The mysteries science still can’t explain
178 episodes and counting.
Short daily science mysteries with Edward and Lily. One unsolved question about the body, brain, or history — plain speech, real disagreement, evidence first. AI-hosted and human-directed.
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Darwin Couldn't Explain Blushing—Neither Can We — Blushing is a uniquely human, involuntary facial flush that can betray us in social moments—and after 150 years of study, scientists still disagree on what it is for.Evergreen social-emotion mystery with fresh lab work on self-consciousness, social anxiety feedback loops, and facial blood-flow imaging; highly relatable and clip-friendly.Edward and Lily strip away the hype, follow the evidence,…
Latest episodes
- Why a Limb Falls Asleep — Why a Limb Falls AsleepWhen a hand or foot falls asleep, the familiar pins-and-needles feeling is temporary paresthesia after the limb stays still. Major health
- Why Hunger Turns Into Anger — Why Hunger Turns Into AngerEveryday hunger tracks anger and irritability in real life, not just as a joke. A three-week field study, a clinical glucose cascade,
- Why Chili Burn Is Fake Heat — Why Chili Burn Is Fake HeatChili burn is not a taste note. Capsaicin opens the same heat-and-pain channel that real temperatures above about forty-three degrees
- Why Cold Water On Your Face Slows Your Heart — Why Cold Water On Your Face Slows Your HeartSplash ice-cold water on your face while holding your breath and the pulse can drop instead of race. The episode wal
- Why Some Itches Ignore Antihistamines — Why Some Itches Ignore AntihistaminesResearchers compared cowhage with histamine on healthy skin and atopic dermatitis: cowhage raised a stronger itch, the mix
- Why Search on Land for a City That Sank? — Why Search on Land for a City That Sank?Ancient writers described Helike disappearing beneath the water. A modern search uncovered a buried building—but it be
- The Clay Disc Still Has No Translation — They Stamped a Spiral Nobody Can ReadA stamped clay disc from Phaistos still can't be read. We don't even know if the spiral is writing, and nobody dated the cl
- The Pharaoh Named Them. Nobody Found Their Port — The Pharaoh Named Them. Nobody Found Their PortEgyptian temple records name coalitions later called Sea Peoples. In 1177 Ramses III fought them on land and sea,
FAQ
What is Dansplain?
Dansplain is a short daily science-mysteries podcast. Edward and Lily take one unsolved question about the body, brain, or history and stay inside the evidence for six to ten minutes.
Is Dansplain AI-hosted?
Yes. Dansplain is AI-hosted and human-directed. Scripts stay inside fetched sources.
Where should a new listener start?
Darwin Couldn't Explain Blushing—Neither Can We
Where do I listen?
Free on Spotify. Every episode also has a page on dansplain.xyz.