Shots of Science Vs

We all know gossip can be bad — but some of us still can’t seem to get enough of it. So what's happening in our brains when someone spills the tea? We talk to neuroscientist Professor Josep Marco-Pallarés. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the show – we're talking about when our eyes see lies – about how when we want to believe something... we can be so easily deceived… And this tale involves a creature who has a tail! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

DMT might be the weirdest drug in the already weird world of psychedelics. It’s the active ingredient in ayahuasca, but on its own, DMT can give you what’s nicknamed “the businessman’s trip” — a psychedelic journey that can be done and dusted inside 15 minutes. So what is this drug doing to our brains? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A terrifying syndrome where everything around you appears in miniature ... Joel tells a story about when you really can't believe your own eyes, recorded live at the Beaker Street Festival in Tasmania. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Caffeine is a drug that tons of us take every day. How does it work? What's it actually doing inside our brains and bodies? We talk to Dr. Astrid Nehlig. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Molly, ecstasy, MDMA: whatever you call it, this drug is blowing up. Some say MDMA can be a legitimate medicine to treat conditions like PTSD. But where did it come from? We talk to psychiatrist George Greer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We all know gossip can be bad — but some of us still can’t seem to get enough of it. So today we’re digging into the science of gossip to answer questions like: who really gossips? And why do we love it so much? We spill the tea with sociologist Dr. Stacy Torres. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The story of a dead man with a bitten penis and perplexing DNA... recorded live at the Beaker Street Festival in Tasmania! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A whistleblower claims that the U.S. government is covering up what it knows about aliens on Earth, and several military pilots recently testified to seeing strange objects in the sky. It kinda feels like the tide is turning on UFOs — even NASA is taking these sightings seriously. So what’s going on here? Have aliens visited? And will we ever find alien life somewhere … out there? We speak to astrophysicists Prof. Kevin Knuth and Dr. Sara Webb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’ve been told that foods like butter and bacon are bad for us — because they're packed with saturated fats. And top dogs in nutrition say that a better option is vegetable oil, like canola oil. But there’s a trend popping off claiming that these top dogs are barking up the wrong tree. They say that butter is better and that those vegetable oils, aka “seed oils,” are incredibly dangerous. So — who’s right? Is canola oil really killing us? Or is butter the bad boy?To find out, we speak to author and physician Dr Cate Shanahan and Dr David Iggman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices