Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:02:01 - Chapter 15 predictions
00:04:44 - Chapter 15
00:05:06 - Consensus and radio signals
00:18:31 - Chapter 15 again
00:21:39 - End of chapter 15 and consensus again
00:28:43 - Chapter 16 predictions
00:31:53 - Chapter 16
00:32:50 - Accurate stem cell representation
00:34:33 - End of the book, end of the trilogy
00:35:01 - The trilogy’s open-endedness
00:36:24 - Mars colony issues and future
00:44:53 - Short summary of the book 3
00:59:45 - Topics we discussed in part 3 of book 3
01:03:15 - High-level summary of the trilogy
01:08:46 - Question: are Oankali heros or villains?
01:13:58 - Question: is Humanity still a thing? [1 - 3]
01:22:26 - Question: What is our opinion about the Oankali society and what choice would we make?
01:27:48 - Question: Is it a utopian or a dystopian society?
01:39:26 - Question: Will we re-read the trilogy?
01:41:50 - Some data on our recordings
01:44:40 - We owe You a drink if you meet us
01:45:41 - Future plans
01:49:55 - Outro

References

Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal - Wiki about Neanderthals.
• [2] https://www.britannica.com/science/human-evolution - Encyclopaedia Britannica article about human evolution.
• [3] https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/what-happened-to-the-neanderthals-68245020/ - What happened to the Neanderthals?

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:02:19 - Chapter 13 predictions
00:04:21 - Chapter 13
00:07:54 - Neocolonalism [1]
00:16:05 - Chapter 14 predictions
00:17:43 - Chapter 14
00:21:58 - Colony and choices of humans
00:27:00 - Back to chapter 14
00:29:26 - End of chapter and Jodah’s enhanced attractiveness [2]
00:33:37 - Chapter 15 predictions
00:39:09 - Kindred (SPOILERS) and rant about adaptations
00:53:01 - Watch movies first, then read
00:55:26 - Outro

References

Neocolonalism:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neocolonialism - What is Neocolonalism?

Attractiveness, grades and bias:

• [2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016517652200283X - Article investigating and showing that more attractive students got worse grades if the lessons were online.
• [3] https://www.beapplied.com/post/the-truth-about-name-blind-recruitment-heres-what-the-science-says - Short article about name bias.
• [4] https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/ab6ce0 - Research article about name bias.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:02:00 - Chapter 11 predictions
00:04:00 - Realism and internal vs external character perspectives
00:06:14 - The power of small changes well applied
00:06:54 - Consistency and Consequences in world-building
00:07:43 - Humanity meeting the Oankali at their peak
00:10:36 - Counter measures for Human diplomats, picture Arrival
00:12:26 - Chapter 11 summary
00:13:52 - There’s always some dark Sh!t going on in the background…
00:16:00 - Digestible doors
00:16:37 - Poor trigger dicipline doesn’t pay
00:17:06 - Supercharged Ooloi Mind whammy
00:17:56 - Jodahs explains
00:18:50 - It was all for nothing!
00:20:08 - I’ve know you 3 mins and I’ll already take a bullet for you
00:20:57 - Chapter 12 predictions
00:21:53 - Humans making a sensible choice?
00:22:26 - Chapter 12 summary
00:22:32 - Impressive healing abilities
00:23:10 - Hunger from healing - conservation of energy
00:23:15 - Octavia spoiled us with attention to detail
00:25:12 - Santos got Aoar captured for good reasons
00:30:30 - Jodahs dictates the terms of their imprisonment
00:32:22 - Chapter 13 Predictions
00:34:50 - Climatic anticlimax
00:36:37 - Are you sure you want to go to Mars?
00:37:48 - Outro

References

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:02:14 - Chapter 9 predictions
00:02:46 - Chapter 9 begins
00:05:58 - Darkvision [1 - 5]
00:15:44 - Back to chapter 9
00:18:18 - “You know we won’t”
00:19:34 - Chapter 10 prediction
00:22:12 - Chapter 10 summary
00:23:11 - Constructs are much more powerful
00:25:12 - Back to Chapter 10
00:26:31 - Brave New World and 1984
00:28:46 - Santons and his mouth
00:30:33 - End of chapter 10
00:31:28 - Thermal vision
00:34:55 - Chapter 11 predictions
00:36:31 - Outro

References

Adaptation to darkness:

• [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2140394/pdf/499.pdf - Review article from 1920 investigating the adaptation of our eyes to darkness.
• [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_eye#Components - Wiki article about the human eye.
• [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_phototransduction - Wiki article explaining the change in rhodopsin as well as the cyclic GMP involvement in amplification of the cycle.

Carrots and WWII propaganda:

• [4] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-wwii-propaganda-campaign-popularized-the-myth-that-carrots-help-you-see-in-the-dark-28812484/ - A very nice article about the whole development of the propaganda.

Vitamin A and dark vision:

• [5] https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/72/4/1004/4729452 - An article about how Vitamin A and beta-carotene increases responsiveness to dark.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:28 - Welcome and Extra arms
00:02:40 - Chapter 7 predictions
00:04:08 - Chapter 7 summary
00:04:16 - Octavia’s Visit to Machu Pichu [1]
00:07:36 - 3 Humans on the mountaintop
00:08:03 - Aaor’s Impatience
00:08:40 - Jodahs insults a small man in a cave
00:09:49 - Speculation about Santos’ condition Bloom Syndrome? [2]
00:12:38 - Jodahs Speech 0
00:13:33 - Jodahs offers to heal Santos
00:15:02 - Confusion of the Humans
00:18:30 - Chapter 8 predictions
00:20:25 - Chapter 8 summary
00:20:40 - Jodahs continues to inadvertently insult Santos
00:24:54 - Jodah’s motives
00:27:39 - Are YOU of beekeeping age?
00:33:00 - End of chapter 8
00:33:17 - Chapter 9 prediction
00:33:15 - Outro

References

Octavia’s Visit to Machu Pichu:

• [1] https://huntington.org/verso/mining-archive-octavia-e-butler

Bloom Syndrome:

• [2] https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/915/bloom-syndrome - Symptoms of Bloom Syndrome

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:03:06 - Chapter 5 predictions
00:04:34 - Chapter 5 summary
00:05:51 - Examples of extreme human behaviour [1, 2]
00:08:26 - Human contradiction and fish smell
00:11:29 - Acute need for mates
00:14:30 - Back to chapter 5
00:15:55 - Species and infidelity [3 - 5]
00:24:24 - End of chapter 5 and a cliffhanger
00:25:55 - Chapter 6 predictions
00:27:03 - Chapter 6 summary
00:30:33 - Uncertain how to read this chapter
00:32:39 - The Irony…
00:33:51 - End of chapter 6
00:34:34 - Horror and comedy combined
00:37:17 - Chapter 7 prediction
00:39:57 - Outro

References

Honey hunting in Nepal:

• [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwtlNE_vHd8 - Video showing the honey hunting in Nepal. It is hallucinogenic.

Kambo cleanse:

• [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kambo_cleanse - Wikipedia article about the use of skin secretion from a poisonous frog - it is considered an alternative medicine and it’s dangerous.

Sperm competition:

• [3] https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2020.0064 - Article on sperm competition and evolution.

Testicular volume vs infidelity:

• [4] https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1305579110 - A primary research article discussing the inverse correlation between testicular volume and nurturing behaviour.

Culture vs infidelity:

• [5] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-019-0654-y.epdf?author_access_token=rH76kJTFiJHguLimJS89nNRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0MsSSmqyNvbAEWRHfnXIMhn8P1jiFpxDYl4qsnjI45Zd3lSF71fE28Ny8aTmgtIq9s6PAB0qE78ATYNVKDLUnh3DYYqPNoLPzExgbcqlYA0qQ%3D%3D - A primary research article on the attitude towards infidelity across different cultures.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:30 - Welcome
00:01:20 - Chapter 3 predictions
00:03:28 - Chapter 3 summary
00:05:32 - Dissolution of Aaor’s body
00:07:10 - Danger of loose Oankali Organelles
00:10:04 - Jodahs ‘Respects their decision’
00:12:23 - Oankali Super-organism, apoptosis [1,2] analogy
00:16:00 - Cell-cycle Checkpoints [3,4] analogy
00:17:25 - Chapter 4 predictions
00:19:24 - Chapter 4 summary
00:20:40 - Jesus and Tomas test the limits of their bond with Jodahs
00:20:58 - Lilith’s painting
00:24:00 - Doubting your own motives
00:25:36 - Leaving this place
00:26:01 - Sharing the Ooloi genetic memory
00:36:02 - Chapter 5 predictions
00:38:28 - Outro

References

Apoptosis:

• [1] Khan academy https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/developmental-biology/apoptosis-in-development/a/apoptosis
• [2] Review https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2117903/ Cell-cycle Checkpoints:
• [3] Khan academy https://www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-biology/cell-communication-and-cell-cycle/regulation-of-cell-cycle/a/cell-cycle-checkpoints-article
• [4] Review https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4990352/

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:03:26 - Back at Kahguyaht
00:03:59 - Chapter 1 predictions
00:05:39 - Chapter 1 summary
00:09:43 - Lilith’s advise
00:11:12 - Kahguyaht is an …
00:13:03 - Lilith’s sacrifice
00:16:31 - Change in Oankali
00:18:17 - Chapter 2 predictions
00:19:16 - Chapter 2 summary
00:21:51 - Ooloi’s perspective
00:28:15 - Nikanj’s first lesson
00:29:45 - Nikanj’s second lesson
00:32:41 - Nikanj’s third lesson
00:33:51 - Chapter 3 prediction
00:34:31 - Issues with Oankali metamorphosis
00:46:59 - Hunger not need [1]
00:51:32 - Outro

References

Hierarchy of needs:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs - Wikipedia article about hirerarchy of needs.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:31 - Welcome
00:01:28 - Last Chapters of par II
00:01:54 - Chapter 11 predictions
00:02:30 - It’s too Quiet despite the GSWs
00:04:02 - Chapter 11 summary begins
00:06:30 - Languages without ungendered pronouns
00:09:01 - Full Names
00:10:17 - Fear of the Unknown
00:10:54 - Lilith Disapproves
00:12:58 - end of Chapter 11
00:13:00 - Chapter 12 predictions
00:14:02 - What’s Aaor going to do?
00:16:16 - Chapter 12 summary
00:16:36 - Oankali Still Not Getting Humans
00:18:19 - Disturbing Origins of the Village
00:19:40 - Spina bifida [1]
00:21:05 - Sorry Alabama
00:22:44 - Folate Deficiency
00:23:39 - Neurofibromatosis [2]
00:24:30 - Oankali Organelle Panspermia
00:26:05 - Collective Vs Individual thinking
00:29:00 - The Git Tree of Life
00:31:50 - Lilith’s reluctant scilence
00:32:00 - Types of Neurofibromatosis [2]
00:39:40 - “The Sexy new disease”
00:41:00 - COVID paper Richard’s a Co-author on [3,4]
00:43:10 - Aaor’s Desire for mates
00:46:22 - Part II Summary
00:54:30 - Representation for Rare Genetic Diseases
00:57:32 - Part III predictions
00:58:00 - The problem Aaor’s Hunger for Human mates
01:01:46 - Outro

References

REFERENCES: Spina bifida:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spina_bifida

Neurofibromatosis:

• [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurofibromatosis

COVID papers:

• [3] Spleen tyrosine kinase mediates innate and adaptive immune crosstalk in SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination https://doi.org/10.15252/emmm.202215888
• [4] Search tool for COVID papers http://covidauthors.org/search/

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:01:37 - “Friend”?
00:02:24 - More energy, full optimism
00:02:57 - Chapter 9 predictions
00:03:51 - Chapter 9 summary begins
00:05:57 - Michael fanboying at Richard [1]
00:10:00 - Back to chapter 9
00:11:43 - How do Oankali remove body waste [2, 3]
00:20:57 - Do Pangolins sweat?
00:24:53 - Back to chapter 9 again
00:26:36 - End of chapter 9 and chocolate tangent
00:28:16 - Chapter 10 predictions
00:28:48 - Chapter 10 summary
00:30:26 - Unconscious memory
00:33:08 - It’s always p*rn
00:38:29 - Back to chapter 10
00:43:06 - Chapter 11 predictions
00:44:31 - Oankali reaction to human village
00:47:23 - Outro

References

Andy Serkis as Gollum:

• [1] https://edition.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/09/odd.serkis.reut/index.html - Basically, Andy Serkis would drink a juice made of honey, lemon, giner and fruit teas to preserve his voice.

Vegan diet and vitamin B12:

• [2] https://www.vegansociety.com/resources/nutrition-and-health/nutrients/vitamin-b12/what-every-vegan-should-know-about-vitamin-b12 - Vegan society article about the vitamin B12.
• [3] https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20030618/vegetarian-diet-b12-deficiency - WebMD article about the issues associated with lack of vitamin B12.

Do Pangolins sweat?

• [4] http://jkv.vet.ku.ac.th/new/images/journal/18-1/02.pdf - No, they do not have sweat or sebaceous glands in the dermis.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:31 - Welcome
00:01:50 - Chapter 7 predictions
00:05:00 - Orbital Oankali eyes?
00:06:36 - Chapter 7 summary starts
00:06:42 - Jodhas’ stalker vibes
00:08:02 - Human faced pangolin to creepy clone
00:09:50 - Horror or Jodhas’ strength
00:13:25 - Protecting the village is futile
00:16:15 - REDACTED
00:16:30 - Age & Sexual maturity
00:20:00 - Boiling the incest frog
00:22:05 - minimum viable population [1]
00:23:50 - Revealing the fate of Earth
00:26:34 - The village doesn’t seem better…
00:28:30 - No Good Choices
00:30:12 - Chapter 8 summary begins
00:30:40 - Pro: Better facial hair?
00:31:40 - Temporal perspective & Imaginary stock prices
00:33:30 - Pro: Long Life
00:34:32 - Another well timed metaporphosis
00:35:18 - Ooloi ~= Vampires?
00:36:40 - Weird Sex stuff (Con?)
00:38:35 - Chapter 9 predictions
00:40:02 - Unreliable Narrator
00:41:42 - Outro

References

• [1] Minimum viable population https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_viable_population

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:31 - Welcome
00:01:40 - Chapter 5 predictions
00:02:17 - Chapter 5 summary starts
00:04:26 - Jodhas’ peculiar appearance
00:06:25 - New Humans
00:07:32 - Determining if you can speak a lanugage with just bodylanguage
00:09:26 - Human Catch and release
00:18:40 - muted response to Jodhas the Oou.
00:19:10 - Evolutionary logic of Ooloi jealouosey
00:24:50 - Build in bug repellent.
00:27:15 - Chapter 6 predictions
00:28:14 - Chapter 6 summary begins
00:28:26 - Jodhas Stalks
00:29:08 - WHO MICROWAVED THE FISH!
00:31:25 - Fertile Humans
00:35:30 - Chapter 6 ends
00:36:40 - Overconfidence of the Oannkali
00:40:34 - Chapter 7 predictions
00:44:58 - Outro

References

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:01:58 - Chapter 3 predictions
00:03:51 - Chapter 3 summary starts
00:06:45 - Vision’s importance [1]
00:08:40 - Post-nuclear sickness [2 - 4]
00:13:09 - Chapter 3 ends
00:14:07 - Chapter 4 predictions
00:15:14 - Chapter 4 summary begins
00:18:15 - The mothership awaits
00:21:00 - Secondary trade?
00:22:45 - Lizardman
00:26:54 - Chapter 4 ends
00:27:31 - Back to 3 part family?
00:31:01 - Outro

References

Importance of senses:

• [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6787282/ - An article discussing the importance of vision over any other sensory modality.

Post-nuclear sickness:

• [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_nuclear_explosions_on_human_health - Wikipedia article about the effects of nuclear radiation on human body.
• [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acute_radiation_syndrome - Acute radiation sickness
• [4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7235763/ - Review article investigating history of previous publications about the effects

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:00:58 - Content corner
00:15:36 - Part 1 summary
00:22:51 - Chapter 1 predictions
00:24:24 - Chapter 1 summary
00:29:31 - Ooloi possessiveness
00:32:13 - Chapter 1 again
00:35:32 - “Creature from the Black Lagoon” and Ray Harryhausen [1]
00:36:59 - Chapter 2 predictions
00:37:52 - Chapter 2 summary
00:40:11 - Humankind treated as a woman
00:42:12 - Chapter 2 again
00:44:04 - Chapter 3 prediction
00:47:29 - Outro

References

Ray Harryhausen:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Harryhausen - Article about Ray Harryhausen

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:40 - Welcome
00:02:30 - Chapter 7 predictions
00:03:45 - Chapter 7 summary
00:06:00 - Experimenting on the humans in stasis
00:06:40 - Closer 1st person on Johdas
00:10:00 - Johdas’ controling cancerous cells
00:13:00 - Ironic fire resistance
00:15:30 - Johdas is shot
00:17:00 - Where would we rather be shot?
00:21:03 - Ideological Evaporative cooling
00:21:50 - Chapter 8 predictions
00:22:40 - Chapter 8 summary
00:25:50 - mirroring appearances
00:26:40 - Restructured pelvis
00:30:00 - A change in Gait
00:31:50 - Porridge gland anyone?
00:34:00 - Ooloi live only as long as their mates
00:37:00 - Inappropriate Ooloi seductions
00:43:00 - forced choices
00:44:15 - How to feel about having your DNA read
00:47:46 - Environmental DNA monitoring [1]
00:50:02 - Chapter 9 predictions
00:51:00 - Chapter 9 summary
00:54:30 - mood affects Johdas’ control
00:58:04 - Part II: Exile Ch 1 predictions
01:00:40 - Outro
01:02:16 - pre-amble

References

• [1] Environmental DNA monitoring example use-case in biodiversity monitoring https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2014.11.019

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:01:53 - Chapter 5 predictions
00:06:39 - Chapter 5 summary
00:07:38 - Lo and the ships
00:12:07 - Back to chapter 5
00:15:44 - Tehkorahs
00:18:14 - Chapter 6 predictions
00:19:13 - Chapter 6 summary
00:21:08 - Being “productive”
00:24:23 - Lilith’s guilt
00:26:19 - Messages in Lo
00:28:48 - Nikanj’s unbelievable words
00:36:56 - Jodahs’ loneliness
00:39:13 - Coincidence? I think not!
00:40:58 - Forced sexual development
00:45:00 - Jodahs’ abilities
00:46:58 - Chapter 7 predictions
00:48:43 - Outro

References

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:03:07 - Chapter 3 predictions
00:05:08 - Chapter 3 summary
00:11:27 - Chapter 4 predictions
00:12:42 - Chapter 4 summary
00:13:03 - Multiple metamorphoses in animals
00:15:15 - Rhesus disease and evolutionary advantage of blood systems [1 - 5]
00:20:55 - Double ciculation
00:24:48 - Oankali organelle [6 - 8]
00:32:40 - Fifth Element and multiple DNA strands redundancy
00:41:18 - Yashi organ
00:45:18 - Nikanj, the protective parent
00:47:45 - Ooloi and physical malleability
00:52:41 - Theorising the sex determination in Oankali
00:53:48 - Young ooloi abilities and its problems
01:00:37 - Jodahs getting horny
01:06:13 - Chapter 5 predictions
01:08:03 - Damn you Table of Contents!
01:08:25 - Outro

References

Rhesus disease:

• [1] https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/rhesus-disease/ - NHS article about rhesus disease.
• [2] https://www.nct.org.uk/pregnancy/tests-scans-and-antenatal-checks/rhesus-negative-blood-and-pregnancy-what-you-need-know - What is Rhesus Disease?
• [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rh_blood_group_system - Wikipedia article explaining what is the Rhesus blood group system.

Blood systems evolutionary reasons:

• [4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4034584/ - Review article pondering over the evolutionary reasons of multiple blood types.
• [5] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-people-have-differ/ - Short article about potential reasons why we have multiple blood types.

Mitochondrial inheritance:

• [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrion - What are mitochondria?
• [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_DNA - Wikipedia article about mitochondrial DNA.
• [8] https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1810946115 - Interestingly, although mitochondrium is inherited from mother, the mitochondrial DNA can come from both parents.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:02:53 - Meaning of Imago
00:04:21 - Chapter 1 predictions
00:05:45 - Chapter 1 summary begins
00:07:41 - Maturation process and acquiring new senses (not so useful in humans)
00:09:12 - Rock’n’Roll and Nikanj’s scent
00:12:30 - Sense of smell and Richard disses owls [1 - 4]
00:15:08 - Back to Chapter 1 and Jodahs
00:16:31 - Grasped and eaten out by the Oankali door
00:17:32 - Meaning of Jodahs’ name [5]
00:20:04 - We love Lilith
00:21:19 - Still a child - Michael
00:23:26 - Later generations of constructs are uniform
00:26:01 - Someone has hornies for Jodahs
00:27:02 - Chapter 2 predictions
00:28:22 - Chapter 2 summary begins
00:29:41 - Important line
00:30:17 - Nikanj gets shocked for the first time ever
00:32:10 - Nature vs Nurture
00:36:17 - Chapter 2 ending and Bad Boy Nikanj
00:38:03 - We would love to be a fly on the wall when Lilith discussed Akin with Nikanj
00:40:05 - Chapter 3 prediction
00:42:56 - Michael spoiled himself with the Table of Contents…
00:43:39 - Outro

References

Sense of smell:

• [1] https://www.scielo.cl/pdf/ijmorphol/v29n3/art47.pdf - Article quantifying the size of the brain areas responsible for the sense of smell between humans and dogs (and goats).
• [2] https://p302.zlibcdn.com/dtoken/6acede3dee0c493745cf4885a1de1d90 - …but it is not as bad in humans as we think.

Owl brain size:

• [3] https://www.newscientist.com/lastword/mg24532641-300-twit-or-true-are-owls-really-intelligent/ - Quick article explaining why owls are not the smartest birds.
• [4] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042698908003982 - Article that goes into details on brain size and eye size between bird species.

