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Published by Popular Science
Popular Science answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions—from the everyday things you’ve always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask. Join our editors as they explain it all, with new episodes every other Wednesday. Submit a question for a future episode at https://popsci.com/ask
On the charts
Every published chart this podcast appears in, in the snapshot behind this page. Each one links to the chart it came off.
From the feed
The latest episodes published to this podcast’s own RSS feed. Titles and descriptions are the publisher’s.
Just in time for Halloween, PopSci Editor Sarah Durn and News Editor Laura Baisas unwrap the mystery of why candy tastes so... different these days. Plus, an expert-level discussion of what makes candy taste amazing with Jack Bishop from America's Test Kitchen. Read the Popular Science story that inspired the episode: https://www.popsci.com/science/why-candy-tastes-different-now/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
So many mammals have useful, interesting, or just plain CUTE tails–so why not humans? PopSci Editor Sarah Durn and Editor-in-Chief Annie Colbert sit down (without tails of course) to figure out just where our tails went over the course of human evolution. Plus, Flora Lichtman from NPR's Science Friday podcast stops by to talk about what makes for the best tail in nature, and to reveal her favorite tail from the animal kingdom. Read the Popular Science story that inspired the episode: https://www.popsci.com/science/why-humans-dont-have-tails/ And make sure to check to the episode of Science Friday all about which tail is the best: https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/mammal-tails-balance/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Everyone knows that getting good sleep is the best thing you can do for your body, but... does it matter how you lay your head (and body)? PopSci Editor Sarah Durn and Editor-in-Chief Annie Colbert talk through their own sleep preferences before drifting off into the research on what's really the best way to position yourself for a good night's rest (hint: PILLOWS!) Read the Popular Science stories that inspired the episode: https://www.popsci.com/health/best-sleep-position/ https://www.popsci.com/health/can-tracking-sleep-make-it-worse/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Note: Our show has grown a LOT recently and a ton of new listeners have joined us, so we decided it’d be fun to share one of our favorite episodes since we relaunched, which ALSO happens to be among the most-popular questions we’ve ever answered - ENJOY! After a lifetime of trying to put things in the right bin, we all eventually arrive at the ultimate recycling dilemma: what to do with our bodies after we die? PopSci Editors Sarah Durn and Laura Baisas go on exploration to find out what is the most environmentally friendly option for handling human remains? Despite all the new technology, experts say there’s one clear answer, and it’s surprisingly old-school. Read the full story that inspired this episode: https://www.popsci.com/technology/cremation-burial-most-eco-friendly/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dog behavior exploration incoming! PopSci Editor Sarah Durn and Editor-in-Chief Annie Colbert talk through their personal dog experiences before lolling their heads through the scientific explanations for why dog's often look like they're REALLY trying to understand what we're trying to tell them Read the Popular Science stories that inspired the episode: https://www.popsci.com/environment/why-dogs-tilt-their-heads/ https://www.popsci.com/science/how-to-test-pet-intelligence/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
It's volcano time, as PopSci Editor Sarah Durn and Editor-in-Chief Annie Colbert dig deep into the structure of the Yellowstone Caldera to figure out what's brewing beneath it, and just how much devastation it could unleash if it ever woke up.. Read the Popular Science stories that inspired the episode: https://www.popsci.com/environment/what-if-yellowstone-volcano-erupted/https://www.popsci.com/environment/yellowstone-supervolcano-bulge/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
It's time to separate facts from fiction about sunscreen, as PopSci Editor Sarah Durn and News Editor Laura Baisas take us through the four most common misconceptions people have about suncreen and how it should be used. Plus, did you know that e.coli bacteria has been created that can manufacture organic sunscreen???? Read the Popular Science stories that inspired the episode:https://www.popsci.com/health/do-i-need-sunscreen-every-day/https://www.popsci.com/science/sunscreen-made-from-e-coli/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Welcome back to our show! PopSci Editor Sarah Durn and Editor-in-Chief Annie Colbert had a little time off, but they return to figure out just how passengers ended up with barely enough room on airplanes for bodies to fit, and what it might mean for passenger safety. Read the Popular Science story that inspired the episode: https://www.popsci.com/science/why-are-airline-seats-so-small/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We're talking hands, and that's no jive, as PopSci Editor Sarah Durn and Editor-in-Chief Annie Colbert gesture wildly through a conversation about why roughly 90% of humans have right-hand dominance. Also a special conversation with archaeologist Dr. Anna Goldfield about right and left-handedness in humanity's ancient ancestors. Read the Popular Science story that inspired the episode: https://www.popsci.com/science/why-are-most-people-right-handed/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
It's summer and the days are just packed, as PopSci Editor Sarah Durn and Editor-in-Chief Annie Colbert dig deep through their memories to figure out why summers stretched seemingly forever as kids, but go by in a flash as adults. Read the Popular Science story that inspired the episode: https://www.popsci.com/science/why-childhood-summers-felt-longer/ Learn all about cognitive offloading, the good and the bad: https://www.popsci.com/health/how-documenting-everything-changes-your-brain-cognitive-offloading/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
You've seen Twister AND Twisters, now let PopSci Editors Sarah Durn and Laura Baisas clue you into what storm chasing is life in the real world, through an eye-opening conversation with meteorologist, storm chaser and author Cyrena Arnold, who's also host of the Storm Front Freaks Podcast. Read the full story that inspired this episode: https://www.popsci.com/science/real-storm-chasers-tornadoes/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
There's more than a little bathroom talk in this episode, as PopSci Editor Sarah Durn and News Editor Laura Baisas laugh and learn all the ins, outs, and ugly secrets of airplane toilets. Read the Popular Science story that inspired the episode: https://www.popsci.com/science/how-do-airplane-toilets-work/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
So many shouting and singing birds in this episode, as PopSci Editor Sarah Durn and Editor-in-Chief Annie Colbert flap their way to an explanation for why birds learn to mimic human speech. Read the Popular Science story that inspired the episode: https://www.popsci.com/environment/why-birds-talk/ Learn more about how parrots use names to talk to each other: https://www.popsci.com/environment/parrots-using-names/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Plumbing the depths of their childhood memories, PopSci Editor Sarah Durn and Editor-in-Chief Annie Colbert explain why almost no humans remember infancy or early childhood. Read the Popular Science story that inspired this episode: https://www.popsci.com/science/why-dont-i-remember-being-a-baby-study/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chomping right through the history of orthodontics and human bone development, PopSci Editor Sarah Durn and Editor-in-Chief Annie Colbert investigate why human ancestors never needed braces, but so many modern humans do. Read the Popular Science story that inspired this episode: https://www.popsci.com/science/why-need-braces/ And make sure you check out our guests Erin & Erin on their show This Podcast Will Kill You: https://thispodcastwillkillyou.com If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Digging deep into the fossil record, PopSci Editor Sarah Durn and Editor-in-Chief Annie Colbert investigate whether there really were venomous dinosaurs, like the Dilophosaurus depicted in the first Jurassic Park movie. Read the Popular Science story that inspired this episode: https://www.popsci.com/science/venomous-dinosaurs/ And make sure you check out the I Know Dino podcast, co-hosted by our special guest Garret Kruger: https://iknowdino.com/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
After a lifetime of trying to put things in the right bin, we all eventually arrive at the ultimate recycling dilemma: what to do with our bodies after we die? PopSci Editors Sarah Durn and Laura Baisas go on exploration to find out what is the most environmentally friendly option for handling human remains? Despite all the new technology, experts say there’s one clear answer, and it’s surprisingly old-school. Read the full story that inspired this episode: https://www.popsci.com/technology/cremation-burial-most-eco-friendly/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
From ancient deserts to kittenhood lessons, PopSci Editor Sarah Durn and Editor-in-Chief Annie Colbert (PLUS SPECIAL FELINE GUESTS) dive into why most cats are so averse to water. Read Sarah's story that inspired this episode: https://www.popsci.com/science/why-cats-hate-water/ And make sure you read all about Simon the cat, heroic member of the British Navy: https://www.popsci.com/environment/navy-cat-simon/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Humans are homeotherms, meaning that our core body temperature stays roughly constant, but what happens when conditions drive that body temp down? PopSci Editor Sarah Durn and Editor-in-Chief Annie Colbert bundle up to get to the bottom of just how cold humans can get and still survive. Read the full story that inspired this episode: https://www.popsci.com/science/coldest-temperature-humans-can-survive/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Are you as tired as we are of winter weather? Well, at least it helps to know how it works! PopSci Editors Sarah Durn and Laura Baisas go on a wintry expedition through all our least favorite types of precipitation. Read the full story that inspired this episode: https://www.popsci.com/environment/chance-of-precipitation-explained/ If you have a question for a future episode, go to https://popsci.com/ask Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ranking source
Apple Podcasts rankings via the Mato Topic Intelligence Platform.
Observed November 4, 2026.
Apple and Apple Podcasts are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
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