Brain Junk

We always hear about research “wins”. Rarely do we discuss “failures”–and we should. Today we dive into a few examples of how not getting the “right” answer isn’t wrong. Loma Pendergraft: Fussing Over Food Amy’s Sources: Clever Hans:Wikipedia: Observer Expectancy EffectWikipedia Clever HansCrow Vocalizations:Corvid Research Blog Part ICorvid Research Blog Part II This is a public episode. If you w...

Imagine you’re an ant living in an arid climate. There’s no grocery stores! How do you keep enough food on hand for when things are scarce? You won’t believe it. Watch the below IF YOU DARE Amy’s Sources: Nat Geo: Honeypot Ants Alexanderwild.com Ants Myrmecocystus This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodc...

What happens when you are the Emperor of France and your hunting party plans go completely wrong? You get attacked by rabbits. This isn’t a Monty Python skit, its history! Napoleon meets his Bunnyloo image from CuriousRambler This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

To celebrate our 200th episode, we’re going back to 1822 to share cool facts from two-hundred years ago! Listen in to a cornucopia of historical cooking, human experimentation, the discovery of stork migration, general Amy and Trace wackiness, one of the earliest versions of a computer, and MORE. We appreciate you Brain Junkies so much! Enjoy the show. Check out The Cook and Housekeeper’s Complete...

Gifts. Just because that decorative paper is slapped on with yards of tape doesn’t mean what’s inside isn’t something you’d want. Amy dives into a study about how we feel about gifts based on shabby wrapping paper. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

Mary McLeod Bethune was the daughter of former slaves and a founder of Bethune-Cookman University. She was often the only woman of color with a seat at the table in the early political history of the 1900s. Mary McLeod Bethune with girls from the Literary and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls in Daytona, c. […] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscri...

Give a captive gorilla tasty food, they often vocalize in ways that sound a lot like singing. It’s so charming! But scientists thought this “singing” was a response to living close to humans. Turns out, wild gorillas sing too. Check out this YouTube for an example! Gorillas Sing!! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, vi...

One of the highest achievements in martial arts is the black belt. And Amy, OUR Amy Barton has reached that pinnacle in Taekwondo. How cool is that?!? To celebrate we’re talking about the history of the belt system. Raise your glass to congratulate Amy!! https://traditional-dojo.com/blog/88092/The-true-and-not-so-true-history-of-the-Martial-Arts-belt-system- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_bel...

We’re diving into a long episode chock-a-block full of weird facts. Get ready for German phrases, the history of bullion, hot dogs, neurons, and more (and OF COURSE a little Chuck Norris!) image: journal with the literal bug in the system. National Geographic Amy’s Miscellany: German Words https://www.fluentu.com/blog/german/weird-german-words-vocabulary/ Morgenmuffle-not a good morning person Fer...

You might think you’re special because you can flex your nostrils or flap your ears–but it turns out that there is a person out there who can voluntarily move their pupillary sphincters. What the heck are those? Listen to this one, it’s worth it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW2iwEshWME Want to know more? Check out the scientific paper ! Amy’s Links:  https://www.livescience.com/man-can-control...

The US military uses more than boats to protect our Naval bases. This episode brings a whole new meaning to “Navy seals”. Check out this AP archive video — it’s remarkable! More cool resources! Marine Mammal Program This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

Welcome to 2022!! Over the next few episodes we’re changing things up a bit. Let us know what you think! Email us at Brainjunkpodcast@gmail.com or drop us a message on our Instagram This week we dive into the origin of the word pothole. It’s funnier than you might think. P.S. Trace does mention the word penis one time…but it’s not explicit. We promise. Photo from the Pothole Gardener This is a pub...

We don’t know about y’all, but 2020 and 2021 have been a whole thing. Right?! So Trace and Amy are taking the month of December to recharge their love of facts and weirdness. We’ll be back on Jan 4, 2022 with new episodes! Until then, this episode has some fun facts about winter. Also, here’s where you can find us until we’re back! Click on the buttons to visit our socials This is a public episode...

