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.
176
Who let the wolves in?
Dogs were the first domesticated animal in history, emerging from wolves some 20,000 years ago.
22 min
177
Why do we have a moon?
In all our searching of the universe, we’ve never seen another moon like ours.
24 min
178
The Black Box: In AI we trust?
AI can often solve problems in unexpected, undesirable ways.
28 min
179
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
180
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
181
Why do we dream?
Dreams are weird, but can they be a scientific tool?
20 min
182
Cracking the Indus code
The Indus Valley civilization was one of the largest, most advanced civilizations in the ancient world.
21 min
183
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
184
Expecting: Weed and pregnancy
Many states have extremely punitive policies around cannabis and pregnancy.
30 min
185
Expecting: Baby brain
Caring for a child seems to change parents’ brains.
25 min
186
Expecting: Pregnancy souvenirs
Fetuses leave cells behind in their parents' bodies, where they braid themselves into tissues, and remain, for years.
34 min
187
The tornado problem
2023 has been a record-setting year for tornadoes, and these storms came with barely any warning.
22 min
188
How to resurrect a mammoth
Scientists are hard at work trying to bring back woolly mammoths (and dodos).
30 min
189
Live show, dead dinosaurs
We did a live show!
34 min
190
Talking trees
Studies suggesting trees communicate through an elaborate underground fungal network have captured imaginations.
21 min
191
Your questions, unexplained
This week, we tackle three listener questions — on sleepwalking, deja vu, and Earth’s magnetic field.
24 min
192
What's so funny?
Scientists are digging into what makes something funny.
16 min
193
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
194
Origins: The first living thing
How did life on Earth start?
25 min
195
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
196
What is love?
Can science help us predict whether a relationship will succeed?
30 min
197
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
198
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
199
Your creepy, crawly roommates
Our houses are homes to hidden worlds of bugs.
24 min
200
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