Transistor

For the next few episodes, we're featuring the Smithsonian's new series, Sidedoor, about where science, art, history, humanity and where they unexpectedly overlap -- just like their museums. Up first: tales of scientific deception and trickery.

Dancing is something we see in almost every human culture. Yet we are the only animals that make such synchronized movements together to music. Why is that, and what is it about dance that gives us a feeling of togetherness?

Vissarion Shebalin was not a great composer. But his music could unlock an important truth about how the brain processes music and language.

Ancient navigators traveled across the Pacific without the aid of maps or instruments. We'll hear from modern-day navigators in New Zealand, Hawai'i and North America about the techniques used to do so.

Schools are remaking science fairs to include more actual science and less papier-mâché volcanos.

Some studies suggest that one out of 10 women in her 30s is peeing herself. Others say the numbers could be much much higher. But it’s tough to talk about. Producer Lauren Whaley shares her story and the scientific approaches to hopefully one day solving this problem.

What's lost when a song is compressed into an MP3? To the untrained ear, perhaps nothing. But to one composer, these "lost sounds" are a source for his stunning and ghostly musical compositions.

Outside podcast Science of Survival, episode 4: In the spring 2001, a large group of men set out from Mexico to cross the border into Arizona through some of the harshest desert terrain anywhere. The tragic result helped researchers develop the Death Index, a new model for predicting dehydration fatalities.

Outside Podcast's Science of Survival, episode 3: In the heart of the Sonoran Desert is the remarkable story of Pablo Valencia, a gold prospector who spent six days wandering in 110-degree heat before stumbling into scientist William McGee’s camp.

Outside Podcast's Science of Survival, episode 2: Most of the time, when lightning makes the news, you’re hearing about it because something really unlikely has happened. Like the park ranger who was struck by lightning seven times. Or the strike survivor who also won the lottery. This is not one of those stories. This is about Phil Broscovak and what his life was really like after he was struck.

Birds of a feather may flock together -- but they don't sing together if they live in the city. It turns out birds that live in the city sing at higher frequencies, louder, and more often than their rural friends to outmatch the noise pollution of cars and people. The din of city life is creating new divisions between bird species; Researchers like Elizabeth Derryberry are finding those high-pitched tenors of the bird world aren't quite as attractive to mates as the lower Barry Whites of the country.

In the 1970s, a geochemist and a biologist banded together to solve a mystery at Lake Oneida in upstate New York. What they found is changing the way we think about human life, and where the origins of life come from.

Third episode featuring Trace Elements. Hacking your hearing aid to implanting NFC tags into your hands — we are now in the age of DIY Bio. Dive into the growing underworld of body modification from the backrooms of tattoo shops to the lab in your kitchen.

Brought to you by Outside Magazine and PRX, the Outside Podcast aims to apply the magazine’s long-standing literary storytelling methods to the audio realm. The podcast’s first series delves into the science of survival in some of nature’s most extreme environments.

Marco Tempest is not your average magician. He uses robots to do magic tricks on stage -- but the real trick is in how easily he can get an audience to believe that robot has personality and is almost human.