What (and why) is ASMR?

People with tinnitus should avoid silence—sound-rich environments distract the brain

This podcast from an audiologist discusses common questions about tinnitus. It notes that tinnitus could be described as a phantom sound associated with hyperactivity in the brain. It's linked with loud sound exposures above 85 decibels, hearing loss associated with aging and stress, among other factors.

Music may give some of us the chills and goose bumps—perhaps because it shocks us

The science is still unsettled about why music can trigger a chill down your spine, formally known as frisson, but one theory is that anything surprising to the nervous system—including sudden beat drops or unexpected harmonies—stimulates a type of alarm response that gives rise to this feeling.

The science of food allergies

Why do certain substances trigger an immune response while others don't? Listen to researchers explain the science in this five-minute video. Food allergies affect around 8% of children and 2% of adults in the US, and—unlike sensitivity or intolerance—they involve the immune system mistaking certain harmless proteins in foods as dangerous invaders, triggering a rapid and sometimes severe defense response.

Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems provide motor sounds in electric vehicles

Since 2019, various global standards have set requirements for these systems, which seek to mimic combustion-engine sounds by meeting specific sonic criteria, including sound pressure, frequency, and pitch. Sound engineers design these systems to meet these requirements, ensuring that passers-by, particularly the blind and visually impaired, can detect the presence of a vehicle.

Anosmia is the total loss of the sense of smell

This type of loss—due to disease or trauma—has ripple effects, including an altered or limited sense of taste. This video details the anatomy and physiology of our sense of smell and taste and how these senses are interrelated.

Examining self-diagnosed synesthesia

A growing number of people on social media claim to have a perceptual condition that lets them smell colors, see music, or taste sounds. But do they really?

What is psychoanalysis?

This nine-minute video, the first of a four-part series, seeks to answer the questions: what is psychoanalysis, and is it weird? The answer to the latter question is overwhelmingly yes. The answer to the first question is a bit...

Explore this deep dive into how SSRIs work

This 101-style explainer on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors explains how they work in the brain—complete with classroom-style whiteboard drawings. It covers common SSRIs, why someone might try this medication, and a deeper discussion about potential side effects.

When is someone actually dead?

Death is a process, not a sudden flip of a switch. Technology can now interrupt this process at various stages, begging the question of when exactly death happens in the dying process. This 33-minute podcast episode explores this question and the...

How radio works

Antennae tune a radio to a particular frequency (determined by the listener on their radio's dial) while tuning out all the other stations being broadcast. AM, short for amplitude modulation, and FM, short for frequency modulation, decode audio signals differently, leading to differences in sound quality and the distance a station can travel.

What is asbestos, actually?

Asbestos can hurt you, but not many people understand how or why. Asbestos is actually a stone, once frequently employed as a construction material due to its strength, softness, fire-resistance, and biodegradability. However, when working on old homes or furniture, it may be released into the air, and extended exposure to its particles may cause lung cancer. Its use in new construction has been banned, but it remains a hazard. Learn more here.

What is mixed reality?

Mixed reality is a technology that blends the physical and digital worlds, allowing virtual and real objects to coexist and interact in real-time. It combines elements of both virtual reality and augmented reality, enabling users to perceive and manipulate digital content as if it were part of their physical environment.

Autism Spectrum Disorder, defined in 2013, was previously categorized as numerous disorders

This exploration of ASD history walks through how autism science and diagnoses have evolved over the decades, including the new category in the DSM-4 in 1994 that created Asperger's disorder and pervasive developmental disorders, and the new, broader ASD definition in 2013 in the DSM-5 that has led to more diagnoses.

'Serial': The podcast that revived a genre (4 seasons)

"Serial" debuted in 2014, sparking the contemporary fascination with true crime podcast content with a look at the murder of teenager Hae Minh Lee in 1999, and the jailing of Adnan Syed. The Peabody Award-winning season became a pop culture sensation, spawned countless imitators, and was followed by three more seasons on new topics. Listen to all four seasons here.

American Psychological Association issues recommendations for teen social media use

Listen to this three-minute podcast to learn more about the American Psychological Association's recommendations for teenagers' use of social media. The first report of its kind, it advises parents to closely monitor teens' social feeds during early adolescence, continually screen for signs of problematic use (such as sleep interference), minimize the amount of dangerous content their child is exposed to (such as disordered eating), and limit their teen's use of social media around appearance-related content.

Articulating weird memes

Some memes eschew established formats and references, creating new variants that resonate with scrollers through strange meta-jokes or compositions. This episode of this podcast, geared toward blind netizens, dives into some of the weird memes being shared online, such as one in which a pigeon sitting on a shoddy excuse for a nest, single egg forgotten, is meant to inspire comfort in those whose efforts have fallen short.

What is space sickness?

Mix motion sickness minus gravity with a host of other variables, and you’ve got a recipe for space adaptation syndrome. It can hit anyone, even astronauts who escaped the issue previously. This article details the history and science behind space sickness.

Create professional-quality spoken audio from text

Generative AI now makes it possible to create everything from computer-generated written content to beautiful imagery and hyper-realistic videos in seconds from a user’s simple text prompt. Add to that list: High-quality spoken audio, which the AI software company ElevenLabs specializes in. Its natural-sounding speech synthesis and text-to-speech tech can produce human-like speech that mimics a variety of different tones, styles, and accents.

How the people behind spam text messages make money

If you've ever gotten a text message from a scammer—sometimes even just someone from an unknown number saying hello and calling you by the wrong name—you've probably wondered what they're trying to get out of you. This podcast answers that question. Hint: The answer has to do with cryptocurrency.

How do anxiety and stress differ?

This article explains that though “stress” and “anxiety” are often used interchangeably, there are distinct differences between the two. Stress is defined as the body's response to an external trigger and can be classified as acute or chronic. Anxiety, however, tends to be triggered internally by excessive thoughts and judgement. Whereas stress disappears when the trigger is gone, anxiety tends to stick around. If left unchecked, both can escalate into more severe mental health conditions.

Intriguing facts about tomatoes

This episode of the Lunchbox Envy podcast dives deep into the world of tomatoes. Why do they taste nicer in certain settings? Do they "scream"? What are their health benefits? All of these questions and more are answered about the luscious red fruit. Listen and reflect on the historical and cultural significance of the tomato.

The neuroscience of REM atonia disorders, where patients act out dreams

What prevents the typical person from acting out their dreams? Temporary paralysis of skeletal muscles, usually leading up to, and during, REM sleep. This academic article and related graphics explore what happens when this process doesn't go as planned, leading to REM sleep behavior disorder.

This site reaches millions of visitors who are tired of AI chatbots and seeking human connection. Pretend to be an AI chatbot and ask questions, provide answers, and draw for people in real time.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157

The unapproved peptide—which has received glowing testimonials from bodybuilders, biohackers, popular podcasters, and some in the MAHA movement— is often sourced from China. It has been used for myriad conditions. But scientific questions about the substance abound, including whether it's truly a natural substance produced by the human body, since genetic material that codes for its unique amino acid sequence hasn't been found in the human genome or the gut microbiome. Other unknowns include how it works in the body, which receptors it targets, and its safety, since evidence beyond anecdotes remains scant in humans.

Youtube, explained

YouTube began as a quirky site where users uploaded funny, random videos—a do-it-yourself television service. Today, it’s a global media powerhouse and home to everything from movie trailers to video podcasts, livestreams, and much more. Want to learn more about the streaming giant? Check out our 5-minute explainer here.

Video and still images are combined with sonar data to create seafloor maps

Sonar works by sending thousands of sound pulses per second towards the seafloor, capturing the strength and timing of the returning echo. This data can accurately reveal depth, seafloor texture, and the presence of fish habitats to millimeter resolutions.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

After 25 people used virtual reality headsets to practice flying with virtual wings—flapping their arms—their visual cortex responded to the wings almost as if they were real arms, treating them as body parts.

See these 16 pieces of art evoking phobias of snakes, flying, spiders, and more. 

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

Fireworks make a loud booming sound after exploding due to air expanding faster than the speed of sound.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

See the 25 of the best photos of auroras from around the world.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

Explore the known asteroids, comets, and spacecraft involved in asteroid studies within our solar system with 'Eyes on Asteroids,' a 3D visualization from NASA.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.