In this episode, Nick details two of the weirdest and wildest ways the Earth could be destroyed. Not the end of humankind or civilization as we know it--the end of the planet itself! Then, Dave reveals early Homo sapiens were not the only intelligent life on Earth. In fact, they shared the planet with at least seven other species of hominids. But what happened to them?

This episode was recorded before a live audience at the Flying Fox Tavern in Queens, NY, on April 19, 2026. The sound quality is surprisingly good this time, but you'll still want to beware of the occasional cocktail shaker of death!

Also, there was a slideshow for the audience that accompanied the episode. If you'd like to see those slides, they can be found here: https://www.nicholaskaufmann.com/spooky-science-lab-live-2/

Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/spooky-science-lab

Hosted by Nicholas Kaufmann and David Wellington
Edited by David Wellington
Additional voices by Jennifer Dikes and Alexa Antopol
Logo by Errick Nunnally
Theme song "Phantom Fun" by Jonathan Boyle

Connect with us on social media at Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email us at contact@spookysciencelab.com!

In this episode, Nick tells the tale of hunters in Iowa in 1933 catching rabbits with strange black horns. Horned rabbits were seen again in Colorado in 2025. What's happening, and what do these horned rabbits have to do with the American myth of the jackalope? Then, Dave examines what keeps galaxies from breaking apart. The answer is gravity from dark matter. But where does dark matter come from, and if we can't see it, how do we know it's there?

Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/spooky-science-lab

Hosted by Nicholas Kaufmann and David Wellington
Edited by David Wellington
Additional voices by Jennifer Dikes and Alexa Antopol
Logo by Errick Nunnally
Theme song "Phantom Fun" by Jonathan Boyle

Connect with us on social media at Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email us at contact@spookysciencelab.com!

In this episode, Nick reveals the shocking surprise explorers discovered in a cave on the Greece-Albania border: the world's biggest spiderweb, home to over 100,000 spiders and part of a fascinating and bizarre ecosystem. Then, Dave examines the origin of the inner planets of the solar system and the very real possibility that there might have been life on other planets than Earth. But if there was, what happened to it?

Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/spooky-science-lab

Hosted by Nicholas Kaufmann and David Wellington
Edited by David Wellington
Additional voices by Jennifer Dikes and Alexa Antopol
Logo by Errick Nunnally
Theme song "Phantom Fun" by Jonathan Boyle

Connect with us on social media at Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email us at contact@spookysciencelab.com!

In this episode, Nick introduces us to a rare and unusual caterpillar, one that's carnivorous, cannibalistic, hides in spiderwebs, and makes armor out of the bones of its prey. Then, Dave reveals the origin of the moon. If you think you already know how the moon formed, the truth is weirder and wilder than you thought!

Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/spooky-science-lab

Hosted by Nicholas Kaufmann and David Wellington
Edited by David Wellington
Additional voices by Jennifer Dikes and Alexa Antopol
Logo by Errick Nunnally
Theme song "Phantom Fun" by Jonathan Boyle

Connect with us on social media at Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email us at contact@spookysciencelab.com!

In this episode, Nick takes a look at the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 and the string of untimely deaths among those present that immediately followed. Was it a supernatural curse or was something else to blame? Then, Dave introduces us to NASA's Parker Solar Probe, an incredible but little-known feat of engineering built to withstand millions of degrees as it passes through the sun's corona.

Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/spooky-science-lab

Hosted by Nicholas Kaufmann and David Wellington
Edited by David Wellington
Additional voices by Jennifer Dikes and Alexa Antopol
Logo by Errick Nunnally
Theme song "Phantom Fun" by Jonathan Boyle

Connect with us on social media at Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email us at contact@spookysciencelab.com!

In this episode, Nick takes us on a roundup of newly discovered deep-ocean life. New marine species are being discovered all the time. Here are three of the strangest examples. Then, Dave talks about antimatter. What is it, where does it come from, and perhaps most importantly, what really happens when it comes in contact with ordinary matter?

Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/spooky-science-lab

Hosted by Nicholas Kaufmann and David Wellington
Edited by David Wellington
Additional voices by Jennifer Dikes and Alexa Antopol
Logo by Errick Nunnally
Theme song "Phantom Fun" by Jonathan Boyle

Connect with us on social media at Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email us at contact@spookysciencelab.com!

In this episode, Nick relates the real-life horror that befell the villages around Lake Nyos in Cameroon in 1986. Without warning, over 1,700 people died mysteriously in the night, while simultaneously the lake's water turned blood red. What caused this bizarre tragedy? Then, Dave probes the surprising existence of planets in stable orbits around black holes, known as "blanets." Could they support life, and if so, what would it be like to live with a black hole for a sun?

Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/spooky-science-lab

Hosted by Nicholas Kaufmann and David Wellington
Edited by David Wellington
Additional voices by Jennifer Dikes and Alexa Antopol
Logo by Errick Nunnally
Theme song "Phantom Fun" by Jonathan Boyle

Connect with us on social media at Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email us at contact@spookysciencelab.com!

In this episode, Nick reports on a rare hallucinogenic mushroom from southwestern China that, impossibly, gives everyone who eats it the exact same hallucination: the sudden appearance of hundreds of tiny grinning, dancing human beings! Then, Dave explores the fascinating scientific concept of space tunnels, lanes of hot, sparse plasma that connect vast areas of empty space into a gigantic network. Can they be used for interstellar travel?

Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/spooky-science-lab

Hosted by Nicholas Kaufmann and David Wellington
Edited by David Wellington
Additional voices by Jennifer Dikes and Alexa Antopol
Logo by Errick Nunnally
Theme song "Phantom Fun" by Jonathan Boyle

Connect with us on social media at Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email us at contact@spookysciencelab.com!