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Recreational Science
By ScientaficScience
Recreational Science episodes
- Pâté vs dog food and smoochy woochy poochy
Dog food quality has risen over the years, and its ingredients are not too different from that of pâté, or liver mousse, a French delicacy. The question, then, must be asked: can people taste the difference between dog food and pâté?
Driving under the influence of marijuana is dangerous and illegal, but what about bicycling? Is it safe to ride bikes after cannabis use?
Happy 2026! In this episode, Lu and Tirth discuss whether blind taste testers can tell the difference between dog food and pâté, liverwurst, or SPAM, and whether cannabis users can safely navigate through traffic on a bicycle while stoned.
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Intro
- 1:45 New Year’s celebrations and resolutions
- 8:04 Dog food study
- 20:17 Weed study
- 30:16 What did you learn today, outro
Article links:
- Bohannon J et al., 2009. Can people distinguish pâté from dog food? AAWE Working paper No. 36 – Economics. https://wine-economics.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/AAWE_WP36.pdf
- Hartung et al., 2016. The effect of cannabis on regular cannabis consumers’ ability to ride a bicycle. International Journal of Legal Medicine. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00414-015-1307-y
You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found!
Follow us on social media @RecSciPod!
- YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod
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Theme music by Dasein: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ
Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)
33 min - Eating Legos (for kids) and the fighting prowess of bearded men
Kids swallow little toys and other things they’re not supposed to all the time. Is it dangerous to swallow Legos? How long does it take for a swallowed piece of Lego to pass? There’s only one way to find out.
Why do some men have beards? Do beards signify virility and manliness? Do bearded men have higher power levels?
In this episode, Lu and Tirth discuss the rich history of self-experimentation in medicine, how long it takes Legos to pass through the digestive tract, and whether bearded men fight better.
Please vote for our show on the pod radar before Monday 12/22! https://thepodradar.com/
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Intro
- 3:12 Hate caller follow-up
- 7:59 The rich history of self-experimentation
- 16:42 Lego swallowing study
- 23:23 Beard study
- 36:11 What did you learn today, outro
Article links:
- Tagg et al., 2018. Everything is awesome: Don’t forget the Lego. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jpc.14309
- Dixson et al., 2018. Contest competition and men's facial hair: beards may not provide advantages in combat. Evolution and human behavior. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513817302660
- Beseris et al., 2020. Impact Protection Potential of Mammalian Hair: Testing the Pugilism Hypothesis for the Evolution of Human Facial Hair. Integrative organismal biology. https://academic.oup.com/iob/article/2/1/obaa005/5799080
You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found!
Follow us on social media @RecSciPod!
- YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod
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Theme music by Dasein: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ
Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)
39 min - Batman makes people nicer and octopus fun time
Would you give up your seat to a pregnant woman on the train? Would you be more likely to give up your seat to a pregnant woman if Batman was also on the train?
What do octopuses do during their free time? Are they smart, curious, and bored enough to play catch by themselves?
In this episode, Lu and Tirth discuss how the presence of Batman makes people more kind to one another (aka the Batman effect) and whether octopuses play with toys.
Beef man origins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc-5StGiCb4
Octopus playing video: https://figshare.com/articles/media/An_adult_i_O_bimaculoides_i_Octopus_H_playing_with_test_tube_cap_/29494452?file=56034531
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Intro
- 1:25 Lu has a hater
- 10:39 Batman study
- 21:53 Octopus study
- 31:41 What did you learn today, outro
Article links:
- Pagnini et al., 2025. Unexpected events and prosocial behavior: the Batman effect. npj Mental Health Research. https://www.nature.com/articles/s44184-025-00171-5
- Jarmoulk et al., 2025. Evidence of play behavior in captive California two-spot octopuses, Octopus bimaculoides. PLoS One. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0326379
You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found!
Follow us on social media @RecSciPod!
- YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod
- Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod
- TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod
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- Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod
Theme music by Dasein: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ
Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)
34 min - Ethicists steal more and making turkeys exercise
Are ethicists ethical? One would think that people who spend their careers studying ethics must be more ethical than others. But are people with looser morals more likely to become ethicists, so that they can understand what they lack?
Why do some ancient human bones have larger enthesis (sites on the bone where tendons and ligaments attach)? Did the individuals these bones belong to run or exercise more than their peers? How can we study this using Thanksgiving dinner?
In this episode, Lu quizzes Tirth on the science of Thanksgiving dinner. The two then discuss how you can evaluate the ethics of ethicists by going to a library and how forcing turkeys to walk on treadmills can teach us about human history.
