What happened to the golden toad? How many things did we leave on the moon, and what are they? And what is the oldest recorded bar joke?Support us with a Max Fun Membership!Join our Discord!We also learn about: The World Wildlife Fund/World Wresting Federation, Agatha Christie’s Mystery of the Golden Toad, publication smackdowns, the amphibian apocalypse, outside my jurisdiction, double callback, the african clawed frog (from ep 5!), on this podcast we stan… Michael Collins, moon poop, moon scalpels, 4 undetonated grenades, moonquakes, no on vomitted on the moon, rating moon items, sneaking things on the moon, dogs in sumerian bars only want to open one thing and it’s disgusting, how many likes did that tablet have? reading sumerian proverbs, the dog understands take it, but it does not understand put it down.            Sources:                The Golden ToadThirty Years After the Last Golden Toad Sighting, What Have We Learned?El Niño–Southern OscillationCrump, Apparent decline of the golden toad: underground or extinct?Pounds and Fogden, Conservation of the golden toad: a brief historyGlobal Warming Didn't Kill the Golden ToadFirst Mammal Killed by Global WarmingThe Chytrid FungusStopping the Next Amphibian ApocalypseHope for the Golden Toad---List of Lunar MissionsWSJ Article of Things we've left on the MoonNasa Catalogue of Manmade Material on the MoonLunar RetroreflectorsMoonquakesGrenades on the MoonCorrection on Moon VomitBiomedical Results of ApolloStudying Moon PoopFamily Photo on the MoonThe Moon MuseumPBS Moon Museum InvestigationAudio Recording of Almost Forgetting to Drop Symbolic Items---Images of the TabletsSumerian Animal Proverbs and Fables: Collection FiveAskHistorians ThreadProverbs from  Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature

Explore the connection between heat and biology, the evolutionary mystery of human periods, and the fascinating history of stickers. Learn about thermal biology in animals, the diversity of menstruation across species, and the origins of stickers from ancient times to modern collectibles.

Special guest Steve Rathje (@StevePsychology) asks us, do insects have consciousness? What, empirically, makes things go viral on social media? And what are the scientific effects of live theatre?Support us with a Max Fun Membership!Join our Discord!We also learn about: Outgroup effects on social media, subjective experience and qualia, except for mosquitos, we share genes with bananas are they conscious? the emotional dog and the rational tail, over-anti-anthropomorphism, tiktok survey of insect consciousness, would aliens think we are conscious? Steve’s at the party talking about qualia again! Sondheim, Sarah Ruhl’s magical realism absurdist plays, Steve’s study on the effect of live theater on empathy, solving Sondheim vs Weber scientifically, antiperfectionism, the weirdness of going viral, different types of online engagement, buy our supplements!            Sources:                Steve's Social Media Paper: Out-Group Animosity Drives Engagement on Social MediaWhat Insects can tell us about the Origins of ConsciousnessSteve's Theatre Paper: Attending Live Theatre Improves Empathy, Changes Attitudes, and Leads to Pro-Social Behavior

What can a video game teach us about pandemics? What are the different things a sneeze can smell like? And what makes game jams so magical?Support us with a Max Fun Membership!Join our Discord!We also learn about: Hakkar the Soulflayer, npc asymptomatic carriers, just reset the world and change the code!, a disease model with real people, death isn’t temporary, show us the patch notes, self protection fatigue, pandemics are complicated, “look for the helpers, you will always find people who are helping”, only humans can simulate humans, “I sneeze so much”, what scents can sneezes have? smells are weird, phantosmia, Ella channeling Tom’s bad jokes, “all the tubes are connected”, piss breath, “how are we functioning?”, Tom made indie games, the first game jam email, 100,000 Guys, the Ludum Dare, “There’s too many days” “Counter Clockwise”, Hungry Knight!, Tom’s first dream game, thesis jam, Pierrec’s french review of Tom’s game.            Sources:                Lancet Corrupted Blood PaperEpidemiology Corrupted Blood PaperWired Corrupted Blood ArticlePCGamer Corrupted Blood ArticleChen 2013 Epidemic GameCharlotte Eye, Ear, Note and Throat Associates on Smelly SneezesWhy does my sneeze smell bad?Acetone BreathBacterid Producing Sweet SmellsLosing Your SmellPhantosmiaAmmonia BreathCorrelation of Ammonia Breath during HemodialysisHistory of Game JamsThe First Game Jam EmailPierrec's Revied of Tom's First Game

