A Little Bit Of Science

A Little Bit Of Science
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  • Science
  • Updated Weekly

From tales of historical idiocracy and scientific genius to weird and wacky cultural phenomena, Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant are here to take you on a wild conversational journey, deep diving into the crevices of science, history and culture that you never knew existed. 

  1. Sep 1

    Doomsday flight trackers, trebuchet trauma, worm-flies and sugar-rationed babies

    This week’s line-up is a reminder that humans can turn literally anything into a warning sign. A flight tracker becomes an apocalypse detector, a medieval siege weapon becomes a forensic crime scene, and wartime sugar rationing turns into an accidental public health intervention. All of these stories are weirdly useful. First up: the DIY apocalypse forecast. Kyle MacDonald’s idea is that unusual patterns in private jets and military flights might act like an early-warning system, because the rich and strategic tend to move first when something big is coming. It’s half conspiracy, half pattern recognition, and very much a sign of the times. Then we head back to medieval “workplace safety”, which mostly meant “try not to die”. A skeleton found with more than 160 fractures is being linked to a trebuchet accident, which makes grim sense once you remember these machines were built to launch massive projectiles with terrifying force. If you ever find a time machine, here’s the advice: do not stand near the trebuchet. Finally, we jump to WWII, where sugar rationing wasn’t a wellness trend, it was scarcity management. Research suggests that lower sugar intake in the first 1,000 days of life may be linked to reduced risk of chronic disease later on, including some serious conditions.  So that’s the week: flight trackers as doomsday tea leaves, a medieval death that reads like a physics demo, and a reminder that early nutrition matters more than we like to admit.   CHAPTER MARKERS: 00:00 Intro 00:36 Disasters Seen From Above 02:06 Where To Survive Apocalypse 03:54 Resilience Factors Explained 07:29 Best Countries Ranked 11:24 Siege Trauma Mystery 18:29 Trebuchet War Wolf 20:35 Connectome Explained 22:30 Worm Brain Fly Body 25:56 Sugar Rationing Natural Experiment   SOURCES: https://www.instagram.com/kcimc/ https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15598276261480005 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/gch2.70146 https://ews.kylemcdonald.net/?_bhlid=d6149a8e5d8c3473cfbd98e21719efed7038cc8b http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/15598276261480005 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.20.713233v1?_bhlid=3e0f11221a39630a4b2eb199e38b0c5629f0d202 https://www.science.org/content/article/shattered-skeleton-scottish-castle-first-confirmed-death-trebuchet  https://apple.news/ASjFebnlsTH2yjUMlNtOZWg https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-asymmetric-brain/201907/the-surprising-neuroscience-pigeon-intelligence https://www.sciencealert.com/these-babies-grew-up-with-strict-sugar-limits-decades-later-the-results-are-dramatic See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Doomsday flight trackers, trebuchet trauma, worm-flies and sugar-rationed babies

  2. Aug 25

    Chicken-powered nukes, lab-grown mini brains and the thalidomide-blocking badass

    This week’s line-up is a perfect reminder that science is not a neat little march of progress. It’s more like a grab bag where you pull out “chicken-powered nuclear landmines”, “mini brains that can sense time”, “one woman quietly preventing a medical catastrophe” and a misinformation spiral about circumcision and autism, all in the same episode. During the Cold War, the British came up with a plan called ‘Operation Blue Peacock’, which involved burying atomic landmines in West Germany as a deterrent against a Soviet invasion. The problem was winter. Electronics and trigger mechanisms don’t love freezing temperatures and someone needed a way to keep the bomb warm enough to function. So the proposed solution was… chickens. As in, live poultry being placed inside the casing as biological heaters. Then we jump to the present, where in a Matrix-like manoeuvre, scientists are growing “mini brain organoids” that model some aspects of human brain development. Recent work suggests these organoids can “record” the passage of time, in the sense that their activity changes in ways that reflect time-based patterns.  Following that, we hit one of those headlines that makes you blink twice: “Male circumcision doesn’t raise autism risk.” Which immediately raises the more important question, who decided that was a thing we needed to debunk in the first place? Thanks RFK Jr. The logic was basically “circumcision rates equal painkiller exposure”, which is a pretty heroic leap when you’re talking about something as complex as autism. Lastly, in the middle of that era, Frances Kelsey, working at the FDA, refused to approve thalidomide in the United States without stronger evidence of safety,  and her insistence on proper data prevented enormous harm. It’s a story of someone doing their job with a level of rigour that the system desperately needed. So that’s the week: nuclear deterrence warmed by chickens, mini brains that make us argue about ethics and language, a reminder that real heroism can look like paperwork, and a misinformation case study where a speculative idea got treated like a fact.    00:00 Introduction 00:36 Biowarfare 04:32 Operation Blue Peacock 06:49 Chickens Inside Nukes 09:06 Why The Plan Died 10:10 Brain Organoids Explained 12:55 Can Mini Brains Sense Time? 16:44 Circumcision Autism Shock 21:37 Thalidomide FDA Standoff 27:30 Kelsey’s Legacy 29:52 Conclusion   SOURCES: https://www.travelpulse.com/news/airlines-airports/worlds-largest-electric-aircraft-completes-first-flight https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10877-x https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Oldham_Kelsey https://www.futurity.org/circumcision-autism-risk-3342752/ https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2852526#google_vignette https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wfjXnQ_0wmI https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/21/fact-checking-rfk-jrs-false-claim-linking-autism-to-circumcision https://researchcentre.army.gov.au/library/australian-army-journal-aaj/number-1-july-1948/biological-warfare https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-developed-chicken-warmed-nuclear-landmines-2016-11 https://www.iflscience.com/in-the-1950s-the-uk-tried-to-make-a-nuclear-bomb-filled-with-live-chickens-77749 https://www.sciencealert.com/psychopathic-tendencies-are-linked-to-microbes-inside-your-body-study-reveals https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-026-04052-z See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Chicken-powered nukes, lab-grown mini brains and the thalidomide-blocking badass

