Brain Junk
283 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 days ago - ★★★★★ - 33 ratingsBrain Junk is an off-the-wall, totally unbelievable but true podcast where Amy Barton and Trace Kerr shake up science & history in the hunt for answers to questions you never knew you wanted to know. We bring you the inside scoop on things like: Can goldfish drive? How do whales not drown while eating? Who had the first prosthetic eye?
We cannonball off the question high dive every Tuesday -- those of you in the front seats, bring your ponchos. We're out to flood your brain.
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Episodes
309: Middle of the Night Panic
April 16, 2024 08:02 - 18 minutes - 14.1 MBNighttime waking and scattered thoughts are problem solving's evil twin. If you find yourself awake at 3 am obsessing over your problems, remember that stress and hormonal imbalances can really damage the quality of your sleep. Show Notes: IFL Science: Why Do We Wake Around 3am And Dwell On Our Fears And Shortcomings? VeryWellmind.com: Military Sleep method Science Direct: Molecular Clock US Southwestern University: Understanding the circadian clocks of individual cells Wikipedia: Sup...
308: I’m Stuck on Band-aids
April 02, 2024 08:24 - 13 minutes - 10.4 MB2024 is the 100th anniversary of Band-aids. But before they were the little strips in cool tins, they came in a roll you could cut to size. Show Notes: Johnson & Johnson history of Band-aids Wikipedia: Band-aid history Disposable America The Atlantic: The Story of the Black Band-aid TruColour Bandages Transcript: [00:00:03] Speaker A: Welcome to brain junk. I'm Amy Barton. [00:00:05] Speaker B: And I'm Trace Kerr. And I do have a cold. [00:00:08] Speaker A: Yes. [00:00:08] Speake...
307: 52 Cards
March 19, 2024 08:02 - 15 minutes - 11.6 MBFrom poker to games played to pass the time, those 52 cards are so ubiquitous it's hard to figure just when we started using them. We go all the way back to ancient China for a possible origin of cards. images: Cloisters Deck from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and and example of cards from today from pixabay Show Notes: The strange coincidence of the Instagram guy & 52 card decks Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Cloisters Playing Cards Atlas Obscura: Playing cards around the world and t...
306: The Flip That Flopped
March 12, 2024 08:06 - 23 minutes - 18 MBCall them slippahs, flip flops, chanclas, slops, plakkies, slaps, pantofles, or thongs...whatever word you choose says a lot about your age and what part of the world you grew up in. We came up with this episode topic as kind of a joke. Turns out there's way more about to know about these summer shoes than we thought. Show Notes: Wikipedia on the history of flip flops The Paduka Kanye West being weird as usual with diamond studded flips Satra: History of the flip flop Forbes: This Bra...
305: Deadly Animal Mimics
March 05, 2024 09:22 - 12 minutes - 9.68 MBIt's easy to believe that a snake might be a deadly mimic. But butterflies that start life as carnivorous caterpillars? Oh heck yeah! Show Notes: YouTube BBC: Ants Adopt a Caterpillar YouTube Entomological Society of America: Ants and Blues The Pattern of Social Parasitism in Maculinea teleius Butterfly Is Driven by the Size and Spatial Distribution of the Host Ant Nests Entomology Today: Carnivorous Caterpillars Fool Ants by Sounding like Queens PLOS One: Variation in Butterfly Larval...
304: The Wrong Wipe
February 27, 2024 09:22 - 14 minutes - 10.9 MBIf you haven't figured it out by now, Amy is not afraid to ask tough questions! Today she talks butt health, bidets, and the dangers of wet wipes. It's funnier than you'd think, we promise. Show Notes: Business Insider: interview with Dr. Goldstein Am I Doing it Wrong? Jan 2024 The Spruce: 7 Best Bidet Attachments Splinter free toilet paper History Channel: All the Ways We've Wiped CBS news article about Johnny Carson creating a toilet paper shortage And just in case you're not a di...
303: The Birds!
February 20, 2024 09:17 - 21 minutes - 15.9 MBTrace found some delightful random facts about birds! Today we're talking "anting", talons locked to the death, and musical cockatoos. Show Notes: Journal of Ornithology: Anting behavior in birds Video of crow anting: aka the spicy spa Bird Note: anting Facebook video of bald eagles cartwheeling Bird Note: Eagles cartwheeling Palm Cockatoos playing their instruments Research paper on Palm Cockatoos Funny vid with Conan O'Brien and a palm cockatoo guest Transcript: [00:00:03] Spea...
