As Prohibition showed, taking booze away from the public is wildly unpopular with just about everyone but Bible-thumpers and bootleggers. But what if, instead of being banned, alcohol was simply replaced with something better? Something that makes you feel talkative and sociable without also making you throw...
Humans are, scientifically speaking, the ape species most obsessed with sex (narrowly edging out our close relatives the bonobos, who’ve also been known to get pretty freaky). We’ve also evolved to have more visual erotic triggers on our bodies than any other primate. This includes having fuller...
Welcome to DSC Original Content’s biweekly podcast, where we explain a weird, tricky or surprising subject in mere minutes. In this edition, we look at why laughter evolved in the first place; what laughter really means most of the time; and why a scientist would want to...
Waking up to a prickling sensation—or just complete numbness—in your arm is startling to say the least. But why do our limbs “fall asleep” in the first place? According to primary care physician Marc Leavey, it’s all to do with your nerves and not, as many people...
If you’ve ever shared a bed with a sleep-talker, it can be an amusing, disturbing, sleep-disrupting experience. What does it mean? Why are they saying it? And when will they shut up so you can get some rest? When Adam Rosenberg’s friends told him he often said...
Welcome to DSC Original Content’s biweekly podcast, where we explain a weird, tricky or surprising subject in mere minutes. In this edition, find out why none of our current theories match our current understanding of physics (and why that’s okay); discover what the “Big Bounce” was; and...
There are a couple of undeniable truths about stress. First, it can (eventually) kill you — causing a litany of ailments that include a weakened immune system; ulcers; memory loss; abdominal obesity; and an accelerated aging process. One very recent study, published in The Lancet, even finds a direct...
Annoying as it is, there are parts of our bodies we should be getting checked out way more often than we do. Alongside our expert advisor Dr. Marc Leavey, primary care physician, we’re here to find out what we should be doing, why we should be doing...
You probably have a vague idea that your semen contains a few things besides sperm, but you might be shocked at the extent of that mysterious “other stuff” category. In fact, your special sauce contains a laundry list of ingredients, each with its own important function. The...
Since the dawn of time — or at least since the dawn of The Howard Stern Show and Reddit — men of smallish flaccid penises have sworn that there’s serious truth to the claim, “I’m a grower, not a shower.” Showers, like Jon Hamm, have large flaccid penises that don’t increase...
Welcome to DSC Original Content’s biweekly podcast, where we explain a weird, tricky or surprising subject in mere minutes. In this edition, find out how long Professor Stephen Hawking thinks we have left to get off this planet before we go extinct; how many potentially habitable planets...
Acne sucks. What sucks even more is that it seemingly targets some of our most visible body parts: Our face, our chest and our upper back (so fun during beach season!) Why is that, though? It’s not like those areas are any more dirty or sweaty than...
