Knowable

Freud thought that dreams were the gateway to our unconscious mind. Today, many scientists think the opposite: that the dreaming brain is quite similar to our awake, conscious state. But dreaming is a very personal experience and one that we can't share — making the phenomenon very difficult to study. We still don't know for sure why we dream, but in this episode, we'll hear how psychologists, neuroscientists and philosophers have been trying to answer that question.

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What are the limits to what's knowable — and how has our thinking about big questions in science and technology has evolved over time? Knowable Magazine's science history podcast returns on February 1, with brand new episodes exploring the science of dreams, the search for extrasolar planets, the quest to treat depression and so much more. Subscribe today to stay in the know.

The Knowable Magazine podcast from Annual Reviews explores the limits to what's knowable — and how thinking about big questions in science and technology evolve over time.

Memory, the mystery: Just in the past half-century, our understanding of how exactly our brains remember has taken huge leaps. Amazingly, this is just the beginning.

The Knowable Magazine podcast from Annual Reviews explores the limits to what's knowable — and how thinking about big questions in science and technology evolve over time.

The dazzling history of solar power: Once fringe and futuristic, this renewable energy shines brightly today as a cheap and efficient source of energy. Still, it remains controversial ­— for much different reasons.

The Knowable Magazine podcast from Annual Reviews explores the limits to what's knowable — and how thinking about big questions in science and technology evolve over time.

Replacing or assisting the human heart with a machine would save countless lives. But the quest to build an artificial heart has had many gruesome missteps and caused researchers to reimagine how to keep our blood flowing.

The Knowable Magazine podcast from Annual Reviews explores the limits to what's knowable — and how thinking about big questions in science and technology evolve over time.

Black holes, from theory to reality: Physicists were mostly skeptical when the idea of black holes emerged a century ago from Einstein's work. This podcast episode tells the story of how the evidence evolved from circumstantial to conclusive.

The Knowable Magazine podcast from Annual Reviews explores the limits to what's knowable — and how thinking about big questions in science and technology evolve over time.