Robert Lamb spent his childhood reading books and staring into the woods — first in Newfoundland, Canada, and then in rural Tennessee. There was also a long stretch in which he was terrified of alien abduction. He earned a degree in creative writing. He taught high school and then attended journalism school. He wrote for the smallest of small-town newspapers before finally becoming a full-time science writer and podcaster. He’s currently a contributing writer at HowStuffWorks and has co-hosted the science podcast Stuff to Blow Your Mind since its inception in 2010. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling with his wife Bonnie, discussing dinosaurs with his son Bastian and crafting the occasional work of fiction.
Recent Contributions
What was once your manicured front yard is now an unruly jungle, home to various creatures and an eyesore for neighbors. The time has come to mow the lawn.
By Robert Lamb
How would you like to be the person responsible for changing science and Western civilization? With the "Origin of Species," Charles Darwin did. How did this English gent become the reluctant ambassador of evolution?
By Robert Lamb
Skinwalkers blur the line between human and beast. They're shape-shifting magical beings that belong to the Navajo spirit world. But how does one become a skinwalker?
By Robert Lamb & Desiree Bowie
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Almost 300 years after his death, Sir Isaac Newton remains one of the most influential thinkers in history. What are some of his most enduring inventions?
A gulf of difference may separate our human world of empires, science and spirituality from the animal wilds of the other great apes. But the genetic differences are pretty meager.
By Robert Lamb & Desiree Bowie
How are stars formed? In this article we'll explain stars and learn how stars are formed.
We know where major fault lines crisscross the Earth and where about 80 percent of the world's earthquakes occur; it's the "when" that seismologists have valiantly struggled with. Why?
By Robert Lamb
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Not a star. Not an airplane. No, this is something radically different. It moves through the night sky with amazing speed and pulsates with radiance beyond anything you've ever witnessed. UFO?
By Robert Lamb & Desiree Bowie
Do we owe the emergence of language and self-reflection to the ancient and sustained consumption of psilocybin mushrooms?
The end of Earth will likely come about because of the sun in our solar system. This much you might already know, but we actually have an approximate date.
By Robert Lamb
Nuclear meltdowns can be scary, but it's important to understand what causes them. Learn about how nuclear meltdowns work.
By Robert Lamb & Desiree Bowie
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Forward and back, left and right, up and down -- most of us are familiar with these spatial dimensions. We might even pinpoint our location in time. Is that all there is to dimensions? No way, say the scientists who have a theory for everything.
By Robert Lamb
The global oil supply can't meet the demand forever. Will the last drops of oil lead to widespread anarchy, the end of globalization and the relentless exploitation of previously protected drilling sites?
By Robert Lamb & Sascha Bos
Drilling down thousands of feet in lightless ocean depths and transporting that oil to the surface without spilling it isn't exactly easy. Did we mention the rough seas?
By Robert Lamb & Desiree Bowie
It opened the door for numerous technological advances, from nuclear power and nuclear medicine to the inner workings of the sun. It even appeared in the title of a Mariah Carey album. Really. Can you define those three key variables, too?
By Robert Lamb & Yara Simón
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A tornado is one of those amazing, awesome acts of nature that simply leaves you dumbfounded -- a huge, swirling, 200-mph beast of a storm that appears to have a mind of its own.
So much of our cosmological history starts with the much-discussed Big Bang, but what led up to that cataclysmic moment? And did time even exist back then?
An invisibility cloak seems perfectly believable in the magical world of Harry Potter, but in the real world, it's impossible, right? Not so fast.
Would they be a mating display? A fierce weapon to defend against lions?
By Robert Lamb & Desiree Bowie
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If the sight of a mushroom cloud burning above the horizon suggests that the nuclear weapon-equipped world might end with a bang, then nuclear winter presents the notion that post-World War III humanity might very well die with a whimper.
By Robert Lamb
An underwater explosion or UNDEX won't absorb the destruction like air does. Learn why an underwater explosion could harm you more than one on land.
By Robert Lamb
Until recently, most people assumed that if Mars had liquid water, it no longer did and hadn't for quite some time. But scientists have recently noticed some anomalies in photos of Mars that may suggest there is water. Could there be life, too?
By Sarah Dowdey & Robert Lamb
Have you ever seen a water bag hanging in a restaurant? It's not a design trend — some people say the bags repel flies. Does this method hold water?
By Robert Lamb
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Steam technology powered the Industrial Revolution, transformed the global shipping industry and revolutionized modern warfare. But how do steam engines actually harness the power of steam?
By Robert Lamb & Yara Simón
Superman has his Bizarro planet, Alice tiptoes through the looking glass. For scientists, that world where normal rules and laws fail to explain what's happening is quantum physics. What's so weird about it?
By Robert Lamb