Unexplainable

What would life look like after a global nuclear war? Would underground bunkers work? What would we do for food? What about radioactive snow?!  In this episode of ⁠Are We Doomed?⁠, reporter Ben Bradford tries to find out.

Guest: Ben Bradford, host of ⁠Are We Doomed?⁠

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Thank you!

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What happens when researchers reexamine some of the basic facts about the Black Death? They start rewriting history and rethinking blame.

Guests: Hannah Barker, professor at Arizona State University; Ulf Büntgen, professor at the University of Cambridge; Martin Bauch, historian at the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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One of the world’s most biodiverse aquifers is full of strange, blind creatures that have evolved in isolation for millions of years. But one is missing. (Originally aired in 2022)

Guests: ⁠Benji Jones⁠, Vox senior correspondent; ⁠Andy Gluesenkamp⁠, Conservation biologist and herpetologist (a reptiles and amphibians guy)

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Pioneering musicians Beatie Wolfe and Brian Eno released their latest album Liminal by broadcasting it from a 50-foot microwave antenna. Noam talks to Beatie about why “dark matter music” was the perfect sound to beam into deep space, and how music can take us places that are even harder to reach.

Guest: ⁠Beatie Wolfe⁠, composer and conceptual artist

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Today on the show: a double feature — two mysteries in one episode. First, it seems like all living things emit a faint glow that disappears when they die. Then, is the International Space Station ... too clean?

Guests: Daniel Oblak, professor of physics at the University of Calgary; Rodolfo Antonio Salido Benítez, scientist at SPT Labtech

Links: Daniel's paper with mouse and leaf images; Rodolfo's paper on the ISS

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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To hear some people tell it — especially people on TikTok — inflammation is the root of all disease. It's... not that simple. But inflammation does have a lot to teach us about why modern life can make us feel so bad, and even what we might be able to do about it.

Guest: Dylan Scott, senior correspondent at Vox

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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A few months ago, we put out an episode about what silence sounds like, and it caught the attention of Rob Rosenthal, who hosts a podcast called Sound School about the craft of audio storytelling. So he called up host Noam Hassenfeld to ask him a question he couldn't stop thinking about: How do you make something that sounds like nothing?
Host: Rob Rosenthal, host of Sound School Podcast
Guest: Noam Hassenfeld

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Can microbes travel through space on meteorites? It’s an idea called “lithopanspermia,” and to work out if it’s even feasible, some researchers decided to shoot microbes — with a gun.

Guests: K.T. Ramesh, professor of science and engineering at Johns Hopkins University; Lily Zhao, mechanical engineer at Johns Hopkins University

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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For the first time in over 50 years, humans have gone to the moon and back. And this time, NASA says we're going to stay. NASA's planning for more missions, a permanent moon base, and even a mission to Mars. But there's a pretty big question hanging over all these dreams: Can humans survive in space long enough to make them happen?
(A version of this episode originally aired in 2022, with the launch of Artemis I.)

Guests: Anne McClain, NASA Astronaut; Scott Kelly, former NASA Astronaut; Rebecca Boyle, science writer, Jonathan Jiang, NASA astrophysicist

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Typically, the burden of birth control falls on whoever has a uterus, but it seems like that might change — and soon!

Guest: Annalisa Merelli, contributing writer at STAT.

For more, go to ⁠⁠http://vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠

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Host Julia Longoria signs off from Unexplainable with one final question: Why does her grandma love Vicks VapoRub so much? A version of this episode originally aired on WNYC’s ⁠Only Human⁠ podcast.

For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable

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Casey Harrell is a goofy, lighthearted chatterbox whose love for language helped him become an accomplished environmental activist. In 2020, he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and slowly began losing the ability to speak. He sang his last song to his infant daughter and fell into silence. But, now, with the help of 256 microelectrodes implanted directly into his motor cortex, he’s learning to talk once more. It isn’t easy.

Guests: Casey Harrell and Levana Saxon. You can donate to their GoFundMe here.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Oliver Sacks was once crowned “the poet laureate of medicine” — he's known as one of the greatest science writers of our time. But when New Yorker writer Rachel Aviv dug into his archives, she discovered that some details in his intimate portraits of patients mirrored his personal life a little too closely.

Guest: Rachel Aviv, staff writer for the New Yorker and author of Strangers to Ourselves.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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One of the deadliest poisons known to man is now used to treat wrinkles, migraines, and even, maybe, depression. How did that happen?

Guests: Jean Carruthers, ophthalmologist and “godmother” of cosmetic Botox. David Simpson, neurologist at Mount Sinai hospital in New York. Axel Wollmer, psychiatrist at the Asklepios clinic in Hamburg, Germany.

For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable

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Many alchemical texts are full of bizarre, metaphorical language. But what if there's interesting science hiding behind some of those metaphors?

Guest: Lawrence Principe, professor of the history of science and professor of chemistry at Johns Hopkins University

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Grab some hot cocoa and a warm blanket and let’s talk about the tiny crystals that fall from the sky.

Guest: Jessica Lundquist, professor of civil & environmental engineering at the University of Washington

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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A man committed a crime. He admitted it. Then something alarming showed up on an image of his brain. The criminal case that followed in 1991 brought neuroscience into the courtroom for good. How does our ever-changing understanding of the brain impact how we approach justice?

Guests: Josh May, professor of philosophy, University of Alabama, Birmingham, author of Neuroethics: Agency in the Age of Brain Science, Anthony Wagner, neuroscientist and professor of psychology, Stanford University Memory Lab, and Adina Roskies, professor of philosophy, UC Santa Barbara.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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How many fish are in the sea? It's a question that has had enormous consequences for the fishing community in New Bedford, Massachusetts. But one man managed to find a way around it. That man? The Codfather.

Guest: Ian Coss, host and producer of WBGH's Catching the Codfather

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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It's no secret that stress isn't good for you… But just how bad is it? NPR's Short Wave podcast gets some answers.

Host: Regina G. Barber, host of NPR’s Short Wave podcast

Guest: Diana Kwon, science journalist

Follow NPR's Short Wave podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for more episodes like this, featuring new discoveries, everyday mysteries and the science behind the headlines.

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And please email us! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠unexplainable@vox.com⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠

We read every email.

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In the dark depths of the Gowanus Canal, strange lifeforms lurk...

Guests: Brad Vogel, volunteer at the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club; Elizabeth Hénaff, computational biologist and artist at New York University

For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable

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I’m about to burst.

Guests: Laryngologist Dr. Robert Bastian and Noel King, co-host and editorial director of the Vox daily news podcast Today, Explained

For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable

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Astronomers are putting together a new picture of the early universe. It involves a lot of very weird black holes, and it could help us understand how our own galaxy formed.

