The Naked Scientists Podcast Social media addiction, and the famous honeybee dance
Mar 27, 2026
James Nye, a bee communication researcher, explains how audience size alters the famous waggle dance. Megan Argo, an astrophysicist, discusses a lunar magnetic cavity that reduces cosmic rays. Justin Gwynne, a radiation scientist, reports on monitoring a sunken Soviet nuclear sub. Lucas Guncherer, a cognition researcher, examines social media design, youth susceptibility, and debates over platform responsibility.
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Addiction Versus Heavy Use Are Not The Same
- Neuroscience definitions of addiction differ from popular use and require more than just high usage to qualify.
- Lucas Guncherer notes evidence for social media as a substance-like addiction is thin, though problematic use predicts elevated suicide risk two to three times higher.
Algorithms Learn Engagement Patterns Behind The Scenes
- Platform algorithms optimise content by learning from user behaviour like time spent and shares to maximise engagement.
- Guncherer highlights researchers' lack of access to these rich internal datasets, limiting independent evaluation of specific features.
Mandate Data Access For Independent Research
- Mandate researcher access to platform data to enable robust independent studies on harmful features.
- Guncherer suggests policy makers should require data access rather than leave evaluations solely to researchers.