How Important Is A Bee?
Friday, December 06, 2013
When bees disappeared from central China years ago, Chinese apple farmers had to pollinate by hand. Embarrassing — people doing bees' work, but then came the big discovery –- a surp...
How To Keep The Dust Off Your White Pants With 7 Desk Fans
Tuesday, December 03, 2013
Look inside most machines today and what do you find? Computer chips functioning mysteriously. Gaze at a 1920's Rube Goldberg cartoon and what do you find? Machines powered by hungry ...
Science Reporter Emily Graslie Reads Her Mail — And It's Not So Nice
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Reporter Emily Graslie explores natural history museums, showing us what's going on behind the scenes. Her viewers write her, of course, and in this video, she reads some of those let...
On Thanksgiving, Everybody Needs A Friend — And That Means Everybody
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Today's a day to share, so that's why I want to share this moment: Two girls are on a city street, trying to figure out who's going to be friends with the nastiest person they can thi...
Born Wet, Human Babies Are 75 Percent Water. Then Comes Drying
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
A fresh tomato is 93.5 percent water. A fresh baby girl or boy is 75 percent water. A banana, 74 percent. We all start wet, and then, inevitably, dry. A 1-year-old baby carries 10 per...
Otzi Confirms: Tattoos Have Always Been Cool
Monday, November 25, 2013
Producer Andy Mills takes a close look at Ötzi's ink -- the roughly 5,300-year-old Iceman has more than 50 tattoos etched into his skin. (PS: If you haven't listened yet, check out ou...
An Eyeful of Otzi
Monday, November 25, 2013
After you listen to our latest short, An Ice-Cold Case, check out these photos of Ötzi the Iceman (seriously, listen first or else this post will ruin a few surprises...).
The Iceman Speaks
Friday, November 22, 2013
Stefan Merrill Block, a novelist and friend of our show, reads his haunting short story from the perspective of Ötzi the Iceman (the mysterious figure at the center of our latest sho...
My Wine Won't Stop Crying — A Mystery In A Wineglass
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Something strange happens when you slosh wine in a wineglass. The wine doesn't just settle. Some of it starts to "cry." That is, little droplets of wine slide down and then mysterious...
The Sludge at the Bottom of the Sea
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Whatever happened to all that poop New York City dumped out in the ocean?
Behind the Scenes Video: Apocalyptical Scoring
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
A quick dispatch from the road. Glenn Kotche and Darin Gray are on tour with us and they're insane. They make up the band On Fillmore, and Glenn also plays with Wilco. Each night, during the show, they create excellent noises to go along with our stories. Just ...
Seasons of Smell
Thursday, November 07, 2013
Fall: cinnamon. Winter: pine. Spring: lilacs. Each season smells different, right? Well, sorta.
Falling Into The Sky And Other Tales Of Gravity
Friday, November 01, 2013
You're high, high up. You lean over and look way, way down. Then you leap. Meet my favorite leapers: An Austrian who falls for 24 continuous miles, a medieval musician who leaps off a...
Putting On Einstein's Glasses
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Whenever you look at the teeming, rich and oh-so-various world, if you've got the right eyes, if you've got the eyes of a mathematician, you will find patterns — simple, elegant forms...
You'd Look Great in This Hat
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Find out how you could win a hand-knitted hat, made by On the Media's Brooke Gladstone.
Vintage HeLa Cells Video
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
We've updated our show Famous Tumors with a check-in from Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and one of Henrietta's granddaughters, on some of the intere...
UPDATE: Famous Tumors
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
When we first released Famous Tumors, Rebecca Skloot's book about the life and legacy of Henrietta Lacks (and her famous cells) had just hit the shelves. Since then, some interesting things have happened to both Henrietta's cells and her family. So, 4 years later, we have a newly updated show!
Americans Fall Behind In The 'Getting Older' Race
Monday, October 21, 2013
In the 1960s, Americans lived very long lives — among the longest in the world. Since then, we've improved our lot, but not as fast as the French, the Australians, the Swedes, the Bri...
Successful Children Who Lost A Parent — Why Are There So Many Of Them?
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Writer Malcolm Gladwell calls them "eminent orphans" — an intriguingly large number of successful politicians, statesmen, poets, scientists who lost a parent when they were young. W...
A Recipe For Quicksand
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Within lies the secret to making your own quicksand pit...
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So religion and computer games are an escape from ugly unfair heartbreaking reality. I kept waiting for a twist at ...
What a fascinating story! I found it interesting as some aspects of it reminded me of the conflict in Gaza ...