Guest: Caitlin Casey, astronomer at UC Santa Barbara

⁠

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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It’s surprisingly hard to predict how clouds form, move, and change, but it’s essential to try. Because how clouds react to a warming world helps determine how hot our future will be. (Originally aired in 2021)

Guests: Vox contributor Umair Irfan, scientists Scott M. Collis, Angeline Pendergrass, and author Gavin Pretor-Pinney

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Every hand-crafted instrument from violin maker Michael Doran holds its own unexplainable questions.

Guest: Michael Doran of Doran’s Violin’s

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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There's been a real rollback of one of the US government's most fundamental tasks: gathering data. Vox correspondents Dylan Scott and Umair Irfan take a look at what a future with less data means for climate and health care in the US.

Guests: Vox correspondent Umair Irfan and Vox senior correspondent Dylan Scott

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Things in the news have been feeling kind of…bleak, so we called in some reinforcements. Vox's senior editorial director and resident good news expert Bryan Walsh joins editor Joanna Solotaroff to remind us that there’s still a lot of good stuff happening, too.

Guest: Vox senior editorial director Bryan Walsh. Sign up for the Good News newsletter HERE.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Parents are supposed to provide the best life possible for their kids, right? But what does that mean when genetic testing for the baby enters the picture? And how far should they go? Vox senior reporter Sigal Samuel received that ethically ambiguous question for her advice column Your Mileage May Vary  from a parent-to-be, and in this episode walks Noam through her thinking using a philosophical framework.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Is geoengineering the answer to the climate crisis? Or is it too dangerous to even discuss? It’s been theoretical so far, but now, one startup says their technology could soon shield the Earth from the sun.

Guest: Robinson Meyer, climate journalist and founding executive editor of Heatmap News.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Yellowstone can be a deadly place... but not for the reasons you might think.

Guest: Mike Poland, scientist in charge at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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A two-time Nobel Prize-winning scientist changed chemistry, biology, and the politics of science. But when he pushed vitamin C as a cure-all, did he go too far?

Guest: Daniel M. Davis, head of the department of life sciences and professor of immunology at Imperial College London. He is the author of Self-Defense: A Myth-Busting Guide to Immune Health.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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This episode is a follow-up to The Sound Barrier series, which explores our brain's relationship to sound. In our third episode of the series, we asked listeners to try to experience silence and record what they heard. Today, we share the sounds of quiet from across the world in a tribute to John Cage’s 4’33”. Plus, Tinnitus researcher and Unexplainable guest Dan Polley answers your questions from the series.

Guest: Dan Polley, tinnitus researcher at Mass Eye and Ear.

Thank you to everyone who wrote in and shared their silences. If you still have thoughts or questions about the series,  write us!

We also heard from a few teachers who plan to use the series as a part of their curriculum. Is this you? Let us know!

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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As our brains develop throughout our childhood and teens, they form connections and then prune back the ones that aren't used. What can we learn from them?

Guests: Alison Barth, professor in the life sciences at Carnegie Mellon University; Saket Navlakha, associate professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

This series was made possible by support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Vox had full discretion over the content of this reporting.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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What's going on in teens' heads? Scientists working on a country-wide study following thousands of young people have spent the last decade trying to answer that question.

Guests: Raul Gonzalez Jr., psychology professor at Florida International University

This series was made possible by support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Vox had full discretion over the content of this reporting.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Way back when forests first evolved on Earth... they might have triggered one of the biggest mass extinctions in the history of the planet. (Originally aired in 2024)

Guests: Charles Ver Straeten, curator of sedimentary rocks at the New York State Museum; Lisa Amati, curator of invertebrate paleontology at the New York State Museum; Thomas Algeo, professor of geochemistry at the University of Cincinnati

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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It's a quasi-moon. Or, a quasi-satellite. Whatever you want to call it, it's hanging out near Earth. And it could be the source of some fascinating new science.

Guests: Nick Moskovitz, astronomer at Lowell Observatory

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable

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So many of us have been told that meditation can make us less stressed, more productive, and happier. But for a small group of people, it has a dark side. What’s going on?

Guests: Willoughby Britton, associate professor at Brown University; Richard Davidson, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Pierce Salguero, professor at the Abington College of Pennsylvania State University

This episode was made in partnership with Vox’s ⁠Future Perfect⁠ team.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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A dog on its owner’s grave. A killer whale carrying around its dead calf. A goose that isolates when its mate dies. These behaviors in animals may look like human mourning, but should scientists call them "grief"? (First published in 2023)

Guests: Jennifer Vonk, comparative/cognitive psychologist at Oakland University; Jessica Pierce, bioethicist and author of several books about animals; Susana Monsó, animal ethicist and a philosopher and author of Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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When Wanda Diáz-Merced lost her sight as a college student, she thought her dreams of becoming an astronomer were over — until she learned to listen to space instead.

Wanda is one of several pioneering scientists listening to space. For this episode, we also spoke to Robert Wilson, who used sound to help him discover the first direct evidence of the Big Bang, and Kim Arcand, who plays us what the center of the Milky Way sounds like.

This is the fourth episode in our of our new four-part series, ⁠⁠The Sound Barrier⁠⁠.

Guests: ⁠Wanda Diáz-Merced⁠, astronomer; ⁠Robert Wilson⁠, Nobel laureate and senior scientist at at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; ⁠Kim Arcand⁠, emerging tech lead at NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory

You can find Kim’s sonification of the center of the Milky Way (with visuals) here: ⁠https://chandra.si.edu/sound/gcenter.html⁠ 

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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A scientist asked people to sit in a silent room for 15 minutes. Almost half of them decided to give themselves a painful electric shock instead. What is it about our brains that makes our relationship with silence so strange? And should we learn how to listen to it?

This is the third episode of our new four-part series, ⁠The Sound Barrier⁠.

Guests: ⁠Erin Westgate⁠, assistant professor at the University of Florida; ⁠Rui Zhe Goh⁠, doctoral student at Johns Hopkins University; ⁠Melody Baglione⁠, professor at Cooper Union

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Almost 15% of adults suffer from a persistent, often intolerable sound... that is literally just in their heads. Why does the brain do this to us? We help one of our listeners get some answers.

This is the second episode of our new four-part series, The Sound Barrier.

Guests: Stéphane Maison, director of the tinnitus clinic at Mass Eye and Ear; Susan Shore, professor emerita at the University of Michigan, and Dan Polley, tinnitus researcher at Mass Eye and Ear

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Just like optical illusions trick our eyes, audio illusions can trick our ears. It makes scientists wonder: What exactly are we hearing, when we're hearing?

