Spectrum | Deutsche Welle

Thanks for listening to (or watching) our show this year. And please don't forget these quick tips on how to have a safe and fun party on December 31.

Sometimes we end up at social events because... it's just too awkward to say no. New research suggests you should feel better about declining (if you do it the right way).

Conor misplaces a telescope, our solar system is a ballerina, and how to protect your voice from being AI synthesized.

Across the globe, 15-year-olds are doing worse on standardized tests than five years ago. And it may have nothing to do with the pandemic lockdowns.

Does that seem like an impossible question to answer? It sure does. Because you'd have to go back in time to answer it. Or you'd need 30 hours on the planet's most powerful telescope (James Webb).

Just about every study we talk about in this episode has a pretty significant caveat. Also, an emailed warning from a poet who chopped too much firewood.

A longitudinal US study shows that having a younger sibling will tend to lower your cognitive development. But the effect vanishes after child number three.

In an unprecedented interview about a unique and novel study, an Austrian researcher explains why the first three adjectives you just read are part of a growing problem.

As you age, your body can get stuck in 'fasting mode,' leading to muscle loss and other problems. New research from Germany gives a clue at how to change that — and maybe live longer?

Once in a while there's a surfeit of positive news in the field of medicine. This week was one of 'em.

A study on eye contact suggests it isn't aggressive, but actually improves conversation. So why don't we do it more?

Sometimes, improving pollution... makes global warming worse. Also, women are more addicted to their phones than men, chimpanzees use military strategy — and one of our new listeners didn't like us at first.

One solution to unprecedented cattle die-offs: Modify cows so they can deal with record heat.

The future of weather forecasting might have little to do with atmospheric physics. Also, our listeners had some really interesting things to say about a study on tattoos.

As expected, you had things to say about our interview with a masculinity influencer. Also, when a dozen parakeets are squawking, how do they know who's speaking?

If you're honest, you probably have an opinion on people with tattoos. And that makes you a lot like the police (and judges and juries).

A large, longitudinal study has some surprising conclusions about when we're most satisfied with our lives — and it's connected to how we humans tend to fill out questionnaires.

A novel study out of Switzerland and Germany shows that human beings, under certain conditions, can end up synchronizing biologically — like a metronome.

A few episodes back we did a deep dive into the science behind a toxically masculine mind. At that point not one of the influencers we'd reached out to had agreed to be interviewed — and it seemed they never would. Then we got an unexpected email.

Conor gets an email from a German island about his accent, Gabe does his best to make his mom 'proud,' and an in-studio experiment takes all of us to India.