302: Potato Chip Taste Test
February 13, 2024 09:45 - 26 minutes - 18.8 MBWe recorded IN PERSON! Trace brought back a whole bunch of fun flavored chips from Uwajimaya, a fantastic Asian grocery store in Seattle! Check out the show notes for our 5 other taste test episodes! Show Notes: P.S. If you like the Non Newtonian fluid cup, it's in our Merch store! P.S.S. in defense of the Pizza flavored chips, when Trace tried them the next day, she could taste the peperoni. Other Taste Test episodes: 9: Crazy food (we eat cherry pickles) 138: Turkey Candy Corn 1...
272: Neanderthal Grabby Hands
July 18, 2023 08:00 - 14 minutes - 10.8 MBIn Northern Europe, up to 30% of men over the age of 60 can be affected by Dupuytren's Disease. Hand and finger tendons thicken and contract causing permanent loss of mobility. Turns out this disease is a leftover from Neanderthal genes. Show notes: Molecular Biology and Evolution article: Major Genetic Risk Factors for Dupuytren's Disease Are Inherited From Neandertals June 2023 Dupuytren Contracture: what exactly is it and how does it affect a person's hands Nature Ecology and Evolutio...
271: Trash Pirates
July 11, 2023 08:15 - 15 minutes - 11.9 MBOkay this title is a reach, but it was too good to not use. Turns out coastal critters are hitching rides around the world on our floating trash. From dramatic events like Japan's 2011 tsunami, to the stuff we toss into the garbage, we are changing the world and it's ecology in unexpected ways. Show Notes: Science.org: Tsunami-driven rafting: Transoceanic species dispersal and implications for marine biogeography Nature Article on Trash Marine Debris Program: article and video Science ...
270: Oreology
July 04, 2023 08:01 - 15 minutes - 11.6 MBWelcome to the wonderful "ology" created when bored and curious scientists were trapped in their apartments by the pandemic. It's Oreology! Is the creamy filling a liquid or a solid? Grab a bag of Oreos and help us answer burning questions surrounding this tasty snack. image Mooss from Pixabay Show Notes: Youtube of How It's Made: Oreo (go to 3:30 for cream being placed on the cookies!) Physics of Fluid: On Oreology, the fracture and flow of “milk's favorite cookie®” Crystal Owens GitHu...
269: Rat Fannies
June 27, 2023 08:31 - 11 minutes - 9.22 MBWe're circling back to the African Giant Pouched Rat! Turns out, in addition to being super great at detecting land mines, these rats also have very interesting vaginas. Show Notes: Step into the way back machine and give our 100th episode a listen(we talk about bomb sniffing rats)! Cornell Ed article on vaginal plasticity Phys Org article by Laura Gallup: Bomb-sniffing rodents undergo 'weird' vaginal transformations Just incase you NEED to know more about thr African Giant Pouched Rat...
268: Wrinkly Brains
June 20, 2023 08:22 - 18 minutes - 14.3 MBAmy protecting all those precious brain wrinkles (special appearance by her husband, Chris). Turns out more isn't always better-- for optimal brain function, at least for people, we need just the right amount of brain folds. Kind of like Goldilocks. To avoid things like epilepsy we need not too many, and not too little, just right. image of brain coral just for comparison to the human brain (credit samkerridge on pixabay268 Show Notes: PNAS: TMEM161B modulates radial glial scaffolding in ...
267: Crazy Cat Wolves
June 13, 2023 08:59 - 9 minutes - 7.46 MBAmy asked for zombies. Next to Cordyceps (and the Last of Us), Toxoplasma gondii comes pretty close to taking over mammal brains. A 2022 study in Yellowstone showed wolves are affected by toxoplasmosis in unexpected ways. Show Notes: Communication Biology: Parasitic infection increases risk-taking in a social, intermediate host carnivore Scientific American: Are Cats responsible for "Cat Ladies"?
266: Hot, Cold, or Wet?!?
