Shrinking Cephalopod Brains, Science!

**Dr. Kiki** (0:00)
This is Twist. This Week in Science, episode number 1066, recorded on Wednesday, July 8th, 2026 Shrinking cephalopod brain science? I'm Dr. Kiki, and today we will fill your head with orbital weapons, old enzymes, and sex-changing spiders. But first, thanks to our amazing Patreon sponsors for their generous support of Twist. You can become a part of the Patreon community at patreon.com/thisweek in Science. Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer.
After a weekend of exploding skies, now the East Coast is exploding with diarrhea. Where's the CDC? A state health department's wrangle, a new threat to public safety. Where are the institutions created? Over some 250 years to serve our citizens.
Did a referee hand them a red card or are they just out for a match? Will they be back? We do have hope here on This Week in Science coming up next.

**Blair** (1:44)
Good science to you, Kiki.

**Dr. Kiki** (1:46)
And a good science to you, Blair. And everyone out there, welcome to another episode of This Week in Science. Thank you so much for being here to talk about all the science. I mean, you wanna learn things, right? I like learning things. Blair, why do you like learning things?

**Blair** (2:03)
Because I find the world amazing and what an interesting question.

**Dr. Kiki** (2:16)
I haven't asked you that before.

**Blair** (2:18)
I think it's a two-step process for me. It's like, whoa, that's really cool. And then there's always a step two, which is like, how do we know that or how did they find that out? And I think that's why I like science so much, is because I love learning about the methodology, the experimental process behind how they find these things out. And I love the stories behind stumbling across new things. It's like discovery, I guess. Discovery is like a surprise.
It's like every day is your birthday. So you open this present, it's like, surprise, knowledge.

**Dr. Kiki** (2:57)
Science presents. Oh, every day can be the birthday, Christmas, Hanukkah, whatever it is, you can get a gift. Yes.
Discovery is such an amazing part of the journey because like you said, there's that, what is that? Why? How?
And asking the questions and then figuring out why it's important. Why does it matter?

**Blair** (3:24)
Well, and then there's the extra special step that's only for some people I understand, which is the sharing what you've learned with others, which is probably actually my favorite part. Hey, that's the point of the show.

**Dr. Kiki** (3:36)
Which is why we're here. Yeah.

**Blair** (3:39)
I think there's some subconscious thing where it's like I learn something new and I go, ooh, something fun I get to tell people about.

**Dr. Kiki** (3:45)
And it's people who want to learn about it as opposed to being held hostage like my family.

**Blair** (3:50)
So, thank you. My coworkers are on the lunch table. Someone will say something and go, nope, they're not related or, oh, no, actually that's not true or, oh, that's funny.
Yeah, you're right about that one. It's just like, I just kind of chime in with funny fact checkery at the lunch table. They're always like, there she goes.

**Dr. Kiki** (4:13)
I bet you are. Oh, my gosh. Blair, the fact checker.
But-

**Blair** (4:18)
Specifically for animals, but, you know.

**Dr. Kiki** (4:21)
I would hope so. If you were fact checking astrophysics, I would, we need to talk about what you're doing here.

**Blair** (4:28)
Hey, I might know more than somebody else. I don't know a lot, but I might know more from listening to this show. You're being a part of me.
I'm here. I may be passive for the astrophysics, but I am here. I'm present.

**Dr. Kiki** (4:43)
Oh, hey, Michelle Parashar.
Thank you. We came up randomly in their feed, and now they're subscribed. Thank you so much for joining us.

**Blair** (4:53)
Just wait till we start the actual show.

**Dr. Kiki** (4:55)
I know. We are getting going now.
Stories ahead. We have some great stories for tonight. I've got orbital weapons, but hopefully not the orbital weapons, hopefully detecting them. Painting satellites, black, old enzymes to learn about new times, and maybe some light tech, light technology. And then I've got a bunch of brain stuff related to your tears, football player brains, and children's brains. What did you bring?

**Blair** (5:31)
I have sex-changing spiders. I have shrinking cephalopod brains.
And I have bees that lick their lips.

**Dr. Kiki** (5:42)
What? Okay, I can't wait to hear these stories. Your stories are great this week. I am so excited for your stories this week. Oh, my gosh.

**Blair** (5:54)