A Mermaid is a mythical aquatic creature with the upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish.  Legends of these creatures have been reported since the beginning of humanity. There is no evidence that mermaids live anywhere on earth. However, there are a lot of scientific reasons why they physically cannot exist. Seriously, fish and human’s last common ancestor was over 170 million years ago. If you’re going to say mermaids are mammals, they’d have to breathe air, which means going to the surface often. (So lots of chances for humans to spot them).  AND even then, a human/water mammal would not have had time to evolve. Whales returned to the ocean 50 million years ago, and humans evolved 300,000 years ago…. So there is just not enough time for evolution to take place.But, there is a lot of interesting folklore surrounding these creatures. (A lot more interesting than the bigfoot ‘folklore’) Tails of merfolks go back to ancient times: from the 2500BC Mesopotamia to the first know tale of an Assyrian queen who turned into a mermaid in 1000BC to current culture.  So, to say mermaids have been in the human psyche forever, would not be in error. Listen now to learn why mermaids cannot happen in real life, but are interesting anyways. For more information on us, visit our website at betterthanhumanpodcast.comFollow us on Twitter @betterthanhuma1on Facebook @betterthanhumanpodcaston Instagram @betterthanhumanpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@betterthanhumanpodcastor Email us at betterthanhumanpodcast@gmail.comWe look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to you joining our cult of weirdness!#betterthanhuman #cultofweirdnes

Better Than Human

Mermaids: Imprinted in Human Psyche, But Evolutionarily Impossible

Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, (another word we’ve stolen from Native Americans), is a large bipedal ape-like creature, covered in hair. Bigfoot has become an icon of cryptozoology. You know what cryptozoology is? Fake science. There is no evidence that Bigfoot exists. Even animals that have gone extinct millions of years ago leave evidence of their existence.Giants (Larger than human beings) appear in the folklore of cultures worldwide and evoke terror and remind humans of our weakness and mortality. This may be the reason why there are so may &apos;bigfoot&apos; tales in Native American lore. Thousands of people have claimed to have seen a Bigfoot, but even with all of these claims there is still no concrete evidence of any ape-like creatures living in North America. However, we do have a lot of proof of Bigfoot Hoaxes, like a man saying he had discovered the body of a dead Bigfoot in a forest in northern Georgia, and getting paid 50,000 dollars to produce it…So what are people claiming to have seen Bigfoot actually seeing? There are a lot of possible logical answers that are not mythical.Listen now to learn why Jennifer and Amber do not believe in Bigfoot. Note: when Jennifer says no Native Americans had a writing system, she means Native Americans of North America. The Maya, Aztecs, Mixtecs, and Zapotecs of Mesoamerica had writing systems.For more information on us, visit our website at betterthanhumanpodcast.comFollow us on Twitter @betterthanhuma1on Facebook @betterthanhumanpodcaston Instagram @betterthanhumanpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@betterthanhumanpodcastor Email us at betterthanhumanpodcast@gmail.comWe look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to you joining our cult of weirdness!#betterthanhuman #cultofweirdnes

Bigfoot: If You’re Going to make up a Cryptid, at least make it Believable

It’s finally October, the best month of the year, and time for Better Than Human&apos;s spooky Halloween Episodes. We start the month off with a BOO and an episode on the Villisca Axe Murder House, recorded live in the Villisca House itself. Poor, poor Amber knew nothing about what happened in the house before recording. Not only did Amber and Jennifer record an episode in the house on the murders that happened there, we spent the night in the house. The Villisca axe murders occurred between June 9, 1912, and June 10, 1912, in the town of Villisca, Iowa. All six members of the Moore family and the two Stillinger sisters were found murdered in the house. All eight victims, (including six children), were bludgeoned with an axe. The reason for the murders and the murder(s) were never found.We start the episode discussing if visiting places where people were murdered is in bad taste. You can make an argument for both sides.Then Jennifer tells Amber the history of the house, and the murders that took place in the house that we are recording in.  We discuss suspects in this unsolved case, if the house itself is haunted, and if so, who is haunting the house.Want to learn about the Villisca house and our creepy night? Listen now!For more information on us, visit our website at betterthanhumanpodcast.comFollow us on Twitter @betterthanhuma1on Facebook @betterthanhumanpodcaston Instagram @betterthanhumanpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@betterthanhumanpodcastor Email us at betterthanhumanpodcast@gmail.comWe look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to you joining our cult of weirdness!#betterthanhuman #cultofweirdnes