June 06, 2023 08:25 - 11 minutes - 8.87 MBWhile there are lots of other animals that feel wetness; buckle up, friends, humans can't. When you spill a glass of water on yourself, you are feeling something, but it's not the water. We don't like it either, but it seems to be true. Show Notes: 257: Pruney Fingers 2014 NIH reprint of Journal of Neurophysiology Why wet feels wet? A neurophysiological model of human cutaneous wetness sensitivity IFL Science version Science Daily: Understanding the Illusion of Wetness YouTube of The r...
265: Underwater Rebreathing
May 30, 2023 08:19 - 15 minutes - 12.3 MBSome Anoles have the most awesome "in case of emergency" trick! Anoles living near bodies of water can jump in, sink to the bottom, and rebreathe their breath long enough to stay under for over 10 minutes. The science is remarkable (and we learn some cool vocab words). Show Notes: What is an Anole? Britannica Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Blog Aug 19, 202: Air bubbles allow some lizards to breathe underwater Current Biology vol. 31 issue 13, Repeated evolution o...
264: EpiPens in SPACE
May 23, 2023 08:44 - 14 minutes - 11.6 MBWe LOVE the delightful and sometimes confounding process of scientific discovery. What makes science even better is when kids get to ask big questions and have access to ways to find answers. Show Notes: We mention The Muppet Show: if you don't know, here's a clip of Statler & Waldorf Kids discover how EpiPens work in space from The Smithsonian Cubes in Space: The Only Global STEM Program for Students 11-18 years of Age Providing Two Suborbital Flight Opportunities on NASA Missions. Hop...
263: Mouse Antlers
May 16, 2023 08:04 - 14 minutes - 11.5 MBWho knew that attempts to discover ways for humans to regrow organs or limbs might send a group of scientists in the direction of trying to grow sitka deer antlers on naked mice? Not us that's for sure. Buckle up, today science gets weird. image: Jackalopes at Wall Drug Show Notes: Trace on Instagram Amy on Instagram Brain Junk Instagram Nature March 2023 Mice grow ‘mini-antlers’ thanks to deers’ speedy stem cells 2020 antler cells study with mice: WARNING the pictures are a bit much...
262: Dog Years
May 09, 2023 08:48 - 8 minutes - 7.04 MBTurns out the old school calculation for dogs aging seven years to every one of our human years isn't quite accurate. There are better ways to calculate aging with epigenetics (FYI epigenetics is the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work). image of young puppy and adult dog from Pixabay Show Notes: Correction Corner! We got things wrong listing Trey Idecker as the main author of the Cell Systems paper. While Idecker was the Seni...
261: Low Background Steel
May 02, 2023 08:08 - 12 minutes - 9.73 MBFrom the 1960s to the early 2000s, if you needed to make sensitive equipment like a Geiger counter or even sensing equipment for hospital tests, you needed low-background steel. BUT WHAT IS IT? Listen and find out! Show Notes: Need some low background lead? Let us know if they tell you a price. The Wiki for more...as if you'd need more after our episode (wink). We talked about the RAADS-R test for autism. If you're curious you can take it HERE.
260: Silly Walking
April 25, 2023 08:17 - 8 minutes - 6.8 MBMaybe you know Monty Python from their 1975 movie Holy Grail. They didn't just make movies! From 1969 to 1974 they also did a comedy tv show. A classic sketch was Ministry of Silly Walks. Turns out, it might've been good for more than just a few laughs. Try that Silly Walk workout. Show Notes: British Medical Journal article You must check out diagrams in the paper!!!! Ars Technica link to video of people being studied while they try the Silly Walking!!! Quantifying the benefits of ineff...
259: Cranberry Myths
April 18, 2023 08:35 - 13 minutes - 10.1 MBCreepy trigger warning! We talk a bit about spiders. I don't like them either (TK) but it's worth it. We swear! If you google cranberry harvesting you'll quickly run into posts about spiders in the bogs. Turns out, they aren't as much of a creepy problem as Tumblr would have you believe! image: b. minnick from pixabay Show Notes: DownieLive visit to a cranberry bog. Let us know if YOU see any spiders! Amy's Instagram for the biscuits Spider research from the University of Massachusett...
258: Quahog Wild
April 11, 2023 08:21 - 21 minutes - 16.2 MBAber-clam Lincoln is a 214 year old quahog clam (look, we don't make the dad jokes, we just share them). Did you know you can count shell ridges like tree rings to determine age? Clams pictured are not quahogs, but you get the idea of how the ridges look. Show Notes: Aber-clam Lincoln article Ming the Clam--the oldest we've found so far. Dr. Bruce Liberman commenting on survival of the sluggish Just incase you are also somewhere on the timeline for a colonoscopy... you have our sympa...
