Shows
Brain Junk328: The Last GaspWe've had a hell of a good time spending the past 6 years scrounging up weird science and history junk for you to listen to! It's been a privilege knowing there a lots of fact junkies out there like us, digging through our podcast like raccoons in a trashcan. Our legacy is 328 fantastic episodes and we hope you never stop coming back when you need a little weird and wacky in your life.
We'll still be on Instagram, full of shenanigans and making reels. Never stop being curious.
Love ya forever, Trace and Amy
...2024-12-241h 16Brain Junk327: MIT HacksAmy lives for a good shenanigan so of course she adores MIT's tradition of playing hacks (aka pranks) on Harvard and Yale. The biggest one you've ever heard of turned out to be a fake but don't worry, there's still some great ones from the past 75 years that were real!
Show Notes:
Atlas Obscura: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/a-harvard-stadium-pigeon-prank-that-pavlov-would-be-proud-of
MITbloggers YouTube 1982 pranktacular: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq4rzxw_wYU
Boston.com: https://www.boston.com/sports/college-sports/2018/11/16/mit-hacks-harvard-yale-balloon-prank-1982/
1948 newspaper article (behind a paywall)https://www.newspapers...2024-12-1716 minBrain Junk326: Medical AntsIn a weird turn of events, it's ants performing surgery when one of them has a leg injury instead of scientists whacking the legs off. Okay,we lied, the scientists are doing it too...
Show Notes:
Episode 71: Ants on Stilts (it's just as horrible as it sounds) https://brainjunkpodcast.com/podcast/71-ants-on-stilts/
Current Biology article: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(24)00805-4
Live Science, Ants perform life saving surgery: https://www.livescience.com/animals/insects/ants-perform-life-saving-operations-the-only-animal-other-than-humans-known-to-do-so
TW: Facebook video showing actual leg amputation https://www.facebook.com...2024-12-1013 minBrain Junk325: Crabs of RomeImagine rolling up to excavate an ancient ruin only to spend the day carrying out buckets full of crabs! Today we get to know the Potamon fluviatile crab.
Show Notes:
National Geographic article: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/river-crab-ancient-rome
Musei In Commune Roma, The sculpture of Constantine: https://www.mercatiditraiano.it/en/percorsi/percorsi_per_temi/la_statuaria/testa_rilavorata_come_costantino
Wikipedia, Giant Crabs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potamon_fluviatile
Freshwater crabs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_crab
When a ladybug lands on...2024-11-2612 minBrain Junk324: Helium AlligatorsHave you ever wondered if a hit of helium would change the sound of an alligator's bellows? Lucky for us, there are scientists out there who wanted to know.
Show Notes:
BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54197198
Kyoto University Ig Nobel announcement: https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/news/2020-09-29
YouTube resonance to vocalize: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz-plqEyxik
Science: https://www.science.org/content/article/ig-nobel-prizes-reward-research-helium-huffing-alligators-and-knives-made-feces
CNN US: https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/18/us/ig-nobel-awards-alligator-helium-scli-scn-intl/index.html
Journal of Experimental Biology...2024-11-1212 minBrain Junk323: Ball BrothersAmy looks into how companies change over time. Start making glass jars, segue into making aerospace technology, and end up only doing metal fabrication. We look at a few other companies too!
Show Notes:
Ball historical timeline: https://www.ball.com/our-company/our-story/history-timeline
Wikipedia on Ball Corp: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_Corporation
CPR News 2024, Ball Corp sells aerospace division: https://www.cpr.org/2024/02/16/ball-corp-sells-aerospace-division/
HiRISE camera: https://www.ball.com/newswire/article/123308/ball-aerospace-hirise-camera-returns-stunning-images-from-mars
Deep Impact: https://deepimpact.astro.umd.edu/tech/instruments.html
2024-10-2911 minBrain Junk322: Screaming PlantsScientists wanted to know if plants scream and tortured tomatoes to find out the answer. Beckett (Trace's youngest spawn) wanted to know, if plants do scream, can our pets hear it and is this why cats knock plants off shelves?
