BrainStuff

BrainStuff Classics: How Does the Hippocampus Work?

Without the hippocampus, our brains have serious trouble recalling and recording certain types of long-term memories. Learn how this brain structure works in today's clas

What Happened During Agatha Christie's Mysterious Disappearance?

In 1926, detective novelist Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days under strange circumstances. Learn about her life and record-setting, best-selling works (second only

How Does Escargot Work?

Escargot is just one of many ways that humans enjoy eating land snails -- and we've been eating them for 30,000 years. Learn about the snails in question, how they're far

How Does a Geiger Counter Work?

The Geiger counters we use to detect harmful radiation today are 100-year-old technology that works based on simple behaviors of electrons and ions. Learn about ionizing

BrainStuff Classics: How Do Starling Murmurations Work?

Starlings flock in swooping, harmonious groups of thousands of birds called murmurations. Learn how these birds pull off such an amazing feat through simple actions in th

Was Commodus One of Rome's Worst Emperors?

You may know him as the villain in the film 'Gladiator', but the real-life Emperor Commodus is said to have been even more cruel and megalomaniacal. Learn about his unusu

What If Earth Had Rings?

Planetary rings are gorgeous, temporary structures created when a planet's gravity captures and tears apart smaller objects. Learn why Earth doesn't have rings (right now

Why Do We Blush When We're Embarrassed?

Blushing is an involuntary reaction that can seem to draw more attention to yourself at exactly the worst moment. Learn why this embarrassing response to embarrassment ca

BrainStuff Classics: How Are Ethnicity and Race Different?

The concepts of ethnicity and race are both human inventions with no basis in science, but these concepts have huge impacts on us and our world. Learn the difference betw

How Does Butter Get Its Texture, Flavor, and Color?

Turning cream into a stick of butter involves some complex chemistry, crystallization, and (traditionally) fermentation. Learn more -- plus the difference between sweet c

Why Do We Call Dibs and Shotgun, and Who Was the Real McCoy?

Some idioms have a fairly clear origin, but others have been lost to time and legend. Learn about the game that inspired calling dibs, the media that created calling shot

Why Is Siberia's Batagaika Crater Known as the Doorway to Hell?

The Batagaika crater (or, technically, megaslump) is a massive pit caused by thawing permafrost -- and it's only getting bigger. Learn what paleontologists have found the

BrainStuff Classics: How Would Authorities Handle a Murder in Space?

Investigating murders right here on planet Earth can be tricky -- how would it be handled in space? Who would even be in charge? Learn what current and future laws may ap

How Does Taste Work?

Your sense of taste isn't just a chemical catalog of what's in a food or drink -- it's a complex physiological and psychological process. Learn what we know (and don't kn

How Did Weasels Get a Bad Rap?

Weasels have a bad reputation among bird farmers and have been cast as literal villains in books and cartoons, but they can actually help control vermin populations -- an

How Did Napoleon I, the Emperor of the French, Rise and Fall?

In the midst of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte rode his hubris straight into an emperorship, but he was fated to fail. Learn how he came to power twice, why Wa

BrainStuff Classics: How Did Alchemy Create Chemistry?

Alchemists may have never turned lead into gold, but they did create the field of chemistry. Learn how the study of alchemy worked in today's classic episode of BrainStuf

How Did Sundown Towns Say the Quiet Part Out Loud?

Sundown towns are places in the United States where, after the Civil War and Reconstruction, white communities kept Black Americans and other groups out for decades, on p

Why Do We Yawn, and Why Is It Catching?

Science isn't entirely sure why humans and other animals yawn, let alone why yawning can be contagious -- but we've got some good hypotheses. Learn about them, from cooli

How Do Rip Currents Work?

Rip currents are dangerous flows of water that can drag you away from the shore and out into the deep. Learn how they form, what to watch for, and how to escape one by sw