Stuff To Blow Your Mind

Do you see a Thailand-shaped birthmark on Gorbachev's forehead? Do clouds remind you of Australia and Indonesia? You may have cartocacoethes, the compulsion to see maps everywhere.Join Robert and Julie as they discuss the past, present and future of maps. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maps show us familiar places as well as far-flung locales that quietly beckon, intertwining the past, present and future. Join Julie and Robert as they explore how our brains work on maps, from neurons to the role of memory and storytelling in mapmaking. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In part two of their 2012 Ig Nobel Prize coverage, Robert and Julie take listeners through some of the more amazing winners at this year's awards ceremony. From monkey butts to exploding colonoscopies, first you'll laugh and then you'll think. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yes, scientists have a sense of humor - and they have to if their big invention is a bra that doubles as a gas mask. Join Julie and Robert as they explore the Ig Nobel prizes - plus some of the strange studies honored at the 2012 awards ceremony. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whether you prefer cats, dogs or snakes, you have to admit that humanity's relationship with felines is mysterious. Why do we live with these super predators? What does "meow" mean? Are they really our friends? Join Julie and Robert as they investigate. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bats live in a sonic universe. They call out into the night and construct the world from their song. They listen to the sounds of prey, predator and the social squeaking of other bats. In this episode, Robert and Julie listen in on the song of the bat. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is the bat the most successful mammal on the planet? Quite possibly! In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Julie and Robert explore the insect-munching, fruit-drinking, blood-lapping world of these amazing winged sound warriors. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2012, Tony Robbins marched thousands of barefoot followers through the coals, injuring under two dozen of them. What was going on in their minds (and in their feet)? Join Robert and Julie as they discuss the physics and mindset of the firewalker. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How much of your environment is made out of plastic? Where does it come from? Where does it go? How does plastic affect your iPhone's weight? Join Julie and Robert as they discuss humanity's relationship with plastic and the great Pacific garbage patch. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if you could skip a night's sleep without any side effects? It may sound impossible, but the age of sleep replacement drugs is just around the corner. Join Julie and Robert as they discuss the DARPA-funded meds that might let us dodge those 40 winks. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

City Creatures: Does a crowded street make you care less about your fellow man? Population density manipulates organisms in subtle and shocking ways. Join Robert and Julie as they look at how animals and humans respond to cramped conditions and depleted resources. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What strange thoughts fill the brains of cephalopods? Do they ponder mysteries in their lightless lairs? Join Julie and Robert as they dive into the fascinating world of cephalopod intelligence, from the crafty octopus to the social cuttlefish and more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Finally, a podcast about Andre the Giant, dinosaurs and Nuralagus rex the bunny king. In this episode, Julie and Robert discuss gigantism. What causes some humans to become giants? Why are island ecosystems like Wonderland? Tune in to learn more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hear The Mermaids Singing: Humans have dreamed of mermaids for ages, but is there any substance to these myths? Is the aquatic ape theory more than just a tale for lonely sailors? Join Robert and Julie as they cast their science net and reel in something half-human and half-fish. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mother's Milk: Milk isn't just an infant-sustaining breast beverage. Join Julie and Robert as they explore the world of lactation. How does milk strengthen our bodies against infection? When did humans mutate into cross-species milk guzzlers? Tune in to learn more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What exactly is personhood? Over time, the term "person" has evolved to include numerous concepts. In this episode, Julie and Robert explore the nature of personhood and sticky concept of consciousness as applied to animals and robots. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What exactly is personhood? Over time, the term "person" has evolved to include numerous concepts. In this episode, Julie and Robert explore the nature of personhood, why corporations are considered meta-people and the sticky concept of consciousness. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A woman in a museum stares into your soul. A man implants a cybernetic ear on his arm. A dog starves. In this episode, Robert and Julie dive into the world of performance art, discussing the works of such notable artists as Marina Abramovi? and Stelarc. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What goes on inside the minds of babes? Quite a lot, as it turns out. In this episode, Julie and Robert peer inside the infant brain to learn about their enhanced state of consciousness. Plus find out what baby brains have to do with alien abductions. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When it comes making art, most of us operate under a set of rules. So what happens when you feed machines code for churning out art? Plenty, as it turns out. And if creativity is the seat of the soul, what does that say about our uniqueness? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From screaming infants to cinematic scream queens, there's no denying the universal language of yelling. But why do we do it? What are we communicating? In this episode, Julie and Robert explain how a little screaming can do you a world of good. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You can learn a lot from an animal's scat, even if that animal hasn't walked the Earth since prehistoric times. In this episode, Robert and Julie explore the fascinating world of coprolite and ponder just what ancient humans and creatures ate. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you're tired of hearing about the Higgs "don't-call-me-a-god-particle" Boson but still want to know what it is, then this is the podcast episode for you. In this episode, Robert and Julie recount our hunt for the Higgs and what it means for science. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sure, you're no stranger to yoga, but how much do you know about its ancient origins in magical ritual and tantric sex? In this episode, Julie and Robert peer into yoga's sensual past and consult modern science on what yoga can do for your sex life. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

