Oxygen's surprisingly complex journey through your body - Enda Butler
Adults Human
Oxygen forms about 21% of the air around us. In your body, oxygen forms a vital role in the production of energy in most cells. But if gases can only efficiently diffuse across tiny distances, how does oxygen reach the cells deep inside your body? Enda Butler tracks the surprisingly complex journey of oxygen through your body.
Are You Thinking About Breathing While You Read This? (Now You Are)
Adults Human
What really drives us to breathe? And how dangerous is it to hyperventilate and hold your breath?
Your Brain Changes all the time, but Being a Mom Changes It Forever
Adults Human
Mother's bodies go through tons of changes before and after giving birth, but so do their brains! What really makes a mom's brain different?
Using GPS to Get Around Is Making Us Dumber
Adults Human
GPS services have made getting from point A to point B a lot easier, but what effects does this have on our brains?
How You Can Survive With Only One-Third of Your Blood
Adults Human
How much blood can a human lose without dying, and how does the body replenish that blood once it's gone?
Why Some Old People Act Half Their Age: It's in the Brain
Adults Human
Scientists are studying people over 80 whose memories are just as good as someone in their 50s. What sets these 'SuperAgers' apart?
What Happens To Child Prodigies When They Grow Up?
Adults Human
Children who develop remarkable skills at an early age are often knowns at prodigies, but what happens to these kids once they grow up?
The Unexpected Things Winter Does To Your Body
Adults Human
Everyone suffers a little in the winter, be it human or animal, but how does cold climate actually change your body?
Why Isn't Our Hair Naturally Blue?
Adults Human
Human hair comes in a variety of colors; including brown, blonde, and black. Why doesn't it grow blue or green?
Why humans are so bad at thinking about climate change
Adults Human
The biggest problem for the climate change fight isn't technology - it's human psychology.
Why Some People Don't Feel Pain
Adults Human
Pain helps us survive, and yet some people are born without the ability to feel pain, how?
Dogs and Humans: A 30,000-Year Friendship
Adults Human
Of all the species that humans have domesticated, dogs are our oldest animal friends. But how did a group of wolves become the furry pup at the end of the bed? New research is finally unlocking the paw-in-hand evolution of dogs and humans. In this episode we're answering one big question: Did we domesticate dogs, or did dogs domesticate us?
Why do we itch? - Emma Bryce
Adults Human
The average person experiences dozens of individual itches each day. We've all experienced the annoyance of an inconvenient itch - but have you ever pondered why we itch in the first place? Is there actually an evolutionary purpose to the itch, or is it simply there to annoy us? Emma Bryce digs deep into the skin to find out.
5-Yr-Old Pool Prodigy
Adults Human
Meet Keith O'Dell, a bonafide pool playing prodigy. At just five years old, Keith pockets balls like a pro. The sport is in Keith's genes - his parents play pool, his grandparents play pool, the family even eats dinner on the pool table. His father says Keith was "born to play pool." The question is, how will his incredible talent effect the life ahead of him?
Everything Scientists Could Learn By Looking At Your Skull
Adults Human
Our skulls are all unique, but they also share characteristics across groups of people. Scientists can use this information to learn a lot about the previous "owner" of the skull.
How does your body know what time it is? - Marco A. Sotomayor
Adults Human
Being able to sense time helps us do everything from waking and sleeping to knowing precisely when to catch a ball that's hurtling towards us. And we owe all these abilities to an interconnected system of timekeepers in our brains. But how do they work? Marco A. Sotomayor details how human bodies naturally tell time.
We Got Our DNA Tested, Here's How It Actually Works
Adults Human
Trace and Amy get their DNA test results, and we talk to an expert about how scientists actually get genetic information out of DNA.
Why Can't Chimpanzees Speak?
Adults Human
Chimpanzees are very smart animals, so why can't they speak? Tara is here to explain how a gene mutation allows humans to speak, but not chimps.
What Magnetizing Cockroaches Can Teach Us About Navigation
Adults Human
A new study has found cockroaches can sense the Earth's magnetic field, an ability called magnetoreception. Could humans have this sense, too?
Here's what happens to your knuckles when you crack them
Adults Human
One man cracked his knuckles in one hand for 60 years and not the other. Watch the video to see what he found out.
Proof of evolution that you can find on your body
Adults Human
You have your mom's smile, your dad's eyes, and the ear muscles of a Triassic mammal.