Stuff To Blow Your Mind

Sure, you sprinkle nutmeg indifferently on your eggnog, but do you know its bloody history and psychotropic properties? In this episode, Julie and Robert discuss the weird side of an everyday spice and why you should use it sparingly but often.

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Creative minds make our favorite art and develop unique solutions to real-world problems. But is there a dark side? Are creative minds more prone to madness and deception? In this episode, Julie and Robert turn the tables on innovation.

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Organisms do what they can to get ahead and sometimes that means crawling inside a fish head and chewing out a niche. In this episode, Robert and Julie get to know Cymothoa exigua, the horrifying and ingenious parasite that replaces a fish's tongue.

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Modern minds likely turn to Monty Python when the notion of lethal comedy arises, but accounts of death by laughter date back to ancient times. Can a joke really kill a person? In this episode, Robert and Julie explore the dark side of laughter.

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They say laughter is the best medicine, but is there any science to back that up? In this episode, Julie and Robert discuss what laughter does to us physically and neurologically. And maybe, just maybe, Julie will grow to love laughter yoga.

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Why do we have fingerprints? Why are the human versions generally more complex than those of other animals? Join Robert and Julie as they delve into whorls and swirls, exploring the theories behind why we have these strange patterns on our fingertips.

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Jive Turkey: As another Turkey Day dawns on the United States, Julie and Robert stop to consider the great bird itself. Join them as they dive into the ancient history of this North American avian native, discuss the origins of its name and how humans continues to bend the creature to their Thanksgiving desires.

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What does comfort mean to you? Thanksgiving dinner? A cup of tomato soup and a warm blanket? In this episode, Julie and Robert examine the particulars of comfort, why we crave it and what happens when we have too much of a good thing.

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While it might not feel like it, humans were born to crunch numbers, engineer solutions and scientifically evaluate the world. Join Robert and Julie as they discuss the research on our inborn abilities and how science is ultimately a part of who we are.

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Sure, a kid's unique perspective allows him or her to see Puff the Magic Dragon and say the darndest things. But, as Julie and Robert discover, children are born scientists and their way of viewing the world serves as a fine example to adults.

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It's true: the word "packrat" is more than slang for hoarders and collectors. Join Robert and Julie as they discuss the pint-size rodent's love of decoration and den-building. Plus how do their toilets aid cowboys and archeologists? Tune in to find out.

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Witchcraft trials are a part of our history, but what truly went on during the 1400s? Join Robert and Julie as they explore compelling theories about the nature of superstitious religious persecution. What went wrong? Is it still going wrong today?

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When viewed from the standpoint of geologic time, what is humanity's ultimate contribution? Have we founded an Age of Man with agriculture, industrialism and war? Join Robert and Julie as they ask hard questions about humanity's relationship with Earth.

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Prepare to explore an alien Earth as Stuff to Blow Your Mind takes you back to the Ordovician Period, when invertebrates thrived in primal seas that covered most of the super continent Gondwana. Join Julie and Robert as they explore this age of change.

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Ever reach out to the spirit world with an ouija board? Or stare into a dark mirror for Bloody Mary? Perhaps peer-assisted levitation was more your style. In this episode, Robert and Julie bust through the fantasy of these paranormal parlor tricks and examine the underlying science.

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There's a lot more going on at your local haunted attraction than costumes and chainsaws. In this episode, Robert and Julie venture to Atlanta's Netherworld Haunted House to learn about the science and art behind the ghoulish shenanigans.

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Humans aren't the only map masters on the planet. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Julie and Robert explore the amazing ways that animals turn space into place and navigate the world around them.

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Do you see a Thailand-shaped birthmark on Gorbachev's forehead? Do clouds remind you of Australia and Indonesia? You may have cartocacoethes, the compulsion to see maps everywhere.Join Robert and Julie as they discuss the past, present and future of maps.

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Maps show us familiar places as well as far-flung locales that quietly beckon, intertwining the past, present and future. Join Julie and Robert as they explore how our brains work on maps, from neurons to the role of memory and storytelling in mapmaking.

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In part two of their 2012 Ig Nobel Prize coverage, Robert and Julie take listeners through some of the more amazing winners at this year's awards ceremony. From monkey butts to exploding colonoscopies, first you'll laugh and then you'll think.

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Yes, scientists have a sense of humor - and they have to if their big invention is a bra that doubles as a gas mask. Join Julie and Robert as they explore the Ig Nobel prizes - plus some of the strange studies honored at the 2012 awards ceremony.

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Whether you prefer cats, dogs or snakes, you have to admit that humanity's relationship with felines is mysterious. Why do we live with these super predators? What does "meow" mean? Are they really our friends? Join Julie and Robert as they investigate.

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Bats live in a sonic universe. They call out into the night and construct the world from their song. They listen to the sounds of prey, predator and the social squeaking of other bats. In this episode, Robert and Julie listen in on the song of the bat.

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Is the bat the most successful mammal on the planet? Quite possibly! In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Julie and Robert explore the insect-munching, fruit-drinking, blood-lapping world of these amazing winged sound warriors.

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In 2012, Tony Robbins marched thousands of barefoot followers through the coals, injuring under two dozen of them. What was going on in their minds (and in their feet)? Join Robert and Julie as they discuss the physics and mindset of the firewalker.