This is the first episode of our new four-part series, The Sound Barrier.

Guests: Diana Deutsch, emeritus professor at the University of California, San Diego; Matthew Winn, professor at the University of Minnesota; Michael Chorost, science writer

You can find more of Diana Deutsch’s auditory illusions at https://bit.ly/3Mdh6H4

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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This week on Unexplainable or Not, Sally Helm, the newest member of our team, tries to figure out what's killing mussels, why rivers suddenly change course, and what the longest river in the world is.

Guests: ⁠Douglas Edmonds⁠, professor at Indiana University; ⁠Neel Dhanesha⁠, science reporter 

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Now why would you click on something like this? What's wrong with you?! Why are you — and so many other people — into scary stuff? Two scientists are trying to find out. (Originally aired in 2024)

Guests: Mathias Clasen and Marc Andersen, co-directors of the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Killing two people is worse than killing one. What about 440 billion crustaceans? Adapted from Dylan Matthews's essay on Vox.com.

This story is part of a series supported by Animal Charity Evaluators, which received a grant from EarthShare.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Think about the thing you’ve practiced more than anything else in the world. Maybe it’s painting. Or writing. Or playing baseball.

Now, imagine you wake up one day, and you just can’t do it. You’re not sick. You’re not injured. But suddenly, that one thing is impossible. (Originally published in 2024)

Guests: Rick Ankiel, former Major League Baseball star; Sally Akehurst, sports psychologist and a dean at University of Roehampton, London; Steven Frucht, neurologist at NYU Langone

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Terry Riley's "In C" is one of the most influential pieces of music of the last century...but you'll never hear it the same way twice.

Guest: Evan Ziporyn, composer, clarinetist, and producer of "In C"

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Donald Trump and RFK Jr. seem convinced that it does. But our friends at Science Vs say the data is far more complicated.

Guest: Meryl Horn, senior producer at Science Vs

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Zombies might seem like the stuff of horror movies, but there are lots of examples of parasites taking over bugs’ bodies and bending them to their will.

Guest: Mindy Weisberger, author of Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind-Control

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Who are you, really? Our friends at The Gray Area ask whether it's really possible to change.

Guest: ⁠Olga Khazan⁠, author of Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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The centuries-old international battle over the real sound of a musical note.

Guest: Fanny Gribenski, historical musicologist and author of Tuning the World: The Rise of 440 Hertz in Music, Science, and Politics, 1859–1955

Reported for Unexplainable by Emily Siner

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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NASA found a Martian rock that might have traces of ancient life. It's perhaps the most tantalizing revelation in the century-long search for Martian life. (Updated from 2022)

Guests: Katie Stack Morgan, project scientist for the Perseverance rover; Lindsay Hays, astrobiologist at NASA; Morgan Cable, research scientist for Perseverance; and Camden Miller, rover driver for Perseverance

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Recent research — and one surprising season of The Biggest Loser — has scientists wondering whether some of the most basic things they know about metabolism are wrong.

Guest: Julia Belluz, author of Food Intelligence

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Join our friends at The Longest Shortest Time for a deep dive into the misunderstood world of vaginas. We’ll learn about orgasm-chasing royalty, clitoral wingspans, vagina lollipops, wandering wombs, and why we still know so little about the anatomy of half the people on Earth.

Guests: Hillary Frank, host, ⁠The Longest Shortest Time⁠; Rachel E. Gross, ⁠science writer⁠

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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How the bedtime stories we grew up with inspire the stories we tell now.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠And please email us! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠unexplainable@vox.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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We spoke to two researchers who disagree about the answer to this question. But they do agree about why it's so hard to answer to begin with.

Guests: Dylan Scott, senior correspondent at Vox; Kenneth Mukamal, physician and academic researcher at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Timothy Naimi, director of the University of Victoria’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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The US military carved a tiny city into the Greenland ice sheet. What they found, and lost, and found again, and what it tells us about climate change.

Guests: Paul Bierman, geoscientist at the University of Vermont and author of When The Ice Is Gone; Richard Alley, geoscientist at the Pennsylvania State University

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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What do scientists think animals might be like millions of years from now? (First published in 2021)

Guests: Benji Jones, senior correspondent at Vox; David Willard, ornithologist at Chicago's Field Museum; Liz Alter, marine biologist at San José State University; Jingmai O'Connor, paleontologist at the Field Museum; Sharlene Santana, biologist at the University of Washington; Julia Sigwart, malacologist at the Senckenberg Research Institute

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Dark energy is the strange stuff that makes up the vast majority of the universe and will ultimately lead to the end of everything. Unless it doesn't exist at all.

Guests: Adam Riess, astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University, and Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille, director of the Physics Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and member of The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Much of our modern world is made of plastic, but as more signs point to its dangers to human health, what can we even do about it?

Guest: Annie Lowrey, Atlantic writer and author of I fought plastic. Plastic won.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Towering walls of water sometimes appear in the ocean without warning or apparent cause. What drives their terrifying power? (First published in 2023)

Guest: Ton van der Bremer, associate professor of environmental fluid mechanics.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Good news can be hard to find, especially when our brains — and the media — are biased against it.

Guest: Bryan Walsh, senior editorial director of Vox, and author of the Good News newsletter

This episode was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team.
For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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If you went back 500 million years and re-ran evolution, would life be totally different today?

Guests: Richard Lenski and Zachary Blount, evolutionary biologists at Michigan State University

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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It's easy to assume there is objective truth in basketball stats. A clear story of what happened in the past. But our friends at Pablo Torre Finds Out uncovered something that throws an entire era into question.

Guest: Pablo Torre, host of Pablo Torre Finds Out

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Is a solution to climate change…pouring water on hot rocks?

Guest: Dylan Matthews, Senior Correspondent at Vox's Future Perfect

This episode was made in partnership with Vox's Future Perfect team.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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How does any animal know what to do? A neuroscientist argues it's not “instinct.” Something bigger is going on. (First published in 2022)

Guest: Mark Blumberg, behavioral neuroscientist at the University of Iowa

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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We have a cure for tuberculosis. Why does it still kill over a million people every year?

GUEST: John Green, podcaster, YouTube creator and award-winning author of Everything is Tuberculosis and many young adult novels

This episode was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. 

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Figuring out the perfect healthy diet remains stubbornly out of reach. Our friends at Gastropod ask: Why?

Guests: Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley, co-hosts of Gastropod

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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In coastal California, researchers grapple with potentially losing a landscape they love.

