Science Vs

By Gimlet

Education

What's Science Vs about?

There are a lot of fads, blogs and strong opinions, but then there’s SCIENCE. Science Vs is the show from Gimlet Media that finds out what’s fact, what’s not, and what’s somewhere in between. We do the hard work of sifting through all the science so you don't have to. This season we tackle plastics, veganism, essential oils, gentrification and CBD cannabis.

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Sleep: All Aboard the Snooz...

11.08.2019

Not sleeping enough turning you into a monster? Cutting-edge science helps us understand why. And we sort through the fads to find out, what really works to get more ZZZs. We speak with lab coordinator Pam De Young, sleep researcher ...

Science Vs episodes:

11.08.2019 Sleep: All Aboard the Snooze Cruise! Not sleeping enough turning you into a monster? Cutting-edge science helps us understand why. And we sort through the fads to find out, what really works to get more ZZZs. We speak with lab coordinator Pam De Young, sleep researcher ...
10.31.2019 5G: Welcome to the Revolution? How should we feel about 5G? Is it a breakthrough technology that will revolutionize our world, or in a bid to get new gadgets, are we risking our health? To find out, we spoke with electrical engineer Prof. Jeff Andrews, ...
10.25.2019 Vaping: What the Hell is Going On?! Vaping is all the rage in the U.S., but young people are turning up at hospitals barely able to breathe. Over a thousand vapers have gotten sick⁠—34 are dead⁠—and no one knows why. We investigated the case of the mysterious ...
10.11.2019 PANDEMIC!!! If a pandemic ripped across the world, how bad would it really get? You’ve heard the horror stories, but you’ve never heard one like this. Dr. Anthony Fauci, who advises the President on emerging infectious diseases, helps us out. Check ...
10.03.2019 Heartbreak: Why does it hurt so bad? We’ve all been dumped, but some of us have felt physically sick from a heartbreak -- sometimes really sick. Neuroscientist Prof. Lucy Brown explains how pangs from a heartache might not just be in our heads. Check out the full ...
09.27.2019 Football: Should We Cancel It? America’s favorite pastime seems to be plagued by tragedy. Former NFL players have come forward to say they’re suffering from a serious brain disease. Others have ended their lives. So we wanted to know: how risky is playing football? Cornerback ...
09.19.2019 Exercise: Fat Buster or Belly Flop? Lots of people hit the gym to shed unwanted pounds, but they don’t always see results on the scale. This week, we tackle the power of exercise and why you should bother. We speak with obesity expert Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, ...
09.12.2019 Let's...science...AGAIN! Science Vs is back September 19th. Fact you next week.
08.08.2019 The Dinosaur Explosion Why are there so many new, weird dinosaurs? Friend of the show Joel Werner goes down the rabbit hole, and finds a surprising answer. He speaks to paleontologists Dr. Steve Brusatte and Dr. Jonathan Tennant. Listen to Joel’s podcast The ...
06.14.2019 SHARKS!!! Are sharks the super-predators we think they are? Or have we been baited with great white lies? To find out, we interviewed shark researchers Dr. Taylor Chapple, Dr. Tricia Meredith and Dr. Chris Pepin-Neff, along with surfer Mike Wells. Check ...
06.06.2019 How Bad Science Killed A President When President Garfield was shot by an assassin in 1881, the best and brightest in medicine and science did everything they could to save him - and turned the President into a human guinea pig. But they missed something big, ...
05.30.2019 Peanuts: Public Enemy No. 1? Peanut allergy in children has been on the rise since the 1990s. What’s to blame? We find a clue in a very unexpected place, and talk to pediatric allergist Prof. Gideon Lack. Check out the full transcript here: https://bit.ly/2W7IwmA Selected ...
05.23.2019 The Abortion Underground Before Roe v. Wade, there were thousands of illegal abortions in the U.S. every year. Some of these were incredibly dangerous; women would use knitting needles or coat hangers to end pregnancies. This, and other illegal methods, could lead to ...
05.09.2019 Placebo: Can the Mind Cure You? Could fake medicine actually take away your pain or treat a disease? We dig into the science of placebos to find out more about the power of the mind to heal. We speak to medical researcher Prof. Ted Kaptchuk, neuroscientist ...
05.02.2019 Vaccines: Time for a Booster Shot [Rebroadcast] Autism, seizures, and overloaded immune systems - could these really be side effects of vaccines? From the archives, we bring back our dive into the science to find out how safe vaccines really are. We spoke to public health researchers ...
04.25.2019 Fertility Cliff: Is It Real? We’re often told to have kids quickly, before our biological clock strikes and we fall off the fertility cliff. This week we find out it’s that’s true for women or men. And if the cliff is real, can you do ...
04.19.2019 Race: Can We See It In Our DNA? For decades, we've heard that race is a social and cultural idea — not scientific. But with the changing world of genetics, is race science back? We speak to sociologist Prof. Dorothy Roberts, evolutionary biologist Prof. Joseph L. Graves Jr. ...
04.12.2019 DNA Kits: Can You Trust Them? Millions of people are sending off their DNA to companies like Ancestry.com and 23andme to find out where they come from, and what diseases they might get. But how much can you trust these DNA kits? To find out, we ...
04.04.2019 Pets on Planes: Are Emotional Support Animals Legit? Can petting Fluffy or Fido help with anxiety on planes? Or are emotional support animals a load of croc? We talk to psychologist Prof. Hal Herzog to find out if science has anything to say on whether these pets should ...
03.29.2019 Fasting Diets: What's the Skinny? Fasting diets are all the rage right now and health-fluencers claim it can help you lose weight, live longer and even fight cancer. So what does the science say? We speak to nutrition researchers Dr Krista Varady and Dr Courtney ...
03.22.2019 Science's Rotten Underbelly During a golden age for scientific progress, a group of scientists were given free rein to do whatever they wanted to their human lab rats. We got new drugs, and learnt exciting new things. But some researchers took it too ...
03.15.2019 Alcohol: A Pour Decision? For decades we’ve been told that having a glass or two of wine is good for you. But recently there’ve been reports that even a little bit of booze is bad for you. So what is going on? Is just ...
03.07.2019 We're back next week! Season 6 is on it's way, fellow nerds!
12.20.2018 The Mystery of the Man Who Died Twice A dead body turns up with a stolen identity. This week, we tell the story of how a grandmother tracked down the truth — and helped create a whole new and controversial world of crime fighting. To tell this story, ...
