Unexplainable

The quest to build a star

Scientists are closer than ever to harnessing fusion power — the same process that powers the sun — by essentially making a small star here on Earth. Fusion could give humanity its best shot at solving the climate crisis, but the technology has yet to be perfected and would require billions more in investments. Is it worth the bet? For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

BONUS: The 2021 song

Noam wrote an end-of-year song with Today, Explained host Sean Rameswaram, so we thought to drop it here as a little end-of-year surprise. Lyrics: 2021, it was gonna be fun Get a couple shots and then you’re done Then the second the year’d begun We had an insurrection 2021, it was gonna be fun Get a couple shots and then you’re done Then the second the year’d begun We had an insurrection Yeah it wasn’t just what we hoped to see We might have started too optimistically So if we keep our expectations low Maybe the world won’t seem so terrible Yeah it wasn’t just what we hoped to see We might have started too optimistically So if we keep our expectations low Maybe the world won’t seem so terrible Dial back to when the year had begun We were looking forward to the end of hibernation  But it didn’t even last a week No it didn’t even last a week, mm-hmm On the sixth day of 2021 Vanilla Isis tried to flip the election But looking back we can’t agree  On the facts, no, we can’t agree, mm-mm Pretty soon we were signing up for shots (shots!) Talking about shots (shots!) Shots shots shots (shots!) Everyone was a pharma fan With the Pfizer fam, the Moderna clan (J&J) But we should have known Delta would happen  Most of humanity not getting vaxxed and Fourth wave — fifth wave, in rhythm That’s one more wave than feminism! 2021, it was gonna be fun Get a couple shots and then you’re done But according to Joe Ro-gun You should take Ivermectin Yeah it wasn’t just what we hoped to see We might have started too optimistically But if we keep our expectations low Maybe the world won’t seem so terrible A booster, I’m not sure I need it.  Dune on the IMAX, I seen it. Back to the good life, I dreamed it. (Arrakis) Wake up, reality, don’t fit. Hope you don’t need a house or a condo (a condo) Hope you don’t need a trip to Toronto (Toronto) Hope you don’t need some gas for your Durango (Durango)  Hope you don’t need a can of dried mangos (dried mangos) Everyone is feeling frustration Quitting jobs — the Great Resignation Blaming Biden for rising inflation While billionaires shoot off to space, racing Did we fix the grid in Texas? (yes) Figure out how wide the Suez is? (yes) Don’t ask me All I see on TV  It's just fights on Critical Race Theory 2021, it was gonna be fun Get a couple shots and then you’re done Moving onto issue number one: Whether to allow abortions! Yeah it wasn’t just what we hoped to see We might have started too optimistically But if we keep our expectations low Maybe the world won’t seem so terrible I just want to be free Of thinking about Covid-19 I just want to see Something done about global warming And I still don’t get NFT’s Can’t understand crypto currency and And we can’t agree on anything But at least we got together to free Britney (Oh baby baby) 2021, it was gonna be fun Get a couple shots and then you’re done Then the second as the year’d begun We had an insurrection And people lied about the last election And made it harder to vote in elections At least we don’t have another election Wait, I think there’s another election... 2021, it was gonna be fun Get a couple shots and then you’re done Then the second we thought we’d won We’re learning how to say "Omicron" Guess you never know what’s gonna come through Making plans for things you’ll never do  But take it from a brown guy (and a Jew) There’s always 2022. This song was written and performed by Sean Rameswaram and Noam Hassenfeld, produced by Noam, engineered by Efim Shapiro, and features additional vocals from Christina Animashaun. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The building blocks of the universe

Most of the matter in the universe is dark matter, an invisible, untouchable, mysterious substance. Scientists don’t know what exactly dark matter is, despite decades of searching. But recently, they got a new clue in the form of an extremely tiny dancer. This episode is a remix of two prior episodes of Unexplainable, which has been airing on broadcast radio through a partnership with American Public Media. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

99% of ocean plastic is missing

How can we solve the problem of ocean plastic if we don’t know where most of the plastic is? For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How medicine mansplained women’s health

Until 1993, many researchers excluded women from clinical drug trials, leaving doctors in the dark about how new treatments work in more than half the population. This is the story of why that happened, the women who fought to change it, and what we still don’t know about how sex and gender affect health. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How Venus went to hell

Venus is the hottest, scariest planet in the solar system, but billions of years ago it may have been a lot like Earth, complete with an ocean of water. So, what killed Venus? And could Earth be next? For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mind readers

Will scientists ever fully understand the human brain? In their quest for knowledge, they’ve tried knives, magnets, computers, blood, and even a good metaphor. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A brainless yellow goo that does math

Slime molds can navigate mazes, control robots, and make complicated decisions, all without a central nervous system. If this weird gooey blob can think, does that mean scientists are thinking about intelligence all wrong? For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why whales get beached

Every year, thousands of marine mammals end up trapped on beaches, but it’s often hard to figure out why. It’s even harder to figure out how much humans are to blame. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Talking to ghosts

Why do so many people think they can see and hear ghosts, and what does that say about our conscious experience of the world? For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Honey, we shrunk the birds

