Strange Bites

Lance Martin
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Science done dark. Real facts wrapped up in a dark, creative wrapper, and served in small 15 minute or less bites. Two episodes every week. Come join us as we dive into the strange and ponder the ramifications of these breakthroughs and discoveries. Disclaimer: These are creative stories. The discoveries are real, the facts are real, but most of the story is made up fiction. Links to sources included in the show notes for a deeper dives. If you like these stories please subscribe, drop me a comment or leave a review, and for more weird short bites check out my other podcast, Legends of the Hidden Horde. Thank you for listening. Stay strange, and question everything. Lance

Épisodes

  1. To Be Alive or Not Alive, that is the Question.

    -4 J

    To Be Alive or Not Alive, that is the Question.

    Deep in the ink-black ocean off Japan… scientists hauled glowing plankton from the abyss… and found something that shouldn’t exist. A microscopic shadow with the smallest genome ever discovered — just 189 genes. Only for copying itself. No energy. No food. No walls. It steals everything from its host. Is it alive… or something darker, evolving on the razor edge between cell and virus? This discovery doesn’t just shrink the record books — it shatters what we thought life even was. Strange Bites Episode 11: ‘To be alive or not alive, that is the question.’ The ocean’s darkest secret is calling https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.02.651781v1.full https://www.science.org/content/article/microbe-bizarrely-tiny-genome-may-be-evolving-virus https://astrobiology.com/2025/05/candidatus-sukunaarchaeum-mirabile-is-a-novel-archaeon-with-an-unprecedentedly-small-genome.html https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a69728751/archaea-cell-virus-life/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukunaarchaeum Music from #Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/all-ambient/dark-skies-fading License code: GAOVQHDA1UEDR9XG

    7 min
  2. The Fly that Escaped Its Body

    22 MARS

    The Fly that Escaped Its Body

    Ohhh, my deliciously disturbed listeners… can you feel that? We’ve clawed, scuttled, and screamed our way to Episode 10. Ten episodes deep into the strange. Ten nights we’ve peeled back reality’s skin together and found something writhing underneath. To every single one of you who’s been here since the first bite—thank you for feeding this beast. And to the brave new souls joining us tonight… welcome to the family. We don’t do participation trophies; we do existential dread and extra nightmares For our tenth bite we’re not pulling any punches. Tonight we descend deep into the matrix, celebrating ten episodes of delicious horror the only way we know how... by resurrecting something that should have stayed dead… or at least inside its own body. So turn the volume down low, lock every door, double check the windows, and follow me into Episode 10: The Fly that Escaped its Body. https://eon.systems/ https://eon.systems/updates/embodied-brain-emulation https://theinnermostloop.substack.com/p/the-first-multi-behavior-brain-upload https://x.com/alexwg/status/2030217301929132323 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07558-y https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07763-9 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-024-02497-y https://flywire.ai/ https://www.nature.com/collections/ https://neuromechfly.org/

    9 min
  3. The Brain in A Box that Learned to Kill

    18 MARS

    The Brain in A Box that Learned to Kill

    Where does the soul live when the body is optional? Are these cells suffering in their little box every time the Doom marine dies? Or are they… happy? Is learning the only joy a brain really needs? And the darkest question of all: if two hundred thousand cells can learn to play Doom in a week… what happens when we scale it to billions? When we connect thousands of CL1s together? When the “material” wakes up and realizes it’s trapped inside our games, our wars, our dreams? We didn’t just invent a new computer. We invented a new kind of prisoner. And we’re handing out the keys on GitHub. Sources 
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2517389-human-brain-cells-on-a-chip-learned-to-play-doom-in-a-week/ 
https://corticallabs.com/ https://corticallabs.com/cl1 https://corticallabs.com/research https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRV8fSw6HaE
 https://github.com/SeanCole02/doom-neuron https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(22)00806-6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2022.09.001 https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/200-000-living-human-neurons-on-a-microchip-demonstrated-playing-doom-cortical-labs-cl1-video-shows-the-gameplay-and-explains-how-the-neurons-learn-the-game https://newatlas.com/brain/cortical-bioengineered-intelligence/ Music from #Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/adi-goldstein/blank-light License code: UMTSYQNNG4THEG5C

