BrainStuff

Durian fruit is prized as a delicacy and staple -- and it smells like rotting. Learn how a group of cancer researchers mapped its genome to get to the bottom of this stench (and hopefully find something medicinally useful) in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Some animals mate for life -- and others decidedly don't. Learn what researchers have discovered about cheating by studying voles and humans alike in this episode of BrainStuff.

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You've probably heard you should cut back on salt, but we need it to survive -- we're hardwired to crave it. So why cut back? And how much is actually harmful?

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Ancient ruins, long grown over by massive forests, can now be found painlessly -- all thanks to lasers. Learn how LiDAR techology is preserving forests and uncovering lost Mayan infrastructure in this episode of BrainStuff.

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When we take medications, we sometimes excrete chemicals that get flushed into our oceans. In the case of fluoxetine (Prozac), those chemicals seem to be chilling crabs out -- which is bad for the crabs.

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Botox wrinkle therapy contains a tiny dose of a deadly bacterial toxin, but the story of how it was discovered is even stranger than that fact. Learn the history of botulinum toxin, plus how it's used in non-cosmetic medicine, in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Research shows that parts of a person's face grow cooler depending on their mood and stress level. Could this be used to help people in stressful jobs, like pilots? 

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Brown, white, blue, or green: Chicken eggs come in a spectrum of colors, but they all cook up the same. Learn what makes eggs different colors in this episode of BrainStuff.

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The most hazardous air pollution may be particles too tiny to see, but it also may be easily avoided. Learn what researchers have found in this episode of BrainStuff. 

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Being surprised by a roach in your kitchen (which is very clean, thank you) can be enough to wish the whole genus would just go away. But what would the world be like if there were no cockroaches?

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