257: Pruney Fingers
April 04, 2023 08:33 - 20 minutes - 15.6 MBAre you Team Amy, who adores getting wrinkled fingers or are you on Team Trace, who can't STAND having pruney fingers because they're gross (there's no right answer here, except Trace is right). We were surprised to learn the science of wrinkled-in-water fingers. It's not from absorbing water like we were told as kids. Show Notes: A blast from the past Episode 194: Iris Sphincters The TikTok that got me interested in all things wrinkled fingers Dex (@dexter.mp4) Nature: Science gets a ...
256: Coulrophobia
March 28, 2023 08:00 - 12 minutes - 9.92 MBA fear of clowns is called coulrophobia. If you're like us, maybe you don't find clowns bone-chillingly scary but they still give you a case of the ick. This week we're looking into clowns and fears. Stick around to the end, Amy takes a left turn with weird body horror involving an octopus. Show Notes: Amy references this study HARD Fear of clowns: An investigation into the prevalence of coulrophobia in an international sample Top ten fears in America 2022: Chapman University
255: Lost and Found Art
March 21, 2023 08:20 - 16 minutes - 12.6 MBArt isn't just in museums! Sometimes it's hidden behind walls, inside a piece of furniture, or sadly, in a dumpster. Today we explore the remarkable circumstances that come together to find lost or forgotten art. Show Notes: Francis Mattson Hines and his art in the dumpster and the wrapped Washington Square Arch Recycled art in an airport Art in a couch Art hidden from an ex-wife Stewart Little surprise painting on the set!
254: Revisiting Weird Animals
March 14, 2023 08:00 - 15 minutes - 11.4 MBWe've talked wombats and binturongs before but we've learned MORE and had to share! Past episodes: 244: Stinky Critters for binturong and 34: Wombat Poop Wombat mama and baby! image by budgme on pixabay Binturongs hanging out in the sun. image by Kevinsphotos on pixabay Show Notes: Australian Geographic Nov. 2020 interview with Alyce Swinbourne about Wombat Bums ⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇Content warning below: wombat butt and the head of a dead fox⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇ Smithsonian National Zoo article Binturong females...
253: Redheads and Pain
March 07, 2023 10:12 - 8 minutes - 6.4 MBWe're both married to redheads and have kids with that redhead gene! From ginger beards to coppery locks, is there any truth to the belief that redheads handle pain meds and anesthesia differently? Show Notes: NIH report on Redheads and pain thresholds 2004 Study by Daniel Sessler and (Edwin B Liem 1, Chun-Ming Lin, Mohammad-Irfan Suleman, Anthony G Doufas, Ronald G Gregg, Jacqueline M Veauthier, Gary Loyd, ) on Anesthetic requirement in redheads Redheads might need less analgesics Wa...
252: Nightingale Floors
February 28, 2023 09:16 - 8 minutes - 6.46 MBUguisubari aka nightingale floors were a Japanese innovation. This super squeaky floor was an early version of an alarm. The specially constructed floors were in only a select number of castles, but they would alert guards and residents to a shinobi attempting to be sneaky. Show Notes: Check out this Wiki entry on nightingale floors Trace talked about.
251: The Great Smog
February 21, 2023 09:09 - 10 minutes - 7.79 MBWhen your city is used to having smoke and coal dust and fog all mix together into a "pea soup" yellow fog that chokes the city for days each year, life goes on through the murk. But the Great Smog from Dec 5 - 9th, 1952 was so bad, an estimated 12,000 people died. It was the kind of weather and pollution combination that spurred people to change air quality regulations. (Amy mentions 4,000 people dying in the years after the fog from long lasting effects. We completely forgot to share the...
250: Valentine’s Day
February 14, 2023 10:34 - 29 minutes - 21.3 MBIt's our TWO-HUNDRED and FIFTIETH episode!!!!! AND we've made it this far because of your love and support for the show. Thank you so so much! To celebrate we've got a long Valentine deep dive into the history and weird facts around the holiday. SHOW NOTES: Amy mentions the Valentines Day Massacre but we didn't want to bring down the mood. Read up here if you want to know Galentine's Day is Feb 13th! a day for celebrating female friendships! Originating from the TV show ‘Parks and Recreat...
