The Rest Is Science
Hosted by Hannah Mary Fry & Michael David Stevens · 18 decoded episodes · newest Oct 7, 2026
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.
Episodes 18
- Oct 7, 2026 · 43 minDoggerland reveals how a lost world vanished beneath the North SeaThe episode connects submerged landscapes and ancient human traces with the cultural and sensory science behind everyday reactions and ideas.
- Oct 4, 2026 · 52 minHow suspicion turns innocent people into public enemiesFalse accusations can gain the force of truth through group pressure, cognitive bias, and media systems before responsible investigation catches up.
- Sep 30, 2026 · 41 minA kendama turns catching into a lesson in physicsThe episode shows how a simple skill toy exposes the mechanics of balance, prediction, materials, and learning before extending those ideas to swimming and planetary science.
- Sep 27, 2026 · 59 minFire shaped human minds—and still shapes attentionThe episode connects combustion’s hidden chemistry to fire’s possible role in human evolution and its unusual ability to hold attention without exhausting it.
- Sep 23, 2026 · 1h 7mFountain pens turn fluid dynamics into a personal ritualThe episode shows how capillary action, air pressure and nib design make an everyday writing tool a compact lesson in engineering and preference.
- Sep 20, 2026 · 51 minSoyuz 11 reshaped spaceflight safety—and pi still hides its secretsThe episode connects a fatal engineering failure with enduring questions about fear, trapped matter, animal behavior, and mathematical uncertainty.
- Sep 16, 2026 · 58 minVictorian codebooks turned telegrams into one-word messagesThe episode shows how the economics of telegraphy shaped compressed language, then applies physics and psychology to everyday questions about modern communication and survival.
- Sep 13, 2026 · 45 minSpaceflight reshapes the body far beyond Einstein’s predictionThe Kelly twins’ mission shows that surviving beyond Earth requires solving biological problems that relativity alone barely captures.
- Sep 9, 2026 · 44 minCollagen supplements promise more than evidence can proveThe episode separates collagen’s real biological role from the uncertain benefits, costs, and placebo effects surrounding supplements.
- Sep 6, 2026 · 57 minOne photon may be enough to trigger awarenessThe episode tests how biology, context, and physics set the limits of human perception—and whether consciousness begins with a single particle.
- Sep 2, 2026 · 50 minA human egg cell anchors the universe’s vastest scaleThe episode turns an abstract journey from the Planck length to the observable cosmos into a meditation on scale, uncertainty, and scientific curiosity.
- Aug 30, 2026 · 53 minWhy the brain turns chewing into angerMisophonia shows how sound, bodily mirroring, disgust, empathy, and visual context can transform ordinary eating noises into perceived threats.