Slime molds can navigate mazes, control robots, and make complicated decisions, all without a central nervous system. If this weird gooey blob can think, does that mean scientists are thinking about intelligence all wrong?For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every year, thousands of marine mammals end up trapped on beaches, but it’s often hard to figure out why. It’s even harder to figure out how much humans are to blame.For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why do so many people think they can see and hear ghosts, and what does that say about our conscious experience of the world?For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A recent study of tens of thousands of birds has shown that birds are growing smaller over time. It could be due to climate change, and if so, we ought to consider: How else might humans be altering the literal shape of life on Earth — now and in the future?For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Nobel Prize has rewarded some amazing discoveries. It’s also contributed to scientific tunnel vision. This week, how the Nobel impacted our understanding of an enormous cosmic mystery, and what a new and improved Nobel Prize could look like.For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To look into deep space is to look back in time. With the upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists hope to see “cosmic dawn,” a period long ago when the first starlight transformed the universe. But what happened before cosmic dawn? The Webb can’t tell us, though future telescopes could.For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After decades of planning, NASA is finally (finally!) set to launch the successor to the Hubble. The new Webb telescope will be a paradigm shift for astronomy, exploring places in the cosmos that have been completely invisible to us until now. But first, it has to safely reach a point nearly a million miles away from the Earth.For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For decades, Alzheimer’s researchers have been stubbornly pursuing a single theory, but they’re starting to wonder: is this narrow focus the reason we still don’t have a cure?For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Several years after US diplomats in Cuba claimed they were attacked by an invisible weapon, similar incidents continue to be reported around the world. Scientists haven’t been able to determine a definitive cause, but the possibilities point toward something just as mysterious as the illness itself: the inner workings of the human brain.For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Once upon a time, there were no anuses. These ingenious organs allowed our primordial ancestors to grow bigger and more complex, but scientists still don’t understand how they evolved. And they’re still grasping at a mystery that literally surrounds it: Why is the human butt so big?For more go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt's a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show.Also email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices