Episode Details

Today, you’ll learn about an accidental discovery of a dial in the brainstem that controls the body’s inflammation level, how centipedes might offer a treatment for kidney disease, and the problem with bringing back our deceased loved ones using AI. 

Brainstem Dial  

• “Found: the dial in the brain that controls the immune system.” by Giorgia Guglielmi. 2024.  
• “Your brain could be controlling how sick you get - and how you recover.” by Diana Kwon. 2023.  
• “Tissues, not blood, are where immune cells function.” by Donna L. Farber. 2021.  

Centipedes & Kidneys 

• “Centipedes used in traditional Chinese medicine offer leads for kidney treatment.” ACS. 2024.  
• “Giant Redheaded Centipede.” Missouri Department of Conservation. 2024. 
• “Structurally Diverse Alkaloids with Anti-Renal-Fibrosis Activity from the Centipede Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans.” by Bin-Yuan Hu, et al. 2024.  

AI Ghosts 

• “Call for safeguards to prevent unwanted ‘hauntings’ by AI chatbots of dead loved ones.” University of Cambridge. 2024.  
• “Griefbots, Deadbots, Postmortem Avatars: on Responsible Applications of Generative AI in the Digital Afterlife Industry.” by Tomasz Hollanek & Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basinska. 2024.  
• “Exploring the Impact of Artificial Intelligence.” LCFI. 2024. 

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