BrainStuff
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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.
Episodis Recents
2664 episodis
Who Was Helen of Troy?
Helen is a figure from Greek myth -- a daughter of Zeus with a mortal woman, and said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. Learn more a...
How Does Your Heart Get Blood?
Your heart needs blood as much as any other muscle in your body, and it receives it the same way -- just a little earlier than anyone else. Learn how...
How Do Butterflies Get Their Brilliant Colors?
Butterfly wings often come in striking, iridescent colors -- but it's not from pigments (or not entirely). Learn how microscopic structures give butte...
How Did William the Conquerer Transform England?
In the year 1066, the illigitimate son of a Norman duke conquered England and became its king, changing English history (and language!) forever. Learn...
Could Dilophosaurus Really Spit Poison?
OK, we're almost sure the answer is no. But there was a fossil-based reason that 'Jurassic Park' included this detail. Learn about the real-life Dilop...
Do Our Pinky Toes Serve a Purpose?
Your pinky toes are actually powerhouses of locomotion. Learn how they help us move -- and what can go wrong if they get injured -- in today's episode...
Where Did the At Symbol Come From?
The @ sign goes by many names today, but it's only so commonplace because of medieval merchants and one 1970s programmer. Learn more about the at sign...
BrainStuff Classics: What Can Babies See in the Womb?
A human fetus doesn't develop retinas until around gestational week 28. Learn how researchers have tried to figure out what babies can see in the few...
Can You Really Escape an Alligator by Running Zigzag?
You could probably outsprint an alligator no matter what pattern you ran in -- but it's extremely unlikely that you'd ever need to. Learn how alligato...
What Fueled the Feud of the Hatfields and McCoys?
The 30-year feud between these two families is more dramatic than fiction -- and may be the starting point of negative stereotypes about Appalachia. L...
How Does Mayonnaise Work?
Love it or hate it, mayo achieves a creamy texture without any dairy thanks to the science of emulsions. Learn how it works -- and why it's not the re...
How Did a Wisconsin Woman Lead a German Resistance to Nazis?
Mildred Harnack was an American literature professor living in Berlin when the Third Reich took control. Learn how she and her husband led a resistanc...
Are Lobsters Functionally Immortal?
It's true that lobsters don't age, but that doesn't quite make them immortal, and it's far from the only fabulously weird thing about them. Learn abou...
Is It 'Jerry-Rigged' or 'Jury-Rigged'?
Both of these terms are actually valid, though they have slightly different meanings, and only one of them is based in sailors' slang. Learn the histo...
How Did Beer Help Sell the Myth of Custer's Last Stand?
The idea of General George Custer's deadly military blunder being a heroic last stand was constructed over decades to encourage U.S. colonization of t...
How Does Bioluminescence Work?
When organisms like fireflies, fungi, and fish glow with cold light, there's chemistry at work. Learn what we know (and don't know!) about bioluminesc...
How Is Maillardet's Automaton Still Wowing Us After 200 Years?
Around the year 1800, Swiss clockmaker Henri Maillardet created a mechanical doll that moves like a person as it produces drawings and poems with a pe...
How Do Tiny Capers Pack Such a Big Flavor Punch?
Capers are the flower buds of a spiny shrub, and though they have a lot of flavor on their own, they're often amped up by being pickled or packed in s...
What Do A.M., P.M., and SOS Stand For?
OK, this is a trick question -- 'SOS' doesn't stand for anything at all. Learn the history of these three terms, including what astronomy and telegrap...
How Do Fainting Goats Work?
Fainting goats don't really faint -- their muscles just lock up for a few extra seconds when they startle or get excited. Learn how myotonia works and...
Does Smog Make Sunsets More Beautiful?
Although a little air pollution can bring out brilliant colors in sunsets, most of it just causes a washed-out haze. Learn how both sunsets and smog w...
Why Does Albania Have Hundreds of Thousands of Bunkers?
When Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha started building concrete bunkers during the Cold War, it was part paranoia and part propaganda. Learn more about t...
What Pranks Have Astronauts Pulled?
Since the early days of space exploration, some of NASA's greatest have pulled some great pranks. Learn about our favorites, from a smuggled sandwich...
How Can Your Body Learn to Tolerate Cold?
When you shiver, your fingers and toes go numb, or you get goosebumps in the cold, that's actually your body trying to keep you warm. Learn how it wor...
How Did the War of 1812 Settle the American Revolution?
The War of 1812 between the U.S. and the British Empire ended in a stalemate, but it established the U.S. as an independent nation and economic power...
How Do Geoducks Work?
Geoducks are large clams that can live for over a century, are eaten as delicacies, and look incredibly NSFW. Learn more about these amazing mollusks...
How Did One Woman Make Vincent van Gogh Famous?
Van Gogh didn't find fame or financial success during his life. But after he died, his widowed sister-in-law, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, worked for deca...
How Does Building Muscle Work?
Building muscle isn't just about getting ripped -- it's a way all of us can be healthier. Learn about the facts and fictions behind building muscle (a...
Deinonychus: The Dinosaur That Sparked a Renaissance
The discovery of Deinonychus, an agile theropod that may have hunted in packs, changed the way we think about dinosaurs -- and inspired 'Jurassic Park...
How Do Scales Measure Weight?
Scales range from simple machines that weigh your produce to precision instruments that measure anything from molecules to massive cargo -- but they a...
How Did the Penn Center Become a Civil Rights Sanctuary?
In South Carolina, the first school for formerly enslaved people during the Civil War shifted to become a center for social activism during the Civil...
BrainStuff Classics: Why Is Cramming the Worst Way to Study?
Cramming for a test or other deadline may give you decent short-term results, but research shows it sacrifices long-term comprehension and memory. Lea...
How Can We Separate Ninja Fact from Ninja Fiction?
Over a few hundred years, real stories about secretive agents developed into the legend of the ninja. Learn how this myth captured the world's imagina...
How Did 'Bourgeois' Become a Bad Word?
The French word 'bourgeois' originally just meant a middle-class town dweller, but it's taken on a lot of different (and often derogatory) connotation...
How Did the Jane Collective Work?
When abortion was illegal throughout the U.S., it was still perfomed -- just dangerously or expensively. Learn about the Jane Collective -- an undergr...
How Do Ducks Float?
Ducks can hold extra air in their feathers and bodies, making it easy for them to float -- and to squeeze out the air and dive when they want to. Lear...
BrainStuff Classics: What Was the Emu War?
Following World War II, Austrialia became embroiled in another war -- with a population of emu. Learn how the Emu War unfolded in this episode of Brai...
BrainStuff Classics: Do Truly Unselfish Acts Really Exist?
Neurologists and philosophers alike may argue that altruism doesn't exist because no act is ever completely unselfish. Learn why -- and why humans may...
How Is Forest Lawn Memorial Park the 'Disneyland of Cemeteries'?
Just outside Los Angeles, Forest Lawn Memorial Park is the resting place of many celebrities -- and also home to art, architecture, and celebrations o...
What Colors Can Blood Be Other Than Red?
Not all animals have red blood -- it can also come in green, blue, clear, and even dichroic varieties. Learn more in this episode of BrainStuff, based...