BrainStuff
Whether the topic is popcorn or particle physics, you can count on BrainStuff to explore -- and explain -- the everyday science in the world around us.
Episodes
Escargot is just one of many ways that humans enjoy eating land snails -- and we've been eating them for 30,000 years. Learn about the snails in question, how they're farmed, and why it's so hard to find them fresh in the U.S. (outside of your garden, anyway) in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/escargot.htm
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The Geiger counters we use to detect harmful radiation today are 100-year-old technology that works based on simple behaviors of electrons and ions. Learn about ionizing radiation and the invention of the Geiger-Müller counter (including why it clicks) in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/geiger-counter.htm
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Starlings flock in swooping, harmonious groups of thousands of birds called murmurations. Learn how these birds pull off such an amazing feat through simple actions in this classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/birds/starling-murmurations.htm
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You may know him as the villain in the film 'Gladiator', but the real-life Emperor Commodus is said to have been even more cruel and megalomaniacal. Learn about his unusual upbringing, how he made himself into a gladiator and an image of Hercules, and his eventual assassination in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/commodus.htm
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Planetary rings are gorgeous, temporary structures created when a planet's gravity captures and tears apart smaller objects. Learn why Earth doesn't have rings (right now!) and what other planets' rings are like in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on these articles: https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/what-if/what-if-earth-had-rings.htm; https://science.howstuffworks.com/planets-with-rings.htm
Blushing is an involuntary reaction that can seem to draw more attention to yourself at exactly the worst moment. Learn why this embarrassing response to embarrassment can actually be useful in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/blush.htm
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The concepts of ethnicity and race are both human inventions with no basis in science, but these concepts have huge impacts on us and our world. Learn the difference between ethnicity and race in this classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/genetic/race-vs-ethnicity.htm
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Turning cream into a stick of butter involves some complex chemistry, crystallization, and (traditionally) fermentation. Learn more -- plus the difference between sweet cream, cultured, and European butters -- in today's episode of BrainStuff.
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Some idioms have a fairly clear origin, but others have been lost to time and legend. Learn about the game that inspired calling dibs, the media that created calling shotgun, and why the 'real' McCoy was probably a number of people -- all in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on these articles: https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/famous-inventors/why-do-people-call-things-the-real-mccoy.htm; https://people.howstuffworks....
The Batagaika crater (or, technically, megaslump) is a massive pit caused by thawing permafrost -- and it's only getting bigger. Learn what paleontologists have found there (and why geoscientists are worried about it) in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on these articles: https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geology/batagaika-crater.htm; https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geology/permafrost.h...
Investigating murders right here on planet Earth can be tricky -- how would it be handled in space? Who would even be in charge? Learn what current and future laws may apply in this classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://people.howstuffworks.com/murdered-in-space.htm
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Your sense of taste isn't just a chemical catalog of what's in a food or drink -- it's a complex physiological and psychological process. Learn what we know (and don't know!) about taste in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/perception/taste.htm
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Weasels have a bad reputation among bird farmers and have been cast as literal villains in books and cartoons, but they can actually help control vermin populations -- and ferrets can make great pets. Learn more about various types of weasels (including why they dance) in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on these articles: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/weasels.htm; https://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/otherpets/fe...
In the midst of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte rode his hubris straight into an emperorship, but he was fated to fail. Learn how he came to power twice, why Waterloo was his downfall, and why he actually wasn't that short in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on these articles: https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/napoleon.htm; https://history.howstuffworks.com/european-history/battle-waterloo.htm; http...
Alchemists may have never turned lead into gold, but they did create the field of chemistry. Learn how the study of alchemy worked in today's classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/alchemy-to-chemistry.htm
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Sundown towns are places in the United States where, after the Civil War and Reconstruction, white communities kept Black Americans and other groups out for decades, on purpose. Learn how they came to be -- and how some sundown towns are in recovery -- in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://history.howstuffworks.com/american-history/sundown-towns.htm. Check out Dr. James Loewen's database of sundown towns ...
Science isn't entirely sure why humans and other animals yawn, let alone why yawning can be contagious -- but we've got some good hypotheses. Learn about them, from cooling the brain to spreading alertness, in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on these articles: https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/question572.htm; https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/contagious-yawn.ht...
Rip currents are dangerous flows of water that can drag you away from the shore and out into the deep. Learn how they form, what to watch for, and how to escape one by swimming sideways or riding it out in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/oceanography/rip-current.htm
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Remote islands are excellent laboratories for observing evolution at work -- and in the case of a flightless bird called the Aldabra rail, we can observe how its evolution happened twice. Learn about iterative evolution in today's classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/evolution/iterative-evolution.htm
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The tomato originated in the Americas and spread during European colonization. But was it really thought to be poisonous (or cause lycanthropy) when it first came to Europe? Learn about the legends behind tomatoes -- and how we got the sturdy ones sold in stores -- in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/where-did-the-tomato-come-from.htm
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