Stuff To Blow Your Mind
Episodes
My Body is Made of Glass
21 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine waking to a new, terrifying sensation: Your seemingly organic body is actually made of glass. While doctors and loved ones insist otherwise, y...
Stigmata: Madness or Miracle?
16 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In the previous episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Christian explored the Christian tradition of the stigmata and its 13th century origina...
Stigmata: Patient Zero
14 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
According to Christian tradition, a stigmatic prays to God so zealously, so faithfully that Christ's crucifixion wounds of manifest in the form of ble...
Grizzly Bears from Outer Space
09 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A region of space barely a thousandth of a square degree on the sky contains a whopping 5,500 galaxies. Making the probability that there exists at le...
The Psychedelic Nightmare of Ergotism
07 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine an entire 15th-century town overcome by a collective waking nightmare. The afflicted walk the streets with blackened limbs and seeping sores, ...
The Future of Addiction
02 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Highly addictive substances like meth and heroin are formidable enemies for the recovering addict, but what does the future hold for their treatment? ...
The Science of Addiction
30 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
What is addiction? Why are some people predisposed to it and what happens in the brain when addiction takes hold? In this classic episode of Stuff to ...
The Memory Palace Revisited (with Nelson Dellis)
25 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Stroll into the memory palace, an imagined location that just might expand your brain power. In this classic episode you'll learn all about the Method...
Escape from Universe 25
23 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Explore Universe 25, a 101-square-inch tank designed as a utopia for mice and a mirror of human behavior. Every detail of the structure was crafted wi...
Detective Story
18 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone loves a good whodunit, but why does the figure of the fictional detective tower so staggeringly over the modern world? He or she is a seeker ...
Supernormal Stimuli
16 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
No longer limited by the constrains of their environment or biology, humans have remade their world. Why walk when you can soar? Why shout when you ca...
Techno-Religion for the Masses: Part 2
11 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We often think of technology and religion as distinct and separate worlds, but what happens when they converge? Join Robert and Joe in this two-part e...
Techno-Religion for the Masses: Part 1
09 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We often think of technology and religion as distinct and separate worlds, but what happens when they converge? Join Robert and Joe in this two-part e...
Mass Extinction: Earth's Cycle of Annihilation
04 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Five mass extinction events have ravaged the species of Earth, and we just might be living in the sixth. How can humanity survive the threat of cosmic...
Heartbeat in the Brain, Hole in the Skull
02 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Trepanation is an ancient surgical procedure and we've found the millennia-aged skulls to prove it - each punctured and gouged to relieve inner-pressu...
Silk of the Spider, Thread of the Future
28 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Spider silk is nothing short of an engineering marvel. Weight for weight, it's stronger than steel and tougher than Kevlar. But spiders are disagreeab...
Scientifically Sound Weather Superstitions
26 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
At one time in human history superstitions were the guiding force in a person's life -- rules of thumb to live by. Find out which pieces of lore and s...
The Science of Coincidence
21 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
What are we to make of coincidence? From the numerological cats cradles we weave around famous events to the curious ways human lives converge through...
Gazing into the Eclipse
19 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Amid the regular cycle of sun and moon stalks a darkness -- a darkness that ancient humans perceived as cosmic abandonment, portent and demonic disrup...
Vacation Tribulation
14 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Why do some people take vacations and others fret to take off time? We'll find out which nations go on holiday the most and least, the benefits of dow...
There's a Problem with Your Study
12 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Science has advanced human civilization to an astounding degree, but what happens when science gets it wrong? What does it mean that a good half of pu...
Power of the Nap
07 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Why do we feel so refreshed after a power nap and so sapped after a mega nap? Do coffee naps work and just what sort of benefits can we get out of an ...
Animal Sexual Fluidity
05 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Why do some species change sex and how to they carry out this remarkable transformation? This episode of the STBYM podcast takes you into a world of h...
The Ring of Gyges
30 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Before H.G. Wells' Invisible Man and J.R.R. Tolkien's One Ring, there was the Ring of Gyges: a mythical artifact that turned the wearer invisible. Wou...
Road Warriors
28 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Perhaps you've witnessed something you'd call "road rage" out there on Earth's highways. Perhaps you've even engaged in it yourself. But where does me...
Space Roar
23 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In 2006, NASA discovered "space roar" -a sound that's six times louder than what they expected to hear when they eavesdropped on space. Inexplicably w...
The Power of Polite
21 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Kindly step this way to the politeness theory where you'll discover the power of good manners. We'll also discuss which countries are the most polite ...
Satanic Panic
16 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
What are we to make of alleged ritual satanic abuse and the moral panic that spread in the 1980s and 90s? Christian Sager joins Robert for an explorat...
