Unexplainable

Unexplainable takes listeners right up to the edge of what we know…and then keeps on going. The Unexplainable team — Noam Hassenfeld, Julia Longoria, Byrd Pinkerton, and Meradith Hoddinott — tackles scientific mysteries, unanswered questions, and everything we learn diving into the unknown. New episodes Mondays and Wednesdays.


From Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Science
Life Sciences
Natural Sciences
26
Your bug roommates
Our houses are homes to hidden worlds of bugs.
24 min
27
Why I left the NIH
Francis Collins oversaw some of the most revolutionary science of the last few decades at the National Institutes of Health.
36 min
28
Mostly dead is slightly alive
When bringing people to the edge of death is your day job.
16 min
29
We don't understand yogurt
Many physicists dream of coming up with a unified theory of the universe.
16 min
30
The musical structure of the universe
If matter is a result of vibration, what causes the vibration?
49 min
31
How to beat roulette
You’ll need your best friend, a computer in your shoe, and a working knowledge of physics.
17 min
32
Is climate change really making hurricanes worse?
The answer isn’t as clear as you might think.
17 min
33
Are we sure about fluoride?
Florida just became the second state to ban fluoride from its water system, which has made some public health experts pretty angry.
26 min
34
The man who walked butterflies on a leash
Static electricity plays an invisible role in the natural world, and it may even help insects pollinate plants.
22 min
35
Imagine a sunset, now imagine you can't
Aphantasia is the inability to see with your mind’s eye.
21 min
36
An imaginary planet that feels extremely real
Scavengers Reign, the Emmy-winning Netflix show, has done something most sci-fi shows or movies struggle to do.
21 min
37
The view from inside a volcano
The magma chambers at the heart of volcanoes are very deep and very hot.
21 min
38
Who are you calling a Neanderthal?
Rumors of Neanderthal brutishness have been greatly exaggerated.
15 min
39
Sorry, we left an implant in your brain
What happens when you get a life-changing device implanted into your body... and then the company that maintains it goes bankrupt?
31 min
40
Blood farm
Tens of thousands of lives could be saved each year if hospitals had more blood.
23 min
41
Moon genes
We know life on Earth wouldn't be possible without the moon.
21 min
42
How to stop your hiccups
Listeners told us that eating baby carrots or telling lies can bring on the hiccups.
27 min
43
A new way to listen
We have an exciting announcement!
2 min
44
Intraterrestrials
Deep inside the mud at the bottom of the ocean, scientists have found life that is so unusual they’ve had to create new branches on the tree of life to put it on.
21 min
45
How to talk to aliens
Scientists have been searching for aliens for decades.
22 min
46
Good Robot #4: Who, me?
What can we actually do as our world gets populated with more and more robots?
46 min
47
Good Robot #3: Let’s fix everything
A simple parable about a drowning child sparks a moral revolution.
42 min
48
Good Robot #2: Everything is not awesome
When a robot does bad things, who is responsible?
50 min
49
Good Robot #1: The magic intelligence in the sky
Before AI became a mainstream obsession, one thinker sounded the alarm about its catastrophic potential.
46 min
50
A strange signal from space
This week on Unexplainable or Not, the newest member of our team, Julia Longoria, tries to figure out which of three scientific mysteries about the sea, the land, and the sky has actually been solved.
32 min