Seeking A Scientist

Forget something? Here’s how to improve your memory

Our memories are a big part of what makes us human. But why do some moments tend to stick in our brain for years, while others fade away? Neuroscientists Kausik Si and El

Why do we need to sleep?

Humans spend one-third of their life sleeping, yet the purpose and function behind this regular state of unconsciousness remains a biological mystery. Sleep researcher Gi

How to adapt to the extreme cold, according to Finnish reindeer herders

Human biology thankfully allows us to adapt to major changes in temperature, but only so quickly. Professor Cara Ocobock is working with reindeer herders in subarctic Fin

Your most surprising science questions of the year, answered

We’ve dug into a lot of fascinating topics this past year on Seeking a Scientist, but they’re all so complicated! That means there are a lot of lingering questions that w

How living in outer space changes the human body

Gravity dominates every moment of our experience here on Earth. We may take it for granted, but NASA astronaut Kate Rubins assuredly does not. She knows firsthand the fun

Feeling stressed? Here’s what is actually happening

Stress is a part of every human’s life, but the way it feels and how we handle it varies based on the individual. That’s one of the reasons stress is such a challenging t

How can we bring extinct species back from the dead?

A new “Jurassic Park” movie is coming out next year, the latest installment of the blockbuster series all about the dangerous hubris in trying to bring dinosaurs back fro

‘Twisters’ got one thing right: We can change the weather!

To save Oklahoma from treacherous tornados, scientists in the 2024 blockbuster “Twisters” try to use a real-life technique called cloud seeding. But would this really wor

Dogs are talking — are you listening?

Dogs don’t talk to us the way our human best friends do, but they are biologically prepared to communicate with us in a range of ways. What if we could understand our fur

Your burning questions about fireworks, answered

Fireworks have been used to dazzle and entertain for centuries. These spectacles can seem out of this world, and they’re directly related to Kate the Chemist’s favorite s

Plants may be more intelligent than we think

We haven’t been giving the Plant Kingdom enough credit. Plants can move, attack, communicate, and adapt — even though they don’t have what's normally defined as a brain.

Can we stop an asteroid from hitting Earth?

Asteroids heading straight for planet Earth aren’t just a scenario out of a Hollywood thriller. Luckily, scientists around the world have long been preparing for such an

Breaking down the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of quantum dots

Ever since the 2023 Nobel Prize was awarded for the discovery of quantum dots, Kate’s phone has been ringing off the hook. Everyone wants her to explain what these tiny c

Seeking... your thoughts

Seeking A Scientist is returning for a second season! But before we head back to the lab, Kate The Chemist wants to hear from YOU. What episode was your favorite? What do

Does the multiverse actually exist?

Over the last few years, the box office has been dominated by films like "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" that explore ideas of parallel universes, quantum worlds an

Do fungi secretly rule our world?

From molds and yeasts to the mushrooms we fear and love, fungi are connected to life and death on our planet — but they're often misunderstood. We only know about 10% of

Can we stop our world from flooding?

In April 2023 alone, floods hit numerous regions of the United States, including land-locked states like Kansas, Tennessee and Colorado. With warmer temperatures and huma

Can we fix our failing electrical grid?

In February 2021, Texas and wide swaths of North America were shut down by Winter Storm Uri, which caused massive blackouts and left millions of people without power for

Can we save the oceans from plastic?

In 1997, Captain Charles Moore discovered the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” the largest accumulation of plastic waste in the ocean. Since then, scientists have documente

Can humans reverse aging?

We tend to think of getting older as inevitable, but what if it’s actually something we can control? Researchers like David Sinclair and Nir Barzilai have discovered some