Guests: Rebecca Johnson, Director of the Center for Biodiversity and Community Science at the California Academy of Sciences; Peter Roopnarine, Curator of Invertebrate Zoology & Geology at the California Academy of Sciences

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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We love our pets. And think we understand them. Are we fooling ourselves?

Guests: ⁠Alexandra Horowitz⁠, dog cognition researcher at Barnard College; ⁠Holly Molinaro⁠, animal welfare scientist; ⁠Jared Martin⁠, filmmaker and dog owner

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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If pregnant people need to eat for two, why do so many of us puke morning, noon, and night?

Guests: Marlena Fejzo, Ph.D., geneticist, and Research Director at the HER Foundation.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Our houses are homes to hidden worlds of bugs. And the more ecologists explore those worlds, the more they realize that some of our creepy, crawly housemates actually have a lot to teach us. (First published in 2023)

Guests: Rob Dunn, ecologist at NC State University and author of Never Home Alone; Michelle Trautwein, entomologist at the California Academy of Sciences

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Francis Collins oversaw some of the most revolutionary science of the last few decades at the National Institutes of Health. A few months ago, he suddenly resigned.

One of America's foremost scientists could no longer do his job. What does that mean for the US? And for science?

Guest: Francis Collins, former director of the NIH

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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When bringing people to the edge of death is your day job.

Guest: Adam Richman, perfusionist at the Mayo Clinic⁠ and Unexplainable listener.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Many physicists dream of coming up with a unified theory of the universe. Rae Robertson-Anderson dreams of understanding ranch dressing, shampoo, and scrambled eggs.

Guests: Rae Robertson-Anderson, a physics professor at the University of San Diego. (Find her TikToks at physics_mamma.)

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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If matter is a result of vibration, what causes the vibration? Our friends at The Gray Area ask, “Is the universe behaving like an instrument?”

Guest: Stephon Alexander, theoretical physicist at Brown University

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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You’ll need your best friend, a computer in your shoe, and a working knowledge of physics.

Guest: Doyne Farmer, Director of Complexity Economics at Oxford

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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The answer isn’t as clear as you might think. And because of drastic cuts to climate science funding, this question might be getting even harder to solve.

Guest: Umair Irfan, Vox climate science correspondent 

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Florida just became the second state to ban fluoride from its water system, which has made some public health experts pretty angry. Just how risky is fluoride really, and why is it so hard for us to get on the same page?

Guest: Emily Oster, professor of economics at Brown University and CEO of ParentData

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Static electricity plays an invisible role in the natural world, and it may even help insects pollinate plants. To understand this hidden force, scientists have jumped through some pretty weird experimental hoops — and “walked” butterflies through literal hoops.

Guests: Sam England, postdoctoral researcher at Berlin's National History Museum; Benji Jones, Vox's environmental correspondent

To read more about this experiment, Benji recommends this great article from Quanta Magazine, where he first encountered Sam's work.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Aphantasia is the inability to see with your mind’s eye. And its discovery has made scientists ask a surprising question: What is the mind’s eye even for? (First published in 2022.)

Guests: Alice Coles, artist; Adam Zeman, cognitive neurologist at the University of Exeter Medical School; Joel Pearson, professor of neuroscience at the University of New South Wales; Emily Holmes, professor of psychology at Uppsala University

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠

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Scavengers Reign, the Emmy-winning Netflix show, has done something most sci-fi shows or movies struggle to do. Build a world that feels truly alien.

Guests: ⁠⁠Joe Bennett⁠⁠, co-creator of Scavengers Reign, and ⁠⁠Sean Buckelew⁠⁠, writer on Scavengers Reign

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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The magma chambers at the heart of volcanoes are very deep and very hot. So naturally, some researchers want to build an observatory in one.

Guests: Mike Poland, scientist-in-charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory; Yan Lavallée, chair of magmatic petrology and volcanology at LMU München and scientific and technical board member of the Krafla Magma Testbed; John Eichelberger, volcanologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and founding scientist of KMT

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠

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Rumors of Neanderthal brutishness have been greatly exaggerated.

Guest: Paige Madison, science writer

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠

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What happens when you get a life-changing device implanted into your body... and then the company that maintains it goes bankrupt?

Guests: Jennifer French, Executive Director and Founder of ⁠Neurotech Network⁠, a nonprofit focused on education and advocacy for neurotechnology, and ⁠Liam Drew⁠, freelance science journalist who reported on abandoned neurotech for ⁠Nature⁠

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠

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Tens of thousands of lives could be saved each year if hospitals had more blood. So scientists are racing to understand how this living fluid does what it does in order to one day grow it from scratch.

Guest: Nicola Twilley, New Yorker contributor and host of Gastropod. 

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We know life on Earth wouldn't be possible without the moon. Now scientists are finding the moon might even be influencing our biology on a molecular level.

Guest: Rebecca Boyle, science journalist and author of Our Moon: How Earth's celestial companion transformed the planet, guided evolution, and made us who we are

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Listeners told us that eating baby carrots or telling lies can bring on the hiccups. Burping or kissing can make them stop. Um, what? (First published in 2023.)

Guests: Tyler Cymet, chair of medicine at The Chicago School, and Ali Seifi, professor of neurosurgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio

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We have an exciting announcement! Vox Members now get access to ad-free podcasts. If you sign up, you’ll get unlimited access to reporting on vox.com, exclusive newsletters, and all of our podcasts — including Unexplainable — ad-free. Plus, you’ll be playing a crucial role helping our show get made. Check it out at vox.com/members.

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Deep inside the mud at the bottom of the ocean, scientists have found life that is so unusual they’ve had to create new branches on the tree of life to put it on. These life forms are not extraterrestrials: They’re “aliens” from Earth.

Guest: Karen Lloyd, microbiologist and author of Intraterrestrials: Discovering the Strangest Life on Earth

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Scientists have been searching for aliens for decades. But if we ever do get a signal someday, how will we communicate back? And will anyone out there be able to understand us?

Guests: Doug Vakoch, president of METI, and Sheri Wells-Jensen, linguist at Bowling Green State University

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What can we actually do as our world gets populated with more and more robots? How can we take control? Can we take control?

This is the final episode of our four-part series about the stories shaping the future of AI.

Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team.

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A simple parable about a drowning child sparks a moral revolution. Is building AI the way to do the most good in the world?

This is the third episode of our new four-part series about the stories shaping the future of AI.

Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. Episodes will be released on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

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When a robot does bad things, who is responsible? A group of technologists sounds the alarm about the ways AI is already harming us today. Are their concerns being taken seriously?

