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
What’s A
The centuries-old international battle over the real sound of a musical note.
24 min
52
Did we find signs of life on Mars?
NASA found a Martian rock that might have traces of ancient life.
31 min
53
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
54
The Vagina Voyages
Join our friends at The Longest Shortest Time for a deep dive into the misunderstood world of vaginas.
36 min
55
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
56
Is a little alcohol bad for you?
We spoke to two researchers who disagree about the answer to this question.
26 min
57
Ice Sheet Time Machine
The US military carved a tiny city into the Greenland ice sheet.
29 min
58
Animals in the year 20202025
What do scientists think animals might be like millions of years from now?
24 min
59
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
60
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
61
When waves go rogue
Towering walls of water sometimes appear in the ocean without warning or apparent cause.
25 min
62
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
63
12 tiny worlds
If you went back 500 million years and re-ran evolution, would life be totally different today?
33 min
64
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
65
One weird trick to get unlimited clean energy
Is a solution to climate change…pouring water on hot rocks?
21 min
66
Who taught beavers to build dams?
How does any animal know what to do?
26 min
67
The disease we let win
We have a cure for tuberculosis.
29 min
68
Science! Tell me what to eat!
Figuring out the perfect healthy diet remains stubbornly out of reach.
54 min
69
A magical world at the ocean’s edge
In coastal California, researchers grapple with potentially losing a landscape they love.
34 min
70
Ruff translation
We love our pets.
28 min
71
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
72
Your bug roommates
Our houses are homes to hidden worlds of bugs.
24 min
73
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
74
Mostly dead is slightly alive
When bringing people to the edge of death is your day job.
16 min
75
We don't understand yogurt
Many physicists dream of coming up with a unified theory of the universe.
16 min