Show Notes:
YouTube sound of Plants "screaming": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-_AGgoJ3VA
Sci News, Plants Emit Ultrasonic Sounds When Stressed, Groundbreaking Study Shows: https://www.sci.news/biology/plant-ultrasonic-sounds-11794.html
How Well do Animals Hear: https://www.lsu.edu/deafness/HearingRange.html
Hidden Hearing, Human...2024-10-1512 minBrain Junk321: Joro SpidersAmy laid the perfect web of "lies"; she lured Trace into an episode about shapeshifting women and then sprang the trap...this episode is about the Joro spider. We talk about the convergence of giant invasive spiders and Japanese mythology.
Show Notes:
Joro Spider (warning, there are spider photos): https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/millions-of-joro-spiders-are-moving-up-the-east-coast-heres-what-to-expect/
Wikipedia Joro spider: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichonephila_clavata
Wikipedia Jorogumo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jor%C5%8Dgumo
Described and Captioned Media Program: PBS Digital Studios & Monstrum: https://dcmp.org/media/14555-monstrum-jorogumo-the-deadly-spider-woman-from-yokai-lore2024-10-0113 minBrain Junk320: Voices in Your HeadHow do we define and study the little voice in your head? Is it something you HEAR, hear or is it something you think? For some of us, there's no inner monologue, for others, it's so loud in there, it's hard to participate in the outside world. Trace fell down the research stairs on this one! It's a double header of things we hear and see in our heads. Get ready for anendophasia and aphantasia!
Show Notes:
Inner voice: https://neurosciencenews.com/anendophasia-inner-voice-memory-26107/
Prevention: inner voice: https://www.prevention.com/health/mental-health/a43128717...2024-09-1722 minBrain Junk319: Porridge ChampionshipWho knew that a simple combination of oats, water and salt could make for a yearly competition that's lasted for 30 years? We dive into the history of oats in Scotland and the famous Golden Spurtle competition!
Show Notes:
Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Championship: https://www.goldenspurtle.com/
BBC: World Porridge winner crowned October 2023: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-67053001
Wikipedia World Porridge Making Championship: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Porridge_Making_Championship
2023 Golden Spurtle newsletter: https://heyzine.com/flip-book/d871ced870.html#page/1
Bob's Red...2024-09-0320 minBrain Junk318: All Things CheekyWe're heading into the end of summer break so it's time for a mash up of wacky facts. Fake navels, cheetahs in heat, the weenus and MORE. Oh yes, we adore a good internet fact deep dive. Also, Trace does drop the 'shit' word once.
Show Notes:
Amazon fake navels: https://www.amazon.com/Belly-Button-Stickers-Fashion-Longer/dp/B0CC5TZ23P?th=1
SCMP Fake belly button article: https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/gender-diversity/article/3230438/fake-belly-buttons-all-rage-china-women-seek-freedom-dress-and-boost-confidence-some-raise-body
Cleveland Clinic limb lengthening: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/24316-limb-lengthening-surgery
Bears and skunk...2024-08-2030 minBrain Junk317: SilkhengeIt's tiny, inscrutable, made with spider silk, and we really don't know much about the mysteries of it's intricate construction.
Show Notes:
Nat Geo https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/silkhenge-spiders-ecuador-mystery
Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silkhenge
Internet archive https://web.archive.org/web/20201108125631/https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2014/01/09/mystery-picket-fence-in-amazon-explained-2/
Earthtouch news network https://www.earthtouchnews.com/discoveries/discoveries/remember-those-mystery-silkhenge-spiders-now-you-can-watch-them-hatch/
Youtube spiders hatching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unc-g9AHl2Y&t=106s
Linkedin post https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dante-fenolio-ms-ph-d-76833a52_silkhenge-spider-amazon-activity-7147602639663316992-gZY42024-08-0618 minBrain Junk316: Fish DoorbellIn the spring, fish like perch travel through the rivers in the Netherlands to find places to spawn. They used to get stuck behind Weerdsluis lock: waiting for it to open. But not anymore! A virtual doorbell was created to help let the lock keeper know they're there. Hot tip, starting March 3, 2025, you can go to their website to hit the doorbell!!!!
Show Notes:
Visdeurbel!