Villisca Axe Murder House Recorded Live On Location

Neanderthals went extinct around 40,000 years ago so there are a lot of maybes when it comes to what we know about them. Did they know how to start fires? Did they use medicine? Did they have a language similar to humans? Did they know how to preserve food? Did they create art and music? Did they make clothing? Did they sail? The answers to all those questions are big fat maybes, which archaeologist are still trying to figure out. But FirstGuess what everyone? It’s almost spooky month, October, the best month of the year, so get excited! This October we have a spectacular line-up. First, the Villisca Axe Murder House, recorded IN the Murder House. Second, Bigfoot, not recorded with an actual Sasquatch. Third, we have Mermaids (Merpeople) recorded in costume, but not underwater. Last we have the Addams Family, I personally have reached out to Christina Ricci, and she will not be guest starring. This is Halloween Month, the best Month!The Good The Bad The NewsThe BadChina is no longer teaching English in schools, why?Firefighters race to save the world’s largest tree as wildfires rage because humans are causing fires hotter than nature can handle.The GoodFans rescue a falling cat at stadium. Pfizer says that COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective for children ages of 5 and 11.Neanderthals lived in small isolated groups, with individuals rarely living past 40 years. This resulted in a stagnation of technology growth, as well as a good amount of inbreeding. Add in their dangerous hunting technique, and it’s surprising that Neanderthals did as well as they did and that they did well enough to survive and mate with modern humans before going extinct.Listen now to learn about Neanderthals out brothers from another species.For more information on us, visit our website at betterthanhumanpodcast.comFollow us on Twitter @betterthanhuma1on Facebook @betterthanhumanpodcaston Instagram @betterthanhumanpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@betterthanhumanpodcastor Email us at betterthanhumanpodcast@gmail.comWe look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to you joining our cult of weirdness!#betterthanhuman #cultofweirdnes

Neanderthals Part 2: Our Brothers From Another Species

Neanderthals are an extinct species of archaic humans who lived to about 40,000 years ago. Neanderthals left Africa, while modern humans stayed behind. They interbred with an unidentified human species and then were ‘replaced’ by modern humans. Neanderthals most likely went extinct due to interbreeding with homo sapiens, climatic change, disease, or a combination of all these factors.It’s almost spooky month, get excited everyone! This October we have a banger line up. We have the Villisca Axe Murder House, recorded in the actual Murder House. We have Bigfoot, not recorded with an actual Bigfoot. We have Mermaids (Merpeople) recorded in costume. We have the Addams Family, I personally have reached out to Christina Ricci, and she will not be guest starring. And if you’re lucky, another bonus Halloween Episode. This is Halloween Month, the best Month!The Good The Bad The News, Carbon factory built to suck carbon from the sky (the good), and racism is alive and well in Ohio (the bad).Upon the discovery of Neanderthals, they were depicted as slouching, ape-like, and not closely related to modern humans. This was due to the Piltdown Man and racism. Neanderthals true evolutionary history was not understood until as late as the 1960s. Yes, Neanderthals were physically built differently than modern humans, and yes, we interbreed. The gene for red hair might have even come from Neanderthals gene. Listen now to Neanderthals, Part 1, our relatives of a different species. For more information on us, visit our website at betterthanhumanpodcast.comFollow us on Twitter @betterthanhuma1on Facebook @betterthanhumanpodcaston Instagram @betterthanhumanpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@betterthanhumanpodcastor Email us at betterthanhumanpodcast@gmail.comWe look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to you joining our cult of weirdness!#betterthanhuman #cultofweirdnes

