Stuff To Blow Your Mind

What if you were suffering from a debilitating bacterial infection and you found out that pumping someone else's fecal matter into your rectum could vanquish it. Find out about fecal microbiota transfers and why we might one day seek out "artisanal" poop samples to cure what ails us.

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Robert and Julie bow down to the will of Arnie the Mailbot and finally get to the mounting stack of listener mail. Tune in for discussions on past episodes, mind-bending concepts and the future of humanity -- all while a laser-armed mail-bot runs amok in the HowStuffWorks offices.

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Sure Biosphere 2 was the laughingstock of the science community when its mission came to a close in 1993. (Blame the Star Trek-like uniforms.) But scientific findings spiraled out of it long after the project was officially canceled. Some 150 papers and scads of new insights into the environment are due to the visionary wonderland that is Biosphere 2.

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Enter Biosphere 2 with Robert and Julie and tour a technological wonder of the early 90s -- a 7,200,000 cubic foot Earth-in-miniature. Find out about this "Eden on top of an aircraft" and what went awry when eight people sealed themselves inside a biosphere for two years.

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Have you ever heard someone say something you disagreed with and kept your opinions to yourself? You, my friend, just fell into the spiral of silence.

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Did a masked madman terrorize a sleepy Illinois town with a paralyzing gas gun? Or did something equally bizarre transpire back in August of 1944? Lend an ear to this bone-chilling episode of Stuff to Blow your Mind and explore the topic of mass hysteria (AKA mass psychogenic disorder), from dancing plagues and witch trials of old to our modern age of bioterrorism.

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Why is scary music so scary? Why does an uncanny tune creep us out so? Is it all context and culture or is there something deeper at work? In this classic episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Julie provide the answers and Christopher Gladwin of The Wyrding Module provides some unsettling tunes and a few answers of his own.

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Gather round the cauldron with Robert and Julie as they ladle out hefty servings of magical thinking, medieval psychedelics, feminist history and the power of ritual. Just what was old-school witchery all about? This classic episode has some answers.

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What about darkness is so unsettling? Find out about the most extreme instances of an absence of light and how it works on our bodies.

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Glass, Cold, Sound, Clean, Time and Light. Just a random collection of items in the physical world, right? Not in the hands of science journalist Steven Johnson, who weaves a revelatory tale of technological wonders in his new book and PBS series, "How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World." Join Julie and Robert for an interview with the man behind the book and series.

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Phobias can arise from all sorts of lurking dangers, like venomous snakes. But holes? Is trypophobia really a thing? Find out why a person might fear an array of innocent holes and the role social contagion could play.

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Can pain elevate us to a higher state of conscious? Can we find peace and forgiveness with self-inflicted cuts and lashes? Join Robert and Julie as they raise the lantern of science to the humanity's longstanding quest for liberation through physical suffering.

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Imagine a hotel with infinite rooms and infinite guests. Do you fancy they have space for one more late arrival? Join Robert and Julie as they check into the Infinity Hotel to discover how the concept of infinity affects mathematics, physics and the possibility of a boundless multiverse.

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Contemplate the boundless. Contemplate the endless. Join Robert and Julie as they discuss what infinity is, what infinity isn't and the philosopher's never-ending quest to unravel the nature of cosmic, mathematical and divine infinities.

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What are we to make of this evil spirit of Algonquin folklore, said to transform unfortunate travelers into cannibalistic monsters? Have true accounts of "wendigo psychosis" actually occurred in the Canadian wilds? Join Robert and Julie as they explore the mythic, anthropological and scientific dimensions of the legend.

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Are horror movies a sure-fire aphrodisiac? Does the haunted house really exit into the bed room? Join Robert and Julie as they examine the old scary movie seduction trope and look for the scientific connection between scares and sexual arousal.

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The Anthropocene era has exacted quite a toll on Earth's ecosystem, but could rewilding reverse the damage and restore balance to Earth? Could it bring the human individual and human culture as a whole back in line with the natural order of things? Maybe we won't have to go off-Earth after all...

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We now inhabit the Anthropocene era -- one where man-made environments have displaced entire ecosystems and the plants and animals that inhabited them. Knowing that all species are interconnected -- including us bipedal chatterboxes -- how will vanishing flora and fauna affect evolution? Will humans be added to the list of ghosts haunting the evolutionary halls of Earth?

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Can money buy happiness? Find out if being flush with cash really makes a difference in your outlook. Join Robert and Julie once more for a fascinating examination of the human condition on the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.

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Would you like more money? Sure, we all would. In this encore presentation, Robert and Julie dive into the world of Scrooge McDuck, King Midas and look at how greed is expressed in the brain.

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Find out why using statistical averages to understand individuals is a crappy strategy for healthcare and education. Robert and Julie also look at how playing to the average affects our everyday world.

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Why do we humans sometimes stick our heads in the sand -- even at the risk of our health and well-being? Robert and Julie explore the topic of information aversion.

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Life is an enduring mystery. We're forced to unravel the mystery of human consciousness from within, while the enigma of cosmos bears down on us from beyond. We whisper the words "self" and even "god" to ground ourselves in an ocean of chaos, but what's it really all about? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, explore Attention Schema Theory and what it has to say about evolution, consciousness and our notion of the divine.

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Join Robert and Julie as they explore what is to enter "the flow state," a place of both clarity and ecstasy that some say leads to ultimate contentment. So how do you achieve it and why are game designers so interested in it?