12.13.2018 The Science Of Being Transgender Recently we’ve been hearing a lot about transgender identity. That made us wonder… what makes us the gender that we are? And what should you do if your kid doesn’t fit the mold? To find out, we talked with endocrinologist ...
12.06.2018 The Wank Worm: How NASA Got Hacked Before WikiLeaks, there was the Wank Worm. In this week’s episode, we tell you the story of how Australian hackers infiltrated NASA, just months after the country was hooked up to the internet in 1989. Joel Werner, host of Sum ...
11.29.2018 Ancient Aliens: Who Really Built the Pyramids? Is it possible that the pyramids were built with a helping hand... from aliens? If not, how on Earth did the Egyptians built them without modern technology? To get to the bottom of this, we speak to author Erich von ...
11.21.2018 7 Minute Workout: Fit or Fad? The 7 Minute Workout is all the rage, but can working out for just 7 minutes really do anything? To figure out whether this fitness trend is a load of crock, we speak to exercise scientist Prof. Jeff Coombes. Plus, ...
11.15.2018 CBD: Weed Wonder Drug? CBD mania is in full swing and people are using it for just about anything, but what is this chemical in cannabis? In this week’s episode, we tell you unlikely origin story of CBD and if the science backs up ...
11.02.2018 Election Special: Immigration In the final installment of our election series, we tackle immigration: the #1 concern of Americans as they head to the polls. It's been a huge focus for President Trump... and people say immigrants are stealing jobs and driving up ...
11.01.2018 Election Special: Climate Change Recently we've been warned that climate change is scarier than ever -- and that we are to blame. Yet surveys find around half of Americans don't think climate change is caused by humans. So how does science know that? And ...
10.31.2018 Election Special: Abortion The battle over abortion is fast becoming one of the key issues of the midterm election. And in this battle you’ll hear many things about abortion: that it’s painful for the fetus, and that late-term abortions are a huge issue. ...
10.30.2018 Election Special: Gun Violence After 11 people were shot and killed in a Pittsburgh synagogue over the weekend, mass shootings are back in the news. With the midterm elections happening next week, we've updated our episode on guns and are re-releasing it to give ...
10.26.2018 Online Dating: Can Science Find You Love? Online dating can feel like drudgery… can science help you game the system? And do those matching algorithms actually work? To find out, we talked to psychologist Asst. Prof. Paul Eastwick, social psychologist Prof. Viren Swami, mathematician Asst. Prof. Hannah ...
10.23.2018 Gentrification: What's Really Happening? You’ve probably heard that gentrification changes neighborhoods for the worse: first come the hipsters and then the bankers. Soon, the neighborhood is overrun with dog spas and wine bars, and the original residents are nowhere in sight. But what does ...
10.18.2018 Murder Mystery: An 1850s Whodunnit It’s 1849, and a gruesome murder has just happened at Harvard. As body parts turn up, the science of the day is put to the ultimate test… to find out: who did it? We speak to Prof. Paul Collins, who ...
10.12.2018 Gentrification: What's Really Happening? You’ve probably heard that gentrification changes neighborhoods for the worse: first come the hipsters and then the bankers. Soon, the neighborhood is overrun with dog spas and wine bars, and the original residents are nowhere in sight. But what does ...
10.11.2018 Gentrification: What's Really Happening? You’ve probably heard that gentrification changes neighborhoods for the worse: first come the hipsters and then the bankers. Soon, the neighborhood is overrun with dog spas and wine bars, and the original residents are nowhere in sight. But what does ...
10.04.2018 Soy, Almond, Oat Milks: Are They Udder Bull? Moooove over, dairy milk: the alternative milk craze is here. But are they more than just a frothy fad? To find out which is best for the planet, we speak to environmental researcher Joseph Poore. Check out the transcript right ...
09.27.2018 Vegans: Are They Right? Do vegans have a right to be so smug? This week we find out whether it really is better for the environment, and our bodies, to go vegan. We speak to environmental researcher Joseph Poore, historian Prof. Connie Hilliard, anthropologist ...
09.20.2018 Essential Oils: Science or Snake Oil? Essential Oils - and their claims - are huge right now. But is it all hype, or is there something special about these little brown bottles? To get to the bottom of it, we dig through the studies and speak ...
09.13.2018 Plastics: The Final Straw? We’re back! This week we tackle the War on Straws and how worried we should be about all the plastic filling our oceans. We speak to marine biologist Christine Figgener, environmental educator Carrie Roble, physiology Prof. John Weinstein, and ecology ...
09.06.2018 We Return... With A Twist. Season Five of Science Vs will be in your ears next Thursday. This season we're covering plastic straws, essential oils, veganism, ancient aliens and a lot of other topics that have got the internet hot and bothered.
07.17.2018 Welcome, New Listeners! We'll be back in your ears with season 5 of Science Vs in the Fall... but in the meantime, new listeners, here's some episode recommendations to get you started.
06.28.2018 Serial Killers: Science of the Lambs What makes a serial killer? What drives them to kill again and again? To find out the truth about this ghastly lot, we talked to forensic psychologist Prof. Eric Hickey, criminologist Ass. Prof. Wayne Petherick, and psychiatrist Prof. Gwen Adshead. ...
06.21.2018 UFOs: What the Government Covered Up Could aliens actually exist? Is there any chance they’ve visited Earth already? What really happened at Roswell? The truth... is right here. We talked to astronomers Dr. Jill Tarter, Dr. Seth Shostak, investigative journalist David Clarke, and physicist Prof. Jim ...
06.15.2018 Lyme Disease: How Scary Is It? This week, we’re entering the Lyme Wars. We’re asking: what is Lyme disease? How do you get it? How do you know you have it? And if you get infected, are you stuck with it forever? To find out we ...
05.31.2018 Circumcision: Why Are We Doing This? This week, we’re entering the foreskin firestorm. We’re asking: what are the risks of circumcision? And are there any medical benefits? To find out we talk to pediatric urologist Andrew Freedman, HIV researcher Godfrey Kigozi, and sex researcher Caroline Pukall. ...
05.25.2018 How Science Created Morons This week, how one of the worst ideas in science got a big push from a bad study… and intellectuals of the day lapped it up. We speak to science writer Carl Zimmer and Prof. J. David Smith, whose research ...
05.17.2018 Polar Bears: A Surprising Tail We have this idea that polar bears are teetering on the brink of extinction. But the story isn’t that simple. To find out why, we talk to environmental lawyer Kassie Siegel, wildlife biologist Dr. Karyn Rode, and sea ice expert ...