Naming convention:

• [5] https://www.xenothesis.com/04_xenogenesis_dawn_family_ch1-2/ - Yes, we have discussed it before literally in Book 1 episode 4.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:31:00 - Intro
00:03:22 - Historical Lifespan Trends [1,2]
00:08:36 - Definitions: Ageing, Immortality
00:11:54 - Aging as increasing risk of death with time [3,4], Negligible senescence [5] constant (low) risk of death
00:13:30 - how immortal is immortal?
00:15:52 - Mortal Individuals, immortal populations
00:17:16 - Individuals are energetically open but informationally closed
00:20:30 - The environment cannot update an individual’s genome
00:21:10 - Individuals are robust populations are antifragile [6]
00:23:20 - T/Memetic feedback on genetic information [7]
00:24:16 - the ‘immortal’ jellyfish? - blurring individual/population boundaries [8]
00:25:40 - Soma Vs Germline [9,10]
00:32:07 - Hurdles to Achieving more robust ageing
00:33:30 - Senescence [11]
00:37:18 - Antagonistic Pleiotropy [12]
00:41:40 - Descriptive frameworks: The Hallmarks of ageing [13, 14]
00:42:26 - primary hallmarks
00:42:30 - Genomic Instability
00:42:48 - Telomeres [15,16]
00:45:10 - Hayflick limit [17]
00:47:30 - DNA Repair and Ageing as signal transmission problem [18,19]
00:50:16 - Game theory of robustness & reproductive speed trade-offs [20]
00:54:51 - DNA fidelity and Repair genes often mutated in progeriod (accelerated ageing) diseases. [21]
00:56:38 - Organisms have similar mutation densities at end of life [22]
00:57:10 - Error Catastrophe theory of ageing [23]
00:58:02 - Cause of Damage Hallmarks, epigenetics
00:59:40 - DNA methylation
01:00:07 - Histone modifications
01:02:40 - Epigenetics and Development
01:03:45 - Digital vs analog computation in biology
01:06:02 - Epigenetic age clocks [24]
01:08:27 - Predicting when you will die
01:14:40 - Integrative hallmarks: Stem Cells
01:18:38 - Waddington’s Epigenetic landscape [25,26]
01:25:24 - Induced Stem cells and cellular reprogramming [27]
01:29:20 - rejuvenation through epigenetic reprogramming [28]
01:37:00 - How cells know what type of cell to be
01:44:00 - Rolling the ball up the hill and ensuring it lands in the right groove.
01:46:30 - Antagonistic hallmarks
01:47:30 - Getting rid of scenescent cells - Senolytic Drugs
01:49:35 - Dietary restriction [29]
01:50:20 - Hormesis - what doesn’t kill you make you stronger [30]
01:51:51 - Intermittent fasting [31]
01:59:10 - Mitochondria and ROS [32]
02:03:00 - The challenge of Neurons
02:07:00 - The importance of change, earthseed
02:10:00 - Extending the female fertility window, ageing Oocytes
02:12:40 - structrutal mutations from mum and point mutations from dad
02:15:35 - Socio-economics of longer life
02:18:50 - MORE POWER!!! == MORE BETTER
02:23:18 - Mind Uploading & Cryonics [33-35]
02:24:10 - Technical challenges of mind uploading
02:25:50 - ‘Upload’ TV series [36,37]
02:27:20 - Bobiverse [38]
02:27:40 - Permutation City [39]
02:28:10 - Age of Em [40]
02:30:38 - Ethical Questions
02:31:40 - The Immortal dictator problem
02:32:20 - To what problem is mortality an acceptable solution?
02:34:40 - learn, work, retire, (repeat)?
02:39:05 - Transhumanism, i’ll take a better brain please
02:40:20 - Richard’s (Supervillan?) Origin Story
02:41:26 - I should not wish to outlive my friends
02:45:00 - I am a Strange loop, loss and conciousness [41]
02:46:50 - Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (chapter 39) [42]
02:52:50 - Surface Detail [43]
02:53:24 - Richard on The Bayesian Conspiracy [44]
02:53:00 - Outro

References

Differences between not ageing and being immortal:

• [1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/lifeexpectancies/bulletins/nationallifetablesunitedkingdom/2018to2020 - Current UK Life Expectancy (79.0M, 82.9F)
• [2] https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/life-expectancy/ - Global Life Expectancy (73.2)
• [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gompertz-Makeham_law_of_mortality - Gompertz–Makeham law of mortality
• [4] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2018.11.002 - Age-related diseases as vicious cycles
• [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negligible_senescence - Negligible senescence
• [6] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13530973-antifragile Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder (Incerto #4) by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• [7] https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/on-the-human/2010/08/temes-an-emerging-third-replicator/ memes & temes

Immortality and the Individual:

• [8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_dohrnii - ‘hydra’ Turritopsis dohrnii the ‘immortal’ jellyfish
• [9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_soma_theory_of_aging - Disposable soma theory of aging
• [10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristlecone_pine Bristlecone pine

Cellular Senescence:

• [11] https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/wounds/article/cellular-senescence-what-why-and-how - Cellular Senescence: What, Why, and How

The Hallmarks of ageing:

• [12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antagonistic_pleiotropy_hypothesis - Antagonistic Pleiotropy (and the Selection shadow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selection_shadow)
• [13] Lopez-Otin et al. 2013 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2013.05.039 - The Hallmarks of Aging
• [14] https://richardjacton.github.io/thesis/introduction.html#the-biology-of-ageing - Summary of the hallmark from Richard’s PhD thesis

Telomeres:

• [15] The end replication problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8unMOUySGYY
• [16] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2819049/ - How Telomeres Solve the End-Protection Problem
• [17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayflick_limit - Hayflick limit, maximum number of times a cell can divide

Ageing as signal transmission problem:

• [18] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Shannon#Information_theory
• [19] Jenkinson et al. 2017 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28346445 - Potential energy landscapes identify the information-theoretic nature of the epigenome. ~ - [20] ageless
• [21] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progeroid_syndromes - Progeriod (accelerated ageing)
• [22] Cagan et al. 2022 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04618-z - Somatic mutation rates scale with lifespan across mammals
• [23] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Error_catastrophe - Orgel’s Error Catastrophe

Epigenetics of Ageing and biological clocks:

• [24] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00077-8 - Epigenetic Clocks
• [25] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._H._Waddington#Epigenetic_landscape - Waddington’s Epigenetic landscape
• [26] https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.084822 - Cellular reprogramming and the Epigenetic landscape
• [27] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induced_pluripotent_stem_cell - Induced pluripotent stem cell, the Yamanaka factors
• [28] https://dx.doi.org/10.1186%2Fs13148-021-01158-7 - Review of Cellular reprogramming and epigenetic rejuvenation

Dietary restriction:

• [29] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie_restriction#Life_extension - Dietary restriction
• [30] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormesis - Hormesis
• [31] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermittent_fasting - Intermittent fasting
• [32] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-radical_theory_of_aging - ROS / free radicals in ageing

Mind Uploading & Cryonics:

• [33] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics - Cryonics

• [34] https://www.cryonicsunderground.com/ - Cryonics Underground Podcast

• [35] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tdiKTSdE9Y - Tom Scott video about re-animating chilled hamsters with a microwave

• [36] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upload_(TV_series) Upload TV series

• [37] https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/SoqQ3ShW2xmdpjeZ7/why-rationalists-should-care-more-about-free-software Richard’s blog post, pertinent to not letting big corporations own your uploaded self.

• [38] The Age of Em: Work, Love and Life When Robots Rule the Earth by Robin Hanson https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26831944-the-age-of-em

• [39] Permutation City (Subjective Cosmology) by Greg Egan https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/156784.Permutation_City

• [40] Bobiverse series starting with We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (Bobiverse #1) by Dennis E. Taylor https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32109569-we-are-legion-we-are-bob

• [41] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123471.I_Am_a_Strange_Loop I Am a Strange Loop

• [42] Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (chapter 39) http://www.hpmor.com/chapter/39 audio: https://hpmorpodcast.com/?p=276, https://hpmorpodcast.com/?p=280

• [43] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7937744-surface-detail Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks

• [44] https://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2020/12/127-all-about-aging-with-richard-acton/ - The bayesian conspiracy Episode 127 – All About Aging with Richard Acton

Further Reading/listening:

Podcasts:

• David Sinclair: https://www.lifespanpodcast.com/
• lessons in lifespan health: https://lifespanhealth.usc.edu/lessons-in-lifespan-health/
• The Foresight institute: https://foresight.org/podcast/
• cryonics underground https://www.cryonicsunderground.com/
• Dr. Rhonda Patrick (PhD) of found my fitness has some great interview episode with leading aging researchers https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes She has a research background – complements the next recomendation
• The Peter Attia Drive (MD – medical background) good interviews with leading experts https://peterattiamd.com/podcast/

Books

Longevity

• David Sinclair https://lifespanbook.com/
• Age Later: Secrets of the Healthiest, Sharpest Centenarians by Nir Barzilai https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51174975-age-later
• Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old by Andrew Steele https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52954648-ageless
• The Science and Technology of Growing Young: An Insider’s Guide to the Breakthroughs That Will Dramatically Extend Our Lifespan . . . and What You Can Do Right Now by Sergey Young https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58267380-the-science-and-technology-of-growing-young
• The Longevity Diet: Discover the New Science Behind Stem Cell Activation and Regeneration to Slow Aging, Fight Disease, and Optimize Weight by Valter Longo https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35697130-the-longevity-diet
• The Mystery of Human Aging: The Surprising Insights of a Science That’s Still Young by Bjeorn Schumacher https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34956971-the-mystery-of-human-aging

Fundamentals / books that influence my thinking on this subject

• Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies by Geoffrey B. West https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31670196-scale
• life’s ratchet Life’s Ratchet: How Molecular Machines Extract Order from Chaos by Peter M. Hoffmann https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16691583-life-s-ratchet
• Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder (Incerto #4) by Nassim Nicholas Taleb https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13530973-antifragile
• Every Life is on Fire: How Thermodynamics Explains the Origins of Living Things by Jeremy England https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50358530-every-life-is-on-fire
• The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood by James Gleick https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8701960-the-information
• Freedom Evolves by Daniel C. Dennett https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2071.Freedom_Evolves
• The Age of Em: Work, Love and Life When Robots Rule the Earth by Robin Hanson https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26831944-the-age-of-em

Fiction

• Harry potter and the methods of rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky http://www.hpmor.com/ (chapter 39 - ~24mins into the episode of the podcast version)
• Bobiverse series starting with We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (Bobiverse #1) by Dennis E. Taylor https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32109569-we-are-legion-we-are-bob
• Permutation City (Subjective Cosmology) by Greg Egan https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/156784.Permutation_City
• Exhalation by Ted Chiang https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41160292-exhalation (This is an anthology they are all good but I’m specifically referencing the titular story.)

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:30 - Welcome to the last Episode of Book 2
00:02:58 - Chapter 7 predictions
00:04:12 - Chapter 7 begins
00:04:22 - Fire!
00:05:41 - Vertically stacked vs side-by-side double barreled shotguns
00:07:35 - The Return of Neci! (CV += Arson)
00:09:40 - ‘Sair’ orafice neologism, built in N95? [1,2]
00:12:26 - Carbon monoxide poisoning [3] & Oxygen carriers [4]
00:15:00 - Akin isn’t used to his body’s new keybinds
00:17:20 - We love campfires and really shouldn’t [5]
00:19:50 - This should hurt - weird sensations under Analgesia [6]
00:25:30 - Accelerated wound healing -> Hungry
00:26:20 - Akin’s Gait recognition skills [7-9]
00:27:44 - Gil (understandably) has too little trust left for Mars
00:30:30 - End of chapter 7
00:32:27 - What will life be like for those not going to Mars? [10]
00:32:50 - Chapter 8 predictions
00:33:40 - Chapter 8 Begins
00:35:34 - Kolina & Stancio Return for Macy
00:37:50 - Retrospective on the book
00:37:55 - Part 1 - Akin as an infant
00:41:30 - It’s fun to see Lilith from the outside
00:43:50 - Part 2 - Akin’s Kidnapping & Time in Phoenix
00:46:10 - Power dynamics of Akin & his kidnappers
00:48:26 - Effect of lack of hope & meaning on the resisters
00:51:06 - Part 3 - The Ship & Akin’s adolescent phase
00:53:42 - Learning the Oankali culture - understanding the misunderstandings
00:58:20 - The case for a Human Akjai
01:01:20 - Nuanced exploration of colonialism
01:03:12 - Is Oankali society an Ooloiarchy?
01:04:10 - Moral Ambiguity in Octavia’s Writing
01:04:45 - ‘Humanising’ all perspectives
01:06:04 - Forces you to think, alien setting gives enough distance
01:09:08 - Even the dislikable characters are relatable
01:09:38 - Major theme: Nature Vs./Via Nurture
01:11:50 - Genetic != Determined
01:16:28 - Part 4 - The hope of Mars?
01:18:06 - Memamorphasis as rebirth Alegory?
01:19:40 - Akin as mesiah? - if so a very original take on the trope
01:22:35 - Reflection on our discussion topics
01:24:40 - Predictions for Imago
01:32:00 - Outro

References

Effectiveness of Akin’s ‘sair’ against smoke:

• [1] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.01.062 - particulate makeup of smoke
• [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7447000/ - N95 and smoke
• [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carboxyhemoglobin - Carbon monoxide poisoning
• [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemocyanin - Copper based oxygen transportation
• [5] https://www.samharris.org/blog/the-fireplace-delusion - You’ll never feel the same about campfires :(

Being concious during surgery:

• [6] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21086818-do-no-harm - Do No Harm (Henry Marsh)

Gait Recognition:

• [7] https://www.privacyinternational.org/explainer/4496/how-gait-recognition-technology-can-be-used-protest - High level what it is and privacy implications
• [8] https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/gait-recognition - More detailed technical background
• [9] https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2204.02569 - It’s a rapidly evolving field countermeasures against the first generation tech will get less effective as refinements are made

Cultural references: [10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypto - Film referenced

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:03:29 - Chapter 5 predictions
00:04:30 - Chapter 5 begins
00:07:41 - Story got dark
00:10:07 - Issues with the first colonies and colonists on Mars
00:17:49 - Akin’s small stature [1 - 3]
00:23:37 - Oankali decision
00:30:39 - How is humanity going to get to Mars without any help
00:32:51 - Nerding out about nuclear power in biological system
00:49:36 - End of chapter 5
00:50:51 - Chapter 6 predictions
00:52:41 - Chapter 6 begins
00:55:26 - Akin is very honest
01:01:19 - Group responsability and chapter 6 end
01:06:17 - Chapter 7 predictions
01:09:31 - Outro

References

Nutrition and height:

• [1] https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/landing/article.kci?arti_id=ART001488626#none - Article about South Korean men average height post Korean War and nowadays.
• [2] https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/207893/poor-nutrition-school-years-have-created/ - Article about the relation of nutrition and height.
• [3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4892290/ - Review about adult height, nutrition and genetics.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:01:33 - Expectations towards Gabe
00:02:07 - Chapter 3 predictions
00:03:01 - Chapter 3 summary
00:04:56 - Hypothermia and cryopreservation [1 - 5]
00:11:09 - Disney, the supreme leader
00:13:49 - Our disagreement about immortality
00:18:41 - Chapter 3 summary again
00:23:30 - Chapter 4 predictions
00:25:25 - Chapter 4 summary
00:26:50 - Akin’s fetish
00:27:53 - Yori’s journal
00:30:05 - Oankali and solitude
00:32:19 - Gabe’s visits
00:35:01 - More visitors and Akin’s Stockholm syndrome
00:38:23 - Comedic timing
00:41:15 - Chapter 5 predictions
00:43:47 - Harry Potter and Methods of Rationality
00:45:21 - Outro

References

Hypothermia :

• [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8297075/ - Article about deep hypothermia in cardiac surgery.
• [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2844235/ - Thermoregulation during anaesthesia and issues with mild hypothermia.
• [3] https://www.wjgnet.com/2218-6182/full/v4/i3/58.htm - Issues with mild hypothermia during surgery.
• [4] https://pubs.asahq.org/anesthesiology/article/95/2/531/39838/Complications-and-Treatment-of-Mild-Hypothermia - Additional article about hypothermia

Cryopreservation and microwaves:

• [5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tdiKTSdE9Y - Tom Scott’s video about microwaves.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:38 - Welcome
00:03:28 - Chapter 1 predictions
00:04:43 - Chapter 1 summary begins
00:16:26 - Chapter 1 ends
00:16:46 - Chapter 2 predictions
00:17:48 - Chapter 2 summary
00:21:12 - Callback to Joeseph’s Death
00:30:00 - Timescale for teraforming mars
00:48:20 - Huntington’s disease mechanism understanding timeline
01:02:00 - THE science?
01:04:00 - Science as a process
01:06:00 - Critiquing the practice and missing the point
01:15:15 - Chapter 3 predictions
01:16:45 - Outro

References

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:01:56 - Chapter 11 predictions
00:03:50 - The eventual expansion of the Sun
00:06:40 - Chapter 11 summary begins
00:09:30 - Tiikuchahk’s choice of a sex/gender
00:11:50 - Inability of the adult Ooloi to fix the dissonance
00:13:20 - Limits on adult Ooloi’s abilities?
00:16:30 - The decision of the consensus
00:17:30 - Akin positioned to be able to choose
00:20:45 - Tiikuchahk to study teraforming
00:21:29 - Chapter 11 ends
00:21:30 - Ooloi as manipulators
00:22:20 - Tiikuchahk’s choice and Analogy to human gender identity [1]
00:24:32 - Biology of sex determination revisited [2]
00:34:40 - Part III Summary
00:37:05 - Tino’s sense that he has betrayed humanity
00:38:08 - Subjective certainty of the Oankali that a human Akjai is doomed [3,4,5]
00:40:38 - Are the Onankali wrong about us? [6,7]
00:43:05 - The current malaise & a spark of hope? [8,9,10]
00:52:16 - Humane Technology [11]
00:57:50 - Truth, Privacy & the epistemic commons in consensus [13,13]
01:05:00 - Data exposes the hypocrisy of legal systems [14]
01:09:40 - Changing your mind in the era of a permant record.
01:23:30 - Why the declining trust in science, is it deserved? [15,16,17]
01:26:00 - Poor communitcation in the scientific literature [18]
01:28:00 - reeling it back in
01:29:10 - Retrospecive on topics covered in this part
01:42:46 - Part IV, Chapter 1 predictions
01:47:00 - Outro

References

Tiikuchahk’s choice:

• [1] Galileo’s Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and the Search for Justice in Science by Alice Domurat Dreger (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22571733-galileo-s-middle-finger)
• [2] Varied Biology of Sex determination: The Evolution of Males and Females - with Judith Mank, Royal Institution lecture (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En26p6GvtHw)

Is the certainy of experts a good guide?:

• [3] Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction by Philip E. Tetlock, Dan Gardner (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23995360-superforecasting)
• [4] Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11468377-thinking-fast-and-slow)
• [5] Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts by Annie Duke (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35957157-thinking-in-bets)

Humans, are we doomed?:

• [6] The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13543093-the-better-angels-of-our-nature)
• [7] The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12391521-the-psychopath-test)

Analogies to the consensus, and our current pollitical situation:

• [8] End State: 9 Ways Society is Broken – and how we can fix it by James Plunkett (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58738045-end-state)
• [9] similar but comparing now to the Enlightenment not the industrial revolution - Enlightenment 2.0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVUg4NeYpgA)
• [10] Democratic innovation in Taiwan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K54Nf_K8Wro&list=PLNEfwKn4eF0Viixb5Np6YDrWFw17PvH9z)
• [11] The Centre for human technology & their podcast ‘your undivided attention’ https://www.humanetech.com/

Privacy, data & Self-sovereign identity:

• [11] Recent episode of the Reality 2.0 podcast covering data & Digital identity (https://www.reality2cast.com/97)

• [12] Privacy is Power: Reclaiming Democracy in the Digital Age by Carissa Véliz (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51781479-privacy-is-power)

• [13] Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent by Harvey A. Silverglate (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6611240-three-felonies-a-day)

Errosion of the episetmic commons & trust in science:

• [14] Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming by Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7799004-merchants-of-doubt)
• [15] DW documentary: Fact vs fake why don’t we trust science anymore. feat. Naomi Oreskes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BawZdfnhc_I)
• [16] Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19 (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58647975-viral) by Alina Chan, Matt Ridley
• [17] ‘science-ese’: The readability of scientific texts is decreasing over time (https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.27725)

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:01:22 - Chapter 9 predictions
00:03:51 - Chapter 9 summary begins
00:04:57 - Message system
00:06:11 - Sterility on the ship
00:08:26 - Dekhiaht’s pheromones and sexual consent
00:21:30 - Back to chapter 9
00:23:09 - Unbound Akin
00:27:55 - Chapter 9 ends
00:29:01 - Chapter 10 predictions
00:33:09 - Chapter 10 summary begins
00:35:45 - Oankali distribution network [1 - 4]
00:44:47 - Back to chapter 10
00:47:50 - Chapter 10 ends
00:50:01 - Consensus and Audrey Tang [5 - 7]
01:07:46 - Chapter 11 predictions
01:10:00 - Outro

References

Mycelium network:

• [1] https://www.nationalforests.org/blog/underground-mycorrhizal-network - Short article about mycelium networks.
• [2] https://libgen.ggfwzs.net/dl/65186482/b5aae3 - For those who seek more scientific approach to understanding the development of those networks, here’s a very in-depth article.
• [3] https://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/hcol/mycorrhizae.asp.html - Mycorrhizae and interactions between plants and fungi.
• [4] https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms1046 - A scientific paper investigating the interactions of plants and fungi in mycorrhizal symbiosis.

