Send us a text

Subscribe if you love science, chaos, and bugs that are way too confident.

In this Swarms Minisode, Katy dives into the desert locust, a grasshopper that transforms—literally—into one of the most devastating swarm creatures on Earth.

🦗 What causes a peaceful insect to go full apocalypse mode?
🌾 How do they morph from shy loners to yellow, muscle-bound sky-hulks?
🌪 What triggers a swarm so massive it consumes everything in its path—eating its body weight daily?
📈 And why can’t we stop them, even with modern tech?

From serotonin surges to plague-level salad destruction, this episode unpacks the shocking science behind locust swarms, how they form, what fuels them, and why the only thing that can stop them is literally nature itself.

🎧 This is episode 3 of our 6-part Swarms series—bite-sized, bizarre, and biologically unhinged. We know we had two mini episodes in a row, that was not intended, but sometimes life just gets in the way of our fun!

Support the show

🎉 Support us on Patreon to keep the episodes coming! 🪼🦤🧠 For more laughs, catch us on YouTube!

Send us a text

Subscribe and brace yourself—because this week, the swarm has teeth. 🦈

In this second episode of our Swarms Minisode Series, Laura and Katy dive into a lesser-known swarm behavior: shark aggregations. From 1,400 basking sharks off New England to over 15,000 spinning sharks off the Florida coast, this episode explores the science (and chaos) behind why some of the ocean’s most feared predators travel in giant, synchronized groups.

🦈 Why do basking sharks—normally loners—form feeding spirals?
🌊 What caused 15,000 blacktip and spinner sharks to swarm near Florida in 2013?
🧲 Could Earth’s magnetic fields (or sonar) influence shark migration patterns?
🎯 And do predators swarm for the same reasons as prey?

This minisode is a fast, fascinating look at how even apex predators can get caught up in the group dynamic—and what it means for scientists, beachgoers, and Shark Week fans alike.

👉 This is episode 2 of 6 in our Swarms series—short, science-packed episodes exploring how and why animals move as one.

Support the show

🎉 Support us on Patreon to keep the episodes coming! 🪼🦤🧠 For more laughs, catch us on YouTube!

Send us a text

Subscribe and let your nose lead the way. This episode stinks—in the best way possible.

In this surprisingly deep dive into all things scent, Katy Reiss and Laura Fawks Lapole explore how your sense of smell works, why it’s wildly underappreciated, and what makes certain smells feel amazing (or like a chemical attack).

🧠 How does smell connect to memory and emotion?
🦨 What makes skunk spray so powerful—and impossible to wash off?
🌺 Why do corpse flowers pretend to be rotting meat?
🍪 And why can one person love the smell of cookies while someone else smells… socks?

From pregnancy nose powers to extinct olfactory genes, this episode blends biology, psychology, and botany into a surprisingly aromatic mix of weird science and fun facts.

🎧 This is Season 12, Episode 2 of Wildly Curious—and your nostrils will never forget it.

Support the show

🎉 Support us on Patreon to keep the episodes coming! 🪼🦤🧠 For more laughs, catch us on YouTube!