What are the benefits of reintroducing a species after 400 years? Why do we make rats solve mazes, and can slime molds solve mazes? What is ASMR, and how did it become such a thing?           Support us with a Max Fun Membership!Join our Discord!          We also learn about: Beavery introductions, vanilla flavor usually isn’t castorium, beavers support everyone in the wetlands, Tom’s gonna make a joke, The Scottish Beaver Trial, impatient beavers, international legal beaver issues, failed reintroductions are beautiful, auto sound mmm rad, autonomus sensory meridian response, her royal majesty’s asmr, and Ella’s favorite ASMR videos. Sources:                Beavers and Castoreum               RSPB on Beaver Reintroductions               Scottish Wildlife Trust Report on Beavers in Knapdale               Scottish Wild Land Group on the Tay Beavers               Legal Battle over Beavers               Oranguta Reintroductions               Short-haired Bumblebee Reintroductions               Berger-Tal on Openness about Failed Reintroductions               Conservation Translocations: a Review of Common Difficulties and Promising Directions               Willard Small's First Rat Maze Study               Slime Mold Maze Study               Maze Solving Using Fatty Acid Chemistry               Tolman's Better Mazes               Dashiell Maze Criticism               Morris Water Maze               Advanced Morris Water Maze Study               Wire Interview with Mycologist Anne Pringle               Crinkle Crinkle Little Shirt               History of ASMR               The First Dedicated Whispering Channel               BBC Interview with Whispers Red               Cardi B ASMR               ASMR to Help you Sleep Beating you Until your Unconscious               1300s AD ASMR - Nun Takes Care of You in Bed (You Have the Plague)

To start the new year we learn about the science and history of recording sound, consider whether people with Prosopagnosia experience Pareidolia, and relive what it was like for Caroline to meet the one and only Sir David Attenborough.Support us with a Max Fun Membership!Join our Discord!We also learn about: The Phonoautograph, unplayable recordings, “drop the auto, just, Phonograph”, did you write that joke down tom, debunking Edison’s first recording, someone pretending to be a pigeon, Before or After Recorded Audio? Why did it take us so long to record audio? analog vs digital, Janet’s episode, turning pictures into audio, can you believe Janet’s new pennyfarthing? Do people with Farragolia experience glossolalia, cars do have faces, “you just turned into somebdy else”, the answer is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, aphantasia, throwaway sentences in studies, get high and get deep, and the Caroline Roper Studio for TikToks of Science.            Sources:                The PhonoautographDebunking Edison's Fist RecordingThe Recoording That Never Wanted to be HeardEarly Sound RecordingsAlexander Graham Bell's Ear PhonoautographThe Dawn of Digital RecordingThe Earliest RecordingProsopagnosiaFusiforum Face AreaThe Case of Ron BlackwellThe Neurons That Mistook a Hat for a FaceProsopagnosia and Functional Fusiform Face AreaFusiform Face Area And Pareidolia LinkedPareidolia Question on r/ProsopagnosiaHow Mental Imagery and Pareidolia are Linked

Today we learn about the most interesting topic of all: each other! How did we get into our science fields, and how did we meet? What's our favorite science fact to tell at parties? What advice do we have for aspiring creators?           Support us with a Max Fun Membership!   Join our Discord!           We also learn about: our science origin stories, Tom used to be a theatre kid, Tom’s first podcast, our first TikToks, we’re on a first name basis with Hank, how we met, that time we all freaky friday’d, Ella DESPISED Tom, really long fly sperm, clinical fun fact trials, the immortal jellyfish, hermissenda, moths, Interstellar, The Martian, Demon Slayer, Edge of Tomorrow, advice on getting started on TikTok, Bill Nye could never, The Mower, MMM Honey! and nightmares.Videos we Mention:                Caroline’s First Science TikTok               Tom's First TikTok               Ella's First Big TikTok               Caroline's Bloodwood Tree Video               Ella's Science Speedrun Video               Tom's RGB Video               Hank & John's Video about Having Each Other

