The Rest Is Science

Have you stubbed your toe and shouted an unrepeatable word? Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle were two of the greatest minds in humanity. Did their egos and competition with one another hold them back or drive them onto huge breakthroughs? Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore the bizarre neurology of vocalised pain, revealing how a good yelp actually acts as a biological off-switch for suffering and unearth if Newton was the biggest crybaby in science. Plus, Hannah gives us a behind-the-scenes look at her brand-new series exploring the cutting edge of Artificial Intelligence. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking ⁠here⁠.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Botanically speaking, there is no such thing as a vegetable, so what exactly is sitting on your dinner plate? And if our culinary world is built on biological lies, which plant is actually the most vegetable like? Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens tackle a chaotic intersection of linguistics, plant taxonomy, and nutrition, dismantling the arbitrary categories we use to organise our food, revealing that our supermarket aisles are a scientifically lawless wasteland. It is a strangely profound look at how human language struggles to categorise the natural world, proving that the things we eat every day are far weirder than we think with biological definitions that turn cucumbers and eggplants into fruits, and the nutritional benchmarks we use to invent the concept of a "vegetable" from scratch. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli OakleyVideo & Social: Bex TyrrellResearcher: Hannah Dodd-VastiauAssistant Producer: Imee MarriottSenior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-CarterHead Of Digital: Samuel OakleyExec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Does your native language physically sculpt your face? And could a swarm of bees be trained to run computer code? Two of your questions answer in this Field Notes with Professor Hannah Fry and YouTube's Michael Stevens, plus Michael’s object of the week is a visualization of the Holocene Calendar. By simply adding ten thousand years to our current year, it transforms our perception of history from a brief modern blip into an unbroken, monumental narrative of human progress. Check out the calendar here ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking ⁠here⁠.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Humans have split the atom, we can stream movies from space and are working towards everlasting life. 
 So why in the world are we still spending a third of our lives unconscious? In this episode of The Rest Is Science, Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens ask a deceptively simple question: Can human beings cure sleep? Why do evolutionary forces cause us to lie helpless for eight hours a night when predators might lurk? Why can elephants survive on two hours but bats basically exist to nap? And what really happens inside human bodies when we try to cheat this essential system? From WWII amphetamines to witch trial torture tactics, fatal insomnia to the strange possibility that dreams are just your brain…shivering, this episode explores the biology, history, and weirdness of unconscious human sleep. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Researcher: Sophia Constantinou Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rockets are built to slice cleanly through the atmosphere on the way up. Coming home, it turns out, requires... not turning into a fireball before a bellyflop When Space Shuttles reenter Earth’s atmosphere at 17,000 miles per hour, they don’t dive nose first. Instead they turn broadside to the atmosphere, deliberately creating more drag, more friction, more heat. At those speeds, oncoming air compresses into a shockwave hotter than molten lava. In this episode of Field Notes, Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore the strange physics of coming home. Why is leaving Earth easier than returning to it? And what does a small, almost empty black tile reveal about the problem of meeting the world at 17,000 miles per hour? Along the way, they revisit controversial experiments in human fear, calculate which superhero power would bankrupt you in calories, and reflect on the thin boundary between surface and survival. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If someone asked you to point to yourself, where would you point? Your chest? Your head? Somewhere just behind your eyes? Where are you? In this episode, Professor Hannah Fry and VSauce’s Michael Stevens explore how the brain maps and understands out location, from the inner ear fluid that tells us which way is up, to the grid and place cells that build a kind of internal GPS. But how do London taxi drivers rewire their brains to memorise entire cities when the rest of us can’t? How does language change the way we orient in space? And what happens when your senses disagree about your where in the world you are? Moving from avalanches and virtual reality to ancient philosophy and modern neuroscience, Hannah and Michael move from how to find ourselves on a map to how locating the “self” inside the body may be one of the deepest mysteries in science. Why did Aristotle believe the self lived in the heart instead of the head? If we’re asked to find the self where do we point? What does it mean to say that you are somewhere…at all? ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠. Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Researcher: Hannah Dodd-Vastiau Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At what exact chemical ratio does our beloved chocolate devolve into a mere structure of fats and sugars? How far can you dilute chocolate before its fundamental identity vanishes? And what could a comically tiny novelty stool possibly reveal about Michael Stevens? Unlike a block of pure iron or a vial of chlorine, chocolate is not one single substance but a complex and heterogeneous mixture we all take for granted. Hannah and Michael explore the chemistry and nutritional boundaries of this everyday treat. Where does the stool come in? You'll have to listen to find out. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fear Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is deception a uniquely human trait, or is the natural world built on a foundation of fraud? When a cuttlefish shifts its skin to mimic a female and sneak past a rival male, this may be deceptive but is it telling a lie? Professor Hannah Fry and VSauce's Michael Stevens explore the evolutionary biology of dishonesty across the animal kingdom. What is the neurological difference between a biological reflex and a calculated bluff? What kind of cognitive processing is needed for true artifice, and are human beings the only creatures on earth who possess it? Moving from tactical falsehoods by the Adélie Penguin, to the complex betrayals seen in Macaques and Great Apes, Hannah and Michael apply evolutionary game theory to the wild to evaluate the psychology of false signals and the battle between perception, manipulation, illusion and power. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Researcher: Hannah Dodd-Vastiau Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Topologically speaking, a human is just a donut with seven holes. It sounds like a joke, but it is a fundamental biological reality. Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore the strange geometry of the human body, tracing how we evolved from simple tubes into complex toruses. They investigate the "design flaw" at the boundary of our existence, the fragile transition where skin meets internal lining, and ask why nature built us with so many vulnerabilities to the outside world.But before mapping our topology, Michael and Hannah tackle the instability of knowledge itself. From the suggestion our current physics is almost certainly wrong, to the edges of logic where mathematics fundamentally breaks down. Plus, they unpack the hidden psychology of symmetry: why is the human brain so obsessed with centering pictures, and what does it tell us about how we order our reality?-------------------For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ.-------------------Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠-------------------Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli OakleyVideo & Social: Bex TyrrellAssistant Producer: Imee MarriottSenior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-CarterHead Of Digital: Samuel OakleyExec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It starts as a friendly challenge: who can name the biggest number? The only rule? Infinity doesn’t count. What follows is a journey through the biggest finite numbers ever imagined. From Archimedes’ grains of sand to Graham’s Number, a sequence so vast it stretches the limits of human comprehension, Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens tumble through this strange landscape of scale, tracing how mathematicians have pushed counting to its absolute edge. But beyond vast calculations, perhaps this is less about numbers and more about us. Why do humans push at the limits of finitude at all? How do we represent the biggest numbers in existence? Why can’t our brains feel the difference between a million, a billion, and a trillion? And when do big numbers affect our ability to empathise with others? ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can mathematics ever truly be proven? And can Michael's poetry help you remember some tricky equations? In this episode, Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens answer your questions and take a look at what it means for something to be true in mathematics. Starting with a grand attempt to prove that one plus one equals two, and into Gödel’s theorem that no system of maths can ever fully prove itself, they explore how maths connects to the real world, from an equation that predicts antimatter to the calculations that led to the discovery of Neptune. After the break, Michael shows off a set of limericks written and read by himself. The Rest Is Science: Field Notes is released every Thursday, with Hannah and Michael exploring questions where mathematics, science, and human behaviour meet. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is it possible to make a sport too good? Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore how science, data, and optimisation are transforming modern sports improving athletes and teams, while quietly changing how games are played, watched, and understood. From the Tush Push in the NFL and defensive shifts in Major League Baseball, to dirty air in Formula 1, expected goals in Premier League football, and the statistical dominance of seven footers in the NBA, they examine how prediction, probability, and performance analysis reshape decision making on the pitch, the court, and the track. Along the way, they wonder whether the heart of the games we love are defined by 'unnecessary obstacles', how prediction and probability have reshaped decision making, and why humans might enjoy watching messy problems unfold on the pitch much more than optimised solutions. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience ⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Could a bolt of lightning become a permanent geological relic? How small would you have to squash a hamster to turn it into a black hole? Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens dismantle our perceptions of scale and texture, moving from the glassy "fulgurites" forged in sandy soil to the mathematical threshold of the Schwarzschild radius. They explore the counter-intuitive geometry of the Earth, calculate the extreme density required to collapse domestic life into a gravitational singularity and examining the crystalline remains of atmospheric discharge. This is an investigation into the smooth, the sharp, and the impossibly dense, proving that the world we touch is rarely as it seems. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli OakleyVideo & Social: Bex TyrrellAssistant Producer: Imee MarriottProducer: Becki HillsSenior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-CarterHead Of Digital: Samuel OakleyExec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is boredom really, and why does it feel so unbearable? Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore the science of boredom, revealing it not as laziness or a lack of stimulation, but as a signal from the brain when prediction and learning grind to a halt. When nothing changes and everything is expected, the mind begins to push back. From dopamine experiments and waiting rooms to sensory deprivation and solitary confinement, they examine how boredom emerges from lost uncertainty and why the brain would rather create discomfort, hallucinations, or anxiety than stop predicting altogether. This episode unpacks the psychology and neuroscience of boredom, showing how surprise drives pleasure, how boredom reshapes behaviour, and why this uneasy emotion may be essential to curiosity, creativity, and human progress. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can we store summer’s heat to warm our homes in winter? Could humans perceive a fourth dimension? And why does light bend around gravity even though it has no mass? Small questions from YOU which open doors to enormous worlds. In this episode of Field Notes, Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens discuss underground heat batteries in Canada and Einstein’s thought experiments, from how the universe hides its secrets and how we uncover them. Later, Michael presents a story which leads to an exploration of human behaviour, the experiments that reveal how authority influences our actions and why ordinary people can be pushed to act against what they say their values really are. Welcome to The Rest Is Science: Field Notes. Every Thursday, Hannah and Michael share the science behind the world around us from the surprising to the unsettling and show how it shapes both the universe and ourselves. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What do we mean when we call an event random? Most people view randomness as a fundamental property of the universe, but is it just a label for our own lack of knowledge? Whether it is a weighted coin toss, a scratch card, or the digits of Pi, unpredictability usually emerges from rules and patterns that sit just beyond our perception. Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens dismantle the logic of chance, exploring how chaos is governed by strict mathematical laws and why a coin can be '50 / 50' until the moment you apply the laws of physics to its flight. How does probability measure what we cannot see rather than what will happen. Why do patterns inevitably emerge when we zoom out, how minute uncertainties allowed for the formation of galaxies, and why is the human mind is so determined to find meaning in a world built on statistical mechanics. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Some objects feel like they’re from another world. One of these might be the giant structure that makes up a quantum computer. Lifted straight from the TV series Devs, Professor Hannah Fry shows Michael Stevens a prop that was designed to look just like one…now it hangs from the ceiling in her house. In this episode of Field Notes, Hannah and Michael examine the extraordinary technology behind of quantum computing. They explore how qubits differ from classical bits and consider the ways this technology could reshape our world, from encryption to drug discovery. Answering your questions, they also look at the eccentric mathematician Paul Erdős and discover what Erdős and Kevin Bacon have in common. Welcome to The Rest Is Science: Field Notes. Every Thursday, Hannah and Michael rummage through their personal troves of scientific treasure, sharing discoveries that reveal the hidden forces shaping our universe, the objects that bend our brains, and a few things that are just plain incredible. They’ll also be tackling your questions, so email The Rest Is Science at therestisscience@goalhanger.com. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠clicking here.⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Right now, you’re breathing in. As you inhale, air rushes past millions of sensory receptors, activating the part of your brain responsible for smell. And yet, there’s one scent you’ll never notice: the very nose you’re breathing through, because humans are smell blind to themselves. Today, Professor Hannah Fry and VSauce's Michael Stevens explore the mechanics of perinasal chemosensation, otherwise known as smell.They explore how the Victorians sidelined the sense, why we’ve underestimated it ever since, and whether tuning out most of odours our noses detect is a flaw, or a powerful strategy that's central to survival ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Imagine: a series of objects floating in midair without magnets, strings or visible supports. With acoustic levitation sound waves alone can suspend droplets, beads and even small solids to seemingly defy gravity! In this episode of Field Notes, Hannah shows Michael this astonishing device, revealing how precisely tuned sound can manipulate matter. Behind the mesmerising floating objects lies a combination of physics, mathematics, and engineering that turns vibrations into invisible hands. How do sound waves create stable points in space? What can acoustic levitation teach us about controlling particles, studying delicate chemical reactions, or even exploring new materials? And why does watching something float so effortlessly feel like glimpsing...a little magic? Welcome to The Rest Is Science: Field Notes. Every Thursday, Hannah and Michael rummage through their personal troves of scientific treasure and source discoveries that explain our understanding the universe, oddities that scramble our brains, objects that hint at forces we’ll never see...and a few things that are essentially just plain cool. Expect deep dives into the science behind each pick, the spark that grabbed their attentions, and the sheer delight they get from sharing it all with you. They’ll also be tackling your questions, so email The Rest Is Science at therestisscience@goalhanger.com. You can watch the Pitch Feed experiment live, here. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠clicking here.⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam ThorntonVideo & Social: Bex TyrrellAssistant Producer: Imee MarriottProducer: Becki HillsSenior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-CarterHead Of Digital: Samuel OakleyExec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Deep beneath our feet, churning molten metals create an invisible shield that holds our atmosphere in place and protects all life from the Sun. Some animals can sense it directly. Take the quantum effects in a robin’s eye, whales who cross oceans using no landmarks at all, or the bacteria that line themselves up to this unseen force. Join Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens as they explore magnetism and ponder how a compass knows where to point? Where did the original source our magnetic field come from? What that field might feel like? And why magnets just be the most familiar mystery on Earth. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience ⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From tiny six sided cubes to oversized polyhedrons with dozens of faces, Michael’s collection of dice is more than just a hobby, it’s a window into probability, design, and the strange ways we humans play with chance! Why might some dice feel luckier than others? How do they shape the games we play, the mathematics we study, and the way we've made decisions throughout history? Each die has it's uses but they all reveal the patterns, quirks, and surprises that lie in the numbers we trust and the randomness, or chance, that we don’t. Welcome to The Rest Is Science: Field Notes. Every Thursday, Hannah and Michael rummage through their personal troves of scientific treasure and source discoveries that explain our understanding the universe, oddities that scramble our brains, objects that hint at forces we’ll never see...and a few things that are essentially just plain cool. Expect deep dives into the science behind each pick, the spark that grabbed their attentions, and the sheer delight they get from sharing it all with you. They’ll also be tackling your questions, so email The Rest Is Science at therestisscience@goalhanger.com ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience ⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠clicking here.⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What day is it, really? And who decided? What happens to time when we leave the Earth? And when might future humans be counting down to the dawn of a New Year in the middle of the day? From missing days and meddling popes to atomic clocks and vanishing centuries, Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens dive headfirst into one of the slipperiest questions in science and society: what IS the time and date? On the way they trace a tiny error by Julius Caesar, a correction by Pope Gregory XIII, and how time itself has bent to human will. In the process, faiths have quarrelled, centuries have blurred or been deleted altogether and yet, we crave precision in a universe that drifts, producing clocks so exact they must pause to let the Earth turn. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠clicking ⁠here⁠.⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Each December millions of homes fill with the unmistakable scent of pine. It's sharp, resinous, and strangely comforting, feeling timeless…familiar…safe. But what if that smell isn’t what we think it is at all? Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens follow the trail of the molecules that shape this seasonal scent. It turns out it didn’t evolve to delight, but to warn and repel. The smell of Christmas is the smell of fear. Welcome to The Rest Is Science: Field Notes. Each Thursday, Hannah and Michael rummage through their personal troves of scientific treasure to source objects and ideas that hope to expand our understanding the universe, scramble our brains, or hint at forces that are invisible to the naked eye. They’ll also be tackling your questions, so email The Rest Is Science at therestisscience@goalhanger.com. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠clicking here.⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam ThorntonVideo & Social: Bex TyrrellAssistant Producer: Imee MarriottProducer: Becki HillsSenior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-CarterHead Of Digital: Samuel OakleyExec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Could Santa Clause still exist IF we stripped away the magic? If the ability to bend spacetime was gone? What conditions would Santa need to deliver a present to every human being on Earth in a single night? Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore the historical, geographical, and logistical realities behind these questions using population data, longitudinal lines, mathematics AND a healthy dose of Christmas curiosity to calculate the impossible routes, speeds, and time spans involved in a 12 hour gift giving bonanza at global scale as a completely average human being. Wish them luck! ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tucked away in old engineering kits and museum drawers is a device whose sweeping motion once captivated mathematicians and designers alike.  The ellipsograph: a mechanical tool built from sliding arms and rotating joints that were tracing flawless curves long before computers made such things effortless. While they have the appearance of an ancient curiosity, the ellipsograph’s power lies in its ability to transform abstract geometry into tangible motion on a page. Its careful movement can physically enacts the strict mathematical conditions that define an ellipsis - a shape that’s central to geometry, but also to the natural order of the cosmos. So is this object just a relic of the past? Or does it have a place in the present? As a reminder of the deceptive simplicity that rules the world around us, and the ingenuity required to understand it. Welcome to The Rest Is Science: Field Notes. Each Thursday, Hannah and Michael rummage through their personal troves of scientific treasure to source objects that expand our understanding the universe, that scramble our brains, that hint at forces we’ll never see...and, that are sometimes, just plain old cool. Expect deep dives into the science behind each pick, the spark that grabbed their attentions, and the sheer delight they get from sharing it all with you. They’ll also be tackling your questions, so email The Rest Is Science at therestisscience@goalhanger.com. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠clicking here.⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices