Ideas Worth Exploring

People once believed that when you sneezed, your soul left your body, and so they would say “bless you” to prevent the devil from snatching your soul. Now, people don’t tend to worry about that as much, instead they worry about getting infected by invisible creatures floating in the sneeze droplets. Today we’re going to talk about viruses, those nasty microscopic opportunistic unemployed robots all around you, and why they make you sneeze. 

You know the 10 second rule: if you drop a piece of bacon on the ground, you have 10 seconds to pick it up before the bacteria attack. That’s obviously a myth, right? Right? Right. That one is a myth. But today you’ll learn about several things that sound crazy but are actually true. For example, your poop is alive, bread has alcohol in it, bears dissolve in water, and skin cells are made out of carrots. Or something like that, I don’t know, just listen to the episode. 

If you visit the Mütter museum in Philadelphia, you’ll see pieces of Einstein’s brain preserved on microscope slides. This episode is about an amazing secret that his brain discovered, the fact that time and space change when you move really fast: special relativity. 

Today we’re talking about how plants make babies! Spoiler alert: they're clones, many of them are clones. Also, the answer to a very controversial question: is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?

When you hear the word “nuclear”, you probably think of explosions, radiation, and disasters. And yes, there was some of that, but it gets better. This is a story of spies and discovery. Also, if you didn’t know, the sun is a nuclear reactor. 

My favorite dinosaur is the chicken. What’s yours? Today we’re going to be talking about two of the most cutthroat paleontologists to ever live, and how fossils can tell us that the chicken is related to the T Rex. 

How does NASA organize a party? They planet. Today we’re talking about the solar system! You’ll learn about a planet that was almost named George, two planets that literally rain diamonds, and the answer to the most controversial issue of 2006: why isn’t Pluto a planet any more? 

Does compasses in the southern hemisphere point south? Why does a magnet stick to your refrigerator but not to your doorknob? How are magnets related to socks? Learn all the things you didn't know you wanted to know about magnetism in today's episode! 

Every child asks it at some point: where does lightning come from? The answer may shock you! Learn about the prankster Benjamin Franklin and his exploits with electricity! 

If you took all the DNA from your body and stretched it out in a line, it would be twice the diameter of the solar system! Learn all about DNA and what makes it is the key to inheritance, and also a little bit of how animal cloning works.