Unexplainable

For decades, search and rescue teams followed an accepted playbook. Now, scientists are helping them reimagine how to find lost people. Guests: Robert Koester, author of Lost Person Behavior, and Paul Doherty, search and rescue researcher For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With antibiotic resistance on the rise, some scientists are turning to viruses as a medical tool. But we barely know anything about the bacteria-eating viruses all around us. (First published in 2021) Guest: Nicola Twilley, host of Gastropod For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our bodies are teeming with viruses. But some of them, called phages, might play a really important role in keeping us healthy. Guest: Tom Ireland, author of The Good Virus For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The FDA is about to announce whether it’s going to approve MDMA as a treatment for PTSD. Our friends at Today, Explained explore what this kind of therapy looks like, and why it’s so controversial. For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

They probably didn’t roar like lions. Their real voices were likely much, much weirder. We asked scientists to help us re-create these strange, extinct sounds. (First published in 2022) Guests: Michael Habib, professor at UCLA, Julia Clarke, professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and Jonny Crew, sound designer at Wounded Buffalo For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s possible that the entire observable universe is inside a black hole. All we need to do to find out is … build a gigantic particle collider around the moon. Guest: James Beacham, particle physicist at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Send this episode to the person who constantly hounds you not to slouch. Guest: Beth Linker, author of “Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America” For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

People yawn when they’re bored, right? So then why do athletes yawn before races? And why do so many animals yawn? … And why does reading this paragraph make you more likely to yawn? (Updated from 2022) Guest: Dr. Andrew Gallup For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Please take a second to help us learn more about you! vox.com/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can a physicist predict our messy economy by building an enormous simulation of the entire world? For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Please take a second to help us learn more about you! vox.com/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Inflation is one of the most significant issues shaping the 2024 election. But how much can we actually do to control it? For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Please take a second to help us learn more about you! vox.com/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s hard to figure out the economic value of a wild bat or any other part of the natural world, but some scientists argue that this kind of calculation could help protect our environment. For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Seventy-five percent of the seafloor remains unmapped and unexplored, but the first few glimpses scientists have gotten of the ocean’s depths have completely revolutionized our understanding of the planet. For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Please take a second to help us learn more about you! vox.com/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you just stood up and shouted, “It’s Mount Everest, duh!” then take a seat. Not only is Everest’s official height constantly changing, but three other mountains might actually be king of the hill. For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Please take a second to help us learn more about you! vox.com/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Way back when forests first evolved on Earth … they might have triggered one of the biggest mass extinctions in the history of the planet. What can we learn from this ancient climate apocalypse? For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Please take a second to help us learn more about you! vox.com/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From blood transfusions to enzyme boosters, our friends at Science Vs dive into the latest research on the search for the fountain of youth. For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox: vox.com/givepodcasts Please take a second to help us learn more about you! vox.com/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A snake. A shark. They got pregnant with no male involved. In fact, scientists are finding more and more species that can reproduce on their own. What’s going on? Note: We mention that a stingray named Charlotte might be pregnant via parthenogenesis. It has since been announced that she was not pregnant, but ill. For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox: vox.com/givepodcasts Please take a second to help us learn more about you! vox.com/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Itch used to be understood as a mild form of pain, but scientists are learning this sense is more than just skin deep. How deep does it go? For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox: vox.com/givepodcasts Please take a second to help us learn more about you! vox.com/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Life as we know it needs water, but scientists can’t figure out where Earth’s water came from. Answering that question is just one piece of an even bigger mystery: “Why are we here?” (Updated from 2023) For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable Vox is also currently running a series called Home Planet, which is all about celebrating Earth in the face of climate change: vox.com/homeplanet And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox: vox.com/givepodcasts Please take a second to help us learn more about you! vox.com/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A cell is alive. So is a leaf and so is a tree. But what about the forest they’re a part of? Is that forest alive? And what about the planet that forest grows on? Is Earth alive? Science writer Ferris Jabr says: Yes. For show transcripts, go to bit.ly/unx-transcripts For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable Vox is also currently running a series called Home Planet, which is all about celebrating Earth in the face of climate change: http://vox.com/homeplanet And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Please take a second to help us learn more about you! vox.com/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The researcher who popularized the idea of the alpha wolf has spent decades trying to take it back. Our friends over at Pablo Torre Finds Out try to uncover how science got it wrong. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts Please take a second to help us learn more about you! vox.com/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices