The Psychology of Crowds & Where Did Life Come From?

Most of us have heard that the speed at which you drive can impact your gas mileage but by how much? My guess is you probably believe it isn’t a lot. This episode begins by explaining how much slowing down will save you on gas – and it is more than you think. And if you have a bike rack on your car – you really have to hear this. https://abc7.com/archive/9151803/ There is something about a crowd. When you go to a concert or sporting event, you feel a kinship with the crowd. And the crowd has an energy to it that is hard to describe. Crowds also have a dark side. A crowd can turn into a mob and a mob can become violent. How does that happen? Is there such a thing as a mob mentality that makes people do things they would otherwise never do? Here to look at the science of crowds is Dan Hancox. He has thoroughly researched the topic and wrote a book about it titled Multitudes: How Crowds Made the Modern World (https://amzn.to/40axzVW). Life comes from other life. New plants come from existing plants, you came from your parents – all life comes from existing life. If that is so, then where did the first life forms come from? Also, while life is abundant here on earth, we have yet to discover life anywhere else in the universe that we can see. Why not? Here to tackle these questions is Mario Livio. He is an astrophysicist who worked with the Hubble Space Telescope and is the author if seven books, - his latest (which he co-authored with Jack Szostak), is titled Is Earth Exceptional?: The Quest for Cosmic Life (https://amzn.to/4dSpSGY). If you are a Venmo user, you’ve surely noticed that you can see when other people use the service. You can see who they pay and how much they pay – and Consumer Reports doesn’t like this a bit. Listen as I reveal what Consumer Reports says is the potential problem of everyone seeing your transactions and I will tell you how to make your details private. https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics/privacy/how-to-make-your-venmo-information-private-a6507250342/ PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!!! INDEED:  Get a $75 SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to get your jobs more visibility at https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING  Support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast.  Indeed.com/SOMETHING.  Terms and conditions apply. SHOPIFY:  Sign up for a $1 per-month trial period at https://Shopify.com/sysk . Go to SHOPIFY.com/sysk to grow your business – no matter what stage you’re in! MINT MOBILE: Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month at https://MintMobile.com/something! $45 upfront payment required (equivalent to $15/mo.).  New customers on first 3 month plan only. Additional taxes, fees, & restrictions apply. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices