Stuff To Blow Your Mind

How did Albert Einstein's brain wind up on a road trip to hang with the author of "Naked Lunch?" In this episode, Robert and Julie give Einstein's head cheese a serious poking to discuss the secrets of all the brain matter inside that skull of yours. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stroll into the memory palace, an imagined location that just might expand your brain power. In this podcast, Robert and Julie discuss the Method of Loci, a mnemonic device that allows mental athletes to perform astounding acts of recall. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We'd all like to replace our failing organs with spare guts, but when will it be possible? Join Robert and Julie as they explain why the day is fast approaching. Tune in to learn how stem cells and organ scaffolding may change the future of medicine. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What makes a dog a lousy father and a wolf a stellar patriarch? Join Robert and Julie as they anthropomorphize the animal kingdom in an effort to find out why some species are more like Cliff Huxtable while some are more like Darth Vader. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Humans have spent ages evolving into the charming specimens we are today. But what if we could accelerate the pace of evolution, giving our future progeny super-human attributes? Join Julie and Robert as they discuss if evolution as we know it is over. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when we plug into our gadgets and tune out the rest of the world? In this episode, Robert and Julie discuss the so-called Walkman Effect and the manner in which our precious music and personal electronics alter the reality we live in. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Although the subject makes some people very uncomfortable, sanitation is enormously important. But what kind of technology will we find in the toilets of the future? Join Robert and Julie as they investigate the future of sanitation. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With a duck's head and a beaver's body, the duck-billed platypus is often the butt of jokes. Yet this oddity helps us understand how creatures evolve. Join Robert and Julie as they investigate the unique anatomy of the platypus. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The notion of Vedic nuclear weapons is a more than a bit far-fetched. Yet from the Antikythera mechanism to Archimedes' death ray, people are fascinated by the idea of ancient advanced technology. Join Robert and Julie as they separate fact from fiction. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Day of the Dolphin: In 1973, moviegoers watched dolphins carry out assassination plots in "The Day of the Dolphin," part of the dolphin fever stirred up by John C. Lilly. But just how smart are these mammals? Join Robert and Julie as they enter the world of the Dolphin. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People around the world practice meditation, but what exactly is it, and how does it affect our brains? Join Robert and Julie as they look at the science behind meditation. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can robots be programmed to behave ethically? It's possible that future robots may possess emotions like empathy or guilt. Join Robert and Julie as they interview Dr. Ronald Arkin, a leading expert on the study of robotic consciousness modeling. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Robert and Julie take a sweeping look at math, addressing several important questions. For example: What is math? Where does math come from? What mathematical skills are we born with and how much can we understand? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Hayflick limit posits that we can live for 120 years. But recent research suggests we could live to for 1,000 years. Enter maverick biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey, who has pulled the rug out from under his entire field. Tune in to learn more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the 1950s, residents of Las Vegas partied hard, and their booze-fueled parties sometimes included a special treat -- the observation of nuclear tests. So what happened next? Tune in as Robert and Julie breakdown the science behind nuclear fallout. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's no secret that the history of paleontology is replete with hoaxes and incorrect conclusions -- but how many can be chalked up to honest mistakes, and how many were scams? Tune in to learn more about the storied, sketchy history of paleontology. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A placebo is a fake medicine included in drug trials to show, through contrast, the benefits of the real medicine. Yet sometimes the patients taking the placebo still experience improvements -- why? Tune in to learn more about the placebo effect. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When an iron rod shot through Phineas Gage's head, it destroyed the majority of his left frontal lobe. He survived, but his personality and behavior changed -- why? Tune in as Robert and Julie explore the relationship between the brain and the mind. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Although scientists still aren't sure exactly how dinosaurs reproduced, fascinating (and surprising) conjectures abound. Join Robert and Julie as they explore the procedures experts use to recreate the lives of dinosaurs, from the fossil record to DNA. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is it possible that human evolution is on the verge of transcending its organic roots? And, if it is possible, how could it actually occur? Join Robert and Julie as they explore the mind-blowing concept of cyberimmortality. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.