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Intro
- 0:57 Thanksgiving science quiz
- 10:39 Ethics study
- 24:15 Turkey study
- 32:40 What did you learn today, outro
Article links:
- Schwitzgebel, 2009. Do ethicists steal more books? Philosophical Psychology. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09515080903409952
- Wallace et al., 2017. Physical activity alters limb bone structure but not entheseal morphology. Journal of Human Evolution. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047248417300647
You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found!
Follow us on social media @RecSciPod!
- YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod
- Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod
- TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod
- BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/recscipod.bsky.social
- Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod
Theme music by Dasein: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ
Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)
Video - never deep fry a frozen turkey:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KqtVCqFJsu0
35 min - Mansplaining explained and dedicating a brain cell to Jennifer Aniston
Mansplaining is when a someone explains in a condescending, oversimplified, and often inaccurate manner, without regard to the fact that the explainee knows more than the explainer, usually done by a man to a woman. Why do men do it? Does mansplaining actually even exist?
Brain processing and recognition of visual imagery, such as people and objects, is thought to involve complex neuronal pathways with lots of connected brain cells each playing a role. But are multiple brain cells really necessary for this? Why don’t we just dedicate one brain cell to recognizing each important person in our life?
In this episode, Lu and Tirth discuss whether mansplaining is real and why it might occur and examine evidence showing that the visual recognition of certain people and objects may be the job of one specific brain cell.
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Intro
- 1:13 How was your week?
- 5:04 Mansplaining study
- 21:38 Neuron recognition study
- 35:25 What did you learn today, outro
Article links:
- Fokkema & Pollmann, 2024. Mansplaining explained: The role of the better-than-average effect and the interpretation bias in acts and accusations of mansplaining. Psychology of Language and Communication. https://sciendo.com/article/10.58734/plc-2024-0021
- Quiroga et al., 2005. Invariant visual representation by single neurons in the human brain. Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature03687
You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found!
Follow us on social media @RecSciPod!
- YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod
- Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod
- TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod
- BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/recscipod.bsky.social
- Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod
Theme music by Dasein: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ
Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)
38 min - Fear is sexy and using zombie arms to carve pumpkins
Why do we sometimes seek out and enjoy fear? Could it be that fear promotes sexual attraction? Is it a good idea to take your date to a horror movie or on a rollercoaster?
Carving pumpkins into Jack-o’-lanterns is dangerous and often leads to hand injuries. What’s the safest pumpkin carving tool to use this Halloween? How do you even determine this?
It’s Halloween! In this episode, Lu and Tirth discuss why some houses are thought to be haunted, how situations that arouse fear also arouse other feelings, as well as how to use reanimated cadaver arms to study pumpkin carving best practices.
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Intro
- 3:35 Why are some houses haunted?
- 8:35 Sexy fear study
- 23:29 Pumpkin carving study
- 34:54 Let’s read some mail
- 40:04 What did you learn today, outro
Article links:
- Dutton & Aron, 1974. Some evidence for heightened sexual attraction under conditions of high anxiety. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1975-03016-001
- Marcus et al., 2004. The safety of pumpkin carving tools. Preventive Medicine. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0091743504000374
You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found!
Follow us on social media @RecSciPod!
- YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod
- Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod
- TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod
- BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/recscipod.bsky.social
- Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod
Theme music by Dasein: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ
Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)
43 min - Cocaine bees and predicting iPhone vs Android users
The paradox of cocaine reinforcement is one of the biggest paradoxes in science. Why is cocaine so addictive to humans? Do bees enjoy cocaine as much as us?
Why do some people prefer Apple iPhones while others prefer Android phones? Are there fundamental psychological differences between iPhone and Android users? Can you predict who uses which phone?
In this episode, Lu quizzes Tirth on different -ologies, or scientific fields of study. The two then discuss the behavior of honeybees on short- and long-term cocaine use and the differences in personality traits between iPhone and Android users.
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Intro
- 1:15 Ologies quiz
- 17:37 Cocaine bee study
- 30:46 iPhone vs Android study
- 43:34 What did you learn today, outro
Article links:
- Barron et al., 2009. Effects of cocaine on honey bee dance behavior. Journal of Experimental Biology. https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/212/2/163/18461/Effects-of-cocaine-on-honey-bee-dance-behaviour
- Shaw et al., 2016. Predicting Smartphone Operating System from Personality and Individual Differences. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cyber.2016.0324
You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found!
