TRC #499: Yanny vs Laurel + Video Compression ft Dr. Stuart Robbins + Do You Have Genghis Khan DNA?

TRC #689: The Science of Dune's Sandworms + AI Personal Assistants: Could the huge Sandworms in Frank Herbert's Dune really exist? Adam looks at how scientifically plausible these odd creatures might be. In light of recent news about Open AI's GPT-4o and Google's Project Astra, Darren look at the latest... by The Reality Check

37 min listen

TRC #688: Interview with Spencer Greenberg: Spencer Greenberg is the founder Clearer Thinking, a web site which provides tools for critical thinking, as well as Transparent Replications, which does rapid replications of papers in psychology and behavioural studies. In this interview he... by The Reality Check

33 min listen

TRC #687: Remembering Daniel Dennett: This past Friday, April 19th, philosopher Daniel Dennett passed away at the age of 82. Throughout his life he has impacted many people through his work. On this week's show Darren shares some of his thoughts on this great man and gives an... by The Reality Check

15 min listen

TRC #686: The Stanford Prison Experiment + Is AI Taking Over Creative Jobs?: Adam looks at evidence that the popular Stanford Prison Experiment was not as well run as we've heard which raises concerns about the conclusions we make from it. Darren considers some recent events in the world of AI and wonders whether or not... by The Reality Check

33 min listen

TRC #685: AI More Creative Than Humans? + Safe Solar Eclipse Viewing: Artificial Intelligence or Artificial Creativity? Can an AI be more creative than a human? Darren looks at a study which attempts to answer this question. With the upcoming solar eclipse occurring in North America on April 8th, Adam... by The Reality Check

35 min listen

TRC #684: Aliens in Mexican Congress? + Book Review: Outlive by Peter Attia: I’m not saying they’re aliens but … they’re aliens. Adam uses hard hitting science to evaluate the validity of these allegedly non human mummified remains which were presented to the Mexican Congress in the fall. A shocking discovery which... by The Reality Check

33 min listen

TRC #683: AI News: Sora, Gemini 1.5 and Implications + Jailbreaks by Hiding Files in Cakes: Darren gives us a news roundup of some recent things happening in the world of AI including OpenAI's text to video tool Sora, Google Deepmind's Gemini 1.5, as well as what implications this and other upcoming technologies could have on our lives.... by The Reality Check

35 min listen

TRC #682: Oppenheimer Movie Discussion: We try something a little different on the latest episode of The Reality Check. Having recently seen the movie Oppenheimer Darren and Adam have a discussion about this great film. If you haven’t seen the movie already it might be a good idea to... by The Reality Check

28 min listen

TRC #681: Are Poinsettias Poisonous? + Mickey Mouse and the Public Domain: Put down that poinsettia salad, checkers. Darren looks into a popular myth that poinsettia plants are poisonous to animals, including people. Then Adam looks into what's been going on with Mickey Mouse and Steamboat Willie as he explores... by The Reality Check

26 min listen

TRC #680: Annual Predictions: 2024 Edition + Down Syndrome Strength + A Special Message From Pat and Cristina: This year we retire our annual prediction segment with a final look back at how accurate, or rather how innacurate, we were in our predictions of what would happen in 2023. Darren examines the validity of a popular claim that people with Down syndrome... by The Reality Check

38 min listen

TRC #679: A Chat With Author Darren McKee: Uncontrollable: The crew gets to interview TRC’s very own Darren McKee, author of the critically acclaimed book, ‘Uncontrollable: The Threat of Artificial Superintelligence and the Race to Save the World’. We chat about the challenges of writing a first book,... by The Reality Check

31 min listen

TRC #678: Darren's AI Book is Out!: Wondering what the heck is going on with AI? Why are some people so concerned? Darren's new beginner-friendly book Uncontrollable: The Threat of Artificial Superintelligence and the Race to Save the World addresses exactly those questions. In an... by The Reality Check

6 min listen

TRC #677: Interview with Yoshua Bengio: World-renowned AI expert Yoshua Bengio talks with Darren McKee and Adam Gardner about his long career, why advanced AI could be harmful, and whether open-source of powerful AI models is a risk. by The Reality Check

59 min listen

TRC #676: Phenylephrine Ineffective? + Bees Are Doing Fine: Cristina delves into the latest FDA advisory announcement shedding light on the ineffectiveness of phenylephrine, a widely used ingredient in several nasal decongestants. Adam revisits the myriad of news stories and worries surrounding bees and the... by The Reality Check

25 min listen

TRC #675: Mashup: The Centrifuge Brain Project + Avril Double + V-Steaming: It’s another mashup where we give you three segments from previous shows. First we revisit Pat’s deep dive on a viral video of an amusement park ride. Next Adam takes on an Avril Lavigne conspiracy that she died and was replaced by a... by The Reality Check

31 min listen

TRC #674: How Does AI Image Generation Work? + Why Is A Bug Called A Bug?: Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, Dall-e. Darren digs into an explanation of how artificial intelligence generates images and whether or not it is just copying. Cristina looks at the fascinating history of why a computer glitch is called a... by The Reality Check

