The tradition of carving jack-o'-lanterns around Halloween goes back centuries to a folktale about a stingy man who outwits the devil. Learn the tale (and why pumpkins weren't the original carving vegetables) in this classic episode of BrainStuff.

 Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The tradition of carving jack-o'-lanterns around Halloween goes back centuries to a folktale about a stingy man who outwits the devil. Learn the tale (and why pumpkins weren't the original carving vegetables) in this classic episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com">https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com</a>

Whether the topic is popcorn or particle physics, you can count on BrainStuff to explore -- and explain -- the everyday science in the world around us.

BrainStuff

BrainStuff Classics: Why Do We Carve Pumpkins Around Halloween?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/2301fc98-9836-4513-9d6a-ae3200313819/transcript

The idea of General George Custer's deadly military blunder being a heroic last stand was constructed over decades to encourage U.S. colonization of the West. Learn how Anheuser-Busch helped in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://history.howstuffworks.com/american-history/custers-last-stand.htm

The idea of General George Custer's deadly military blunder being a heroic last stand was constructed over decades to encourage U.S. colonization of the West. Learn how Anheuser-Busch helped in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://history.howstuffworks.com/american-history/custers-last-stand.htm

How Did Beer Help Sell the Myth of Custer's Last Stand?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/8761597e-cde0-460f-a4c4-b44301790350/transcript

When organisms like fireflies, fungi, and fish glow with cold light, there's chemistry at work. Learn what we know (and don't know!) about bioluminescence -- including how humans are harnessing it -- in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/animal-facts/bioluminescence.htm/printable

When organisms like fireflies, fungi, and fish glow with cold light, there's chemistry at work. Learn what we know (and don't know!) about bioluminescence -- including how humans are harnessing it -- in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/animal-facts/bioluminescence.htm/printable

How Does Bioluminescence Work?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/0830c4ff-5cfb-4aea-8a3e-b44301790353/transcript

Around the year 1800, Swiss clockmaker Henri Maillardet created a mechanical doll that moves like a person as it produces drawings and poems with a pen on paper -- it's programmed for seven in total, without having any electrical parts. Learn how it and other automata work in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/maillardets-automaton.htm

Around the year 1800, Swiss clockmaker Henri Maillardet created a mechanical doll that moves like a person as it produces drawings and poems with a pen on paper -- it's programmed for seven in total, without having any electrical parts. Learn how it and other automata work in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/maillardets-automaton.htm

How Is Maillardet's Automaton Still Wowing Us After 200 Years?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/6df0eb48-2fb5-4314-8e48-b43d000f1ba1/transcript

BrainStuff Classics: Why Do We Carve Pumpkins Around Halloween?

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