Augrey Tang:

• [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Tang - Wiki article about Audrey Tang, the Digital Minister of Taiwan.
• [6] Audery Tang media appearances https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNEfwKn4eF0Viixb5Np6YDrWFw17PvH9z
• [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index#Components - Democracy index.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:37 - Welcome
00:01:03 - Still with the Giant caterpillar Oankali
00:02:20 - Chapter 7 predictions
00:03:22 - Chapter 7 Summary
00:03:24 - Akin’s Akjai mentor
00:03:52 - Gravity on the Ship - DBZ & Expanse references [1]
00:05:53 - Akin learns about working with the Animal and plants of the ship
00:06:10 - Missed opertunity for a matrix reference “I know Kung Fu”
00:06:45 - Akin Shares his Human Akjai plan
00:07:56 - Teraforming Mars or Venus for the Human Akjai
00:08:34 - The Oankali must really be going to strip the earth if these are a better option
00:09:29 - Would we be any better is working on mega structures e.g. Dyson Spheres
00:09:59 - A Giant cloud of booze in space?, but food miles :(
00:10:56 - Jeff Bezos 8==D Dr. Evil
00:11:50 - Does the Akjai Ooloi have a spoken name?
00:12:34 - The Humans won’t need machines for at least for teraforming
00:13:25 - Akin’s life’s work?
00:14:30 - Akjai concedes Separation was a mistake
00:15:14 - I am Giant Caterpillar man
00:16:20 - Akin’s Human Akjai Idea is taken seriously by an adult
00:16:46 - Oankali Population?
00:17:22 - How Big is the Oankali Mothership?
00:18:30 - Chapter 8 predictions
00:19:24 - Akin is unsurprisingly, to us, an Adolescent
00:25:10 - Ignoring the children, is this the Oakli’s biggest weakness?
00:25:37 - Political alignments of the Oankali family branches
00:27:48 - What’s that sexy smell?
00:31:15 - Trouble Sleeping
00:32:30 - And you thought your teenage years were bad
00:34:00 - Is it even really sex without a third?
00:34:39 - Unforgettable Group drinking game anyone?
00:35:00 - Ooloi mean built in family planning
00:37:40 - A mishmash of expectations
00:39:00 - Reproduction is central in biological science fiction
00:42:23 - Chapter 9 predictions
00:44:39 - Happy Holidays!
00:45:40 - Outro

References

• [1] Harry Beck Tube Map https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20150720-the-london-underground-map-the-design-that-shaped-a-city

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:01:13 - We are still salty about not knowing about the propulsion method
00:03:26 - Chapter 5 predictions
00:04:11 - Chapter 5 starts with a sphincter
00:06:01 - Tilio
00:07:23 - Akin the Animal Whisperer and the dog-cars
00:08:13 - “Knight Rider”
00:09:30 - Ethics of consciously-happy animals
00:19:01 - Back to chapter 5 - Oankali’s control
00:22:56 - Akin, family and resolution of the bond
00:26:30 - Oankali and daughters
00:32:29 - Ooloi and future predictions
00:36:24 - Family resemblences
00:38:02 - Chapter 6 predictions
00:39:21 - Chapter 6 summary begins
00:40:37 - First encounter with Oankali was seeing giant caterpillars
00:42:25 - Spoken language
00:46:43 - lightyear.fm
00:50:31 - True ooloi communication [1, 2]
00:59:01 - Connected consciousnesses [3]
01:02:53 - Chapter 7 predictions
01:04:54 - Loud numbers podcast
01:05:16 - Outro

References

Single sub-nuclear particle detection:

• [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms12172 - Human eye detecting a single photon.
• [2] https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/ion-channel-14047658/ - Ion channels in the cell membranes.

Mirror hand experiment:

• [3] https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/~rlawson/PDF_Files/BBBL&W-C&C-2011.pdf - Article investigating rubber hand illusion.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:01:50 - Quick clarification about naked molerats
00:05:15 - Chapter 3 predictions
00:05:53 - Chapter 3 summary begins
00:08:01 - Inconvenient connection
00:09:36 - Akin, resisters and metamorphosis
00:14:45 - Oankali can’t lie when connected
00:17:20 - Incest and Oankali [1, 2]
00:21:58 - Akin never visited Tate again
00:23:08 - Akin and Lilith
00:25:51 - Chapter 3 ends
00:27:45 - Directional speakers [3]
00:29:16 - Chapter 4 predictions
00:30:05 - Chapter 4 summary
00:33:01 - Ship’s experiences and mothership’s power source [4, 5]
00:49:15 - The ooloi rule all
00:59:46 - Chapter 4 summary ends
01:01:04 - Future of genetic engineering
01:07:06 - Chapter 5 prediction
01:09:44 - Genetic memory in our society would be a nightmare
01:13:01 - Future historians will hate their job
01:15:41 - Outro

References

Incest:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incest - A general article about incest.
• [2] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/humans-are-all-more-closely-related-than-we-commonly-think/ - Humanity is more related than we think.

Directional speakers:

• [3] https://www.explainthatstuff.com/directional-loudspeakers.html - Explanation to directional speakers

Fusion power:

• [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_power - Wikipedia article about fusion power.
• [5] https://stanfordcomputeroptics.com/applications/metrology/fusion-reaction-diagnostic.html - Dense plasma focus fusion.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:39 - Welcome
00:04:56 - Chapter 1 predictions
00:07:22 - Chapter 1 Summary begins
00:09:30 - Puberty in the Human / Oankali Constructs
00:15:04 - Tino’s Discomfort with Dichaan & the Nature Vs. Nurture Theme
00:30:05 - All the Humans, Resisters included, will biologically have construct children even if they don’t engage
00:33:24 - Coordinatoin problems among the resisters
00:40:09 - The Oankali Organelle - parasite or symbiont?
00:44:48 - End of Chapter 1
00:45:45 - Why no Ooloi Constructs?
00:48:59 - Transposable elements
00:50:52 - The nature and means of Oankali biological understanding & engeneering
00:55:54 - Analog computation [1]
01:04:00 - biology as the worst legacy code problem in history
01:05:00 - Challenges of Multivariate analysis
01:08:40 - Chapter 2 Predictions
01:09:58 - Chaper 2 Summary Begins
01:12:02 - The Shuttles are male(ish) & Their Propulsion is unspecified
01:19:10 - Akin is biding his time so he will be taken seriously when he raises the Human Akjai
01:21:23 - Akin has teenager on the brain
01:23:17 - Outro

References

Programable Analog computing devices

• [1] Sara Achour https://people.csail.mit.edu/sachour/

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:02:00 - Content corner
00:15:34 - Predictions for Chapter 23
00:16:46 - Summary of Chapter 23 begins
00:17:58 - Gabe, Tate and the Oankali
00:19:47 - Super Sayian Lilith
00:23:58 - did the Oankali make mistake with mixing with Humans?
00:26:13 - Dichaan does a very parent thing
00:28:01 - Ooloi and pleasure
00:33:53 - Chapter 23 and Part 2 finish
00:34:56 - Some questions about the chapter
00:39:39 - Quantum is always an answer
00:41:51 - Some things don’t make sense
00:45:38 - Forever teenager [1]
00:47:50 - Part 2 summary
00:50:06 - Compilation of topics we discussed in part 2
01:06:09 - Problem with discussion in future episodes
01:07:18 - Prolonged series (Dr. Who, Supernatural)
01:10:41 - Mr. Bean
01:12:33 - Part 3 predictions
01:17:51 - Outro

References

Maturation of brain during adolescence

• [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3621648/ - A review article about the maturation of our brains during adolescence

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:01:03 - Content corner - new species, anime, books, movies and more! [1]
00:10:07 - Predictions for chapter 20
00:11:06 - Chapter 20 summary begins
00:12:11 - Re-creating ancient animals [2 - 4]
00:14:47 - Back to Chapter 20
00:16:33 - Oankali and alcohol
00:27:53 - Mini me
00:31:06 - Back again to chapter 20
00:32:46 - Chapter 21 prediction
00:33:06 - Chatper 21 summary
00:38:27 - Chapter 22 prediction
00:40:05 - Chatper 22 summary
00:44:56 - Why humans tell stories
00:45:57 - Akin as Paul Atreides
00:51:28 - The tree always re-appears
00:52:27 - Chapter ends and we discuss Gabe’s behaviour
00:54:40 - Chapter 23 predictions
00:57:05 - What does Akin want to do
01:03:31 - Outro

References

Mini frog species:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini_(frog) - Wikipedia article about the frog with the references to the original article (open access).

Jurassic Park:

• [2] https://reviverestore.org/projects/woolly-mammoth/progress-to-date/ - Website on the wolly mammoth DNA restoration.
• [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_DNA - Wikipedia article about ancient DNA and the issues related with working on it.
• [4] https://www.future-science.com/doi/10.2144/000112383 - A very detailed article about extraction methods for ancient DNA.

Regeneration of limbs in amphibians:

• [5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2946045/ - A review article about regeneration of limbs.
• [6] https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2014.1550 - An interesting article about regeneration of limbs in tetrapods from 300 million years ago.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:34 - Welcome
00:01:49 - What will we read when we’re done with Xenogenesis?
00:03:33 - Chapter 18 predictions
00:04:46 - Chapter 18 summary
00:05:08 - Oankali Sibling Bond
00:08:14 - Richard & michael forget Tediin’s name
00:10:50 - How the Oankli handle alcohol [1,2,3]
00:16:00 - Why yes we are obsessing over minor details
00:17:54 - Neci would eventualy find a co-conspirator
00:19:06 - Akin reasures Tate the contruct children can survive on their own
00:21:35 - What is the origin of the Ooloi?
00:23:37 - Responsibility for Akin being stuck with the humans
00:26:09 - Neci’s contradictory attitudes to the construct children
00:27:25 - Sleep & Dreaming [4]
00:30:36 - Tate’s backhanded dis of Neci
00:31:40 - Octavia’s complex & realistic characters
00:38:04 - Tate (rightly) puts the blame on Neci
00:39:00 - Chapter 19 predictions
00:40:48 - Clip this out of context
00:43:03 - Chapter 19 summary
00:43:43 - Neci wants Akin tied up when unattended
00:44:28 - Guns in Phoenix
00:45:50 - Tate has trouble sleeping after guns decision
00:47:25 - Clip this out of context also
00:48:09 - *condescension
00:48:20 - Human extinction & Akjai
00:49:24 - Akin as a bridge between the Oankali & Humans
00:50:12 - How the Human ‘trade’ differs from previous ‘trades’
00:52:40 - Limits of Oankali understanding of Human psychology & culture
00:53:52 - Chapter 20 predictions
00:55:22 - The nature of extinction
00:56:52 - EvoPsych & the game theory of multicellularity
00:59:33 - Outro

References

Alchohol metabolism:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_metabolism
• [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethyl_glucuronide
• [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucuronide

Sleep and Dreaming:

• [4] Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_We_Sleep

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:01:10 - Almost done with part II Phoenix
00:01:56 - Chapter 16 predictions
00:02:07 - Pronunciation of Neci?
00:03:56 - Chapter 16 summary begins
00:06:17 - How much was Akin’s time with the resistors an Oankali plan?
00:07:40 - Shoud we be this close to that volcano?
00:09:15 - Shouldn’t you want to know thine enemy?
00:10:02 - Embrace the Lenticular Jesus Justaposition
00:11:28 - Akin licks something he shouldn’t have
00:12:26 - Poisonous plastics? [1, 2]
00:16:22 - Errosion of the Epistemic commons
00:16:53 - The tobacco playbook - sew confusion
00:19:30 - Plastic as a weapon for the humans?
00:21:08 - Define Natural?
00:21:22 - ‘Nylonase’ bacteria [3]
00:22:50 - Plastic digesting enzymes on a shorter timescale
00:24:50 - Chapter Wrap up
00:25:56 - Chapter 17 predictions
00:27:36 - A new member of the leave the tentacles alone Neci club
00:27:50 - New members of the remove the tentacles club
00:28:46 - give in to alien impulses
00:29:10 - Neci pushes Yori, and Yori says shes’s out.
00:20:10 - Neci cuts people off, and pressures people to help.
00:31:28 - Don’t use alcoholic drinks as an anaesthetic or antiseptic
00:35:30 - Amma and shkahat Leave, and Akin must remain
00:38:30 - Human Akjai?
00:43:15 - Chapter 17 predictions
00:47:20 - Oankali political decision making
00:48:36 - Outro

References

REFERENCES: Example plastics controversy BPA

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BPA_controversy If you want toxicity trying burning it, that’s when the nasty stuff come out
• [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_pollution#Incineration Nylone eating bacteria
• [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylon-eating_bacteria

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:01:18 - Chapter 14 predictions
00:02:14 - Michael notices a pattern on types of character in the book
00:03:10 - Chapter 14 summary begins
00:04:14 - Eyes and evolution [1 - 3]
00:08:09 - Cephalopods and camouflage [4 - 12]
00:11:10 - Blue colour in nature [13 - 15]*
00:13:21 - Cephalopods again [4 - 12]**
00:28:03 - Back to Chapter 14
00:29:30 - New psychopath in the story
00:38:43 - Chapter 15 predictions
00:40:12 - Chapter 15 summary begins
00:42:01 - Akin and Human Akjai
00:48:02 - Parabiosis and oxygen exchange [16 - 23]
00:57:12 - Back to Chapter 15 (Lilith’s appreciation)
01:05:03 - Akin and Tate’s delusions
01:11:00 - Chapter 15 finishes
01:12:25 - Chapter 16 predictions
01:13:21 - Was Akin left on purpose?
01:17:50 - Outro

References

Eyes:

• [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/eye2017226 - A very nice article about the evolution of the eyes in nature.
• [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_of_the_eye - Wikipedia article with more general diagrams and info.
• [3] https://thehumanevolutionblog.com/2015/01/12/the-poor-design-of-the-human-eye/ - A blog that summarises nicely about the poor design of the eye.

Cephalopods **We could not find any references about the evolution of one or two skin layers in cephalopods or other animals that Michael asks Richard about. This could be due to the lack of fossils that we could study and also the fact that cephalopods evolved in Cambrian period (540 million years ago).

• [4] https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/cephalopod-camouflage-cells-and-organs-of-the-144048968/ - A Nature article about the camouflage in cephalopods.
• [5] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-08891-x - A primary article investigating the cephalopod chromatophore organs.
• [6] https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/invertebrates/how-octopuses-and-squids-change-color - A brief article talking more about the change of colour in octopuses.
• [7] https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822%2807%2901138-4.pdf - A Cell article going into more detail about the patterns and their influence on the camouflage in octopuses.
• [8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wtLrlIKvJE - A video from Deep Look showing the pigment changes in the cells of the skin in cephalopods.
• [9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pJPnZFSy5o - A very relaxing video of the skin cell pigments still being active after the death of a squid.
• [10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other_Minds:_The_Octopus,_the_Sea,_and_the_Deep_Origins_of_Consciousness - Other Minds by Peter Godfrey-Smith that Richard references abotu octopuses’ nervous system and camouflage as well as their awful behaviour towards scientists.
• [11] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2018.00952/full - Very detailed and complex review on the cephalopod brains.
• [12] https://oxfordre.com/neuroscience/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264086.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264086-e-181 - Another article about cephalopod nervous system.

Blue colour in nature: *Michael would like to clarify in here that of course in nature there are blue pigments and colours. What he specifically meant here is that colour blue is very rare in the animal kingdom and often it is some physical property of the surface of the plant or animal surface that causes a reflection of specific light wavelengths. Of course, there are a lot of synthetic blue molecules but in here Michael was mostly talking about pigments that occur in plants and animals.

• [13] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g246c6Bv58 - Video Michael was referencing about the colour blue in butterflies.
• [14] https://colourlex.com/pigments/pigment-timelines/timeline-blue-pigments/ - A very interesting website about colours and pigments - this link specifically leads to the history of blue pigment.
• [15] https://sciences.adelaide.edu.au/news/list/2019/08/20/why-is-the-colour-blue-so-rare-in-nature - Why is blue so rare in nature.

Parabiosis:

• [16] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5662775/ - A nice review article about the origins of parabiosis.
• [17] https://www.nature.com/articles/517426a - Another article about parabiosis.
• [18] https://academic.oup.com/endo/article/140/1/138/2990376 - Article that Michael mentions about diabetic mice.

Oxygen exchange:

• [19] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK54103/ - A chapter from a book about oxygen transport.
• [20] https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-ap2/chapter/transport-of-gasesno-content/ - A simpler overview of gaseous exchange.
• [21] https://academic.oup.com/bjaed/article/12/5/251/289041 - Another article about gaseous exchange.
• [22] http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~edudev/LabTutorials/CourseTutorials/bb/Hemoglobin/151_T3_hemoglobin.htm - More chemical overview of the changes that take places in haemoglobin during gaseous exchange.
• [23] https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/45/1/227 - Review on physiological basis of pulmonary gaseous exchange.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:00:53 - Richard needs to work on his response time
00:01:31 - Chapter 12 predictions
00:02:35 - Chapter 12 summary starts
00:05:46 - We marvel again about Oankali memory
00:08:53 - Akin and dismissal of mythology
00:12:46 - Back to the chapter 12
00:20:09 - Akin crushes Gabe’s dreams
00:21:00 - Christianity and paganism
00:25:08 - Chapter 13 predictions
00:27:01 - Chapter 13 summary begins
00:28:01 - Reconstruction of the Bible (and preservation of knowledge)
00:40:16 - Back to Chapter 13
00:42:30 - We struggle with the names
00:46:21 - Another villain?
00:51:21 - Chapter 14 predictions
00:55:14 - Outro

References

Paganism in Christianity:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_paganism - A Wiki article about the topic of paganism.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:00:53 - Michael looks forward to the future part
00:02:14 - Predictions for Chapter 10
00:02:59 - Chapter 10 summary begins
00:03:50 - Ability to detect protein levels [1]
00:12:41 - Adipocytes and fat lipids [2-4]
00:15:48 - Carbs and fats [5-7]
00:20:31 - Back to Chapter 10
00:23:13 - Another tangent - Oankali creating their own humans
00:26:41 - Chapter 10 again
00:29:10 - Adults in the books are awful
00:34:30 - Chapter 11 predictions
00:35:53 - Chapter 11 summary begins
00:36:43 - Akin hates baby talk
00:37:58 - Zach Anner (that’s who Michael was thinking about)
00:38:13 - Jerk (BBC 3, Tim Renkow)
00:39:11 - Back to Chapter 11
00:40:22 - Think with your head not with what’s in your pants
00:41:55 - We sense Octavia Butler hated people in general
00:44:00 - Akin and his sibling
00:45:11 - Environment and sex [8]
00:47:40 - Galileo’s Middle Finger - Alice Dreger
00:48:51 - Back again to Chapter 11 (it rhymes! sort off..)
00:49:34 - Huntington’s disease [9-11]
00:54:33 - Chapter 11 summary almost finished
00:56:30 - Michael’s long-term prediction
01:00:18 - Chapter 11 finishes
01:03:10 - Jupiter
01:05:23 - Chapter 12 predictions
01:07:51 - Outro

References

Proteins in the diet and genes:

• [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5355364/ - Article about the matching of dietary amino acids with the coding genes.

Adipocytes:

• [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6539070/ - Article describing the problems with adipose tissue dysfunction in obesity.
• [3] https://journals.physiology.org/doi/pdf/10.1152/ajpregu.00257.2017 - Article reviewing the adipose cell size relation to the dysregulation of metabolism.
• [4] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/oby.20209 - An article in which the authors show the quantifciation of the percentage adipose cell size and resistance to insulin.

Carbs vs fat:

• [5] https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/why-we-need-to-eat-carbs/ - NHS website talking about carbohydrates.
• [6] https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/dietary-fat-vs-carbohydrate-reducing-body-fat - Very short article about dietary fat vs carbohydrates for reducing body fat.
• [7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2763382/ - A study exploring different types of diet and their effectiveness in weight-loss.

Temperature-dependant sex:

• [8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperature-dependent_sex_determination - Wiki article about sex determination absed on temperature.

Huntington’s disease:

• [9] https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/huntingtons-disease/ - NHS summary aboout Huntington’s disease
• [10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntington's_disease - Wikipedia article - good start to read about the illness.
• [11] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ene.13413 - Scientific review about the Huntington’s disease.

