Let Me Google That

Using AI to model human brain processes could help us better understand conditions like depression — but does that mean robots can get depressed? And if they can't. . .should we program them to? For SCIENCE?

Marcel Petiot is one of history's most prolific serial killers. You've probably never heard of him — and after today's episode, you'll wish you never had.

The MBTI personality test wasn't designed to measure  aptitude — it actually measures *preference.* You might *prefer* introversion to experience the world, but that doesn't mean you're *incapable* or *lacking* extraverted qualities.

Karen Wetterhahn's untimely death in the 1990s gave science invaluable insight into mercury poisoning.

An update on. . .things. ❤︎ Instagram: @letmegooglethat/@abbymnorman Twitter: @letmeglglthat/@abbymnorman GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/love-for-abby-norman-amp-whimsy

In 1962 a hunk of Russian space junk landed in the middle of a street in Wisconsin. What was the U.S. to do? This was Cold War-era Space Race time, so they weren't gonna call up the Soviet Union like: "It's 10 PM do you know where your Sputnik is?"

Why do we award them? And what about that time some medals were hidden from the Nazis in an acid bath?

You'll find the Stanford Prison Experiment in any Psych 101 textbook — but don't believe everything you're taught.

Whatever the reason for ya sneezin' (which may or may not sound like "AH-CHOO") there are also many ways to respond when someone sneezes: "bless you," "Gesundheit," or "SORRY" (in case it's not ragweed, but rather, a sign of your impending death)

Did an experimental treatment really save a teenage girl from rabies - or was it just a coincidence?

The summer of 1816 was known as the Year Without a Summer in the northeast U.S. because even though it would be ~95°F during the day, at night temperatures dropped so low that Maine got A FOOT OF SNOW IN JUNE.

In 1988 Claire Sylvia received New England's first heart-lung transplant. And the personality of the teenage boy whose heart she got.

"Indelible pencils" or copying pencils were popular for a time in the 1870s because they made it possible to easily make copies of handwritten documents. Which would have been great — except they turned out to be poisonous.

A company in California has devised truly random encryption for cybersecurity using. . .Lava Lamps.

The first bikini debuted in 1946 — just a few days after the U.S. had begun testing the atomic bomb at Bikini Atoll, for which the suit had been named. How's that for ~SEO strategy?

Ben Franklin's famous kite experiment took place sometime between June 10th - 15th, 1752. But you probably learned many misconceptions about it in school: 1. Franklin didn't discover electricity. 2. His kite did not get struck by lightning.

The unique scent each dog leaves behind (heh) is sort of like a Tinder bio: it conveys to other dogs in the neighborhood how old they are, what their emotional state is, and whether or not they're DTF.

ヽHEAT｀、｀LIGHTNINGヽ｀ヽヽ IS ヽヽFAKEヽ｀ヽ｀、｀NEWSヽ｀

Since we spent all summer seeing that same sponsored post by Popsicle® in our feeds, here's the history of the "frozen confection of attractive appearance" which was *accidentally* invented by an 11-year-old boy in 1905.

Put on some slow, sexy, saxophone riffs and leave your porch light on tonight to help Hot Single Poplar Hawk Moths in your area get it on. It's literally their reason for living. #TagUrMothPorn

Throwback to the episode we did about Jocelyn Bell Burnell who has AT LONG LAST finally been rewarded for her incredible contributions to science. In true GOAT fashion she's donating the money she's been awarded to a fund to help prevent men from taking credit for their female colleagues' discoveries...

Technically, you can turn in your social security card and renounce your U.S. citizenship just because you want to (but maybe don't).

(This is, obviously, a throwback to 7/11) If there's not one in your neighborhood, just wait: it's said that a new store opens somewhere in the world every 2 hours. While you wait, grab a Slurpee and listen to today's episode.

LISTENER CALL-IN! How were the weird and beautiful Pinnacles of the Western Australian desert formed?

From BBS chatrooms and Compuserv to Geocities, AOL, and Myspace — when it comes to social media, how did we get to. . .whatever it is we're doing now?

Am I the only person who didn't know there are DOLPHINS in the Amazon River?

Legend has it that once you board Stockholm's "Silver Arrow" you're doomed to ride it for eternity – and not due to train traffic up ahead or a track fire BUT BECAUSE IT'S A ˢᵖᵒᴼᵒᴼᵒᵏʸ GHOST TRAIN!

According to a 2016 study, even though we've been promoting advance directives & living wills for over 50 years, only about a third of U.S. adults have one.

The mysterious Basel Papyrus contain 2,000 year old medical writings & the earliest known private letters between Christians. Incidentally, those letters also appear to include the earliest known review of fish sauce.

Thanks to a cognitive bias known as asymmetric insight, we tend to think we know other people better than they know us — or even that we know other people better than they know themselves.

Turns out my best friend Rebecca is one of the ~5 % of people on Earth who have witnessed the phenomenon of BALL LIGHTING. Naturally I made her tell me all about it – and she even made a gif!

AKA: The true story behind AMC's "The Terror."

There's so much to love about Les Horribles Cernettes 1. A doo-wop parody girl group of CERN scientists 2. Songs had titles like "Collider" and "Daddy's Lab" 3. In 1992 this promo photo became the first pic uploaded to the internet.

In the 1920s, "Pep" was sent to the Eastern State Penitentiary. He even got a mug shot taken. But his life sentence was actually not what the media made it seem.

What's happened (or is happening or might happen) between Trump & Putin, between the U.S. & Russia, is unethical, illegal, and unprecedented — but here's the reason it's *not* treason.

