Funny or Die

FromStuff To Blow Your Mind

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Funny or Die

FromStuff To Blow Your Mind

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Length:

46 minutes

Released:

Jul 7, 2011

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

We all know "funny" when we encounter it, but what's going on inside the human mind when we feel amused? Join Robert and Julie as they discuss long-standing -- and more recent -- theories about humor's evolutionary purpose. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Released:

Jul 7, 2011

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Deep in the back of your mind, you’ve always had the feeling that there’s something strange about reality. There is. Join Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick as they examine neurological quandaries, cosmic mysteries, evolutionary marvels and our transhuman future.

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Are we better off in the dark?: Most city dwellers are familiar with contaminated water and smoggy air -- but have you heard of light pollution? Listen in as Allison and Robert explore the effects of light pollution -- and whether humans are better off in the dark. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
18 min listen
Book Sniffers and You: You can learn a lot from a book's smell. For example, the books of heavy smokers tend to smell of smoke. When you smell a book, you're encountering more than 200 individual components combining to produce an olfactory fingerprint. Tune in to learn more. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
12 min listen
How Fighting Asteroids Works: Asteroid impacts are inevitable. As they hurtle toward Earth, experts race against the clock to build an effective asteroid deterrent. Will they succeed in time? Learn more about asteroid fighters -- and their plans to save the world -- in this episode. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
18 min listen
In Search of Offshore Oil: In an economy driven by fossil fuels, oil exploration is big business -- but how do scientists actually find oil? In this podcast, Allison and Robert break down the techniques and technologies used to find offshore oil. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
23 min listen
The Kardashev Scale: When Nicolai Kardashev began searching the universe for intelligent life, he built an energy-based scale to measure the progress of any given civilization. Tune in to discover how this scale works -- and why humanity's place on the scale may surprise you. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
21 min listen
Mining the Moon: Since helium-3 can be used to power the fusion reactors of the future, it may be one of the world's most important fuel sources. It's rare on Earth, but experts believe the moon may have an abundant supply. Tune in and learn more about moon mining. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
13 min listen
Do I live next to a Grow House?: When drug dealers want to grow marijuana without getting caught, they often set up a "grow house." These buildings look like any other building, and they often fool bystanders. Tune in and learn how to tell if your neighbors are running a grow house. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
18 min listen
Toilets in Space: Every astronaut knows that life in space requires numerous adjustments -- after all, things just aren't the same without gravity. So how exactly does a toilet work in space? Learn more about the science behind space's supertoilets in this podcast. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
22 min listen
The Quest for Cyberimmortality: Is it possible that human evolution is on the verge of transcending its organic roots? And, if it is possible, how could it actually occur? Join Robert and Julie as they explore the mind-blowing concept of cyberimmortality. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
33 min listen
Flat Stanley Across the 11th Dimension: The world famous globetrotter Flat Stanley is used to encourage literacy in children. Since Flat Stanley is two-dimensional, he's a perfect jumping-off point for Robert and Allison's exploration of string theory and our multidimensional universe. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
21 min listen
Dinner in Space!: Let's say you're an astronaut: Each day you wake up, conduct research and make adjustments to your orbit. Eventually you grab some chow -- but what kind of food do you eat, and why? Join Robert and Allison as they explore the science behind space food. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
16 min listen
Musical Hallucinations Gone Wild: Have you ever had a musical hallucination? Not a song stuck in your head - but a genuine hallucination, real enough to completely fool your senses? Join Robert and Julie as they explore the causes of musical hallucinations. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
16 min listen
Evolution in Action: Charles Darwin's revolutionary study of evolution isn't even two hundred years old yet. In terms of evolutionary processes, this is a miniscule amount of time. Yet is is possible to observe evolution within our lifetimes? Tune in and find out. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
18 min listen
Regenerate This!: According to Richard J. Goss, "If there were no regeneration, there could be no life. If everything regenerated, then there could be no death." But how does this process work? Join Robert and Allison as they explore the science behind regeneration. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
15 min listen
Running with Parasites: Are you a fan of running outside without shoes? Many people enjoy walking barefoot, especially in warmer weather. Yet there's a dark side to the joy of a shoe-free life: parasites. Listen in and learn more about parasites in this episode. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
