Cognitive Ghosts

The Rest Is Science

Goalhanger

Science, Physics, Mathematics

4.5 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 2026

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ever wanted to squish a puppy just because it’s impossibly cute? Or felt absolutely certain you’ve lived this exact moment before? Hannah and Michael explore the bizarre, everyday glitches of the human mind, unpacking why our brains occasionally seem to short-circuit. They dive into the weird neurology of "cute aggression", or urges like thinking of throwing your phone off a bridge, to the jarring time-bending sensation of déjà vu to reveal how our grey matter manages overwhelming feelings and sudden memory misfires. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Researcher: Sophia Constantinou Producer: Simona Rata Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the rest is science. I'm Michael Stevens.
0:03.0	And I'm Hannah Fry. I've got a little experiment for you today, Michael, and all of the people who are watching and listening.
0:08.6	Okay.
0:09.2	Your job, it's very simple. All you've got to do is I'm going to read your list of words and you need to count how many words on this list begin with the letter S. Okay. It's very simple.
0:19.7	Just keep the number in your head. Okay. Right, here are the words.
0:23.1	Bed, awake, tired, dream, blanket, doze, yawn, night, dark, pillow, rest and nap.
0:38.9	Got it?
0:39.8	Okay?
0:40.1	Yeah.
0:40.8	All right.
0:41.2	I want you to hold on to that number in your head.
0:43.7	Just know that this episode today is all about cognitive ghosts.
0:47.7	We'll come back to it in a moment.
0:53.7	This episode is brought to you by Cancer Research UK.
0:56.7	If you wanted to type out the entire human genome, you would have to type at 60 words a minute for eight hours a day for about 50 years.
1:07.6	Okay, that's the scale of the DNA rulebook inside each one of your cells, telling it
1:12.7	when to grow, when to divide, and when to stop. And different tissues read that same rulebook
1:18.2	in different ways. So a skin cell doesn't behave like a lung cell. And cancer can begin when those
1:23.9	instructions change. Not one dramatic moment, but through small, gradual edits over time.
1:30.5	Now, cancer isn't one disease.
1:32.3	It is more than 200 types shaped by where those changes to the rule book happen and how
1:39.0	cells respond.
	...

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