SciShow Tangents by Complexly

04.16.2024

Turtles

Devotees of the testudines rejoice! Whether you have one as a pet, admire them at the zoo, or giggle with the rest of the internet when they rock each other off logs, chances are high, we think, that you like...

04.03.2024

Teaser: Big vs. Small Patreon Bonus Episode

A wild teaser appears! This little snippet is the first part of our revisit of Big vs. Small and answering even more questions that we didn't get to in the episode. You can listen to the rest, and also a...

04.02.2024

Textiles

From expressing ourselves through fashion to protecting ourselves from the elements, textiles seem to be self-evidently significant to the human experience. But it's our goal on Tangents to always poke holes in the obvious, tear through distraction, and weave humor...

03.19.2024

Feathers

It may be well-known that hope is the thing with feathers, but how much is known about feathers themselves? Turns out, plenty! From shrub grouses to shuttlecocks and all the pea-babies (diminutive for peacocks, definitely for sure) in between, come...

03.05.2024

Garbage

Trash, rubbish, waste, refuse...we have a lot of words for the gunk that goes on the truck, because whether we like it or not, humans make a lot of garbage. Get comfy with some grossness as we root around in...

02.20.2024

Hormones

Oops, all science this episode! Erstwhile editorial assistant Deboki Chakravarti steps in for erstwhile everyman Sam Schultz as we parse through fundamental puzzles about humanity: what makes us, us, and if it is hormones, does that make us cocktails or...

02.06.2024

Cheese

It's the long-awaited cheese-stravaganza! And it's every bit as melty, crumbly, stretchy, and stinky as hoped for. We dip into some fetamology, we stretch our nokkeledge of cheese applications, and we unwrap the shocking tartrutho about a cheese we thought...

01.23.2024

Darkness

The question plaguing us this episode is, how dark can it really get? Turns out (according to some), not that dark! Unless you're at the bottom of the ocean or floating in the all too-eerie void of deep space, you're...

01.09.2024

Refrigeration

In this not-so-chill episode, everybody gets a little unsettled by the concepts around refrigeration. Quantum computers, thermoacoustics, molecular chemistry, elephants, the phantom letter "d" that gets added to the shortening of refrigeration...it's all just. So much.

12.26.2023

Quiet

Do you hear what I hear? Probably not, because in this episode, we're bringing things down several notches to learn about quiet. Does it have a scientific definition? Is it all just relative? Should crickets have podcasts? Join us as...

12.12.2023

Oil

Oil: it's a ubiquitous substance humans have been relying on for longer than you might think. We cook with it, we moisturize with it, we run machines with it - it keeps slipping into places we least expect to find...

11.28.2023

Telescopes

What's that you spy on the horizon, just out of sight? If you have a telescope handy, you can hone your gaze on...more telescopes! From pocket spyglasses to Extremely Large (a real telescope name), join us and special guest Julian...

11.14.2023

Batteries

Batteries are all around us, in things we use all the time, and in all different shapes and sizes, so of course we know exactly how they all work, right? Nope! Not even close! The bizarre breadth of our battery...

10.31.2023

Trick or Treat Month: Slime with Alexis Nikole Nelson!

Trick or Treat Month returns... and this time it's personal! Join us for another month of spooky themes and special surprise guest apparitions! Try not to get too scared! And so we close the ancient, flesh-bound spell book on another Trick...

10.17.2023

Trick or Treat Month: Theories with Dan Schreiber!

Trick or Treat Month returns... and this time it's personal! Join us for another month of spooky themes and special surprise guest apparitions! Try not to get too scared! Our yearly cavalcade of terror rolls on with a new Grand...

10.03.2023

Trick or Treat Month: Tombs with Siobhan Thompson!

Trick or Treat Month returns... and this time it's personal! Join us for another month of spooky themes and special surprise guest apparitions! Try not to get too scared! This year's ghastly Grand Guignol of science and screams begins where...

09.19.2023

Hygiene

A big part of being a human is that you get progressively more gross as the day goes on. Various parts start stinking, hair grows all over your face, you're touching who-knows-what... luckily for all of us, someone a long...

09.05.2023

Big vs Small with Tiny Matters

Sam's out this week, but worry not: he found another Sam to replace him! Sam Jones, host of the podcast Tiny Matters that is! Sam and her co-host, our own Deboki Chakravarti, join Ceri and Hank in our first ever...

08.22.2023

Dust

The universe is dusty AF, frankly. It's on your body, in every nook in cranny of your house, some planets are just made entirely of dust pretty much, and space is full of it! It's everywhere, so I guess we...

08.08.2023

Blue

From trustworthy to calming, sad to steadfast, and, of course, jeans - the color blue means a lot of things to a lot of people. Join Team Tangents as we delve into this deceptively complicated primary color!

07.25.2023

Bacteria

It's easy to write off bacteria as no good, nasty, disease causing creeps, but consider this: without bacteria, we wouldn't have yogurt, or delicious sourdough bread, or a gut microbiome to digest those things! There are probably other good examples...

07.11.2023

Shells

From eggs to tacos to Ninja Turtles, some of the best things in life come in shells. So cozy on up inside the nearest conch as we regale you with tales of shells from all across the scientific spectrum!

06.27.2023

Speed

This week we're talking about our old friend, Mr. Distance-Over-Time himself: Speed! From the speediest hedgehog to the slowiest slug, we all have speed, and we can all come together and listen to this podcast to learn more about how...

