Category
Science & discovery
What's happening in science this week. From fresh discoveries to how the world actually works.
In this category
The Glitch in the Universal Clock
While we experience time as a flow, the fundamental equations of physics suggest it might not exist at all.
8 min
The 1968 Olympics changed how we jump
Dick Fosbury’s 'flop' was initially mocked as a dangerous accident until it used center-of-mass physics to revolutionize the high jump. This story explores how biomechanics and a single outlier can force an entire global sport to rewrite its fundamental movement patterns.
12 min
The Muon g-2 Discrepancy: A Crack in the Standard Model
Subatomic particles called muons are wobbling faster than theory predicts at Fermilab. This discrepancy suggests the existence of a fifth force of nature or undiscovered particles that interact with our world.
12 min
Leidenfrost Clouds: The Physics of Thermal Levitation
An exploration of the Leidenfrost effect, from its eighteenth-century discovery in a red-hot spoon to modern breakthroughs in electronic cooling and nuclear safety.
12 min
The Search for the Island of Stability
Nuclear physicists are synthesizing increasingly heavy elements to find a theoretical 'island' where superheavy atoms might last for years instead of milliseconds. Reaching element 120 could redefine the limits of the periodic table and chemistry.
12 min
Cold temperatures made Liberty Ship steel brittle.
During WWII, brand-new steel ships were mysteriously cracking open in the cold Atlantic waters due to a then-unknown phenomenon called ductile-to-brittle transition. This failure changed how we understand molecular fractures and forced a total redesign of every welded structure in the world.
12 min
Helium is the only element that escapes Earth.
Helium is the only element on Earth that is completely non-renewable and light enough to escape our atmosphere forever. We explore why this byproduct of natural gas is critical for everything from MRI machines to quantum computing and why we are suddenly running out.
12 min
Mammals evolved placentas from ancient viral DNA.
Evidence suggests that the development of the mammalian placenta was made possible by an ancient viral infection. We trace how bits of 'junk' DNA from prehistoric viruses were hijacked to protect a growing fetus from the mother's immune system.
12 min
About Science & discovery
Podcast episodes about how the world actually works, researched and written fresh for every topic. The stream runs from live physics — muons wobbling faster than theory allows, the hunt for superheavy elements on the island of stability — to the science hiding in plain sight: why almost nothing in nature is truly blue, how Roman concrete heals itself, why helium is the only element Earth loses forever. If a question isn't in the catalog yet, type it into Fylom and it becomes your next episode.
Fylom episodes are researched and written by AI. Automated checks help catch inaccuracies, but episodes aren't reviewed by a human and AI can still get things wrong. Treat them as a starting point, not a source of record — more in our accuracy disclaimer.