In 2011 researchers snapped these photos of a red-crested tree rat — which was pretty impressive considering the critter is EXTINCT. Now reclassified as critically endangered, we've only ever seen ~3. The last sighting was over a century ago.

It wasn't Apollo 17's famous "Blue Marble" photo. Nor was the awe-inspiring "earthrise" shot taken by the Apollo 8 crew. No, our first glimpse of Earth from lunar orbit came on August 23rd, 1966 when NASA decided to risk their Moon-mapping mission to have Lunar Orbiter 1 crane its camera's lens away from the lunar surface to take a few photos of us instead.

"Master keys" are actually part of a much larger hierarchal system of keying. Master keys can be "Grand" or "Great Grand" (like grandpas) depending on how many lower key systems they can unlock.

Yes, Hawaii wants to ban some sunscreens that are hurting coral reefs. No, that does not mean you should stop wearing sunscreen. Humans, coral — we're all just trying to live through this goddamn summer, OK?

Automated car washes are ubiquitous today but it wasn't long ago that so-called "car washes" were known simply as: YOUR BARE HANDS. Here's a brief history of how we mechanized the process.

No, we aren't becoming a Peri Gilpin fan podcast...because there already IS one and it's SUPREME and you should go listen to it right now https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/two-degrees-of-peri-gilpin/id1361303490?mt=2 and be sure to follow the hilarious duo that hosts, Kendra & Ken!

In the wild west a "gentleman bandit" named Charles Boles was known for being polite, robbing stagecoaches on foot instead of horseback, never shooting a gun, rockin' a dapper aesthetic & the poems he left behind.

Whether you believe it was aliens or not, the story of the Roswell incident (which began 71 years ago this summer) is a great example of how traditional folk narratives develop.

Is it fact or an .·:urban space legend:·. that you can't be an astronaut if you've ever smoked menthol cigarettes because it'll make your lungs explode? (Gif by our friend http://dissent.is on Instagram!)

Squeezing limes for margaritas? Beware phytophotodermatitis ("margarita burn"). Lime juice contains phytochemicals that make your skin hypersensitive to the sun's UV rays and have been known to cause second-degree burns.

Wobbegong sharks ("wobbies") are also known as carpet sharks because they literally just chill on the ocean floor like a rug. A rug with an extremely powerful jaw, lurking in the shadows . . . waiting.

On August 15th, 1977 the WOW! Signal was heard by the Big Ear radio telescope at Ohio State University. . .aaaand everyone thought it was aliens.

Hey, it's fucking hot outside!! Heat-related illness can kill you. Or your kid. Or your pet. Or other mammals you know and love!!! On today's ep we're talking about heat exhaustion v. heat stroke — and what to do if it happens to you!

For centuries "paper mills" didn't describe enormous factories of mechanized paper production: rather, "mills" were groups of skilled workers sitting around crafting single sheets by hand.

Some say the stained piece of linen is the burial cloth of Jesus, but even the modern science hasn't been able to definitively prove (or disprove) the shroud's story. And no, NASA didn't investigate it. Here's what really happened.

Guest host Johnathan Blade is diving deep into "computers before computers." Find him on YouTube Johnathanblade1 where he makes videos about “commercial tech-related content and film reviews, with a focus on mostly mobile editing.”

Ever wondered why we point at things? Or how dogs *know* we're pointing at a thing? Guest host Chris Thrasher has answers.

Guest host Lydia Sigwarth is going to tell you about some of the most morbidly fascinating (ha — see what we did there?) deaths in history. SPOILER ALTER: Watermelons appear more than once.

Guest host Pedo Graterol is going to tell you about one of the coolest and strangest phenomena of his home country, Venezuela: Catatumbo lightning!

Guest host Chelsea Gohd (aka Foxanne) explains everything you wanted to know about Jupiter's weird AF new (to us, anyway) moons. Also, be sure to check out her EP & catch her on tour!

Guest host Amanda Laird of the Heavy Flow Podcast made sure to include this image from “Taking Charge of Your Fertility” along with today’s a-rousing episode!

Today’s guest hosts Keven & Jofre of the Rant Debate and Repeat Show (The RDR Show on Anchor) are discussing Utah University's "cry closet" which you may not have realized is A THING THAT HAPPENED.

Guest host Lily Jenness, a librarian-in-training, artist, and writer from southern Indiana is here to tell you all about the clusterfuck that is the Dewey Decimal System!

Guest host Jacquard Isaiah Wyze @OmegaOneYT is explaining the life force known as Ki. No, not “chi” — and if you remember Dragon Ball Z you already know this!

Explore a wealth of fun facts with guest host is Moxie LaBouche, former burlesque dancer who turned her creative powers toward podcasting as a way to vent the wealth of useless information that clogs up her brain, which she does on her podcast: This Is Your Brain on Facts!

A few quick updates, a listener question about podcast editing, and some nature ASMR lololol

The podcast equivalent of a vlog? Wherein I talk about my desperate need to chew, why I live in Maine, and how “getting through the day” turns into living your life.

. . .and more of the happiest/weirdest facts I know!

Ever wondered how coupons work? The whole cycle — from when you hand your $1 coupon to the cashier to when the store gets reimbursed by the manufacturer — takes about a month. So what happens to that little piece of paper?

Yes, all the old episodes are gone. But they’ll be back! Please stick with me - and now would be a great time to support the show because I need help!!

If you happen to catch the #perseidmeteorshower this weekend you have a specific and vaguely terrifying comet to thank!

So, uh, we're experiencing some *technical difficulties* by which I mean that I am *technically difficult*