249: Yooperlites
February 07, 2023 09:30 - 10 minutes - 7.68 MBFound for the first time in Upper Michigan by rock hound, Erik Rintamaki in 2017, this accidental finding is SO COOL. Under UV light they look like fiery dragon eggs. We mentioned the yooperlite store in our episode too. There aren't any free Google pictures (sad face) So here's a LINK to pictures of the glowing rocks!!! Also we talked about strange waves called seiches. Check them out HERE Episode 238: Uranium Glass if you need more glowing stuff!
248: Paul Bunyan
January 31, 2023 09:00 - 10 minutes - 8.22 MBPaul Bunyan: hero of North American oral tradition, origins of our stories about a burly logger and his big blue ox came from multiple versions. Paul Bunyan might've been based on a man, but whatever his beginning, his stories came from the imaginations of bored loggers. Show Notes: Wikipedia on Paul Bunyan Want to road trip to all the statues? Check out this road map
247: Headstone Recipes
January 24, 2023 10:22 - 12 minutes - 9.78 MBMost headstones have a person's name, some significant dates and maybe a quote. But imagine if your family made it possible for you to share your very best recipe with delighted strangers. Our research adventure into headstone recipes began with stumbling onto a post by Rosie Grant, aka @ghostly.archive on Instagram. Check out her posts for great pictures! Show Notes! Washington Post recipes in obituaries https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2021/12/14/obituary-casseroles-funerals/?tag=tast...
246: Australian Drift
January 17, 2023 09:56 - 10 minutes - 8.17 MBWe know continents shift around like furniture in a room. But can you believe that Australia is on the planet's fastest moving tectonic plate and it's moving on the scale of inches per year? Far enough and fast enough that GPS tracking had to be updated. Nation Geographic article with more deets: Nat Geo
245: Corsets For Everyone!
January 10, 2023 09:01 - 12 minutes - 9.79 MBOften when we talk about historical corset wearing, the first thing we think of is the patriarchy. Because corsets are objects of waist cinching oppression known for mutilating a woman’s internal organs. Right? Turns out, not always. Many women wore them for comfort, designed them to keep their breasts supported, and oh yeah, that patriarchy bit? Well sometimes, men wore them too. image collated from https://corset-story.com/ Rosie Harte Youtube historian talking about men in corsets--ther...
244: Stinky Critters
January 03, 2023 09:32 - 13 minutes - 10.1 MBHappy 2023!!! We're starting the year with an episode to satisfy your inner 12 year old! Pop some popcorn and join us in exploring the weirdly unexpected scents of Bear Cats (aka Binturong), lemon ants, copperhead snakes, and so many more smelly animals. The facts and data behind the smell of the Binturong https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/cen-09417-scicon004
243: Frog Dads
December 27, 2022 09:58 - 11 minutes - 8.62 MBJust like sea horse dads, some poison dart frog dads take a hand in helping to raise their children. We talk about a Stanford University study designed to figure out how and if these little tropical frogs have a mental map of their environment. image from: Andrius Pašukonis Stanford University (Dad frog wearing his kids and a radio tracker speedo) Evolutionarily Ecology article: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10682-019-09994-z And just in case you were wondering like we were,...
242: Bat Chat!
December 20, 2022 10:21 - 8 minutes - 6.79 MBIt sounds like impossibly futuristic sci-fi but, a machine learning algorithm and videos of bat behavior were used to partially decode the language of Egyptian Fruit Bats. I KNOW! You have to give this a listen. image by David Mark on Pixabay For adorable pictures of the Egyptian fruit bats https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-translate-bat-talk-and-they-argue-lot-180961564/ Get into the scholarly research nitty-gritty: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2016.21215 ...
241: Humboldt Squid
December 13, 2022 09:37 - 9 minutes - 7.21 MBAlso known as devil squid because of the bright red color they sometimes display: Humboldt squid have on occasion attacked divers. But mostly they hunt in packs for fish. Mostly. (What's up Aliens reference?! 😉 ) If you want a more detailed account of Scott Cassell's squid attack-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fkl312lldQ Monterey Bay Aquarium footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2aa6aHEyUI
240: Extreme Lookalikes
December 06, 2022 09:05 - 11 minutes - 8.85 MBLet's talk about people who look remarkably similar. For example: Bryan Cranston and Mr. Kerr (Don't tell Chas we're matching him up with Breaking Bad's Walter White again. 😂) Turns out people who look similar look the same for a variety of reasons. François Brunelle and his Lookalike Project If you really feel like getting into the weeds of a genetics research paper: Look-alike humans identified by facial recognition algorithms show genetic similarities We talked a bit about the fox dom...
