BrainStuff
2,726 episodes — Page 24 of 55
Can Foods Really Boost Your Immune System?
Eating particular foods can indeed help your immune system -- but it's not exactly a boost. Learn how certain nutrients help your body fight infections (and how to get those nutrients) in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
BrainStuff Classics: Can Playing Pretend Help Kids Focus?
When kids pretend to be a hero like Batman, it lets them separate themselves from temptation and stay on task. Learn more about the Batman Effect in this classic episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
BrainStuff Classics: What Can Space Missions Teach Us About Ourselves?
NASA's epic Cassini mission taught us a lot about Saturn and its moons -- and about ourselves, too. Learn more about it in this classic episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Why Does Grief Sometimes Come in Waves?
A grief attack, sometimes called a Sudden (or Subsequent) Temporary Upsurge in Grief, can feel debilitating -- but they are temporary. Learn more about STUGs in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Did Triceratops Work?
These gigantic, plant-eating, three-horned dinosaurs were some of the last that walked the Earth. Learn more about Triceratops in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Are Hot Dogs Made?
What actually goes into these sausages that American eat by the billion? Learn how hot dogs work in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Does the Butterfly Effect Work?
The term 'butterfly effect' was coined in the 1960s to help explain how complicated weather is, but it can be applied to many complex or chaotic systems. Learn more about the butterfly effect (and what we often get wrong about it) in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Why Do We Celebrate Labor Day?
Labor Day signals the end of summer in the United States and Canada, but it began as a celebration of workers and their hard-earned rights. Learn about the history of Labor Day in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
BrainStuff Classics: How Did Boston and New York's Accents Develop?
These two American English accents were influenced by British English accents -- but were British accents influenced by them? And what does Boston have against the letter 'R'? Learn more about these accents in this classic episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
BrainStuff Classics: What Made the Prehistoric 'Hell Ant' So Diabolical?
Instead of a mouth, the hell ant had blades and a metal horn. Learn more about this prehistoric creature on BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Why Is a Universal Flu Vaccine So Difficult to Develop?
Today's flu vaccines can absolutely prevent or lessen an influenza infection, but they have to be taken yearly and don't always work. Learn why -- and what researchers are doing about it -- in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Did Paintings Portray Food More Realistically Than Instagram?
People have been depicting wildly lavish foods for a lot longer than Instagram has been around. Learn about the history of what people eat versus what they show in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Are Most Words Already Trademarked?
Spoiler alert: Yep, most of the commonly used words (and names!) in the English language are already trademarked. Learn more about how trademarks work in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What Does It Mean to Be a Modern-Day Explorer?
The planet Earth is fairly well charted at this point, but we humans still have a drive to explore. Learn how modern-day exploration works in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Can You Help After a Natural Disaster?
Seeing footage after a hurricane or other natural disaster makes us want to help, but some actions are a better use of time and money than others. Learn how to make your aid go the furthest in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
BrainStuff Classics: How Do Squirrels Organize Their Nuts?
Research suggests that squirrels use memory strategies to remember where they put the good nuts. Learn more in this classic episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
BrainStuff Classics: How Old Is the Number Zero?
An analysis of the ancient Indian Bakhshali manuscript suggests the numerical symbol zero, as we use it today, may be centuries older than previously believed. Learn more in this classic episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What Do the Numbers on Interstate Signs Mean?
American interstates aren't given those numbers randomly. Learn how information is coded into every number -- and how this high-speed road system got its start -- in today's episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What's the Largest Lake in the World?
Siberia's Lake Baikal is so massive that it contains islands that have their own lakes. Learn about this ocean in the making, its amazing wildlife, and the myths about it in today's episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Do Hurricanes Get Their Names?
Hurricanes weren't always given names. Learn how the tradition began and how the names rotate from year to year in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Who Were the First Cowboys?
The cowboy is an American icon, but the profession originated with Native American workers tending Spanish horses and cattle in Central America. Learn about the vaquero in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What Were the World's Last Woolly Mammoths?
Early humans did help hunt woolly mammoths to extinction, but the last surviving pockets of these animals were remote from humans. Learn more about them in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
BrainStuff Classics: Are Wolves Smarter Than Dogs?
A new study put dogs and wolves head to head in the intelligence department. Guess which species won? Find out on BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
BrainStuff Classics: What Ruined City Lies Under Tunisia's Waters?
Archaeologists discovered what they believe to be ruins of the Roman city of Neapolis in the Mediterranean, near Tunisia. Learn what they found out about it in this classic episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Do Trebuchets Work?
Trebuchets are a type of catapult that crushed castles in the Middle Ages. Learn how these siege engines helped kingdoms wage war in today's episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Micro Are Microclimates?