Grimoire: Occult Books and the Magic of Writing
14 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We're all familiar with such fictional grimoires as "The Necronomicon," but what about the rich legacy of occult books and cryptic tomes that preceded...
Mean World Syndrome
09 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Is there more violence in the world today, or have we just been watching too many CSI shows? In this episode of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast, J...
What's the largest snake that has ever existed?
07 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone loves a giant snake tale, but what's really the largest serpent on the planet? Hunt for the answer across space and time in this episode of t...
The Power of Shame
02 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Shame is a powerful emotion that, depending on the way you frame it, can be a force for either good or evil. Find out what the difference is between e...
The Gordian Knot of Race
31 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
To "see no color" is to gloss over the deep-seated racial issues that exist today. Find out about how something so abstract - like unconscious racial ...
The School to Prison Pipeline
26 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
No one ever says they want to be a convict when they grow up. Julie and Robert look at the School-to-Prison pipeline and the variables that form this ...
Send in the Exploding Termites
24 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Enter a world where toxic ants and termites explode at will to stave off murderous invasions - a world of highly-evolved chemical weapons an ruthless ...
Optimal Inattention
19 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
It may not always be polite but optimal inattention, aka willful ignoring, someone or something is a necessity. Let's explore with a study on hands an...
Leprechaun Hallucinations
17 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
It's Saint Patrick's Day, so our minds inevitably turn to the little people of Irish folklore. But diminutive fairy folk pop up in folk traditions aro...
Cry Me a River
12 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Tears are an integral part of the shared human language of expression -- even though at one time in history a display of public waterworks was conside...
Could you outrun a fireball?
10 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
It's a Hollywood classic: Our hero leaps in the nick of time, right before tendrils of flames close in. But could you escape a raging fire in real lif...
The Scent of Cognition
05 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We are enrobed in a world of scent, and as we know it's a heady powerful one -- with the power to make and summon memories. But this power is far more...
How much does the soul weigh?
03 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Is it possible to measure the energy lost when the "soul" departs the body? Take a tour of soul-weighing and the quest to make what is immaterial mate...
Respect the Rat
26 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
You may think rats are just vermin, but the fact is they own huge metropolitan cities like New York. And when it comes to science they've contributed ...
Pineal Optics: My Third Eye
24 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Prepare to open that third eye, listeners, because Robert and Julie are taking you on a journey from philosophical ponderings about human spirituality...
Love at First Sight
19 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Does love at first sight really exist? And is it biological or cultural? Stuff to Blow Your Mind explores this split-second phenomenon. Learn more ab...
Objects of Love
17 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We live in a world of objects to which we assign varying degrees of worth, from old newspapers to treasured action figures, family heirlooms and golde...
Sealed with a Bacterial Kiss
12 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Find out about the bacterial life of a passionate kiss as Robert and Julie explore the human smooch. Is kissing instinctual and learned, and what does...
Spanish Fly: The Deadly Aphrodisiac
10 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
It's easy to assume the so-called "Spanish fly" is nothing but a myth, but this legendary aphrodisiac is as real as it is deadly. Just why did humans ...
Lingerie Probability
05 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We live within the lingerie industrial complex, but dare we tease apart the lacy cords that bind us? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, explo...
In the Pink
03 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
From its modern gender connotations to its absence on the ROYGBIV electromagnetic spectrum, the color pink has a lot to answer for. Does staring into ...
Into the Ossuary: Consult the Bones - Part 2
29 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
You and your skeleton are cordially invited to join your Stuff to Blow Your Mind hosts on an excursion into the bone-choked depths of the HowStuffWork...
Into the Ossuary: Consult the Bones - Part 1
27 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
You and your skeleton are cordially invited to join your Stuff to Blow Your Mind hosts on an excursion into the bone-choked depths of the HowStuffWork...
Almost Blue
22 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Up in the sky and down in the ocean, blue is the endcap of our visuall existence.One that may even influence us subconsciously. Find out why this colo...
So Cute I Could Eat You Up
20 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
What do tears of joy and the desire to pinch a baby's cheek have to do with one another? Quite a lot. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, find...
Whisperings & ASMR
15 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Shhhh! Some of us are listening intently to a certain tone, one that sends waves of pleasure down our spine. It's called autonomous sensory meridian r...
Extraordinary Science of 2014
13 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Sex-reversed genitalia and tractor beams -- just a few of the extraordinary discoveries and breakthroughs of 2014. How have they changed our perceptio...
Astonishing Science of 2014
08 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Find out what the most astonishing moments in science were in 2014 and why they may just be game-changers for humanity. Learn more about your ad-choi...
