It might not seem like the biggest deal in the world, but your child's dominant hand will help to shape how they experience the world. As soon as your little one has discovered they have hands, they're going to start experimenting with which one is their favourite. And watchful parents are looking out to see whether they have a right-hadner or a left-hander. It turns out that hand preference goes a lot futher than just what's in their sticky little fingers. It's a window into the structure and function of the brain itself.

Okay, maybe not everyone's relationship with their loved one is in the pan after having a child, but anecdotally and statistically, many parents find themselves facing relationship challenges with a little one in the mix.  Leila and Kim are no exceptions, and we share a very cathartic chat about how and why our marriages have changed, and what we can do about it. What to Expect in This Episode Every relationship is different, so Kim and Leila compare notes on how they came to wanting, and having children with their partners.

When it comes to feeding your baby, breastfeeding is often promoted as the best way to do it, if you can. It’s not always easy, and for many parents, it’s not even possible. There are several short term health benefits for baby, but many oft-repeated long-term advantages, like making baby smarter, and reducing the risk of childhood obesity, aren’t actually held up by science. However, one of the demonstrated but lesser-known benefits of breastfeeding is that it can have a positive impact on the mother’s health too. No, I’m not talking about…

As babies and toddlers learn to move around and experience the world, they're soon going to be accumulating injuries, whether from their own fingernails or from the inevitable bumps and scrapes of toddlerdom. But no sooner do those injuries appear, than they heal, uncannily quickly, and rarely leaving behind any scars at all. We dive into what's going in inside their tiny Wolverine bodies to give them this super-healing ability. What to Expect in This Episode As always, we start with a catchup about what's been going on in our lives this last week.

The impact of an earthquake on people and property depends not only on the earthquake's characteristics like magnitude and depth, but also on local soil conditions, which contribute to the so-call...

When your baby is a few months old, it's time to start facing down the next big milestone in your parenting journey: weaning them onto solid foods. But while the official guidance is clear, the advice you get from different people can vary. So when should you start the process? Right now, Kim is just about to start weaning, and Leila is shocked to discover that she and Felix have been at the solid foods game for over two years. So this is a great opportunity to compare notes on when is the right time to wean your baby, as well as some of the things to look out for in those early months.

Around three months after giving birth, many women are alarmed to find their hair starting to fall out. It's a kick in the teeth - just as beginning to feel more like yourself, you're hit with yet another wild and unexpected bodily change. Although this is a pretty ubiquitous anacdote shared among new mothers, the science - where it exists - tells us that it might not be a real phenomenon. In this episode, Leila and Kim dive into the pitiful research that has been done to figure out if postpartum hairloss is a real thing, and what might be causing it.

If you’ve spent any time around babies, chances are you’ve been on the receiving end of a milky surprise. Spit ups, posseting, or reflux… whatever you call it, it’s a messy but totally normal part of life with a baby. In fact, studies suggest that around half of all babies spit up regularly in their first year, although in my experience it’s probably closer to all of them. The good news is that for most babies, spit up is nothing to worry about. Here’s why it happens, when to call the doctor, and what you can do to keep the laundry pile under control.

Every now and then, I get to write about a topic that combines geology, history, art, and a little bit of mystery. One of my favourite examples of this is a SciShow video I wrote about azurite, a striking blue mineral that humans have been using to make art for thousands of years. Is this the most popular blue in all of history? Unlike many minerals that are prized for their sparkle or the metals they contain, azurite’s value lies in its colour. When crushed, it turns into a vivid blue powder that can be turned into pigment, and artists across the world have been doing exactly that since at least the time of the ancient Egyptians.

On average, one in every four pregnancies ends in loss, and yet miscarriage, stillbirth, and pregnancy loss are still taboo subjects in many cultures. As a result, women who go through it experience shame, guilt, and loneliness which is entirely a product of attitude, and not science. This Baby Loss awareness week, Kim and Leila cast a light on something that a significant proportion of women go through, but which is still hardly spoken of at all. What to Expect in This Episode Leila and Kim have had very different personal experiences with baby loss.

Mothers these days might be told that 'breast is best' when it comes to feeding their baby. But why is that the case, when infant formula has been an option for decades? What does that mean for mothers that struggle with their breastfeeding journey, and how does it affect a child in the short and long term? In this episode, Leila and Kim dive into the chemistry of breastmilk and infant formula, as well as the science and data behind the choices you make, and how it affects your baby.

Last week, a certain loudmouth in America told pregnant people to stop taking paracetamol (or “acetaminophen” or “Tylenol,” pick your flavour, they're all the same thing), claiming it might cause autism in their kids. That advice set off alarm bells everywhere. Expectant mothers have long been told that paracetamol is one of the safest over-the-counter options for managing pain or fever during pregnancy. But now that single “safe” drug is getting dragged into a storm of fear. Some mothers whose children are autistic may feel guilt or anxiety that a past choice “caused” their child’s autism.

Last year I was handed one of those rare and delightful projects as a science communicator: a deep-dive story that was as strange as it was true, and that went on to reach more than 6.5 million viewers on YouTube (so far!) The video: “An Ancient Roman Shipwreck May Explain the Universe”, was later named a Webby Award Honoree. It still feels surreal to type that. The story begins 2,000 years ago, when a Roman merchant ship, laden with more than 30 tonnes of lead ingots, sank off the coast of Sardinia.

