), 1347–1352.
  

Music thanks to Zapsplat. #StarvationStudy #HumanExperimentation #NutritionHistory #MinnesotaHistory #EthicsInScience #WWIIHistory #historyfacts #sciencefacts

Have we been picturing dinosaurs all wrong?

This episode of Smartest Year Ever dives into the controversial world of paleontological reconstructions, where some scientists believe our classic T. rex and Velociraptor imagery might be misleading. Were they really lean, scaly lizards—or have we been “shrinkwrapping” their bones and forgetting the feathers, fat, and flesh?

Gordy explores how modern research is transforming our understanding of dinosaur anatomy, behavior, and their evolutionary connection to modern birds. From theropods with wattles to the idea of a T. rex with a feathered dad bod, this episode will reshape the way you think about prehistoric life.

Watch to the end to rethink the image of your favorite dinos... they might not look the way you remember.

Music thanks to Zapsplat.

Sources:

• Witton, M. P. (2018). Palaeontological Reconstructions and Shrink-Wrapping in Dinosaurs. University of Portsmouth.
  

• Greshko, M. (2017). Are We Wrong About Dinosaurs? National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/dinosaur-skin-feathers-paleontology
  

• Hone, D. W. E., & Barrett, P. M. (2012). Comparative Analysis of Dinosaur Soft Tissues. Palaeontology, 55(4), 823–841.
  

• Brusatte, S. (2018). The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World. HarperCollins.
  

#Dinosaurs #Paleontology #ShrinkwrappedDinos #ScienceFacts #SmartestYearEver  #ShrinkwrappedDinos #DinosaurFacts

Why do websites keep asking if you're a robot? And what if checking that box is about more than just security?

In this episode, Gordy dives deep into the mysterious world of CAPTCHAs—those pesky puzzles we all click through daily. From their origins as spam blockers to their unexpected role in training artificial intelligence, you'll never look at a blurry street sign the same way again.

You'll learn how CAPTCHAs:

• Use behavioral cues to detect bots 🤖
  

• Help digitize historical books and documents
  

• Have evolved into invisible background tests
  

• Represent a frontline in the battle between AI and cybersecurity
  

It’s a story of humans vs machines, of brains vs bots—and of how millions of people are quietly shaping the future of technology every day without even realizing it.

🧠 Stay curious. Stay clever. Let’s keep becoming the World’s Greatest Conversationalists.

Sources:

• Von Ahn, L., Blum, M., & Langford, J. (2003). Telling Humans and Computers Apart Automatically. Communications of the ACM.
  

• Google. (n.d.). reCAPTCHA Overview. https://developers.google.com/recaptcha
  

• Harvard Gazette. (2017). The human behind the CAPTCHA. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/08/the-human-behind-the-captcha/
  

• W3C Web Accessibility Initiative. (n.d.). CAPTCHA and Accessibility. https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/forms/custom-controls/#captchas
  

• Wired. (2020). Why CAPTCHAs Still Confuse Humans. https://www.wired.com/story/captchas-still-confuse-humans/
  

#AItraining #CyberSecurity #CAPTCHA #SmartestYearEver #DailyLearning #NoDaysOff #DailyFacts #DidYouKnow #TechFacts #InternetSafety #MindBlow #artificialintelligence #AItraining Music thanks to Zapsplat.

Oldest Message in a Bottle Found After 132 Years (Lost at Sea and Found) | Smartest Year Ever (June 1, 2025)

What’s the oldest confirmed message in a bottle ever found? And what story did it carry across time, tides, and oceans?

In this episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy dives into the real-life discovery that stunned maritime historians, scientists, and Guinness record-keepers alike. From the windswept shores of Western Australia to the decks of a 19th-century German barque, this story spans centuries of ocean drift, scientific ambition, and the strange human urge to connect through glass and ink.

Whether you’re into maritime mysteries, forgotten experiments, or just love a story that starts buried in the sand and ends in the history books, this one’s for you.

👇 Sources below, and don’t forget to stay curious.

Sources:

• Western Australian Museum. (n.d.). Messages in bottles database. https://museum.wa.gov.au/maritime-archaeology-db/messages-bottles
  

• Guinness World Records. (n.d.). Oldest message in a bottle. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com
  

• Smithsonian Magazine. (2018). The Science of Messages in Bottles. https://www.smithsonianmag.com
  

• Poe, E. A. (1833). MS. Found in a Bottle.
  

#messageinabottle #worldrecord #oceans #funfacts #dailyfacts  #MaritimeHistory #BottleMessage #WeirdHistory #OceanMysteries Music thanks to Zapsplat.

What’s the most isolated place on Earth? Somewhere so far from land, the closest humans… are in space?

