The BrainFood Show

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start by looking at a quick fact surrounding what Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Genesis had to do with Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Next we discuss our sponsor for this episode, Backblaze. Seriously, one of Simon and I’s favorite services and is ridiculously cheap and easy to setup. Just install and it does the rest making sure all your hard drives and pictures and all that are always automatically backed up in an extremely secure way for about the price of a cup of coffee.

Go check them out: https://www.backblaze.com/brainfood

After the sponsor spot, we then jump into the main part of the show on how the QWERTY keyboard came to be. We also dig into whether the Dvorak keyboard layout is actually superior to QWERTY or if that’s just something people say.

Next up we look at who really invented the mouse and how it languished in obscurity for quite some time before Steve Jobs came along.

A few links for this episode:

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post Tech History Part 1: A QWERTY Story and Whether the Dvorak Layout is Actually Superior appeared first on Today I Found Out.

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In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we’re looking at the story of an intelligent, sweet little girl who was given up to an orphanage and then grew up to have a rather successful career as a nurse… and just so happens to be one of the most notorious female serial killers in history.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post Macabre Part 3: The Nightmare Nurse appeared first on Today I Found Out.

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In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we begin by discussing a random quick fact involving the parents of Ferris Bueller on Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

We then move on to discussing the show’s sponsor, Dashlane, which is a great free password management service. You can also get a free month of their premium version and then 10% off thereafter by using the coupon code “brainfood”. Either way, please do go check them out using this link. Thanks!

Next we move into the main content for today’s episode which is discussing how exactly people used to get human heads to shrink and why they did this in the first place.

Moving on from that, we look at the fascinating saga of famed philosopher Jeremy Bentham’s head and body.

Finally we move into some feedback and then an interesting Star Trek Fact related to skeletons.

And for those interested:

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post Macabre Part 2: How Shrunken Heads Were Made appeared first on Today I Found Out.

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In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we begin by discussing a random quick fact involving the curious old practice of mailing children.

We then move on to discussing the show’s first sponsor, RXBar. For 25% off your first order, visit https://rxbar.com/brainfood and enter the promo code: brainfood

Next we move into the main content for today’s episode which is the gruesome tale of William Burke and William Hare and their year long murder spree.

Moving on from that, we look at a man who decided to raise his son as a native speaker of Klingon and how that all worked out… Then briefly we touch on whether it’s actually true that kids learn languages faster than adults.

*Note: the clip of Alec singing the Klingon Anthem is no longer available online anymore, but you can hear it sung here if you’re curious.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post Macabre Part 1: The Gruesome Tale of Burke and Hare appeared first on Today I Found Out.

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In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we begin by discussing the clandestine way Niel Armstrong managed to get his application to the astronaut program in despite submitting it past the deadline. We then look at why he got to be first to walk on the moon when precedent should have had it been Buzz Aldrin.  Next up we look at the oft’ forgotten second thing Armstrong said when stepping out onto the moon.

Moving swiftly on we do a rapid fire of a variety of space related bonus facts including, but not limited to, the real color of the Sun, how much energy it would take to cause the Earth to stop orbiting the Sun, how old the Sun is in Sun years, how many Sun rises and sunsets astronauts aboard the International Space Station see every day, etc.

And for those curious on Simon and my treatise on the proper order of watching Star Trek series and other such thoughts, the mentioned forum post is here.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The Final Final Frontier (Part 6): The Real Color of the Sun, How Many Nuclear Bomb Powered Rockets It Would Take to Stop the Earth Orbiting the Sun and Much, Much More appeared first on Today I Found Out.

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In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we begin by discussing the real origin of Tang and what that has to do with Pop Rocks and how they work. We then move on to the interesting story behind the invention of Velcro and how it works.

Next up we look at whether NASA really spent many millions of dollars developing the famous “space pen” instead of just using a pencil like the Russians.

Moving on from there we discuss the fascinating reason why only one side of the moon faces the Earth and how this happened and is still happening, with the Earth itself slowing down such that in theory at some point only one side of it will face the moon.

Moving on, we look at what the actual odds of navigating a typical asteroid field in space would be and whether the depictions in movies here are actually accurate.

Finally, we respond to some user feedback, including on initial attempts listeners of the female persuasion have made to pee standing up without peeing all over themselves (which sounds even weirder to write, but is in reference to a previous space episode ;-)), and the interesting phenomenon of people using the show to fall asleep every night and whether we should take that as a good thing or a bad thing…

Also for reference, here is a picture of the two sides of Velcro under a microscope and another of the burdock plant seeds mentioned.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The Final Frontier Part 5: Are the Odds of Successfully Navigating an Asteroid Field Really Approximately 3,720 to 1? appeared first on Today I Found Out.

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In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we begin by discussing the first space walk in which the cosmonaut in question very nearly got stuck out there and his adventures thereafter. We then move on to discussing how the idea that the moon is made of green cheese got started.

Next up we discuss the late 1950s plan the United States had to nuke the moon, which interesting enough involved a young Carl Sagan.  Failing in that endeavor we then look at that time the U.S. accidentally nuked Britain’s first satellite… That time the U.S. dropped four nuclear bombs on Spain accidentally, and then discuss the best thing that happened to Simon in the last year, which it turns out is not (apparently) getting married a couple weeks ago, but rather something else.

Also for reference, here is a picture of the Russian spacecraft mentioned in the episode and here is a link to the Tom Kirby song.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The Final Frontier Part 4: The U.S. Plan to Nuke the Moon, Why People Thought the Moon was Made of Cheese and Much More appeared first on Today I Found Out.

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In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we begin by following up on a previous discussion on Daimler and what exactly a little girl named Mercedes had to do with things. We then jump into the surprisingly oft’ requested follow up on Simon’s first ranch dressing experience.

Next up we move into the meat of the episode, discussing how astronauts scratch an itch in their space suits, followed by looking at the surprisingly long time you can survive in space without a space suit or any other protection, with no long term damage.

During that discussion we get side tracked talking about why the Apollo 13 crew got so cold on their trip when space is not cold at all, but rather a great insulator, and why they didn’t simply put on their space suits to keep warm.

We then discuss at length the amazingly fascinating way in which airline planes get oxygen to passengers when there is no central oxygen store aboard the plane, outside of the pilot’s emergency supply. Then we look at the equally interesting way in which they get oxygen to passengers when there is a loss of cabin pressure- again, given there is no central oxygen store aboard the plane for passengers.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The Final Frontier Part 3: How to Scratch an Itch in Space, the Surprisingly Long Time You Can Survive in Space Without a Spacesuit, Why the Apollo 13 Astronauts Got Cold, and Much, Much More appeared first on Today I Found Out.

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In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we begin by following up on a previous discussion on what the first good movie based on a computer game was.  We then jump right into the various ways in which astronauts have managed their necessary expulsions over the years and some hilarious stories and interesting related facts that go along with that, including the teased Apollo 10 incident from The Final Frontier Part 1.

We then discuss the lost skill of women peeing standing up without getting any pee on themselves or their underwear in the process, and how exactly this is done with no equipment required.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The Final Frontier Part 2: How Astronauts Go to the Bathroom in Space and How Women Can Safely Pee Standing Up appeared first on Today I Found Out.

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In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we kick off a series on space related facts. Before we get started in that, however, we do some follow up answering the question of whether the Allies in WWII used prisoners of war as slave labor.  We then jump into the topic of the real life job of Space DJ, then the saga of the Pillownaughts.

On another, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The Final Frontier Part 1: Real Life Space DJs and the Pillownaughts appeared first on Today I Found Out.

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