This is the second episode of our new four-part series about the stories shaping the future of AI.

Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. Episodes will be released on Wednesdays and Saturdays over the next two weeks.

For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts

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Before AI became a mainstream obsession, one thinker sounded the alarm about its catastrophic potential. So why are so many billionaires and tech leaders worried about… paper clips?

This is the first episode of our new four-part series about the stories shaping the future of AI.

Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. Episodes will be released on Wednesdays and Saturdays over the next two weeks.

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This week on Unexplainable or Not, the newest member of our team, Julia Longoria, tries to figure out which of three scientific mysteries about the sea, the land, and the sky has actually been solved.

Guest: Admir Masic, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at MIT.

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Dylan got malaria on purpose. And he thinks you should, too.

Guest: Dylan Matthews, senior correspondent at Vox’s Future Perfect

This episode was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team.

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A neuroscientist argues that the focus on dreams has held back the scientific understanding of sleep. So he took dreams out of the picture and uncovered a new potential connection between the mind and body.

Guest: Mark Blumberg, behavioral neuroscientist at the University of Iowa

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Funding cuts and research censorship have shaken the foundations of America’s health and science agencies, leaving researchers shocked, confused, and afraid. What does this mean for the future of science?

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For thousands of years, there have been four basic tastes recognized across cultures. But thanks to Kumiko Ninomiya (a.k.a. the Umami Mama), scientists finally accepted a fifth. Could there be even more? (First published in 2022.)

Guests: Kumiko Ninomiya, biochemist and former director of the Umami Information Center; Gary Beauchamp, former director of the Monell Chemical Senses Center; Sarah Tracy, historian of science; Camilla Arndal Andersen, neuroscientist; Paul Breslin, professor at Rutgers University

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Some of the largest lakes in the world have been buried under miles of ice for millions of years. Is there life hiding down there? And if so, could life be found in even more extreme places … beyond our planet?

Guest: John Priscu, microbiologist at Montana State University

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Genetic libraries are treasure troves of information about life from around the world. They’re helping researchers develop everything from vaccines to crops to cosmetics. But who actually benefits from the discoveries scientists make using all this DNA and RNA?

Guests: Benji Jones, environmental correspondent at Vox’s Future Perfect; Deborah Fuller, professor of microbiology at the University of Washington

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Some scientists think an explosion of AI awareness and feeling might be just around the corner. Others think it’s impossible for an AI to ever become conscious. How will we know?

Guest: Oshan Jarow, staff writer at Vox’s Future Perfect

This episode was made in partnership with Vox's Future Perfect team.

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It’s that time of year again. If you’re changing things up, there’s a lot of diets out there that claim to help you live longer. Our friends at Today, Explained ask: How much of this is real and how much of it is nonsense?

Guests: Anahad O’Connor, health columnist at the Washington Post; Saul Justin Newman, researcher at the University College London Centre for Longitudinal Studies

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The wildest stories that never made it into our episodes. Until now.

Guests: Amy Boddy, anthropological scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara; Jayme Locke, transplant surgeon at the University of Alabama at Birmingham; Jonathan Jiang, research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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Dogs were the first domesticated animal in history, emerging from wolves some 20,000 years ago. But how did wolves become dogs? To find the answer, scientists have to play with a lot of puppies. (First published in 2023.)

Guest: Kathryn Lord, evolutionary biology researcher at UMass Chan Medical School

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We know Neanderthals and early modern humans coupled up. But when did they meet, exactly? And where? Some fossilized smoke and a baby tooth might hold clues.

Guest: Adam Cole of HowTown

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It’s not great to be a lab rat. And it turns out, lab rats might not be that great for science either. Could the future be little lab-grown brain clumps?

Guests: Rachel Nuwer, science journalist; Lisa Genzel, professor of neuroscience at Radboud University

This episode has been updated. An earlier version didn’t differentiate between two stages of drug development.

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This week on Unexplainable or Not, we’ve got three scientific mysteries all about left and right. Jonquilyn Hill, host of Vox’s new podcast Explain It to Me, is going to guess which of them has been solved and which ones are still unexplainable.

Guest: S. Furkan Ozturk, researcher at Harvard University

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For decades, scientists thought that placebos only worked if patients didn’t know they were taking them. Not anymore: You can give patients placebos, tell them they’re on sugar pills, and they still might feel better. No one is sure how this works, but it raises a question: Should doctors embrace placebos in mainstream medicine? (First published in 2021.)

Guests: Ted Kaptchuk, professor at Harvard Medical School; Darwin Guevarra, professor of psychology at Miami University; Luana Colloca, professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing

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It makes sense that we run away from scary things. That’s a good way to stay alive. But why do some people also love scary things? Why do people gravitate toward horror?

Guests: Mathias Clasen and Marc Andersen, co-directors of the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University

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Drugs like ecstasy and mushrooms have shown promise as mental health treatments, but they’re also exposing some major cracks in how scientists study the brain.

Guests: Jonathan Lambert, science journalist; Boris Heifets, professor at Stanford University of Medicine; Amy Mcguire, professor at Baylor College of Medicine

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How we feel emotionally may be influenced by unseen troves of microbial life that live inside us. Is it possible to harness this gut power? (First published in 2022)

Guests: Michael Gershon, professor of pathology at Columbia University; and Katerina Johnson, microbiome researcher at Oxford University

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As the world gets warmer and storms get worse, insurance companies are jacking up rates — or refusing to cover homeowners altogether. Is the future uninsurable?

Guests: Umair Irfan, correspondent at Vox; Karen Clark, co-founder and CEO of Karen Clark & Company; Joe Skuba, VP at The Gray Insurance Company; and Carolyn Kousky, Associate VP at Environmental Defense Fund

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Doctors have started transplanting animal organs into people, hoping this experimental procedure could one day solve an organ shortage crisis that kills 17 Americans every day. Is this really the solution?

Guests: Muhammad Mohiuddin, professor of surgery at University of Maryland School of Medicine; L. Syd Johnson, professor of clinical bioethics at SUNY Upstate Medical University

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Scientists have lots of ways to try to answer that question, and lots of different predictions. So how do they figure out one set of numbers we can all work with?

Guests: Umair Irfan, correspondent at Vox; Zeke Hausfather, climate scientist at The Breakthrough Institute; Neil Swart, research scientist at the Canadian Centre for Climate Modeling and Analysis

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Probably not. But Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz decided to try anyway, putting his body — and specifically his butt — on the line to answer a seemingly straightforward question: Is it possible to build up a tolerance to poison oak by eating it?

