97: Sneezing & Parable MythBusters

What, when, where, why, and how... do we sneeze? There's a surprising amount of mystery to the thing we do all the time, and a lot to learn about! And how many parables and metaphors that we use are actually true? Let's actually dig in to the research and bust some myths!! I mean... break some... falsehoods!!

Images we Talk About: The Rat Diagram Caseids Diplodocus Bones Plane Diagram Moai Walking

Timestamps: (00:00:00) Intro (00:03:26) Sneezing (00:57:55) Parable Mythbusters (01:43:59) Outro

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We also learn about:

Caroline was inspired by being sick, theories of sneezing, sneezing in the odyssey, Aristotle said burping and farting are not divine, 25 sextillion molecules in every breath, it’s a wonder we’re not sneezing all the time, sneezing only goes to your brain stem, a sneeze can send particles 8 meters, what ion channel? last year we made sneezless mice, le petite mort and le petit orgasm, the incredible mid-sneeze mouse diagram, we’re gonna talk about - ghoooosts, A.C.H.O.O or the photic sneeze reflex, our explanations for sneezing reflect our understanding of science at the time, snatiation, S.N.A.T.I.A.T.I.O.N, sneezing from getting horny, pee chills, a sneeze is just a more obvious indicator that wires get crossed, diagnostic sneeze testing, finding the first sneezing animal, the earliest diaphgram, chickens sneeze, African wild dogs voting by sneeze, dolphins chuffing, bugs aren’t part of the sneeze club, unlike the mythbusters we won’t be blowing up cars, okay maybe a few, if you put a frog into boiling water it won’t jump out it will die, boiling frogs in search of the soul, the climate change metaphor works for brain dead leaders, the survivorship bias meme plane, the image is fictitious but Abraham Wald is even cooler, America’s Bletchley - The Statistical Research Group, some people believe the heads had bodies, oh my god they did, the walking Moai, the deforestation happened before the people, invasive rats without a natural predator, pretending we’re surprised about colonialism being the culprit, we didn’t need to do carbon dating to find some of these answers guys.

Sources: 1990 Paper: The History of Sneezing 2013 Paper: The Omen of Sneezing 2009 Paper: Sneeze reflex: Facts and fiction Smithsonian: Why Do We Sneeze? National Geographic: The Air You Breathe Is Full of Surprises Wiki: Sneeze 2025 Paper: The Sneeze Reflex in Physiological and Pathological states: a mini review 2024 Paper: Mouse Sneezing Study Nature: Cough or sneeze? How the brain knows what to unleash Scientific American: Looking at the Sun Can Trigger a Sneeze 2010 Paper: When the Sun Prickles Your Nose: An EEG Study Identifying Neural Bases of Photic Sneezing ScienceLine: Why Do People Sneeze When They Look at the Sun? OMIM: Gastric Sneezing 2009 Paper: Arousal and Sneezing 2017 Article: An Ancient Origin for the Diaphragm 2022 Paper: Lung Evolution in Vertebrates and the Water-to-Land Transition National Geographic: Animal Sneezing National Geographic: African Wild Dogs Vote by Sneeze Oceanbites: Sneeze, Cough, Chuff: Respiratory Irritation in Dolphins Natural History Museum: Hagfishes Smithsonian: 14 Fun Facts About Hagfish Sci-Show- Aquatic Sneezing 2022 Paper: Sponges Sneeze 2022 Paper: Dinosaur Sickness National Geographic: First Dinosaur Found with a Respiratory Disease --- Atlantic on The Boiling Frog Know Your Meme: Survivorship Bias Plane Cameron Moll Blog Post about Original Drawing Abraham Wald's Plane Statistic Memorandum Terry Hunt's Incredible "Rethinking the Fall of Easter Island" The Walking Moai Paper