Jupiter:

• [12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter - Wikipedia article about the biggest gas giant planet in our solar system.
• [13] https://www.britannica.com/place/Jupiter-planet - Encyclopedia Britannica article about Jupiter.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:28 - Intro
00:01:00 - YOYOing on arival at Phoenix
00:01:32 - Why they were avoiding Phoenix
00:02:10 - We took a summer break
00:02:30 - We discuss some stuff we read/watched while away
00:02:44 - Parables books mild SPOILERS
00:03:14 - Brave New World
00:04:02 - Bokanovskification [1]
00:04:48 - Billionaires in Space
00:04:56 - Richard tries to become more of a nerd via Anime
00:06:40 - Mild SPOILERS for Violet Evergarden
00:05:26 - Watch order
00:05:48 - Gushing over the visuals
00:06:30 - Story
00:07:30 - Light Novel
00:07:57 - Setting
00:08:44 - Prostheses
00:10:00 - Suggestion: Nausica
00:11:28 - Return to the book
00:11:40 - Chapter 9 Predictions
00:12:18 - Chapter Summary
00:12:35 - Avoiding to evade the Oankali
00:13:05 - Descriptino of Phoenix
00:13:24 - Working with salvaged pre-war metals
00:14:12 - Crops & Trees
00:14:20 - Oil producing trees
00:15:06 - Biofuels
00:15:28 - Why did the Oankali make these trees?
00:16:36 - Oil trees + fire = Bad?
00:17:08 - Phoenix more like a pre-war town
00:18:01 - Iriarte’s advice to Akin
00:19:58 - Akin’s Adult Phrasing
00:20:29 - ‘Tasting’ Iriarte
00:21:40 - Comparing Reactions of Galt & Iriarte
00:22:20 - Why Galt reacted as he did
00:25:13 - Danger in very unthreatening package
00:27:10 - Purpose of churches?
00:28:36 - Definition in opposition
00:29:04 - God in the pledge of allegiance
00:29:54 - The utility of rituals
00:30:12 - Initiation rituals & value of group memberhsip
00:31:30 - Threat & Gender roles
00:33:33 - Retreat to tradition when change is imposed
00:34:48 - The Return of Tate and Gabe
00:35:35 - Itchy parts
00:35:56 - Over Akin’s Head
00:36:30 - STD’s post Oankali
00:43:38 - Tat’s Relatinshup with Gabe
00:46:20 - Galt’s not being a good sales person
00:47:57 - Gabe is an ass
00:48:12 - asshole detector
00:49:00 - dis-likable characters
00:50:40 - Petty exercise of poser
00:51:00 - The inspirations for Octavia’s Antagonists
00:52:45 - Brave Boy
00:53:51 - Richard has AtLA 2x15 Flashbacks
00:55:10 - Bad voice acting choices for Akin
00:56:40 - Tino’s Parents
00:57:07 - Akin lies about who killed Tino
00:58:20 - Concern for reaction to the truth
00:59:05 - Risk of loosing credibility from lying
01:01:10 - Yori’s understaning of Akin’s Intelligence
01:03:00 - Prediciions
01:06:00 - Why would a woman go with the group?
01:08:00 - The Oankali are post scarcity, the humans are not
01:10:20 - Outro

References

• [1] Brave new world ‘cloning’ with Bokanovsky’s process https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokanovsky's_Process

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:01:02 - Chapter 7 predictions
00:01:43 - Chapter 7 starts
00:02:11 - A Karen version of a human being
00:04:48 - Michael still can’t comprehend the behaviour of the captors
00:09:26 - Back to chapter - Akin’s long-term thinking
00:10:31 - Chapter 7 summary ends
00:10:35 - Who would survive the nuclear holocaust in Xenogenesis’ world [1-3]
00:24:29 - Chapter 8 predictions
00:25:21 - Chapter 8 summary starts
00:27:37 - How could we protect ourselves against the Oankali
00:28:40 - Space Force [4]
00:36:45 - Back to chapter 8
00:38:01 - Progress - from moonshine to wine
00:38:40 - Akin trolls the men
00:40:09 - Akin is really planning long-term
00:41:02 - Chapter 9 predictions
00:43:29 - Gabe and Tate - the two cockroaches
00:44:31 - Outro

References

Cold War and Nuclear Weapons:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_arms_race - Wikipedia article about Nuclear Arms Race.
• [2] https://futureoflife.org/background/us-nuclear-targets/ - An interactive map with declassified targets of U.S. nuclear warheads.
• [3] https://i.insider.com/5c06b7025d58ed6da00ffbd2 - A map of potential U.S. locations targeted by nukes from Russia.
• [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion) - Project Orion - the crazy propulsion with nuclear explosions.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:30 - Preamble
00:01:47 - Predictions - will we reach Phoenix?
00:02:21 - Start of Chapter discussion
00:03:02 - ongoing mishandling of Akin is aggravating
00:04:30 - Does the absence of new children explain their apparent ignorance?
00:05:58 - But some of them had kids before?!
00:06:40 - Sub-par hygene and super-smell
00:07:10 - Akin can take better care of himself than a normal kid
00:07:40 - Testing the limits of Akin’s resilience?
00:08:13 - Our band of misfit kidnappers
00:09:57 - Planning a deception - for a change
00:10:40 - Contradictions of the group
00:10:51 - Approach to Hillmann
00:11:20 - A Ghosttown
00:12:21 - Damek dismissed Galt adressing Akin
00:13:34 - Go find something kid?
00:14:20 - Superstitions about the Oankali and constructs
00:16:48 - Akin smells blood and avoids it
00:17:01 - Agouti - Brazil nut ecology callback (episodes 19 & 27)
00:17:32 - Agouti: bigger more insectivorous - modded?
00:18:23 - Microorganism engeneering by the Oankali?
00:18:44 - BIG Ants (Dinoponera gigantea) [1]
00:19:50 - Microrobes and digestion
00:20:20 - Big Insects, Oxygen levels, & tree eating Fungi [2,3,4, & 5]
00:20:42 - * Richard meant Ligninases
00:20:58 - Thank Fungi for no more giant bugs
00:21:54 - Dragonflies are awesome but we are glad they ar not bigger [6]
00:23:10 - Akin smells some books
00:23:19 - The village ‘gave up’ and joined the ‘trade’ villages
00:24:07 - Richard sells out humanity
00:24:38 - How to keep ‘pure’ humans in existence?
00:25:46 - Put some gammetes on ice & form a conspiracy!
00:28:50 - Caches of pre-war tech? [7]
00:30:26 - How to evade the Oankali’s notice
00:31:16 - Granting we are undetected what next?
00:33:14 - We’d probably need computers
00:33:36 - Radiation hardened electronics [8]
00:35:46 - Abandon hope, work from the inside
00:37:00 - The killing of the Agouti
00:39:20 - dehumanisation
00:40:29 - Akin scares Galt
00:44:22 - Akin accidently gas-lights Galt
00:45:36 - Iriarte tells Akin the others are crazy
00:46:26 - Trading Akin for a Woman
00:47:00 - Chapter 7 Predictions
00:48:14 - Some of the village voted not to join the Oankali
00:49:35 - Speculations on Phoenix
00:50:18 - Living in a resister village
00:51:29 - Illusion of choice to resist
00:52:25 - Homestead over town to live out your days
00:53:16 - This is the version Octavia lightened up [9]
00:54:39 - Outro

References

Giant Ants:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinoponera_gigantea

Big Insects, Oxygen levels, & tree eating Fungi:

• [2] Why Giant Bugs Once Roamed the Earth https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/110808-ancient-insects-bugs-giants-oxygen-animals-science
• [3] The Carboniferous Period – Coal and Giant Insects http://piecubed.co.uk/carboniferous-period-insect/
• [4] Can Oxygen Set Thermal Limits in an Insect and Drive Gigantism? https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0022610
• [5] Atmospheric oxygen level and the evolution of insect body size https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.0001
• [6] The clip of the Merlin trying and failing to catch a Dragonfly was fomr BBC spring watch but I can’t find it

Where you might find pre-war tech

• [7] missile silo appartments https://www.designboom.com/architecture/survival-condo-former-missile-silo-kansas-07-14-2020/

Radiation Hardened Electronics

• [8] NASA Radiation Hardened Electronics for Space Environments https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20070037453

This is the version Octavia toned down?

• [9] Ocatvia wanted to write a best-seller so an optimistic ‘yes’ book https://youtu.be/orrpN4JiYF0?t=847

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:01:20 - Chapter 3 predictions
00:03:37 - DnD character
00:04:06 - Chapter 3 summary begins
00:05:07 - Implications of infrared vision were already discussed
00:06:04 - Oankali body temperature [1, 2]
00:08:39 - Rabbit pee
00:11:04 - Chickens run very hot
00:11:25 - Back to Chapter 3
00:13:43 - Chapter 3 summary ends
00:13:55 - At least he is aware he is incompetent
00:14:26 - Chapter 4 prediction
00:15:18 - Shrek character
00:15:47 - Chapter 4 summary starts
00:16:32 - Controlling your bleeding [3, 4]
00:17:45 - Ulcers [5, 6]
00:20:27 - Problem with pharmaceutical companies
00:21:43 - Back to clotting
00:25:35 - Circular artery in the brain [7]
00:30:27 - Back to Chapter 4
00:32:17 - It would be disconcering if objects started talking back
00:36:03 - Tino was innocent
00:38:24 - Humans vs Oankali - xenophobia vs xenophilia (long discussion)
00:41:33 - Prisoner’s dilemma [8]
00:50:55 - Harry Potter and Methods of Rationality
00:52:47 - Chapter 4 summary almost ends
00:54:13 - Chapter 4 summary ends
00:55:53 - Chapter 5 prediction
00:56:37 - Chapter 5 summary
00:57:27 - Too soon for ooloi construct
01:00:14 - Sex change in fish [9 - 12]
01:01:12 - Change in birth cycle in humans and Oankali
01:10:46 - Back to chapter 5
01:13:10 - Examples of strange birthing processes [13 - 16]
01:18:43 - The new baby
01:21:06 - The problems with humans being bipedal and standing straight [17]
01:22:48 - The chapter 5 ends
01:24:34 - Chapter 6 prediction
01:25:08 - Outro

References

Body temperature in mammals:

• [1] https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2007.01341.x - Article investigating the body temperature in different mammalian groups.
• [2] https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/body-size-and-temperature-why-they-matter-15157011/ - Body size and temperature - Nature article.

Process of healing and formation of blood clots:

• [3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5087220/ - Review article about wound healing.
• [4] https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsob.200223 - Another review article discussing the mechanisms of wound healing.

Ulcers:

• [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peptic_ulcer_disease - Wikipedia article on ulcers.
• [6] https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/when-scientists-experiment-on-themselves-h-pylori-and-ulcers/ - Neil Noakes.

Circle of Willis:

• [7] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/circle-of-willis - An important junction of arteries in the brain.

Prisoner’s dilemma:

• [8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemma - Wikipedia article about the dilemma.

Sex change in animals:

• [9] https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/biology/why-do-some-fish-change-sex - Article about why do some fish change sex.
• [10] https://theconversation.com/what-we-learn-from-a-fish-that-can-change-sex-in-just-10-days-129063 - Another article about fish sex change.
• [11] https://wildlifeinformer.com/fish-that-change-gender/ - Examples of fish that change sex.
• [12] https://sci-hubtw.hkvisa.net/10.1016/bs.ctdb.2018.12.014 - Nature article going into a very in-depth reasons behind sex change in fish.

Strange fertilisation and birthing processes in animals and insects:

• [13] https://www.bedbugsinsider.com/how-do-bed-bugs-reproduce/ - Bed bug reproduction.
• [14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Surinam_toad - Surinam toad birthing process.
• [15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus#Reproduction - Reproduction cycle in octopi.
• [16] https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/03/there-is-an-octopus-with-a-detachable-penis/ - Argonaut octopus.

Problem with human evolution:

• [17] https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/02/human-evolution-gain-came-pain - Examples of issues with evolution in humans.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:01:13 - Richard prounances the unprounancable
00:01:43 - Oankali language basis
00:03:07 - If we miss stuff, it will be in the references
00:03:40 - Richard’s nerdiness is glorious - Harris’ Hawk [1, 2]
00:07:20 - Titanic’s sky was wrong [3]
00:12:40 - Nerd rant over
00:13:06 - Chapter 1 predictions
00:13:54 - Chapter 1 summary begins
00:15:13 - The ship larvae
00:17:20 - Oankali construct family - five-being model family
00:21:22 - Chapter 1 ends
00:21:43 - Signalling in Lo
00:22:38 - Oankali looking like Daleks
00:25:03 - Chapter 2 prediction
00:25:34 - Michael wants to rant about the chapter 2
00:26:51 - These people clearly have no idea how to handle a child
00:27:16 - Skull development [4, 5]
00:30:11 - Akin sliding and being mistreated
00:32:01 - Akin is incredibly smart
00:34:09 - Giving child alcohol
00:35:56 - London cholera outbreak [6]
00:39:01 - Men trying to poison Akin
00:39:46 - Michael’s beef with the chapter
00:49:58 - Level of the gun sophistication in the book [7 - 9]
00:59:26 - Outro

References

Harris’ hawk:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harris%27s_hawk - About the Harris’ hawk.
• [2] https://britishwildlife.fandom.com/wiki/Harris_Hawk - Harris’ hawk non-native in UK

Titanic’s sky:

• [3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/titanic-night-sky-adjusted-after-neil-degrasse-tyson-criticized-james-cameron/2012/04/03/gIQAZyZItS_blog.html - Article about Neil deGrasse Tyson’s message to James Cameron about Titanic’s wrong sky.

Bone development:

• [4] https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-biology2/chapter/bone-growth-and-development/ - Article describing differences between the intramembranous and endochondral ossification.
• [5] https://open.oregonstate.education/aandp/chapter/6-4-bone-formation-and-development/ - More details about the differences of bone formation.

London cholera outbreak:

• [6] https://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/snowcricketarticle.html - Article on the history of the cholera outbreak in London in 1850-1860.

History of gun development:

• [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_firearm - Wikipedia article on the topic.
• [8] https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/technique/gun-timeline/ - A timeline of gun development.
• [9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lah_J8Lj3eg and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5OgBPLUjlU - A great youtube vidoes on gun development.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:31 - Intro
00:01:28 - Length of the books
00:02:14 - F&*K the DMCA [1]
00:03:00 - Transformative works Google Vs Perfect 10 [2]
00:04:00 - Chapter 7 Predictions
00:05:00 - Chapter Summary
00:05:39 - Tino takes Akin out to gather wood
00:06:00 - LO’s pseudo-trees are hard
00:06:50 - Truly Macro scale molecules in biological systems
00:10:40 - Border’s of the LO entity
00:11:30 - LO the village, the protoship, the part name
00:13:35 - Akin can sense the border of LO
00:13:59 - The path less trodden
00:14:40 - Oral fixation
00:15:47 - “Son”
00:16:09 - We won’t let go the Broken Bow
00:17:00 - Oankali begrudingly tolerate Hunting/Fishing
00:18:07 - Writting down of knowledge from before the war
00:18:50 - Sensation of chemical communication with a foetus
00:20:00 - Tree murderers!!
00:20:50 - Human need for physical contact
00:22:04 - Akin/Constructs as a bridge between the Humans and the Oankali
00:23:00 - Three-way bonding in an Oankali reproductive unit
00:27:06 - Poisonous catapillar/Peripatus [3]
00:29:40 - Caterpillars [4]
00:30:25 - Evolutionary example classic the peppered moth [5]
00:30:25 - GCSEs (for the benefit of international listeners [6])
00:31:24 - Number of Species in the sea [7]
00:32:24 - F%*K mosquitos
00:34:30 - Characteristics of species that survive mass extinctions [8]
00:35:34 - Deep sea life [9]
00:39:18 - Blob Fish, before and after decompression [10, 11]
00:40:40 - Grabbed by resisters
00:41:50 - Akin Being Astute
00:42:20 - Tino skolds gun wielding resisters
00:44:16 - This ends poorly
00:47:45 - Resister Weapons
00:48:30 - Nuclear Weapons are hard [12]
00:52:30 - Swiss bomb shelters [13]
00:56:16 - Crazy swiss gun [14]
00:57:30 - Next chapter predictions
00:58:47 - Outro

References

• [1] (DMCA) Digital Millennium Copyright Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act
• [2] Transforative Works https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformation_(law)#Ninth_Circuit_decisions
• [3] Peripatus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripatus
• [4] Heather like camoflage in Emperor Moth Caterpillar http://www.wildlifeinsight.com/british-moths/emperor-moth-and-caterpillar-saturnia-pavonia/
• [5] Evolution - The Peppered moth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peppered_moth_evolution
• [6] General Certificate of Secondary Education, exams taken at 16 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Certificate_of_Secondary_Education
• [7] Estimates of the number of species in the sea have varied https://www.deepseanews.com/2019/03/how-many-species-are-in-the-deep-sea/
• [8] Characteristics of species that survive mass extinctions https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-03/caos-run031319.php (https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0902)
• [9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taq_polymerase
• [10] https://myanimals.com/animals/wild-animals-animals/fish-wild-animals-animals/the-blobfish-habitat-and-characteristics/
• [11] Apparently temperature is more of an issue than pressure, but pressure is sometimes still a problem https://www.deepseanews.com/2016/03/under-pressure/
• [12] Enrichment https://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/ur-enrichment.html
• [13] Swiss National Redoubt Strategy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtnwyTICTx4
• [14] stgw 57 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm16Cjy_pzA

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:01:40 - Richard’s interactive plot
00:02:18 - Chapter 6 predictions
00:04:38 - Chapter 6 summary begins
00:06:10 - How would movie adaptation look like? [1]
00:07:30 - People appreciate costumes and animatronics instead of CGI
00:10:20 - Tino’s view of Lilith
00:12:16 - Tino, Wray and Wray’s daughters
00:14:55 - You should always be wary of the questions asked by the father…
00:15:51 - Environmental effect on Oankali metamorphosis
00:19:43 - There would have to be a proper etiquette for Oankali-stype conversations
00:22:18 - Tino can’t take his eyes off the girls…
00:22:43 - …because Nikanj is messing with pheromones
00:23:20 - Tino and breasts again…
00:24:05 - Joseph and Nikanj
00:25:56 - Tino could remember his conditioning [2 - 4]
00:29:35 - The Trade
00:30:53 - This hits a bit too close to home
00:31:57 - Nuclear fallout [5]
00:40:41 - Nikanj explainj why they couldn’t allow humans to go back to normal
00:42:17 - People are already making guns
00:47:06 - It would be sad to lose them, but oh well…
00:48:55 - Who’s most thirsty in the room?
00:53:30 - This all sounds wrong
00:55:01 - Nikanj’s attraction to cancer
00:57:02 - Tino and breasts again x2… [6, 7]
01:04:39 - Improved gamete preservation by Oankali
01:07:38 - Never ask this question… ever
01:08:23 - Don’t even bother whispering
01:09:36 - Lilith starts telling Tino everything about herself
01:13:04 - How do Oankali communicate their results
01:19:28 - Gabe is alive…
01:20:11 - … and needs to be punched in the face.
01:22:10 - Nikanj’s talent
01:30:30 - We really feel for Lilith
01:31:55 - Something touches Tino
01:32:23 - Chapter 6 summary ends
01:32:33 - Oankali-human fanfiction
01:34:01 - We really, really feel for Lilith
01:38:39 - Chapter 7 predictions

References

REFERENCES: Movie adaptation:

• [1] https://www.indiewire.com/2020/02/dawn-ava-duvernay-amazon-series-1202213726/ - News about the movie adaptation of book 1 Dawn of Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy.

Emotions and memory:

• [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2676782/ - Review article from 2009 on the effects of emotions on remembering details. The author suggests that there appear to be many instanes in which negative experiences are remembered better.
• [3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5573739/pdf/fpsyg-08-01454.pdf - Review article from 2017 about the influence of emotion on learning and memory.
• [4] https://www.hhmi.org/news/changing-emotional-association-memories - Article on negative and postive emotions study on mice.

Nuclear bombs:

• [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt_bomb - More details about Cobalt bombs. As featured in Nevil Shute’s 1957 post-apoclytic novel On The Beach https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Beach_(novel)

Evolution of breasts:

• [6] https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/femsplainers/Heying_V2.mp3 - https://femsplainers.com/ podscast discussing the evolution of breasts in humans.
• [7] https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/scientists-still-stumped-by-the-evolution-of-human-breasts - An article discussing the attraction to breasts.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:30:00 - Intro
00:01:40 - Stargate Atlantis
00:02:37 - New things you hear about on podcasts
00:03:15 - Michael’s Predictions
00:04:20 - Schrodinger’s Richard
00:04:30 - Chapter Summary
00:05:16 - Tino Arrives with Lilith and is forewarned
00:06:07 - A tentacular probe
00:07:00 - Tino entertains the village
00:08:00 - Dichaan and Akin converse non-verbally
00:09:20 - I think we were both hungry
00:10:20 - Spoilers in the table of contents!
00:11:08 - Cook your food
00:11:30 - Sketchy hopes for the fertility of the young
00:13:58 - Tino & Nikanj have met before
00:14:03 - Religion among the resisters
00:15:12 - Deadly tongues
00:16:34 - Genome Sequencing tongues
00:17:36 - meh we have a backup of these humans
00:18:17 - inadequacy of social conditioning for the Oankali
00:20:08 - Timing, ages and suspendend animation
00:21:20 - Oankali politics speculations
00:22:14 - Does Tino remember Nikanj?
00:23:24 - The nature of the falibility of human memory
00:24:13 - Richard ironically forgets the word for procedural memory [1]
00:25:21 - ‘The memory wars’ [2]
00:26:30 - Loftus & Coan - The lost in the mall technique [3]
00:27:12 - Elizabeth Loftus Expert testimony & ‘Recovered’ memory [4]
00:28:30 - Eyewitness testimony experiments [5]
00:29:30 - Undergraduate students are untrustworthy - Michael Glinka 2021 ;(
00:30:00 - Undergraduate students are too WEIRD [6] and its a problem - Richard Acton 2021
00:30:45 - Lilith is not harmless and her infant child noticed
00:32:27 - Tino recounts the story of Pheonix
00:33:20 - Tino dismises the trading vilages as primitive
00:34:20 - Water powered wood working shop [7]
00:36:17 - Dr. Stone Manga [8]
00:37:00 - Bootstrapping up to fertility medicine
00:37:35 - Materials science matters
00:37:19 - Oankalizon (TM)
00:39:31 - Ship Jerry [9]
00:40:20 - Speed superinteligence [10]
00:41:26 - Deaths of dispair
00:42:51 - Leah & Wray return
00:43:12 - A path back for the resisters?
00:44:30 - They’ve been busy - 20 kids!
00:46:37 - GOT reference
00:46:48 - What is being built? the new engineered generation
00:47:46 - living on a baby ship “neotenic larve” [11]
00:48:08 - Zerg!
00:49:05 - Star Wars reference
00:50:30 - Will the Oankali resource strip earth?
00:51:30 - resources and rare earth elements in biology [13]
00:54:48 - Your possibly sentient, self-replicating interstellar ship / village sucks
00:56:44 - Wray expects someone to seduce Tino
00:57:36 - Nikanj is being a bit creepy
00:59:26 - Not the good wrong, the bad wrong.
01:00:00 - Chapter 6 predictions
01:01:00 - to be posessive or not to be posessive?
01:02:35 - outro

References

memory:

• [1] Types of memory https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/memory/types-memory

• [2] The memory wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Memory_Wars

• [3] Some cases from the memory wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Loftus#Expert_testimony

• [4] A memoy of a thing that never happened https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_in_the_mall_technique

• [5] A short Review of the history of research on eye witness testimony https://sci-hub.ee/10.1002/acp.1487 (Richard was probably conflating a few different different experiments into Robert Buckhout’s 1975 study)

