Smooth Sailingn’t

Let's say your house is on fire. Bummer. Worse, the only sort of fluid you have handy to douse said flames is gasoline. Lots and lots of gasoline (that's your retirement gas, baby!). Is there some way you might be able to combine the two to save your domicile, or is your nest egg and your nest about to go up in smoke? Julian investigates. Meanwhile, special guest Vanna Tran looks in to radical weight loss schemes. Radical more in the in "whoa that's objectively a terrible idea" way and not so much in the "kowabunga" way. Vanna: "How little can a human *realistically be?" From Shane. Julian: "How much gasoline would it take to put out a house fire?" from Macks (The Gas Man) and selected by the patrons on Patreon. Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's a silly idea that popped into your head, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or a ridiculous musing about your favorite food? Whatever your question, we want to answer it—tell us! HOW TO ASK A QUESTION 🖥️ Submit on our website: thatsabsurdshow.com/ask ☎️ Leave a voicemail: (302) TAPE-SHO [+1-302-827-3746‬] 📬 E-mail questions to hello at thatsabsurdshow.com If we use your question we’ll give you a shout out in the episode. SIGNAL AWARD UPDATE! WE WON AN AWARD! Thanks to your votes, That's Absurd, Please Elaborate won a Silver Medal for the Best Science Podcast! That's bananas! We truly are failing upwards! WANT MORE US? SUPPORT THE SHOW! Want to help decide which questions we answer? Join our patreon patreon.com/thatsabsurdshow SOCIALS [[ FOLLOW OUR SHOW ]] Instagram: @ThatsAbsurdShow Threads: @ThatsAbsurdShow Bluesky: @thatsabsurdshow.com [[ FOLLOW JULIAN ]] Instagram: @Huggetout Threads: @Huggetout [[ FOLLOW TRACE ]] Instagram: @tracedominguez Threads: @tracedominguez BlueSky: @tracedominguez.com And don’t sleep on ThatsAbsurdShow.com. There you can browse images and videos we find during our research and listen to every episode of the show. CREDITS This episode of That's Absurd Please Elaborate was written by Trace Dominguez and Julian Huguet, edited by Kyle Sisk, and produced by all three of us with the support of our Patrons. Sabrina Capello is our Associate Producer/Editor/Social Media Maven. Special guest host this week from UC San Francisco was Vanna Tran. Theme Music by Epidemic Sound; learn more here: http://nebula.tv/epidemic Thanks for listening to That's Absurd Please Elaborate. We appreciate you! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our Sun is an absolutely RIDICULOUS power source, pumping out more energy every second than most of us can even begin to wrap our heads around. And while AA batteries are great for remotes, flashlights, and rolling around in that one drawer (you know the one), they have their limits. Trace and Julian crunch the numbers to see how our humble household batteries stack up against a Sun-like object, digging into the sheer scale of stellar energy production and what it would take to compete with a giant ball of nuclear fusion. Unsurprisingly, the gap between your local hardware store and the nearest star turns out to be a pretty big one. QUESTION Trace: "How many AA batteries would it take to power a sun-like object?" from Peter Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's a silly idea that popped into your head, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or a ridiculous musing about your favorite food? Whatever your question, we want to answer it—tell us! HOW TO ASK A QUESTION 🖥️ Submit on our website: thatsabsurdshow.com/ask ☎️ Leave a voicemail: (302) TAPE-SHO [+1-302-827-3746‬] 📬 E-mail questions to hello at thatsabsurdshow.com If we use your question we’ll give you a shout out in the episode. SIGNAL AWARD! We’re nominated for a Best Science Show Signal Award! Help us win by voting for our show with the link. Voting is open until October 15. https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/shows/genre/science WANT MORE US? SUPPORT THE SHOW! Want to help decide which questions we answer? Join our patreon patreon.com/thatsabsurdshow SOCIALS [[ FOLLOW OUR SHOW ]] Instagram: @ThatsAbsurdShow Threads: @ThatsAbsurdShow Bluesky: @thatsabsurdshow.com [[ FOLLOW JULIAN ]] Instagram: @Huggetout Threads: @Huggetout [[ FOLLOW TRACE ]] Instagram: @tracedominguez Threads: @tracedominguez BlueSky: @tracedominguez.com And don’t sleep on ThatsAbsurdShow.com. There you can browse images and videos we find during our research and listen to every episode of the show. CREDITS This episode of That's Absurd Please Elaborate was written by Trace Dominguez and Julian Huguet, edited by Kyle Sisk, and produced by all three of us with the support of our Patrons. Theme Music by Epidemic Sound; learn more here: http://nebula.tv/epidemic Thanks for listening to That's Absurd Please Elaborate. We appreciate you! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we bodily embrace spooky season by digging into the science of what happens when a body returns its borrowed flesh. From flesh-eating microbes and hungry scavengers to composting, cremation, and some surprisingly futuristic methods, Julian investigates the fastest ways for nature to reclaim our materials. Then, in typical Julian fashion, he ranks them by efficiency and cost-effectiveness, because who says decomposition can’t be optimized? It’s the best time of the year, people!!! QUESTION Julian: "What’s the most efficient way to decompose a human body?" from Julie Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's a silly idea that popped into your head, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or a ridiculous musing about your favorite food? Whatever your question, we want to answer it—tell us! HOW TO ASK A QUESTION 🖥️ Submit on our website: thatsabsurdshow.com/ask ☎️ Leave a voicemail: (302) TAPE-SHO [+1-302-827-3746‬] 📬 E-mail questions to hello at thatsabsurdshow.com