30 min listen

TRC #673: UFO Whistleblower? + Will We Make Great Pets For An Artificial Super Intelligence?: Adam digs into recent headlines about UFOs and whistleblower David Grusch. Does this give any promising evidence that aliens may be among us? Next Darren ponders how our future AI overlords might treat us. Assuming they don’t eliminate... by The Reality Check

31 min listen

TRC #672: Are Fingerprints Really Unique? + What’s A Buttload? + Why AI Researchers Don’t Quit: Cristina kicks off the show with a deep dive into the history of forensic fingerprinting and challenges a commonly accepted notion that no two fingerprints are alike. Adam brings us a buttload of a segment when he probes into the origin and meaning of... by The Reality Check

36 min listen

TRC #671: Uncertainty And AI Risk + Spot The Fake: Darren shares some thoughts and leads an interesting discussion about what might be reasonable approaches to the difficult and complicated topic of artificial intelligence. Pat brings us another smashing game of “Name That: Spot The Fake.” Can you... by The Reality Check

36 min listen

TRC #670: Mashup: Fire and Smoke: The TRC crew brings you a mashup about fire and smoke. Adam looks into headlines about the Amazon rainforest. The facts may surprise you. Pat addresses a listener’s question about whether the rainforest is the Earth’s lungs responsible... by The Reality Check

37 min listen

TRC #669: Coronal Mass Ejection + The Technology Trap: In March of this year, auroras were seen in many places on earth. Though the auroras are usually seen far up north on the globe they can occur further south. But what are the risks associated with this kind of event? “The... by The Reality Check

27 min listen

TRC #668: Dark Chocolate Has Heavy Metals? + What Happened To The Dinosaurs?: A recent study done by Consumer Reports shows that dark chocolate bars contain lead and cadmium. Should you be concerned? Cristina digs into it. Next, after watching the movie “65”, Adam looks at the debate about how dinosaurs went... by The Reality Check

30 min listen

TRC #667: Special Intro + A Chat With Karl Mamer: Pat puppeteers a delicious intro. Finally, what took us so long? We had a chat with Canadian podcast pioneer and author Karl Mamer. Karl has a new book out called “The Skeptics Book of Lists”. He’s a fascinating character with many stories to... by The Reality Check

37 min listen

TRC #666: The Number Of The Beast Origins + Name That: Spot The Fake: Welcome to episode 6-6-6! Darren does a deep dive on the digits steeped in the Book of Revelation and why some historically associate it with the ‘number of the beast’. Pat challenges the crew to a fresh and always fun installment of Name That:... by The Reality Check

30 min listen

TRC #665: Is It Safe To Stand In Front of Microwave Ovens? Interview with Dr. Roman Yampolskiy About The Simulation Hypothesis: Cristina investigates a pervasive belief that standing in front of a microwave oven poses health risks. Darren and Adam have another fascinating discussion with Dr. Roman Yampolskiy. This time it’s about his recent work regarding the Simulation... by The Reality Check

31 min listen

TRC #664: Thundersnow + Customer Always Right? + A Look At “The Metaverse”: Cristina digs into the rare weather occurrence called thundersnow after witnessing lightning and thunder during a recent snowstorm. Adam checks the origins of ‘the customer is always right in matters of taste’, and asks, are they? Darren rounds... by The Reality Check

24 min listen

TRC #663: Interview with Dr. Roman Yampolskiy About The Threat Of Advanced AI: Dr. Roman Yampolskiy is a computer scientist at the University of Louisville where he is the director of the Cyber Security Laboratory in the department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science. He is an author of over 100 publications including... by The Reality Check

58 min listen

TRC #662: Annual Prediction Show - 2023 Edition: In what has become a yearly ritual to highlight the futility of ‘predictions’, Adam, Producer Pat, and Cristina guess at what might happen in 2023 and revisit the panel’s 2022 predictions to see how they did. by The Reality Check

35 min listen

TRC #661: Isaac Asimov's Laws Of Robotics + The Apple Logo = The Fall Of Man?: Happy New Year, Checkers! Darren lays out the Three Laws of Robotics, as devised by science fiction author Isaac Asimov, and why they are seemingly reasonable yet flawed. Adam bites into a segment about the Apple logo and ponders whether it’s based... by The Reality Check

26 min listen

TRC #660: Did Coca-Cola Conceive Modern Santa? + Eight Billion People?: ‘Twas the night before Christmas so Cristina asks the proverbial question…did Coca-Cola really invent the now ubiquitous image of Santa Claus? Adam rounds out the show checking claims that the world’s population hit 8 billion people on November... by The Reality Check

25 min listen

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TRC #499: Yanny vs Laurel + Video Compression ft Dr. Stuart Robbins + Do You Have Genghis Khan DNA?

TRC #499: Yanny vs Laurel + Video Compression ft Dr. Stuart Robbins + Do You Have Genghis Khan DNA?

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