• [6] Western Educated Industrialised Rich Democratic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_WEIRDest_People_in_the_World

• [7] Water turbine powered wordworking shop https://youtu.be/IdG7a5Lk3rE?t=2352

• [8] Dr. Stone Manga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Stone

• [9] Ship Jerry https://youtu.be/_SzXAFeQIjQ?t=61

• [10] Speed superinteligence, The age of em by Robin Hanson https://ageofem.com/

• [11] Neoteny retation of juvanille characteristics in the adult https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoteny

• [12] Starcraft Zerg https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Zerg

• [13] Rare earth elements in biology https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-020-00930-w

intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:01:53 - Michael tries to explain how he feels about Book 1 and 2 of Xenogenesis trilogy
00:05:31 - Chapter 3 predictions
00:06:40 - Chapter 3 summary begins - Ahajas
00:08:10 - Richard keeps his mouth shut no matter what
00:09:25 - Dichaan
00:10:11 - Michael finally realises where the story is taking place
00:11:28 - Time jumps
00:19:05 - The ship
00:20:59 - Pure Oankali?
00:23:51 - Aeroplanes running on DOS
00:26:56 - Akin and his frustrations
00:27:36 - Margit
00:30:43 - Light-sensitive patches [1, 2]
00:33:11 - James Cameron’s “Avatar”
00:34:04 - Humans are assholes
00:37:20 - Vidor Domonkos
00:40:01 - Michael finds a plot hole
00:44:01 - Chapter 3 ends and who doesn’t love boobies
00:49:08 - Rorschach genocide test
00:50:27 - Chapter 4 predictions
00:51:24 - Chapter 4 summary begins
00:52:08 - Would you want to taste with your fingers?
00:55:16 - The stranger
00:56:08 - The Brazil Nut Tree
01:00:08 - Michael was right all along!
01:01:06 - The Resisters
01:05:32 - The confrontation and complete destruction
01:12:45 - Vegan wet dream
01:16:31 - Lilith and Akin - the most brutal duo
01:19:12 - Extreme sports and Oankali
01:22:45 - Lilith and bitterness
01:25:08 - Chapter 4 summary ends
01:30:29 - Chapter 5 prediction
01:31:21 - Outro

References

Eye evolution

• [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/eye2017226 - Article about evolution of the eye.
• [2] https://www.newscientist.com/definition/evolution-of-the-eye/ - Another article about evolution of the eye.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:32 - Welcome
00:02:27 - Chapter 1 predictions
00:04:01 - Chapter 1 summary begins
00:06:30 - Experience that no-one can remember
00:09:12 - Development of self-consciousness in babies [1, 2]
00:14:26 - Recalling memories corrupts them
00:16:34 - Richard’s earliest memory
00:18:03 - Continuation on chapter 1
00:18:43 - Chapter 1 ends
00:20:11 - Lilith’s other children?
00:24:32 - Chapter 2 predictions
00:24:46 - Chapter 2 starts
00:25:51 - Names and experience of Akin’s father, Joseph
00:28:55 - Learning about human body
00:32:40 - Akin can perceive finer and finer details within Lilith’s body
00:41:00 - A guy in labcoat licking a Petri dish
00:42:06 - Back to Chapter 2
00:45:09 - The Mask 2 baby
00:46:46 - Problems with male human-Oankali hybrids
00:54:51 - Male human-Oankali hybrids will be lonely wolves
00:55:37 - Men are more involved in families than their fathers and grandfathers in the past [3]
00:56:24 - Humans have very complex mating strategies [4]
01:02:29 - Ooliarchy?
01:04:58 - Go listen to Episode 25:GATTACA, watch the movie
01:05:47 - Back to Chapter 2 again
01:06:25 - Chapter 2 summary ends
01:08:31 - Previous predictions and chapter 3 prediction
01:11:30 - Not much on the genetic memory
01:13:03 - Outro

References

Consciousness development in babies:

• [1] https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/04/when-does-your-baby-become-conscious - a short article on baby consciousness.
• [2] https://www.nature.com/articles/pr200950 - An article stating that a foetus is constantly asleep in utero.

Men and family:

• [3] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/12/fathers-day-facts/ - American Think-tank facts on the men and family.

Human mating strategies:

• [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_mating_strategies - Complexity of human reproductive strategies

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:32 - Welcome to our special episode on GATTACA
00:55:00 - Why GATTACA? - Good hard sci-fi for biology
00:02:05 - The challenge of predicting the future in a science of complexity like biology
00:04:23 - Go Watch the Film if you have not already
00:05:20 - Info about the GATTACA release 24th oct 1997 [1]
00:06:45 - A somewhat dystopian biopunk film set in a world where genetic engineering is commonplace
00:07:45 - Non-state eugenics, ‘voluntarily’ by private persons wanting their offspring to have the best chances
00:09:55 - Cast [2]
00:10:50 - Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman met on set got married [3]
00:11:34 - Is that Hank? [4]
00:12:46 - Character Names, Vincent Freeman, Irene cassini, Eugene Morrow (GATTACA) [5]
00:15:28 - Awards [6]
00:15:50 - Poor box office performance [7]
00:17:20 - Pacing, Compelling
00:18:20 - Production design, spiral staircases [8]
00:19:25 - High modernist aesthetic [9] in locations and cinematography
00:19:40 - Marin County Civic centre [10], Frank lloyd wright [11]
00:21:42 - Clothing [8]
00:22:04 - Valids High culture, Invalids low culture [8]
00:23:30 - CLA building [12]
00:24:20 - Cars 1950-60 era bodywork with made to look/sound electric [13]
00:25:20 - Score - Michael Nyman [14]
00:26:52 - Cinematographer [15]
00:27:20 - Use of colour, Green symbolises nature and danger [16]
00:32:22 - If you still have not watched the movie this is where it gets spoiler heavy
00:33:28 - We ‘borrowed’ other people’s film appreciation skills for the previous section
00:35:00 - Setting / World [1]
00:36:20 - Genetic discrimination ‘Genoism’ illegal but widespread.
00:37:16 - Much more reproduction in now IVF, if you are not ‘god children’ / ‘faith births’
00:38:00 - Widespread access to embryo selection, genetic engineering an extra ($) [17]
00:38:45 - Real world law GINA (Genetic information non-discrimination act versions introduced in 1995 passed in 2008) [18]
00:40:15 - Data privacy Ancestry, 23 and me etc. legal work arounds [19, 20]
00:41:18 - We are skeptical that the american healthcare system won’t manage to genetically discriminate anyway
00:41:55 - Vincent - naturally conceived many genetic risk factors [21].
00:42:26 - Anton his younger brother who is genetically selected, and gets his father’s name.
00:43:38 - Anton is taller despite being younger
00:44:04 - They play chicken with who is the first to turn back when swimming out to sea.
00:44:50 - Favouritism, rivalry, expectations and the ambition of space travel
00:45:45 - Vincent wins at chicken for the first time and it changes everything
00:47:20 - Vincent leaves Home and has a janitorial job a GATTACA, can’t get past the genetic tests whenever he applies despite hard work
00:47:48 - Meets black market false identity broker pairs him with Jerome Eugene Morrow
00:48:20 - Drastic measures to take on Jerome’s identity
00:49:20 - Gets in at GATTACA, assigned to be navigator on a mission to Titan
00:50:00 - Inciting action: Murder of an administrator at GATTACA, Vincent’s eyelash found at the scene
00:50:30 - Love interest: Irene Cassini, Valid but with elevated risk of heart failure.
00:51:40 - Eugene deliberately walked in front of the car that paralysed him
00:51:40 - Pressure of expectation and failing to live up to it
00:52:38 - It hits you hard when you realise you are not best in your peer group anymore
00:55:10 - How are they handling genetic engineering in the olymics? not addressed in detail.
00:56:29 - No-holds-barred olymics with all the Drugs?
00:57:55 - Everyone with olymic ambitions trains hard, the genetically gifted who train hard lead the pack
00:58:05 - Trade-offs - you can’t be the optimal sprinter and marathon runner [22] at the same time and you could genetically optimise for either, consent issue
01:00:50 - Vincent evades detection and Anton is the detective on the case and the Killer is revealed
01:01:28 - Anton shows up to Vincent / Eugene’s house, Eugene has to climb the stairs, Irene keeps up the deception, saved by a call
01:03:05 - Why no elevator?
01:05:00 - Anton and Vincent play chicken once again
01:06:25 - Vincent offers Irene a hair Irene declines to sequence it
01:07:01 - Eugene shows vincent a lifetime supply of materials to impersonate him
01:07:20 - Vincent is ready to board the rocket when there is a final test for which he is not prepared
01:08:10 - The doctor knew all along and lets Vincent board
01:08:55 - As the rocket launches Eugene dons his medal and incinerates himself
01:09:35 - Eugene’s suicide
01:13:50 - Eugene gave Vincent a note with lock of hair to take with him to Titan
01:14:38 - knit picks
01:18:28 - The scene with the blood vial switch
01:19:20 - Quotations in the opening titles
01:19:44 - Ecclesiastes 7:13 [23]
01:19:56 - Willard Gaylin [24]
01:19:23 - The book of Ecclesiastes - not bad for the bible [23]
01:21:34 - Existentialism, the ephemeral nature of existence and lack of change
01:23:10 - Progress now occurs in the lifetime of an individual
01:24:00 - The archetypes of Eugene heir to the throne and Vincent the underdog
01:26:00 - Dystopia arises through the oversimplification of genetic quality to a single dimension
01:26:54 - Goodhart’s law [24]
01:28:00 - Real diversity, specialisation and complementation
01:29:57 - Promotion with a fake genetic engineering clinic ad
01:31:50 - Historical Context of eugenics
01:32:15 - The difference between the historical mistakes and the one GATTACA warns about
01:32:30 - History of Eugenics - Francis Galton [27]
01:33:10 - Applying animal breeding techniques to the human population
01:34:53 - What would you breed for in humans? For Galton: intelligence [28]
01:35:14 - Flynn effect - IQ increasing over time [29]
01:37:00 - Initially attributed to much explanatory power to genetics and not enough to environment
01:38:52 - The Eugenics society (Galon institute) [30]
01:39:20 - The positive vs negative eugenics split
01:40:55 - The failed ‘feebleminded persons control bill’ 1912 [31]
01:42:30 - Eugenics spreads to America and Germany
01:42:40 - Popularity with liberal and progressive thinkers [30]
01:43:38 - Bad science mixed with bad politics [32]
01:44:02 - Forced sterilisation persists in some places today, Uyghur Muslims in China [33]
01:44:28 - Eugenics records office 1910 [34]
01:45:00 - Forced sterilisations in the US continued to 1970s [35]
01:46:30 - Nazi Eugenics 1921 [36]
01:47:10 - pre-existing social darwinist attitudes in WWI era German military command [32]
01:47:43 - Sterilisation 1933 [37]
01:47:54 - Himmler ‘lebensborn’ 1935 [38]
01:48:07 - Racial impurity crimes 1936 [39]
01:48:26 - Action T4 250,000-300,000 killed 1939-1945 [40]
01:51:10 - The swing away from nature and towards nurture
01:51:52 - The slate is not as blank as many wanted to believe [41]
01:52:28 - As a generalisation it’s about 50:50 genetics and environment [42]
01:54:10 - The genetic engineering arms race
01:56:16 - GATTACA presents the nuanced dilemma not the caricature
01:56:54 - The ability to do good with modern genetic technologies
01:57:22 - Genetic screening: tay-sachs and Dor yesharim [43]
02:01:04 - Increasing prevalence of carrier and pre-natal genetic screening
02:02:00 - amniocentesis and the option of abortion [44]
02:03:34 - Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis [45]
02:05:40 - History of IVF
02:05:50 - Louise Joy Brown first IVF baby 1978, >5 million since. [46]
02:06:40 - Human fertilisation and embryology authority, >600 conditions screened [47]
02:08:10 - The regulatory hurdles for the first ‘3 parent child’ [48]
02:08:45 - Mitochondrial diseases and maternal inheritance [49]
02:11:00 - Had to travel to UK, New York and Mexico for different parts of the procedure [48]
02:13:00 - In real life the number of embryos you have to select from is quite limited [50]
02:13:18 - Splitting to more embryos to edit?
02:15:23 - Embryo breeding [51]
02:18:10 - Sequencing results in GATTACA - you don’t get a print out of the genome [52]
02:20:40 - Genetic test results
02:21:47 - Genome Browsers [53, 54]
02:24:18 - You can just go and have your date’s genome sequenced at a kiosk
02:25:30 - Data protection
02:25:48 - Genetic matchmaking - ‘The One’ [55]
02:27:10 - Gene therapy in adults [56]
02:27:34 - Somatic vs germline gene therapy: germline is heritable, somatic is not [56].
02:28:27 - Inefficiency of somatic gene therapy [56]
02:29:15 - Deleted Scene extra $5k for enhanced mathematical / musical ability [17]
02:30:45 - The 12 fingered pianist
02:31:48 - The illogic of genetically modified food regulations, irradiation vs targeted edits [48].
02:35:55 - Concern about regulations around genetic engineering in humans
02:37:06 - CRISPR cas9 2012 genetic cut and paste [57]
02:39:45 - First discovery of CRISPR sequences bacteria Francisco Mojica 1993 [58, 48]
02:41:15 - CRISPR found to be an Adaptive immunity system 2005 [58]
02:42:50 - Editing proof of principle Doudna and Charpentier 2012 [59, 60]
02:44:20 - Inactivating genes by cutting them and getting an imperfect repair [61, 62]
02:44:53 - Inserting new sequence with CRISPR [63]
02:46:36 - Very rapid adoption in research in wide use in <2 years
02:47:46 - The first CRISPR babies 2018, He Jiankui scandal [63, 48]
02:49:00 - He Jiankui made a poor choice of intervention
02:52:03 - Michael is angry
02:52:44 - Consequences for He Jiankui
02:54:02 - Reality is catching up to GATTACA’s launch cadence [64]
02:55:10 - Richard resisting going on a tangent noises
02:55:46 - Space remained the aspirational goal
02:56:04 - Suits in space
02:56:28 - A heart defect is a legitimate concern on a spaceflight
02:58:15 - Transhumanism [65]
02:58:48 - Relationship to the cyberpunk episode [66]
02:59:46 - Society became fixated on genetic determinism in GATTACA
03:01:30 - Public conversation on bioethics
03:03:20 - Much good can be done moral obligation to pursue it
03:03:51 - Increased capability is an unambiguous good
03:03:46 - Ethical challenges of Trade-offs and specialisation
03:05:21 - Risk of burdening children with specific expectations
03:10:00 - Speculations on future human enhancements
03:11:42 - We will be more diverse in biology
03:12:36 - Political challenges of this diversity
03:13:06 - Explore the possibilities whilst staying safe
03:14:20 - Concluding remarks
03:14:46 - Outro

References

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gattaca
• [2] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/
• [3] Ethan and Uma met on set and were married 1998-05, had two children https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethan_Hawke#Personal_life
• [4] Dean Norris plays the cop Eugene asks for his badge number https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Norris#Film
• [5] Vincent Freeman, vincent comes from the Latin Vincere which means to overcome. Irene Cassini - Giovanni Domenico Cassini (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Domenico_Cassini) - discovered four satelites of saturn, The Cassini mission (https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/overview/) launched in 1997 to study saturn, landed the Huygens probe on titan, Cassini crashed into saturn in 2017 mission to titan a moon of saturn. Jerome Eugene Morrow - Eugene from the Greek εὐγενής (eugenēs), “noble”, literally “well-born”, from εὖ (eu), “well” and γένος (genos), “race, stock, kin” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_%28given_name%29 GATTACA - A,T,G,C the four nucleobases of DNA.
• [6] Awards https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gattaca#Accolades
• [7] Release https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gattaca#Release
• [8] Gattaca featurette https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft8Rfy1Tfzc
• [9] High Modernism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_modernism
• [10] Marin County Civic Centre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_County_Civic_Center
• [11] Frank Lloyd Wright https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lloyd_Wright
• [12] The Classroom, Laboratory & Administration Building (CLA) building at California State Polytechnic University https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CLA_Building
• [13] Citroën DS convertible https://www.imcdb.org/v003929.html
• [14] Score composed by Michael Nyman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Nyman#Works
• [15] Cinematogrpher Sławomir Idziak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C5%82awomir_Idziak
• [16] Use of colour http://film.byu.edu/aperture/?p=402
• [17] Deleted scenes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC9f9Rfawcg
• [18] GINA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_Information_Nondiscrimination_Act
• [19] Data Privacy concerns https://www.businessinsider.com/privacy-security-risks-genetic-testing-23andme-ancestry-dna-2019-2?r=DE&IR=T
• [20] Evading 4th amendment protections with foreign governments https://www.giswatch.org/en/communications-surveillance/unmasking-five-eyes-global-surveillance-practices and private companies https://www.illinoislawreview.org/online/public-surveillance-through-private-eyes/
• [21] Vincent’s projected lifespan 30.2 years, with the following risks: neurological condition 60%, manic depression 42%, ADHD 89%, heart disorder 99%.
• [22] Genetics of marathon running https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6683622/
• [23] Ecclesiastes 7:13 NIV “consider god’s handiwork who can straighten what he hath mad crooked.” Very Bad Wizards episode on Ecclesiastes: https://www.verybadwizards.com/160 Differing translation: https://www.knowableword.com/2019/06/06/what-does-meaningless-vanity-futility-mean-in-ecclesiastes/
• [24] “I not only think we will tamper with mother nature, I think mother wants us to” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willard_Gaylin
• [25] Goodhart’s law When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law
• [26] Fake ad “Children Made to order” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/51b3dc8ee4b051b96ceb10de/1463149639768-QINN1VAQ38ICSSLOXDW9/gattaca-ad-made-to-order?content-type=image%2Fpng
• [27] Francis Galton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Galton
• [28] Galton: Hereditary Genius https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hereditary_Genius
• [29] Increasing IQ the Flynn effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect
• [30] The Galton Institute https://www.galtoninstitute.org.uk/, Eugenics Society Archive https://wellcomelibrary.org/collections/digital-collections/makers-of-modern-genetics/digitised-archives/eugenics-society/
• [31] Feebleminded persons control bill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_Deficiency_Act_1913
• [32] Andrew Marr on Darwin’s Dangerous Idea https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00j58p1, https://piermarton.info/darwins-dangerous-idea/
• [33] Forced sterilisation of Uyghur muslims in China https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/04/muslim-minority-teacher-50-tells-of-forced-sterilisation-in-xinjiang-china
• [34] Eugenics Record Office (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics_Record_Office) founded 1910 by Charles Davenport (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Davenport) director Harry Laughlin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_H._Laughlin)
• [35] A History of Forced Sterilization in the United States https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/history-forced-sterilization-united-states-167762
• [36] Nazi eugenics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_eugenics Fritz Lentz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Lenz, Eugen Fisher https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugen_Fischer
• [37] 1933 Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_for_the_Prevention_of_Hereditarily_Diseased_Offspring
• [38] Lebensborn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebensborn
• [39] 1936 Nuremberg Laws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_Laws
• [40] Action T4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aktion_T4
• [41] The Blank Slate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blank_Slate
• [42] Blueprint by Robert Plomin https://areomagazine.com/2020/09/02/the-nature-behind-human-potential-robert-plomins-blueprint/
• [43] Committee for Prevention of Jewish Genetic Diseases aka Dor Yeshorim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dor_Yeshorim
• [44] Amniocentesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amniocentesis
• [45] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preimplantation_genetic_diagnosis additionally https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/preimplantation-genetic-diagnosis
• [46] In vitro fertilisation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_fertilisation
• [47] Human fertilisation and embryology authority https://www.hfea.gov.uk/
• [48] Hacking the Code of Life by Nessa Carey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nessa_Carey#Hacking_the_Code_of_Life:_How_Gene_Editing_Will_Rewrite_Our_Futures_(2019)
• [49] Mitochondrial disease https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_disease
• [50] egg count https://extendfertility.com/your-fertility-3/egg-count/
• [51] Hacking Darwin by Jamie Metlz https://hackingdarwin.com/
• [52] Print out of the human genome at the Wellcome collection in London https://askabiologist.asu.edu/sites/default/files/resources/articles/genome_whats_a/Genome-bookcase.jpg
• [53] UCSC genome browser https://www.genome.ucsc.edu/
• [54] ensembl genome browser http://www.ensembl.org/index.html?redirect=no
• [55] Genetic match making https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_matchmaking, in fiction ‘the one’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_One_(TV_series)
• [56] Somatic gene therapy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_therapy#Somatic
• [57] CRISPR cas9 in gene editing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRISPR
• [58] Discovery of CIRSPR Francisco Mojica https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Mojica
• [59] Jennifer Doudna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Doudna
• [60] Emmanuelle Charpentier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuelle_Charpentier
• [61] Genome Editing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genome_editing
• [62] Error in Non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) for CRISPR mediated targeted mutagenesis https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1934590919303510
• [63] He Jiankui https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_Jiankui
• [64] Number of launches per year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_spaceflight
• [65] Transhumanism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism
• [66] Our Cyberpunk Special https://www.xenothesis.com/20_cyberpunk_special/

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:32 - Opening discussion
00:01:03 - Michael and Richard discuss the final spoiler of the chapter…
00:01:52 - Chapter 9 predictions
00:03:25 - Everyone is a future-teller, just with wrong timings
00:04:13 - End of the World predictions
00:04:57 - Chapter 9 summary begins
00:10:09 - “Person”
00:13:10 - Problem with Nikanj
00:15:55 - Why the humans MUST return to the Oankali
00:17:57 - “Unclean”… and whaaaaat??
00:19:28 - In Vitro Fertilisation and sperm storage [1, 2]
00:23:27 - Sperm banks [3 - 5] and problem with the Oankali scientific approach (or lack thereof)
00:29:03 - “Final” off-tangent
00:29:36 - “Unclean” proper discussion
00:42:05 - Problem with the Oankali
00:49:13 - Failure to communicate - if solved, comedy movies would be boring
00:55:11 - Daryl Davis
00:57:16 - KKK titles - and why you cannot NOT laugh when reading them [6]
00:58:58 - Back to chapter 9
01:00:27 - Difference between Humans and the Oankali
01:02:21 - Chapter 9 ends but the discussion continues
01:06:43 - Last point on the final chapter
01:07:52 - Book FINISHED! …but the discussion goes on
01:09:41 - Richard gives a brief summary of the book
01:11:11 - Lilith being abducted by aliens while heading towards pyramids - coincidence?! I think not!
01:14:30 - Jdahya
01:19:25 - The travel platforms
01:19:49 - Final poke at Kahguyaht
01:26:41 - Idiots trying to conquer the whole ship
01:30:52 - We appreciate the book and its unpredictability
01:39:05 - The topics we discussed throughout the series
01:48:28 - Xenogenesis is not often mentioned in lists of SciFi books
01:49:54 - Statistics on the episodes
01:51:47 - Future books predictions
01:53:39 - Richard witholding information and reading so many books that Michael will stay forever as the test subject
02:00:44 - Outro

References

Sperm storage:

• [1] https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(11)01252-8.pdf - Short article about animals that store sperm.
• [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_sperm_storage - Wiki article on the female sperm storage.