    8 min
  4. Shadows of the Lattice

    16 MARS

    Shadows of the Lattice

    Follow me into the flickering shadows of high-tech vaults, where the pulse of progress echoes like a distant heartbeat and the secrets of time await. This is Episode 8: Shadows of the Lattice. Ultimately, the shadows of the lattice do not simply keep time, they force us to question whether time was ever ours to possess. Sources: https://phys.org/news/2026-02-quantum-entanglement-optical-clocks-precision.html https://journals.aps.org/prl/accepted/10.1103/dyqm-k8p6 https://jila.colorado.edu/sites/default/files/group-files/Entanglement-enhanced%20optical%20lattice%20clock%20Phys.Org_.pdf https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.11810 Music from #Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/goods-cargo/breathe License code: BCNDH5OUAI1PNTIS

    5 min
  5. Bioelectrical Morphogenesis — Currents That Command the Flesh

    11 MARS

    Bioelectrical Morphogenesis — Currents That Command the Flesh

    We are not just discovering how life works. We are discovering that life has been running a parallel operating system the entire time. One that is hackable, scalable, and maybe, just maybe, aware in ways we have no language for yet. So the next time you look in the mirror, remember: beneath your skin, billions of cells are quietly voting with electricity, deciding who you are right now. And somewhere in a quiet lab, someone just learned how to change the vote. Sources https://drmichaellevin.org/research/spatial.html https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6815261/ https://news.uchicago.edu/how-bioelectricity-could-regrow-limbs-and-organs https://wyss.harvard.edu/media-post/frontier-science-10-bioelectrics-w-michael-levin/ https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)00223-3 Music from #Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/dirty-streets License code: RL9PIYROVDPUZDY7

    13 min
  6. The 99 Million Year Old Zombie

    8 MARS

    The 99 Million Year Old Zombie

    Tonight we descend into a prehistoric horror that has sat silence for eons waiting be seen. So turn the volume low, lock every door, and follow me into the amber. This is Episode 6: The 99 Million Year Old Zombie. Disclaimer: These are creative stories. The discoveries are real, and I weave in a lot of the facts, but most of the story is made up fiction. Links to sources included for a deeper dive into the real facts and research. Sources https://www.sciencenews.org/article/zombie-fungi-infecting-ants-fossil https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/24/science/amber-insect-zombie-fungi-fossil https://www.sci.news/paleontology/paleoophiocordyceps-fungi-14025.html

    7 min
  7. A Tale of Two Demons (Double Episode)

    5 MARS

    A Tale of Two Demons (Double Episode)

    Today we’re jumping into a special double episode. Two tales of invisible Demons; One true-yet-haunting tale where the science feels like uncovering something that was never meant to be seen, and another of a mythical cryptid that stalks the Alabama hills of California.  Grab your flashlight and follow me into then dark mist of this double doozy.  This is Episode 5: The Tale of Two Demons. Disclaimer: These are creative stories. The discoveries are real, and I weave in a lot of the facts, but most of the story is made up fiction. Links to sources included for a deeper dive into the real facts and research.Sources: Part 1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06318-8 https://doi.org/10.1139/p56-154 https://mitrano.physics.harvard.edu/news/discovering-demon https://phys.org/news/2023-08-demon-physicists-year-old-massless-neutral.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pines%27_demon Part 2 http://www.weirdca.com/location.php?location=292 https://www.calexplornia.com/california-urban-legends-monsters/ https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Lone_Pine_Mountain_Devil Music from #Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/darkest-child License code: AUQSUJC6EXBADCXE