  3. Aug 18

    River bomb archaeology, AI viruses and Viagra cancer cures

    This week’s science news is a perfect example of the universe having a weird sense of timing. The Danube River hits record low water levels and suddenly Europe starts coughing up skeletons, WWII war relics, and Roman engineering like it’s doing a historical clear-out. If you’re into archaeological discoveries, ancient history, and the climate change impacts hiding in plain sight, this episode will be right up your alley. We dig into what the shrinking Danube is revealing, from a Wehrmacht motorcycle and German military remains in Hungary to the reappearance of the Constantine Bridge foundations in Bulgaria. It’s fascinating, grim, and a solid reminder that extreme drought and low rivers don’t just change ecosystems; they change what history we can literally see. Then we jump straight into modern science fiction: AI-designed viruses. Researchers used artificial intelligence to design viral genomes, creating bacteriophages that target bacteria like E. coli, and a small number of those AI-generated viruses actually worked. It’s exciting for medicine and antibiotic alternatives, but it also raises big biosecurity and ethics questions about what happens when powerful biotech tools get easier to use. And finally, Viagra shows up with a surprise side quest into cancer research. Studies suggest Sildenafil may be linked to better survival outcomes in men who later develop cancer, especially when combined with statins, possibly by limiting cholesterol pathways cancer cells use to spread (but yes, it’s correlation, not a DIY treatment plan). So that’s the week: Danube archaeology, AI virus design, and Viagra in oncology conversations it was never meant to be part of.   CHAPTER MARKERS 00:00 Introduction 00:32 The Danube and Nuclear Plants 04:04 Low River Reveals Mammoth 04:31 Wartime Wrecks and Remains 07:41 Constantine Bridge Unearthed 11:31 Mohenjo-daro Inequality Math 17:56 AI Designed Viruses 23:53 Science Upside vs Risk 28:37 Viagra and Cancer Link   SOURCES: https://www.routledge.com/Cities-and-Citadels-An-Archaeology-of-Inequality-and-Economic-Growth/Green-Wilkinson-Wilkinson-Highcock-Leppard/p/book/9781032024851 https://www.sciencealert.com/having-rich-friends-when-you-re-young-increases-your-income-later-in-life https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2026.10359 https://www.sciencealert.com/worlds-richest-10-are-costing-earth-trillions-study-finds https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2026/research/world-first-city-prospered-wealth-gap-shrank/ https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/06/science/ai-viruses-bacteria-arc.html https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2237126100 https://oncologynews.com.au/editors-choice/could-viagra-help-slow-cancer-spread-study-uncovers-unexpected-anti-metastatic-mechanism/ https://apple.news/AB6vZqjhISTuuD8pHMq1aKg https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Lysosome https://futurism.com/science-energy/european-drought-heat-wave-climate-change-danube-roman-ruins https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/low-danube-water-levels-bulgaria-expose-roman-era-bridge-2026-08-06/ https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/31/climate/shrinking-rivers-reveal-past-relics-in-europe https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/mammoth-remains-revealed-bulgaria-after-danube-water-levels-hit-record-low-2026-07-29/ https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/31/climate/shrinking-rivers-reveal-past-relics-in-europe https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/aug/03/europe-heatwave-wildfires-migration-ceuta-spain-latest-news-updates https://archaeologymag.com/2026/08/roman-altar-dedicated-to-jupiter-danube/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    River bomb archaeology, AI viruses and Viagra cancer cures

