Subject of much sci-fi media and philosophy discussions, the "hive mind" is also a key element of Vince Gilligan's (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) new show, Pluribus. Dr. Jenessa Seymour joins the pod to walk us through examples that we have studied of hive mind behavior (in the insect world), and why we can reasonably assert that you could not maintain your individuality if our brains directly communicated with each other (in the human world).

• Wolman, D. (2012). A tale of two halves. Nature, 483, 260-263.

• Split brain patient video demonstration

• Wittlinger, M., Wehner, R., & Wolf, H. (2006). The ant odometer: Stepping on stilts and stumps. Science, 312, 1965-1967.

• Penick, C.A. & Smith, A.A. (2015). The true odor of the odorous house ant. American Entomologist, 61, 85-87.

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Brain pics, or they didn't happen? There's a recent study that demonstrates that some brain region activity might interact differently with oxygen than previously assumed. This could upend significant neuroscience research spanning decades. Thankfully SIO has Dr. Jenessa Seymour to come in and break it all down for us!

We start with a primer on the science of neuroimaging tools and the images they produce. How in the WORLD can we get a picture of a brain while a person is still alive? What are the things we need to know when evaluating scholarly articles or popular media coverage about the brain that uses these brain "scans" in discussing their results? And what do we need to see next to support the findings of this study that could have incredible ramifications across our understanding of the brain?

• Epp, S.M., Castrillón, G., Yuan, B. et al. BOLD signal changes can oppose oxygen metabolism across the human cortex. Nat Neurosci (2025).

• Example structural MRI (sMRI) of a human brain

• Güttler, F.V., Heinrich, A., Rump, J., de Bucourt, M., Schnackenburg, B., … Teichgräber, U.K. (2012). Magnetic resonance imaging of the active second stage of labour: Proof of principle. European Radiology, 22, 2020–2026

• Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) example image

• Example functional MRI (fMRI)

• Example fMRI with a more-appropriately blurry sMRI underneath

• After Warping Options, Configurable Pipeline for the Analysis of Connectomes (0, 4, and 8mm filter images)

• Jenessa's Brain:

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In late September, shortly after declaring antifa a "domestic terrorist", Trump issued a memorandum directing the IRS to investigate tax-exempt organizations that could be "directly or indirectly financing political violence or domestic terrorism" and nonprofit organizations reasonably felt concerned of being targeted. A couple of weeks later, Lydia and Thomas ran into Nick Fish, President of the American Atheists, at California Freethought Day and asked how he and the organization were holding up in light of everything.

We're pleased to have Nick on to discuss what nonprofit organizations can do to protect themselves, as well as the people who have supported their mission and the communities they serve, when it is feeling less and less paranoid that the federal government might be coming for you. How can organizations fortify themselves through governing documents and organizational structure to donor databases and retention policies when the President of the United States could very well declare your nonprofit a supporter of domestic terrorism?

• Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence (NSPM-7) (9/25/2025)

• Support American Atheists!