What would an episode of Unexplainable have sounded like if it had been made in 100 CE? For more, go to... more

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

At last year’s World Athletics Championships, sprinter TyNia Gaither was disqualified for false starting... after the gun went off. Officials... more

Two scientists explain how AI might help us translate animal communication, and what we might learn from their squawks, chirps,... more

Sam Sanders, host of Vulture’s Into It podcast, is in the hot seat for a new episode of our game... more

Dogs were the first domesticated animal in history, emerging from wolves some 20,000 years ago. But how did wolves become... more

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AI can often solve problems in unexpected, undesirable ways. So how can we make sure it does what we want,... more

AI has the potential to impact our society in dramatic ways, but researchers can’t explain precisely how it works or... more

A dog on its owner’s grave. A killer whale carrying around its dead calf. A goose that isolates when its... more

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

The Indus Valley civilization was one of the largest, most advanced civilizations in the ancient world. But we barely know... more

Awe is what takes our breath away when we face a sky full of stars or listen to a moving... more

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

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

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

2023 has been a record-setting year for tornadoes, and these storms came with barely any warning. So to better understand... more

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

We did a live show! We talked about how one of our favorite episodes came together and how we went... more

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

This week, we tackle three listener questions — on sleepwalking, deja vu, and Earth’s magnetic field. Next time, we could... more

Scientists are digging into what makes something funny. We compare their notes with comedians — including Atsuko Okatsuka, Josh Johnson,... more

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

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

Life as we know it needs water, but scientists can’t figure out where Earth’s water came from. Answering that question... more

Can science help us predict whether a relationship will succeed? Or is it all just chaos? This episode originally ran on... more

Listeners told us that eating baby carrots or telling lies can bring on the hiccups. Burping or kissing can make... more

Last fall, a NASA spacecraft slammed into an asteroid to test a way to avert a disaster on Earth. So... more

Our houses are homes to hidden worlds of bugs. And the more ecologists explore those worlds, the more they realize... more

In the early 1900s, Henrietta Leavitt made one of the most important discoveries in the history of astronomy: a yardstick... more

In the temperate rainforests of Chile, there is a vine that can shapeshift to copy the look of other plants.... more

Our game show is back! This week, Avery Trufelman, host of the Articles of Interest podcast, tries to guess which... more

How we feel emotionally may be influenced by unseen troves of microbial life that live inside us. Is it possible... more

Back in January, we spoke to a scientist at the National Ignition Facility about how close they were to achieving... more

How do animals know how to do things like spin a web or build a dam? A neuroscientist argues it's... more

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

NASA just launched the Artemis program, a series of missions that will eventually take humans back to the moon, and... more

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

Death used to be fairly self-evident, but new technologies have forced us to ask: When is someone actually dead? And... more

Why do so many people think they can see and hear ghosts, and what does that say about our conscious... more

In the past few decades, the rate of food allergies in both children and adults has dramatically increased. What’s causing... more

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

For the first time, we get some answers. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to view show transcripts and... more

Today's internet is built on a series of locks and keys that protect your private information as it travels through... more

At the 2022 World Athletics Championships, sprinter TyNia Gaither was disqualified for false starting ... after the gun went off.... more

This past July, a bombshell report in Science magazine suggested that a key Alzheimer’s study might have contained manipulated evidence.... more

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

They probably didn’t roar like lions. Their real voices were likely much, much weirder. We asked scientists to help us... more

There's an old story scientists tell about human ovaries: that they are ticking clocks that only lose eggs, never gain... more

Where eels come from is a surprisingly difficult question to answer, in large part because scientists have never actually seen... more

People yawn when they’re bored, right? So then why do athletes yawn before races? And why do so many animals... more

A lava planet, life on other worlds, the very first starlight in the universe — the most powerful space telescope... more

Millions of Americans take dietary supplements — everything from vitamins and minerals to weight loss pills and probiotics. But because... more

Venus is the hottest, scariest planet in the solar system, but billions of years ago it may have been a... more

Mars was once a very different planet, with rivers, lakes, and — potentially — life. NASA’s latest Mars rover is... more

