Sentient Developments Podcast for the week of May 7, 2012. Topics discussed in this week's episode: Scientific explanations for Game of Thrones' messed-up seasons Could a single pill save your marriage? Nature goes ahead and publishes study explaining how to create deadly mutant bird flu Artificial retinas give blind patients ability to see light and shapes The Search for Life on Jupiter’s Icy Moons Tracks used in this episode: Unicorn Kid: Pure Space Atlas Sound: Te Amo Death Grips: Hacker Black Moth Super Rainbow: I Think It Is Beautiful That You Are 256 Colors Too Podcast Feed | Subscribe via iTunes

Sentient Developments Podcast for the week of April 16, 2012. Topics discussed in this week's episode: NASA's upcoming workshop on rethinking their Mars strategy Beaming solar power to Earth with satellites Veteran astronomer Geoff Marcy joins SETI Linda MacDonald Glenn on "what is a person"? Do "advanced" dinosaurs rule other planets? And Adam Manning's response Gender Selection in Canada: No Easy Answers Tracks used in this episode: Ty Seagall & White Fence: I Am Not a Game Ramona Falls: Spore Caveman: Thankful Daft Punk: End of Line Podcast Feed | Subscribe via iTunes

Sentient Developments Podcast for the week of April 9, 2012. Topics discussed in this week's episode: My recap of the Moral Brain conference A review of the attention my Dyson Sphere article is getting A summary of my recent appearance on the al-Jazeera show, The Stream Tracks used in this episode: Orbital: "Straight Sun" Bear in Heaven: "The Reflection of You" Modeselektor: "Berlin" Podcast Feed | Subscribe via iTunes

Sentient Developments Podcast for the week of April 2, 2012. Topics for this week's episode: J. Hughes on democratic transhumanism, personhood theory, and AI; making brains: reverse engineering the human brain to achieve AI; Ben Goertzel and Eliezer Yudkowsky on the Singularity and timelines for AI; could a computer virus merge with a human virus?; and transhumanism meets the 'intelligence principle.' Tracks used in this episode: Meshuggah: "Behind the Sun" Modeselektor: "Green Light Go" Boards of Canada: "Aquarius" Grimes: "Eight" Podcast Feed | Subscribe via iTunes

Sentient Developments Podcast for the week of March 26, 2012. Topics for this week's episode: How to build a Dyson sphere in five (relatively) easy steps, how to take over the Galaxy with self-replicating probes, the Fermi Paradox, and the Simulation Argument. Tracks used in this episode: Beach House: "Myth" Keep Shelly in Athens: "Our Own Dream" Rose Cousins: "One Way" Podcast Feed | Subscribe via iTunes

Sentient Developments Podcast for the week of March 19, 2012. Topics for this week's episode: Raising IQ with creatine and Double N-Back Training, the red meat scare, destroying asteroids with nukes, re-engineering humans to deal with climate change, the Fermi Paradox, and the ongoing perils to democracy. Tracks used in this episode: Soft Metals: "The Cold World Waits" The Knife: "Marble House" Zed's Dead: "Pyramid Song" (remix) Evy Jane: "Sayso" Podcast Feed | Subscribe via iTunes

Sentient Developments Podcast for the week of March 12, 2012. Topics for this week's episode include the perils of Active SETI, the possibility of downloading something nasty from ET, why virtually everyone is wrong about alien threats, Nick Bostrom's claim that we are underestimating existential risks, and the 'create the future' myth. Tracks used in this episode: School of Seven Bells: "Lafaye" Long Distance Calling: "Into the Black Wide Open" Ulrich Schnauss: "Made of Sky" Podcast Feed | Subscribe via iTunes

Sentient Developments Podcast for the week of March 5, 2012. Topics for this week's episode include the Turing Test, artificial consciousness, and machine ethics; Avi Rubin's recent TED Talk on our increasingly hackable world; nootropics, cognitive liberty and limits to the biolibertarian impulse. Tracks used in this episode: Frankie Rose: "Interstellar" Pallbearer: "Foreigner" Teengirl Fantasy: "Cheaters" Podcast Feed | Subscribe via iTunes

Sentient Developments Podcast for the week of February 27, 2012. Topics discussed in this week's episode: PETA's lost case against SeaWorld and their next steps, addressing the potential perils of radical memory enhancement, the increasing role of AI in healthcare and medicine, and rethinking cosmetic enhancements. Tracks used in this episode: Cloud Nothings: "Separation" Ulrich Schnauss & Mark Peters: "Long Distance Call" Burial: "Loner" Porcelain Raft: "Drifting in and Out" Podcast Feed | Subscribe via iTunes

Sentient Developments Podcast for the week of February 20, 2012. Topics discussed in this week's episode: Moral enhancement and cognitive enhancement (featuring insights from Peter Singer and Allen Buchanen), progressivism and the potential for transhumanism (featuring clips from James Hughes and Robert Sawyer), and an update on PETA's case against SeaWorld. Tracks used in this episode: Air: "Sonic Armada" Zammuto: "F U C-3PO" Shinsuke Matsumoto: "Kou" Podcast Feed | Subscribe via iTunes