Exploring the Science of Spookiness at the Re...

In this episode of Science Quickly, pain scientist Rachel Zoffness reveals why pain isn’t just a body problem but also a brain‑driven warning system that we’ve been misunderstanding for decades. She and host Kendra Pierre‑Louis unpack wild examples, hidden factors that dial pain ...  Show more

In this episode of Science Quickly, Kendra Pierre-Louis and SciAm reporter Joe Howlett explore a new math challenge designed to test whether today’s AI models can truly tackle cutting‑edge proofs. They break down how the experiment works, what early results say about AI’s mathema ...  Show more

It makes sense that we run away from scary things. That’s a good way to stay alive. But why do some people also love scary things? Why do people gravitate toward horror? Guests: Mathias Clasen and Marc Andersen, co-directors of the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University For s ...  Show more

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with the news these days and to fear for the future. What if you could interrupt doomscrolling and contribute to conservation at the same time? That’s the idea behind programs like Adventure Scientists, eBird and iNaturalist. Guest Gregg Treinish, fo ...  Show more

Artist and author Geo Rutherford created Spooky Lake Month to highlight the strange and eerie waters of the world. She first fell in love with the Great Lakes during graduate school in Milwaukee. Rutherford was an early educational video creator, but it was a video about spooky l ...  Show more

This week Scott is joined by true crime and morbid curiosity psychologist, Dr. Coltan Scrivner. Scott and Dr. Scrivner discuss how to determine your level of interest in morbid curiosity, why some people have a higher level of tolerance (and even attraction) to scary things, and ...  Show more