    12 min
  8. The Death Ball Sponge

    2 MARS

    The Death Ball Sponge

    In this episode we dive into the dark abyss with a wild deep-ocean voyage. So follow me into the depths of Davey Jones’ Locker with Episode 4: The Death Ball Sponge. Disclaimer: These are creative stories. The discoveries are real, and I weave in a lot of the facts, but most of the story is made up fiction. Links to sources included for a deeper dive into the real facts and research. Sources: • https://oceancensus.org/press-release-carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-among-30-new-deep-sea-species-from-the-southern-ocean • https://e360.yale.edu/digest/southern-ocean-new-species • https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/29/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-among-new-species-found-in-depths-of-southern-ocean • https://utmsi.utexas.edu/science-and-the-sea/print-article/startling-new-death-ball-sponge-discovered • https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/armored-worms-and-death-ball-sponges-among-array-of-life-newly-documented-from-the-deep-sea Music from #Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/torus/alienation License code: FURY6AL0ZXQEWMGI

    8 min
  9. The Quantum Yin-Yang Whisper

    26 FÉVR.

    The Quantum Yin-Yang Whisper

    Today, we’re unraveling a cosmic puzzle that’s got science and mystery entangled in ways that defy explanation. A tale of elusive photons, timeless philosophy, and a haunting photo that blurs the veil between ancient wisdom and forbidden discovery. Now, let’s slip into the duality with Episode 3: The Quantum Yin-Yang Whisper. Disclaimer: These are creative stories. The discoveries are real, and I weave in a lot of the facts, but most of the story is made up fiction. Links to sources included for a deeper dive into the real facts and research. Sources https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/quantum-entanglement-visualized-for-the-first-time-ever/ https://www.livescience.com/physics-mathematics/quantum-physics/quantum-yin-yang-shows-two-photons-being-entangled-in-real-time https://thequantuminsider.com/2023/08/23/yin-yang-researchers-capture-the-mysterious-dance-of-entangled-photons-in-real-time/

    9 min

  10. 23 FÉVR.

    Orchestra of the Undead

    Welcome to Strange Bites, the podcast where we stir up the world’s weirdest, wildest, and most mind-bending new discoveries and serve them up in a piping hot 15 minutes or less.  Today we’re diving into a fresh discovery. A wild tale of music and mushrooms that will have you saying, That’s Groovy Baby.. This is Strange Bites.  Episode 2: Orchestra of the undead…  trust me, it’s weirder than whatever’s growing in your fridge right now. Disclaimer: These are creative stories. The discoveries are real, and I weave in a lot of the facts, but most of the story is made up fiction. Links to sources included for a deeper dive into the real facts and research.Here are some cool links to check out about making music from mushrooms. https://youtu.be/hASCAGgZNZ0?si=vk1dY1poW0ZGrDaO https://www.tiktok.com/@modernbiology/video/7024251051389865221?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/may/13/artists-making-music-from-mushrooms

    10 min
  11. A Bone Collector in the House of Death

    21 FÉVR.

    A Bone Collector in the House of Death

    Welcome to Strange Bites, the podcast where we stir up the weirdest, wildest, and most mind-bending new discoveries and serve them to you in a piping hot 15 minutes or less. Today, like every day, we’re diving into a fresh discovery that’s equal parts “whoa” and “wait, really? Episode 1. A Bone Collector in the House of Death A fun story about the discovery of the Bone Collector Caterpillar. Disclaimer: These are creative stories. The discoveries are real, and I weave in a lot of the facts, but most of the story is made up fiction. Links to sources included for a deeper dive into the real facts and research. For more info you can check out https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/carnivorous-bone-collector-caterpillars-wear-corpses-as-camouflage/ #Weirdscience #science

    8 min
  • 11 épisodes

À propos

Science done dark. Real facts wrapped up in a dark, creative wrapper, and served in small 15 minute or less bites. Two episodes every week. Come join us as we dive into the strange and ponder the ramifications of these breakthroughs and discoveries. Disclaimer: These are creative stories. The discoveries are real, the facts are real, but most of the story is made up fiction. Links to sources included in the show notes for a deeper dives. If you like these stories please subscribe, drop me a comment or leave a review, and for more weird short bites check out my other podcast, Legends of the Hidden Horde. Thank you for listening. Stay strange, and question everything. Lance

Informations

  • Création
    Lance Martin
  • Années d’activité
    2 k
  • Épisodes
    11
  • Classification
    Tous publics
  • Copyright
    © Lance Martin
  • Site web de l’émission
    Strange Bites