Stuff To Blow Your Mind
Episodes
Face Blindness
05 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It’s easy to take the human brain’s facial recognition powers for granted, unless there’s a malfunction. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your M...
The Cambodian Stegosaurus
03 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Do Cambodian temple ruins speak to a time when humans and dinosaurs coexisted? Absolutely not, but it’s a great excuse for Robert Lamb and Joe McCor...
From the Vault: Saturn's Brood
31 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The planet Saturn offers far more than rings to those who venture within its gravitational influence. This wind-swept gas giant also holds sway over n...
The Bathysphere: William Beebe Descends
29 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In 1930, American naturalist William Beebe began his descent in a spherical, unpowered submarine known as a Bathysphere -- and in doing so visited a w...
The Bathysphere: Life in the Deep
27 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In 1930, American naturalist William Beebe began his descent in a spherical, unpowered submarine known as a Bathysphere -- and in doing so visited a w...
From the Vault: Jupiter’s Children
24 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Of all the moons of Jupiter, Callisto, Ganymede, Europa and Io tantalize us the most. These alien worlds of ice, fire, desolation and hidden oceans ta...
Leviathan: The Wolf of Whale Street
22 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Canst thou draw out Livyatan melvillei with a hook? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick explore the awesome unde...
Life Beyond The Shield
20 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Life on Earth depends on the planet’s natural shielding, otherwise solar and cosmic radiation would ravage our small blue world. In this episode of ...
From the Vault: Bird Intelligence
17 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Just what are the upper limits of avian cognitive ability? Various studies reveal how certain bird species engage in mental time travel, tool use, sel...
The Nuts and Bolts of Boltzmann Brains
15 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Do your ever have the feeling that your entire reality is just a momentary hallucination inside a randomly formed space brain? If so, then this is the...
I Ching: The Book of Changes
13 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Book of Changes stands as one of the most important divination texts in human history -- and a foundational text of Chinese culture in general. In...
From the Vault: Tip of the Tongue
10 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Your know the feeling. You're trying to recall the name of a time-keeping musical device or the the actor who played Fredo in 'The Godfather' and all ...
Listener Mail: Crab Faces, Anus Myths and More
08 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Once again, Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick read listener mail related to recent episodes. You'll hear myths about the anus, reflections on samurai crab...
War, Pain and the Super Soldier
06 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The history of war is filled with examples of soldiers who, in the heat of battle, fail to register the full extent of their injuries. In fact, some o...
From the Vault: Hyper-Real Religion
03 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
When does a protest religion become an actual faith? What happens when purely fictional modes of belief leak off the page or screen? Join Robert Lamb ...
The Great Eyeball War, Part 2
01 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Are apps, smart phones and social media sucking us dry? As Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick discuss in this two-part Stuff to Blow Your Mind exploration,...
The Great Eyeball War, Part 1
27 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Are apps, smart phones and social media sucking us dry? As Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick discuss in this two-part Stuff to Blow Your Mind exploration,...
From the Vault: The Science of Whining
24 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Unless you've lived your life in a childless fortress of seclusion, you've likely encountered the maddening, high-pitched whine of a complaining child...
The Proteus Effect
22 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What effect does a virtual reality avatar have on the user? Can it alter your identity? Can it change how you behave in the real world? In this episod...
Carl Sagan and the Samurai Crabs
20 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Legend has it that a variety of crabs contain the ghosts of a drowned samurai army -- and each bears a grimacing warrior face on their backs to prove ...
From the Vault: Dune Biology
17 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Frank Herbert's 1965 novel 'Dune' is a game-changing saga of space-age feudalistic intrigue, rampaging sandworms and prescient mind drugs on a desert ...
The Chinese Typewriter (with Tom Mullaney)
15 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Where the technolingustic systems of the west meet the non-alphabetic written characters of the east, the Chinese typewriter emerges. It’s a story o...
Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
13 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
You’ve seen the photos of the famed terracotta warriors, but no one in over 2200 years has glimpsed inside the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first empe...
From the Vault: Dune Technology
10 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Frank Herbert's 1965 novel 'Dune' is a game-changing saga of space-age feudalistic intrigue, rampaging sandworms and prescient mind drugs on a desert ...
Animal Lies: Six Tales of Mimicry and Deception
08 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What are the shadiest lies in the animal kingdom? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, join Robert and Joe as they explore six different organi...
