Series 2, Episode 03: GO FORTH AND MULTIPLY

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In this episode, Matt finds out how a runaway algorithm created the world’s most expensive book, Helen searches for the most singable fruit fly genes and Steve considers whether donating a kidney is easier than buying a house.

• 00:46 – Steve’s bit
• 11:05 – Helen’s bit
• 37:30 – Matt’s bit

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Corrections and clarifications:

• Regular listener Annika emailed us with a somewhat disturbing picture of Spätzle, a local delicacy in Southwest Germany that are some kind of extremely maggoty-looking dumpling. Which clears up why there is a fruit fly gene named after them. Thanks Annika! We think…
• Many other listeners on twitter have confirmed that Clootie Dumplings are indeed a “thing” and that they have eaten – but never enjoyed – them at some point in the past.

And here’s a heap of Unnecessary Detail from this episode:

• Fruit Fly Elements song and lyrics to download free on Helen’s Bandcamp page.
• Flybase for all your fruit fly gene needs.
• ZFIN The Zebrafish Information Network.
• Genetics Unzipped with Dr Kat Arney on fruit fly genes.
• Sally Le Page on YouTube.
• Naming Pavlov’s Flies.
• Scientists typed human genes into Excel and it all went wrong.
• Kidney sharing scheme in the UK.
• Property chains in the UK.
• What is The Officers Club?
• The Eisen Lab at UOC Berkeley who first discovered and tracked the ludicrously priced book.
• See below for a picture of Matt with his copy of the actual textbook!
• What is a stack overflow?
• Buy Matt’s bestselling book about Mathematic Mistakes, “Humble Pi” – soon to be committed to a digital visual viewing format!

Matt with his second hand steal

A Podcast Of Unnecessary Detail is part of the Acast Creator Network. Thanks for listening!