Youtube: Dutch Wall Fish
Scientific American article: Ring the Dam Doorbell
Ballard Locks fish ladder
Wolfenoot
McGill Office of Science...2024-07-2316 minBrain Junk315: NSFW Summer EditionIt's a super long length summertime episode with the sex lives of penguins, periods in space, Humpback whale sex, swearing parrots, terminal velocity poop, & penis size vs. nose size. Buckle up!
Show Notes:
Dr. George Murray Levick (1876–1956): unpublished notes on the sexual habits of the Adélie penguin
The Guardian: 'Sexual depravity' of penguins that Antarctic scientist dared not reveal
Live Science: Are penguins really monogamous?
Penguin divorce rates
Penguinsinternational.org: Divorcing Penguins
Edinburgh Zoo pebbles for penguins
Popular Science: Menstruation in Space
...2024-07-0939 minBrain Junk314: Mercenary MonkeysSmarter than the mafia, more cunning than a pickpocket in Paris, long-tailed macaques in Bali are all about snatching valuables from tourists and bargaining for tasty snacks.
Show Notes:
Long tailed macaques info from the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center
Sir Attenborough and monkeys
YouTube BBC Video of things getting stolen!!
Scientific Reports paper: Cohort dominance rank and “robbing and bartering” among subadult male long-tailed macaques at Uluwatu, Bali
Poor kiddo bitten by a monkey while touring2024-06-2513 minBrain Junk313: Bat Chat 2!Amy's bringing the BATS. We've got more cool facts about bat communication and how some of them compete for food (it's sonic warfare for sure).
Show Notes:
Episode 214 Sky Puppies Mama fruit bats and their kiddos
Episode 242 Bat Chat 1 A smorgasbord of bat shenanigans
University of Bristol: Bats avoiding collisions in the air
YouTube Lens of Time Roll to minute 5:20 for bat smacks
Science: Bats jam each other's signals just like humans jam cell phones
National Geographic: Bats jam each other's sonar
The...2024-06-1112 minBrain Junk312: Disco ScallopsDid Trace complain about clickbait titles in this episode? Yes. Did she ALSO use a clickbait title for this very episode? Absolutely. Sea scallops like light and it turns out that works in the favor of fisheries and the environment.
Show Notes:
Oceanconservancy.org: Scallops
Fishtek Marine YouTube on the tech and study. Also their website
Science Daily: University of Exeter paper
University of York: Scientists accidentally discover “scallop discos” as an environmentally friendly fishing method2024-05-2814 minBrain Junk311: “Right” Side DrivingWhile doing the show notes for this episode, Trace looked into tips and tricks for when you take a vacation and have to drive on the opposite side of the road. The advice? Don't panic and purchase travel insurance LOL. There are so many different historical reasons for how countries chose what side of the road to drive on.
Show Notes:
Lancaster-Philadelphia Turnpike
Somerset Historical Center: The Conestoga Wagon
Windwagon Smith a Disney animated picture from 1961
Wikipedia left and right side
The Economist" Robespierre and driving on...2024-05-1413 minBrain Junk310: Smell-o-flageNothing like rubbing yourself down with snakeskin jerky to keep yourself from getting eaten. Today we check out the parallel evolution of the California ground squirrel and rattlesnakes. It's an olfactory camouflage arms race that on a bad day, ends with someone getting eaten.
Show Notes:
UC Davis: Squirrels Use Snake Scent
Royal Society B: Donning your enemy's cloak: ground squirrels exploit rattlesnake scent to reduce predation risk
Nature: Squirrel Masks Scent with Rattlesnake Skin (Cool video of squirrels in action)2024-04-3014 minBrain Junk309: Middle of the Night PanicNighttime waking and scattered thoughts are problem solving's evil twin. If you find yourself awake at 3 am obsessing over your problems, remember that stress and hormonal imbalances can really damage the quality of your sleep.
Show Notes:
IFL Science: Why Do We Wake Around 3am And Dwell On Our Fears And Shortcomings?
