Platypuses Aren't Weird, You Are
AdultsAnimalsBiology Look, we all think platypuses are weird. Just one look at these beaver-tailed, egg-laying, duck-billed weirdos makes you wonder how we're even both mammals.
The Problem with Antivenom
AdultsBiologyHealth Venomous snakes kill nearly 100,000 people a year. Which is weird, because we have a pretty effective treatment for venomous snake bites; it’s actually been around for more than a hundred years. So why are so many people still dying?
When Your Body Attacks Itself – Autoimmune
AdultsBiologyHealth What happens when the immune system meant to protect you becomes your worst enemy?
No one really knows what a tree is - Max G. Levy
AdultsBiologyNaturePlantsScience Dig into the system that helps scientists distinguish trees from other varieties of plants, and what characteristics make a tree.
Why Your Brain Blinds You For 2 Hours Every Day
AdultsBiologyHealthNeuroscience Reality is not real. Your world is a prediction. Every sight, sound, and touch you experience is the result of calculations your brain makes before reality even reaches you.
Pollen Is Not Plant Sperm
AdultsBiologyNature Plant pollen is everywhere in springtime, but because it is so small, you probably don't know that what is making you sneeze is a living, breathing, mobile version of the plant that forms half of the it's entire bizarre life cycle.
The Real Reason Why You Have Allergies
AdultsBiologyHealthHuman Allergies are more than just overreactions – they might be an evolutionary relic from a time when worms invaded our bodies daily.
The Radium Worked Until His Jaw Fell Off
AdultsBiologyHistoryScience We'd like to thank Luciteria for the loan of the element samples and the display in today’s episode.
What Happens When Predators Disappear?
AdultsBiologyEcologyScience A world without predators. It sounds like a safer, happier world, but come on, this is SCIENCE…
Why Don't Snakes Poison Themselves?
AdultsAnimalsLifeNatureBiologyScience Many animal species stuff themselves with toxic chemicals for protection, which forces them to use a handful of distinct strategies to avoid becoming victims of their own weapons.
We Fell For The Oldest Lie On The Internet
AdultsBiologyHumanScienceFactsHealthInternet CultureMedia “Your blood vessels stretch a staggering 100,000 kilometers, enough to wrap around Earth twice!" Sounds amazing, right? We spent over a year trying to confirm this claim, and let's just say – things aren't as they seem.
The real reason polio is so dangerous
AdultsHealthHistoryHumanBiologyScience Explore what makes polio so dangerous, what is causing the 21st century resurgence of cases, and how we can eradicate the disease.
Why Do Butterflies Bother Being Caterpillars?
AdultsAnimalsLifeNatureEvolutionBiology It seems wild that some animals basically trade in their bodies for new ones during their lifetime, but it's actually really common – and it makes a lot of sense.
We Only Discovered This 10 Years Ago
AdultsEducationHistoryBiologyEvolutionScience Most living things on Earth need oxygen to survive, but scientists discovered a species of bacteria that uses oxygen totally differently from every other organism on Earth.
You've Never Heard of the World's Most Common Mineral
AdultsEducationScienceWorkWorldEnergyEnvironmentTechnologyGeologyBiology The most common substance in the world is literally IN the world. It's a mineral called bridgmanite, and it belongs to a class of minerals (called perovskites) that scientists are trying to use in the next generation of solar panels.
There Is Something Hiding Inside Earth
AdultsEducationScienceBiologySpaceNature We’ve found a new planet, home to octillions of the most extreme beings living in the most absurd and deadly hellscape. In absolute darkness, crushed by the weight of mountains, starved of oxygen, cooked alive, bathed in acid, salt or radiation.
Groundbreaking chemist defines all of life in 2 words | Lee Cronin
AdultsLifePhilosophyScienceBiology What is life, really? Despite our scientific advancements, we still don’t really know.
The Species That Broke Evolution?
AdultsHealthHistoryScienceBiologyEvolution The ancestors of gars, horseshoe crabs and coelacanths looked almost the same as their modern relatives. Darwin called species like these “living fossils'' because they seem like they are evolutionarily frozen in time. But Darwin was wrong.