Unexpected enhancements
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The inaugural Enhanced Games in Las Vegas have ignited a global debate on human performance, where athletes are allowed to use banned substances like steroids and peptides—once considered cheating—now celebrated as the 'next frontier' in sport. This controversial event, dubbed the 'Steroid Olympics,' is being closely monitored by medical experts like Professor David Petrino, who emphasizes the need for safe, scientific oversight. But the conversation quickly expands beyond human enhancement: scientists have found that cocaine metabolites, not the drug itself, dramatically increase salmon swimming distances in Swedish lakes, revealing how pollution is already altering ecosystems. Meanwhile, a groundbreaking study from South Korea shows that just five minutes of radio wave stimulation to the forehead can enhance human smell for up to a week—offering hope for those with age- or illness-related anosmia. The episode also reveals that engaging with art—painting, visiting galleries, singing—can slow biological aging by up to a full year per year of engagement, outperforming even weekly exercise. From fish on drugs to human performance and sensory augmentation, the show explores how enhancement is no longer just about winning races, but about redefining what it means to be human in a world where biology is increasingly malleable.
The Enhanced Games allow banned performance-enhancing drugs, but are medically monitored to ensure safety and generate research on human physiology.
Cocaine metabolites in water supplies increase salmon swimming distance by nearly 100%, showing how pollution alters animal behavior and ecosystems.
Radio waves at 2.45 GHz can enhance human smell for up to a week by stimulating the olfactory system non-invasively.
Engaging with art at least once a week slows biological aging by one full year per year of participation, outperforming weekly exercise.
Peptides like BPC-157 and TB-500 are popular on TikTok for recovery and anti-aging, but lack human clinical evidence and carry risks like uncontrolled tissue growth.
…and 3 more takeaways available in PodZeus
The Rise of the Enhanced Games
“It's the inaugural Enhanced Games this week. Not the two weeks that you get with the Olympics. This is a three-day sporting event also dubbed the Steroid Olympics where athletes are allowed to take the sort of performance enhancing drugs that might get you banned from the regular sporting versions of competitions.”
The Peptide Phenomenon on TikTok
“There was evidence in animal trials that it does repair tendons and muscles but these findings haven't been proven in human trials and they've also looked for example at... TB4, and another synthetic peptide, TB500. And they found that there are certain benefits in cell and animal studies but nothing yet in humans.”
Salmon on Cocaine: A Real-World Experiment
“The biggest surprise was that the strongest effects did not come from cocaine itself, but its metabolite. benzoyl-acganine. By the end of the study, some of the fish exposed to cocaine's metabolite were swimming almost twice as far each week as those in the control group.”
The Science of Smell Enhancement
“The researchers aimed to stimulate the olfactory system of those who took part in the study. The stimulation itself was not directly perceived by the volunteers, according to the researchers, but their sense of smell improved.”
Art as Anti-Aging Medicine
“Those that did an arts activity at least once a week were on average a biological year younger than those who never engaged with galleries or museums or any of that. And interestingly, those who exercised once a week only got an extra six months younger.”
“Those that did an arts activity at least once a week were on average a biological year younger than those who never engaged with galleries or museums or any of that. And interestingly, those who exercised once a week only got an extra six months younger.”
“I wonder what would happen if this person who has a little bit of residual function in his legs, if we gave him human growth hormone and anabolic steroids and got into the gym. And I wonder what would happen if we could just activate those muscle fibers more and more.”
“The enhanced games may already be happening on a global scale, whether we intend it or not.”
Host
Guest
Katie Silva
person
Marnie Chasterton
person
BBC World Service
organization
Andrada Fisketan
person
David Petrino
person
Lanmea asiatica
other
Daisy Fancourt
person
South Korea
place
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
organization
University College London
organization
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