Older episodes

Science Vs

What's Science Vs about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Science Vs episodes:

Sleep: All Aboard the Snooze Cruise!

5G: Welcome to the Revolution?

Vaping: What the Hell is Going On?!

PANDEMIC!!!

Heartbreak: Why does it hurt so bad?

Football: Should We Cancel It?

Exercise: Fat Buster or Belly Flop?

Let's...science...AGAIN!

The Dinosaur Explosion

SHARKS!!!

How Bad Science Killed A President

Peanuts: Public Enemy No. 1?

The Abortion Underground

Placebo: Can the Mind Cure You?

Vaccines: Time for a Booster Shot [Rebroadcast]

Fertility Cliff: Is It Real?

Race: Can We See It In Our DNA?

DNA Kits: Can You Trust Them?

Pets on Planes: Are Emotional Support Animals Legit?

Fasting Diets: What's the Skinny?

Science's Rotten Underbelly

Alcohol: A Pour Decision?

We're back next week!

The Mystery of the Man Who Died Twice

The Science Of Being Transgender

The Wank Worm: How NASA Got Hacked

Ancient Aliens: Who Really Built the Pyramids?

7 Minute Workout: Fit or Fad?

CBD: Weed Wonder Drug?

Election Special: Immigration

Election Special: Climate Change

Election Special: Abortion

Election Special: Gun Violence

Online Dating: Can Science Find You Love?

Gentrification: What's Really Happening?

Murder Mystery: An 1850s Whodunnit

Gentrification: What's Really Happening?

Gentrification: What's Really Happening?

Soy, Almond, Oat Milks: Are They Udder Bull?

Vegans: Are They Right?

Essential Oils: Science or Snake Oil?

Plastics: The Final Straw?

We Return... With A Twist.

Welcome, New Listeners!

Serial Killers: Science of the Lambs

UFOs: What the Government Covered Up

Lyme Disease: How Scary Is It?

Circumcision: Why Are We Doing This?

How Science Created Morons

Polar Bears: A Surprising Tail

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