VeryWellmind.com: Military Sleep method
Science Direct: Molecular Clock
US Southwestern University: Understanding the circadian clocks of individual cells
Wikipedia: Suprachiasmatic nucleus
NIH: Visual impairment and circadian rhythm disorders
The New...2024-04-1618 minBrain Junk308: I’m Stuck on Band-aids2024 is the 100th anniversary of Band-aids. But before they were the little strips in cool tins, they came in a roll you could cut to size.
Show Notes:
Johnson & Johnson history of Band-aids
Wikipedia: Band-aid history
Disposable America
The Atlantic: The Story of the Black Band-aid
TruColour Bandages
Transcript:
[00:00:03] Speaker A: Welcome to brain junk. I'm Amy Barton.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: And I'm Trace Kerr. And I do have a cold.
[00:00:08] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:00:08] Speaker B: But today...2024-04-0213 minBrain Junk307: 52 CardsFrom poker to games played to pass the time, those 52 cards are so ubiquitous it's hard to figure just when we started using them. We go all the way back to ancient China for a possible origin of cards.
images: Cloisters Deck from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and and example of cards from today from pixabay
Show Notes:
The strange coincidence of the Instagram guy & 52 card decks
Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Cloisters Playing Cards
Atlas Obscura: Playing cards around the world and through the ages
...2024-03-1915 minBrain Junk306: The Flip That FloppedCall them slippahs, flip flops, chanclas, slops, plakkies, slaps, pantofles, or thongs...whatever word you choose says a lot about your age and what part of the world you grew up in. We came up with this episode topic as kind of a joke. Turns out there's way more about to know about these summer shoes than we thought.
Show Notes:
Wikipedia on the history of flip flops
The Paduka
Kanye West being weird as usual with diamond studded flips
Satra: History of the flip flop
Forbes...2024-03-1223 minBrain Junk305: Deadly Animal MimicsIt's easy to believe that a snake might be a deadly mimic. But butterflies that start life as carnivorous caterpillars? Oh heck yeah!
Show Notes:
YouTube BBC: Ants Adopt a Caterpillar
YouTube Entomological Society of America: Ants and Blues
The Pattern of Social Parasitism in Maculinea teleius Butterfly Is Driven by the Size and Spatial Distribution of the Host Ant Nests
Entomology Today: Carnivorous Caterpillars Fool Ants by Sounding like Queens
PLOS One: Variation in Butterfly Larval Acoustics as a Strategy to Infiltrate and Exploit Host Ant Co...2024-03-0512 minBrain Junk304: The Wrong WipeIf you haven't figured it out by now, Amy is not afraid to ask tough questions! Today she talks butt health, bidets, and the dangers of wet wipes. It's funnier than you'd think, we promise.
Show Notes:
Business Insider: interview with Dr. Goldstein
Am I Doing it Wrong? Jan 2024
The Spruce: 7 Best Bidet Attachments
Splinter free toilet paper
History Channel: All the Ways We've Wiped
CBS news article about Johnny Carson creating a toilet paper shortage
And just in case you're not a...2024-02-2714 minBrain Junk303: The Birds!Trace found some delightful random facts about birds! Today we're talking "anting", talons locked to the death, and musical cockatoos.
Show Notes:
Journal of Ornithology: Anting behavior in birds
Video of crow anting: aka the spicy spa
Bird Note: anting
Facebook video of bald eagles cartwheeling
Bird Note: Eagles cartwheeling
Palm Cockatoos playing their instruments
Research paper on Palm Cockatoos
Funny vid with Conan O'Brien and a palm cockatoo guest
Transcript:
[00:00:03] Speaker A: Welcome to Brain Junk...2024-02-2021 minBrain Junk302: Potato Chip Taste TestWe recorded IN PERSON!
Trace brought back a whole bunch of fun flavored chips from Uwajimaya, a fantastic Asian grocery store in Seattle! Check out the show notes for our 5 other taste test episodes!
Show Notes:
P.S. If you like the Non Newtonian fluid cup, it's in our Merch store!
P.S.S. in defense of the Pizza flavored chips, when Trace tried them the next day, she could taste the peperoni.
Other Taste Test episodes:
9: Crazy food (we eat cherry pickles)
138: Turkey Candy...2024-02-1326 min