That's Absurd Please Elaborate

You are showering too often. Helicopters are insane. Soap is ancient magic chemistry. This time around, Trace tells everyone all about cleanliness while attempting to dodge the wellness and clean eating industry zealots. Then, Julian geeks out on the wild engineering of helicopters AND debunks a related meme about jets going to the gym. QUESTIONS Trace: "How clean is too clean?" from NeatNit Julia...

This episode Trace tries to track down the first word ever uttered by human kind and Julian gets confused about how reproduction works… again… QUESTIONS Julian: "What if every set of DNA passed on from each individual were identical, respectively?" from Brandon Trace: "What was the first word?" from Tyler Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nat...

In this absolutely absurd episode, Dr Simon Clark ponders if human's could colonize an atmosphere like Jupiter's -- Star Wars Cloud City is on trial. Speaking of gas giants, Julian digs into the evolutionary experiment that could give rise to a vampire. But first, Trace leads us off by learning about the uneven distribution of kitty cat toe beans! QUESTIONS Julian: "What environmental pressures wo...

🎉 Happy Anniversary to us!! 🎊 It’s been one year since we launched That's Absurd Please Elaborate and what an absurdly fun ride it's been. To celebrate we tweaked the show just a bit. Our special guest, producer/editor Kyle Sisk, has selected six listener-submitted questions for Julian and Trace to answer. The catch? They only have five minutes to do their research. I know right? Important Remin...

Did you know scientists turned a swarm of crabs into a computer? Julian explores if it can play an old video game. Plus, our guest Deboki feels out animal pregnancy, and Trace learns that Ben Franklin wrote a eulogy for a pet squirrel. QUESTIONS Trace: "Would squirrels still be so annoying if we weren’t around to observe them?" from Deboki Deboki "Can any mammals (other than humans) tell that they...

This time around, guest Hip Hop MD stamens your pistol and Julian admits (surprising no one) that he flows with nerd core. QUESTIONS Julian: "What rapper would make the greatest scientist, and what would their game changing discovery or invention be?" from Maynard Maynard (Hip Hop MD): "What if people reproduced like plants do" from Anonymous Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea y...

This week Julian explores the rocket science of farts. That’s a sentence that had likely never been written until this moment. Trace talks about the science of stasis, a.k.a hyper-sleep, a.k.a. cryo-freeze. As a bonus, we all get to learn the predictive powers of the 1993 classic film “Demolition Man.” QUESTIONS Julian: "How hard would I have to far to lift off the ground?" from Ricky Trace: "Coul...

This episode Trace imagines what it would take to lock a world in darkness while Julian does something very suspicious with pineapples. QUESTIONS Trace: "Would it be possible to have a permanent solar eclipse?" from Aaron Julian: "Is there an amount of pineapple that can dissolve a human body?" from Macks Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nat...

One year ago today we announced the launch of That's Absurd Please Elaborate. Now on this April Fools' day we have another exciting (and real!) announcement (because we're bad at marketing and didn't consider that announcing things on April 1st might cause people to doubt it's veracity). ASK US A QUESTION Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nat...

In this revolting episode, our guest Dr Sam Jones asks Julian to never see a man about a horse again, then she weeds out the filth in the animal kingdom, and finally Trace gives us a palate cleanser of starchy, potatoey goodness. QUESTIONS Julian: "If all humans never had to poop again — how would it affect the world?" from Sam Sam Jones: "What is the filthiest absolutely disgusting animal" from D...

This time on T.A.P.E. — Matt Krol digs into cinema history to answer a deathly serious question, and Trace is out cold answering a question mulled over by scientists for centuries. Julian is helping out at NASA so he’ll be back next week. QUESTIONS Trace: "Why EXACTLY is ice slippery?" from Matt Krol Matt: “What actor has died the most in movies?” from Cole For more of Matthew Krol’s wonderful wor...

This week Julian wonders if you can really cook your jumblies with microwaves and 5G, and Trace dives into linguistics and chemistry to learn if the ocean is actually a very broth-forward soup. QUESTIONS Julian: "Microwaves are the most common way to use radiation to cook food, could we use radio, gamma, or X-Rays to cook food?" from Aaron Trace: "What is soup?" from Silas Do you have an absurd qu...

This episode Trace indulges us with why chocolate is so popular on valentines day and Julian goes deep on why his body (and everyone else’s for that matter) is such a mess. QUESTIONS Julian: "Can the human body “design” be improved on intentionally" from Xander Trace: "Why do people like chocolate so much on special holidays" from Lee Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had,...