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It's difficult to overstate the impact of syphilis on the Western world, and it remains a threat to this day despite effective antibiotic treatments. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Julie explore the history of the illness and its cultural effects, from powdered wigs and false noses to surgical advances and vampire myths.

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Doctors have called it the great imitator because this destructive venereal disease can manifest almost any symptom. Initially spreading through sexual contact, Syphilis can remain dormant in the body for decades before flaring up again in brutally disfiguring, debilitating and deadly ways. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Julie explore the science of syphilis.

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Is there a mathematical equation for happiness? Is there a formula for contentment? Explore the science and chase the ephemeral in this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind.

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There's far more to origami than paper swans. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Julie explore the mathematics and real-world applications of intricately folded sheets.

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Sure, we've all seen medical quarantines against infectious disease in the movies, but how do they work in real life? Find out in this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind.

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The word "Ebola" is enough to summon feelings of fear, body horror and even xenophobia. But don't give in to paranoia. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Julie arm you with information about Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever.

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In this classic episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Julie and Robert continue their discussion of the overlap between shamanism and cognitive neuroscience. In particular, what sort of hallucinatory experiences do substances like DMT, psilocybin and salvia grant users? Why do humans have trace elements of DMT in their bodies? All these questions and more will be discussed.

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A shaman consumes a psychedelic mushroom and visits the spirit world. Meanwhile, a scientist studies the effects of psilocybin on depression and conceptions of self. In this episode, Robert and Julie discuss the common ground shared by these disciplines in this classic episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind.

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Can science give us the wings we've always envied in birds? Can plastic surgery elevate us to a higher human form? In this episode, Robert and Julie discuss Joseph Rosen's posthuman philosophy and ponder what we'd have to do to transform arms into wings. Learn all about it in this classic episode of STBYM.

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Can science give us the wings we've always envied in birds? Can plastic surgery elevate us to a higher human form? In this episode, Robert and Julie discuss Joseph Rosen's posthuman philosophy and ponder what we'd have to do to transform arms into wings. Learn all about it in this classic episode of STBYM.

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There's something intoxicating about the notion of a lost continent. Imagine an entire landscape - perhaps even an entire civilization untouched by Western colonialism or perhaps lost beneath ancient, cataclysmic waves. But lost continents are far from mere whimsy and fictional fancy. Amid the dreams and occult whispers, reason and science emerge to dazzle the imagination.

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There's something intoxicating about the notion of a lost continent. Imagine an entire landscape - perhaps even an entire civilization untouched by Western colonialism or perhaps lost beneath ancient, cataclysmic waves. But lost continents are far from mere whimsy and fictional fancy. Amid the dreams and occult whispers, reason and science emerge to dazzle the imagination.

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Lullabies are soothing, grotesque and universal. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Julie explore the surprisingly rich world of human sleep songs.

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Why do we have ear wax? Why does it build up and what can it tell us about ourselves? Enter the mysterious ear canal in this sticky new episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind.

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How does the electric eel generate its juice and how did six different lineages of bioelectric fish evolve on this planet of ours? Find out in this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind.

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Why does junk food hold such power over us? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Julie get to the bottom of modern humanity's favorite supernormal stimuli.

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Gene therapy, DNA analysis and genetically modified organisms are increasingly part of our everyday reality. But where is this road taking us and how will it change us on the way? Find out in this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind.

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Looking for a good, intelligent beach read? Join Robert and Julie for their annual Summer Reading episode, loaded with fiction and non-fiction reading recommendations for the curious mind: zombies, animals, Marilyn Monroe, torture, monsters, Muppets, Guillermo del Toro, skeptic science for kids and more.

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What is a mathematically perfect circle and why doesn't it exist in our universe? Find out in this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind as Robert and Julie look high and low in a universe of imperfection.

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The future of brain-machine interaction will expand human intelligence and forever alter our experience of reality, but where are we now and how long till neurotechnology elevates us to higher human form? Find out in this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind.

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Legendary weird fiction author H.P. Lovecraft revolutionized our understanding of supernatural horror in the early 20th century, but he was also a science writer and lived in a time of tremendous scientific advancement and global war. Join Robert and Julie as they chat with S.T. Joshi about the science of H.P. Lovecraft's fiction and how it influenced popular culture. Plus, hear from a few HowStuffWorks podcast personalities on their own favorite Lovecraft tales.

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As a follow-up to their podcast episode on the nominative determinism, Robert and Julie share YOUR thoughts on names and the power of names in this special listener mail episode. Plus, who knows what else they'll chat about?

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Highly addictive substances like meth and heroine are formidable enemies for the recovering addict, but what does the future hold for their treatment? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Julie explore the use of electromagnetic stimulation, vaccines and other treatments to help win the battle.

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What is addiction? Why are some people predisposed to it and what happens in the brain when addiction takes hold? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Julie break it all down for you and ponder the addiction-shattered brain.

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The Status of Flatus: What is a fart? What's the science behind passing gas and why does volume, frequency and stench very so much from person to person? Answers await, gentle listener, as Robert and Julie discuss the biology behind breaking wind in this classic STBYM podcast episode

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The Troglofauna of Fraggle Rock: What do the fun-loving denizens of Jim Henson's "Fraggle Rock" have in common with real-life cave animals? Find out in this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind as Robert and Julie discuss the ecology of Fraggle Rock and the show's ecological message.

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