Neanderthals: Our Relatives From the North

What most people know about black holes, they’ve learned from sci-fi. In this genre, black holes (spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing can escape) can often do some nifty things, like time travel. In real life, however, black holes are a whole lot more interesting. A compact mass of deformed spacetime with zero volume and infinite density? Sign us up to learn more.In the Good the Bad the NewsThe BadThe next solar storm could knock out the internet for months. Which will be a problem for most of us. Fuck Texas, the new abortion ban is not about protecting fetuses. Abortion bans are a way to control women, specifically lower income women. Because, rich so-called “pro-life” individuals will always have access to safe abortions. The GoodA Beekeeper in France has invented a trap that can stop Murder Hornets. Want to learn more about Murder Hornets? Listen to our 2020 episode on them https://www.buzzsprout.com/603916/3727583Amber’s good news is that when our sun turns into a supernova in 5.5 billion years, it will not turn into a blackhole, cause it’s too small. Yay?Although Black Holes have an enormous effect on any  object crossing it’s path, it has no locally detectable features. In theory, you could be standing right next to one and not realize it. If you did observe it, you’d notice that clocks near it would seem to move slower, because time is literally going slower in a Black Hole. This might be a good way to travel forward in time, however, once you enter it, you can never leave it. No one will hear you scream either, because information cannot escape a black hole….Listen now to learn about Black Holes, more interesting than a science fiction movie.For more information on us, visit our website at betterthanhumanpodcast.comFollow us on Twitter @betterthanhuma1on Facebook @betterthanhumanpodcaston Instagram @betterthanhumanpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@betterthanhumanpodcastor Email us at betterthanhumanpodcast@gmail.comWe look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to you joining our cult of weirdness!#betterthanhuman #cultofweirdnes

Black Holes: The Center of Every Galaxy

Hummingbirds are the world’s smallest bird species, with a heart rate of 500 beats-per-minute on average and a breathing rate of 250/minute. Hummingbirds are nearly always on the edge of starvation, so they need to eat their body weight in nectar each day. Which might explain why some female white-necked Jacobin hummingbirds have evolved to look like male hummingbirds. Because, guess what? Male hummingbirds can be jerks. In The Good The Bad The NewThe Bad:The EU has removed US travelers from Covid safe list. This is because of all the idiots out there that will take horse medication but not the actual vaccine.The Good:Thank you to the San Francisco Airport (SFO) for protecting the San Francisco garter snakes and red-legged frogs. We at Better Than Human are friends of Snakes and Frogs.Hummingbirds are tiny acrobats with the fastest wingbeat of all birds, (70 strokes per second or more than 4,000 per minute). Unlike other birds, they can hover, fly backwards, and even fly upside down! Hummingbirds have the highest metabolism of all animals. They had an amazing amount of energy and live a relatively long time for their size. Hummingbirds are native only to the Americas and thrive from Alaska to the tip of South America and are specialized to the flowers they eat from.Listen now to learn about these tiny marvels of the bird world. For more information on us, visit our website at betterthanhumanpodcast.comFollow us on Twitter @betterthanhuma1on Facebook @betterthanhumanpodcaston Instagram @betterthanhumanpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@betterthanhumanpodcastor Email us at betterthanhumanpodcast@gmail.comWe look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to you joining our cult of weirdness!#betterthanhuman #cultofweirdnes

