1: Time Illusions, Electric Bees, and Fa...

How many bones are in the La Brea tar pits? And what can that teach us about life, death, and oil? And what's the point of growing giant vegetables? Well, the pure whimsy of it all, as well as some fascinating techniques and tales.Images we talk about:(Also available at https://w ... Show More

Wait, how are we rediscovering organs in 2026?? Or... are we? Well let's learn about the history and fads of the insides of our bodies! And what is bird watching, why do we all love it, and how casual and competitive can you get with it?Images we talk about:(Also available at htt ... Show More

What happens to life inside exclusion zones like Chernobyl? Is it good? Bad? Or something much more interesting? And what happens when you try to codify every single character from human language? Well, it definitely leads to some fascinating linguistic rabbit holes!Images we tal ... Show More

<p>A Musical Time Machine for the Brain: What is music doing to our perception of time? It seems to transport us to the past. It speeds things up and slows things down. And just how do others exploit these qualities to manipulate us? Find out in this episode of Stuff to Blow Your ... Show More

Just like optical illusions trick our eyes, audio illusions can trick our ears. It makes scientists wonder: What exactly are we hearing, when we're hearing? This is the first episode of our new four-part series, The Sound Barrier. Guests: Diana Deutsch, emeritus professor at the ... Show More

<p>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.</p><p> </p> Learn more about your ad-choices at <a hr ... Show More

From Doctor Who to Back to the Future, time travel is an idea that we can't seem to get enough of in science fiction, but this week we're discussing the science facts of bouncing around in time! Turns out time travel may not be as impossible as you think... Grab yourself some mer ... Show More

In the same way optical illusions trick our eyes, audio illusions can trick our ears. This raises a fundamental question: What is hearing, and how much of it is made up by our brains? This is the first episode of our new six-part series, Making Sense. You can find more of Diana D ... Show More

Do you see blue the same way I do on the inside? Why do some people think the northern lights make noise? Why do you think the low note on the piano is larger, and the high note brighter? Join Eagleman on a wild ride into the world of synesthesia, a topic his neuroscience laborat ... Show More

<p>Ever reach out to the spirit world with an ouija board? Or stare into a dark mirror for Bloody Mary? Perhaps peer-assisted levitation was more your style. In this episode, Robert and Julie bust through the fantasy of these paranormal parlor tricks and examine the underlying sc ... Show More

<p>A whirlwind of questions brings us to an odd conclusion: could reality be an illusion created by a quantum fluctuation of a brain?<br/><br/>For ad-free episodes and other exclusives, join us for $3 a month on Patreon: https://patreon.com/whythisuniverse</p><p><a rel="payment" ... Show More

Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined by actor and writer Mark Gatiss, theoretical physicists Carlo Rovelli and Fay Dowker to ask timely questions about time. Is time real, does it exist in the fundamental laws of physics, and if it doesn't, why do we experience the sensation of ti ... Show More

11 year old Esther visualises days of the week in a kind of 3D structure. It’s something called ‘synaesthesia’ and she wants to know why it happens - and why other people don’t experience things the way she does. Hannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain explore the vibrant and varied ways di ... Show More