Sonic Illusions
06 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine exploring a cave and discovering paintings that appear to come alive with a few claps of your hand. Enter the cave of forgotten sounds with Ro...
Brainhacking 101: New Year, New Habits
01 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
How long does it take to make or break a habit? Is this really the year you make major changes or learn a new craft? Robert and Julie break down the s...
Dung Beetle Mania!
30 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Find out how and why dung beetles have been capitalizing on poop in a big way for 30 million years. Also, these little guys may be the world's tiniest...
Give the Gift of a Mystery Box
25 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Why are mystery packages so appealing? How do they improve our mental faculties and fuel our creativity? In this classic episode, Robert and Julie sha...
The Necessary Spice
23 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Spices are essentially chemical weapons. They protect a plant from animals and microbes. yet humans long ago learned to hack these defenses and use th...
Scrooge: Post-traumatic Embitterment Disorder
18 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Was Scrooge's bitterness an actual mental disorder? And was his visitation by the ghosts of the past, present and future his subconscious mind's attem...
Deconstructing the Grinch
16 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Find out why the Grinch had the personality of a toadstool sandwich, with arsenic sauce. Robert and Julie explore the physiology of the Green One, not...
Mystery of the Antler
11 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Why do deer and moose boast antlers? How does this material grow faster than any living vertebrate bones on Earth? You'd think we'd know the answers t...
Bring Your Own Oxygen
09 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
What if you could suck all the oxygen out of a room with a nifty piece of material? Soon you may be able to with a crystalline material that stores, b...
The Future of Tattoos
04 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Whether you're a tattoo virgin or a sleeved-and-stamped ink enthusiast, there's no denying the cultural staying power of the tattoo. But where do we g...
The Science of Tattoos
02 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Tattoos allow us to make the outer body reflect the inner self. In a life of flux, they allow us to make names, symbols, gods and ideas a semi-permane...
The Science of Comfort
27 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
What does comfort mean to you? Thanksgiving dinner? A cup of tomato soup and a warm blanket? In this classic episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Rober...
Surviving Thanksgiving
25 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
You may not be the turkey on the chopping block, but holiday get-togethers with family can make you feel that way. Find out how to navigate the holida...
Fecal Transplants and You
20 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 v...
Listener Mail: Arnie's Revenge
18 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 epi...
Reboot the Biosphere
13 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 sci...
Two Years and 20 Minutes Inside Biosphere 2
11 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
The Spiral of Silence
06 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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....
Mass Hysteria and the Mad Gasser
04 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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? Len...
The Science of Uncanny Music
30 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 cla...
What's in a witches' brew?
28 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Gather round the cauldron with Robert and Julie as they ladle out hefty servings of magical thinking, medieval psychedelics, feminist history and the ...
The Dark
23 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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. Learn more abo...
Steven Johnson: How We Got to Now
21 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 Stev...
Trypophobia: Fear of Holes
16 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
The Zen of Pain
14 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 th...
The Infinity Hotel
09 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 i...
Infinity + One
07 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Contemplate the boundless. Contemplate the endless. Join Robert and Julie as they discuss what infinity is, what infinity isn't and the philosopher's ...
Wendigo...
02 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
What are we to make of this evil spirit of Algonquin folklore, said to transform unfortunate travelers into cannibalistic monsters? Have true accounts...
The Horror Movie Aphrodisiac
30 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 m...
How Rewilding Works
25 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 brin...
The Ghosts of Evolution
23 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
We now inhabit the Anthropocene era -- one where man-made environments have displaced entire ecosystems and the plants and animals that inhabited them...
Money and Happiness
18 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 fascinatin...
Greed Redux
16 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 loo...
The Myth of Average
11 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Find out why using statistical averages to understand individuals is a crappy strategy for healthcare and education. Robert and Julie also look at how...
Ignorance is Bliss
09 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 informa...
Attention Schema Theory: Consciousness and God
04 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Gaming the Flow
02 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 contentme...
Syphilis Through The Ages
28 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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. ...
Syphilis: The Great Imitator
26 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Doctors have called it the great imitator because this destructive venereal disease can manifest almost any symptom. Initially spreading through sexua...
The Mathematics of Happiness
21 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Is there a mathematical equation for happiness? Is there a formula for contentment? Explore the science and chase the ephemeral in this episode of Stu...
The Power of Origami
19 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 appl...
Quarantine
14 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 Stuf...
Understanding Ebola
12 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 Blo...
The Scientist and the Shaman: Hallucination
07 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
In this classic episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Julie and Robert continue their discussion of the overlap between shamanism and cognitive neurosci...