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.
51
Did we find signs of life on Mars?
NASA found a Martian rock that might have traces of ancient life.
31 min
52
The metabolism myth
Recent research — and one surprising season of The Biggest Loser — has scientists wondering whether some of the most basic things they know about metabolism are wrong.
27 min
53
The Vagina Voyages
Join our friends at The Longest Shortest Time for a deep dive into the misunderstood world of vaginas.
36 min
54
A rabbi and the Lorax walk into a bar...
How the bedtime stories we grew up with inspire the stories we tell now.
19 min
55
Is a little alcohol bad for you?
We spoke to two researchers who disagree about the answer to this question.
26 min
56
Ice Sheet Time Machine
The US military carved a tiny city into the Greenland ice sheet.
29 min
57
Animals in the year 20202025
What do scientists think animals might be like millions of years from now?
24 min
58
Nightmare at the end of the universe
Dark energy is the strange stuff that makes up the vast majority of the universe and will ultimately lead to the end of everything.
23 min
59
Life in plastic — not fantastic?
Much of our modern world is made of plastic, but as more signs point to its dangers to human health, what can we even do about it?
27 min
60
When waves go rogue
Towering walls of water sometimes appear in the ocean without warning or apparent cause.
25 min
61
Good news for people who love bad news
Good news can be hard to find, especially when our brains — and the media — are biased against it.
25 min
62
12 tiny worlds
If you went back 500 million years and re-ran evolution, would life be totally different today?
33 min
63
How good was Michael Jordan, really?
Our friends at Pablo Torre Finds Out uncovered something that throws an entire basketball era into question.
42 min
64
One weird trick to get unlimited clean energy
Is a solution to climate change…pouring water on hot rocks?
21 min
65
Who taught beavers to build dams?
How does any animal know what to do?
26 min
66
The disease we let win
We have a cure for tuberculosis.
29 min
67
Science! Tell me what to eat!
Figuring out the perfect healthy diet remains stubbornly out of reach.
54 min
68
A magical world at the ocean’s edge
In coastal California, researchers grapple with potentially losing a landscape they love.
34 min
69
Ruff translation
We love our pets.
28 min
70
Sick of “morning” sickness
If pregnant people need to eat for two, why do so many of us puke morning, noon, and night?
29 min
71
Your bug roommates
Our houses are homes to hidden worlds of bugs.
24 min
72
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
73
Mostly dead is slightly alive
When bringing people to the edge of death is your day job.
16 min
74
We don't understand yogurt
Many physicists dream of coming up with a unified theory of the universe.
16 min
75
The musical structure of the universe
If matter is a result of vibration, what causes the vibration?
49 min