16 min listen
Neuromyths: What You Think You Know About Your Brain: We all know the myth that we use only 10% of our brains, but how we know it's a myth in the first place? In this episode, Robert and Julie interview neurosurgeon Dr. T. Glenn Pait and learn how neuroscience is changing the way we think about our brains. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
24 min listen
How well do you know the T. Rex?: The Tyrannosaurus rex is one of history's most well-known, feared and misunderstood dinosaurs. Children often learn that this dinosaur was a ferocious predator ... but this might not be the whole story. Listen in and learn more in this podcast. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
16 min listen
Weighing the Human Soul: In the early 1900s, Duncan Macdougall set out to prove the existence of the soul. By placing consumption patients on a scale as they died, he tried to find a difference between the weight of a person before and after death. Learn more in this podcast. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
14 min listen
The Bad Seed: Tales of the enfant terrible have been with us for ages, terrifying us with the notion that strangeness in children portends something darker. But what does science have to say on the matter? Can children be psychopaths? If so, is there any hope for them? by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
31 min listen
Growing a Green Roof: Are you stuck in the city, sweltering under the summer heat and missing the trees and grass of the natural world? Then why not transform the nearest rooftop into a garden or a park? Tune in and learn more about green roofs in this podcast. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
25 min listen
Noise Pollution: Pipe Down, People!: Like any other form of pollution, loud noises can seriously affect your health over time -- and that's just the beginning. As Robert and Allison break down the science behind noise, they also explain how noise pollution affects the natural world. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
29 min listen
The Amazing Minds of Infants: What goes on inside the minds of babes? Quite a lot, as it turns out. In this episode, Julie and Robert peer inside the infant brain to learn about their enhanced state of consciousness. Plus find out what baby brains have to do with alien abductions. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
39 min listen
Fathers of the Wild: The Good, Bad and the Ugly: What makes a dog a lousy father and a wolf a stellar patriarch? Join Robert and Julie as they anthropomorphize the animal kingdom in an effort to find out why some species are more like Cliff Huxtable while some are more like Darth Vader. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
34 min listen
Has science explained life after death?: Humans have believed in the soul for millennia, and the evolution of science hasn't stopped the search for ghosts and the soul. In fact, modern scientists still search for proof of life after death. Tune in to learn more about the latest research. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
33 min listen
The Great Space Elevator: It's no secret that space shuttles need a vast amount of fuel to escape the pull of gravity -- but are space elevators a better alternative? In this episode, Robert and Allison explore the merits of literally building an elevator from Earth into space. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
24 min listen
Drilling for Offshore Oil: Last week, Robert and Allison broke down the science behind oil exploration. In the second segment of this series, the hosts explore the process of drilling for oil once a potential well is found. Tune in to learn more about drilling for oil. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
23 min listen
Probing Questions About Alien Abduction: Why are so many people convinced that they were abducted by aliens? In this episode, Julie and Robert explore the history of alleged abductions, along with the scientific explanations for the experiences of the witnesses. Tune in to learn more. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
36 min listen
Welcome to the Memory Palace: Stroll into the memory palace, an imagined location that just might expand your brain power. In this podcast, Robert and Julie discuss the Method of Loci, a mnemonic device that allows mental athletes to perform astounding acts of recall. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
28 min listen
Ladies' Night on Planet Earth: James Brown said that "it's a man's world," but he may have changed his tune if he'd seen the recent studies on gender and evolution. In this podcast, Julie and Robert ask what makes a person male or female -- and why the days of males may be numbered. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
32 min listen
Man Vs. Flu: Influenza is a virus that causes the flu, and it shares a long, lethal history with the human race. In this episode, Robert and Allison explore what's made the flu such a successful disease, and what you can do to avoid an infection. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
29 min listen

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The Dark Side of Creativity: Creative minds make our favorite art and develop unique solutions to real-world problems. But is there a dark side? Are creative minds more prone to madness and deception? In this episode, Julie and Robert turn the tables on innovation. by Stuff To Blow Your Mind
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Funny or Die

Funny or Die

Description

Titles in the series (100)

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