We often think of climate on the global scale, but trends in weather can be much smaller -- a whole climate can be tracked on the surface of a leaf. Learn more about microclimates in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Does Jane Elliott's Blue Eyes/Brown Exercise Work?
In the 1960s, a Midwestern elementary school teacher became famous -- or infamous -- for walking her third-grade class through an exercise about racial discrimination. Learn about Jane Elliott and her blue eyes/brown eyes exercise in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Who Insures Race Cars and Their Drivers?
Yes, race cars and race car drivers buy insurance, too -- and yes, it works a little differently. Learn about how NASCAR teams are insured in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Why Does Fertilizer Sometimes Explode?
We usually think of fertilizer as being a good thing -- so how can it cause so much destruction? Learn why ammonium nitrate can cause deadly explosions in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
BrainStuff Classics: Can Getting a Doctorate Affect Your Mental Health?
Research shows that doctoral programs can incite some serious problems. Learn how getting a Ph.D. affects mental health in this classic episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
BrainStuff Classics: Why Is a Brain-Shaped Blob In Canada?
The magnificent bryozoan is a colonial organism that usually lives in warm ponds and lakes east of the Mississippi River. Learn what it's doing in western Canada in this classic episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Can Hair Be Tougher than Razor Blades?
Hair is much softer than steel. So how can shaving cause a razor blade to dull? Learn how a few researchers figured out the answer -- and how they may provide a solution -- in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What Family Has Won the Most Nobel Prizes?
Spoiler alert: Marie and Pierre Curie started the family that has won more Nobel prizes than any other in history. Learn the Curie family's story in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Who Owns the Rights to Dinosaur Fossils?
In some countries, important fossils are considered shared cultural heritage and can't be privately owned; in others, private sellers can make millions off dino fossils at auction. Learn more about owning dinosaur remains in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Why Does the White House Have a Rose Garden?
The White House's Rose Garden is a presidential sanctuary and event space for gatherings big and small -- but how did it get started? Learn about the history of the Rose Garden in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What Are Daddy Longlegs, Anyway?
There's an urban myth that daddy longlegs are the world's most venomous spiders, but most creatures by this name are neither venomous nor spiders. Learn more about daddy longlegs in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
BrainStuff Classics: What Do Hurricane Categories Mean?
Hurricanes are the strongest storms on the planet, but there's a big difference between a Category 1 and a Category 5 (and all the storms in between). Learn more about how we classify hurricanes in this classic episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
BrainStuff Classics: How Did Plesiosaurs Swim So Efficiently?
Ancient Plesiosaurs moved through the water unlike any other animal since. Learn what recent research found about them in this classic episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Did the Saltwater Underground Railroad Work?
In America, most of the Underground Railroad moved enslaved people north to freedom -- but Florida's Saltwater Underground Railroad moved people south, to the Bahamas. Learn how it worked in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Are You Putting on Enough Sunscreen?
We all know sunscreen can help save our skin, but new research indicates that most of us aren't using it correctly. Learn how to get the most out of your UV protection in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Where Should You Go on a Science Road Trip?
There are adventures to be had everywhere, but we've picked a few of our favorite science-themed road trip destinations to spark your curiosity. Learn about beautiful places to explore fossils, geology, and rocket science in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Do Tanuki Work?
Tanuki are East Asian animals that look like a dog with the face of a raccoon. Learn about their behavior and the myths surrounding them in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Will NASA's Perseverance Rover Search for Ancient Life on Mars?
A new rover is on its way to Mars to search for signs of ancient life. Learn about the Perseverance and its mission (including testing the Ingenuity robotic helicopter) in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
BrainStuff Classics: Why Do Balloons Stick To Our Hair?
Recent research has deepened our understanding of balloons' hair-raising effect. Learn more in this classic episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
BrainStuff Classics: What's the Best Way To Park?
Do people who back their cars into parking spaces slow down the flow, or are they the smartest in the lot? Learn what science has to say about it in this classic episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Does Planet Mercury Work?
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, but it's often also the closest planet to Earth. Learn why -- and lots of other strange-but-true facts about Mercury -- in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Why Is There a Coin Shortage in America?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States has been experiencing a shortage of coins in circulation. Learn why -- and what may help fix it -- in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Long Can Andean Condors Fly Without Flapping Their WIngs?
Andean condors are seriously fuel efficient -- they only flap their wings for one percent of their total time in the air! Learn more about these amazing birds in today's episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What's the Difference Between Ethyl and Isopropyl Alcohol?
These two alcohols can both be used to make hand sanitizer, but only ethyl alcohol is drinkable. Learn how ethanol and isopropanol differ in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Is Frederick Douglass the Father of the Civil Rights Movement?
Frederick Douglass's skills as a writer an orator made him a face of the abolitionist movement and went on to help inform and inspire the Civil Rights movement. Learn more about Douglass in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.