Dr. Ian O’Neill returns to talk to us about the real world applications of particle colliders, those giant expensive atom smashers which seem to produce a lot of math and announcements peppered with terms like “gluons” and “muons” the media tends to gloss over. But in reality, these machines are turning alchemy into reality, creating extremely effective cancer treatments, and helping us solve the mysteries of the universe. In fact, you’re only listening to this podcast thanks to a particle collider…

This week, we dive deep into the scandal that rocked the scientific world as a researcher used an experimental gene editing technique on two viable embryos implanted and currently being carried to term. Experts decried his work as shoddy, sloppy, amateurish, and potentially harmful, while pundits are issuing dire warnings of a Gattaca-style brave new world of designer babies around the corner. We cut through the gloom and doom, tackle the complexities behind editing genes, and discuss the pitfalls of trying to design an embryo to arbitrary standards of perfection, along with a fun little detour into the craziness of old-timey medicine.

Freelance journalist and Rantt Media contributor Kaz Weida joins the Fishes -- well, the Fish who’s recovered from the plague enough to host a podcast episode -- to talk about what makes so many people believe conspiracy theories and the science behind why they’re so attractive, especially when times get tough. From QAnon to the followers of Louise Mensch, to the psychology of MLMs, crank magnetism, and the business of conspiracy theories, and the critical flaw in our education system that allows conspiracies to thrive, we cover a lot of somewhat unnerving ground in just over half an hour as we dive into a world where hope and belief take a dark turn.

On today’s episode, we talk to Dr. Ian O’Neill about the Mars Insight mission and what we’ve learned so far from scouring Mars with our latest generation of robots. We also talk about the basics of planetary science, how we know what’s inside different types of planets, and the future of exploring our solar system. And, of course, we also touch on the search for life in our own cosmic backyard. Can you even do an episode about space without mentioning some hypothetical little green microbes?

This episode of the World of Weird Things Podcast is all about drone warfare, cyber weapons and the threat they pose, the future of armed conflicts, and what you, yes you at home, can do to help secure your country’s digital infrastructure from foreign adversaries wielding weaponized math. While you probably shouldn’t panic about being sent back to the stone age with a tactically deployed virus, you definitely want to worry enough to make some very serious changes in your life and your political choices, and we’ll explain why and how.

This week’s episode is all about aliens, ancient, current, and future, but mostly the first kind. We talk about the ancient astronaut theory and its history, the science behind the odds that aliens might visit us, talk about otherworldly genetic chemistry, and last, but definitely not least, explore the possible connection between ancient alien lore and the works of H. P. Lovecraft. Can we do it in under 36 minutes? Listen and find out, even though the answer is right in the timestamps.

Show notes: https://worldofweirdthings.com/2018/11/09/world-of-weird-things-podcast-ancient-aliens/

Billions of years ago, purple bacteria turned sunlight into food. How they did it could tell us more about what planets around alien suns might be teeming with life. Show notes: https://worldofweirdthings.com/2018/11/02/world-of-weird-things-podcast-purple-earth-and-the-search-for-alien-life/