Recreational Science

The ideal booty call and a potent jet lag drug for hamsters

What do men and women look for in an ideal partner for a one night stand, friends with benefits relationship, and marriage? What’s the best way to find out? An economics experiment, of course. Do hamsters experience jet lag? Do hamsters respond to Viagra? Does Viagra cure jet lag in hamsters? In the season 2 premier, Lu and Tirth catchup on all the life changing events that took place during the offseason and discuss giving people “mate dollars” to build their ideal mate and using Viagra to treat jet lag in hamsters. Timestamps: * 0:00 Intro * 0:52 Big updates from the offseason * 6:45 Booty call study * 19:09 Jet lag study * 26:54 Let’s read some mail * 29:22 What did you learn today, outro Article links: * March et al., 2018. Netflix and Chill? What Sex Differences Can Tell Us About Mate Preferences in (Hypothetical) Booty-Call Relationships. Evolutionary Psychology. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1474704918812138 * Agostino et al., 2007. Sildenafil accelerates reentrainment of circadian rhythms after advancing light schedules. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0703388104 You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found! Follow us on social media @RecSciPod! * YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod * Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod * TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod * BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/recscipod.bsky.social * Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod Theme music by Dasein: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)

RecSciPod season 2 announcement

Season 2 will premier on May 19, 2026. We're fairly sure. Probably. Who knows? You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found! Follow us on social media @RecSciPod! * YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod * Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod * TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod * BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/recscipod.bsky.social * Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod Theme music by Dasein: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)

Bacon, sports cars, rollercoasters, knuckle cracking, and more (RecSci Quick Bites)

In this bonus RecSci Quick Bites episode, Lu and Tirth discuss a medical use of bacon, the relationship between penis size and sports cars, the effectiveness of rollercoasters in passing kidney stones, the long-term effects of knuckle cracking, surname sharing amongst economist coauthors, the jollity of visiting mall Santas, and the best scientific abstract ever written. Timestamps: * 0:00 Intro * 0:57 Bacon study * 3:50 Sports car study * 6:48 Rollercoaster study * 8:25 Knuckle cracking study * 10:35 Author surname study * 13:44 Mall Santa study * 16:05 Best abstract ever * 17:08 Outro Article links: * Humphreys et al., 2011. Nasal packing with strips of cured pork as treatment for uncontrollable epistaxis in a patient with Glanzmann thrombasthenia. Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/000348941112001107 * Richardson et al., 2023. Small Penises and Fast Cars: Evidence for a Psychological Link. Psyarxiv. https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/uy7ph_v1 * Mitchell & Wartinger, 2016. Validation of a Functional Pyelocalyceal Renal Model for the Evaluation of Renal Calculi Passage While Riding a Roller Coaster. Journal of Osteopathic Medicine. https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.7556/jaoa.2016.128/html * Unger, 1998. Does knuckle cracking lead to arthritis of the fingers? Arthritis and Rheumatism. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/1529-0131(199805)41:5%3C949::AID-ART36%3E3.0.CO;2-3 * Goodmen et al., 2015. A Few Goodmen: Surname-Sharing Economist Coauthors. Economics Inquiry. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ecin.12167 * Trainkaus, 2004. Visiting Santa: an informal look. Psychological Reports. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10.2466/pr0.95.2.587-588 * Berry et al., 2011. Can apparent superluminal neutrino speeds be explained as a quantum weak measurement? Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1751-8113/44/49/492001 You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found! Follow us on social media @RecSciPod! * YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod * Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod * TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod * BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/recscipod.bsky.social * Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod Theme music by Dasein: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)

Bad knives, self-scoping, baby size, Olympics, and more (RecSci Quick Bites)