  4. Aug 13

    Snakes have necks, giant sperm physics and fungus fashion

    Someone once described a snake as “a tail with a face”, and honestly, it’s hard to unsee it. Snakes look like pure commitment to the tube lifestyle, with very little going on besides forward motion and mild judgement. Except a 2015 study basically ruined the idea that snakes are neckless noodles by pointing out they do have a neck, it’s just short. From snakes we zigzag into sperm gigantism, which is exactly what it sounds like and exactly what you wish it wasn’t. Some species produce sperm so long it becomes a genuine physics and storage problem. Then we jump into the world of living textiles, where fungi are being used to create materials that can self-repair and transform. The star here is Cordyceps militaris, which already sounds like it should come with a hazard symbol. The pitch is genuinely cool. You can grow materials, engineer colour using yeast, and make textiles that biodegrade fast, like within 40 days in the right conditions. Still, the idea that your clothes could heal themselves is tempting. It’s just a shame the same feature might also mean they can quietly disappear. We finish with the global happiness report, because after snakes and sperm and fungus pants, we deserve a palate cleanser. And yes, Finland is back at the top because it’s an overachiever apparently. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 02:03 Spine Regions Explained 03:11 Snakes Are Not Tails 08:23 Physics Of Giant Sperm 14:09 World Happiness Rankings 18:29 How Happiness Is Measured 22:36 Trust and Lost Wallets 24:02 Why Finland Wins 26:46 Living Fungal Textiles 32:27 Self Cleaning and Biodegrading Clothes 36:55 Imaginarium of Tears 40:49 Wrap Up    SOURCES https://media.springernature.com/original/springer-static/esm/art:10.1038/s41567-026-03305-4/MediaObjects/41567_2026_3305_MOESM2_ESM.mov) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-026-02428-5?ref=404media.co https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-026-03305-4?ref=404media.co https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/287/1935/20201661/85862/Exceptional-preservation-of-reproductive-organs https://theconversation.com/snakes-arent-simple-tubes-their-bodies-have-five-regions-including-a-short-neck-288904 https://www.newscientist.com/article/2533390-what-the-worlds-happiest-countries-can-teach-us-about-joyful-living/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2581227-clothes-made-from-living-fungi-can-clean-and-repair-themselves/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Snakes have necks, giant sperm physics and fungus fashion

  5. Aug 6

    Cannibals, MRI snuggle sacks and sex inside a whale

    Is there any evidence-based reason cannibalism shouldn’t make a comeback? It’s a question that really should come with a warning label, but we couldn’t resist digging into it properly this week. We’ve got researchers running the numbers on human-eating, rats in MRI “snuggle sacks” while tripping on mescaline, ants living their best fake-queen lives thanks to a tapeworm, and an eel story that is both medically relevant and spiritually scarring. We also take a quick detour into the delicate art of scanning animal brains without turning the whole experiment into a panic response, plus a reminder that humans have always been weird about big animals (including the time people could literally walk into a whale’s mouth, until they ruined it for everyone). So that’s the week: cannibalism analysed like a spreadsheet problem, parasites cosplaying queens, and a cautionary tale that should permanently retire “DIY constipation remedies” as a concept. Stay curious, stay critical, and for the love of all that is holy, keep the eels in the water.   CHAPTER MARKERS 00:00 Introduction 00:28 Should We Be Cannibals? 02:43 Math Model Approach 04:11 Disease Chain Risks 05:42 Kuru And Prions 07:19 Limits And Social Payoffs 08:34 Anthropic: Rare Books AI Scanning 10:53 Destroying Books To Digitise 14:59 Mescaline Rats In MRI 20:52 Rats Head Posts Training 22:36 Other Species Training 24:57 Malm Blue Whale Exhibit 30:10 Cordyceps Ant Zombies 31:01 Tapeworm Queen Ants 34:58 Orcas Fear Pilot Whales 35:46 Eel Medical Oddity   SOURCES: https://www.bnr.nl/nieuws/tech-innovatie/10604219/tweedehandsboekverkopers-slaan-alarm-ai-bedrijven-kopen-obscure-boeken-op-om-te-versnipperen https://esawebb.org/ https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2607.09460 https://www.sciencealert.com/thermodynamics https://www.sciencealert.com/amazing-footage-shows-how-eels-escape-death-after-being-swallowed https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijscr.2024.110401 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0039-6060(03)00076-X https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmoid_colon https://www.sciencealert.com/why-you-dont-faint-every-time-you-stand-even-though-you-should https://www.sciencealert.com/harmful-bacteria-can-trigger-pain-in-your-gut-and-now-we-know-how https://bsky.app/profile/jordantyranny.bsky.social/post/3mrsiprbgac2k https://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/33/gronberg_magnusson.php https://www.404media.co/ai-companies-are-buying-tons-of-old-books-because-theyre-free-of-ai-slop/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter https://www.sciencealert.com/mathematics-reveals-why-human-cannibalism-keeps-reappearing https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9017993/ https://www.sciencealert.com/a-hallucinogenic-compound-found-in-cacti-may-rewire-the-brains-sensory-filter https://www.sciencealert.com/a-wild-parasite-makes-ants-live-longer-and-tricks-others-into-worshipping-them-scientists-finally-know-how See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Cannibals, MRI snuggle sacks and sex inside a whale