Sperm banks and IVF:

• [3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4498171/ - History of IVF.
• [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_donation - A comprehensive article about sperm donation on Wikipedia.
• [5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5924960/ - First sperm bank.

KKK titles:

• [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan_titles_and_vocabulary - Honestly, read the titles… it’s absolute comedy gold.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:32 - Intro
00:01:21 - A whole year of content
00:03:37 - Chapter 7 predictions
00:05:46 - Chapter 7 summary begins
00:09:06 - Kahguyaht destroys Curt
00:13:34 - The battle begins
00:16:05 - “It’s ok, it will heal”
00:17:23 - The Oankali had plenty of time to study the humans
00:19:57 - Doesn’t matter how good arguments you have, if someone doesn’t want to listen, they won’t
00:22:30 - What would happen if the Oankali came to Earth before destruction
00:27:36 - Back to Chapter 7
00:28:23 - Healing Nikanj
00:32:07 - Process of regeneration
00:37:30 - Issue with Oankali research
00:48:08 - Chapter 7 again
00:55:05 - The Oankali are very stubborn on the approach to humans
01:00:40 - The Oankali culture of relationships
01:09:10 - Chapter 7 finishes
01:09:50 - Chapter 8 predictions
01:10:45 - Chapter 8 summary begins
01:11:49 - Roasted turtles [1]
01:14:08 - “Come Gabe, what do you got?"
01:19:10 - Chapter 8 ends
01:20:40 - Why we like Lilith
01:29:03 - Chapter 9 predictions
01:30:54 - Outro

References

Tortoises:

• [1] https://ptes.org/grants/worldwide-projects/galapagos-giant-tortoises/ - Why are Giant Tortoises in danger of extinction.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:33 - Intro
00:03:01 - Chapter 5 predictions
00:03:38 - Chapter 5 summary begins
00:04:47 - Oxbow lake formation [1]
00:06:40 - Gabriel having issue with Lilith’s leading
00:08:08 - Obligatory hatin’ on Kahguyaht
00:10:08 - Pitching a tent when it is dark and wet is not fun
00:12:21 - Ants in Poland - Fromica rufa [2]
00:13:27 - Army Ants marching through [3 - 5]
00:15:50 - Ant super-colonies [6]
00:17:05 - Bees [7, 8]
00:18:44 - Termites [9]
00:19:55 - Back to chapter 5
00:21:33 - Visual system (yes, we went off tangent immediately)
00:23:40 - Fishing (back to chapter 5)
00:24:50 - Spear and bowfishing [10, 11]
00:27:43 - Chapter 5 again
00:28:30 - Chapter 5 summary finishes - we discuss what the Oankali did to the humans
00:33:19 - Chapter 6 predictions
00:33:50 - Chapter 6 summary starts
00:37:05 - We discuss again how dumb the humans were
00:42:04 - “It wasn’t planned”
00:45:59 - Neanderthal extinction [12]
00:48:40 - Back to Chapter 6
00:49:49 - First time description of what the aliens feel and experience
00:59:09 - Wedge between Lilith and the rest of humanity
01:05:00 - Chapter 7 predictions
01:08:21 - Justice for Lilith!
01:08:42 - Outro

References

Oxbow lake formation:

• [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGJXxAZPm8M - Video visualising the formation of an oxbow lake - similar to what the room Lilith and the humans are kept in.

Ants:

• [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formica_rufa - Wikipedia article on the ants that Michael called Blacksmith ants (although that’s local name for them), their actual name being red wood ants, or latin Fromica rufa.
• [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsfiUR0ZzLw - Army ants marching through and killing everything off.
• [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO3yKYC305g - Army Ants documentary.
• [5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_e0CA_nhaE - Army ants Kurzgesagt video.
• [6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqECNYmM23A - Kurzgesagt ant super-colony videos.

Bees:

• [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_bee_life_cycle - Bee life cycle article on Wikipedia.
• [8] https://www.uaex.edu/farm-ranch/special-programs/beekeeping/about-honey-bees.aspx - More about bees.

Termites:

• [9] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/26/science/termite-nest-ventilation.html - How ventilation is crucial for termite mounds.

Spear and bowfishing:

• [10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spearfishing - Wikipedia article on spearfishing.
• [11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowfishing - Wikiepdia article on bowfishing - giving the details on how much adjustement is needed.

Neanderthal extinction:

• [12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal_extinction - How modern human killed off similar species.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:32 - Intro
00:01:12 - Michael tells how he is scared more and more of what may happen
00:01:52 - Chapter 3 predictions
00:03:30 - Chapter 3 summary begins
00:03:55 - Stilt houses [1]
00:04:52 - Survival skills in specific environments are vastly underestimated
00:07:14 - Unique thing about humans as species
00:08:31 - Story of Greenland [2, 3]
00:10:12 - Venus
00:13:01 - Archery and swordfighting skills lost through time
00:14:03 - It’s one thing to write a protocol, and another to perform it
00:18:51 - Back to Chapter 3
00:24:01 - The simulation of the Earth on the ship is so realistic that it’s impossible to know if they are on a spaceship
00:27:55 - The problem with the Oankali and humans - the approach does not teach humans anything
00:36:10 - Chapter 3 summary ends
00:36:45 - Michael telling what was on his mind for a long while
00:47:03 - Chapter 4 predictions
00:47:34 - Chapter 4 summary begins
00:49:55 - Lilith calls on Gabe’s bullshit
00:51:13 - Chapter 4 finishes
00:51:45 - Michael thinks Gabriel is going to be the cause of a disaster
00:56:03 - Chapter 5 predictions
00:58:04 - The Red flags
01:02:01 - Outro

References

Stilt houses:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stilt_house - Wikipedia article about houses built on poles to prevent flooding.

Greenland:

• [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland - Wikipedia article about Greenland.
• [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_the_Red - The man who scammed people by making naming Greenland, telling them of fertile land and not ice covered landscape.

Venus:

• [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Venus - The carbon dioxide atmosphere with sulphuric acid clouds and rain on Venus.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:32 - Intro
00:02:10 - Are we heading for a cyberpunk future?
00:04:21 - Defining our terms, What is cyberpunk? [1]
00:05:00 - Cybernetics [2]
00:07:00 - The cybernetics that are already with us: PCs, smartphones etc.
00:08:15 - We won’t remember your birthday unaided, we’re lucky if we remember our own
00:10:28 - A eulogy to the personal computer / smartphone & Linux [3]
00:15:08 - Cyberpunk as a genre of literature [4]
00:16:16 - (‘This’ is refering to Richard’s phone which he has forgotten that you cannot see he is holding)
00:16:30 - The tech is creeping up on us and we have not addressed the may societal issues it raises, may are adressed in fiction [5,6,7]
00:17:16 - Issues in current tech supply chains, conflict minerals, slave labour, bad incentives [8]
00:18:10 - Once tech is in your body and/or brain it gets personal
00:18:59 - In the limit freedom of compute is freedom of thought
00:19:42 - Bodily autonomy, software freedom, trust, and the commons [9]
00:21:09 - The need for effective political discussion of technology
00:21:51 - Cypherpunks, cryptography as a means to resit overreach by the state [10]
00:25:00 - When cryptography was considered a munition [11]
00:26:30 - Crypto can help balance power between people and non-state/corporate actors, increased differentiation of social class in cyberpunk
00:27:54 - Corperate hiveminds and their misaligned incentives - the problem with shareholder primacy [12]
00:29:13 - Reinternalising externalities, a role for government in increasing market freedom [13]
00:30:58 - Trust corporate entities only insofar as their utility function is aligned with your own, something that is seen a lot in cyberpunk
00:32:20 - Nestle are bastards
00:33:19 - Human machine interfaces, genetic engeneering to improve the precision and bandwidth of human machine interfaces, optogenetics [14]
00:37:00 - Obligatory neuralink mention [15]
00:40:12 - The challenge of differences in speed and architechture between brains and computers
00:40:54 - Evolution does not adhere to software engereering best practices and biology is the worst legacy code problem in history [16]
00:42:09 - The challenge is in the translation (joke for maybe 1 other person You thought dynamic binary translation betwen x86 and arm was bad hahahaha)
00:42:48 - Mind uploading, recent Kurzgesagt video [17] other books [18, 19, 20]
00:44:43 - Ads in your dreams! futurama got there first (we misremembered Fry’s name) [21]
00:45:40 - The importance of free software once you have hardware in your body [ cory talk insulin]
00:50:16 - Free as is speech (libre) not free as in beer (gratis) [9]
00:52:20 - Bad incentives in proprietary software, lock-in and worse devices with embedded computing [9]
00:56:47 - Deep brain stimulation devices [22]
00:58:36 - Current implant tech pacemakers, insulin pumps etc. [23, 24]
01:03:55 - Zoom contact lenses [25]
01:04:09 - Hugh Herr TED talk Prosthetic legs [26, 27]
01:06:12 - Cyber security of implanted medical devices. Don’t rely on security through obscurity, if it’s public weaknesses can be found and patched [28, 29]
01:10:00 - Surveillance Capitalism using data about us for the benefit of others not ourselves [30]
01:14:22 - You can still hack airgapped electronics [31]
01:16:12 - AWS outage stops ‘smart’ vacuums and doorbells from working [32]
01:19:00 - Dystopian uses of facial/gait recognition - The vast underworlds of cyberpunk are implausible in a surveilance panopticon as complete as the ones we are building
01:25:26 - The relationship between digital rights and rights in ‘meatspace’ when we increasingly live online [33]
01:26:58 - The false trade-off between security and privacy
01:27:12 - Encryption backdoors are a terrible idea that don’t work
01:27:58 - The failure of dragnet surveillance
01:28:36 - The new online arena for fights over civil liberties
01:30:25 - The problem of amplification of inaccurate or misleading content
01:32:36 - The incentives to maximise viewing time and click through rate promote divicive content.
01:34:18 - We can do this better ‘polis’ finding rough consensus in online consultations [34]
01:37:53 - Vote for policies [35]
01:40:00 - Finding reliable information in a sea of bad dis/misinformation, Countries with exposure to a neighbor with propaganistic media do well in media literacy education [36]
01:42:28 - Genetic engeneering, pre-implantation genetic diasnosis [37, 38]
01:45:50 - Gene therapy in adults [39]
01:47:11 - The double edged nature of heritable Germline genetic engeneering, permanant fix ~ permanant harm [37].
01:48:22 - First ‘CRISPR babies’ Chinese scientist He Jiankui [40]
01:50:02 - Trade-offs in genetic engeneering, you can’t be an optimal sprinter and an optimal long distance runner
01:51:16 - Geopolitics of the supersoldier, Liam Neeson, nukes, and killer robots
01:53:29 - bioengeneered organ farms
01:55:02 - Biology is nanotechnology
01:56:36 - The ‘pure’ humans vs the modified
01:57:22 - GATTACA [41]
01:57:51 - New forms of inequality and limitations of social mobility through the predetermining effects of particular genetic optimisations
02:01:00 - We need to have a productive societal conversation about Genetic engeneering.
02:04:02 - Technology gives us the capability to do more both bad and good
02:04:58 - Concluding remarks, the need to more conversation on these topics
02:09:45 - Outro

References

• [1] Cyberpunk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberpunk
• [2] Cybernetics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybernetics
• [3] The linux kernel https://github.com/torvalds/linux
• [4] Lawrence Person https://slashdot.org/story/99/10/08/2123255/notes-toward-a-postcyberpunk-manifesto
• [5] Cory Doctorow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Doctorow
• [6] Charles Stross https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Stross
• [7] Annalee Newitz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annalee_Newitz
• [8] Conflict minerals https://sci-hub.se/10.5465/amj.2015.0770
• [9] Free software foundation https://www.fsf.org/about/what-is-free-software
• [10] Cypherpunk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypherpunk
• [11] Cryptographt as a munition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypherpunk#Early_discussion_of_online_privacy
• [12] Corporate Alignment https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/6wvqbcCWB6rdkW4nu/agi-alignment-should-solve-corporate-alignment
• [13] Relevant degrees of freedom for markets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_competition
• [14] Optogenetics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optogenetics, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_9rdj4SJrc
• [15] Neuralink https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuralink
• [16] DNA https://xkcd.com/1605/
• [17] Kurzgesagt mind upload https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b33NTAuF5E
• [18] permutation city https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/156784.Permutation_City awesome often exploration of mind uploading
• [19] The age of em https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26831944-the-age-of-em
• [20] Bobiverse https://www.goodreads.com/series/192752-bobiverse very fun world of a nerd/engeneer who becomes a von Neumann probe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-replicating_spacecraft#Von_Neumann_probes
• [21] Futurama ads in dreams https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlCrcMeVZHs
• [22] Deep brain stimulation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_brain_stimulation
• [23] Cochlear implant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochlear_implant
• [24] Pacemaker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_cardiac_pacemaker#Privacy_and_security
• [25] Zoom contacts https://iflscience.com/technology/scientists-develop-telescopic-contact-lenses-can-zoom-3x/
• [26] Hugh Herr https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AoRmlAZVTs
• [27] Cory Doctorow referenceing Hugh Herr talk https://youtu.be/O_8J9rN1wug?t=2243
• [28] Jay Radcliffe - semimal example of hacking an insluin pump https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avf5XF8yS60
• [29] Ken Hoyme, Systems Security Engeneering in implantable medical devices - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uISStTxmJ88
• [30] Surveillance Capitalism https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26195941-the-age-of-surveillance-capitalism
• [31] A recent airgapped hacking method - one of many https://threatpost.com/air-gap-attack-turns-memory-wifi/162358/
• [32] AWS (Amazon web services) outage https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-55087054
• [33] IRS buys data https://reclaimthenet.org/irs-accused-of-buying-smartphone-data/
• [34] ‘polis’ https://pol.is/home use in Taiwan and Audrey Tang https://www.humanetech.com/podcast/23-digital-democracy-is-within-reach
• [35] Vote for policies https://voteforpolicies.org.uk/
• [36] Estonia https://www.foreigner.fi/articulo/work-and-study/estonia-takes-over-european-leader-of-the-pisa-report/20191203173125003676.html, Finland https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/how-finland-is-fighting-fake-news-in-the-classroom/, Taiwan ‘humor over rumor’ https://qz.com/1863931/taiwan-is-using-humor-to-quash-coronavirus-fake-news/
• [37] Hacking Darwin, Jamie Metzl https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40597264-hacking-darwin
• [38] Preimplantation genetic diagnosis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preimplantation_genetic_diagnosis
• [39] Adult gene therapies, Retina treatment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_therapy_of_the_human_retina, Sickle cell treatment https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/stem-cell-transplant-reverses-sickle-cell-disease-adults
• [40] He Jiankui https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_Jiankui
• [41] GATTACA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gattaca

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:32 - Intro
00:02:21 - The earliest tangent - Golden Bridge painting
00:03:00 - “Mandalorian” green-screen is not the way
00:04:15 - Chapter 1 predictions
00:05:30 - Chapter 1 summary begins
00:06:20 - Why you shouldn’t touch trees in an tropical forest [1, 2]
00:08:00 - Why you shouldn’t step on a fallen tree in a tropical forest
00:08:37 - First penicillin patient [3, 4]
00:11:00 - Spiders in space [5, 6]
00:14:40 - Back to the summary
00:16:16 - The wishful thinking of Oankali-human mixing
00:20:23 - We would prefer no mosquitoes
00:21:52 - Brazillian Nut Tree [7]
00:23:33 - The symbiosis between species in any environment is important [8, 9]
00:27:38 - Situation of Curt and Gabriel, and what would happen if they tried to swim down the river
00:31:05 - What would happen, if Oankali used the tropical room to wake up the humans
00:33:03 - Chapter 1 ends
00:33:23 - Negative characteristics of the Oankali
00:37:03 - Chapter 2 predictions
00:38:28 - Chapter 2 summary begins
00:39:46 - Locking away weapons is important
00:45:45 - We hypothesise how could we figure out we are on a spaceship [10 - 12]
00:57:51 - Back to Chapter 2
01:00:01 - Would aliens know of fossil fuels?
01:00:57 - The book tells us what and why will happen to Curt (Chapter 2 ends)
01:06:38 - The big problem that Oankali don’t understand
01:20:11 - Special episode announcement
01:26:28 - Chapter 3 predictions
01:26:53 - Outro

References

Danger from tropical trees:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchineel - Manchineel tree.
• [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hura_crepitans - Sandbox tree.

The first penicillin patient:

• [3] https://mosaicscience.com/story/penicillin-first-patient-history-albert-alexander-AMR-DRI/ - The story of Constable Albert Alexander.
• [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillin - History of Penicillin

First spiders in space:

• [5] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/spider - Spiders in space.
• [6] http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v4_n2/JoA_v4_p115_grey.pdf - Original paper on the spider space.

Brazillian Nut Tree:

• [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_nut#Reproduction - Article on the reproduction of the nut tree.

Importance of balanced ecosystem:

• [8] https://www.yellowstonepark.com/things-to-do/wolf-reintroduction-changes-ecosystem - Re-introduction of wolves into the Yellowstone Park and return of balance.
• [9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_Campaign - The extermination of sparrows by Chinese and the disasterous famine because of it.

Can you figure out that you are on a spaceship?

• [10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_force - Coriolis effect that Richard mentioned.
• [11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_spectroscopy - Spectral lines of stars.
• [12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedford_Level_experiment - Curvature of the Earth experiment.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:32 - Intro
00:02:21 - Chapter 13 and 14 predictions
00:03:20 - Chapter 13 summary
00:03:50 - Why drugging people is a problem
00:08:10 - Difference between 1984 and Brave New World scenario
00:10:50 - Chapter 14 summary begins
00:11:40 - Peter is a psychopath…
00:14:53 - Moral foundations theory [1 - 3]
00:16:40 - The death of Peter [4, 5]
00:20:33 - Richard complains about the paper on the venoms
00:21:03 - We discuss the poisons developed by humans and Michael complains about the naturally occuring toxins
00:23:26 - Richard tells us about his favourite animal: platypus [6]
00:26:50 - Back to Chapter 14 (we gain an insight on the Oankali)
00:34:32 - “Siblings”
00:38:03 - The premonition of problems with Curt
00:45:40 - We discuss the potential meeting of two different branches of Oankali
00:54:23 - Properties necessary for survival in the world of Xenogenesis
00:58:02 - Chapter 14 finishes and with it Part 3: Nursery
00:58:39 - Chapter 1 (Part 4: The Training Floor) prediction
01:03:24 - Outro

References

Morals:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_foundations_theory - Wikipedia article describing the basics of the Moral foundations theory
• [2] https://behavioralscientist.org/whats-wrong-with-moral-foundations-theory-and-how-to-get-moral-psychology-right/ - An article going against the MFW.
• [3] https://scihubtw.tw/10.1016/b978-0-12-407236-7.00002-4 - Scientific article going into a lot more details about MFW.

Venoms:

• [4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1571087/ - Review article about myotoxins
• [5] https://theconversation.com/mortal-poison-the-story-of-how-venom-works-50964 - Short article describing different types of toxins

Platypus:

• [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus - Wikipedia article on platypus

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:32 - Intro
00:01:02 - Why didn’t the Oankali use drugs from the very beginning?
00:03:52 - Chapter 12 predictions
00:04:46 - Chapter 12 summary begins
00:08:05 - We discuss Peter
00:10:04 - The Oankali finally appear
00:12:06 - We discuss the things that could be poisonous to Oankali
00:13:45 - Kahguyaht is back!
00:20:00 - Nikanj arrives and predicts Tate and Gabriel’s fate
00:25:33 - Nikanj and Joseph - why different is so scary
00:30:31 - Why Lilith is now off-duty
00:33:30 - Nikanj, the saucy one (and the problem with seduction of Joseph)
00:46:47 - Chapter 12 summary ends
00:47:30 - Discussing why the Oankali made Lilith do all this
00:48:45 - How much do we care about the rest of the humans?
00:58:16 - “The Traitor Baru Cormorant” by Seth Dickinson
00:58:24 - Chapter 13 and 14 predictions
01:01:02 - Outro

References

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:32 - Intro
00:01:06 - Chapter 11 predictions
00:02:58 - The love of action in the chapter…
00:03:14 - …and Michael’s comparison to Yakuza 0
00:04:09 - Chapter 11 summary begins
00:05:21 - The lack of in-depth logic is striking
00:07:15 - Discussion on the factions formation
00:09:52 - We drift towards US party system… briefly.
00:11:42 - Back to more important, Alien politics
00:12:15 - Dossiers
00:17:30 - Problem with pairing
00:20:40 - We are really dissapointed with Curt
00:24:14 - The issue boils up and enter the Hulk
00:27:12 - The problem with the room and the Oankali
00:28:56 - “Orangutans look like loose sacks” - Richard.
00:30:25 - Back to Chapter 11 and conversation with Ahajas
00:31:55 - The story repeats…
00:33:26 - What is the actual attitude from her Oankali family towards Lilith
00:35:55 - Chapter 11 summary ends
00:36:31 - Chapter 12 predictions
00:38:10 - We discuss again the problem with the Oankali plan on making Lilith the leader
00:42:45 - Michael compares the situation to “Lord of the Flies”
00:45:25 - How will they Oankali interfere with the healing?
00:46:58 - Time shifts are problematic in the book
00:53:51 - How close are the Oankali with Lilith?
00:55:06 - Long-term predictions
01:00:18 - Richard is cheating by reading as many books as possibly so Michael cannot make him suffer like he is
01:00:51 - Outro

References

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:32 - Intro
00:02:02 - Chapter 9 predictions
00:02:41 - Chapter 9 summary begins
00:03:20 - Discussion (again) on the process behind Nikanj’s connection
00:09:15 - Why would Lilith allow them to touch her?
00:10:07 - Alien Cult confirmed
00:13:30 - Back to Chapter 9
00:14:52 - Chapter 9 summary ends
00:17:36 - Medieval entertainment
00:18:48 - Why the tangent - entertainment and addictions [1, 2]
00:21:00 - Elevator experiment [3]
00:26:00 - Voice recognition problems
00:26:41 - Chapter 10 summary begins
00:29:15 - People are pairing off
00:32:13 - Alternative societal structures [4, 5]
00:33:21 - Back to Chapter 10
00:39:55 - Michael is bothered with some of Lilith’s allies
00:44:41 - More psychology stuff [6]
00:50:55 - Chapter 10 summary ends
00:51:58 - Chapter 11 predictions
00:55:43 - Outro

References

Superstition in the pigeon:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._F._Skinner#'Superstition_in_the_pigeon'_experiment - Wikipedia article about B. F. Skinner and his experiment on the pigeons.
• [2] http://hackeducation.com/2018/06/15/pigeons - Another article about Skinner.

