The Rest Is Science
Goalhanger
SummaryEver wondered why your brain invents pain, how a simple arch in your foot changes the way you walk, or what would happen if you were caught near colliding black holes? Welcome to The Rest Is Science, where hosts Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens turn the mundane, the mysterious, and the downright bizarre into a masterclass of curiosity. Each episode is a deep dive into the fabric of our reality, blending rigorous physics and biology with the kind of playful experimentation that makes complex topics feel instantly accessible. Whether they are testing the limits of a twenty-five-year-old space pen, debating the ethics of neurotechnology and privacy, or unraveling the history behind a three-million-year-old stone, Hannah and Michael act as your guides to the hidden mechanics of the world around us. What makes this show truly stand out is its relentless focus on the "why" and "how." The hosts don’t just deliver facts; they challenge long-standing scientific dogmas and encourage you to question how your own senses construct your personal reality. It is a show for the intellectually restless—a perfect mix of high-level scientific exploration and lighthearted, human-centered inquiry. If you have ever wanted to peer under the hood of existence, from the deep cosmos down to the biomechanics of your own toes, this is the podcast for you. Join the investigation and prepare to look at your world in an entirely new light.
Updated Jul 6, 2026
Episodes
Your Brain Invents Pain. Here's Why.
Pain is not a direct reflection of injury, but a verdict constructed by your brain that can sometimes be dead wrong.
The Most Dangerous Rock In Hannah's Collection
Explore the physics of gravitational waves to discover why they would feel like a violent massage from space.
The Audio Illusion That Proves We Don't Experience Reality
Explore why our brains treat pitch and perception as constructed illusions rather than objective reality.
Will A 25 Year Old Space Pen Still Write?
A twenty-five-year-old space pen is finally put to the test to see if it can still write in zero-G conditions.
A Paleontology Of The Future
From the moon to ancient Africa, we examine how human artifacts and oddities reveal our history across the universe.
What Are The Odds You'll Become A Fossil?
Fossilization is an incredibly rare process requiring a perfect storm of lucky conditions to turn bones into stone.
Why Feet Are Weirder Than You Think
Human feet gain their unique walking stiffness from a side-to-side arch that acts just like a folded slice of pizza.
How Many Words Do You ACTUALLY Know?
Test your vocabulary against the English language and find out how many words you actually know.
Why You Should Stop Using Face ID
Biometric phone locks strip you of Fifth Amendment protections, turning your device into an accessible digital witness.
Nikola Tesla Fell In Love with a Pigeon
Discover the strange science of resonance and electricity, from Tesla coils to the inventor's bizarre love for a pigeon.
Michael Discovered A New Way To Make Twins
Explore the astronomical odds of conceiving identical twins through chance and the ethics of owning human cell lines.
Why Michael Abandoned Ink
After losing years of notes to spilled energy drinks, Michael explores the precision and reliability of mechanicals.
Why Michael Abandoned Ink For Mechanical Pencils
Michael trades ink for the precision and permanence of mechanical pencils in a deep dive into his favorite tools.
Do Our Bodies Really Belong To Us?
From amputated limbs to human remains, investigate who truly owns your body parts and what you can legally do with them.
Do You Own Your Own Foot?
Explore the bizarre legal and ethical reality of who actually owns your body parts after they have been removed.
Hannah Predicted a Pandemic
Hannah Fry recounts how she accidentally predicted the pandemic two years early on a BBC show.
DARK vs LIGHT
Black and white battle it out across popularity polls, sports, fashion, chess, and even the laws of physics.
The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis
Alan Turing used mathematical reaction-diffusion equations to solve the mystery of how embryos create biological form.
How To Prove You're A Time Traveller
Proving you are a time traveler is nearly impossible, but carrying a bracelet with verified coordinates is a start.
The Reasoning Test Psychologists Still Can't Explain
Discover why 96% of people fail a simple logic test and what that reveals about the human brain's resistance to truth.
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