Are Attention Spans Really Shrinking?

An international NASA contest has resulted in a technology that turn plastic compounds and agricultural waste into proteins. A team from Southern Illinois University has turned those proteins into a 3D printed cookie that could combat global hunger and plastic waste at the same time. Jeff and Anthony dig into this breakthrough to see if it just might work.Link to story: https://www.discovermagazine.com/these-microbes-could-turn-plastic-and-plant-waste-into-ingredients-for-protein-rich-cookies-49584 Support the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcernsJeff on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcannata.bsky.socialAnthony on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/acarboni.bsky.social

A new study aims to answer the question central to everyday existence: What dominates our thoughts?  Anthony and Jeff break down the data, and the four types of thinkers to determine how we can all live happier interior liveshttps://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jul/25/four-types-of-thinker-which-one-are-youSupport the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcernsJeff on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcannata.bsky.socialAnthony on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/acarboni.bsky.social  Support the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcernsJeff on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcannata.bsky.socialAnthony on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/acarboni.bsky.social

Sound doesn’t leave a fossil record, making it difficult to trace the origins of song, speech and language – but researchers have found a way. And it's laughter! Jeff and Anthony discuss the new ways in which scientists are comaring the rhythmns of laughter between species to learn how language evolved. Link to story: https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/great-apes-laughter Support the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcernsJeff on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcannata.bsky.socialAnthony on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/acarboni.bsky.social

A London clinic owner has claimed he is treating people with stage 4 cancer by sealing them into a plastic bag while they're naked from the neck down and gassing them with chlorine dioxide. As you might guess, Anthony and Jeff have some pretty strong feelings about this one. Link to story: https://www.wired.com/story/pseudoscientific-cancer-treatment-involves-gassing-naked-people-in-plastic-bags-with-bleach/ Support the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcernsJeff on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcannata.bsky.socialAnthony on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/acarboni.bsky.social

As the world's water cycles through the water table, chances are it has been inside a dinosaur or a mammoth at some point. Does that mean all the water on Earth has, been peed ? Jeff and Anthony dig into the burning question: is it possible today to drink water that has never been peed? Link to story: https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/has-all-the-water-on-earth-been-peed-before Support the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcernsJeff on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcannata.bsky.socialAnthony on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/acarboni.bsky.social

A new study suggests that the average honeybee might be able to use tools in novel ways to solve problems. Anthony and Jeff discuss bee intelligence and how it relates to Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie.https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/04/bees-use-tools-to-solve-problems-study-findsSupport the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcernsJeff on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcannata.bsky.socialAnthony on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/acarboni.bsky.social Support the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcernsJeff on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcannata.bsky.socialAnthony on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/acarboni.bsky.social

Special Guest Brian Brushwood, from the Modern Rogue, stops by the Anxiety Chamber to discuss a recent study about language. As a magician and Scam School professor, Brian is uniquely qualified to lead Anthony and Jeff through the subtle differences between starting a sentence with 'so' and 'oh', and how that can be used to convey a surprising amount of information. Topics also incluse AI protections, and the renewed value of in-person communication. Support the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcernsJeff on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcannata.bsky.socialAnthony on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/acarboni.bsky.social

In the age of social media and digital distraction, the pervailing sentiment is that attention spans are shrinking. But is that the truth? Jeff and Anthony dig into the evidence... at least as long as they are able to focus on it. LInk to the story: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01407-w Support the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Jeff on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcannata.bsky.social Anthony on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/acarboni.bsky.social Support the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcernsJeff on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcannata.bsky.socialAnthony on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/acarboni.bsky.social

Do you believe a house can be haunted? Scientists interested in finding alternative explanations for reported ghost sightings have found that infrasound, particularly at a frequency of 18.9 Hz might be responsible for those eerie feelings. Anthony and Jeff terll their own spooky stories as they delve into this spine-tingling phenomenon.  LInk to the story: https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/that-spooky-sensation-likely-due-to-rumbling-pipes-not-spirits/ Support the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Jeff on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcannata.bsky.social Anthony on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/acarboni.bsky.social Support the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcernsJeff on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcannata.bsky.socialAnthony on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/acarboni.bsky.social

You may be shocked to learn that water will freeze faster when it starts hot than when it starts cool. In fact, all of science was shockled to learn this in 1963 when 13 year-old Erasto Mpemba insisted it was true in school. Jeff and Anthony delve into the incredible story of how this phenomenon became known as the Mpemba Effect. LInk to the story: https://www.science.org/content/article/hot-things-can-freeze-faster-cool-ones-now-paradox-has-gone-quantum Support the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Jeff on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcannata.bsky.social Anthony on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/acarboni.bsky.social Support the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcernsJeff on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcannata.bsky.socialAnthony on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/acarboni.bsky.social