How much information can a human brain store? If we treat them like computers, one estimate is that they can hold 55 million ebooks worth of information. But why restrict ourselves to biology? If you had the right technology, how much...

The conditions in many medicine cabinets turn out to be detrimental for medicines—some worse than others. <b<br/>r/>

Hosted by: Hank Green (he/him)

It's no secret that we need green energy solutions. But one often-overlooked part of that future is the need to store our green energy longer-term, so finding novel ways to store that energy is key. Enter: gravity...

Correction: This is Watt's law, not Ohm's law! Our math was right but our name was wrong.



We need green energy yesterday. And it so happens that nature regularly sends huge bolts of electricity at us out of the sky. So what...

Many animal species stuff themselves with toxic chemicals for protection, which forces them to use a handful of distinct strategies to avoid becoming victims of their own weapons.

The moon may be 1.3 light-seconds away, but why on earth do we measure distances using time?

One day, the world may partially run on clean hydrogen fuel. But a big barrier to that future is just how darn difficult it is to store hydrogen for later use. So one team of scientists have proposed making hydrogen "batteries" out of...

Trees are a super-efficient way to sequester carbon, but since planting the wrong trees in the wrong place can do more harm than good, we need to go about tree planting more carefully.

The supply chain that brings pharmaceutical drugs from the factory to the pharmacy is long, complex and unclear. Congress and several state legislatures have proposed or enacted laws to bring more transparency and curb soaring drug...

Carbs are pinned to be the villains in many diets, but those poor guys are just misunderstood.

Bananas! They’ve got a long trip from harvest to table, and a lot of science goes into keeping them delicious. This episode was produced in collaboration with and sponsored by Emerson.

Improving batteries is a tough problem, but it’s also an important one because in many ways the future of our planet also depends on the future of batteries. Luckily, scientists are on the case, figuring out ways to give this essential...

Fish consider the ocean their own personal toilet. Well, researchers found out that's not such a bad thing!

Today's data storage solutions have an expiration date. What's on the horizon to replace them?

When birds and squirrels cache food for the winter, it means they have to remember where to find that food later. Their strategies for finding their hidden feasts includes memory tricks and changing brains.

How can you tell the difference between a yellowjacket and a hornet? And how much cosmic XP do you need to evolve a wasp into a bee? Follow the insect that stung you, and discover the fascinating world of wasp nests and bee hives.

3 billion base pairs is a pretty typical genome size for organisms like us, but there are a few plants and animals with genomes so huge they completely blow this number out of the water. Hosted by: Olivia Gordon

You aren't the only animal with a pantry! Hosted by: Michael Aranda

In last week's State of the Union, President Biden reaffirmed his administration's commitment to get more electric vehicles in American driveways. It's estimated that half of all new vehicle sales will be EVs by 2030, but the industry...

In the aftermath of recent mass shootings, calls for expanding gun safety regulations have increased. Although some of these ideas are popular among Americans overall, how do gun owners specifically feel about them? William Brangham...

Pregnant women who skip meals or don't eat nutritious foods may be at greater risk for health problems. Under the Affordable Care Act, home visiting projects have received more funding for preventative care work like teaching new moms...

A memory isn’t stored in your brain in a neat little package, but is instead spread across a pattern of cells in different regions. What's more, understanding this process could open the door to better treatments for conditions like...

What's the best way to make a good point? Organizational psychologist Niro Sivanathan offers a fascinating lesson on the "dilution effect," a cognitive quirk that weakens our strongest cases -- and reveals why brevity is the true soul of...

Alternative energy is great, but our infrastructure isn't exactly equipped to handle it. So scientists are coming up with other ways to use it, including turning it into food.