In today’s episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy dives into Point Nemo — a remote patch of the Pacific Ocean with no islands, no people, and almost no marine life. But here’s the twist: this watery void has become the final resting place for over a hundred decommissioned spacecraft. There’s a reason it’s earned the nickname "spacecraft graveyard."

Why is this particular spot used? What else has happened near Point Nemo that left scientists scratching their heads? And what’s the connection to a giant mysterious underwater sound that sparked wild theories?

This episode explores the science, the history, and the strange lore behind a spot so far from civilization, it might as well be another planet.

Sources:

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (n.d.). Oceanic pole of inaccessibility: Point Nemo. Retrieved from https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/
  

• NASA. (n.d.). Spacecraft Cemetery in the South Pacific. Retrieved from https://www.nasa.gov/
  

• Verne, J. (1870). 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
  

• Scientific American. (2018). The Bloop Revisited. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/
  

• Wired. (2019). Point Nemo: The Most Remote Place on Earth. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/
  

#SmartestYearEver #PointNemo #SpacecraftGraveyard #OceanFacts #MysteryOfTheSea #SciencePodcast #WeirdScience #DailyKnowledge #HiddenHistory #SpaceJunk #FunFacts #geography

Music thanks to Zapsplat.

In this episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy unpacks one of humanity’s boldest space broadcasts — the Arecibo Message. In 1974, a powerful radio telescope in Puerto Rico fired off a burst of binary data aimed at the stars. But what was in that message? Who was it meant for? And why do some scientists now think we might've made a cosmic mistake?

Explore how Frank Drake, Carl Sagan, and others condensed humanity into 1,679 bits. Dive into the incredible story of the Arecibo Observatory, the science behind interstellar messaging, and the ongoing debate about alien contact and space signals. This episode also follows up on yesterday’s topic — the Dark Forest Theory — with an even deeper look at how we’ve announced ourselves to the cosmos.

What happens when you send a postcard to the stars? What if nobody’s home?

Sources:

• Drake, F. (n.d.). The Arecibo Message. Cornell University.
  

• Sagan, C. (1978). Murmurs of Earth: The Voyager Interstellar Record. Random House.
  

• National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center. (n.d.). Arecibo Observatory History.
  

• SETI Institute. (n.d.). The Arecibo Message: What Did We Say to the Stars? https://www.seti.org/arecibo-message
  

• Smithsonian Magazine. (n.d.). Sending Messages to Aliens — What Could Go Wrong? https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/sending-messages-to-aliens
  

#AreciboMessage #SETI #SpaceCommunication #AlienContact #DarkForestTheory #SmartestYearEver Music thanks to Zapsplat.

 Why haven’t we heard from aliens? Maybe the real question is: why would they want to be heard?

In this episode, Gordy explores the Dark Forest Theory—a chilling thought experiment that flips the Fermi Paradox on its head. What if space isn’t quiet because we’re alone, but because everyone’s hiding? Drawing from Liu Cixin’s sci-fi masterpiece The Three-Body Problem, this concept offers a gripping alternative to our optimistic search for extraterrestrial life.

Plus, we explore why some scientists, including Stephen Hawking, warned against broadcasting our existence—and why our most powerful space message is already out there.

If the universe is a dark forest… are we the only ones making noise?

Follow for more stories that make you a smarter, sharper conversationalist—every single day.

Sources:

• Liu, C. (2015). The Dark Forest. Tor Books.
  

• Britannica. (n.d.). Fermi paradox. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/science/Fermi-paradox
  

• SETI Institute. (n.d.). Humankind just beamed a signal at space aliens. Was that a bad idea? Retrieved from https://www.seti.org/humankind-just-beamed-signal-space-aliens-was-bad-idea
  

• Jha, A. (2010, April 30). Is Stephen Hawking right about aliens? The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/apr/30/stephen-hawking-right-aliens
  

#FermiParadox #SpaceMysteries #DarkForestTheory #ExtraterrestrialLife #SciFiPhilosophy #DidYouKnow #FermiParadox #StephenHawking #aliens #DarkForestTheory 

Music thanks to Zapsplat.

The Drake Passage is one of the most notorious stretches of ocean on Earth — a 600-mile-wide maritime gauntlet between Cape Horn and the Antarctic Peninsula, where rogue waves, cyclonic winds, and the full force of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current converge.

Gordy explores why sailors, scientists, and adventurers have feared and respected this extreme environment for centuries. From its critical role in global ocean circulation to the legendary 1916 crossing by Ernest Shackleton, this episode dives into the history, science, and danger of the roughest sea route on the planet.