If we use your question we’ll give you a shout out in the episode. SIGNAL AWARD! We’re nominated for a Best Science Show Signal Award! Help us win by voting for our show with the link. Voting is open until October 15. https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/shows/genre/science WANT MORE US? SUPPORT THE SHOW! Want to help decide which questions we answer? Join our patreon patreon.com/thatsabsurdshow SOCIALS [[ FOLLOW OUR SHOW ]] Instagram: @ThatsAbsurdShow Threads: @ThatsAbsurdShow Bluesky: @thatsabsurdshow.com [[ FOLLOW JULIAN ]] Instagram: @Huggetout Threads: @Huggetout [[ FOLLOW TRACE ]] Instagram: @tracedominguez Threads: @tracedominguez BlueSky: @tracedominguez.com And don’t sleep on ThatsAbsurdShow.com. There you can browse images and videos we find during our research and listen to every episode of the show. CREDITS This episode of That's Absurd Please Elaborate was written by Trace Dominguez and Julian Huguet, edited by Kyle Sisk, and produced by all three of us with the support of our Patrons. Theme Music by Epidemic Sound; learn more here: http://nebula.tv/epidemic Thanks for listening to That's Absurd Please Elaborate. We appreciate you! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When it comes to tiny insects, the ants (formicidae) are an incredible family of organisms. They can build complex structures, they’ve invented and practice agriculture, they work with The Avengers to fight multiversal-level threats … (I’m being told that last one is fictional, but I am still counting it). What no one has ever considered is: what happens when an ant is accelerated to a significant percentage of the speed of light? Don’t worry ANTonio BANTderas — we got you. This week, Trace answers Eddie’s ridiculous questions based on a popular meme, and together we dig (like ants, get it?!) into the amount of energy in their tiny exoskeletoned bodies, and even revisit a long-past episode for inspiration. QUESTION Trace: "How fast would an ant have to run to knock me over (or kill)?" from Eddie Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's a silly idea that popped into your head, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or a ridiculous musing about your favorite food? Whatever your question, we want to answer it—tell us! HOW TO ASK A QUESTION 🖥️ Submit on our website: thatsabsurdshow.com/ask ☎️ Leave a voicemail: (302) TAPE-SHO [+1-302-827-3746‬] 📬 E-mail questions to hello at thatsabsurdshow.com If we use your question we’ll give you a shout out in the episode. SIGNAL AWARD! We’re nominated for a Best Science Show Signal Award! Help us win by voting for our show with the link. Voting is open until October 15. https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/shows/genre/science WANT MORE US? SUPPORT THE SHOW! Want to support us and other indie creators? Join Nebula go.nebula.tv/thatsabsurdshow Want to help decide which questions we answer? Join our patreon patreon.com/thatsabsurdshow SOCIALS [[ FOLLOW OUR SHOW ]] Instagram: @ThatsAbsurdShow Threads: @ThatsAbsurdShow Bluesky: @thatsabsurdshow.com [[ FOLLOW JULIAN ]] Instagram: @Huggetout Threads: @Huggetout [[ FOLLOW TRACE ]] Instagram: @tracedominguez Threads: @tracedominguez BlueSky: @tracedominguez.com YouTube: youtube.com/@tracedominguez And don’t sleep on ThatsAbsurdShow.com. There you can browse images and videos we find during our research and listen to every episode of the show. CREDITS This episode of That's Absurd Please Elaborate was written by Trace Dominguez and Julian Huguet, edited by Kyle Sisk, and produced by all three of us with the support of our Patrons. Theme Music by Epidemic Sound; learn more here: http://nebula.tv/epidemic Thanks for listening to That's Absurd Please Elaborate. We appreciate you! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gelatin is a surprisingly strange material, especially when you stop serving it by the spoonful and start measuring it by the swimming pool. Julian looks into what would happen if someone took a running leap into a pool-sized serving of Jello, then digs into the surprisingly strange material itself. He and Trace explore why gelatin behaves so differently from both liquids and solids, what gives it its signature wobble, and the unexpectedly dark origins hiding beneath all those bright colors and fruity flavors. QUESTION Julian: "Let’s say I end up with a swimming pool full of Jello. What happens when I jump in?" from Lisa Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's a silly idea that popped into your head, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or a ridiculous musing about your favorite food? Whatever your question, we want to answer it—tell us! HOW TO ASK A QUESTION 🖥️ Submit on our website: thatsabsurdshow.com/ask ☎️ Leave a voicemail: (302) TAPE-SHO [+1-302-827-3746‬] 📬 E-mail questions to hello at thatsabsurdshow.com If we use your question we’ll give you a shout out in the episode. WANT MORE US? SUPPORT THE SHOW! Want to help decide which questions we answer? Join our patreon patreon.com/thatsabsurdshow SOCIALS [[ FOLLOW OUR SHOW ]] Instagram: @ThatsAbsurdShow Threads: @ThatsAbsurdShow Bluesky: @thatsabsurdshow.com [[ FOLLOW JULIAN ]] Instagram: @Huggetout Threads: @Huggetout [[ FOLLOW TRACE ]] Instagram: @tracedominguez Threads: @tracedominguez BlueSky: @tracedominguez.com And don’t sleep on ThatsAbsurdShow.com. There you can browse images and videos we find during our research and listen to every episode of the show. CREDITS This episode of That's Absurd Please Elaborate was written by Trace Dominguez and Julian Huguet, edited by Kyle Sisk, and produced by all three of us with the support of our Patrons. Theme Music by Epidemic Sound; learn more here: http://nebula.tv/epidemic Thanks for listening to That's Absurd Please Elaborate. We appreciate you! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.