Brain Junk

Call them, donuts, or doughnuts, or olykoeks, or pete de souer, they are deep fried doughy goodness and we’re taking an entire episode to sing their praises and sling some facts about donuts. Probably not the best choice for the month of January, but you’ve tossed all your resolutions to the side by now, so have a crispy fried, cinnamon sugar dusted ring of yumminess, and have a listen. Voodoo Dou...

Can living in a more enriching environment increase your ability to learn and make you more relaxed? Dr. Kelly Lambert set out to answer this question with rats, tiny cars, and a handful of Froot Loops. SHOW NOTES: 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

During the 1960s when we were racing to the moon, computing tech made a huge leap. Computers had to be small to fit in the Apollo capsules and it was seamstresses who sewed the super precise hardware together with copper wire. SHOW NOTES: NASA / Wiki Commons This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.su...

Happy New Year! Welcome to our funniest episode yet. Scientists avert international tension between Sweden and Russia, learn something we didn’t know about herring, and win an Ig Nobel. GO SCIENCE!   Show Notes: The Guardian-Farting Herring Huff Post Fish Fart to Communicate School of Herring Image courtesy Public Domain Pictures  Creative Commons License This is a public episode. If you would lik...

It’s the LAST episode of 2019! Brain Junk has grown so much over the past twelve months & we are so grateful to have you all along for the ride. We’re winding up the year with a huge outtakes special with all the stuff that usually hits the cutting room floor. This style of episode takes THE LONGEST to edit, so don’t expect another one until the end of 2020. (it’s gonna be a busy year!) Happy...

Whether you celebrate your winter solstice on Dec 21st in the northern hemisphere or June 21st in the southern, cultures around the world love to gather together to celebrate the return of the sun in wacky and unusual ways. In today’s episode, we’ve got tons to talk about. In Japan, people eat fancy KFC on Christmas (winter solstice’s holiday cousin), in Antartica, you might do a polar plunge at M...

Barn owls come in three colors, a tawny brown, a mix of brown a white, and all white. It didn’t make sense to researchers how a white owl could be a successful nighttime hunter…but they are. image: Karen Arnold, Pixabay If you need to learn more! https://phys.org/news/2019-09-barn-owls-moonlight-stun-prey.html This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or ge...

That’s right. Way back in the early 1900s, when women were protesting for the right to vote, there was a four-foot eleven-inch woman teaching the Suffragettes how to defend themselves. Make way for Edith Margaret Garrud.   Image Courtesy Mary Evans Picture Library via the BBC   Image Courtesy Islington Local History Center via BBC.    Show Notes:  https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34425615 https:/...

Who is the brightest, the most likely to crush the SAT, the one pet who has the brains to out think them all? Is it your cat or your dog? SHOW NOTES: Who is smarter? Dogs (The lovely Ruby would agree) Or cats? Leap and Haku are too sleepy to care. Show Notes: Science Alert Cats vs Dogs Study done by neuroscientist Suzana Herculano-Houzel from Vanderbilt University in the US. Spoiler alert! It’s do...

Either way you spell it, you either love that black candy or can’t get away fast enough. Amy dives into why. Image Credit: Pixaby -gate74 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode NCCIH Licorice HuffPost Licorice   Episode Transcript: Welcome to Brain Junk. I’m Trace Kerr, and I’m Amy Barton, and this is a Brain Storm. Actually this is a Brain Freeze Brain Storm. TK: Yeah, this is o...

Bad dad mushroom jokes, a “bleeding” mushroom, the world’s largest organism, and so many fungus facts! That little brown mushroom on your pizza has fungal cousins that are more unexpectedly interesting than you would have thought. Bioluminescent Jack-O-Lantern Mushroom https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode How about Zombie Ants? Ant infected with the cordyceps fungus. image: Sus...

In the late 19th century, London had the beginnings of homeless shelters. They weren’t always comfortable (try sleeping in a four-penny coffin), but it was better than being left drunk and alone out in the cold. 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

Trend setting science from 1975. We can’t tell you anything else, it would spoil the surprise! 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

Trace and Amy try to stump each other with the wildest, weirdest, most outrageous animal facts they could find. There’s chemical warfare snails, bird arsonists, toads with babies bursting out of their backs and MORE. Listen in and play along. Show Notes: SPOILERS!!!! Fire Hawks: Black Kites and Whistling Kites in Queensland image: Mark Marathon https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalc...

Before they even hatch, Yellow Legged Gull chicks seem to be communication to their nest mates. Amy dives into the how and why.   Show Notes: https://www.sciencealert.com/baby-birds-can-communicate-with-each-other-from-inside-their-unhatched-eggs Science Alert - Michelle Starr Unhatched bird embryos can not only hear the warning calls of adult birds - they can communicate that information to their...

Would you pay eight-thousand dollars to impress your friends with a pineapple? No? Well, the Victorians did. Show Notes: Pineapples everywhere image: Derek Harper https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode Dunmore Pineapple house built in Scotland in 1761 The building had a hothouse that was used for growing pineapples! image: PeakPX.com Episode Transcript: Welcome to the Brain Junk,...

What do those rain percentages they give you on the news really mean? Why does the snow in Europe sometimes turn orange? Have you ever heard of a firenado? So many things you never knew you wanted to know about weather. Watch out for falling fish. Show Notes: You’ve got to see to believe Firenado or Fire Whirl courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service Find more info here: https://roaring.earth/...

When the US and Canadian governments decided the border between our two countries, a few places got left on the “wrong” side of the line. Those places are called exclaves. On the west coast, Point Roberts became one of those places.   Show Notes: Point Roberts Wikipedia CityLab Point Roberts Atlas Obscura Point Roberts Image Courtesy pointswithacrew.com   Episode Transcript: Welcome to Brain Junk....

Turn up the Skrillex to ward off some pesky bloodsucking insects. And possibly your neighbors.   Show Notes: Smithsonian Mag Skrillex Mosquitos Photo Credit: Michael Nusbaum,  www.mikenusbaum.com Corrections:  Skrillex is not EDM according to my husband. I argue that he is credited as an EDM artist by The Internet, but acknowledge it may not be his main genre.  Sorry. AB   Episode Transcript:  Wel...

Born in Kansas in 1877, Maud grew up to be the first white female tattoo artist in the United States. Show Notes: Maud herself Maud and her husband, Gus Wagner image: https://allthatsinteresting.com/maud-wagner Maud Stevens Wagner http://www.theheroinecollective.com/maud-wagner/ List   Episode Transcript:  Welcome to brain junk. I’m Amy Barton and I’m Trace Kerr and it’s time for a Brain Storm. TK...

A half-marathon running dog, Japan’s pet cafes, cats maybe recognizing their names (because cats am I right?), and expensive pet pampering. We’ve got it all in this end of summer, back to school episode. Show Notes: Ikefukurou Cafe: Owls! You can carry them around and pet them They are on instagram! Https://instagram.com/ikefukurou_cafe?igshid=n8thw413ky46 This is a public episode. If you would li...

This episode will have you outside with a sharpened stake, a hammer, a slab of metal and an empty coffee can. That’s right, we’re going to be talking about charming worms right out of the ground and explaining the science behind how it works. ‘Cause it DOES work and you’re going to want to try. Show Notes: Worm Charming aka worm grunting http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/10/21/2396935.ht...

Absorbing oxygen through their “skin” and pumping blood with their guts, the Giant Sea Spider isn’t a true spider, but it’s close. Too close for Trace.   Show Notes:  Live Science Sea Spider Study Image Courtesy Live Science.   Episode Transcript Welcome to brain junk. I’m trace Kerr and I’m Amy Barton. And this is a brainstorm. AB: I am super excited to talk to you about this subject. It is giant...

At the age of 42, Bridget Mason won a court case in California that freed her and her daughters from slavery. She went on to become a California real estate developer and a prolific philanthropist. She also funded the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. That church stands to this day and its 19,000 members share in her legacy. Episode Transcript: Welcome to Brain Junk. I’m Amy...

Just in time for vacation season here in the US, Brain Junk goes on the road (metaphorically) to bring you cool places we’ve been or want to go. Carlsbad Caverns, the Seattle gum wall, a visit to the Weeki Watchee Mermaids, or a B&B shaped like a beagle. Don’t forget to bring licorice for Amy and, buckle up, Trace called shotgun. Show Notes: /licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode Trace’s daughter, Zoe...