All Articles

Learn about how having hope for the future could protect you from risky behaviors like drinking and gambling; how your dog’s personality can change over time; and “limnic eruptions” — or, deadly exploding lakes.

Learn about how a fever helps you get better; why the first reliable and widely available pregnancy test was the African clawed frog; and a potential breakthrough in the shockingly complicated traveling salesperson problem.

Princeton University Anthropology Professor Agustín Fuentes explains why race is a social construct — as in, biological race isn’t real. Then, learn how plants pass down “bad” memories to their offspring through epigenetics.

Learn about whether reading computer code is the same to your brain as reading another language; and a personality trait that could be key to lasting romance. Then, play along at home as we test your podcast knowledge in this month’s edition of Curiosity Challenge trivia.

Learn about the “smellicopter,” a drone that can smell via a live moth antenna; why the “Dark Ages” weren’t as dark as you might think; and how simple word swaps can secretly trick your brain.

Learn about how hoarders’ brains see their belongings; why dolphins consciously lower their heart rates; and what scientists think happened before the big bang.

Award-winning scientist and science communicator Ainissa Ramirez explains how copper changed our language. Then, learn about the surprising health benefits of brown fat.

Learn about why just because you want something doesn’t mean you like it; why Esperanto is the world’s most successful universal language; and a gene therapy injection in one eye that improved vision in both.

Learn about why popular opinion might not be as popular as you thought; a new analysis that’s debunked the blood type diet; and a pool of water in Kidd Creek Mine in Timmins, Ontario, Canada, that’s 2 billion years old.

Learn about how Arnold’s ear-cough reflex can make you cough when you clean your ears; why it’s important to teach your kids about giving when they’re learning about money; and a hidden letter in the alphabet that you already sing.

Learn about how clocks and lightbulbs changed human health, with author and materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez. Plus: learn about that time a bunch of birds became milk bottle thieves and whether you should put one or two spaces after a period.

Learn about what's going on with the new COVID-19 variants — and whether you should worry about them — with Dr. Syra Madad, nationally recognized epidemiologist and the senior director of the pathogens program at NYC Health and Hospitals. Then, learn about a new theory on how our planets formed.

What gets you curious? Virtual experiences, celestial bodies, water worlds or maybe just the tiniest mysteries inside your brain? The endlessly curious and curiously funny, Gillian Jacobs (Community, Netflix's LOVE) and Diona Reasonover (NCIS), step off set to go on tangents with real-life astronauts, astrophysicists, science artists, mathematician-types and other really smart people that investigate what seems impossible.

Learn about how sleep may have evolved before the brain; why airports keep birds of prey on staff; and what would happen if you stopped time.

Learn about how the coronavirus pandemic may have changed Americans’ attitudes about the poor; how you can relieve stress by learning something new; and a trick for setting goals to help you achieve what you want.