Hummingbirds: Tiny Acrobats And The Marvel of the Bird World

The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is  a snake-like, migratory fish. Eels spend most of their adult lives as freshwater fish, but are born and die in the ocean. How they’re born and how they die scientists are still trying to figure out. And we better figure it out quickly because European eel are a critically endangered species. So no jellied eels for you. But first:Jennifer tells the story of her boomer encounter in the doctor&apos;s office. And by boomer, we mean, OK boomers, the group of boomers who don’t care how their behaviors affect other people.In the Good, the Bad, the NewsThe bad, Cuomo is a dick and he abandoned his dog. And Amber reads some comedic crime blotters.The good, 4oceans Solar-Powered Beach Robot filters plastic 30x faster than humans. Then, Patagonia (the outdoor clothing company) dumps a ski resort which held a far-right fundraiser. Fuck Marjorie Greene. So little is known about European eels that up to 1777, we didn’t realize eels were fish and thought that they spontaneously generated in the "guts of wet soil".  Sigmund Freud couldn’t find the eel’s male sex organs and gave up on biology entirely in frustration. European eels may use magnetic fields to navigate thousands of miles through the Atlantic Ocean, but who knows why they travel thousands of miles to spawn. Lots of people like to eat European eels, so poaching and smuggling is a big threat to the species. We also have not figured out how to raise them in captivity. Listen now to learn about the European eel, an animal we like to eat, but know very little about.For more information on us, visit our website at betterthanhumanpodcast.comFollow us on Twitter @betterthanhuma1on Facebook @betterthanhumanpodcaston Instagram @betterthanhumanpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@betterthanhumanpodcastor Email us at betterthanhumanpodcast@gmail.comWe look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to you joining our cult of weirdness!#betterthanhuman #cultofweirdnesYou&apos;ve got two empty halves of coconut and you&apos;re bangin&apos; &apos;em together.

European Eels: The Fish Whose Life Cycle Scientists Still Don't Understand

Do coconuts migrate? Yes, they do, but not by sparrows. It was actually humans who spread coconuts across the globe. Besides making great horse sounds when banged together, coconuts are extremely useful to humans. Coconuts are not just a new health fad, humans have been using coconuts since 3000 BCE, and not just for food and water.In The Good, The Bad, The NewsThe Bad: There is an organization in PA that wants you to think rising CO2 is good for you and the planet. Nope. July 2021 was the hottest month ever in recorded history. Global climate change is caused by humans, and we need to stop it. The Good: We can reverse global climate change, but we need to do it NOW. Then Jen talks about a preserved female cave lion cub named Sparta.Before we get into coconuts, have you ever heard of the Order of the Sun, the sun worshiping coconut cult from the early 1900s? Well, a nudist German named August Engelhardt was convinced you could live off just coconut. Guess what, you can’t. Coconut trees can grow up to 100 ft  ( 30 m) tall, and produce on average of 30 coconuts a year. They are naturally restricted to coastal areas in sandy, saline soils, and need direct sunlight and a lot of water to grow. The coconut plant was distributed by early Austronesian voyagers, who carried them as a source of food and water, and  traded them throughout different cultures globally.Listen now to learn about the lovely coconut tree, the tree of life. For more information on us, visit our website at betterthanhumanpodcast.comFollow us on Twitter @betterthanhuma1on Facebook @betterthanhumanpodcaston Instagram @betterthanhumanpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@betterthanhumanpodcastor Email us at betterthanhumanpodcast@gmail.comWe look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to you joining our cult of weirdness!#betterthanhuman #cultofweirdnesYou&apos;ve got two empty halves of coconut and you&apos;re bangin&apos; &apos;em together.

Do Coconuts Migrate? Coconuts: The Tree of Life, One of The Worlds Most Useful Tree

This week in Better Than Human the Podcast we tackle the controversial topic of asshole animals. Guess what people? There are some animals that are straight up jerks! So much so that we had to add the following Trigger warning: This episode talks about forced copulation of animals by other animals, it isn’t recommended for all listeners.In The Good The Bad The NewsIn the Bad, there are actual idiots out there paying for fake covid vaccine cards when they can just go and get the vaccine for free. What is wrong with people? And men’s right groups are mad because South Korean Olympic Archer An San has short hair. Really ... that’s how fragile their egos are that short hair offends them. In the Good, a plant that’s been right in front of us for years is found to carnivorous and Olympic medalists share the gold. So what animals do Amber and Jennifer think are assholes? Jennifer 100 percent believes that Otters are not cute and adorable and are straight up necrophilic rapists. Amber hates wasps,  but seriously, who doesn’t hate parasites that eat their way out of caterpillars or have way too painful venom. Don’t be fooled by bottlenose dolphins or orcas either. Flipper was a fantasy. Want to learn more (cause you really should), listen now wherever podcasts are found. Listener Note: Even at their worst, animals are just animals being themselves, and unlike humans, they do not have the ability to be “evil”. ALL animals deserve respect, and the right to exist in this world. For more information on how you can help wildlife visit https://www.worldwildlife.org/initiatives/wildlife-conservationExcept for mosquitoes, fuck mosquitoesFor more information on us, visit our website at betterthanhumanpodcast.comFollow us on Twitter @betterthanhuma1on Facebook @betterthanhumanpodcaston Instagram @betterthanhumanpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@betterthanhumanpodcastor Email us at betterthanhumanpodcast@gmail.comWe look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to you joining our cult of weirdness!#betterthanhuman #cultofweirdnes

