The Natural Experiment

<p>Writer Caroline Fraser argues a chilling link between industrial poison, deadly design, and a generation of serial killers in the Pacific Northwest.</p> <p><p>Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week early.&nbsp;<br><b ... Show More

<p>People once dreamed of sidewalks that could whisk them across cities. Somehow, that dream ended up at the airport.</p> <p><p>Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week early.&nbsp;<br><br>Start a free trial now on Apple ... Show More

<p>Comedy writer Elliott Kalan (The Daily Show, <a href="https://www.flophousepodcast.com" target="_blank">The Flop House</a>, <a href="https://mst3k.com" target="_blank">Mystery Science Theater 3000</a>, and co-host of the <a href="https://99percentinvisible.org/powerbroker" tar ... Show More

Not all inventions are the product of careful experimentation. Sometimes, someone pulls a whoopsie and learns something new. This episode is all about those types of discoveries.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Natural viruses and bacteria can be deadly enough; the 1918 Spanish Flu killed 50 million people in four months. But risky new research, carried out in an unknown number of labs around the world, are creating even more dangerous humanmade pathogens. (Original score by Point Lobo. ... Show More

<p>In December 1988, two sets of identical twins became test subjects in a study for which they had never volunteered. It was an experiment that could never be performed in a lab, and had never before been documented. This week, we revisit this fascinating story, told by <a href= ... Show More

Until 2020 developing a new drug took at least 15 years. Scientists by and large competed with each other, were somewhat secretive about their research and only shared their data once publication was secured. And the public and the press had no interest in the various early phase ... Show More

00:46 Uncovering the origins of the Black DeathThe Black Death is estimated to have caused the deaths of up to 60% of the population of Europe. However, despite extensive research, the origin of this wave of disease has remained unclear. Now, by using a combination of techniques, ... Show More

Des nouvelles de la mort. Une récente étude internationale affirme en effet qu’après un arrêt cardiaque le passage de vie à trépas est loin d'être immédiat, et prend environ 10 minutes dans le cerveau. Durant ce laps de temps, qui nous sépare de l’extinction définitive du système ... Show More

Neuroscientists are creating more naturalistic experiments that they hope will provide a more nuanced understanding of animal — and human — behaviour.These set-ups differ from the classic laboratory experiments that have been used for decades, and may help in the understanding of ... Show More

Gene editing was a new idea in the mid-1970s. So when Harvard and MIT planned new research in recombinant DNA, alarm bells went off. "People were worried about a 'Frankengene,'" says Lydia Villa-Komaroff, then a freshly minted PhD. Amidst a political circus, the city of Cambridge ... Show More

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been allegations that SARS-CoV-2 could have originated in a Chinese lab. A phase one WHO investigation concluded that a 'lab-leak' was "extremely unlikely" and yet, the theory has seen a resurgence in recent weeks with several scien ... Show More