Volcanoes. Trees. Drunk butterflies. Mars missions. Slug sex. Death. Beauty standards. Anxiety busters. Beer science. Bee drama. Take away a pocket full of science knowledge and charming, bizarre stories about what fuels these professional -ologists' obsessions. Humorist and science correspondent Alie Ward asks smart people stupid questions and the answers might change your life.
415 episodes transcribedYes, Chickenology is a real word. And we have questions. Such as: should you get a chicken?! Chicken-haver and author of “Under the Henfluence” Tove D...
A G-rated, kid-safe Smologies edit all about getting your Zzzzzs. Neurologist and somnologist Dr. W. Chris Winter is an expert on sleep, and since his...
What’s inside that boarded up house? Should you explore an abandoned mall? A vacant factory? And how much of an old house ends up in a landfill? The f...
Ahh, Daylight Savings Time: does it mess up your brain? What time should you go to bed? Are you sleeping enough? Is shift work really that bad? How da...
Ichthyology is not easy to say, but fish are easy to love. Dr. Chris Thacker will get you so thrilled to stare into a pond or look up pictures of silv...
Why an episode on Detroit?! It’s got a great story. Standalone, this episode is a fascinating look at a metropolis that swelled and thrived during the...
I’m at the airport and there are hundreds of brain scientists everywhere. So I swallowed my dignity/anxiety and approached strangers about the neurosc...
Chemical spills, historical disasters, water quality, airborne toxic events, clear gasses, White Noise, dead fish, dark clouds, chemistry tests, trenc...
Skin color! Hair texture! Biological anthropology! The incredibly informed and infectiously funny Dr. Tina Lasisi joins to chat sunscreen, ashiness, r...
It’s invisible. It’s mysterious. It’s all around us – and no one knows what it is. Let’s have a fun existential crisis by pondering Dark Matter! The w...
Part 2 is here! Pull up a seat for singing techniques, baby talk, baritones, whistle notes, stroke recovery, vibrato, Julie Andrews, crying jags, thro...
Voices! Singing! Anxiety busters! Breathing! The absolutely magnetic, charismatic Laryngologist and surgeon Dr. Ronda Alexander makes her long-awaited...
Lights! Cameras! Arachnids! And lizards and bees and beetles. Macro photography is like magic: curved glass gives an entirely new take on the world, f...
Part 2 is here: Lucid dreaming! Teeth falling out! Medications and dreaming! The source of creativity! Even how to clean your brain. Dr. G. William Do...
WHY do we dream? What do dreams mean? What parts of our brain are working after-hours? We sought out UC Santa Cruz researcher and professor Dr. G. Wil...
It’s a weird rambling bonus episode for the lonely week between the holidays and New Years! I thought I’d serve up a mellow hang full of secrets, a re...
Another G-rated edit of a classic! This Smologies with Dr. John McCormack of Occidental College is all about evolution, Darwinism, birds, bacteria, na...
Very special episode for a very special cat. The day after the legendary Los Angeles mountain lion P-22 took his last breath, we talked with Natural H...
Bomb cyclones! Polar vortices! Atmospheric rivers! And rained out barbecues. One of the world’s leading Meteorologists, Dr. Marshall Shepherd – a form...
Crosswords! Puzzles! Wordles! Magic? Ah yes, world-renowned Enigmatologist David Kwong drops in to chat about the intersection of sleight of hand and...