Animals Can Be Jerks, Too: Otters, Wasps, Bottlenose Dolphins and Orcas

The Pink Fairy Armadillo is, in fact, a real animal, but it is elusive enough to be considered mythical. The pink fairy armadillo (Chlamyphorus truncatus) is the smallest species of armadillo, and it is known as ‘the sand swimmer’ because they look like they are literally swimming through the sand. This animal is so rare in the wild and does so poorly in captivity that locals say, "you can track down any animal — except the pink fairy armadillo.”In The Good The Bad The NewsIn the Good, Sunisa "Suni" Lee is the first Hmong-American Olympian and is kicking butts and taking names, and a French Panda gave birth to wins.In the Bad, please don’t mansplain to a female Olympic gold medalist and Turkey is on fire and no one is talking about it.  Don’t plan a trip to the zoo to see a Pink Fairy Armadillo,  individuals caught in the wild normally die during transport or within a couple days of arriving at their captive facilities. They literally die from stress over a change in location. Don’t plan to see them in the wild either. The Pink fairy armadillos are so rare that the person who has seen the most of them in the wild has only seen 12 in the last 45 years. Are Pink Fairy Armadillos endangered? Probably, but we don’t have enough information on their populations to know for sure. What do we know about Pink Fairy Armadillos? Listen now to find out.For more information on us, visit our website at betterthanhumanpodcast.comFollow us on Twitter @betterthanhuma1on Facebook @betterthanhumanpodcaston Instagram @betterthanhumanpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@betterthanhumanpodcastor Email us at betterthanhumanpodcast@gmail.comWe look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to you joining our cult of weirdness!#betterthanhuman #cultofweirdnes

The Very Real, and Very Elusive, Pink Fairy Armadillo

Did you know that Jeremiah was a Bullfrog? And, yes, he was a good friend of mine. But, no, he was not a toad, so shut up Amber.  All toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads. This frog, the American bullfrog, is the largest frog in North America. The male American bullfrog is one of the world&apos;s loudest animals. The Good The Bad The News - Jen’s cat Marceline (the Vampire Queen) ate a mouse, which was her job, so Jen doesn’t get why Amber is so worked up over it. Then we talk about the good and the bad of this year&apos;s Olympics.Bullfrogs are opportunistic, ambush predators that prey on anything they can overpower and stuff down their throats. This ability to eat almost anything has allowed the American bullfrog to become an invasive species not only in western America but throughout the world. Listen now to learn more about the American Bullfrog and why Jennifer was wrong (XP). For more information on us, visit our website at betterthanhumanpodcast.comFollow us on Twitter @betterthanhuma1on Facebook @betterthanhumanpodcaston Instagram @betterthanhumanpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@betterthanhumanpodcastor Email us at betterthanhumanpodcast@gmail.comWe look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to you joining our cult of weirdness!#betterthanhuman #cultofweirdnes

