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 every Wednesday.
76
How to decode a thought
Can researchers decipher what people are thinking about just by looking at brain scans?
29 min
77
It’s getting harder to see
Something about modern life is leading to higher rates of nearsightedness across the world.
19 min
78
Jumping the gun
At last year’s World Athletics Championships, sprinter TyNia Gaither was disqualified for false starting... after the gun went off.
31 min
79
Can we talk to animals?
Two scientists explain how AI might help us translate animal communication, and what we might learn from their squawks, chirps, songs, and chatter.
31 min
80
Unexplainable or Not: Beach day!
Sam Sanders, host of Vulture’s Into It podcast, is in the hot seat for a new episode of our game show.
27 min
81
Who let the wolves in?
Dogs were the first domesticated animal in history, emerging from wolves some 20,000 years ago.
22 min
82
Why do we have a moon?
In all our searching of the universe, we’ve never seen another moon like ours.
24 min
83
The Black Box: In AI we trust?
AI can often solve problems in unexpected, undesirable ways.
28 min
84
The Black Box: Even AI’s creators don’t underst...
AI has the potential to impact our society in dramatic ways, but researchers can’t explain precisely how it works or how it might evolve.
32 min
85
Do animals grieve?
A dog on its owner’s grave. A killer whale carrying around its dead calf. A goose that isolates when its mate dies.
24 min
86
Why do we dream?
Dreams are weird, but can they be a scientific tool?
20 min
87
Cracking the Indus code
The Indus Valley civilization was one of the largest, most advanced civilizations in the ancient world.
21 min
88
Awestruck
Awe is what takes our breath away when we face a sky full of stars or listen to a moving piece of music.
22 min
89
Expecting: Weed and pregnancy
Many states have extremely punitive policies around cannabis and pregnancy.
30 min
90
Expecting: Baby brain
Caring for a child seems to change parents’ brains.
25 min
91
Expecting: Pregnancy souvenirs
Fetuses leave cells behind in their parents' bodies, where they braid themselves into tissues, and remain, for years.
34 min
92
The tornado problem
2023 has been a record-setting year for tornadoes, and these storms came with barely any warning.
22 min
93
How to resurrect a mammoth
Scientists are hard at work trying to bring back woolly mammoths (and dodos).
30 min
94
Live show, dead dinosaurs
We did a live show!
34 min
95
Talking trees
Studies suggesting trees communicate through an elaborate underground fungal network have captured imaginations.
21 min
96
Your questions, unexplained
This week, we tackle three listener questions — on sleepwalking, deja vu, and Earth’s magnetic field.
24 min
97
What's so funny?
Scientists are digging into what makes something funny.
16 min
98
Origins: The meaning of “life”
For every definition of life, there’s a creature that sends us right back to the drawing board.
23 min
99
Origins: The first living thing
How did life on Earth start?
25 min
100
Origins: How did Earth get its water?
Life as we know it needs water, but scientists can’t figure out where Earth’s water came from.
23 min