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to face hurricane-force winds and 60-foot waves in the middle of nowhere — or why the Drake Passage remains a rite of passage for Antarctic expeditions — this episode’s for you.

Would you survive the Drake Passage?

— Sources:

• National Geographic. (n.d.). Drake Passage: The World’s Most Dangerous Waterway. National Geographic Society.
  

• Smithsonian Magazine. (n.d.). How Francis Drake Became the Passage’s Namesake. Smithsonian Institution. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/francis-drake-drake-passage
  

• NOAA. (n.d.). Antarctic Circumpolar Current. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/antarctic-circumpolar-current
  

• British Antarctic Survey. (n.d.). Wildlife in the Drake Passage. https://www.bas.ac.uk/data/our-data/publication/wildlife-drake-passage
  

• Royal Museums Greenwich. (n.d.). Shackleton’s Voyage in the James Caird. https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/shackleton-voyage
  

Music thanks to Zapsplat.

#DrakePassage #AntarcticExpedition #ExtremeWeather #OceanCurrents #SailingDanger #MarineLife #ErnestShackleton #MaritimeHistory #SmartestYearEver

Did everyday slang come from ship decks and cannon fire? Turns out, phrases like “under the weather”, “turn a blind eye”, and “scuttlebutt” aren’t just colorful language—they’re the echo of real nautical life.

In this episode, Gordy uncovers the surprising maritime origins behind 5 popular English idioms. From the British Royal Navy to sailing ships in the Age of Exploration, these expressions tell stories of survival, rebellion, and rigging. If you love etymology, language trivia, or hidden history, this one’s packed with conversational gold.

Follow along every day as we explore how history hides in plain sight—right in our everyday words.

Sources:

• Oxford University Press. (n.d.). Under the Weather. Oxford English Dictionary.
  

• Royal Museums Greenwich. (n.d.). Admiral Nelson and the Battle of Copenhagen.
  

• Grammarist. (n.d.). Hand Over Fist—Idiom, Origin & Meaning. https://grammarist.com/idiom/hand-over-fist/
  

• Grammar Monster. (n.d.). Hand Over Fist | Origin and Meaning. https://www.grammar-monster.com/sayings_proverbs/hand_over_fist.htm
  

• Harbour Guides. (n.d.). Hand Over Fist Origin. https://www.harbourguides.com/nautical-sayings/HAND-OVER-FIST-ORIGIN
  

• Naval History and Heritage Command. (n.d.). Scuttlebutt: The Naval Gossip.
  

• Historic Naval Terms. (n.d.). Learn the Ropes Explained.
  

Music thanks to Zapsplat.

#NauticalIdioms #WordOrigins #HistoryPodcast #MaritimeHistory #EnglishLanguage #SailingTerms #EtymologyNerd #SmartestYearEver #DailyFacts #HistoricalLinguistics #LanguageTrivia #SeaSayings #NoDaysOff #idioms

Mary Mallon was just a cook. But history remembers her as Typhoid Mary — the woman who unknowingly spread a deadly disease to dozens without ever showing symptoms.

In this episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy uncovers the true story behind one of public health’s most infamous cases. It’s a tale of germs, denial, quarantine, and one very stubborn scoop of peach ice cream. But beneath the headlines lies a deeper story — one that questions how we treat disease carriers, what rights we give up in the name of safety, and how quickly a person can become a symbol.

She didn’t believe she was contagious. She never felt sick. And yet, people kept dying.

From luxury kitchens to forced quarantine on North Brother Island, the story of Typhoid Mary is as chilling as it is thought-provoking. Who decides what's fair when one person becomes a public threat? And what happens when the science outpaces the public’s understanding?

Sources:

• Soper, G. A. (1907). The Curious Career of Typhoid Mary. Journal of the American Medical Association.
  

• Leavitt, J. W. (1996). Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public’s Health. Beacon Press.
  

• Marineli, F., Tsoucalas, G., Karamanou, M., & Androutsos, G. (2013). Mary Mallon (1869–1938) and the history of typhoid fever. Annals of Gastroenterology, 26(2), 132–134.
  

• National Institutes of Health. (2020). Typhoid Fever and Public Health.
  

• New York City Department of Health. (2017). The Legacy of Typhoid Mary: Infectious Disease Control in the Early 20th Century.
  

• New York Times Archives (1915). Typhoid Mary Caught Again.
  

📌 Music thanks to Zapsplat. #HistoryFacts #Epidemiology #PublicHealth #SmartestYearEver #DiseaseOutbreak #MedicalHistory #Quarantine #TyphoidMary #GermTheory #DailyLearning #EducationalPodcast #ScienceExplained #PeachIceCream #NYHistory #SalmonellaTyphi #AsymptomaticCarrier #NoDaysOff