Deep in thought
Unexpected Elements
BBC
4.4 • 567 Ratings
🗓️ 8 February 2024
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Brain implants have been sparking conversation about the future of humanity after Elon Musk's company Neuralink announced it has embedded a microchip in a human skull. It has fired up people's imaginations and led some to wonder whether these devices that connect to our brain could be a stepping stone towards the ideas more often found in sci-fi, and maybe even create a tool to read people's thoughts. Marnie Chesterton and the panel discuss whether our privacy is at risk or whether we are already an open book. They try to understand the concept of backing up our brains, and they meet Dr Michael Winding from the Francis Crick Institute in the UK to hear about a pioneering study to map the pathways of a brain, and you might be surprised how small that brain was.
Plus, Katie Tomsett looks at how tattoos could be used to indicate the health of our bodies. In Under the Radar we learn how batteries could one day charge through sound, we hear the story of an alleged spy pigeon caught in India, and we highlight the wonderful tale of a beluga whale.
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Chhavi Sachdev and Kai Kupferschmidt Producer: Tom Bonnett, with Alex Mansfield, Dan Welsh, Katie Tomsett and Jack Lee
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Oh, hello. You have chosen a BBC podcast, but before you listen to it, we thought you might |
| 0:04.7 | like our podcast too. You might. You might. It is called Sightracked with me, Nick Grimshaw. |
| 0:09.2 | And me, Annie Mack. And we talk about the week in music. All the news, all the cultural |
| 0:14.0 | happenings in the UK and beyond. And great guests. And it's on BBC Sounds. Yes, where you can |
| 0:19.7 | also enjoy lots of playlists, music mixes, and |
| 0:22.6 | live radio. Everything from my six music breakfast show to Radio 3 Unwind. But obviously start with |
| 0:29.3 | our podcast, sidetrack. Obviously. Obviously. So if you like music, listen on BBC Sans. |
| 0:34.0 | In 1969, a plan to show support for an anti-racism protest turned the lives of 14 |
| 0:40.3 | promising black student athletes upside down. |
| 0:44.1 | Amazing sports stories from the BBC World Service tells their story. |
| 0:48.6 | Search for amazing sports stories wherever you get your BBC podcasts. |
| 0:54.0 | So this week, I had my annual reminder that I'm a terrible procrastinator in the form of the UK tax return. |
| 1:01.9 | This has to be filled out by midnight on the 31st of January and about 11 million working people in the UK manage that. |
| 1:09.6 | I've been reading up about my tribe, though. |
| 1:12.3 | I'm talking about the 1 million who don't manage it and receive a £100 fine for doing it |
| 1:17.4 | late. And for what? For some part of my brain that wants to do anything else. But this year, progress. |
| 1:24.8 | I did it in time. And also, I think I've found a new tribe. The 770,000 people who also |
| 1:32.8 | did it on the last day. And a special shout out to the 32,000 who did it in the final hour like me. |
| 1:39.6 | Who doesn't love a deadline, eh? I'm Marnie Chesterton from the BBC World Service. |
| 1:44.8 | This is unexpected elements. |
| 1:52.8 | And talking of tribes, joining me in Mumbai in India this week, science journalist Chavi Satchev. |
| 1:59.4 | Hello, Chavi. |
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