Guest: Jeff Horwitz, reporter at the Wall Street Journal; and Mahmoud ElSohly, professor of pharmaceutics at the University of Mississippi

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Scientists just discovered oxygen being produced without sunlight — without photosynthesis — at the bottom of the ocean. This “dark oxygen” could fundamentally change the story we tell of life on Earth and in the rest of the universe.

Guest: Alycia Smith, ecologist at Heriot-Watt University

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For decades, search and rescue teams followed an accepted playbook. Now, scientists are helping them reimagine how to find lost people.

Guests: Robert Koester, author of Lost Person Behavior, and Paul Doherty, search and rescue researcher

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With antibiotic resistance on the rise, some scientists are turning to viruses as a medical tool. But we barely know anything about the bacteria-eating viruses all around us. (First published in 2021)

Guest: Nicola Twilley, host of Gastropod

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Our bodies are teeming with viruses. But some of them, called phages, might play a really important role in keeping us healthy.

Guest: Tom Ireland, author of The Good Virus

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The FDA is about to announce whether it’s going to approve MDMA as a treatment for PTSD. Our friends at Today, Explained explore what this kind of therapy looks like, and why it’s so controversial.

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They probably didn’t roar like lions. Their real voices were likely much, much weirder. We asked scientists to help us re-create these strange, extinct sounds. (First published in 2022)

Guests: Michael Habib, professor at UCLA, Julia Clarke, professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and Jonny Crew, sound designer at Wounded Buffalo

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It’s possible that the entire observable universe is inside a black hole. All we need to do to find out is … build a gigantic particle collider around the moon.

Guest: James Beacham, particle physicist at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN

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Send this episode to the person who constantly hounds you not to slouch.

Guest: Beth Linker, author of “Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America”

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People yawn when they’re bored, right? So then why do athletes yawn before races? And why do so many animals yawn? … And why does reading this paragraph make you more likely to yawn? (Updated from 2022)

Guest: Dr. Andrew Gallup

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Can a physicist predict our messy economy by building an enormous simulation of the entire world?

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Inflation is one of the most significant issues shaping the 2024 election. But how much can we actually do to control it?

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It’s hard to figure out the economic value of a wild bat or any other part of the natural world, but some scientists argue that this kind of calculation could help protect our environment.

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Seventy-five percent of the seafloor remains unmapped and unexplored, but the first few glimpses scientists have gotten of the ocean’s depths have completely revolutionized our understanding of the planet.

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If you just stood up and shouted, “It’s Mount Everest, duh!” then take a seat. Not only is Everest’s official height constantly changing, but three other mountains might actually be king of the hill.

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Way back when forests first evolved on Earth … they might have triggered one of the biggest mass extinctions in the history of the planet. What can we learn from this ancient climate apocalypse?

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From blood transfusions to enzyme boosters, our friends at Science Vs dive into the latest research on the search for the fountain of youth.

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A snake. A shark. They got pregnant with no male involved. In fact, scientists are finding more and more species that can reproduce on their own. What’s going on?

Note: We mention that a stingray named Charlotte might be pregnant via parthenogenesis. It has since been announced that she was not pregnant, but ill.

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Itch used to be understood as a mild form of pain, but scientists are learning this sense is more than just skin deep. How deep does it go?

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Life as we know it needs water, but scientists can’t figure out where Earth’s water came from. Answering that question is just one piece of an even bigger mystery: “Why are we here?” (Updated from 2023)

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A cell is alive. So is a leaf and so is a tree. But what about the forest they’re a part of? Is that forest alive? And what about the planet that forest grows on? Is Earth alive? Science writer Ferris Jabr says: Yes.

For show transcripts, go to bit.ly/unx-transcripts

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The researcher who popularized the idea of the alpha wolf has spent decades trying to take it back. Our friends over at Pablo Torre Finds Out try to uncover how science got it wrong.

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Solar storms can wreak havoc on power grids, satellites, even astronauts — but scientists still struggle to predict them. One possible way forward? Chasing eclipses.

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Think about the thing you’ve practiced more than anything else in the world. Maybe it’s painting. Or writing. Or playing the piano. Now imagine you wake up one day and you just can’t do it. You’re not sick. You’re not injured. But that one thing is impossible.

It’s called the yips, and even the most talented people in the world experience it. What could cause them to lose their superpowers? And is there anything they can do to get them back?

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Diagnosing diseases such as endometriosis can require difficult steps, like surgery. But researchers are hoping to use menstrual fluid to make detecting the condition much easier.

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Periods and menstrual fluid have long been overlooked by scientists. Now, researchers are starting to suspect they might be sources of medical treasure.

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Was there a technologically advanced species living on Earth long before humans? And if one had existed, how would we know? (Updated from 2022)

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They’re not looking for UFOs or decoding government secrets. They’re doing something much simpler.

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Airborne diseases kill millions of people a year, despite available antibiotics and vaccines. But scientists think there might be another solution to fighting these diseases, one that harnesses the power of light.

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Humans seem to be the only animals that cry from emotion. This Valentine’s Day, we’re wondering: What makes our tears so special? (Updated from 2022)

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Safety questions have haunted aspartame — the no-calorie sweetener used in many diet soft drinks and other low-calorie products — since its invention. Some answers exist, but should we trust them if they were influenced by the beverage industry?

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Can swearing make you stronger?

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Today's internet is built on a series of locks and keys that protect your private information as it travels through cyberspace. But could all these locks be broken? (Updated from 2022)

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Scientists didn’t think it was possible for life to thrive in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Then, they found some anemones ... and some huge questions about entire new ecosystems built on plastic.

If you want to hear more about plastic in the ocean, we have another episode about how 99% of ocean plastic is missing: http://bit.ly/3HnW9b2

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Researchers planted microphones in a forest and walked away. Listening back could help heal rainforest ecosystems.

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What’s up with the weird golden egg at the bottom of the ocean? How do eggs actually choose sperm? Hit sports podcast host Pablo Torre tries to guess which of these mysteries has actually been solved on our latest episode of Unexplainable or Not.

For show transcripts, go to bit.ly/unx-transcripts

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The James Webb Space Telescope launched two years ago, giving scientists a new view into the early universe. Now, it's revealed a big new cosmic mystery.

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An expedition to Antarctica. Strange seismic readings. Clues to uncover a hidden part of our planet.

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Our show celebrates uncertainty. But as environmental reporter Amy Westervelt explains, the concept also has a dark side.

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NASA is planning for humans to live on the moon by 2040. But how much space can the human body handle? (Updated from 2022)

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Decades of studies suggest that eating ice cream reduces diabetes risk. Could ice cream be ... good for you? And what does “good for you” mean?