06.13.2023

Numbers

Whether you're tracking the orbit of satellites, looking at your phone, or picking out a dozen fresh-baked donuts, the chances are pretty good that right this second, YOU are using numbers! Hate to break it to you, bud, but math...

06.06.2023

Upcoming Schedule Announcement

No new episode this week! Come back next week, June 13, and every other week after that for a new episode.

05.23.2023

Crust with Ashley Roboto

From the planet Earth to the humble pizza pie, some of the most important things in the whole universe have crusts! Including, most likely, the ears that are listening to this!

05.09.2023

Glass

"Oh, glass, big deal" you might be saying. Well guess what: if you're reading this, you're looking through glass right now to read about this episode about glass. You might even be touching glass to make this glass episode play!...

04.25.2023

Color

Color: it's not just for art anymore. From red dwarfs to green algae to... uh... brown squirrels, science is chock full of color, too!

04.11.2023

Growth

Spring is upon us, which means a whoooole bunch of junk is going to start growing, such as flowers, grass, and little baby animals. So this week, Tangents is hacking into that growth mindset being displayed by Mother Nature to...

03.28.2023

Ants

If you are on the planet Earth right now, there's probably a pretty good chance you're near an ant right now. So spare a thought for those hard working little fellows and unplug your headphones so they can hear this...

03.21.2023

SciShow Tangents Classics - Weather

SciShow Tangents will be back next week with a new season and very special guest! Until then, please enjoy this beloved classic episode about Weather! Because it's spring and the weather is changing, you see!

03.14.2023

Aging

Every millisecond of every day, you, everyone you know, every rock on the ground, every star in the sky... they're all aging. And podcasts are no exception. In fact, Tangents is hitting a milestone in its aging as we bring...

03.07.2023

Farming

Learning is a little like farming, in a way. You sow your brain field with facts seeds, nurture those seeds into thoughts and ideas and voila: you're smart! So slap on your headphones and jump on that tractor: We've got...

02.28.2023

Lasers

In all of science, there are very few things conceptually cooler than lasers. A beam of light you can use to blast aliens? Heck yeah! But are lasers actually as cool in reality as they are in science fiction? Probably...

02.21.2023

Poop

The bodily function so universal, there's a kids book all about how everybody does it! But... is that kids book a lie?! Find out the answer to that and way more in this very overdue episode of Tangents!

02.14.2023

Mating

In honor of Valentine's Day, that most cherished day of beauty and love, the Tangents crew gets real down and dirty by telling you more than you could ever want to know about sex harpoons, cannibalism, living sperm, and some...

02.07.2023

Spit

You need to clean a smudge of your glasses? Use some spit! You gotta make some food gooey so you can swallow it? Why not try spit? Lips too dry to whistle a tune? My friend, spit is the bodily...

01.31.2023

SciShow Tangents Classics - Artificial Intelligence

It seems like everyone's using Artificial Intelligence these days, so we thought we'd dip back into our archives for a little refresher on just what the heck AI even is.

01.24.2023

Rubber

You can bounce it, you can stretch it, heck... some people even chew it! That's right, it's rubber! And at long last, the Tangents team is finally talking about it! You all really wanted an episode about rubber, right? Well,...

01.17.2023

Tails

From a bunny’s seemingly-useless fluffy li’l puffball to a scorpion’s practical and deadly venom-filled stinger, the world is filled with all sorts of wonderful tails! And heck, some of them aren’t even tails at all, but that’s ok!

01.10.2023

Gas

From precious oxygen to the lowly fart, every day we’re all wallowing around in an invisible soup of gas! Exciting, isn’t it? Tune in to go on an exciting adventure into the world of gas with Sam, Ceri, and Dr....

01.03.2023

Memory

It's the time of year for old acquaintances to be forgot, but SciShow Tangents has never been one to bow to convention! So this week, we're remembering all our dang acquaintances and way more as we dive deep on the...

12.27.2022

SciShow Tangents Classics - Sleep

There are no two ways about it: winter is a great time to sleep. In fact, the Tangents crew all decided to sleep this entire week, which is what this episode is a rerun! See you next week/year!

12.20.2022

Cold

Jack frost ain't just nipping at our noses where we live, he's basically biting them off! Ouch! So we thought we'd learn a little about what "cold" even is, and you may not be too surprised to hear that the...

12.13.2022

Testing New Games with Deboki Chakravarti

*sniff sniff*... What is that awful smell? Ah, it's our stinky, old games! I mean, just look at Truth or Fail! It's all covered in mold! Good think Deboki's here this week to try out some fresh, exciting new games...

12.06.2022

Poison

It's said that the dose makes the poison, but that doesn't change the fact that some poison is just more poison-y than others. This week, we get a lethal dose of venomous knowledge!

11.29.2022

Crystals with Tyler Thrasher

In a universe of chaos, one scrappy form of highly-ordered solid matter dares to be different: crystals! And crystal expert Tyler Thrasher is here to tell us all we need to know about them!

11.22.2022

Wings with Stefan Chin

It's just about Thanksgiving here in the US; a special time during which we count our blessings. And this year, Tangents is giving you an extra thing to be thankful for: Stefan Chin is back as our special guest! Our...

11.15.2022

Sight

Before you listen, just take a moment to think about how sight works: light comes out of the sun, bounces off of a tree (or whatever), goes inside of your head, and hits some nerves which send signals to your...

11.08.2022

Pain

This week, we investigate one of the more complicated, fraught, mysterious, and downright unpleasant ways we and lots of other living things navigate the world: pain.