Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe

Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe

Scientists Daniel and Kelly cannot stop talking about our amazing, wonderful, weird Universe! Each episode is a fun, easy-to-understand, and in-depth explanation of topics in science, from particles to black holes to moon colonies to ecosystems to parasites and everything else in the Universe!

Episodes

June 25, 2026 59 mins

Daniel and Kelly walk through the early history of the Universe to explain how forces can be unified, or broken.

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Zach joins Daniel and Kelly for a segment on art and science communication. Then Daniel and Kelly explore the concept of absolute hot, and what makes some rocks glow.

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June 18, 2026 54 mins

Daniel and Kelly talks about a species of social amoeba that will die to help others. Why the heck does it do that? And bonus: the amoeba are farmers!

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June 16, 2026 52 mins

Daniel and Kelly talk about the James Webb Telescope and something mysterious it saw

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June 11, 2026 53 mins

Daniel and Kelly answer questions from listeners about earthworms, the origins of the galaxy, and snails!

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Daniel and Kelly talk to Prof. Scott Egan about the meaning of species in modern biology.

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Daniel and Kelly explain the bizarre Tychonic model of the solar system, which for centuries stood as a valid theory alongside the Copernican model.

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June 2, 2026 52 mins

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about relativistic paradoxes, parasitoid wasp viruses, and detector technologies.

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A recent paper found tantalizing evidence that rural raccoons are showing evidence of domestication. So how long until we all have pet raccoons? And how well do we really understand the domestication process anyway?

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May 26, 2026 51 mins

Daniel and Kelly dig into the mysterious concept of quantum contexuality: how measurements depend on each other.

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May 21, 2026 60 mins

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about muscle memory, water-less showers, and why everyone can't be ambidextrous.

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Over 50% of Earth's surface is the deep seabed. Dr. Andrew Thaler joins Daniel and Kelly to talk about the amazing diversity of life on the deep seabed, the resources found here, and the rules that govern this region.

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May 14, 2026 49 mins

Daniel and Kelly explain how signals get jammed, how to avoid being jammed, and whose music makes the best jam.

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May 12, 2026 61 mins

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about aliens watching Earth, about lone species, and about the size limits of intelligence.

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Parasites can have amazingly complicated life cycles - moving through a series of host species, and looking quite different while residing within each type of host. Frankly, this stumped scientists for a long time. In today's episode, Daniel and Kelly take a stroll through the history of science to explore how we finally started to figure parasite life cycles out.

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May 5, 2026 52 mins

Daniel and Kelly explain the nature of the quantum vacuum, whether its real or philosophical, and if it's possible to use to make your toast.

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April 30, 2026 56 mins

Daniel and Kelly explain how cells in a fetus or in an adult know what they're supposed to do, and discuss whether opposable thumbs are necessary for the development of tools and technology.

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Daniel and Kelly talk to Dr. Steve Brusatte about his new book "The Story of Birds". We discuss if chickens are really dinosaurs, if we know what color dinosaur feathers were, and why birds survived the devastating asteroid collision with Earth while pterosaurs didn't.

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April 23, 2026 57 mins

Daniel and Kelly explain the role of AI in physics and speculate about its future impact on discoveries and curiosity.

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April 21, 2026 42 mins

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about Odderon particles, Langerhans cells, and black holes within black holes.

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Hosts And Creators

Daniel Whiteson

Daniel Whiteson

Kelly Weinersmith

Kelly Weinersmith

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