In this bonus episode of RecSci Quick Bites, Lu and Tirth discuss more funny studies they didn’t get to talk about at length during season one. These include making knives out of poop, performing colonoscopy on yourself, reasons why babies are so small, the happiness of Olympic medalists, the worst time to consume chili, zebra-striped mannequins, and giving it to Reviewer 2. Timestamps: * 0:00 Intro * 1:50 Knife study * 3:37 Self-scoping study * 5:44 Babies study * 7:56 Olympian study * 10:57 Chili study * 12:28 Zebra study * 15:31 Reviewer 2 study * 18:22 Outro Article links: * Eren et al., 2019. Experimental replication shows knives manufactured from frozen human feces do not work. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X19305371?via%3Dihub * Horiuchi & Nakayama, 2006. Colonoscopy in the sitting position: lessons learned from self-colonoscopy by using a small-caliber, variable-stiffness colonoscope. Gastointenstinal Endoscopy. https://www.giejournal.org/article/S0016-5107(05)03012-9/ * Ellstrand, 1982. Why are juveniles smaller than their parents? Evolution. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1558-5646.1983.tb05637.x * Medvec et al., 1995. When Less Is More: Counterfactual Thinking and Satisfaction Among Olympic Medalists. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-3514.69.4.603 * Gupta, 2007. Red hot chilli consumption is harmful in patients operated for anal fissure - a randomized, double-blind, controlled study. Digestive Surgery. https://karger.com/dsu/article-abstract/24/5/354/116015/Red-Hot-Chilli-Consumption-Is-Harmful-in-Patients * Horvath et al., 2019. Striped bodypainting protects against horseflies. Royal Society Open Science. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/6/1/181325/94617/Striped-bodypainting-protects-against * Peterson, 2020. Dear reviewer 2: Go F’ Yourself. Social Science Quarterly. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ssqu.12824 You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found! Follow us on social media @RecSciPod! * YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod * Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod * TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod * BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/recscipod.bsky.social * Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod Theme music by Dasein: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)

Lady bugs, toilet seats, Japan, promiscuity, and more (RecSci Quick Bites)

In this bonus episode, Lu and Tirth do some RecSci Quick Bites or funny studies they didn’t get to discuss at length during season one. These include an unusual finding on colonoscopy, ergonomic toilet seats, Japan’s Phillips curve, the misuse of the word promiscuity, the deal with birds, fruit bat fellatio part 2, and a case of untreated writer’s block. This episode is part of the 4th edition of Podcasthon! This is the world’s largest podcast charity initiative, bringing together podcasters globally to raise awareness for important causes. Doctors Without Borders: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/ Podcasthon: https://podcasthon.org/ Timestamps: * 0:00 Intro * 2:27 Colonoscopy study * 4:04 Toilet seat study * 5:59 Japan study * 7:02 Promiscuity study * 8:47 Birds study * 10:05 Fruit bat study * 12:00 Writer’s block study * 13:01 Outro Article links: * Tahan et al., 2019. An Unusual Finding of a Ladybug on Screening Colonoscopy. ACG Case Reports Journal. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6791639/ * Lustig et al., 2018. Beware of the toilet: the risk for a deep tissue injury during toilet sitting. Journal of Tissue Viability. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965206X17300670?via%3Dihub * Smith, 2006. Japan’s Phillips Curve Looks Like Japan. Queen's Economics Department Working Paper No. 1083. http://qed.econ.queensu.ca/working_papers/papers/qed_wp_1083.pdf * Elgar et al., 2013. Promiscuous words. Frontiers in Zoology. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1742-9994-10-66 * Baldassarre, 2020. What’s the Deal with Birds? Scientific Journal of Research and Reviews. https://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/sillymolecules/birds.pdf * Maruthupandian et al., 2013. Cunnilingus apparently increases duration of copulation in the Indian flying fox, Pteropus giganteus. PLoS One. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0059743 * Upper, 1974. The unsuccessful self-treatment of a case of “writer's block.” Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1311997 You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found! Follow us on social media @RecSciPod! * YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod * Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod * TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod * BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/recscipod.bsky.social * Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod Theme music by Dasein: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)