Drunk elephants, sour beer, and the research behind them.
Life's Little Mysteries comes from Live Science and builds its 'Mysterious' episodes around everyday puzzles, such as whether humans could live without bacteria or whether elephants really get drunk. Alongside those light episodes are serious coronavirus special reports, introduced by Gina Briner and Mindy Weisberger, that follow the research and answer audience questions.
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Life's Little Mysteries comes out of Live Science, and the title states the idea: small, odd questions taken seriously enough to check. The regular episodes have titles like 'Mysterious Bacteria', 'Mysterious Beer' and 'Mysterious Elephants', and the talk inside them is loose, chatty and willing to wander. One puts its question plainly: could humans live without bacteria? It starts with the trillions of bacteria that live in the body and help keep it healthy, then explains why so many people link bacteria only with disease. Harmful species need a way in, through cuts, wounds, food or drink. Once inside, they cause damage with toxins, released either while they are alive or when their cell walls break down as they die. Pneumonia, tuberculosis, cholera, tetanus and Lyme disease all come up as examples. The elephant question shows the show's instincts best. Headlines and tweets claimed elephants had got drunk and passed out. The episode separates that from what was documented: elephants entered villages in China, did some damage and overturned wine jars, but there was no evidence they got drunk. Only then does it ask whether elephants can get drunk at all. That leads to a study of ADH7, a gene linked to metabolizing alcohol, and the idea that some animals may be more genetically prone to drunkenness than others. Alcohol turns out to be a recurring thread. The beer conversation spends happy time in the weird-beer section, among sour beers, pumpkin spice beer and flavors like roasted jalapeno blueberry or chocolate peanut butter banana, and one speaker admits to a sour-beer habit. Even the pandemic coverage comes back to it, explaining how commercial distillers separate ethanol from methanol, how they test batches with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, and why moonshine made at home can be riskier. That coverage is the show's second strand. Coronavirus special reports, with dates in their titles, are introduced by Gina Briner, Editor-in-Chief at Live Science, and Mindy Weisberger, a Senior Writer there. They say plainly that the show usually keeps things light and that these episodes are the exception. The reports follow SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 research, from ACE2 receptors in the heart to cross-immunity, and they call the autopsy findings fairly preliminary rather than overselling them. They also answer audience questions, including one about reinfection. The pandemic shows up in the regular episodes too: several open by explaining they were recorded at home during self-isolation and might pick up background noise. The sign-off plays on the show's name: what comes next is, literally, a mystery. Listeners are pointed to the Live Science forums to ask their own questions and suggest topics. For a first listen, 'Mysterious Elephants' shows the approach most clearly: a viral claim, a correction, then the science.
Made for: Suits a listener who likes a curious question, such as whether humans could live without bacteria, followed through to the actual research, and who enjoys a loose, conversational delivery. The coronavirus special reports suit someone who wants pandemic-era science explained with its caveats intact.
What sets it apart: It is tied to the Live Science newsroom and puts playful 'Mysterious' episodes and sober coronavirus briefings under one title. Its best habit is checking a viral story against the record, as with the drunk-elephant reports, before asking what the science says.
A Maya calendar cycle is waiting to puncture your next 2012 apocalypse joke.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A compact bacteria mystery that moves from infection fears to the organisms that help keep humans healthy.
Life's Little Mysteries asks whether humans could live without bacteria, opening with the dangers that make the question feel urgent. Bacteria can enter through wounds, food, or liquid, release toxins, and cause severe infections such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, cholera,…
A beer mystery wanders through sour flavors, edible glitter, and a meteorite brew chasing the taste of space.
Life's Little Mysteries uses beer as a small doorway into taste, novelty, and why a flavor some people love can make others recoil. It moves from pumpkin spice and sour beer into stranger blends like roasted jalapeno blueberry and chocolate peanut butter banana, before arriving…
A measured COVID-19 briefing on reinfection, heart tissue, and evidence still taking shape.
Life's Little Mysteries keeps its light touch while turning to SARS coronavirus 2, with Live Science health reporter Nicoletta Lanisse leading a weekly COVID-19 update and Q&A.
