Level Up Human Simon Watt and Rachel Wheeley

Simon and Rach consider listener suggestions for human body improvements. This week, adjustable digestive tracts, floral farts, and retractable testicles.
 
In the news
Elon Musk’s baby: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52557291
Ocean warming: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2242786-a-japanese-nuclear-power-plant-created-a-habitat-for-tropical-fish/
Golden tongue: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52683468
Wound healing blue-green algae: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2243352-wound-healing-patch-of-blue-green-algae-mends-skin-quickly/
Listener suggestions
@TraceyH100 - retractable breasts and testicles
@KJames_IntBio - a pause button for the digestive tract
@sheencr - floral farts
Check out…
In mice twitter account: https://twitter.com/justsaysinmice
Kangaroos penis and testicles the other way round: https://grist.org/animals/kangaroo-genitals-are-weirder-than-you-ever-thought-possible-2/
Face lice with no anuses: https://www.livescience.com/65533-your-face-mites-never-poop.html
Miracle berry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synsepalum_dulcificum
Clare Jonas’s blog article: https://www.thatthinkingfeeling.co.uk/blog/smell-language-difficult-to-describe
Does it fart?: https://amzn.to/2TkflxU
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S2E12: Level Up Human is a podcast on a mission to redesign the human body.
Simon and Rach chat to biologist and science YouTuber Sally Le Page and science communicator James Piercy.
We discuss periods, expanding skulls and a rebooted ear.
In the news 
Female female aggression in fruit flies: https://bit.ly/LUHfruitflies
The new kilogram: physicsworld.com/a/new-definition-of-the-kilogram-comes-into-force/
Robots powered by the spines of rats: https://bit.ly/LUHRatSpines
The pitches 
Sally wants selective ovulation, James wants a skull flap. There’s a suggestion from the audience for One Massive Ear and Simon is borrowing from the opossums which could hold the key to saving snakebite victims.
Mentioned this episode
Dragons’ Den: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006vq92
Lesbian lizard colonies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico_whiptail
Parthenogenesis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenogenesis
Decompressive craniectomy: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319755
Fontanelle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontanelle
Barn owl hearing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SI73-Ka51E
Opossum’s natural immunity to snake venom: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/03/150323-opossums-snakes-snakebites-venom-health-world-science/
Stay In for Towel Day: https://www.savetherhino.org/get-involved/events/stay-in-for-towel-day-2020/
Support us
If you're enjoying the podcast, you can support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/leveluphuman
Leave us an iTunes review: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/level-up-human/id1096637285
…or join our newsletter: http://www.leveluphuman.com/keep-in-touch
With thanks to the Physiological Society.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/leveluphuman.

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Simon and Rach consider regeneration. Humans are pretty rubbish at it. Some lizards, newts and salamanders are INCREDIBLE at it. How do we get it, and would we really want to?
 
Check out…
The Shining: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/
THAT tweet: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1256239815256797184
Bee sniffing tech: https://phys.org/news/2010-03-bee-sniffing-technology-dangerous-vapors.html
FaceTime some Japanese eels: https://www.businessinsider.com/video-call-eels-tokyo-aquarium-so-they-dont-forget-people-2020-5?r=US&IR=T
Zoo animals are lonely in lockdown: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-52493750
T1000 – Liquid Metal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8h8d2XLWKY
Teratoma: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teratoma
Planarian worm: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planarian
Combination of master and mistress is: Mastress. No, I don’t have a link for that.
Support us
It would make Rach so happy if you would support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/leveluphuman
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Join our newsletter to get all our news first: http://www.leveluphuman.com/keep-in-touch
 
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S2E11: Level Up Human is a podcast on a mission to redesign the human body.
This week, Simon and Rach chat to naturalist and broadcaster Steve Backshall and visual perception scientist Kate Storrs.
We discuss enhanced vision, limb regeneration, gecko hands, super kidneys and re-breathing.
Extended show notes including edited transcripts are available here.
In the news 
Kate is tickled and baffled by a news story about Microsoft
Steve's news story is entitled, 'Venomous Frogs use Heads as Weapons.'
Rach's levelled up human is Bertolt Meyer, who has hacked his prosthetic hand to hook it up to his synth.
The pitches 
Steve wants to borrow the abilities of the Iberian sharp-ribbed newt, a type of salamander which can regenerate limbs and organs.
Kate thinks the human body should be able to see the polarisation of light
Plus pitches from our audience and Mother Nature herself 🌱
Mentioned this episode
Microsoft's new patent: https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a32318654/microsoft-brainwaves-mine-cryptocurrency
Venomous frogs use heads as weapons: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280753150_Venomous_Frogs_Use_Heads_as_Weapons
Bertolt Meyer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSKBtEBRWi4
'Scuba-diving' lizard, Anolis aquaticus: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-03/bu-lc032019.php
Steve's Home Schooling (9.30am, Wednesdays): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm-URP49TgSgyIU1rgh2m7A/videos
The Mirror Trap: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-mirror-trap-online-tickets-104125171190
Stay In for Towel Day: https://www.savetherhino.org/get-involved/events/stay-in-for-towel-day-2020/
Support us
If you're enjoying the podcast, you can support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/leveluphuman
Leave us an iTunes review: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/level-up-human/id1096637285
…or join our newsletter: http://www.leveluphuman.com/keep-in-touch
With thanks to the Physiological Society.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/leveluphuman.

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Episode summary
Simon and Rachel take a detailed look at flight. Why can’t we fly, how could we achieve it, and wouldn't it be exhausting?
An edited transcript is available here.
Mentioned this episode
Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, the most attractive man in the world, according to Simon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZhCCu-2gbw
Starlink: https://www.starlink.com/
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy
The incredible, gliding Hoatzin – the Johnny Rotten of the bird world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87_shPJxdns
Barotrauma: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barotrauma
Pentadactyl limb: https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/pentadactyl-limb
Support us
If you're enjoying the podcast, you can support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/leveluphuman 
Leave us an iTunes review: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/level-up-human/id1096637285 
…or join our newsletter: http://www.leveluphuman.com/keep-in-touch
Follow us
Twitter: twitter.com/leveluphuman 
Facebook: facebook.com/leveluphuman 
Instagram: instagram.com/leveluphuman 
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Simon and Rachel recap Episode 10 of Series 2, where we chatted with immunologist Professor Sheena Cruickshank and microbiologist Dr. Chloe James. Plus Simon has good news for Eurovision fans.
We dive deeper into what RNA is, how to train bacteriophages, and how we know humans are still evolving.
An edited transcript is available here.
Mentioned this episode
2001: A Space Odyssey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_(film)
Patrick Moore’s Gamesmaster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCuPX_tmOOo
Ribonucleic acid (RNA): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA 
Messenger RNA: https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/messenger-rna
Transfer RNA: https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Transfer-RNA
Are we evolving to survive Alzheimers?: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/alzheimers-asthma-high-cholesterol-eradicated-natural-selection-plos-biology-research-a7932566.html
Thunderdome (featuring Tina Turner): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HeZrI5Giw4
Cytokine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine
Cytokine storm: https://www.newscientist.com/term/cytokine-storm/
The AI Eurovision Song Contest: https://www.vprobroadcast.com/titles/ai-songcontest.html
Boris: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_(band)
Support us
 
If you're enjoying the podcast, you can support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/leveluphuman
Or leave us an iTunes review: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/level-up-human/id1096637285
 
Follow us
 
Twitter: twitter.com/leveluphuman
Facebook: facebook.com/leveluphuman
Instagram: instagram.com/leveluphuman
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/leveluphuman.

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