Episode notes
Dan and Ciaran open an archive case: Are dragons real? Why do stories of fire-breathing, winged beasts appear in cultures across the world – and can science explain their origins? We're on the quest for answers; from Viking myths to Chinese legends, dinosaur fossils, and even the lair of real-life Komodo dragons. Legendary author Cressida Cowell, dino-expert Nick Crumpton, and Chester Zoo’s own Komodo dragon keeper, Matthew Cook help unpick which mysteries are real and which ones are rubbish. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mysteries of Science
by Fun Kids · English · Kids & Family
The team behind The Week Junior's Science+Nature magazine investigate unexplained phenomenon with the help of expert guests.
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S10 · E20 · 17 Jul 2026 · 23 min
Feeling lucky?
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S10 · E19 · 18 Jun 2026 · 28 min
Fairies and other amazing hoaxes
We're in the archives for another episode of Mysteries of Science. In our first of season three, released on April Fool's Day, hosts Dan, Stevie, and Michael take a deep dive into three of the most famous scientific hoaxes. We're looking at the Cottingley Fairy photographs, crop circles, and zero gravity day... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S10 · E18 · 22 May 2026 · 20 min
The Ice Mummy
Two hikers stumble upon something in the ice: a mummy. Called, Ötzi, over the next few days, the mummy's extracted and examined by experts. It turns out to be 5,000 years old. Who was this person? How did they get there? And what can we learn from the body in the ice? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S10 · E16 · 27 Mar 2026 · 21 min
What came first, the chicken or the egg?
This special episode is packed with real experts answering the burning questions sent in by you, our curious listeners! Get ready as we finally crack the age-old debate: what came first, the chicken or the egg? Along the way, we explore mind-bending concepts like wormholes, discover the surprising origins and purpose of your fingerprints, and even uncover how koalas could be master criminals (sort of) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S10 · E15 · 27 Feb 2026 · 30 min
Where's Bigfoot?
In this monster-sized episode, Dan and Ciaran lace up their hiking boots to probe one of North America’s most legendary mysteries: Bigfoot. Is this giant, hairy, mysterious figure a real creature stomping through the forests, or is it just a brilliant tale best told around the campfire? We begin by tracking the legend back a thousand years to Indigenous cave art to modern-day giant footprints and strange noises in the woods... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S10 · E14 · 30 Jan 2026 · 20 min
Deepfakes
Can you believe everything you see and hear online? Dan and Michael navigate the fascinating and unsettling world of deepfakes: images, videos, and audio so realistic you might not know they’re fake. With help from tech experts and researchers, they reveal how deepfakes are made, why they’re getting better and harder to spot and challenge you to outsmart the fakes yourself. Along the way, find out how deepfake tech brings movie characters back to life and why we all need to sharpen our digital detective skills for the future. Test your skills, learn the science behind AI…
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S10 · E22 · 10 Sep 2026 · 24 min
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We’re back in the archives with one of the biggest mysteries this show has ever taken on: us. Modern humans have only been around for about 200,000 years, a blink of an eye next to the three billion years life has existed on Earth. We’re not the biggest, the fastest or the strongest animal out there, so how did we end up running the planet? Dan and Michael follow the clues from a strange skull dug out of a German quarry in 1856 to the Neanderthal DNA almost all of us still carry. Historian Yuval Noah Harari, author of Unstoppable Us, argues our real superpower is storytelling, and geneticist…
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S10 · E21 · 14 Aug 2026 · 24 min
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Dan and Michael explore the biggest mystery of them all: how did everything begin? Around 75 years ago, British astronomer Fred Hoyle went on the radio and used the term "Big Bang" for the very first time. The odd thing is, he was making fun of it. He didn't believe a word of it, and he never changed his mind. So how do we know the Big Bang really happened? Astrophysicist Dr Maggie Lieu from the University of Nottingham explains how Edwin Hubble worked out that the universe is expanding, and why that means everything must have started from one infinitely small, infinitely hot point. She also…
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S10 · E13 · 5 Jan 2026 · 34 min
Undercover in Area 51
Dan and Michael don their detective hats and head into the Nevada desert to investigate one of the biggest mysteries on Earth: Area 51. Some say it’s just a top-secret US military base for testing new aircraft. Others believe it’s the hiding place for crashed UFOs and even extraterrestrial visitors... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S10 · E12 · 5 Dec 2025 · 24 min
Curious lives of octopuses
Hosts Dan and Michael investigate the curious lives of octopuses: a creature with three hearts, colour-changing skin, and arms that almost think for themselves... Why are octopuses such masters of disguise? Just how smart are they? And what secrets lurk within bodies? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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