About 20 million people in the U.S. practice some form of yoga. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind Julie and Robert suss out the claims and revelations -- could it really be a telomere fountain of youth? And what poses should a newbie never do? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The parasitic worm onchocerciasis carries uses a bacterial cloaking device to colonize the human body, causing tremendous suffering and even blindness. Luckily, the Carter Center is waging a campaign against the parasite. Tune in to learn more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Illusionists merely engage a fiction of sorcery, but there's a rich foundation of neuroscience beneath the smoke and mirrors. In this episode, Julie and Robert explore the ways in which magicians manipulate our senses and the inner workings of our minds. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's far more to military camouflage than painting a tank green. As Robert and Julie discuss in this episode, camouflage design incorporates both the neuroscience of how we perceive the world and the art of cubism and textile design. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all know the potentially dangerous effects of microgravity, but what are the long-term effects? Join Robert and Julie as they wonder what life will be like if evolution continues in space. Imagine the plants and the strange humans who will tend them. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Internet continues to spread its roots through our world, and soon it will launch cosmic seeds, spreading digital humanity into space. How will it all happen? In this episode, Julie and Robert contemplate the future of an interplanetary Internet. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

" Humans have mapped the microbiome and changed our understanding of the bacterial worlds thriving inside us. How will this affect our war on bacteria and the state of modern medicine? Julie and Robert discuss all of these questions in this episode." Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Armed with state-of-the-art telescopes and other high-tech tools, astronomers are spotting new worlds at an astonishing rate. Could any of these planets support life? In this episode, Robert and Julie explore the continuing search for habitable planets elsewhere in the universe. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Robert and Julie suit up and venture into the dark and Gigery heart of 'Prometheus.' They’ll examine the film’s futuristic science as well as some of its themes. And fear not! You’ll only encounter spoilers after the commercial break. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

" Don't underestimate the power of the storyteller. His tale may begin with whimsy, but by the end of it he'll have changed the world you live in. He might even change who you are. In this episode, Julie and Robert examine fiction's effect on reality. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Horror: Why do we enjoy scary movies or a stroll through a haunted house? How is our response colored by our genes, evolution and culture? In this episode, Julie and Robert take a close look at what scares us and why we're so addicted to terror. Image: Doug Gray/© Illustration Works/Corbis Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tales of the enfant terrible have been with us for ages, terrifying us with the notion that strangeness in children portends something darker. But what does science have to say on the matter? Can children be psychopaths? If so, is there any hope for them? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Underwater operas? Submerged speaker systems? Mysterious deep sea noises and the monsters who make them? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Julie explore the rich world of underwater sound. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is there really gold in them there asteroids? Yes, and one private space company already has a three-step plan to suck them dry. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Julie explore the near and long-term future of asteroid mining. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The mythical centaur represented man's dual nature -- and as one biologist points out, the creature would also need two hearts. In this episode, Robert and Julie discuss all things centaur, from the creature's symbolic meaning to its fictional anatomy. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Need new ideas for your summer reading? In this episode, Julie and Robert share their favorite books as well as a heads-up on what they intend to read this summer. Tune in to learn more about mind-blowing science fiction, non-fiction and literary fiction. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's something awe-inspiring about the prospect of a primordial mother figure. Scientists actually discovered such a woman - and her ghost resides in the genetics of every living human. In this episode, Julie and Robert get to know Mitochondrial Eve. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our outer layer of flesh is beautiful, disgusting, painful and erotic. But what is it, exactly? What role does it play in anatomy and how will we change it in the future? In this episode, Robert and Julie take a close look at the skin we live in. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We've all heard about panspermia, in which the building blocks of life theoretically travel to Earth from elsewhere. But from where, exactly? In this episode, Julie and Robert glimpse inside the nebulae of creation. Also, Robert talks about "The Blob." Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sure, your chances of going down in a plane crash are pretty slim -- but what if it actually happens? Without a parachute, how can you hope to survive a deadly drop to Earth's surface? In this episode, Robert and Julie discuss your survival plan. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can psychedelic drugs help prepare terminal patients for death? Can MDMA ease the pain of dying through the ultimate transcendent experience? In this episode, Julie and Robert discuss what some researchers believe may be the future of end-of-life care. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Civilizations surround themselves in walls. They raise walls against enemies, against the environment and against the spirit world. In this episode, Robert and Julie examine walls, from Ming Dynasty battlements to the galactic borders of our universe. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is hibernation exactly? Is it the opposite of sleep? Is it the future of manned space exploration? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Julie and Robert enter the hibernacula and discuss this perplexing biologic state. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How much junk can we accumulate in Earth's orbit before we seal off our world? Before we cut the planet off from the cosmos and doom civilization to a new dark age? In this episode, Robert and Julie look skyward to space exploration's garbage. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imagine a contact lens that displays data against your eyeball, delivering everything from sports scores to soap operas. Contact lens display technology may make this a reality. In this episode, Robert and Julie explore this future augmented reality. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whether awake or dreaming, our neocortex is always shuffling about data and creating stories. But what if you could enter your dream and become the master of your fate? Join Julie and Robert as they weave a tale about how and why we lucid dream. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.