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Data sleuths are working outside the system to keep science honest. But is there a better way to prevent scientific misconduct and fraud?

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Coral reefs are an essential ecosystem undeniably threatened by climate change. Can scientists breed a stronger coral for the future?

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This Halloween, we look at how technology is forcing us to ask: When is someone actually dead? And we look into research that is raising a further question: Could death someday be reversible?

This episode originally ran on November 22, 2022.

For show transcripts, go to bit.ly/unx-transcripts

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Over the last few years, orcas have been targeting boats, often leaving them stranded at sea. Are these orcas trying to attack humans, or is there something more mysterious going on?

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Our game show is back! This time, comedian Wyatt Cenac is in the hot seat in front of a live audience. Can he guess which climate mystery has been solved and which ones are still unexplainable?

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Towering walls of water sometimes appear in the ocean without warning or apparent cause. What drives their terrifying power?

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What would an episode of Unexplainable have sounded like if it had been made in 100 CE?

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Can researchers decipher what people are thinking about just by looking at brain scans? With AI, they're getting closer. How far can they go, and what does it mean for privacy?

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Something about modern life is leading to higher rates of nearsightedness across the world. What is it?

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At last year’s World Athletics Championships, sprinter TyNia Gaither was disqualified for false starting... after the gun went off. Officials said she started faster than humanly possible. How can that be?

This episode originally ran on June 15, 2022.

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Two scientists explain how AI might help us translate animal communication, and what we might learn from their squawks, chirps, songs, and chatter. This episode was recorded live at the Aspen Ideas Festival.

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Sam Sanders, host of Vulture’s Into It podcast, is in the hot seat for a new episode of our game show. Can he guess which sandy mystery has been solved and which ones are still unexplainable? 

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Dogs were the first domesticated animal in history, emerging from wolves some 20,000 years ago. But how did wolves become dogs? To find the answer, scientists have to play with a lot of puppies.

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In all our searching of the universe, we’ve never seen another moon like ours. It's big, it's weird, and it has played a huge role in shaping our planet. But how did we get it? Every possible story points to cataclysm.

This episode originally ran on June 15, 2022. It is part of our Lost Worlds series exploring scientific mysteries buried in the deep past.

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AI can often solve problems in unexpected, undesirable ways. So how can we make sure it does what we want, the way we want? And what happens if we can’t?

This is the second episode of our new two-part series, The Black Box.

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AI has the potential to impact our society in dramatic ways, but researchers can’t explain precisely how it works or how it might evolve. Will they ever understand it?

This is the first episode of our new two-part series, The Black Box.

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A dog on its owner’s grave. A killer whale carrying around its dead calf. A goose that isolates when its mate dies. These behaviors in animals may look like human mourning, but should scientists call them "grief?"

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Jennifer Vonk's research study on pet cats reactions to the death of companion animals can be found here.

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Dreams are weird, but can they be a scientific tool? Can they teach us anything about humanity? About ourselves?

This episode originally ran on April 12, 2022.

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The Indus Valley civilization was one of the largest, most advanced civilizations in the ancient world. But we barely know anything about them, in large part because we haven’t been able to decipher the cryptic symbols they left behind.

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Awe is what takes our breath away when we face a sky full of stars or listen to a moving piece of music. But scientists are still trying to pin down why we feel such a powerful emotion, and whether it’s possible to cultivate more of it in our lives.

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Many states have extremely punitive policies around cannabis and pregnancy. But researchers don't actually have great data on cannabis's harms.

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Caring for a child seems to change parents’ brains. But what does that actually mean for how parents think and experience the world?

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Fetuses leave cells behind in their parents' bodies, where they braid themselves into tissues, and remain, for years. What are they doing in there?

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2023 has been a record-setting year for tornadoes, and these storms came with barely any warning. So to better understand tornadoes, scientists might need to confront more of these storms head-on.

This episode originally ran on July 12, 2021.

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Scientists are hard at work trying to bring back woolly mammoths (and dodos). But should they? And what would they actually be bringing back?

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We did a live show! We talked about how one of our favorite episodes came together and how we went about creating (somewhat) accurate dinosaur sounds.

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Studies suggesting trees communicate through an elaborate underground fungal network have captured imaginations. It’s a beautiful idea, but the fantasy may have gotten ahead of the science.

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This week, we tackle three listener questions — on sleepwalking, deja vu, and Earth’s magnetic field. Next time, we could be (not) answering yours. Email us at unexplainable@vox.com, or fill out this form.

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Scientists are digging into what makes something funny. We compare their notes with comedians — including Atsuko Okatsuka, Josh Johnson, Dulcé Sloan, and Chris Fleming.

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For every definition of life, there’s a creature that sends us right back to the drawing board.

This is the third episode in our three-part series, Origins, about the beginnings and boundaries of life on Earth.

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How did life on Earth start? To help answer that, researchers are trying to create some life for themselves.

This is the second episode in our three-part series, Origins, about the beginnings and boundaries of life on Earth.

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Life as we know it needs water, but scientists can’t figure out where Earth’s water came from. Answering that question is just one piece of an even bigger mystery: “Why are we here?”

This is the first episode in our new three-part series, Origins, about the beginnings and boundaries of life on Earth.

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Can science help us predict whether a relationship will succeed? Or is it all just chaos?

This episode originally ran on February 9, 2022.

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Listeners told us that eating baby carrots or telling lies can bring on the hiccups. Burping or kissing can make them stop. Um, what?

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Last fall, a NASA spacecraft slammed into an asteroid to test a way to avert a disaster on Earth. So are we safe now?

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Our houses are homes to hidden worlds of bugs. And the more ecologists explore those worlds, the more they realize that some of our tiny roommates actually have a lot to teach us. 

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In the early 1900s, Henrietta Leavitt made one of the most important discoveries in the history of astronomy: a yardstick to measure distances to faraway stars. Using this tool, scientists eventually transformed our understanding of the universe. They realized space was expanding, that this expansion was accelerating, and that ultimately, everything will end.

This episode originally ran on June 30, 2021.

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In the temperate rainforests of Chile, there is a vine that can shapeshift to copy the look of other plants. But how? Can it... see them? Or is something weirder happening?

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Our game show is back! This week, Avery Trufelman, host of the Articles of Interest podcast, tries to guess which of these three mysteries of movement have been solved and which are still unexplainable.

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How we feel emotionally may be influenced by unseen troves of microbial life that live inside us. Is it possible to harness this gut power?

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Back in January, we spoke to a scientist at the National Ignition Facility about how close they were to achieving what’s been called “one of the most impressive scientific feats of the 21st century.” This week, they announced they’ve finally done it.