239: Vampire Finches
November 29, 2022 09:29 - 8 minutes - 6.76 MBIn 1964 researchers discovered the sharp beaked ground finch aka the vampire finch. FOR REAL!!! These finches have adapted to long hot dry seasons by drinking blood. Take a look at these blood thirsty birbs on Galapagosislands.com National Geographic vid of the Vampires in action! Not for the faint of heart! In case you wanted to give it a listen: Ologies Vampire episode with Dr. Jeff Holdeman
238: Uranium Glass
November 22, 2022 09:08 - 8 minutes - 6.17 MBTrace here: I've got one arm trapped under a grumpy old-man-cat named Jack. Jack does not care about science or glowing glass or the fact that my back is starting to cramp. Enjoy this trip down the fancy serving ware aisle and drop us a picture on Facebook if you own any of this really cool glass! image from pixabay. More resources to check out! https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/students/for-educators/08.pdf https://www.orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/consumer/glass/vase...
237: Octopuses? Octopi? Octopedes?
November 15, 2022 09:55 - 10 minutes - 8.11 MBLook grammar police, it's octopuses and we don't have to like it, BUT you are going to love learning that just like humans, octopuses do seem to have a preferred hand. Arm? Tentacle? OMG here we go again. Just listen to the episode, it's a hoot. The actual paper! Hold your phone in whatever hand you prefer while reading https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(22)01402-6 Just incase you need MORE of on octopus fix...Amy's husband Chris says it's amazing! Additional researc...
236: Hangry
November 08, 2022 09:31 - 9 minutes - 6.27 MBGrab a snack and listen to how sneaky research was done on hungry people. It's devious and a great example of how being hungry influences mood. Also Amy mentions Larks and Owls do a fun quiz on yourself to find out what kind of a person you are: Chronobiology Quiz Some extra research⬇⬇⬇ https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0269629 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325694374_Feeling_Hangry_When_Hunger_Is_Conceptualized_as_Emotion
235: A Whole School of Fish Facts!
November 01, 2022 08:56 - 9 minutes - 5.97 MBItchy fish scratching wherever they can! Even on the nubby sides of SHARKS!! Need to know more about those other episodes we mentioned? Episode 93: Farting Herring & 206:The Smartest Fish? Measuring Cough Rates in Fish : from the EPA PBS Fish have Feelings Too
234: Brain Junk NSFW
October 25, 2022 08:44 - 38 minutes - 24.2 MBThat's right! We're back with a little more NSFW (Not Safe For Work)! We had so much fun doing Episode #222 After Dark that we just had to do a part two. It's longer and weirder and we definitely need you to tell us if you crave more. Here's a little breakdown of the mayhem we cover in this super extra long episode. Historical Euphemisms for sexy time fetishes & feet https://www.audacy.com/kluv/latest/biologist-explains-why-some-people-have-foot-fetishes https://www.livescience.com/33525...
233: Splines
October 18, 2022 08:53 - 7 minutes - 4.86 MBWe're digging deep into right brain / left brain communication! But metaphorically, not like...with a spoon. Want to get really into the weeds on this Brain Storm? Check out the PubMed.gov abstract: Running speed and REM sleep control two distinct modes of rapid interhemispheric communication
232: Tailgate Candy Corn
October 11, 2022 09:22 - 17 minutes - 11.8 MBBrach's has done it again with the flavors you'd savor at a tailgate party. There's hot dog and hamburger candy corn that is...well, if not good, at least fun to talk about. The fruit punch was a particular favorite of Trace's and Amy double dipped on the popcorn. There's some fun Brach's history facts tossed into the pick-a-mix too!
231: Soccer Ball Hail
October 04, 2022 09:00 - 6 minutes - 4.07 MBIf you follow XKCD you know the author, Randall Monroe, applies science to absurd questions. One of those questions had to do with the possibility of soccer ball size hail. Cover up with your steel umbrella and listen to find out if it's actually possible! XKCD you should take a look! images from Pixabay