How tall is the world’s tallest mountain? The answer is surprisingly tricky, which means that Everest’s official height is constantly changing. In fact, depending on the type of measurement scientists use, Everest may not be the tallest mountain in the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

UFOs are real, but that doesn’t mean they’re aliens. Today, Explained, Vox's daily news podcast, tells the story of America's longstanding relationship with UFOs and what we might learn from an upcoming government report. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Something strange is going on at the outer reaches of the solar system. One astronomer thinks it might be a Neptune-sized ninth planet, and he’s on a quest to find it.That search is happening at an enormous telescope on the summit of Maunakea, a dormant Hawaiian volcano with a long astronomical and cultural history. But many Native Hawaiian scientists are asking: What’s lost in the pursuit of larger and larger telescopes?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

It’s surprisingly hard to predict how clouds form, move, and change, but it’s essential to try. Because how clouds react to a warming world helps determine how hot our future will be.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

Last month, physicists at Fermilab in Illinois found that tiny subatomic particles called muons were wobbling strangely. This small observation could transform the future of particle physics, potentially pointing toward undiscovered particles or maybe even a new force of nature.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, scientists thought that placebos only worked if patients didn’t know they were taking them. Not anymore: You can give patients placebos, tell them they’re on sugar pills, and they still might feel better. No one is sure how this works, but it raises a question: Should doctors embrace placebos in mainstream medicine?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

In 2016, the UN declared antibiotic-resistant bacteria the “greatest and most urgent global risk.” Our best hope just might be phages, or viruses that attack bacteria. Phages’ potential is enormous, but so is everything we don’t know about them.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.com. We 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 day, untold numbers of strange organisms rise from the middle of the ocean to its surface. They may be playing a crucial role in slowing climate change, so scientists are struggling to understand this migration ... before it’s too late.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.com. We 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

Scientists don’t understand why so many people suffer from Covid-19 symptoms for months, well after they stop testing positive. But that’s just the start of the mystery. There are other diseases that cast these long shadows, and they point to a major blind spot in medicine.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 decade ago, psychologists realized much of their science was fatally flawed, calling untold numbers of studies into question. Now, some young psychologists are trying to rebuild the foundations of their field. Can they succeed?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