In this episode, Trace wonders if "Weird" Al Yankovic influenced a generation of people to say "my back teeth are floating," and Julian time travels to the Triassic with a cold (and maybe a chicken). QUESTIONS Trace: "Why do my teeth feel like they are floating or vibrating when I really have to go to the bathroom. " from Spencer Julian: "If you went back in time to see the dinosaurs, would they g...

This episode Trace resets the solar system to see what life would look like on “Wee Earth” and Julian finally learns his left from his right thanks for particle physics. QUESTIONS Julian: "If I had some magic communicator to speak to someone in another galaxy, could I explain what "left" and "right" were?" from Anonymous Trace: "How would have life evolved if Earth was two [to] three times smaller...

This episode we have special guest Ralph Crewe (Writer/Producer, Practical Engineering) who gets exhausted trying to explain continuous breathing, Julian mulls over the least pointy thing (shout out to Pod 007) and Trace takes a Mayan Bak-tun to explain why the heck there are 60 minutes in an hour. QUESTIONS Trace: "Are there other systems of timekeeping besides Hours/Minutes/Seconds?" from Julian...

This episode Trace cracks the mystery of nuts, and Julian tickles a moose and a buffalo* for science!? You’ll have to listen to find out! QUESTIONS Julian: "Is riding a moose more like petting a buffalo or tickling a grizzly bear?" from Brendan F. Trace: "Are nuts actually fruit pits?" from Sandy in Seattle Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the n...

In this week's episode, Julian tracks the history of toilet paper to its source, Trace gives a gorilla some workout advice, and special guest Vanessa Hill grows a whole human after an unfortunate fireworks accident. QUESTIONS Julian: "Before the invention of toilet paper, how did people relieve their bottom as to not clog the pipes?" From Vanessa Trace: "How strong could a gorilla be if it knew pr...

This week Trace explains why organic doesn’t mean what you think it means and Julian researches whether grizzly bears have more biological variation than humans do! Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate. We're most thankful for YOU listening to this little show. QUESTIONS Trace: "If we only ate organic vegetables how many people would starve?" from listener Chris J. Julian: "Why do humans come i...

This episode Julian takes a pole on the magnetic dynamo inside our planet, and Trace explores how 19th century French landscaping grew on everyone. QUESTIONS Julian: "Could you wirelessly charge using the Earth’s magnetic field?" from listener 26Matso Trace: "Who invented the Lawn?" from listener Brian M. Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nat...

In this (very scary) episode, Julian loses his head (no one seems to notice) and Trace unleashes the ultimate nightMare: an apex predator HORSE! WHINNY! THUNDER CLAP! ORGAN MUSIC!!! QUESTIONS Julian: "How long could we survive without a head?" from Trace Trace: "What if horses were apex predators?" from listener Meg Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought ab...

This episode Trace finds out if lolcats make other cats lol, Julian makes continents collide (his insurance company was very unhappy about it), and SPECIAL GUEST Ceri Riley (Co-host of the podcast SciShow Tangents) takes a deep breath and undoes the entire science of chemistry. QUESTIONS Julian: "Will the continents ever form another Pangea?" from Ceri Trace: "Can animals tell jokes?" from listene...

In this episode Julian wants to push the Earth further from the sun to stop climate change, and Trace learns if pineapple on pizza is actually … good? QUESTIONS Julian: "What would happen if we moved the Earth further from the Sun?" from Jason J. Trace: "Why do some people hate pineapple on pizza (they’re wrong). Why do people taste things differently?" from Nicola F. Do you have an absurd questio...

This episode Julian eats something he probably shouldn’t (again) and Trace is given the small task of preserving all of human knowledge through multiple apocalypses... Apocalypsi? Apocalypsees? Ends to the world. QUESTIONS Julian: "Why can we eat mould on cheese but not other food?" from listener jcol001 Trace: "What is the best way to preserve information to survive any and all apocalypse? " from...

This episode Trace smells a smell out of existence, Julian loses an arm wrestling contest to a baby, and special guest Ashley Hamer explains the key to understanding music. QUESTIONS Ashley: “Why aren't all musical compositions in the key of C major?” from listener David B. Julian: "What if we were born with hands/feet at adult size" from Ashley Trace: "Can something disintegrate from being smelly...