The Pulse

It’s when a dark alleyway makes the hairs stand up on the back of our neck; when a mother just knows that something’s wrong with her kid; when you meet someone, and can tell they’ll either be your best friend — or your worst nightmare.

On the surface, intuition can seem a bit like magic — this unexplainable knowledge that pops in our heads, based on nothing but a feeling. But scientists say there’s more to intuition than just gut instinct. It’s about how our brains use years of accrued information to make predictions about what’s going to happen next — all on a subconscious level. But if we don’t know exactly how intuition works, how can we trust it — and should we trust it?

On this episode, we explore intuition — what it is, how we can harness it, and when to avoid it. We hear stories about the edge that human doctors have over AI, one woman’s incredible feat of motherly intuition, and why some people call intuitive eating the antidote to diet culture.

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In the fall of 2019, reporter Grant Hill jumped into a cab  — where his driver, Clyde Ashley Sherman, told him the story of a lifetime. Decades before, the driver had worked for a Black physician from Oklahoma named Gary Davis. In the 1990s, Davis developed a treatment for AIDS based on goat antibodies. The physician submitted his research to the FDA, but his clinical trial was shut down right before it was set to start. Frustrated, Davis went abroad to get his treatment off the ground. He got involved with some questionable characters to find financial support — and when he died unexpectedly, lots of questions remained.

Grant Hill spent more than two years on Davis’ trail — discovering a tangled story that spans decades and stretches into the innermost circles of power and fame. On this episode, we’ll hear an excerpt from our new podcast series “Serum,” which tells Davis’ story. We also talk to an infectious disease specialist who has worked on HIV research since the early days of this epidemic, and we’ll meet a couple that found love amid the AIDS crisis.

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Our lives depend on water — not just any water: clean, safe water. We need it for drinking, for cooking, for washing. And very often, we take it for granted. But in many parts of the world — including the U.S. — water is becoming a precious commodity.

The American West is currently experiencing a “megadrought,” which is rapidly draining important water supplies. That’s led one ranching community in Wyoming to seek out ways to protect their water sources. Emerging science is on their side — but the law isn’t.

On this episode, we talk about these and other people who are desperate to shore up and protect their water supply, and the conflicts that mission can bring. We hear stories about an environmental scientist who’s teaching other people how to source their own water, an eco-artist dedicated to empowering communities to know, restore, and preserve their waters, and more.

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Science is constantly propelling athletes to run faster, jump higher, push harder, and break records. Scientific advances have become such a big part of competitions that some critics say innovation is beginning to overshadow athleticism. On this episode, we explore the different ways in which science is shaping sports. We hear stories about high-tech gear and equipment, like running shoes with soles that contain highly-engineered foam, and find out how neuroscientists are trying to get into athletes’ heads to measure their performance. Also, how athletes are harnessing emotions for the win, and a look at the future of “robot umpires.”

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Imagine yourself out in nature — away from all the noise and the distractions of our lives. You can smell the rich scents of the forest, you can hear birds singing, the wind rustling the leaves, insects buzzing. It can feel calming, and invigorating. Now, imagine yourself alone in the forest for days, and weeks, looking for shelter from the elements and food to eat. That probably sounds more unsettling or scary than calming, right?

On this episode, we explore how our experiences in nature affect us — and change us. We hear from wilderness guide and “Alone” winner Jordan Jonas, about his stint in the Canadian wilderness and his legendary battle with a wolverine. We discuss the practice of forest bathing as a medical treatment, and science journalist Ed Yong explores how other animals experience the world around them.

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In 2018, journalist Linda Villarosa wrote an article in The New York Times Magazine that kicked off a national conversation about health disparities. It showed that Black mothers and their babies in the U.S. were dying at more than double the rate of their white peers, and it pulled back the curtain on how those statistics related to racism.

For Villarosa, it had been a long road linking health disparities to racism. In the beginning of her career, she was a big believer in self-help, thinking that better information and more education could close the health gap. But the more she reported on these issues, the more she came to understand how racism, discrimination, and bias affect health experiences and outcomes for Black Americans.

On this episode, we talk with Villarosa about her new book, “Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation.”

We also meet a Black midwife in West Virginia and find out how she’s making a difference for her patients, and a med student who’s using TikTok to spread life-saving information.

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IVF clinics have long tested embryos for genetic disorders and abnormalities — but in recent years, new startups have been pushing the envelope of genetic testing, helping parents screen their future children for all kinds of health risks, ranging from diabetes to breast cancer.

Many people see this technology as promising — it can give parents, many of whom have already faced devastating losses, their best shot at having happy, healthy children. But others see a dark side to the advancing field of embryo screening. What happens when testing goes beyond health and parents get the chance to select for other traits, like eye color, height, or intelligence? What does it mean to want “the best” for your child?

On this episode, we look at new and emerging DNA technologies aimed at selecting embryos. We discuss critics’ fears, concerns, and the ethics of embryo screening. We also hear about one experiment from the past that went very wrong.

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Emotions are fleeting — they can bubble up seemingly out of nowhere and change quickly. Studying them is challenging, but it’s also important. Emotions not only shape our day-to-day lives, they also influence our behavior, the decisions we make, and the relationships that sustain us. Sometimes, they can be overwhelming — so knowing what fuels them offers us a better chance of getting a handle on them.

Increasingly, understanding emotions is also a big business — it can make the difference in how an election swings, or the direction of the stock market, which means lots of people want to understand how to tap into them.

On this episode: what researchers are learning about emotions — why it’s so challenging and what we can gain from it. We hear stories about what makes studying emotions so difficult, new theories of where they come from, and the future of emotion-sensing AI.

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Sleep — we all need it, but most people aren’t getting enough of it. Ideally, we spend about a third of our lives asleep. When we’re well rested, we feel like we can take on the world. But when we’re not, we find ourselves exhausted, cranky, moody, forgetful … and our overall health takes a hit.

Clearly, sleep is important. The question is — why? What happens when we sleep? What makes it such an important part of our survival? And what’s stopping us from getting our best rest?

On this episode, we look at the anatomy of sleep — why it matters, how we get our best sleep, and what happens when we don’t.

We hear stories about what happened to one physician when long COVID brought her sleeplessness to a crisis level, why one physical therapist says we’re all sleeping wrong, and a look inside our sleeping brains.

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Skydiving, BASE jumping, climbing the highest peaks, adventuring to remote parts of the world — pushing the boundaries of safety. For thrill-seekers, chasing the rush is what it's all about. Where lots of us would break into a cold sweat, they experience something different: calm, focus, even moments of sublime awe. So what is it that makes thrill-seekers different? On this episode, we investigate what fuels their desire for adventure, and ask when the pursuit of kicks becomes dangerous and disruptive. We hear stories about storm chasers, rocket builders, and hikers. We also talk to a psychologist who avoids thrills in his personal life, but is deeply invested in understanding why other people love it.

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