When you’re baby-proofing your home, it feels like there’s danger lurking in every corner. Hot pans, sharp edges, cleaning sprays… and those mysterious little holes in the wall where the electricity lives. It’s no wonder so many parents rush to buy socket covers. They seem like an easy win: pop in some plastic, and your toddler can’t stick their fingers where they don’t belong. But here’s the surprising truth: in the UK, those socket covers don’t make things safer. In fact, they can actually make things more dangerous. UK Sockets Are Already Among the Safest…

Every so often, I come across a story in geology that reminds me how much of Earth we still don’t fully understand. Take the Younger Dryas: a sudden, sharp return to ice-age cold about 13,000 years ago. It coincided with the disappearance of mammoths, and with the vanishing of the Clovis people in North America. For decades, scientists have argued over what caused this dramatic cold snap. Was it ocean currents, volcanoes, or something more dramatic like an asteroid impact? That last idea got a huge boost in the 2010s, when radar surveys of Greenland revealed a vast, circular hole beneath the Hiawatha Glacier.

Social media can be a great tool for discovering new people and new things (including maybe this podcast and blog?!) but it has a dark side. The "algorithm" which determines exactly what social media content you see is a highly efficient beast of hyerconnectivity. It can reveal things about your inner wants, desires, and fears that you didn't even realse yourself. And if used indiscriminately, it can be damaging to the mental health of new parents. In this episode, Kim and Leila talk about how, since starting our parenting journeys, our social media feeds have been…

As a new parent, it’s easy to feel like every choice you make is under the microscope. Even something as simple as enjoying a glass of wine with dinner can spiral into questions: Is this safe? Will it affect my baby? Should I pump and dump? So, is it safe to drink alcohol while breastfeeding?The advice out there often feels contradictory. Some people will tell you that one drink is no problem, others will insist that you avoid alcohol entirely until you’ve weaned. The truth, as usual, lies somewhere in between.

On May 5th 2024, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook New Jersey. It was the first sizeable quake the region had seen in years, and it made headlines across the US. What struck me, though, was how different the response was compared to the west coast, where quakes of that size happen fairly often without much fuss. That contrast became the focus of a SciShow episode I wrote recently. On the surface, a 4.8 is a 4.8, no matter where it happens. But as I dug into the research, I was reminded that geology has a way of complicating even the neatest numbers.

When I look into my baby’s eyes, I can’t help but marvel at them. My husband swears they’re blue, while I’d call them more of a slate grey. But the truth is, whatever colour they look right now probably isn’t their final shade. Like many newborns with lighter skin, he was born with eyes that appear blue-grey, but they’ll likely change as the months go by. Most babies are born with blue or grey eyes Why Are Babies Born with Blue or Grey Eyes? The secret lies in melanin, the pigment that gives colour to our skin, hair, and eyes.

When I first became a mum, I found myself constantly Googling everything about babies: sleep, feeding, milestones, and the quirky little things I never expected. Because I’m a science communicator at heart, I couldn’t stop digging into the actual research behind those questions. That’s how Science Baby began. What started as a few fun TikTok videos quickly grew into a community of parents and carers who, like me, wanted evidence-based parenting science explained in a way that’s warm, funny, and relatable to real life. Why Start a Parenting Science Podcast?

Like many children, I was captivated by museum gift shops, especially the shelves of glittering geodes. Crack one open and you’re rewarded with a surprise display of crystals hidden inside. Those pocket-sized treasures, though, are nothing compared to the largest geode in the world – one so vast it could swallow the entire gift shop whole. The story begins in 1897 on South Bass Island, Ohio, where German-American winemaker Gustav Heineman had set up a vineyard. When he ordered a well to be dug to supply water for his vines, workers broke into a cavern 12 metres down.

Parenting today often feels like walking through a minefield of opinions. Whether it’s about how we feed our babies, whether we use car seat mirrors, or even whether a mum can enjoy a glass of wine while breastfeeding, there seems to be no shortage of strong voices ready to weigh in. If you’ve ever scrolled through the comment sections on parenting content (ours included!), you’ll know just how intense and judgmental these discussions can get. And for new parents, already balancing sleepless nights and a flood of anxieties, this judgment can cut deep.

At first glance, epidote might look like a perfectly ordinary rock: greenish, slightly glassy, nice enough to put on your bookshelf. But this mineral is far more than just decoration. Epidote could help unlock the mystery of life’s earliest origins on Earth, and perhaps even beyond. The fossil record is our best archive for understanding the history of life, but it has limits. The deeper back in time you go, the harder it becomes to find intact fossils. Earth’s plate tectonics are constantly recycling rocks, and the fossils that do survive tend to be battered, squashed, or melted beyond recognition.

If there’s one thing newborn babies are good at, it’s crying. Loud, insistent, impossible-to-ignore crying. But if you’ve ever held a newborn, you might have noticed something strange: those first wails come with sound, but not with visible tears. When Science Baby cried real tears for the first time, at about a month old, it was a moment I’ll never forget. Up until then, his cries had been noisy and demanding, but when those first tears rolled down his cheeks, it hit me differently. Suddenly his distress looked raw and human in a way that made my heart lurch.

Did you know that if you’ve ever been pregnant, you’re not just you anymore? You’re a blend of yourself and every baby you’ve ever carried. Scientists call this phenomenon fetal microchimerism, and it means that long after pregnancy, tiny traces of your baby remain inside you. What Is Fetal Microchimerism? During pregnancy, nutrients, oxygen, and waste products flow between mother and baby through the placenta. But it’s not just nutrients that cross the barrier. Cells and DNA can also travel both ways: from mother to baby, and from baby back into mom.