Selects: Is The Uncanny Valley Real?

In 1876 it rained meat out of the clear blue sky on a homestead in Bath County, Kentucky. While the mystery of what happened will never be solved, the best explanation makes the story even weirder than it seems.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

The first fires came from lightning strikes. After that, no one is super sure when we started controlling it and then later, starting our own. But it's sure fun to speculate!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

From bad CGI characters to creepy humanoid robots, everyone knows the uncanny valley effect when they see it. But where did this idea come from and to what extent is it actually a thing? Join Robert and Joe as they descend into the uncanny valley and explore just what's going on ...  Show more

Can you give a robot a sense of touch? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly, learn about soft robotics, sensors, and understanding human physiology with co-founders of Organic Robotics Corp, Professor Robert Shepherd and Ilayda Samilgil. 

NOTE: StarTalk+ Pat ...

Humans have a long-held fascination with the idea of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a dystopian threat: from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, through to the Terminator movies.But somehow, we still often think of this technology as 'futuristic': whereas in fact, it's already woven in ...  Show more

In recent months, we’ve witnessed the rise of chatbots that can pass law and business school exams, artificial companions who’ve become best friends and lovers and music generators that produce <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/04/21/1171032649/ai-music-heart-on-my-sleeve-drak ...