How about a thought experiment? Possibly an uncomfortable, even creepy one. We’re not suggesting anyone do this, but…

Throw ethics out the window. What scientific experiments would you really want to see?

This exact question led to Extreme Science, the August cover story on seven experiments that could teach us so much if they weren’t so wrong. Writers and editors teamed with the scientific community to tell us what we might learn from taboo experiments like splitting twins at birth or cross-breeding humans with chimpanzees.

Senior editor Bill Wasik and frequent contributor Erin Biba (who wrote about two of the experiments) sat down to discuss it all with host Adam Rogers. They talked deeper meanings behind the package, how scientists responded to the idea and finalizing the list of experiments.

We promise all this, both podcast and feature story, was just a thought experiment. But listeners can’t hear what’s in our basement, right?