Those of you with a thick beard, that hair does more than make you look suave or rugged. Turns out, a beard might be protecting your face. There’s even an Ig Nobel winning study to prove it. Feeling super scientific? Read the study: Impact Protection Potential of Mammalian Hair: Testing the Pugilism Hypothesis for the Evolution of Human Facial Hair This is a public episode. If you would like to di...

Brain Junk 189: Disco Clams Play Episode Pause Episode Mute/Unmute Episode Rewind 10 Seconds 1x Fast Forward 30 seconds 00:00 / 00:04:12 Subscribe Share RSS Feed Share Link Embed //><!-- /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(c,d){"use strict";var e=!1,n=!1;if(d.querySelector)if(c.addEventListener)e=!0;if(c.wp=c.wp||{},!c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage)if(c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){v...

Forget raccoons digging into your trash cans, Australia has giant parrots snacking out of trash bins. Some family groups of Sulfur-crested cockatoos are teaching each other how to hack people’s trash. “bin chickens” from CNN.com See one of these wily birds in action! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkp...

In an unexpected turn of events, two predators with very different hunting styles work cooperatively. During the summer months, badgers and coyotes will sometimes team up during the summer months to find and catch more food than they could by themselves. image: US Fish and Wildlife Service This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus epi...

Imagine waking up from a nap to discover that you can compose music in your head. What a shock that would be! There are people who are born with savant type art or mathematics abilities, but there is also the amazing possibility that someone’s brain might suddenly unlock an out-of-the-blue talent. Scientist have theories as to what causes Sudden Savant Syndrome, but no one is exactly sure what is...

In September of 1896, the town of Crush was created for the sole purpose of crashing two steam trains together. Things did not go according to plan. Image: Baylor Collections This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

It’s fall now, but we recorded this episode during the dog days of August. The sky wore a blanket of wildfire smoke and daytime lows were in the mid 90s. All that heat got Amy thinking about the reason why we call these hot days, dog days. We love a good phrase origin story. Sirius , also called Alpha Canis Majoris or the Dog Star, brightest star in the night sky, with apparent visual magnitude −1...

The last episode with wonky sound. We got all the bugs out. (get it…bugs. cause its an episode about bees. *nudges in dad joke* Many cultures have long believed the humble honeybee was more than just a honey-making factory. It was thought those little bees might also be messengers to the Gods. The bee’s important position in society as providers of food and medicine made them more than mere livest...

We had four episodes where the sound quality was…odd (and this was one of them). Pretend you’re listening to a NASA broadcast and that we’re coming to you live from the International Space Station. On June 3, 2021 an intrepid group of baby bobtail squid hopped a ride on SpaceX and became tiny squid-stronauts! These bioluminescent critters glow blue with the help of a special bacteria. They aren’t...

Apologies–we had sound quality issues. We did not record from the bottom of a metal trash can while hiding from mystery blobs falling from the sky; we promise. In a place that gets rain up to 275 days a year, Oakville, WA. knows their precipitation. But on this day in 1994, Instead of the other 275 days a year that water falls from the sky, a torrent of jelly like blobs fell. No one knows for sure...

On September 12, 1992, Dr. Mae Carol Jemison became the first Black female astronaut. She’s an engineer, a scientist, a physician, and an educator. We figure she can do anything she sets her mind to. Check out her Instagram! @ therealmaejemison image: NASA Her book: Find Where the Wind Goes Dr. Jemison on Star Trek! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers...

This episode is marked explicit because we go into details that might lead to a person catching on fire. It’s interesting science and we don’t get graphic, but it might be too much for a younger listener. If you are interested in the science of all things pyrophoric and don’t want the spontaneous human combustion content, listen until the 3:25 second mark. Warning label for pyrophoric materials. D...