Clever Apes

by Gabriel Spitzer | Feb. 14, 2012

Phillip Janicak of Rush University Medical Center adjusts his TMS machine. (WBEZ

The human brain is full of wonder, mystery, perhaps even spirit. But it’s also a machine. And so even though it might sound far-fetched to suggest that a device can beam happiness into someone’s head, for some people living with depression that is the truth.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation, the subject of the latest installment of Clever Apes, works by sending an intense, focused magnetic field about an inch deep into someone’s forehead. The field comes in pulses – about 3,000 per session. The pulses activate a neural network on the surface of the brain, which in turn sends signals deep inside that stimulate brain structures in charge of your mood. The result, for about half the people...

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Clever Apes #25: Curveballs from space

by Gabriel Spitzer | Jan. 31, 2012

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Clockwise and counterclockwise galaxies from the Hubble Telescope (NASA, ESA, M.

Often in science, a new insight doesn’t fit in with the old patterns. That means something, of course, is wrong – either the fresh idea, or everything we thought we knew leading up to it. In the latest installment of Clever Apes, we consider two of these curveballs. One has already rewritten the solar system's history. The other seemed, for a while, like it might mean the universe is either left-handed, or shaped like a small doughnut.

For starters, many of us learned in school that the solar system formed by a nice, orderly process. Tiny things gently coalesced into bigger objects, settling into this pleasant little arrangement of planets and moons. But now, scientists think it was probably a...

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Clever Apes: Another gut check

by Gabriel Spitzer | Jan. 23, 2012

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Spotted on the wall at Rush's digestive diseases lab. (WBEZ/Gabriel Spitzer)

So we just finished explaining how the gut is our second brain. How to top that? How about this: Your gut is its own planet.

The human intestine hosts an entire civilization of microorganisms – about 100 trillion by most estimates. That’s many times more than there are cells in your body. You may think you’re the center of your own universe, but in a sense you’re just a walking ecosystem for this teeming population of bugs.

The good news is, most of them are beneficial to us. Our intestinal flora help us digest food, excrete waste and even train our immune system. That is kind of old news, but only recently have scientists begun to uncover just how central a role our microscopic gut workforce...

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Clever Apes #24: Gut feelings

by Gabriel Spitzer | Jan. 17, 2012

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Scientists say the intestines are like a second brain. (WBEZ/Michael De Bonis)

In researching the human gut over the last few weeks, I’ve learned at least 10 things that have blown my mind. Here is one: Your intestines are your second brain.

The gut has its own nervous system – called the enteric nervous system – that is highly sophisticated and can basically think for itself. Columbia University neuroscientist Michael Gershon, who coined the phrase with his 1999 book The Second Brain, says the gut can function just fine in a decapitated person....

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Clever Apes: Top 5 Chicago science stories of 2011

by Gabriel Spitzer | Dec. 28, 2011

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Here at Clever Apes, we’re big proponents of giving the people what they want. First off, I have decided that they want a one-hour Clever Apes special, with our favorite segments from 2011 all gift-wrapped into one apey package. I have chosen to be overwhelmed by a groundswell of public pressure for such a special, and have therefore answered the call that (I would guess) has rung out loud and clear. Click the “listen” button above to hear.

Secondly, based on our web traffic, what the people want are Top 5 and year-end lists. So here are our nominations for the top 5 Chicago science stories of 2011:

5. Lab-grown neurons advance Alzheimer’s research

A team at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine has figured out how to grow a type of neuron affected by Alzhemier’s Disease. Basal forebrain...

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Clever Apes: Skipping down memory lane

by Michael De Bonis | Dec. 15, 2011

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Does WBEZ producer Susie An really remember being a sprinkler-loving two year old

Memory can be a tricky thing. As we learned in yesterday's episode of Clever Apes, our earliest recollections are re-written in our brains every time we think of them. This can increase the chances of subtle or even drastic changes to those memories over time.

We asked our colleagues to share their earliest memories with us and some interesting themes emerged: parental discipline, the birth of a younger sibling, and some memories closely associated with family photos. WBEZ producer Susie An was nice enough to share her memory of running through a sprinkler as a toddler. But is it a real memory or just a recreation based on the photo...

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Clever Apes #23: First memories

by Gabriel Spitzer | Dec. 13, 2011

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Each time we recall a childhood memory, we're rewriting it. (WBEZ/Gabriel Spitze I’m sitting at a picnic table in our screened-in porch. It’s my third birthday party, and I’m opening presents. I unwrap a Tonka truck, and drop to the floor to start playing with it.

That’s been my earliest memory ever since I can, well, remember. But as the years wore on, something weird started happening. I started to feel less attached to the person in that memory. Now, I feel like I’m seeing the memory through someone else’s eyes, watching myself push that truck on the green astroturf carpet. I’m not even sure it’s a real memory anymore.

This has been on my mind because my own son recently had his third birthday. It got me wondering what his first memory will be, and more broadly, what is the nature of early memories? How reliable might...

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Top hair-raising research moments

by Gabriel Spitzer | Dec. 05, 2011

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Several weeks ago I had the pleasure of moderating a conversation among four scientists from local institutions, all of whom worked in rather unconventional “labs:” a mine shaft half-a-mile underground, a volcanic crater in Siberia, a racetrack in rural America.

The subject of the event was “Xtreme research” (cue air guitars!). You can listen in full via the link above (skip to minute 11:00 if you want to bypass my gobbledygook and cut straight to the panel). It was a really lively discussion and a great window into how science happens in unusual places. But for brevity’s sake, I’m including a few highlights here:

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Clever Apes

Clever Apes is a nano-sized show with a cosmic scope. It explores the Chicago area's rich scientific community, its quirky characters and the mind-bending questions they're out to answer.