BrainStuff

The zipper as we know it is barely over 100 years old, but it's the closure of choice for thousands of everyday products. Learn the history and physics behind the zipper (and why so many zipper tabs say 'YKK') in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on these articles: https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/everyday-innovations/zipper.htm/printable;...

Ivan IV Vasilyevich wasn't called 'the Terrible' during his lifetime, but he lived up to the name. Learn how he became Russia's first tsar, expanded his power, and terrorized his political enemies -- real and imagined -- in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/ivan-terrible.htmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The thymus is a small organ in the center of your chest that's responsible for getting your immune system's T cells ready to protect you from germs. Learn what we know and don't know about how the thymus works (and about some of the autoimmune conditions that can emerge when it doesn't work as expected) in today's episode of BrainStuff.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Venus is the hottest planet, its years are shorter than its days, and its atmospheric pressure is 92 times greater than that on Earth. Learn how researchers think Venus got this way in today’s classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/46009-venus-explained.htmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The concept of eating three square meals a day only goes back about 150 years. Learn how technology, marketing, and other factors have shifted our meals and mealtimes in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/biological-reason-to-eat-three-meals-day.htmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This technology is going on a hundred years old, but for reliable voice communication across relatively short distances, walkie-talkies are still relevant -- and sometimes preferable to cell phones. Learn how they work in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/walkie-talkies.htmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This four-legged prehistoric animal had a bony sail on its back and was probably scaly, but it was more closely to related to mammals than it was to dinosaurs. Learn about Dimetrodon and other synapsids in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/extinct-animals/dimetrodon.htmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Samhain is a pagan holiday -- celebrated between the fall equinox and winter solstice -- that helped form modern, secular Halloween celebrations. Learn about Samhain in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/holidays-other/samhain.htmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a tragic set of murders in 1974, the next residents at a grand old house in Amityville, New York, claimed the home was demonically haunted. Their story spawned a horror sensation. But was the whole thing a money-making hoax? Did the murderer really hear voices there? Learn what we know (and still don’t know) about what happened in Amityville in today’s episode of BrainStuff, based on this...

From the seed of a tropical tree to creamy candies, it takes a lot of science to turn cacao into chocolate. Learn how cacao is farmed, fermented, and processed into cocoa products -- plus its history as a drink for 3,000 years -- in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/chocolate.htmSee omnystudio.com/listener for...