That's Absurd Please Elaborate

In this episode Trace takes way, way too long to explain that dreams are pretty darn short. Meanwhile, friend of the absurd, Deboki Chakravarti squeezes every last drop of information about breastfeeding.

QUESTIONS

Deboki Chakravarti: "Why do we only breastfeed our babies, but not other close relatives and friends to boost each other's immune systems?" from Kathy

Trace: "How does time in dreams work" from Haurane

Do you have a...

It's the most wonderful time of the year! When the fish in the water make the kids scream and holler and panic with fear! That's right, it's Shark Time. You all know what we're referring to but we think the term might be trademarked like the Tuber Bowl and Taco Thursday. Anyway, we're kicking off the celebrations and to help us do so we went out and (politely) caught the coolest shark expert we know, Jaida Elcock, to answe...

In this strange episode Trace obsesses over the wild water system stretching across North America, and Julian contemplates indoor clouds and ACTUALLY ANSWERS: Does this solve anything?!?!

Thanks to Dr Brian Rahm from the New York State Water Resources Institute at Cornell University for answering my silly questions.

Find out more about water: https://cals.cornell.edu/water-resources-institute

QUESTIONS

Julian: "Is it possible ...

This week we try something a little different — the ⚡️THUNDER ROUND ⚡️ as Jeff Goldblum says in Jurassic Park Uno, “Your [science nerds] were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should!”

In this special episode, Julian and Trace snagged every dinosaur related question we could fit in a shaving cream can. Then, like a couple of velociraptors in a kitchen we made a huge mess of things. Th...

Setting: Dry, warm evening in a small pub in Los Angeles.

Deputy Julian: "Whew-whee! What's that smell?!"

Detective Kyle (with a light drawl): "That's ozone, Julian. Something out of this world happened in this English phone box."

Dep. Julian (looking up at the sky): "By out of this world…you mean up there in the sky?"

Det. Kyle: sighs heavily

Dep. Julian: "I'm going to go check!"

Julian unfurls his giant grotesque wings. After ...

Trace WOOD really like you to know that Dr Sam Zelinka from the Forest Products Lab is really SWELL, and he is KNOT KIDDING (I’m out of puns). Also, Julian talks about airplanes (again).

QUESTIONS

Julian: "What is the fastest color?" from Rey

Trace: "How much does my house shrink in the winter and expand in the summer?" from Chris

Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's a silly idea that popped into your head, a shower thou...

When I was a kid, I ran around a corner and a tree branch went right into my eye. Luckily, my mom kissed it and made it all better… or… was it my brain that made it better? And can dogs do that too? Brb, gonna go kiss my dog.

QUESTIONS

Julian: "Do animals get the placebo effect??" from Trevor (poll winner)

Trace: "How long have people been kissing kids boo-boos, and does it work?" from Jenn (she/her)

Do you have an a...

This is our first LIVE SHOW ever!! We were invited to perform the podcast live at Smith College in Massachusetts and people actually came! Thanks for all your support these past two years. We wouldn’t be here without you all. Thank you!

QUESTIONS

Julian: "Is it possible to maintain a tunnel from one side of the earth to the other? What would be the environmental effects?" from Weina Lu (she/her)

Trace: "Is there a quantity of...

Bananas are positively aching to murder you. They’re radioactive, they’re clones, they’re slippery, they’re filled with potassium (which explodes when it hits water). Ignore those mosquitoes over there in the corner, pay attention to this murderous banana! NO DON’T PULL THE CURTAIN

QUESTIONS

Julian: "How many bananas would it take to kill a man?" from Hannah (she/her)

Trace: "Could Mosquitoes go extinct with nothing bad happe...

Turns out plants are absolute CHATTERBOXES! They talk so much that they make Julian look like a silent partner (he’s not). Instead, he uses a silly German accent to accost our guest Maren Hunsberger all about plant communication. And, speaking of intense interrogations, Star Wars’ Tatooine gets a lot of play in the pop-science space news, but here at home having two suns is way hotter, and also (surprisingly) WAY COLDER!

QU...

Let’s just wait a minute while everyone logs on… just a miiiiinnuuuuute, OK do we? I think… Yes, we have everyone! Welcome y’all to our weekly corporate roundtable, before we get started let’s all do some SNAPS for Norm for his Thanos Post-Mortem! The deck was amazing and I think there were some incredible insights to share. But today we’re throwing it over to Trace to speak to our MISSING AMERICAS strategic initiative, an...

Ever notice that our fingers seem to fit perfectly in our nostrils? Is... is that supposed to be like that? Our Patreon subscribers picked this little gem so Trace dug deep to find an answer. Then Julian tries to figure out just what it would take to make a star-encapsulating super structure, better known as a Dyson Sphere.

QUESTIONS

Julian: "What percentage of the earth mass it would take to make a Dyson sphere?" from Phill...

Hi All! Trace and Julian are taking a bit of a break this week but fear not, we still have some content for you! This is one of our favorite old episodes where Julian learns the REAL alphabet, also known as the ABG’s (not a typo); Trace discovers we are all constantly online whether we like it or not by exploring the mysteries of WiFi; and special guest Dr Virginia Schutte dives into a super-powered animal propelled by twe...

This episode Julian tries to think of an even better calendar (too bad "Julian Calendar" was already taken) and Trace thinks a thought so hard his head hurts.

QUESTIONS

Julian: "Is there a better calendar than the Gregorian? Would it solve any obscure problems?" from Daniel

Trace: "Can you think something in your head so loud that it can physically hurt you?" from Austin

Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea yo...

Let’s get ready to RUMMMMMMMBBBLLLEEE!! In this corner, we have a normal human who is definitely not a psychopath, and in the opposite corner we have… a fly. Just like, a fly. Also Julian is here and has an amazing story about melting gold with acid rain!

QUESTIONS

Julian: "Could we produce enough air pollution to make the sky rain aqua regia? At what point would it begin to dissolve gold?" from Mateo

Trace: "What is the smal...

Tonight our chefs have prepared an all-natural pasture-raised and pristine ivory-hued plutonic entree, slow-cooked under rich, Indian-spiced tectonic compression for 50 million years, adorned with a constellation of tourmaline and garnet, presented alongside gossamer-thin schist ribbons. Then, for dessert, an insulative coating of CHOOH2 which should leave your myelinated neuronal strands feeling slick and hyper-conductive...

In this episode, we learn Julian used to wear fedoras. He says, it’s been forever and a day, but I’m going to wait a Planck beard-second to see if that bears out. Before that, Trace combs through the hairy subject of human fur — about which he’s an experienced expert. Plus, like a hair on the tongue of your mind we just can’t seem to stop screaming about this one emo song.

QUESTIONS

Trace: "What if we had the same kind of ha...

Ever get caught in a light drizzle and think, "Ah, this is nice"? WELL WHAT IF IT WAS ACTUALLY HORRIFYING??? Julian explores the several ways air resistance keeps rainstorms from becoming catastrophic bombardments from the sky. Then Trace tries to get inside the mind of Julian's chihuahua. Turns out most of her thoughts boil down to "shake" and "bark".

QUESTIONS

Julian: "What if rain drops did not have a terminal velocity?" ...

Wheel wheel wheel … this episode definitely gave us both a headache. I swear we’re not going to conquer every silly meme from your group text (or maybe we will?).

QUESTIONS

Julian: “Are there more windows or doors in the world?” from Liam

Trace: "Headaches… Why???!” from Anna from Athens

Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or a ridiculous musing about you...