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.
101
Who let the wolves in?
Dogs were the first domesticated animal in history, emerging from wolves some 20,000 years ago.
22 min
102
Why do we have a moon?
In all our searching of the universe, we’ve never seen another moon like ours.
24 min
103
The Black Box: In AI we trust?
AI can often solve problems in unexpected, undesirable ways.
28 min
104
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
105
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
106
Why do we dream?
Dreams are weird, but can they be a scientific tool?
20 min
107
Cracking the Indus code
The Indus Valley civilization was one of the largest, most advanced civilizations in the ancient world.
21 min
108
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
109
Expecting: Weed and pregnancy
Many states have extremely punitive policies around cannabis and pregnancy.
30 min
110
Expecting: Baby brain
Caring for a child seems to change parents’ brains.
25 min
111
Expecting: Pregnancy souvenirs
Fetuses leave cells behind in their parents' bodies, where they braid themselves into tissues, and remain, for years.
34 min
112
The tornado problem
2023 has been a record-setting year for tornadoes, and these storms came with barely any warning.
22 min
113
How to resurrect a mammoth
Scientists are hard at work trying to bring back woolly mammoths (and dodos).
30 min
114
Live show, dead dinosaurs
We did a live show!
34 min
115
Talking trees
Studies suggesting trees communicate through an elaborate underground fungal network have captured imaginations.
21 min
116
Your questions, unexplained
This week, we tackle three listener questions — on sleepwalking, deja vu, and Earth’s magnetic field.
24 min
117
What's so funny?
Scientists are digging into what makes something funny.
16 min
118
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
119
Origins: The first living thing
How did life on Earth start?
25 min
120
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
121
What is love?
Can science help us predict whether a relationship will succeed?
30 min
122
Why we hiccup
Listeners told us that eating baby carrots or telling lies can bring on the hiccups. Burping or kissing can make them stop. Um, what?
27 min
123
We booped an asteroid
Last fall, a NASA spacecraft slammed into an asteroid to test a way to avert a disaster on Earth. So are we safe now?
20 min
124
Your creepy, crawly roommates
Our houses are homes to hidden worlds of bugs.
24 min
125
Henrietta Leavitt and the end of the universe
In the early 1900s, Henrietta Leavitt made one of the most important discoveries in the history of astronomy: a yardstick to measure distances to faraway stars.
29 min