Science Fictions

<p>In 2024, researchers claimed to find something mysterious at the bottom of the ocean. It was “dark oxygen”—oxygen produced where there’s no chance of photosynthesis. So what could possibly be producing...

<p>The last few episodes have been pretty heavy. So here’s… well, here’s the 2D:4D ratio. Does the difference in length between your index finger and your ring finger reveal a huge amount about your personality (and...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.com<br/><br/><p>And now… following last week’s episode on ECT, here’s part two of our double episode on depression treatments...

<p>Open up some scientific papers, and you’ll hear electroconvulsive therapy described as the most effective treatment for depression (especially very severe depression). But open up others, and you’ll see it described...

<p>This episode is dedicated to Justin Eldridge.</p><p>We like to think that, in often hamfisted ways, we’re applying critical thinking on this show. But what even is “critical thinking”? Can you measure it? Can you...

<p>Here’s another episode that revists a topic we’ve covered before. A while back, we did an episode on the downsides of cannabis (for example, the risk of psychosis). But of course, a lot of people claim there are...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.com<br/><br/><p>It’s rare that we return to a topic, but it’s also nice to have been right. In 2024 we did an episode on...

<p>Here’s a cheery one for our first episode of the year. Guess what happens when you give several sets of scientists the same dataset and ask them to answer the same question? Well, they all find the same results...

<p>We’ve covered a lot of bad science stories over the year. Here are a few more. But in the optimistic spirit of the “holiday season”, the last one has a happy ending. </p><p>Thanks for listening—especially if you’re a...

<p>STOP PRESS: a beloved 20th Century populariser of psychology who wrote massively successful books has been shown to be full of crap. Actually… don’t stop press. Just put it on the pile with all the others.</p><p>This...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.com<br/><br/><p>Does the evidence support the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT)? Depends on when you asked the question...

<p>Hello everyone! We weren’t able to record a podcast this week, because 1) Stuart was busy and 2) it’s Tom’s birthday. So by way of apology we’re re-releasing this one about some drama last year between Jon Haidt...

<p>Everyone has read Entangled Life, the wonderfully-written book about fungi that took the world by storm about 5 years ago. Among many other things, it popularised the “wood wide web”—the idea that trees can...

<p>It has happened again. A new paper, based on a tranche of unsealed historical documents, casts serious doubt on a piece of social psychology research from the mid-20th Century. Shocker!</p><p>This time it’s about...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.com<br/><br/><p>Creatine is the supplement of the moment, but both of us had vaguely heard that this one might actually not be...