In all our searching of the universe, we’ve never seen another moon like ours. It's big, it's weird, it's played... more

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

Insect populations are shrinking all over the world, and entomologists are buzzing with questions: Why is this happening? How quickly?... more

A groundbreaking study claims to have found a way for a fully paralyzed person to communicate entirely via thought. Today,... more

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

What are the scientific, family, and privacy implications? For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to view show transcripts and... more

Octopuses are largely solitary animals, but there have been rare times — notably in the movie My Octopus Teacher —... more

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

In the 1920s, the scientist Werner Heisenberg came up with a wild idea that broke reality as Western science knew... more

Why stop at five senses? Just how much of the world can we perceive? And how much is out there... more

Close your eyes and try to imagine an apple. Can you see anything? Aphantasia is the inability to see with... more

For thousands of years, there have been four basic tastes recognized across cultures. But thanks to Kumiko Ninomiya (a.k.a. the... more

Dogs can smell cancer, Covid-19, and many other health problems in humans. Now, scientists are trying to duplicate these powers... more

Doctors can save the lives of premature infants, but the process is often painful. Luckily, a solution might be as... more

In the same way optical illusions trick our eyes, audio illusions can trick our ears. This raises a fundamental question:... more

Methane traps more than 80 times as much heat as CO2 over the short term. So we could make a... more

Can science help us predict whether a relationship will succeed? Or is it all just chaos? For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s... more

What does it sound like on Mars? On Jupiter? Titan? This collaboration between the podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz and the... more

Scientists are constantly searching for asteroids that could crash into Earth. But if they find one, will they be able... more

When scientists examined the DNA of ancient bones found near a Himalayan lake, they were forced to confront a seemingly... more

In 2017, researchers published an explosive finding: Sperm counts may be declining in some countries around the world. Media outlets... more

Scientists are closer than ever to harnessing fusion power — the same process that powers the sun — by essentially... more

Noam wrote an end-of-year song with Today, Explained host Sean Rameswaram, so we thought to drop it here as a... more

Most of the matter in the universe is dark matter, an invisible, untouchable, mysterious substance. Scientists don’t know what exactly... more

How can we solve the problem of ocean plastic if we don’t know where most of the plastic is? For more,... more

Until 1993, many researchers excluded women from clinical drug trials, leaving doctors in the dark about how new treatments work... more

Venus is the hottest, scariest planet in the solar system, but billions of years ago it may have been a... more

Will scientists ever fully understand the human brain? In their quest for knowledge, they’ve tried knives, magnets, computers, blood, and... more

Slime molds can navigate mazes, control robots, and make complicated decisions, all without a central nervous system. If this weird... more

Every year, thousands of marine mammals end up trapped on beaches, but it’s often hard to figure out why. It’s... more

Why do so many people think they can see and hear ghosts, and what does that say about our conscious... more

A recent study of tens of thousands of birds has shown that birds are growing smaller over time. It could... more

The Nobel Prize has rewarded some amazing discoveries. It’s also contributed to scientific tunnel vision. This week, how the Nobel... more

To look into deep space is to look back in time. With the upcoming launch of the James Webb Space... more

After decades of planning, NASA is finally (finally!) set to launch the successor to the Hubble. The new Webb telescope... more

For decades, Alzheimer’s researchers have been stubbornly pursuing a single theory, but they’re starting to wonder: is this narrow focus... more

Several years after US diplomats in Cuba claimed they were attacked by an invisible weapon, similar incidents continue to be... more

Once upon a time, there were no anuses. These ingenious organs allowed our primordial ancestors to grow bigger and more... more

This common chronic condition — where tissue similar to what grows inside the uterus grows elsewhere in the body —... more

Two scientists. A billion-dollar wager. One unanswered question: Is the first human who will live to 150 already alive? The... more

Earlier this year, Nicole Yamase explored the bottom of the Challenger Deep, the deepest place in the ocean, where few... more

8 minutes, 24 seconds. That’s the average amount of warning time people get before a tornado touches down. To do... more

Astronauts left something on the moon that could help unlock the origins of life itself. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a... more

An accidental discovery on a nighttime walk led one scientist and his team to wonder: How many mammals glow under... more