Placebos work. Why?
For decades, scientists thought that placebos only worked if patients didn’t know they were taking them. Not anymore: You can give patients placebos, tell them they’re on sugar pills, and they still m...
5 Mai 202125min
A virus that could heal people
In 2016, the UN declared antibiotic-resistant bacteria the “greatest and most urgent global risk.” Our best hope just might be phages, or viruses that attack bacteria. Phages’ potential is enormous, b...
28 Apr 202123min
The Twilight Zone of the ocean
Every day, untold numbers of strange organisms rise from the middle of the ocean to its surface. They may be playing a crucial role in slowing climate change, so scientists are struggling to understan...
21 Apr 202126min
The viral ghosts of long Covid
Scientists don’t understand why so many people suffer from Covid-19 symptoms for months, well after they stop testing positive. But that’s just the start of the mystery. There are other diseases that ...
14 Apr 202125min
Is a ton of psychology just ... wrong?
A decade ago, psychologists realized much of their science was fatally flawed, calling untold numbers of studies into question. Now, some young psychologists are trying to rebuild the foundations of t...
7 Apr 202129min
It’s ball lightning!
For millennia, people have been reporting stories of mysterious spheres of light that glow, crackle, and hover eerily during thunderstorms. They’ve been spotted in people’s homes, and are even said to...
31 Mar 202126min
Skeleton Lake
When scientists examined the DNA of ancient bones found near a Himalayan lake, they were forced to confront a seemingly impossible conclusion. *This episode has been updated. In the original version, ...
24 Mar 202127min
Journey Toward the Center of the Earth
Sixty years ago, geologists tried to drill down through the Earth’s crust to pull up a piece of the Earth’s mantle. Their mission didn’t go exactly as planned. But it sowed the seeds for a new field o...
17 Mar 202128min