A version of this episode originally ran on January 5, 2022.

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How do animals know how to do things like spin a web or build a dam? A neuroscientist argues it's not “instinct.” Something bigger is going on.

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Humans seem to be the only animals that cry from emotion. What makes our tears so special?

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NASA just launched the Artemis program, a series of missions that will eventually take humans back to the moon, and beyond. But can humans actually survive in space long-term?

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A mountain, a tower, a thermos full of molten salt: These are the batteries that could power our renewable future.

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Death used to be fairly self-evident, but new technologies have forced us to ask: When is someone actually dead? And now, new research is raising a further question: Could death someday be reversible?

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Why do so many people think they can see and hear ghosts, and what does that say about our conscious experience of the world? This episode originally ran on October 27, 2021.

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In the past few decades, the rate of food allergies in both children and adults has dramatically increased. What’s causing this rise, and what can we do about it?

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On the first episode of Vox’s new podcast, The Gray Area, host Sean Illing talks with Neil deGrasse Tyson about the limits of both politics and science.

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For the first time, we get some answers.

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Today's internet is built on a series of locks and keys that protect your private information as it travels through cyberspace. But could all these locks be broken?

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At the 2022 World Athletics Championships, sprinter TyNia Gaither was disqualified for false starting ... after the gun went off. Officials said she started faster than humanly possible. How can that be?

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This past July, a bombshell report in Science magazine suggested that a key Alzheimer’s study might have contained manipulated evidence. What does this mean for over a decade's worth of research? And where does the field go from here?

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One of the world’s most biodiverse aquifers is full of strange, blind creatures that have evolved in isolation for millions of years. But one is missing.

This episode was reported by Benji Jones and Mandy Nguyen, who produced the episode. Editing from Meradith Hoddinott, Katherine Wells, Brian Resnick, and Noam Hassenfeld, who scored the episode. Mixing and sound design from Cristian Ayala. Fact-checking from Richard Sima.

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They probably didn’t roar like lions. Their real voices were likely much, much weirder. We asked scientists to help us recreate these strange, extinct sounds.

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There's an old story scientists tell about human ovaries: that they are ticking clocks that only lose eggs, never gain them. Now that story might be changing, opening the door to new treatments for infertility and menopause.

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Where eels come from is a surprisingly difficult question to answer, in large part because scientists have never actually seen them reproduce in the wild. Gastropod explains why eels are somehow still so mysterious.

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People yawn when they’re bored, right? So then why do athletes yawn before races? And why do so many animals yawn? … And why does reading this paragraph make you more likely to yawn?

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A lava planet, life on other worlds, the very first starlight in the universe — the most powerful space telescope ever built is ready to reveal many mysteries of the cosmos.

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Millions of Americans take dietary supplements — everything from vitamins and minerals to weight loss pills and probiotics. But because supplements are loosely regulated in the US, their makers don't have to prove that they work, or even that they are safe.

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Venus is the hottest, scariest planet in the solar system, but billions of years ago it may have been a lot like Earth, complete with an ocean of water. So, how did Venus go to hell? And could Earth be next?

This is the final episode of our four-part series, Lost Worlds, and it originally ran on December 1, 2021.

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Mars was once a very different planet, with rivers, lakes, and — potentially — life. NASA’s latest Mars rover is on a mission to find traces of past life. What happens if it does?

This is the third episode of our new four-part series, Lost Worlds.

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In all our searching of the universe, we’ve never seen another moon like ours. It's big, it's weird, it's played a huge role in shaping our planet. But how did we get it? Every possible story points to cataclysm.

This is the second episode of our new four-part series, Lost Worlds.

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Was there a technologically advanced species living on Earth long before humans? And if one had existed, how would we know?

This is the first episode of our new four-part series, Lost Worlds.

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Insect populations are shrinking all over the world, and entomologists are buzzing with questions: Why is this happening? How quickly? And, most concerningly, what does it mean for food supplies or even life as we know it?

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A groundbreaking study claims to have found a way for a fully paralyzed person to communicate entirely via thought. Today, Explained breaks down the science and asks: Is it too good to be true?

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Dreams are weird, but can they be a scientific tool? Can they teach us anything about humanity? About ourselves?

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What are the scientific, family, and privacy implications?

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Octopuses are largely solitary animals, but there have been rare times — notably in the movie My Octopus Teacher — where they seem to have become comfortable around humans. But is it really possible to be friends with an octopus?

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Most deep-water creatures are bioluminescent. Marine biologist Edie Widder has spent the last 40 years trying to figure out why.

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In the 1920s, the scientist Werner Heisenberg came up with a wild idea that broke reality as Western science knew it. And it's still unsettling to think about. Benjamin Labatut's recent book, When We Cease to Understand the World, makes readers feel the aftershocks of the revelation, asking, "What's real?"

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Why stop at five senses? Just how much of the world can we perceive? And how much is out there that’s still out of reach, hiding in the dark?

This is the sixth and final episode of our six-part series, Making Sense.

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Close your eyes and try to imagine an apple. Can you see anything? Aphantasia is the inability to see with your mind’s eye. Since it was discovered, scientists have been asking the question: What is the mind’s eye even for?

This is the fifth episode of our six-part series, Making Sense.

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For thousands of years, there have been four basic tastes recognized across cultures. But thanks to Kumiko Ninomiya (a.k.a. the Umami Mama), scientists finally accepted a fifth. So could there be even more?

This is the fourth episode of our six-part series, Making Sense.

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Dogs can smell cancer, Covid-19, and many other health problems in humans. Now, scientists are trying to duplicate these powers in robotic sniffers. But there’s a big challenge here: Scientists don’t really understand how smell works. This is the third episode of our six-part series, Making Sense, and it originally ran on March 10, 2021.

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Doctors can save the lives of premature infants, but the process is often painful. Luckily, a solution might be as simple as a parent’s loving touch.

This is the second episode of our new six-part series, Making Sense.

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In the same way optical illusions trick our eyes, audio illusions can trick our ears. This raises a fundamental question: What is hearing, and how much of it is made up by our brains?

This is the first episode of our new six-part series, Making Sense.

You can find more of Diana Deutsch’s auditory illusions at https://bit.ly/3Mdh6H4, Matthew Winn's research at http://www.mattwinn.com/Research.html, and Mike Chorost's writing at https://michaelchorost.com

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Methane traps more than 80 times as much heat as CO2 over the short term. So we could make a real difference on climate change this decade if we could stop leaking so much methane into the atmosphere. But before researchers and regulators can figure out how to do that, the methane hunters need to find the leaks.

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