Anchor in the Mind
06 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Anchoring bias is one of the most powerful and easily exploited vulnerabilities in the human mind. Throughout your life, people, companies and organiz...
From the Vault: Tears of Re
03 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, enter a kingdom within a kingdom: the remarkable honey-and-wax monarchy within a beehive and the organizat...
Evolution of the Anus
01 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Chances are, you take the anus for granted -- at least so long as it’s behaving itself. Yet this fascinating anatomical feature has a deep evolution...
Miasma Theory and the Evil Air
30 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Prior to the germ theory of disease, miasma theory ruled the day -- the notion that bad air, full of destructive particles, wafted out from the foul p...
From the Vault: Techno-Telepathy
27 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
You've always wanted to meet a sensitive alien telepath who could understand you like no one else, but SETI is really dropping the ball on your galact...
Aquatic Humanoids, Part 2
25 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
From the sirens of 'The Odyssey' to 'The Creature From the Black Lagoon' and beyond, humans have always imagined their underwater doubles. In this two...
Aquatic Humanoids, Part 1
23 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
From the sirens of 'The Odyssey' to 'The Creature From the Black Lagoon' and beyond, humans have always imagined their underwater doubles. In this two...
From the Vault: Better Living Through Tetris
20 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In their previous episode, Robert and Joe explored the geometric hallucinations of Tetris syndrome. Now they're back for a serious look at the ways in...
Listener Mail: Talos, Homunculi, Winter and More
18 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Join Robert and Joe for another round of Stuff to Blow Your Mind listener mail, in which they read and attend to your thoughts and insight on recent e...
Don't Drink the Salt Water
16 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Whether you draw your wisdom from 18th century poems or experience in the surf, you probably know that drinking seawater is a terrible idea. But exact...
From the Vault: Tetris Syndrome
13 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
To play a game of “Tetris” is to invite a geometric invasion into your mind. After hours of intense block manipulation, you finally set aside your...
Meditation Lab: Empathy and Energy
11 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We all know what meditation looks like, and many of us know what it feels like. But what does it provide us in return for these brief periods of menta...
Where’s my eternal youth? Part 2
09 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout history, humans have faced the inexorable process of aging and death. We’ve dreamt up countless myths to explain why we age and what come...
From the Vault: Aphantasia
06 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Mental images play an important role in our daily experience of reality, from thoughts of the past to daydreams, fantasies and entire worlds of the im...
Where’s my eternal youth? Part 1
04 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout history, humans have faced the inexorable process of aging and death. We’ve dreamt up countless myths to explain why we age and what come...
Talos: The Bronze Automaton
02 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Among the many humanoid gods and bestial monsters of Greek mythology, one finds a peculiar outlier: Talos the bronze automaton. Said to stalk the shor...
From the Vault: The Forer Effect
30 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
From palm-reading fortune tellers to professionally-administered Myers Briggs test, everyone’s a sucker for a an ego-stroking personality assessment...
The Winter People, Part 2
28 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Do you feel like a different person during the winter? In this two-part Stuff to Blow Your Mind exploration, Robert and Joe examine the extent to whic...
The Winter People, Part 1
26 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Do you feel like a different person during the winter? In this two-part Stuff to Blow Your Mind exploration, Robert and Joe examine the extent to whic...
From the Vault: The Stone of Madness
23 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Madness has always intrigued artists, and medieval paintings sometimes presented this malady's treatment via the surgical removal of cranial stone. Wh...
Baby Jesus and the Homunculus
21 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve all marveled at the grotesque, oddly-proportioned old man babies in medieval art -- but why did artists of the period pain such creatures? In ...
First Messenger From an Alien Star
19 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In recent weeks, the first recorded object from another star system appeared in our solar neighborhood. Dubbed 'Oumuamua,' the interloper stirs both o...
Machine God: Artificial Superintelligence
14 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Voltaire famously postulated that if God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. As humanity approaches the technological singularity, thi...
Ophiocordyceps: Fungal Puppet Masters
12 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is the Mona Lisa of mind control parasites. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss ...
This Present Moment: Philosophy & Neuroscience
07 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What is now? What is the present moment? These questions continue to stagger us, for nothing is so simultaneously familiar and alien than the passage ...
This Present Moment: Experience and Physics
05 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What is now? What is the present moment? These questions continue to stagger us, for nothing is so simultaneously familiar and alien than the passage ...