Follow us on social media @RecSciPod!
- YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod
- Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod
- TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod
- BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/recscipod.bsky.social
- Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod
Theme music by Dasein: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ
Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)
46 min - Are farts sterile? Plus, gym bro science
Do farts contain dangerous bacteria? Should you avoid being flatulent near food?
Can pre-workout supplements help you lift more weights at the gym? Should you drink beet juice and coffee before your workouts?
In this episode, Lu and Tirth honor some of their favorite winners of the Darwin Award (an award even more prestigious than the Nobel Prize), debate whether breaking wind during surgery also breaks the sterile field of the operating room, and discuss whether nitrates and caffeine make good pre-workout supplements to maximize gains at the gym.
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Intro
- 0:53 Darwin awards
- 9:15 Fart culturing study
- 21:38 Pre-workout supplement study
- 33:09 Let’s read some mail
- 37:26 What did you learn today, outro
Article link:
- 2001. Hot air? British Medical Journal. https://www.bmj.com/content/323/7327/1449
- Montalvo-Alonso et al., 2025. Single and combined effect of beetroot juice and caffeine intake on muscular strength, power and endurance performance in resistance-trained males. Scientific Report. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-02021-y
You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found!
Follow us on social media @RecSciPod!
- YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod
- Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod
- TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod
- BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/recscipod.bsky.social
- Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod
Theme music by Dasein: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ
Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)
40 min - Unboiling an egg and tasting a trombone
Making a hardboiled egg is easy. Unboiling a hardboiled egg is hard, if not impossible, right?
What do musical instruments taste like? Are violins sour? Are pianos sweet?
In this episode, Lu and Tirth use philosophical razors to debate whether Tirth’s fiancé is real, discuss how to turn back time to uncook eggs, and uncover what sounds taste like and what tastes sound like.
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Intro
- 1:12 Philosophical razors
- 17:23 Egg unboiling study
- 24:36 Sound taste study
- 36:04 What did you learn today, outro
Article link:
- Yuan et al., 2015. Shear-Stress-Mediated Refolding of Proteins from Aggregates and Inclusion Bodies. ChemBioChem. https://chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cbic.201402427
- Crisinel et al., 2010. As bitter as a trombone: synesthetic correspondences in nonsynesthetes between tastes/flavors and musical notes. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics. https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/APP.72.7.1994
You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found!
Follow us on social media @RecSciPod!
- YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod
- Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod
- TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod
- BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/recscipod.bsky.social
- Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod
Theme music by Dasein: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ
Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)
39 min - Expensive placebos and recognizing your dog by smell
Placebos are not supposed to do anything, yet they kind of work. Well, then why not sell them at a high price like real medicine? Turns out, maybe that’s not such a bad question.
Dogs have fantastic noses and can identify their owners by smell. Can humans return the favor? Can dog owners identify their dogs by smell?
In this episode, Lu and Tirth discuss how more expensive placebos are more effective than cheaper ones and whether dog owners can recognize their dog’s smell.
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Intro
- 0:55 Dave talk; Tirth’s beef
- 5:38 Placebo studies
- 21:02 Dog smelling study
- 29:52 What did you learn today, outro
Article link:
- Waber et al., 2008. Commercial features of placebo and therapeutic efficacy. Journal of the American Medical Association. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/181562
- Espay et al., 2015. Placebo effect of medication cost in Parkinson disease: a randomized double-blind study. Neurology. https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000001282
- Diaz-Lago et al., 2023. Expensive seems better: The price of a non-effective drug modulates its perceived efficacy. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications. https://cognitiveresearchjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41235-023-00463-4
- Wells et al., 2000. The discrimination of dog odours by humans. Perception. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1068/p2938
You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found!
Follow us on social media @RecSciPod!
- YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod
- Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod
- TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod
- BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/recscipod.bsky.social
- Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod
Theme music by Dasein: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ
Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)
32 min
About Recreational Science
From the publisher's feed
RecSciPod: the podcast where funny scientists discuss funny science. Hosted by Lu and Tirth, two goofs (with MD/PhDs) who love to talk science and make each other laugh. In each episode, the two tell each other about one of the funniest, wackiest, and most provocative studies they stumble upon. Join us for an amusing mix of science and comedy, because the silly, weird, and ridiculous science experiments of today might just lead to the great discoveries of tomorrow!
Visit our website for transcripts, article archives, and more:
https://scientafic.com/recscipod
Produced by Scientafic