An elephant-drinking rumor turns into a careful check on evidence and alcohol metabolism.
A rumor about elephants getting drunk gives Life's Little Mysteries a clean, appealing question: can elephants actually become intoxicated? The episode works best when it separates the colorful village story from what the evidence can support.
A focused coronavirus Q&A on reinfection, heart effects, and evidence still taking shape.
COVID-19 gets a focused Live Science treatment, with health reporter Nicoletta Lanisse moving from a weekly coronavirus update into questions about reinfection, cross-immunity, CP therapy, and heart abnormalities connected to the virus.
A coronavirus update and Q&A finds its strongest focus in a clear explainer on methanol risks from improperly distilled alcohol.
Life's Little Mysteries shifts into a more urgent register with a special coronavirus report shaped around COVID-19 questions and the week's news.
Mushroom culture from soil to society.
Clear neuroscience for curious minds.
Plant papers, jokes, and useful uncertainty.
Weed science, from genomes to paddocks.
Biomedical careers, described from the inside.
Human stakes behind biomedical progress.
Photorhabdus luminescens made Civil War wounds glow green, and the episode uses that case to show that bacteria can help as well as harm.
["Life's Little Mysteries with Christina Briner and Mindy Weisberger uses beer as a case study in fermentation, from barley malt and wort to hops, yeast, and aging tanks.", "The hosts trace brewing from Sumerian Mesopotamia and a female beer deity to a 13,000-year-old cave site in Israel and a Greek site dated to 2100-1700 BC with more than 3,000 sprouted cereal grains.", "They also walk through ales, lagers, sour beers, and novelty releases such as Dogfish Head's 2013 lunar-meteorite batch, Porterhouse's oyster stout, and Twisted Pine's Ghostface Killa with six hot peppers.", "A late interview with Brandon Spector and Ronan Hazan of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem turns to ancient yeast revival, including live yeast found in two-year-old unfiltered bottles."]
Life's Little Mysteries with Live Science turns a coronavirus Q&A into a special August 13 report on SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, and viewer questions.
Life's Little Mysteries: Mysterious Elephants looks at an elephant lineage the episode places at 50 million to 60 million years old, with living African and Asian branches and extinct mammoths.
Nicoletta Lanisse says blood samples collected between 2015 and 2018 showed T-cells recognizing more than 100 sites on SARS-CoV-2, which may help explain why some COVID-19 cases stay mild or asymptomatic.
Life's Little Mysteries hosts Gina Briner and Mindy Weisberger introduce Live Science reporter Nicoletta Lanisse's July 30 coronavirus update, covering more than 17 million reported worldwide cases and over 667,000 deaths.
Life's Little Mysteries hosts Gina Briner and Mindy Weisberger explain evolution through common ancestors, genetic mutations, selective pressure, and phylogenetic trees.
Life's Little Mysteries hosts Gina Briner and Mindy Weisberger introduce Live Science health reporter Nicoletta Lanisse’s July 23 coronavirus update and Q&A.
Life's Little Mysteries hosts Gina Briner and Mindy Weisberger introduce Live Science health reporter Nicoletta Lanise's July 16 coronavirus update and Q&A.
Life's Little Mysteries examines archaeological puzzles including the 2,000-year-old Antikythera mechanism, a Greek shipwreck device with 30 bronze gears and astronomical dials.
A weekly coronavirus update covering global case numbers, deaths, and U.S.
The hosts introduce the topic of dinosaurs, discussing their classification into Saurischian and Ornithischian groups based on pelvic shape.
A weekly news update on the COVID-19 pandemic, covering global case counts and developments.
This episode explores scientific mysteries behind everyday eating and drinking, including ancient diets and archaeological evidence.
Hosts introduce the show and discuss the mysteries of volcanoes, focusing on their hidden internal processes and diverse forms.
This episode explores the mysteries of dogs, including their roles as companions, working animals, and service animals.
This episode explores the domestication of cats, their behavior, and why humans love them despite their apparent lack of usefulness.
This episode explores the mysteries of the ocean, including its vast unexplored depths and the origins of life.