Stuff To Blow Your Mind

What can you accomplish with a space mirror? Quite a lot, actually. You can use them to gaze far into the cosmos, to propel exploration craft and even cast patches of light back down on night-cloaked regions of the planet. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Christian discuss the power of space mirrors. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We want to believe. With the return of The X-Files to television Joe and Christian go digging through Scully's reports for scientific answers to the big themes of the show. Join us to learn more about regression hypnosis, weaponized bees, alien hybridization and more. Just remember... trust no one. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the return of television's The X-Files, it's never been a better time to look at the science behind the show. Join Joe and Christian as they examine the possibilities of classic Monsters of the Week, including otherworldly parasites, killer mutants, talking tattoos and more. We'll add present research to the scientific theories surrounding the show during its initial release to find if the truth is out there. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Madness has always intrigued artists, and medieval paintings sometimes presented this malady's treatment via the surgical removal of cranial stone. What was the stone of madness? Was it mere fantasy, metaphor or an actual medical condition? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe collect their trepanation tools and investigate. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So many of our most common resolutions for personal improvement are inherently narcissistic: Quit smoking, lose weight, get in shape. We want to look sexier, feel stronger and live forever. But beyond this alternately self-gratifying and self-flagellating topography lies the most quintessential self-improvement project of all: Being a better person. Can science show us how to re-engineer our moral behavior and live better lives? Robert and Joe explore. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sure, snow is one of those amazing natural wonders that we so often take for granted, but this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind is more concerned with the weirder corners of our winter wonderland. We're talking pink snow, black snow, blood snow, blue snow, alien snow, conspiracy theory snow and giant snow. Join Robert and Joe as they plunge knee-deep in the weird flaky stuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2015 movie "Ant-Man" continues a long Hollywood tradition of miniaturization sci-fi, but how much real science is there in this tale of tiny superheroes and lovable ants? Join Robert and Christian as they shrink down to the film's level and discuss physics, the quantum realm and the fantastic world of ant biology. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christmas is here again, so join Robert, Joe and Christian as they discuss a few holiday monsters and tend to your listener mail. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You've always wanted to meet a sensitive alien telepath who could understand you like no one else, but SETI is really dropping the ball on your galactic personal ad. Could new technologies that push the frontiers of brain science allow telepathic communication between humans? Join Robert and Joe as they make a case for the slogan, "Talk is cheap. Scan me!" Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When it comes to gene transfer, most organisms -- yourself included -- play by the rules and stick to sexual and/or asexual reproduction. But then there are the genestealers, organisms that just take the genes they want from other species. Join Robert and Joe as they discuss the mind-bending world of horizontal gene transfer. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.