Unexplainable

Vox

Unexplainable takes listeners right up to the edge of what we know…and then keeps on going. The Unexplainable team — Noam Hassenfeld, Julia Longoria, Byrd Pinkerton, and Meradith Hoddinott — tackles scientific mysteries, unanswered questions, and everything we learn diving into the unknown. New episodes Mondays and Wednesdays.

From Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

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299 episodes
Updated Wednesday

Episodes299

Newest first

Apr 12, 2023 · 23 min
Talking trees
Studies suggesting trees communicate through an elaborate underground fungal network have captured imaginations.
Apr 5, 2023 · 27 min
Your questions, unexplained
This week, we tackle three listener questions — on sleepwalking, deja vu, and Earth’s magnetic field.
Mar 22, 2023 · 19 min
What's so funny?
Scientists are digging into what makes something funny.
Mar 15, 2023 · 25 min
Origins: The meaning of “life”
For every definition of life, there’s a creature that sends us right back to the drawing board.
Mar 8, 2023 · 28 min
Origins: The first living thing
How did life on Earth start?
Mar 1, 2023 · 26 min
Origins: How did Earth get its water?
Life as we know it needs water, but scientists can’t figure out where Earth’s water came from.
Feb 15, 2023 · 33 min
What is love?
Can science help us predict whether a relationship will succeed?
Feb 8, 2023 · 29 min
Why we hiccup
Listeners told us that eating baby carrots or telling lies can bring on the hiccups. Burping or kissing can make them stop. Um, what?
Feb 1, 2023 · 22 min
We booped an asteroid
Last fall, a NASA spacecraft slammed into an asteroid to test a way to avert a disaster on Earth. So are we safe now?
Jan 25, 2023 · 26 min
Your creepy, crawly roommates
Our houses are homes to hidden worlds of bugs.
Jan 18, 2023 · 31 min
Henrietta Leavitt and the end of the universe
In the early 1900s, Henrietta Leavitt made one of the most important discoveries in the history of astronomy: a yardstick to measure distances to faraway stars.
Jan 11, 2023 · 27 min
Plants with eyes?
In the temperate rainforests of Chile, there is a vine that can shapeshift to copy the look of other plants.
Jan 4, 2023 · 29 min
Unexplainable or Not: Bikes, planes, ice skates
Our game show is back!
Dec 21, 2022 · 28 min
Your gut's feelings
How we feel emotionally may be influenced by unseen troves of microbial life that live inside us. Is it possible to harness this gut power?
Dec 14, 2022 · 29 min
Nuclear fusion breaks through
Back in January, we spoke to a scientist at the National Ignition Facility about how close they were to achieving what’s been called “one of the most impressive scientific feats of the 21st century.”
Dec 7, 2022 · 28 min
Basic instinct
How do animals know how to do things like spin a web or build a dam? A neuroscientist argues it's not “instinct.” Something bigger is going on.
Nov 30, 2022 · 23 min
Why we cry
Humans seem to be the only animals that cry from emotion. What makes our tears so special?
Nov 16, 2022 · 31 min
Can we live in space?
NASA just launched the Artemis program, a series of missions that will eventually take humans back to the moon, and beyond.
Nov 9, 2022 · 30 min
Holding on to power
A mountain, a tower, a thermos full of molten salt: These are the batteries that could power our renewable future.
Nov 2, 2022 · 33 min
Redefining death
Death used to be fairly self-evident, but new technologies have forced us to ask: When is someone actually dead?

Unexplainable

Talking trees

Your questions, unexplained

What's so funny?

Origins: The meaning of “life”

Origins: The first living thing

Origins: How did Earth get its water?

What is love?

Why we hiccup

We booped an asteroid

Your creepy, crawly roommates

Henrietta Leavitt and the end of the universe

Plants with eyes?

Unexplainable or Not: Bikes, planes, ice skates

Your gut's feelings

Nuclear fusion breaks through

Basic instinct

Why we cry

Can we live in space?

Holding on to power

Redefining death