Tree of Life
30 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sacred trees. World trees. Holy trees of wisdom, immortality and the soul. They seem to grow from every culture on Earth and their roots dig deep into...
Listener Mail: Leary, Bicameralism and Monsters
28 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Once more, Stuff to Blow Your Mind powers up the mailbot and considers YOUR comments, stories, insights and questions on recent episodes. In this inst...
Dangerous Foods III: A Festival of Pain
23 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Thanksgiving is a time of feasting and the wages of feasting, and so Robert and Joe are here to dish up a third installment of Stuff to Blow Your Mind...
When will the Earth become uninhabitable?
21 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Earth is our home, but how much longer can it remain so? In this episode of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast, Robert and Christian explore the many...
An Attempt to Understand Zoophilia
16 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Human culture emerges from a legacy of lives lived in close proximity to wild and domesticated animals. We see it in our myths and, in its most taboo ...
Ig Nobels 2017: Vampires, Vaginal Music & Cheese
14 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Each year, the Ig Nobel prizes celebrate the most absurd and humorous efforts in legitimate scientific research – and 2017’s winners do not disapp...
Ig Nobels 2017: Crocodile Slots, Twins & Old Ears
09 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Each year, the Ig Nobel prizes celebrate the most absurd and humorous efforts in legitimate scientific research – and 2017’s winners do not disapp...
Ig Nobels 2017: Liquid Cats, Didgeridoos & More
07 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Each year, the Ig Nobel prizes celebrate the most absurd and humorous efforts in legitimate scientific research – and 2017’s winners do not disapp...
From the Vault: Mind Flayers
03 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If you've watched Stranger Things 2, then you know another beloved Dungeons and Dragons monster pops up as an analogy for an extra-dimensional menace:...
Creepypasta 4: More SCP, Polybius and Grifter
02 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Dive into a world of indestructible reptiles, killer video games, bizarre god towers and haunted video tapes as Robert and Christian take on a fourth ...
The Monstrosity/Cuteness Spectrum
31 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It seems the unavoidable fate of all terrifying monsters, doesn’t it? We reduce the most horrifying creatures of myth, legend and folklore to an ado...
The First Monster
26 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Humans love monsters, but when did we first dare to dream up bestial hybrids and chimerical horrors? In this episode of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind po...
Optography: Image in a Dead Man's Eye
24 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Pseudoscience often enters our world where magic fails us, seeming to make the impossible possible via the invocation of actual scientific and technol...
Cambrian Monster Mash
19 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the ocean of monsters. In this episode of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast, Robert and Joe travel back 500 million years to the monster-...
A Game of Werewolf
17 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If you’ve ever played the party game 'Werewolf,' then you know the thrill of weeding out secret lycanthropes in a medieval village -- or devouring t...
Stuff to Blow Your Mind Live: Stranger Science
12 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
With another season of “Stranger Things” just around the corner, the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast explores the mind rending science behind gove...
Six Ghost Stories
10 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Human superstition provides us with an overwhelming wealth of ghost stories, each an unreal creation that reveals something crucial about culture, his...
Science of It: Deadlights and Derry
05 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If you’ve read Stephen King’s “It” or recoiled in fear from the 2017 film and the 1990 miniseries, then perhaps you’ve wondered what science...
Laughing During Horror Movies
03 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever heard inappropriate laughter during a horror movie? For that matter, are you the guilty party? Join Robert and Christian as they explore...
Bonus: R. Scott Bakker, Consciousness & Consult
29 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this special bonus episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, author R. Scott Bakker returns to the show for a discussion of consciousness, philosophy, ar...
Bicameralism, Part 2: The Silent Pantheon
28 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In 1976, psychologist Julian Jaynes presented the world with a stunning new take on the history of human consciousness. His book “The Origin of Cons...
Bicameralism, Part 1: The Voice of God
26 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In 1976, psychologist Julian Jaynes presented the world with a stunning new take on the history of human consciousness. His book “The Origin of Cons...
Timothy Leary, Part 2: Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out
21 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Idolized by some and reviled by others, Timothy Leary remains an icon of 1960s counterculture and psychedelic self-exploration. But who was this rebel...
Timothy Leary, Part 1: The Science of LSD
19 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Idolized by some and reviled by others, Timothy Leary remains an icon of 1960s counterculture and psychedelic self-exploration. But who was this rebel...