Elevator experiment:

• [3] https://blc.edu/2011/12/bethanys-elevator-experiment-a-case-of-backward-research/ - Short article about a study on human conformity.

Alternative societal structures:

• [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Fukuyama - Author Richard mentioned.
• [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Origins_of_Political_Order - Inheritance laws for the Jannisarries, see also https://robertwright.com/moral-animal/ Robbers cave:
• [6] https://www.simplypsychology.org/robbers-cave.html - Article detailing the Robbers Cave Experiment.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:31 - Intro
00:04:29 - “Men writing women”
00:05:23 - Chapter 7 predictions
00:08:47 - It feels rapy when we imagine being in Joseph’s point of view
00:09:22 - Chapter 7 summary starts
00:11:11 - Discussion on the possible explanation of what they experienced [1]
00:14:08 - If alien visited, there would be alien cult with alien Kamasutra created
00:16:30 - Hypothesis on the fertilisation [2, 3]
00:18:20 - Back to the tangent on neural link…
00:20:18 - Discussion on additional perception modes in animals [4 - 7]
00:23:55 - Social consequences in seeing in infra-red
00:26:15 - We diss the superhero powers
00:29:58 - Back of tangent to Chapter 7 summary
00:35:22 - We still feel sorry for Joseph and what deep wwater he was thrown into
00:37:43 - Early chapter 9 prediction from Michael
00:39:38 - Chapter 7 summary finished
00:41:10 - Do Oankali still have some age and experience prejudice?
00:44:01 - Chapter 8 predictions
00:45:38 - Chapter 8 summary begins
00:49:10 - Gabriel Rinaldi and Tate - Michael still doesn’t trust them, especially Tate
00:54:25 - Chapter 8 summary finishes
00:55:14 - Michael’s long-term predictions
01:05:01 - Chapter 9 predictions
01:06:04 - Outro

References

Brain pleasure centres:

• [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4425246/ - Review article on the pleasure centres in our brains.

Fertilisation process in mammals:

• [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_fertilization - Wikipedia article on the fertilisation.
• [3] http://www.columbia.edu/itc/hs/medical/humandev/2004/Chapt1-Fertilization.pdf - Chapter from a book going into more detail on fertilisation.

How do other animals see:

• [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ss-nmT7oAA - A video by Bright Side showing how some animals see
• [5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHhDHk-kBYY - Another video by Jaw-Dropping Facts showing more animals and their visual perception.
• [6] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2014/07/03/natures-most-amazing-eyes-just-got-a-bit-weirder/ - Mantis Shrimp eyes.
• [7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiVKwpWXDic - A video describing more about Mantis Shrimp eyes.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:32 - Intro
00:02:04 - Chapter 6 predictions
00:04:15 - Chapter 6 summary begins
00:08:15 - When parents come and intrude on your conversations
00:11:28 - Seeing an actual alien is a “concrete” evidence
00:12:33 - We feel sorry for Lilith
00:17:30 - Back to Chapter 6
00:18:45 - Michael describes how he images the Trade
00:23:05 - We try to imagine how it would look like if the Oankali would appear before the war
00:26:55 - “The Cult of the Oankali”
00:29:02 - Back to Chapter 6 again
00:30:33 - What other methods did the Oankali try to pull humans to their side?
00:34:40 - Lilith shuts Joseph down…
00:37:21 - Finally, we can release our scientific nerdiness out and discuss the regenerative powers that Lilith gained. [1 - 10]
00:57:11 - Super-strength [11-13]
01:03:04 - Back to Chapter 6 summary
01:04:23 - Why was Lilith given the powers?
01:08:40 - Joseph prefers surgery
01:09:44 - Nikanj attacks Lilith
01:11:30 - We discuss the “Dune” by Frank Herbert
01:14:31 - Why Nikanj couldn’t leave Joseph alone?
01:16:03 - Speaking through someone’s mouth… and why Michael shouldn’t have any powers. Ever.
01:17:42 - This is where the chapter gets spicy.
01:19:17 - Chapter 6 summary ends
01:19:18 - We were not ready for this cliff-hanger…
01:23:30 - Did Joseph have chance to consent to any of what is happening to him?
01:25:15 - We appreciate the chapter’s twists and turns
01:26:01 - Chapter 7 predictions
01:29:14 - Outro

References

REFERENCES:

Embryogenesis:

• [1] https://dev.biologists.org/content/142/23/3996 - Review article on gradients in development of neural crest. A good example of how the biochemical signalling gradients look like. Stem cells:

• [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell - What are stem cells.

• [3] https://stemcellres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13287-019-1165-5 - Review article on what are stem cells and their functions.

• [4] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2157171615310145 - Another review paper. Crohn’s disease:

• [6] https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/crohns-disease/symptoms/ - What is Crohn’s disease. Fat tissue:

• [7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3648822/ - Review article on the importance of adipose tissue. Stem cells and environment:

• [8] https://www.pnas.org/content/115/36/E8368 - The article that Michael mentioned about - the article investigates environmental variables as a connected network and their effect on stem cells. Epigenetics:

• [9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics - What is Epigenetics?

• [10] https://pdf.zlibcdn.com/dtoken/9c1cf476e27d0b1c056574c3f5c50d36/nrg.2016.59.pdf - A fantastic review on Epigenetics. Muscles:

• [11] https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/katarzynapirog/skeletal-muscle-structure-and-function/ - Basics on muscle structure.

• [12] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6887992/ - A review article on muscle structure and function.

• [13] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVcgO4p88AA - A video explaining what myosin and actin do.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:32 - Intro
00:01:26 - Chapter 4 predictions
00:03:12 - Chapter 4 summary begins
00:09:20 - How would we react to the ability of growing walls?
00:13:14 - We are one of the people who want to know things (like genetic screening)…
00:20:12 - Chapter 4 summary ends
00:20:50 - Chapter 5 predictions
00:25:11 - Chapter 5 summary begins
00:28:55 - Lilith, the ice-cold killer…
00:31:30 - Discussion on the dangers of fighting and the problem with Superman-like strength
00:35:55 - “Can you feel the love tonight?” - Elton John
00:37:26 - Problems with Tate
00:39:20 - We feel for Lilith… but also would pester her if we were in the similar situation
00:43:10 - How do we feel about aliens modifying us to give us super-strength, etc.
00:49:10 - The spicy gossip from Lilith’s life
00:50:08 - Chapter 5 summary ends
00:50:21 - Chapter 6 (and future chapters) predictions
00:53:11 - What’s the deal with Tate?
00:55:22 - How do you think would you react to the Oankali?
01:00:50 - How do we feel about human-alien hybrid children?
01:14:00 - We would be absorbed like a colony, if aliens arrived.
01:18:40 - Aliens wouldn’t have to do much to destroy the order of our world
01:31:15 - We finish on the depressing note?
01:33:53 - Actually we don’t finish on such a depressing note
01:33:54 - Outro

References

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:32 - Intro
00:01:22 - Chapter 2 predictions
00:02:43 - Chapter 2 summary begins
00:04:50 - Ice-cold Lilith
00:07:47 - Chapter 2 summary finishes
00:08:04 - Discussion on the belief that aliens abducted them
00:11:20 - Michael’s hypothesis on the background of chosen humans for Awakening
00:13:00 - “Evil” scientist trope ethics [1, 2]
00:15:30 - Encryption (and blockchain)
00:20:25 - “The Trustee”
00:23:40 - Chapter 3 predictions
00:24:35 - Chapter 3 summary begins
00:25:30 - Problem with Tate’s attitude
00:31:14 - Long conversation about nuclear war starts…
00:45:30 - …and finishes
00:46:00 - Discussion about the next people to be Awaken
00:49:00 - Continuation on the chapter 3 summary
00:49:45 - “You might as well feel good when you do it”
00:52:00 - Pleasure and “Demolition Man” movie
00:55:30 - We are really suspicious of Tate and her manipulations
00:58:13 - The rotation of humans inside of the plant to stimulate the muscles [3 - 5]
01:03:35 - Sneak attack and discussion on Lilith’s Terminator powers
01:08:35 - “Do you want to kill yourself? Go for it” - Ice-cold Lilith…
01:11:33 - Chapter 3 ends
01:13:00 - Discussion on Lilith’s attitude to the Oankali and Michael’s prediction of the next chapters and books
01:24:55 - Discussion on the speed of Awakening people
01:33:20 - Outro

References

Ethics and scientists:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project - What was the Manhattan project.
• [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asilomar_Conference_on_Recombinant_DNA - Asilomar conference.

Muscle stimulation:

• [3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3321528/ - Primary research article on the effectiveness of electrical muscle stimulation in critically ill patients.
• [4] https://opentextbc.ca/anatomyandphysiology/chapter/10-3-muscle-fiber-contraction-and-relaxation/ - Textbook article on the muscle contraction
• [5] http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/301notes3.htm - Another website with textbook article on why the skeletal muscles cannot contract without nerve stimulation.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:32 - Intro
00:02:39 - Chapter 1 predictions
00:06:23 - Chapter 1 introduction begins
00:07:00 - “Giant fart” transport [1, 2]
00:11:21 - Back to Chapter 1
00:12:10 - “Earthrise” and Mars pictures [3, 4]
00:15:00 - Lilith’s new abilities
00:17:00 - The new room Lilith is stuck in
00:19:54 - Lilith’s new mission
00:22:00 - Proper way to tackle the language barrier in books/movies
00:23:50 - Introduction to the new humans
00:28:14 - Human 1: Vidor Domonkos
00:30:21 - Human 2: Leah Bede
00:33:38 - Human 3: Joseph Li-Chin Shing
00:35:04 - Human 4: Celene Ivers
00:35:33 - Human 5: Gabriel Rinaldi
00:37:03 - Human 6: Beatrice Dwyer
00:38:04 - Human 7: Hilary Ballard
00:39:33 - Human 8: Conrad Loehr
00:41:00 - Human 9: Derick Wolski
00:41:31 - Human 10: Tate Marah
00:43:23 - Autism vs ADHD [5, 6]
00:47:42 - Discussion on the people and what would we do if we had to choose the humans to go back to Earth
00:51:40 - The “photo-drawing” abilities of Oankali
00:55:47 - The images produced by Oankali allow for more than expected
00:57:20 - The choice of the first human
00:58:34 - The chapter 1 introduction finishes
01:00:30 - Discussion on Lilith’s new powers usefulness on Earth
01:03:40 - Michael’s prediction for the rest of the chapters
01:10:23 - Outro

References

Air embolism:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_embolism - Wiki article on the topic.
• [2] https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/air-embolism/ - NHS article on the air embolism.

Earth photos:

• [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthrise - Apollo mission picture.
• [4] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/images/index.html - NASA pictures of Mars surface.

Autism vs ADHD:

• [5] https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Autism-Spectrum-Disorder-Fact-Sheet - Details on autism.
• [6] https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/ - Article on the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:31 - Intro
00:01:53 - Chapter 11 predictions
00:04:14 - Chapter 11 summary begins
00:05:30 - Oankali mating and inbreeding [1 - 3]
00:08:24 - Animal vs children rights (UK) [4 - 6]
00:09:35 - Why animals had more rights before children? Cuteness factor [7, 8]
00:11:30 - Back to Chapter 11 summary
00:13:40 - Oankali telepathy
00:14:56 - Neuralink and biohacking
00:20:14 - Back to Chapter 11 summary (again)
00:20:54 - Chapter 11 summary ends
00:22:20 - Chapter 12 predictions
00:23:08 - Chapter 12 summary begins
00:23:26 - The friend of everyone - Kahguyaht
00:24:40 - Biological 3D printing [9]
00:30:50 - Back to Chapter 12 summary
00:32:40 - Animals and humans [10 - 14]
00:41:05 - Back to Chapter 12
00:43:00 - “Locked-in” syndrome and conversation with coma patients [15 - 17]
00:48:50 - Back to Chapter 12 (again)
00:53:30 - If you smell an ooloi, you will die Lilith… [18]
01:00:40 - Chapter 12 continues
01:02:30 - End of Chapter 12 and part 2: Family of the book
01:04:00 - Discussion on the gene therapy in somatic and germ line [19]
01:09:02 - Discussion on super humans [20, 21]
01:21:24 - Part 3: Nursery, Chapter 1 predictions
01:24:40 - Outro

References

Inbreeding:

• [1] https://www.wikilectures.eu/w/Inbreeding,_Consanguinity_and_Inherited_Diseases - short article on the diseases associated with inbreeding.
• [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5897632/ - another article discussing the issue of inbreeding with the focus on cancer.
• [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haemophilia_in_European_royalty - Haemophilia in the royal families.

Rights:

• [4] http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/animals/defending/legislation_1.shtml - Animal rights started in 1822.
• [5] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/may/18/childrensservices2 - First children rights given in 1894.
• [6] https://www.rgs.org/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?nodeguid=7cc5f9a2-f270-4955-9e3a-f6aea7976d4f&lang=en-GB - But up until 1894, children were still to work more than 58-hour working weeks in the mines…

Cuteness factor:

• [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuteness - Reasons why we prefer animals.
• [8] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00411/full - An article about the cuteness.

Neuralink:

• [9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuralink - Wikipedia article on the neuralink.

3D printing:

• [9] https://sci-hub.tw/10.1038/nbt.2958 - Scientific review on the types of 3D printing.

Animals and humans:

• [10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koko_(gorilla) - Wiki about Koko.
• [11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gua_(chimpanzee) - The experiment that Michael describes about a chimpanzee being brought up alongside a human baby.
• [12] https://timeline.com/dina-sanichar-feral-children-ea9f5f3a80b2 - Real life Mowgli.
• [13] https://www.history.com/news/6-famous-wild-children-from-history - More about children raised by animals.
• [14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect - The Flynn effect that Richard talks about.

Coma:

• [15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-in_syndrome - Wiki on the locked-in syndrome - a type of coma.
• [16] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coma - Article about coma.
• [17] https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/sep/05/how-science-found-a-way-to-help-coma-patients-communicate - fMRI used to communicate with coma patients.

Pair-bonding:

• [18] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK97287/ - Article about pair-bonding in animal kingdom.

Cystic fibrosis treatment:

• [19] https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/166451/gene-therapy-cystic-fibrosis-shows-encouraging/ - Article on the cystic fibrosis treatment.

SNPs and athletes:

• [20] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6724599/ - Article on SNPs and athletes
• [21] https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/genomicresearch/snp - What are SNPs?

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:30 - Intro
00:02:56 - Chapter 9 predictions
00:06:06 - Chapter 9 introduction
00:07:48 - A comparative of separation of social animals from their kind to separation of humans by the Oankali [1, 2]
00:11:21 - Nikanj’s bomb drop
00:15:58 - Continuation on chapter 9 summary
00:17:55 - Back to discussion on genetic memory and clones
00:24:33 - “Permutation City” by Greg Egan - suggestion by Richard
00:25:51 - Back to Chapter 9
00:28:00 - Why it is bad to ignore your children
00:32:32 - Chapter 9 introduction ends and chapter 10 predictions
00:33:55 - Chapter 10 intro
00:34:40 - Another modification to Lilith
00:35:35 - Superhuman mutations
00:36:51 - Chapter 10 introduction part 2
00:39:35 - Privacy in Oankali society and discussion on security [3]
00:47:10 - Chapter 10 tangent finishes and chapter 11 predictions begin
00:49:00 - Outro

References

Social animals:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harris%27s_hawk - The Harris’s Hawks mentioned by Richard.
• [2] https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/the-optimal-social-environment-for-your-parrot/ - An interesting article on the social needs of parrots

“Smart” being not so smart and safe:

• [3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51706631 - BBC article on the security flaws in “smart” devices and toys

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:32 - Intro
00:00:50 - Warning
00:01:15 - Chapter 7 predictions
00:02:10 - Chapter 7 introduction
00:03:10 - Discussion on the biological differences between humans and Oankali [1]
00:06:00 - Lilith being high after surgery
00:08:00 - Trade partners not to be treated equally - Kahguyaht
00:10:55 - Nikanj’s respect to Lilith
00:13:10 - “Ask my dad to show you his reproductive organ” - Nikanj
00:13:45 - Chapter 7 introduction ends
00:16:35 - Chapter 8 predictions
00:17:04 - Chapter 8 warning
00:17:18 - Chapter 8 introduction
00:17:40 - We are jealous of Lilith’s new ability
00:18:25 - Part 2 of captive breeding?
00:19:00 - Clarification on the flat transport used by the Oankali and discussion about hagfish [2 - 4]
00:22:51 - Discussion on the necessity of the Trade for Oankali and reproduction for humans
00:25:05 - We finally meet another human - Paul Titus
00:26:04 - Lilith goes straight to the point
00:28:00 - Margaret Mead [5]
00:28:31 - We learn more about the origins of Lilith and Paul and the state of the planet
00:30:23 - First warning sign
00:31:22 - Discussion on the characters and our perception of Nikanj and his gender [6
00:37:35 - Gender in some cultures - Fa’afafine in Samoa [7]
00:38:23 - Back to the Chapter 8 introduction
00:41:00 - Discussion on the hospital and childbirth [8 - 10]
00:44:33 - Second warning sign
00:45:52 - Truth bomb - a man with more than 70 children that he never met
00:47:30 - Paul gets aggressive and assaults Lilith
00:48:19 - Chapter 8 summary ends
00:49:45 - Discussion on the cultural genocide and the fragility of our society
00:58:11 - Discussion on Margaret Mead [5]
01:02:22 - Predictions of chapter 9
01:04:36 - Outro

References

Bacteria in our guts:

• [1] https://askabiologist.asu.edu/plosable/gut-microbiota - A short article about why bacteria in our digestive system are so useful for us.

Slime releasing animals:

• [2] https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/secrets-slime - Short article about slime
• [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagfish - Wikipedia article on Hagfish
• [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8sw8BN-Xq0 - A video on the hagfish slime

Margaret Mead:

• [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mead - Wikipedia article on the anthropologist Margaret Mead.

Biological sex determination and mutations associated with it:

• [6] https://www.who.int/genomics/gender/en/index1.html - WHO article on all of the sex and gender associated issues.

Additional gender in some cultures:

• [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fa%27afafine - the third gender that Michael couldn’t remember the name of, but here’s the link to what he was talking about. Problems with childbirth:

• [8] https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=36&printable=1 – Open.edu module on the anatomy of female pelvis and foetal skull

• [9] https://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/labor-birth-canal - Article on the Birth Canal Issues

• [10] https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2018/11/16/skeletons-of-pregnant-egyptian-woman-and-fetus-found-by-archaeologists-suggest-death-in-childbirth/ - Article on the finding of the pregnant woman with a foetus stuck in her birth canal

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:32 - Intro
00:02:40 - Predictions of Chapter 5
00:03:17 - Chapter 5 introduction starts
00:11:10 - Like in a human family - close the door and don’t get involved in others argument
00:13:00 - Kahguyaht being condescending
00:15:14 - The best response that Lilith could give back to Kahguyaht
00:17:00 - Memories and memorising things [1 - 4]
00:19:40 - Extracting images from brain [5, 6]
00:22:48 - Brain development and consciousness [7 - 9]
00:24:29 - Chapter 5 introduction restarts
00:26:35 - Richard and Michael’s interpretation of Kahguyahts behaviour
00:30:26 - English language hard
00:33:08 - Michael discusses a book “Do Not Harm” by neurosurgeon Henry Marsh, MD
00:41:00 - Split brain experiments [11, 12]
00:42:45 - Alien hand syndrome [13, 14]
00:46:08 - Chapter 5 introduction restarts again
00:47:31 - Hyperthymesia and Eidetic memory [15, 16]
00:50:25 - We talk about what we remember well and what we can’t remember at all
00:52:40 - Neurological syndromes affecting facial recognition [17, 18]
00:54:55 - Predictions to Chapter 6
00:55:19 - Chapter 6 summary
00:58:55 - Lilith is tough piece of a human being
01:03:30 - Chapter 6 summary finishes
01:03:50 - Chapter 6 predictions
01:04:55 - False memories and false confessions [19 - 22]
01:14:24 - Outro

References

Emotions and memories:

• [1] https://bcs.mit.edu/news-events/news/delicate-balance-between-positive-and-negative-emotion - Article talking about amygdala - a small piece of brain responsible for emotions.
• [2] https://www.neuroscientificallychallenged.com/blog/know-your-brain-amygdala - More information about amygdala

Types of memory:

• [3] https://human-memory.net/episodic-semantic-memory/ - Episodic vs semantic memory
• [4] https://www.sparknotes.com/psychology/psych101/memory/section2/ - Brief description of different types of memory

Extracting images from your brain:

• [5] https://news.berkeley.edu/2011/09/22/brain-movies/ - 2011 article about reconstructing images shown to people based on their brain activity.
• [6] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02207-1 - Nature article about reconstructing images from brain.

