In this episode, Nick takes us to the deepest ocean depths to meet the alien-looking anglerfish and its bizarre, disturbing mating habits. Think you've been on weird dates? You haven't seen anything yet! Then, Dave ponders what teleportation would be like in the real world. Star Trek makes it look easy, but what would it entail to break you down into atoms and reassemble you somewhere else? Provided you survived the experience, would you still be you?

Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/spooky-science-lab

Hosted by Nicholas Kaufmann and David Wellington
Edited by David Wellington
Additional voices by Jennifer Dikes and Alexa Antopol
Logo by Errick Nunnally
Theme song "Phantom Fun" by Jonathan Boyle

Connect with us on social media at Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email us at contact@spookysciencelab.com!

In this episode, Nick introduces listeners to the horrifying horsehair worm, a water-dwelling parasitic organism whose brutal lifecycle puts its insect host through hell, culminating in the worm's unique ability to compel its host to drown itself. Then, Dave asks the question, "How many planets are there in our solar system?" The answer might seem simple to you, but throughout history the number has fluctuated wildly, taking into account celestial bodies both real and theoretical. So how many are there *really*? Listen and find out!

Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/spooky-science-lab

Hosted by Nicholas Kaufmann and David Wellington
Edited by David Wellington
Additional voices by Jennifer Dikes and Alexa Antopol
Logo by Errick Nunnally
Theme song "Phantom Fun" by Jonathan Boyle

Connect with us on social media at Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email us at contact@spookysciencelab.com!

In this episode, Nick explores Lazarus Syndrome, a rare occurrence where people who are declared dead suddenly and mysteriously wake up hours later, sometimes just minutes away from being embalmed. The dead are rising, but this isn't a zombie movie, it's real life! Then, Dave introduces us to cerebral organoids, lab-grown living human brain cells in petri dishes. These mini-brains are capable of learning, including how to play video games, and now some want to turn them into organic supercomputers.

Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/spooky-science-lab

Hosted by Nicholas Kaufmann and David Wellington
Edited by David Wellington
Additional voices by Jennifer Dikes and Alexa Antopol
Logo by Errick Nunnally
Theme song "Phantom Fun" by Jonathan Boyle

Connect with us on social media at Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email us at contact@spookysciencelab.com!

In this episode, Nick shrinks Dave to the size of a bacterium and sends him into the savage battlefield of the human immune system, a breathtaking biological enterprise that's second in complexity only to the human brain. Then, Dave takes us to the very edge of the universe, where something unknown lurks beyond observable space, emitting such an immense gravitational pull that this mysterious celestial body is believed to be the largest, densest object in the universe.

Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/spooky-science-lab

Hosted by Nicholas Kaufmann and David Wellington
Edited by David Wellington
Additional voices by Jennifer Dikes and Alexa Antopol
Logo by Errick Nunnally
Theme song "Phantom Fun" by Jonathan Boyle

Connect with us on social media at Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email us at contact@spookysciencelab.com!

In this episode, Nick gets too close for comfort to a tree the Guinness Book of World Records called "the deadliest tree in the world." With poisonous fruit, toxic bark, and lethal sap, there's no doubt the manchineel tree wants you dead. Only one creature can survive in its branches, but you'll never guess what it is. Then, Dave takes a deep dive into the deep Earth, where there's no light, intense pressure, and unbearable heat, and yet life is thriving down there. These life forms are unlike anything we've ever seen and far outnumber the organisms that exist on the surface. How they survive in these extreme conditions will amaze you.

Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/spooky-science-lab

Hosted by Nicholas Kaufmann and David Wellington
Edited by David Wellington
Additional voices by Jennifer Dikes and Alexa Antopol
Logo by Errick Nunnally
Theme song "Phantom Fun" by Jonathan Boyle

Connect with us on social media at Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email us at contact@spookysciencelab.com!

In this episode, Nick recounts the true story of a young Australian man in the peak of health who, in 2010, ate a common garden slug on a dare. What followed was a swift and brutal physical deterioration, eventually putting him into a coma. But slugs aren't poisonous, so what happened? The answer will shock you! Then, Dave takes us on a guided tour of several fascinating and spooky exoplanets, strange and completely alien worlds that orbit distant stars. Could any of them support life as we know it?

Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/spooky-science-lab

Hosted by Nicholas Kaufmann and David Wellington
Edited by David Wellington
Additional voices by Jennifer Dikes and Alexa Antopol
Logo by Errick Nunnally
Theme song "Phantom Fun" by Jonathan Boyle

Connect with us on social media at Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email us at contact@spookysciencelab.com!

In this episode, Nick recounts the bizarre events that befell the small coastal city of Capitola, California in 1961, when thousands of seabirds attacked the city, an incident eerily similar to Alfred Hitchcock's famous movie The Birds, yet this happened two years before the movie. What caused the birds to swarm Capitola and peck madly at its residents, and could it happen again? Then, Dave tells the sad story of American servicemen purposely exposed, without their knowledge or consent, to the radiation of nuclear blasts at Yucca Flat, Nevada in the 1950s. The dark and tragic secret they were forced to keep for decades has finally been revealed.

Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/spooky-science-lab

Hosted by Nicholas Kaufmann and David Wellington
Edited by David Wellington
Additional voices by Jennifer Dikes and Alexa Antopol
Logo by Errick Nunnally
Theme song "Phantom Fun" by Jonathan Boyle

Connect with us on social media at Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email us at contact@spookysciencelab.com!

In this episode, Nick leads us deep into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone to the remains of the deadly reactor itself, where a most unexpected organism has made its home. Not only is it resistant to the radiation bombarding it, it appears to be feeding on radiation to grow and reproduce. Then, Dave takes us on a journey to the Phoenix Cluster, a massive and beautiful collection of galaxies billions of light years from Earth. Yet something terrifying lurks at the center of the Phoenix Cluster, something we know is there but cannot see.

Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/spooky-science-lab

Hosted by Nicholas Kaufmann and David Wellington
Edited by David Wellington
Additional voices by Jennifer Dikes and Alexa Antopol
Logo by Errick Nunnally
Theme song "Phantom Fun" by Jonathan Boyle

Connect with us on social media at Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email us at contact@spookysciencelab.com!