American Bullfrog: The Not-Toad that Will Eat Almost Anything

Like in the Hitchhikers Guild to the Galaxy, Garter Snakes are what one would call “Mostly Harmless”.  Do they have venom? Sometimes. Will it hurt you? Probably not. Compared to how humans treat this planet, Garter Snakes are most definitely harmless. Also, host Jennifer thinks they are very cute. The common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) is a group of snakes, which are indigenous to North America and found throughout the continent. On average, they grow a little less than 2 feet long (44cm) and can have patterns of different color stripes. First in The Good and The Bad News , Jennifer talks about the first US Capitol rioter conviction, which is both good and bad news. Then Amber talks democratic socialism which 100% of republicans do not understand and/or are rich assholes who do not want to be taxed more.This week Amber picked the topic, because, you know, cute snake videos, but Jennifer picked the species, because, you know, random weird behaviors. What weird behavior you ask? Well, when mating, populations have way more males than females, (we don’t know why), so during mating season, they form "mating balls”. (Yep, a giant snake orgy). And that is not the weirdest thing they do while mating, just read the Nature, 1985, article titled "Female Mimicry in Garter Snakes"…. If you can. Listen now to learn about the Common Garter Snake, the animal Jennifer almost did her theses on.For more information on us, visit our website at betterthanhumanpodcast.comFollow us on Twitter @betterthanhuma1on Facebook @betterthanhumanpodcaston Instagram @betterthanhumanpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@betterthanhumanpodcastor Email us at betterthanhumanpodcast@gmail.comWe look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to you joining our cult of weirdness!#betterthanhuman #cultofweirdnes

The "Mostly Harmless" Common Garter Snake and Their Odd Mating Strategy

This week, Better Than Human tackles the Saber-Toothed Tiger which are most known for their large upper canine teeth. This animal is actually not closely related to a Tiger and is actually called the Saber-Toothed Cat, or Smilodon. The common house cat is more closely related to a Tiger than the Saber-Tooth Cat. Saber-Toothed Cats were specialized hunters, which may have made them wimpy or alpha predators (depending on how you look at it). First, in this week’s best and worst news, Jennifer talks about stupid jackasses swimming with sharks for attention, and the renaming of a moth to a less offensive name. Amber tackles Republicans having a temper tantrum because they couldn’t have fireworks at a sacred Native American Site. Saber-Toothed Cats went extinct during the Quaternary extinction event which ended around 10,000 years ago, and may or may not have been caused by humans (we probably caused it). Saber-Toothed Cats were more stocky than modern day tigers and lions, imagine a BullDog type Tiger. However, they are normally depicted in modern media as Tigers or Lions with long front fangs. Their habitats ranged from North America to South America, and they hunted large prey, like Bison and camels (yes, there was a species of Camel called Camelops which lived in the Americas, who knew, right?). Not a lot is known about the behavior of these animals, but there are a lot of different theories.Listen now as hosts Amber and Jennifer dive into unknown mysteries of the Saber-Toothed Cat.For more information on us, visit our website at betterthanhumanpodcast.comFollow us on Twitter @betterthanhuma1on Facebook @betterthanhumanpodcaston Instagram @betterthanhumanpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@betterthanhumanpodcastor Email us at betterthanhumanpodcast@gmail.comWe look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to you joining our cult of weirdness!#betterthanhuman #cultofweirdnes

Saber-Toothed Cat (Not Tiger): An Apex Predator Of the Americas

This week, Better Than Human asks what are  some of the world&apos;s cutest animals that aren&apos;t well-known?  Our answers? Some strange, but adorable, animals. And no, they aren&apos;t all fluffy. First, listen to our newest segment, the best and worst of the news of the week. The Olympics committee made some dumb choices this week, but at least both Jen and Amber found some good news this week, as well. Amber picks the Fennec Fox which is is 100% cute and fluffy, but have you ever seen the small antelope species Dik-Dik? Have you ever looked to the ocean to find the cutest species on earth? Have you heard of the Dugong? The Sea Bunny? The Sea Leaf? And, what about the world’s misunderstood ugliest animal? Listen as we talk about some of the Earth’s most captivating animals. For more information on us, visit our website at betterthanhumanpodcast.comFollow us on Twitter @betterthanhuma1on Facebook @betterthanhumanpodcaston Instagram @betterthanhumanpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@betterthanhumanpodcastor Email us at betterthanhumanpodcast@gmail.comWe look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to you joining our cult of weirdness!#betterthanhuman #cultofweirdnes

The Cutest Animals You've Probably Never Heard Of

Better Than Human the Podcast. In our podcast, we humorously breakdown all the stupid, senseless, or downright silly things humans do and prove, once and for all, humans are not the epitome of the evolutionary chain.

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Better Than Human

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