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How much of your environment is made out of plastic? Where does it come from? Where does it go? How does plastic affect your iPhone's weight? Join Julie and Robert as they discuss humanity's relationship with plastic and the great Pacific garbage patch.

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What if you could skip a night's sleep without any side effects? It may sound impossible, but the age of sleep replacement drugs is just around the corner. Join Julie and Robert as they discuss the DARPA-funded meds that might let us dodge those 40 winks.

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City Creatures: Does a crowded street make you care less about your fellow man? Population density manipulates organisms in subtle and shocking ways. Join Robert and Julie as they look at how animals and humans respond to cramped conditions and depleted resources.

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What strange thoughts fill the brains of cephalopods? Do they ponder mysteries in their lightless lairs? Join Julie and Robert as they dive into the fascinating world of cephalopod intelligence, from the crafty octopus to the social cuttlefish and more.

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Finally, a podcast about Andre the Giant, dinosaurs and Nuralagus rex the bunny king. In this episode, Julie and Robert discuss gigantism. What causes some humans to become giants? Why are island ecosystems like Wonderland? Tune in to learn more.

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Hear The Mermaids Singing: Humans have dreamed of mermaids for ages, but is there any substance to these myths? Is the aquatic ape theory more than just a tale for lonely sailors? Join Robert and Julie as they cast their science net and reel in something half-human and half-fish.

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Mother's Milk: Milk isn't just an infant-sustaining breast beverage. Join Julie and Robert as they explore the world of lactation. How does milk strengthen our bodies against infection? When did humans mutate into cross-species milk guzzlers? Tune in to learn more.

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What exactly is personhood? Over time, the term "person" has evolved to include numerous concepts. In this episode, Julie and Robert explore the nature of personhood and sticky concept of consciousness as applied to animals and robots.

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What exactly is personhood? Over time, the term "person" has evolved to include numerous concepts. In this episode, Julie and Robert explore the nature of personhood, why corporations are considered meta-people and the sticky concept of consciousness.

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A woman in a museum stares into your soul. A man implants a cybernetic ear on his arm. A dog starves. In this episode, Robert and Julie dive into the world of performance art, discussing the works of such notable artists as Marina Abramovi? and Stelarc.

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What goes on inside the minds of babes? Quite a lot, as it turns out. In this episode, Julie and Robert peer inside the infant brain to learn about their enhanced state of consciousness. Plus find out what baby brains have to do with alien abductions.

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When it comes making art, most of us operate under a set of rules. So what happens when you feed machines code for churning out art? Plenty, as it turns out. And if creativity is the seat of the soul, what does that say about our uniqueness?

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From screaming infants to cinematic scream queens, there's no denying the universal language of yelling. But why do we do it? What are we communicating? In this episode, Julie and Robert explain how a little screaming can do you a world of good.

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You can learn a lot from an animal's scat, even if that animal hasn't walked the Earth since prehistoric times. In this episode, Robert and Julie explore the fascinating world of coprolite and ponder just what ancient humans and creatures ate.

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If you're tired of hearing about the Higgs "don't-call-me-a-god-particle" Boson but still want to know what it is, then this is the podcast episode for you. In this episode, Robert and Julie recount our hunt for the Higgs and what it means for science.

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Sure, you're no stranger to yoga, but how much do you know about its ancient origins in magical ritual and tantric sex? In this episode, Julie and Robert peer into yoga's sensual past and consult modern science on what yoga can do for your sex life.

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About 20 million people in the U.S. practice some form of yoga. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind Julie and Robert suss out the claims and revelations -- could it really be a telomere fountain of youth? And what poses should a newbie never do?

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The parasitic worm onchocerciasis carries uses a bacterial cloaking device to colonize the human body, causing tremendous suffering and even blindness. Luckily, the Carter Center is waging a campaign against the parasite. Tune in to learn more.

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Illusionists merely engage a fiction of sorcery, but there's a rich foundation of neuroscience beneath the smoke and mirrors. In this episode, Julie and Robert explore the ways in which magicians manipulate our senses and the inner workings of our minds.

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There's far more to military camouflage than painting a tank green. As Robert and Julie discuss in this episode, camouflage design incorporates both the neuroscience of how we perceive the world and the art of cubism and textile design.

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We all know the potentially dangerous effects of microgravity, but what are the long-term effects? Join Robert and Julie as they wonder what life will be like if evolution continues in space. Imagine the plants and the strange humans who will tend them.

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The Internet continues to spread its roots through our world, and soon it will launch cosmic seeds, spreading digital humanity into space. How will it all happen? In this episode, Julie and Robert contemplate the future of an interplanetary Internet.

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" Humans have mapped the microbiome and changed our understanding of the bacterial worlds thriving inside us. How will this affect our war on bacteria and the state of modern medicine? Julie and Robert discuss all of these questions in this episode."

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Armed with state-of-the-art telescopes and other high-tech tools, astronomers are spotting new worlds at an astonishing rate. Could any of these planets support life? In this episode, Robert and Julie explore the continuing search for habitable planets elsewhere in the universe.

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In this episode, Robert and Julie suit up and venture into the dark and Gigery heart of 'Prometheus.' They’ll examine the film’s futuristic science as well as some of its themes. And fear not! You’ll only encounter spoilers after the commercial break.

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