logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2016
42m 45s

Counting Fish

Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley
About this episode
This week, we are taking on one of the universe’s great mysteries: how many fish are in the sea? If you stop to think about it, it seems almost impossible to figure out how many fish there are—after all, they’re basically invisible, not to mention constantly moving. But how else are we to know how many we should take out to eat? Join us as we set sail to fig ... Show More
Up next
Yesterday
Free Food: The Rise, Fall, and Return of Foraging
For most of human history, humans have fed ourselves by foraging, with a little bit of hunting when we were lucky—think more gatherer than hunter. Picking edible greens, nuts, fruits, roots, and mushrooms kept us alive before the advent of farming and, scientists think, helped ma ... Show More
48m 23s
Oct 20
The Big Apple Episode
There’s nothing more American than apple pie—or is there? We might prescribe an apple a day and call our largest city the Big Apple, but this legendary fruit originally hails from the mountains of Kazakhstan. This episode, Michael Pollan (something of a legend himself) tells us h ... Show More
57m 38s
Oct 6
Fibermaxxing FTW: Meet the Neglected Nutrient That's the Key to Health
Move over protein, it's time to fibermaxx! Fiber has always been the neglected stepchild of nutrients: it's never been seen as essential, and some of its earliest enthusiasts were poop-obsessed oddballs. Take the inventor of cornflakes, John Harvey Kellogg. Inspired by the gorill ... Show More
51m 52s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2021
The Fish Had Fur, Part 1
Fish covered in thick coats of fur, fish with strange spines, fish with the beard or chin whiskers of a wise old sage… The water offers up many mysteries, and in this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore accounts of furry trout, ancient marvels, otters and f ... Show More
40m 19s
Aug 2021
The Fish Had Fur, Part 2
Fish covered in thick coats of fur, fish with strange spines, fish with the beard or chin whiskers of a wise old sage… The water offers up many mysteries, and in this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore accounts of furry trout, ancient marvels, otters and f ... Show More
49m 22s
Apr 2021
BrainStuff Classics: What Can We Learn from Fish about Walking?
Some fish that strut the seafloor share a common ancestor with humans, so researchers are hoping that studying these fish could help us understand how we walk. Learn how in this classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/extinct-animal ... Show More
4m 34s
Sep 2012
Bioluminescence: A Bright and Shiny Fish
<p>Science has a handle on fireflies and glowworms, but most bioluminescent animals live in the ocean and are tough to study. Today, researchers are still figuring out why some animals produce light. Dive with Josh and Chuck into this illuminating topic.</p><p> </p> Learn more ab ... Show More
36m 40s
Apr 2022
Wild Inside: The Ocean Sunfish
Ben Garrod and Jess French get under the skin of Mola mola the world's largest bony fish to unravel this bizarrely shaped predator's ability to swim to a huge range of depths.Producer Adrian Washbourne 
27m 38s
Sep 2020
Ep. 18 - Underwater Mysteries
This week we dive under the waves, from the Baltic Sea anomaly, to the lost city of Atlantis, all the way to the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. What mysterious things could be hidden in the depths of this world, waiting to be uncovered? 
56m 37s
Dec 2023
Am I the victim of an international sushi scam? (Part 1)
We investigate unsettling rumors that fish purveyors may be mislabeling fish to save a buck. Our path leads us deep into the shadowy world of blackmarket fish sales, and sends us hot on the trail of the infamous ex-lax fish. Plus, we look back to antiquity for the first ever reco ... Show More
41m 31s
Apr 2021
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 understand this migration ... before it’s too late. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexpl ... Show More
26m 32s
Jul 2014
Ballad of the Electric Fish
<p>How does the electric eel generate its juice and how did six different lineages of bioelectric fish evolve on this planet of ours? Find out in this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind.</p><p> </p> Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com ... Show More
20m 23s