On a surprisingly deep holiday episode, we ask, what is a genetic chimera, could it save lives, and is it moral? What are Judas Goats, and what are the challenges faced in conservation? And most importantly, what were the first toys in history and what were our favorite toys?Support us with a Max Fun Membership!Join our Discord!We also learn about: Why are mythological chimeras all ladies? a Tom/Joe chimera, “It was very dissapointing”, “I expect better evidence”, a Judas Kiss, goats are weird, helicopter tattoos, ring-necked parakeets, relocating hedgehogs, would you download a goat? Helping other human beings, what a concept! Tom’s yo-yo tricks, children existed! the earliest toys, Ella’s duel disk, tamagotchis, and the future of toys.Sources:                Chimeras in MythologyHuman Chimeras That Already ExistInterspecies Organogenesis Generates Autologous Functional IsletInterspecies Chimerism with Mammalian Pluripotent Stem CellsHuman–animal chimeras: ethical issues about farming chimeric animals bearing human organsFeral Goat Eradications on GalapagosGalapagos Goat EradicationGalapagos Project IsabellaGalapagos Judas GoatsVegetation and Animal Recovery on GalapagosGalapagos Invasive SpeciesIs it Ritual? or is it Children?Split Twig Observations and Carbon DatingAncient Hedgehog Cart (via @trashbandikoot on tiktok)Business Insider Toy List

When was the first pregnancy test? If we know the biggest and smallest sizes in the universe, what is the middlest size? What's the deal with fanfiction?Support us with a Max Fun Membership!Join our Discord!           We also learn about: Comedy!, piss prophets, we should know better that science is weird, “Looks like the frog’s ovulating!”, we are in the middle of history, what even is an object, the centi-sand, don't fudge significant figures, Dante’s Self Insert RPF, we get carried away playing the fanfiction pairing game.Sources:                Pee is for pregnant: The history and science of urine-based pregnancy testsAncient Egyptian Pregnancy TestsEffects of Hormones on Barley LeavesHuman Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG)The Long Gestation of the Modern Home Pregnancy TestKevin Kelly NYTimes ReviewSolar System Ratio CalculationMiddlest Size CalculationFanfiction.netAO3

What are the uses of randomness, and how do we even get it? What happens to your body when you don't sleep? And is Stardew Valley secretly... a horror game? Links we Discuss: Infinite Monkey Theorem ResultsThe Hollow Mask IllusionSupport us with a Max Fun Membership!Join our Discord!We also learn about: Ella making random noises, chiptune drums, dice fanfiction, the infinite monkey grant, gggggggggggggg, everyone guesses 7 and picks Rock, a very funny joke for our particle physicist listeners, a million random digits, minecraft seeds, the Russian sleep experiment creepypasta, sleep themed band names, the optimal nap, do the dip kids! Maureen the rocking chair champion, um actually it’s called Apophenia, tetris fanfiction, and ludo narrative disonance.Sources:                Humans Cannot Consciously Generate Random Number Sequences               The Predominance Of Seven And The Apparent Spontaneity Of Numerical Choices               Hannah Fry on Rock Paper Scissors               Winning at Rock Paper Scissors               Rock Paper Scissors Strategy               Hot Hand Fallacy and Gambler's Fallacy               How the Mind Works               Galton Discussing Dice for Statistical Experiments               LHC Tippet and the Random Number Table               A Million Random Digits               Radiation is Random               Modern Nuclear Chemistry               Sleep Deprivation               Sleep Stages               Sleep Debt               Obesity and Sleep Deprivation               Part 2               Cardiovascular Health and Sleep Deprivation               Microsleep               Hallucinations               Rat Sleep Deprivation Study               Fatal Familial Insomnia               Fatal Familial Insomnia Stories