  6. Jul 29

    Invention of the wheelie suitcase, orphan-powered vaccines and the Barbie drug

    This week’s line-up is a reminder that humans will do anything except choose the obvious option straight away. We’ve got a wheelie suitcase that was probably invented by a woman, then ignored until a man made it respectable, plus a smallpox vaccine rollout that sounds like a historical thriller, and a drug that went from medical research to TikTok tan hack with a side of “please don’t”. First up, the wheelie suitcase. It’s such a simple idea you’d think it would have been embraced instantly, but apparently rolling your own bag was once seen as soft, feminine, and not what a “proper” man would do when he could haul it like a martyr. The suitcase didn’t change, the story around it did. Then we head into smallpox, where public health was never just science, it was logistics with a pulse. The Balmis Expedition kept cowpox alive across an ocean by passing it through a chain of orphan children, which is horrifying now and was still pretty intense then, but it helped deliver vaccination where refrigeration didn’t exist. And finally, the “Barbie drug”. Melanotan II was developed with a serious purpose, but online it got rebranded into a shortcut to a tan, complete with side effects that are not cute and risks that don’t fit neatly into an influencer caption. Different centuries, same theme: culture gets involved, and suddenly the obvious, the safe, and the sensible are no longer the default.   CHAPTER MARKERS 00:00 Introduction 00:28 Gendered Tech History 01:55 Wheelie Suitcase Mystery 06:16 Sexism Blocks Adoption 13:17 Masculinity Shapes Innovation 14:42 Smallpox Devastation 19:58 Balmis Expedition Challenge 21:26 Orphans As Vaccine Carriers 25:08 Tokyo Half Pants Heat 27:05 Speeding And Emissions 29:11 Tanning Drug Priapism 36:41 Influencer Surveillance Stunts 39:09 Fitbit AI Coach  43:22 AI Health Advice Gone Wrong   SOURCES: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variolation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inoculation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Jenner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowpox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campeche https://www.linkedin.com/in/bharat-jayaprakash-351b26159/ https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/could-your-smartphone-be-the-secret-to-cutting-vehicle-emissions-without-compromising-traffic-speed-or-safety/ https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/will-high-gas-prices-lower-carbon-emissions/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19329842/ https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/obeying-the-speed-limit-would-save-57000-tons-of-carbon-a-day-it-would-cost-you-54-seconds/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=heres-how-everyday-drivers-can-cut-tons-of-carbon-emissions-in-under-a-minute https://www.nature.com/articles/s44458-026-00100-3 https://bsky.app/profile/molly.wiki/post/3mr4cworzeu2g https://www.404media.co/ai-companies-are-buying-tons-of-old-books-because-theyre-free-of-ai-slop/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter https://www.sciencealert.com/new-study-reveals-why-ancient-roman-concrete-keeps-getting-stronger https://www.sciencealert.com/dermatologists-alarmed-by-concerning-injectable-tan-trend https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jun/24/mystery-of-wheelie-suitcase-how-gender-stereotypes-held-back-history-of-invention See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Invention of the wheelie suitcase, orphan-powered vaccines and the Barbie drug

  7. Jul 21

    Pig Orgasms, Placebo Power and How iPhones are Ruining Sex

    This week we went from “surely that can’t be true” to “oh… that’s actually happening”. We fact check the legendary pig orgasm claim, then get weirdly hopeful about placebo pills that work even when you’re told they’re fake. From there, we look at research that points a finger at the iPhone era for a chunk of the fertility slide, and what that might really be measuring in modern life. Then we’re back on humanity’s favourite hobby, trying to control the weather, now rebranded as “weather jiu jitsu”. We finish with a satellite reality check, because apparently we’re speed running our way to a sky full of moving dots. If you like your science with a side of disbelief, this one’s for you.   CHAPTER MARKERS   00:00 Wild Orgasm Facts 01:05 Guinness Pig Claim 01:45 Meet the Hosts 03:03 Darwinian Doubts 05:50 Fact Checking Begins 06:08 Boar Taint Explained 07:37 Collecting Semen Methods 10:33 Four Ejaculation Phases 11:44 Verdict and Takeaways 12:42 iPhone Baby Bust 14:55 How the Study Works 19:00 Placebos and Aging 20:25 Open vs Deceptive Placebo 21:54 Open Placebo Ethics 22:17 Study Design Breakdown 22:43 Results That Shocked 24:16 Why Placebos Work 24:55 Open Placebos Everywhere 27:26 Weather Control Obsession 28:55 Weather Jiu Jitsu Explained 33:17 Nudging Storms Risks 35:50 Satellite Boom Warning 39:19 Night Sky Light Pollution 40:42 Governance and Fixes 42:34 Wrap Up and Contact   SOURCES: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJNwAKSL17s https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2607/ https://journals.plos.org/water/article?id=10.1371/journal.pwat.0000562&ref=404media.co https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0349765&ref=404media.co https://www.nber.org/papers/w35310 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/9/1665 https://apple.news/AtTrEygKCQkCxuXk4Sb6Ojg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boar_taint https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/farms-fishing-forestry/agriculture/animal/industries/pigs/breed/boars/collect See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Pig Orgasms, Placebo Power and How iPhones are Ruining Sex

  8. Jul 14

    Rod's Best Of: The Experience Machine, Havana Syndrome, Venting Makes you Angrier and Boring People

    Will’s gone walkabout, so Rod’s raided the archives and pulled out four of his favourite segments for you to enjoy. You’ll get a philosophical gut punch about the Experience Machine and why a perfect fake life still feels wrong, a genuinely weird global mystery with Havana Syndrome and the uncomfortable question of what’s actually causing it, plus the bad news that venting might be making you angrier, not calmer. Then we finish with the surprisingly brutal social cost of being labelled “boring”, and why that stereotype sticks harder than it should. Will’s back next week. Probably with a snake in one hand and a chunk of Antarctic ice in the other.   CHAPTER MARKERS 00:00 Just Rod Here 00:55 Nozick Experience Machine 03:37 Would You Plug In 04:50 Why Authenticity Matters 08:50 Havana Syndrome Origins 11:25 Weapon Theories and Reports 14:41 Norwegian Microwave Test 21:46 Official Flip Flops Summary 23:25 Why Venting Feels Good 24:25 Venting Myth Busted 25:57 Meta Analysis Breakdown 27:29 Calm Down Techniques 28:48 Jogging Makes It Worse 31:14 Why We Love Anger 32:42 Playful Exercise Exception 33:37 Boring People Study 34:28 Boring Jobs And Traits 36:29 Escape Boring Conversations 40:57 Pay To Hang Out 43:44 Stereotypes And Wrap Up   SOURCES: https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/life/2024/04/13/april-11-boring-day https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/Why-Is-April-11,-1954,-the-Most-Boring-Day-in-History#:~:text=Using%20an%20algorithm%20to%20scan,who%20was%20born%20that%20day https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/seven-thought-experiments-thatll-make-you-question-everything/ https://slate.com/technology/2014/07/rokos-basilisk-the-most-terrifying-thought-experiment-of-all-time.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/02/14/havana-syndrome-cia-norway-experiment/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havana_syndrome https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pentagon-reportedly-testing-radio-wave-device-linked-to-havana-syndrome/ https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/13/politics/havana-syndrome-device-pentagon-hsi See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Rod's Best Of: The Experience Machine, Havana Syndrome, Venting Makes you Angrier and Boring People
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About

From tales of historical idiocracy and scientific genius to weird and wacky cultural phenomena, Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant are here to take you on a wild conversational journey, deep diving into the crevices of science, history and culture that you never knew existed. 

Information

  • Creator
    A Little Bit Of Science
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    445
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 A Little Bit Of Science
  • Show Website
    A Little Bit Of Science

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