Can Language Change What You Smell?
Episode Date: August 26, 2026Does language shape reality? What is Earth’s escape velocity? How does soap kill germs? And can a scientific theory be completely wrong but still appe...
Join mathematician Professor Hannah Fry and science creator Michael Stevens (Vsauce) as they dig into the weird scientific questions that often go unexplored. Welcome to The Rest Is Science, a show that sits in the fascinating space between what we think we know, and what we actually know. Why do we assume we understand things like time, randomness, or even gravity? Once you start questioning these familiar ideas, reality becomes astonishingly strange and completely fragile. Whether you're a lifelong science fan or just naturally curious, The Rest Is Science will change your perception of reality, and prove that the biggest questions are always the most fun.
82 episodes transcribedDoes language shape reality? What is Earth’s escape velocity? How does soap kill germs? And can a scientific theory be completely wrong but still appe...
What is the fastest, cheapest and possibly worst way to get into space? Could a nuclear explosion launch a manhole cover beyond the Earth’s atmosp...
Michael Stevens keeps a small museum of unusual timepieces on his desk: a clock that runs backwards, a watch built to be read in complete darkness, an...
How did the Gila monster, a desert lizard that eats just five times a year, help unlock the science behind Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro?In this episod...
When you picture the North Pole, you probably imagine a vast, frozen expanse of floating sea ice. But hidden deep beneath the surface of the Arctic li...
Why does the cartoon Sun always wear sunglasses? And how big would a real pair need to be? Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens investigate space mirrors...
Colour wheel or colour line? Light itself runs in a straight line from red to violet, yet every colour theory chart bends that spectrum into a circle...
Can Hannah convince Michael that the lithium-ion battery is one of our most overrated inventions to ever happen? Hannah makes her case using a surpri...
What grows in the spaces humans are forced to abandon?Hannah brings Michael an actual piece of barbed wire from the Korean Demilitarised Zone, one of...
Did the world really end in 2012? Not with fire, meteors or an ancient Mayan prophecy, but Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens ask whether som...
Can you hide your skeleton from a dog? Would you want to know the day you’ll die? Has evolution ever come close to producing a real fire breather?...
Why can't you leave a sealed envelope unopened? Professor Hannah Fry begins by refusing to allow Michael Stevens to open a mystery envelope addressed...
It begins with a discovery in a loft: a full man eating tiger skin, brought back from a village in northern India where Professor Hannah Fry's ex-moth...
Do your friends actually like you? Does an acquaintance think you’re closer than you are? This week, Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore the surp...
The statistical reality of "The World's #1 Dad Mug" is nothing but a well meaning lie. In this episode of The Rest Is Science, Michael brings another...
Stubbing your toe feels like the pain is entirely in your foot. But the reality is far stranger... the agonising sensation you experience is actually...
When you think of dangerous geological specimens, does your mind jump straight to radioactive uranium, toxic heavy metals, or even asbestos? What if o...
Your ears are lying to you right now. In this episode of The Rest Is Science, Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens (Vsauce) dive into the bizarre...
A pen designed to write in space sits unopened for 25 years. Does it still work?In this episode of Field Notes, Michael Stevens finally opens a treasu...
What will humanity leave behind? In this episode, Professor Hannah Fry and VSauce's Michael Stevens explore the traces humans leave behind and what...