Listener Mail: Media and Memory
14 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Join Robert, Joe and Christian for another listener mail extravaganza! They'll read your feedback on human memory, science communication, Chinese cult...
Poison and the Rhino Horn
12 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Can a chalice made of rhino horn detect poison? Can its ground powder serve as an aphrodisiac? The science is at best sketchy on both fronts, but such...
The Psychology of Tattoos
07 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Do you have a tattoo? If so, you probably have an interesting story to go with it, or some personal insight into just what the design and the experien...
Chakram: Spinning Death in Myth, War & Physics
05 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It’s easy to assume that spinning, ring-shaped blades are weapons best left to Hindu gods and TV warrior princesses. But long before humans invented...
Green Beard Genes
31 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Join Robert and Joe as they explore the world of green beard genes and their role in biological altruism. The Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast takes yo...
Shared False Memories and The Mandela Effect
29 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If you’ve ever reminisced with friends about movies that never existed or historical details that never came to pass, then you’ve experienced the ...
Are we condemned to repeat history?
24 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Philosopher George Santayana said that 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' If that’s true, then can an extensive unders...
Greek Fire: The Byzantine Secret Weapon
22 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
To engage the ships of Byzantine Empire was to risk the horrors of Greek fire, a medieval weapons system that empowered ships to spew forth flaming li...
Six Deadly Poisons
17 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Deadly elixirs in tiny bottles play into the cruelest machinations of history, fiction and myth. In this episode of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcas...
Path of Totality: See the Eclipse!
15 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a total solar eclipse sweeping across the center of the United States on Monday, August 21, 2017, so here’s a special Stuff to Blow Your M...
Alien Abduction Experience, Part 2
10 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What are we to make of alien abduction experiences? Scientific investigation points to a barrage of logical explanations for abnormal sensory experien...
Alien Abduction Experience, Part 1
08 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What are we to make of alien abduction experiences? Scientific investigation points to a barrage of logical explanations for abnormal sensory experien...
The Science of Secrets
03 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Can you keep a secret? If so, what's the psychic weight of that secret? How does secret keeping fit into human evolution and the modern shape of human...
The Buddha is a Mountain
01 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
One of the largest historical statues in the world, China’s Lèshān Grand Buddha has overlooked the Dàdù river for 1200 years. Carved from the si...
Sharks of Summer (with Marah Hardt of ‘Sex in the Sea’)
27 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If you watch enough 'Jaws' and Shark Week, you’re bound to see sharks as ravenous death machines. But is it really more appropriate to think of thes...
Svalbard: Land of Snow and Apocalypse Arks
25 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard has it all: glaciers, polar bears, scientific researchers and an epic seed vault built to survive the apocalypse...
Summer Reading: Aliens, Microbes, Cocktails and More
20 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It's time once again for Robert, Joe and Christian to share a selection of fiction, nonfiction and comic book reads to enhance your summer travels -- ...
The Biophilia Hypothesis
18 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Why are humans so drawn to the natural world of biodiverse organisms? Is this longing merely part of our culture or do we possess an innate and even g...
Artificial Gravity: Cosmic Wheels and Hurtling Towers
13 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Humans are creatures of gravity. We’re born into it. Life as we know it evolved to thrive in it. So what’s a gravitational organism to do in the l...
Order out of Chaos: How to Create a Universe
11 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Numerous mythologies speak to the birth of our universe out of darkness and chaos, but can humans follow in the footsteps of the gods? Can we create a...
Cultural Appropriation
06 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve all heard charges of cultural appropriation in everything from fashion and music to personal world view, but what’s actually at stake here? ...
Sword of the Samurai
04 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Appreciation for the katana cuts across cultures and genres, slicing into the hearts of history buffs, japanophiles, comic book fans and more. But wha...
Ticks, Mites and Mysterious Lone Star Illnesses
29 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Ticks are, in the words of Pliny the Elder, 'the foulest and nastiest creature that be.' If these blood sucking arachnids and their mite brethren were...
CRISPR and the Genetic Astronaut
27 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In 1960, scientists Nathan Kline and Manfred Clynes envisioned a spacefaring cyborg, technologically augmented to endure the rigors of space travel. T...
Extended Cognition: Brain, Fingers, Web and Krang
22 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It’s easy to think yourself a mere brain within a human body -- a cognitive machine making sense out of all the incoming sense data from outside wor...