Brain development:

• [7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2989000/ - Review article on the basics of brain development.
• [8] https://www.nature.com/articles/pr200950 - A very good article from 2009 about the Emergence of Human Consciousness.
• [9] http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.863.4999&rep=rep1&type=pdf - A link to scientific report mentioned in the article speaking about baby consciousness: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/04/when-does-your-baby-become-conscious
• [10] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-consciousness/ - What is consciousness - some reading for a starter.

Split brain experiments:

• [11] https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/roger-sperrys-split-brain-experiments-1959-1968 - Roger Sperry and his experiments on cutting the corpus callosum.
• [12] https://www.nature.com/news/the-split-brain-a-tale-of-two-halves-1.10213 - Another article talking about the subject of split brain experiments.

Alien hand syndrome:

• [13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_hand_syndrome - Wikipedia article on the syndrome.
• [14] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4059570/ - Short case article on the syndrome.

Hyperthymesia and eidetic memory:

• [15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymesia - What is hyperthymesia.
• [16] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4720782/ - article discussed by Richard on the topic of memory.

Failure to recognise faces:

• [17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capgras_delusion - Wikipedia article about recognising faces of close people as imposters.
• [18] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopagnosia - Wikipedia article about the failure of recognising people faces.

The issue with brain - creating false memories:

• [19] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24286258 - BBC article about the topic of false memories.
• [20] https://www.businessinsider.com/science-of-false-memories-2017-12?r=US&IR=T - Another article on the false memories.
• [21] https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/06/psychologist-explains-why-people-confess-crimes-they-didn-t-commit - Science article about why people confess to crimes they did not commit.
• [22] https://www.wisconsinwatch.org/2017/07/common-interrogation-technique-suspected-of-causing-false-confessions/ - Article about interrogation technique causing false confessions

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:32 - Intro
00:01:02 - Previous predictions
00:03:30 - Chapter 3 introduction part 1
00:04:55 - Discussion about the clothes Lilith was given [1 - 3]
00:08:22 - Story of the Oankali and their divisions
00:11:00 - Chapter 3 introduction part 2
00:11:44 - Chapter 3 introduction ends
00:11:45 - Discussion about Nikanj and his age
00:13:45 - Chapter 4 predictions
00:15:24 - Chapter 4 introduction
00:16:53 - The honesty of Oankali and forbidden writing
00:19:20 - The eidetic memory of Oankali
00:25:20 - Chapter 4 introduction continues
00:26:15 - The explanation to Oankali naming system
00:29:26 - Sex determination in Oankali and weird cases around the Earth [4 - 6]
00:31:12 - Correction to what Michael said about the bird species [7, 8]
00:31:30 - More talk about breeding on Earth [9]
00:33:35 - Back to the Chapter 4 introduction
00:38:50 - We put ourselves in Lilith’s shoes as scientist… and we hate it.
00:40:15 - Chapter 4 introduction cont.
00:44:13 - Chapter 4 introduction finished
00:44:20 - Discussion on the toxicity of human food to alien species
00:50:00 - Kahguyaht is an as*hole
00:50:27 - Next chapter prediction
00:54:15 - We really appreciate Olivia Butler’s writing style
00:55:21 - Outro

References

Fluoropores:

• [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrophobe - What does hydrophobic mean?
• [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipophobicity - What does lipophobic mean?
• [3] https://www.european-coatings.com/Publications/Blog/Hydrophopic-and-lipophobic-at-the-same-time - Fluoropore - material that is both hydrophobic and lipophobic

Sex and reproduction:

• [4] https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-12/nion-htd122315.php - Crocodile sex determination
• [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penis_fencing - Correction - it is a flatworm species Pseudobiceros hancockanus that engages in a penis fight.
• [6] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2019/07/argonaut-octopus-detaches-his-tentacle-to-impregnate-his-mate/ - There is an octopus Argonauta argo, which detaches its penis and inserts it into the female.
• [7] https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2007/03/it-pays-be-wingman - Correction - the alpha and beta birds behave as following: the beta helps the alpha to court the female, which gives it a higher chance to become an alpha later.
• [8] https://www.zmescience.com/science/biology/male-ruff-steal-females-0434/ - But there are the Ruff birds, which have 3 types of males: the alpha, the beta satellite (which still the girls) and the cross-dresser (which impersonates the female to steal the female in last second).
• [9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En26p6GvtHw - The Royal Institution video Richard mentioned.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:36 - Intro
00:01:25 - Predictions
00:03:00 - Chapter 1 introduction
00:03:57 - Discussion on the Oankali names
00:06:40 - Continuation on Chapter 1 introduction
00:08:17 - Perception of time [1 - 3]
00:10:03 - Chapter 1 introduction (again)
00:12:10 - The maturation and development of Oankali
00:15:22 - Chapter 1 introduction ends
00:15:33 - The attitude of Oankali towards humanity
00:17:50 - “Silent Treatment”
00:18:50 - Oankali and the ability to eat otherworldly food
00:23:23 - Chapter 2 introduction
00:24:00 - Stockholm Syndrome [4]
00:30:25 - Floating vehicles [5 - 9]
00:40:50 - The Stasis plants [10 - 14]
00:48:30 - Age of Earth and the Universe [15, 16]
00:50:05 - Cryonics (and the urban legend of Walt Disney) [17, 18]
00:53:50 - Hibernation in animals and SUMOylation [19 - 22]
00:58:28 - Chapter 2 introduction - final part
01:00:03 - Chapter 2 introduction ends
01:00:05 - Discussion on organic door security and protein structure [23, 24]
01:07:51 - Chapter 3 and 4 Predictions
01:12:32 - Outro

References

Time:

• [1] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/step-into-the-twilight-zone-can-earthlings-adjust-to-a-longer-day-on-mars/ - Time perception on Mars
• [2] https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad/ - what is Seasonal Affective Disorder.
• [3] https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/07/the-norwegian-town-where-the-sun-doesnt-rise/396746/ - The Norwegian town that was discussed.

Stockholm Syndrome:

• [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome - Description of Stockholm Syndrome

Superconductivity and magnetism:

• [5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6FYs_AUCsQ - Video describing superconductivity
• [6] https://www.sciencealert.com/birds-see-magnetic-fields-cryptochrome-cry4-photoreceptor-2018 - Magnetoreceptors in birds – the article refers to few publications.
• [7] https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2018/04/04/we-finally-know-how-birds-can-see-earths-magnetic-field/ - Cryptochromes – a way to detect magnetic field. The article contains references within the text.
• [8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptochrome - Wikipedia article on Cryptochromes.
• [9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconductivity - More details on superconductivity.

Stasis plants:

• [10] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2763764/ - A short review article on the positive effects of Aloe Vera.
• [11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivorous_plant - Earth’s carnivorous plants.

Metabolism:

• [12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urea#Humans - The metabolism of urea in urine.

Liquid breathing:

• [13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_breathing - Wikipedia article on breathing in liquids.
• [14] https://libgen.wikicn.top/dl/64494679/fe53e5 - Direct link to a PDF article “Visualizing dissolved oxygen transport for liquid ventilation in an in vitro model of the human airways” by Janke, T and Bauer K from the Journal of Measurement Science and Technology.

Age of Earth and the Universe:

• [15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_the_Earth - Wikipedia article on the age of Earth - contains references to scientific articles.
• [16] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_the_universe - Wikipedia article on the age of the Universe.

Cryonics and cryopreservation:

• [17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics - Wikipedia article discussing cryonics. Also it tells that Walt Disney in fact was not cryopreserved - his body was cremated and buried - opposite to what Michael thought.
• [18] https://sci-hub.tw/10.1021/jp073113e - Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) - it’s uses in cryopreservation.

SUMOylation (protection of brain):

• [19] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUMO_protein - What is SUMO protein - a Wikipedia article.
• [20] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2396349/ - Article showing that SUMOylation is increased during hibernation in animals.
• [21] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibernation - What is hibernation?
• [22] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5757445/ - Review article on SUMOylation and its potentially protective function in brain damage.

Protein structure:

• [23] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_structure - Wikipedia article summarising protein structure.
• [24] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK26820/ - Review article explaining how can we know protein structure.

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:32 – Episode start
00:01:02 – Predictions
00:01:52 – Chapter 4 introduction
00:04:29 – Concentration of oxygen vs size of organisms [1]
00:06:57 – End of Chapter 4 introduction
00:07:10 – Chapter 5 predictions
00:08:20 – Chapter 5 introduction
00:11:10 – Carcinogens [2, 3]
00:13:55 – Botulinum toxin [4]
00:14:45 – Foods that prevent cancer [5]
00:18:30 – Manuka honey – a mind-blowing healing item [6]
00:20:55 – Continuation on Chapter 5 introduction
00:25:25 – Discussion on trans-generational memory of Oankali
00:27:36 – Discussion on data storage using DNA [7, 8]
00:31:28 – Continuation on Chapter 5 introduction…
00:39:10 – End of Chapter 5 introduction
00:39:40 – Discussion on the ship
00:41:30 – Richard tells us what is needed for life to begin [9, 10] and discussion on energy storage
00:44:11 – Radiation-eating bacteria [11 – 14]
00:47:00 – Discussion on radiation [15 – 16]
00:49:55 – Discussion on the culture of Oankali and their reproduction modes
00:55:10 – Intelligence vs Hierarchy
00:58:06 – Collective consciousness (singularity) [17]
00:59:20 – Individual autonomy and discussion on Lilith’s feeling on the cross-breeding
01:00:05 – The big reveal – what is the Trade of Oankali and discussion on hierarchy, power and slavery [18, 19]
01:08:20 – Michael’s gaming nerdiness leaks out – references to StarCraft and Warhammer 40k
01:09:14 – Colonialism [20]
01:10:14 – Discussion on collaborationism
01:14:14 – Is Michael on a way to spoil himself the whole book?
01:15:50 – Discussion on the Oankali – the Trade and their need to do it
01:20:00 – Problems with inbreeding [21, 22]
01:24:50 – Ooloi and the cancer – is cancer a good example of regeneration? [23 – 29]
01:27:45 – Teratomas [30]
01:29:22 – Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells [31] and further discussion on regeneration
01:37:13 – Why Ph.D. is hard… (or research in general)
01:43:17 – PREDICTIONS
01:44:33 – Outro \

References

Size of organisms:

• [1] https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2010.0001 - paper discussing the atmospheric oxygen level and size of organisms

Cancer:

• [2] https://www.nhs.uk/news/cancer/ultra-processed-foods-linked-cancer/ - Carcinogens in processed food

• [3] https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/general-info/known-and-probable-human-carcinogens.html - More carcinogens Botulinum toxin:

• [4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3028942/ - Article discussing the danger of botulinum toxin

Preventing cancer:

• [5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3533886/ - Curcumin and its gigantic list of anti-cancer effects Manuka honey:

• [6] https://www.healthline.com/health/manuka-honey#benefits – the article discusses the positive effects of Manuka honey – the references within the articles site scientific research DNA data storage:

• [7] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dna-data-storage-is-closer-than-you-think/ - A brief article about DNA data storage

• [8] https://physicsworld.com/a/data-storage-in-dna-gains-from-a-larger-alphabet/ - the capabilities of DNA to store data

Requirements for life to begin:

• [9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4156692/ - article discussing requirements and limits for life in exoplanets
• [10] https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/eight-ingredients-life-in-space.html - brief article describing 8 ingredients necessary for life in space

Radiation-eating bacteria:

• [11] https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23431211-300-radiation-eating-bacteria-could-make-nuclear-waste-safer/ - short article on the topic of radiation-eating bacteria.
• [12] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6422879/ - Bacteria from intestines eating radioactive Caesium.
• [13] https://sci-hub.tw/10.1007/s00253-012-4642-7 - Link to PDF talking about radiation-resistant extremophiles
• [14] https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a30784690/chernobyl-fungus/ - Fungus eating radiation in Chernobyl

Radiation in a nutshell:

• [15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation - Wikipedia has a great article on radiation types.

• [16] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI2vRwFKnHQ – Video discussing on dangers of radiation Consciousness singularity:

• [17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity - A Wikipedia article about the technological singularity. It’s important to note that here are a number of websites discussing consciousness singularity, but these are hard to verify and still a controversial topic and thus we will provide only this link.

Cultural assimilation and colonialism:

• [18] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_assimilation_of_Native_Americans - example of cultural assimilation.
• [19] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States - Slavery in U.S.A.
• [20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonialism - Wikipedia list giving examples and explanation to colonialism

Inbreeding:

• [21] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haemophilia_in_European_royalty - Haemophilia in the Royal Family
• [22] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inbreeding - Explanation to inbreeding and problems associated with it

Regeneration of tissue:

• [23] https://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/1.htm - what are Stem Cells?
• [24] http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/regeneration-axolotl-can-teach-us-regrowing-human-limbs/ - Salamanders and regeneration
• [25] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5534018/pdf/nihms882177.pdf - Review on axolotl limb generation
• [26] https://elifesciences.org/articles/48511 - more information on salamanders
• [27] https://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6432/eaau6173.long - Acoels - Flat worms capable of regenerating their bodies – very detailed and scientific article.
• [28] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortalised_cell_line - Immortalised cells
• [29] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeLa - HeLa immortalised cells
• [30] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teratoma - What is a teratoma

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells:

• [31] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16904174 - The paper by Yamanaka et al. discussing induction of pluripotent stem cells (more than 23,000 citations!)

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:36 – Intro
00:01:00 – Introduction to the previous predictions
00:02:40 – Clarification on few things said in Episode 1
00:04:00 – Discussion about biology and its complexity. How do scientist prepare to do research
00:07:30 – Introduction to the chapter 3
00:10:00 – Discussion about cancer and immune system [1 – 5]
00:13:20 – Naked Mole Rats – Superman from animal kingdom – a being that does not get cancer [6, 7]
00:14:00 – Big animals also don’t get cancer? Peto’s Paradox [8].
00:16:00 – Don’t rely on cancer killing a cancer…
00:17:50 – Discussion about Lilith’s attitude to Ooloi – the 3rd gender in the alien species
00:20:40 – Discussion on the ominous ways of ooloi do to understand humans – human trials [9 – 12]
00:24:30 – Thalidomide [13]
00:26:36 – Continuation on introduction to the chapter 3
00:31:06 – Discussion about Lilith’s reaction to the Oankali
00:34:00 – Exposure therapy – discussion how Oankali are trying to get Lilith get used to them [14, 15]
00:35:01 – Discussion on the relationship between human doctor and Jdahya.
00:35:56 – Was Jdahya’s form changed to resemble human form?
00:37:22 – Uncanny Valley [16]
00:38:06 – Oankali finding human genetic structure disturbing – discussion on why?
00:38:30 – Continuation on introduction to the chapter 3 – finale
00:39:30 – Discussion on the ooloi ability to sense genome
00:43:35 – What is DNA [17]
00:49:50 – Genomic sequencing explained [18 – 20]
00:53:39 – How would the Oankali perceive the genomic sequence?
01:00:50 – Oankali – The Traders – what could that mean?
01:03:12 – Discussion on the experience of traveling and learning about different cultures
01:05:47 – The cost of genome sequencing nowadays
01:07:05 – What is research and how much can you know? [22]
01:10:39 – Confidence vs experience/knowledge [23]
01:15:00 – We will try our best to give the best sources (or at least some basics)
01:18:38 – PREDICTIONS TO CHAPTER 4 (AND MAYBE CHAPTER 5)
01:21:12 - Outro\

References

Immune system and cancer:

• [1] https://www.immunopaedia.org.za/immunology/basics/1-a-snapshot-of-the-immune-system/ - Really nice website describing the basics of our immune system
• [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQGOcOUBi6s – Kurzgesagt – The Immune System Explained – the first of few videos about immune system. Very informative.
• [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmFEoCFDi-w – Amazing video from TED-Ed describing the beginnings of cancer
• [4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6169832/ - Review on the role of immune system in cancer (Gonzalez et al., “Roles of the immune system in cancer: from tumor initiation to metastatic progression”, Genes & Development, 2018, doi: 10.1101/gad.314617.118)
• [5] https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/developmental-biology/apoptosis-in-development/a/apoptosis - Controlled cell death – a way for our bodies to remove cells with too many mistakes.

Animals and cancer:

• [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_mole-rat - Wikipedia page about Naked mole rat and its resistance to cancer
• [7] https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/06/why-naked-mole-rats-dont-get-cancer - Brief article on why naked mole rats do not get cancer
• [8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AElONvi9WQ – Kurzgesagt video about why big animals don’t get cancer – the Peto’s Paradox.

Human trials in history:

• [9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_syphilis_experiment - Wikipedia article about the clinical study on the untreated syphilis in Black Americans in U.S.A.
• [10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_human_experimentation - The list of experiments Nazi’s performed on their victims.
• [11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_trials - Nuremberg trials
• [12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_subject_research#Ethical_guidelines – The Ethical rules for human trials
• [13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide#Adverse_effects – Effects of Thalidomide on pregnant women and their children

Exposure therapy:

• [14] https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/patients-and-families/exposure-therapy - American Psychological Association website describing what exposure therapy is.
• [15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome - Stockholm syndrome

Uncanny Valley:

• [16] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley - The description of the human behaviour towards an object’s resemblance to a human being.

Genome:

• [17] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kK2zwjRV0M – What is DNA
• [18] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvHRio1yyhQ – video on DNA sequencing
• [19] https://www.khanacademy.org/science/high-school-biology/hs-molecular-genetics/hs-biotechnology/a/dna-sequencing - DNA sequencing
• [20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Sanger#Research_and_career – Frederick Sanger
• [21] http://genomics.umn.edu/downloads/sequencing-methods-review.pdf - List of sequencing methods.

What is research:

• [22] http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/ - the diagram we talked about that relates to our understanding of the world
• [23] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect – Experience vs confidence

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydän

Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Timestamps

00:00:38 - Introduction to the XenoThesis and the book
00:05:11 - Introduction of the author
00:08:43 - Introduction to the Chapter 1
00:13:00 - Lilith’s name
00:17:00 - Lilith’s past - what caused her to end up where she was
00:18:05 - Relationship with the young boy Sharad, discussion on the isolation effect on humans
00:19:40 - Suspended sleep
00:23:20 - Non-velcro, Velcro clothes [1]
00:25:33 - Discussion on the material science (and sport)
00:29:33 - PREDICTIONS OF CHAPTER 2

00:31:49 - Introduction to the Chapter 2
00:36:11 - War in nature [2]
00:40:10 - 1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm [3, 4]
00:43:00 - Michael forgets Jdahya’s name yet again…
00:45:00 - Introduction to the Chapter 2 finished
00:45:20 - Discussion on the biology of Jdahya’s hair (sensory organs)
00:47:00 - Bristol Zoo lions
00:48:20 - Disfigurement and negative reaction [5. 6], pareidolia
00:50:13 - Jdahya’s sensory organs [8, 9, 10]
00:55:53 - Mantis shrimp eyesight
00:56:30 - Central nervous system [12. 13]
01:01:10 - Michael’s wish to meet aliens, if it is possible
01:01:35 - Start of speculation on alien biology
01:01:48 - Primal soup experiment [14]
01:03:50 - Common ancestry and biochemistry
01:04:28 - Chirality of molecules [15, 16] and compatibility with aliens
01:16:49 - PREDICTIONS OF CHAPTER 3
01:19:42 - Outro

References

Graphene and carbon nanotubes:

• [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13450 - review on carbon nanotubes used to attach heavy objects. I could not find the specific video that I was referencing and I said graphene instead of carbon nanotubes, but this paper corrects and explains it quite well //Michael

Ant colonies:

• [2] https://youtu.be/7_e0CA_nhaE - This video by fantastic Youtube channel, Kurzgesagt is probably the best and most detailed source of information on the discussed topic.

Nuclear weapons:

• [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident - Wikipedia article on the Soviet nuclear false alarm
• [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents - List of military nuclear accidents since 1942.

Pareidolia and disfigurement:

• [5] https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2012/07/why-facial-disfigurements-creep-us-out# - Science short article discussing why we stare at disfigurement
• [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley - A theory describing why we experience the feeling of “eeriness” and “revulsion” when encountering disfigurement
• [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia - process of recognizing faces where there are none

Gastropods:

• [8] http://molluscs.at/gastropoda/index.html?/gastropoda/morphology/tentacles.html - basic information on the gastropod morphology
• [9] http://libgen.bban.top/book/15288520/c9ba91 - A review from 1983 providing a more detailed information about the gastropod chemoreceptors (Croll R. P, “Gastropod Chemoreception”, Biological Reviews, 1983, 58, pp 293-319)
• [10] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3172592/ - Star Nosed Moles - a review detailing the structure and morphology of the star nose mole and the Eimer’s organs on the surface.

Mantis shrimp:

• [11] https://phys.org/news/2013-09-mantis-shrimp-world-eyesbut.html - article discussing Mantis shrimp eyesight

Centralized Nervous System:

• [12] https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2007.2242 - Article on evolution of nervous system
• [13] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-makes-our-brains-special/ - Article discussing what makes human brain unique

The source of life:

• [14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller–Urey_experiment - The primal soup experiment

Biochemistry:

• [15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chirality#Chemistry - what is molecular chirality
• [16] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_dogma_of_molecular_biology - what are RNA, DNA and proteins, and how do they function

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydän

Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio