Learn about what Neanderthal genes might be doing in your DNA; Guido d’Arezzo, the 11th-century Benedictine monk who invented “Do, Re, Mi” notation, or solfège; and how photosynthesis killed off 99 percent of life on Earth during the the Great Oxygenation Event.
Learn about why you might feel stronger after just one workout; why the Earth’s core doesn’t melt, even though it’s so hot; and prosopagnosia, the surprising neurological condition of face blindness.
Learn the surprising reason why religious people tend to have more children; why sea turtles are actually pretty clumsy navigators; and where astronomers found the center of our solar system (spoiler alert: it’s not the center of our sun).
Learn about how doctors on Earth diagnosed and treated an astronaut’s medical problem in space for the first time; a new study that explains why whales are so big, but not bigger; and a Stanford technique for getting better at picking creative ideas.
Learn about a new discovery about rain on the sun; why flamingos stand on one leg; and why you blink the way you do when you’re watching a movie.
Learn about why your wounds heal faster in the daytime; the Peter Principle, which explains why so much goes wrong; and why there’s one tame population of foxes on Earth, and what they’ve taught us about evolution.
Quantum signals can travel over interstellar distances, shows new findings.
Tune into Discovery Channel and use this companion discussion guide to spark meaningful conversation about the next era of space flight. Stream SPACE LAUNCH LIVE on discovery+.
Learn about where the water on Earth might have come from; the surprising history of the pretzel, including the monk who invented it; words you probably didn’t know are named after people; and where “runner’s high” comes from, and whether it’s genetic.
In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes:
Learn about an artificial sun that’s hotter than our actual sun; whether math really is a universal language; and what words like “fresh” really tell you about how fancy your food is.
Learn how scientists induced an out-of-body experience in a human without using drugs; and Earth’s geological “pulse.”
Learn about how you can go on a simulated mission to Mars (in Spain); and, what the weather forecast really means when it says there’s a chance of rain. You’ll also learn about how people around the world talk differently online, with internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch.
Learn about why things taste bad after you brush your teeth; a new discovery about how fast the Earth formed that may mean good things about life in the universe; and why women may experience more pain than men.
Learn about why a predicted increase in phytoplankton is good news for our environment; how researchers can detect evidence of climate change from just one day of global weather conditions; and how Pablo Escobar's hippos became an invasive species in Colombia.