A recent study of tens of thousands of birds has shown that birds are growing smaller over time. It could be due to climate change, and if so, we ought to consider: How else might humans be altering the literal shape of life on Earth — now and in the future? For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nobel Prize 2.0

The Nobel Prize has rewarded some amazing discoveries. It’s also contributed to scientific tunnel vision. This week, how the Nobel impacted our understanding of an enormous cosmic mystery, and what a new and improved Nobel Prize could look like. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The James Webb Time Machine

To look into deep space is to look back in time. With the upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists hope to see “cosmic dawn,” a period long ago when the first starlight transformed the universe. But what happened before cosmic dawn? The Webb can’t tell us, though future telescopes could. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The James Webb Space Telescope

After decades of planning, NASA is finally (finally!) set to launch the successor to the Hubble. The new Webb telescope will be a paradigm shift for astronomy, exploring places in the cosmos that have been completely invisible to us until now. But first, it has to safely reach a point nearly a million miles away from the Earth. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What causes Alzheimer’s?

For decades, Alzheimer’s researchers have been stubbornly pursuing a single theory, but they’re starting to wonder: is this narrow focus the reason we still don’t have a cure? For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Havana syndrome

Several years after US diplomats in Cuba claimed they were attacked by an invisible weapon, similar incidents continue to be reported around the world. Scientists haven’t been able to determine a definitive cause, but the possibilities point toward something just as mysterious as the illness itself: the inner workings of the human brain. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Getting to the bottom of butts

Once upon a time, there were no anuses. These ingenious organs allowed our primordial ancestors to grow bigger and more complex, but scientists still don’t understand how they evolved. And they’re still grasping at a mystery that literally surrounds it: Why is the human butt so big? For more go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It's a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The mysteries of endometriosis

This common chronic condition — where tissue similar to what grows inside the uterus grows elsewhere in the body — is barely understood. So why is a condition so prevalent and painful still so unknown? It has a lot to do with who gets to ask research questions. Correction, August 18: An earlier version of this episode implied that the tissue involved in endometriosis is the same as the endometrium, which lines the uterus. It is similar tissue, but not identical. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A 150-year-old human

Two scientists. A billion-dollar wager. One unanswered question: Is the first human who will live to 150 already alive? The technology to make that happen may already be in development. But if it works, there will be new, unsettling questions for humankind to answer. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How low can you go?

Earlier this year, Nicole Yamase explored the bottom of the Challenger Deep, the deepest place in the ocean, where few people have ever been. The rest of the seafloor is almost as mysterious — 80 percent remains unmapped — but the few glimpses scientists have gotten have completely revolutionized our understanding of the planet. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The tornado problem

8 minutes, 24 seconds. That’s the average amount of warning time people get before a tornado touches down. To do better, and to understand tornadoes, scientists need to confront more of these storms, head on. For a clean version of this episode and more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Moon poop

Astronauts left something on the moon that could help unlock the origins of life itself. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. We are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes about five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our survey here: vox.com/survey Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hot pink flying squirrels

An accidental discovery on a nighttime walk led one scientist and his team to wonder: How many mammals glow under ultraviolet light? The list keeps growing, but scientists still aren’t sure why these furry creatures glow. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Email us at unexplainable@vox.com. We read every email! Also, we are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes about five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our survey here: vox.com/survey Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Henrietta Leavitt and the end of the universe

In the early 1900s, Henrietta Leavitt made one of the most important discoveries in the history of astronomy: a yardstick to measure distances to faraway stars. Using this tool, scientists eventually transformed our understanding of the universe. They realized space was expanding, that this expansion was accelerating, and that ultimately, everything will end. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How do animals know where to go?

As part of a massive new global tracking project, scientists are monitoring animals from a receiver on the International Space Station, mapping the incredible, previously unknown journeys that animals undertake. They’re beginning to tackle questions like how far do animals actually move? And how in the world do they know where they’re going? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Invasion of the jumping worms

These worms are fast, they’re mysterious, and they’re quickly changing North American ecosystems. How worried should we be about global worming? For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The many heights of Mount Everest

How tall is the world’s tallest mountain? The answer is surprisingly tricky, which means that Everest’s official height is constantly changing. In fact, depending on the type of measurement scientists use, Everest may not be the tallest mountain in the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Unexplainable Flying Objects

UFOs are real, but that doesn’t mean they’re aliens. Today, Explained, Vox's daily news podcast, tells the story of America's longstanding relationship with UFOs and what we might learn from an upcoming government report. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The hunt for a new Pluto

Something strange is going on at the outer reaches of the solar system. One astronomer thinks it might be a Neptune-sized ninth planet, and he’s on a quest to find it. That search is happening at an enormous telescope on the summit of Maunakea, a dormant Hawaiian volcano with a long astronomical and cultural history. But many Native Hawaiian scientists are asking: What’s lost in the pursuit of larger and larger telescopes? For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cloudy with a chance of chaos

It’s surprisingly hard to predict how clouds form, move, and change, but it’s essential to try. Because how clouds react to a warming world helps determine how hot our future will be. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show. Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices