Science, Spoken

According to the US government, marijuana is one of the most dangerous drugs in existence; a Schedule 1 narcotic, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Like heroin, LSD, and ecstasy, cannabis has no accepted medical use, is highly addictive, and harmful. Oh, you don’t agree? Disprove it. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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I’m not sure how they got the name “human fly” for this guy climbing Trump Tower. It appears he was using suction cups for his climbing device, so maybe a name like “Suction Cup Boy” would work better. Also, I’m not sure of his motive—but I’m sure it was super important. Whatever the reason for this crazy Gecko Man stunt (that’s what I’m going to call him), there’s still some cool science here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Like most famous patients in the history of neuroscience, Henry Molaison—or HM, as he was known among scientists—was famous because his brain was defective. Unlike the other patients, his case was not an accident but the deliberate work of a surgeon. In 1953, a neurosurgeon suctioned out two slivers from brain Henry’s skull, hoping to cure him of epilepsy. The surgery helped the seizures, if not completely, but it made Henry unable to form any new memories. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The last thirty years of particle physics have been a little disappointing. A scientist’s job is to prove themselves wrong, but despite their best efforts, despite recreating the conditions of the Big Bang, particle physicists just keep being correct. Aside from a few unexplained observations [1] (meddling neutrinos [2]!), the Standard Model, which describes interactions between all known particles, has exactly predicted the outcome of every experiment in the history of particle physics. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Someday soon, you'll stand on your front lawn, tapping your toe impatiently, waiting for a pair of shoes to fall from the sky. You’ll hear a distant buzzing, then see a brightly colored aircraft come over the trees, its falcon wings arcing out gracefully from the body, four blades whirring intently to ease the aircraft into a steady hover. It’ll touch down at your feet, and you’ll be able to reach in, grab your new kicks, and head off on your vacation. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

We tend to describe our immune systems with military metaphors. Pathogens invade our bodies, knock down our defenses, and try to kill us dead. We fight back with hand sanitizer and mild germ-related panic. Or we go nuclear and blast them with antibiotics. Ed Yong [1]’s beautiful, smart, and sometimes shocking new book I Contain Multitudes [2]: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life will make you take a deep breath. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

HUMANS DON’T SPONTANEOUSLY combust, but manure does. A stable full of manure caught fire last week in Throop, New York, leaving the town smelling … unpleasant. The horses aren’t to blame, though. Microbes are. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices