Podcast
Science Fictions
Hosted by Tom Chivers and Stuart Ritchie · EN
A weekly podcast about the latest scientific controversies, with Tom Chivers and Stuart Ritchie
sciencefictionspod.substack.com
sciencefictionspod.substack.com
32episodes
Episodes
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Episode 74: Neurogenesis
May 28, 202501:06:23Tap to summarizeCan adults still grow new neurons in their brains? You’d think we might know the answer to the question of adult “neurogenesis” after more than half a century of neuroscience research. But it turns out we don’t.In this episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart look into the suprisingly controversial question of adult neurogenesis. Are you “stuck with” the number of brain cells you had as a child, or can you add to that number by making the right choices as an adult? And does it even matter?This podcast is brought to you by Works in Progress magazine, which this week has a new article explaining why nuclear power is so expensive (spoiler: it relies on an incorrect scientific model that we’ve discussed in previous podcast episodes: the “linear no threshold” model. For a full explanation, along with articles on a dizzying array of other progress-related topics, take a look at www.worksinprogress.co. Show notes* Summary post on the debate by Scott Alexander from 2018* 2000 PNAS study on the brains of London taxi drivers* 2021 retrospective review of taxi driver studies* Study comparing passed vs. failed cabbies on “The Knowledge”* Study putting together neuroimaging research on when the brain peaks in volume and other measures* 1962 Science study on neurogenesis in rats* 1999 BrdU study in macaque monkeys* Famous 1998 study on neurogenesis in the human hippocampus* 2006 PNAS sudy on testing neocortical neurogenesis using Carbon-14 dating* 2013 study using similar methods on the hippocampus* 2018 Nature paper claiming no adult neurogenesis* Associated commentary article* Atlantic article describing the controversy by Ed Yong* 2018 paper finding neurogenesis occuring up to age 79* 2019 Nature Medicine paper claiming “abundant” adult neurogenesis* Fair-minded 2019 review paper* Somewhat angrier 2021 review paperCreditsThe Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions. We’re grateful to Claire Wang for her help with researching this episode. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe
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Episode 11: The AI apocalypse debate
Sep 19, 2023Tap to summarizeIs artificial intelligence going to lead to the extinction of humanity? What would that even look like? Everyone’s got an opinion: mostly either “that sounds absolutely ridiculous” or “that sounds absolutely terrifying”.In this episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart do something slightly different. Stuart plays the role of an AI apocalypse sceptic, and grills Tom on all the arguments about the coming AI apocalypse. Happily, Tom has already written a whole book on the subject, so he knows all the answers.The Studies Show is sponsored by Works in Progress magazine, the best place to find insightful essays on science, technology, and human progress. There’s a new issue out right now! We’re very grateful for their support.Show notes* Tom’s book, The Rationalist’s Guide to the Galaxy* arXiv preprint on evolving AI* Katja Grace’s survey of AI researchers* Timothy B. Lee’s Substack post about why he’s not worried about the existential risk of AI* Nature editorial arguing that the AI revolution hasn’t yet helped chemistry* Nature editorial arguing that worrying about AI doomsday is a distractionCreditsThe Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe
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