Science Communication
Science doesn't stop when the samples are processed and the papers get published.
This is where the Washburn CHAOS Lab drags science out of the journals, into the real world, and occasionally into places it probably shouldn't be. From cave microbes and environmental mysteries to horror movies, cryptids, questionable life choices, and scientifically irresponsible hypotheticals, these are the series where we explore science, tell stories, answer weird questions, and occasionally ask whether licking something is really worth the risk.
Got a topic, question, fandom, mystery, monster, conspiracy, rock, microbe, or deeply concerning hypothetical you want us to cover? Let us know. You can even sponsor a future episode and help move it higher on the list.
Explore our Video Series
Browse our web series below and see what happens when scientists are given internet access and very little supervision. Have a topic you'd like us to cover?
Fill out the request form and we'll add it to the queue.
Scientifically Speaking
We take things from your favorite fictional worlds and force science to explain them using real science, an irresponsible amount of assumptions, and vibes. We reverse-engineer movies, shows, and games using real biology, geology, chemistry, and physics because figuring out how something could work is a lot more interesting than just saying it can't.
Feral Science 101
Science isn't just lab coats and dramatic microscope staring. This series follows the real chaos behind research, from fieldwork and sample collection to grants, publications, conference presentations, equipment failures, caffeine-fueled problem solving, and everything else that makes science equal parts profession, adventure, and mild identity crisis.
Can I Lick It?
Science checks in before your intrusive thoughts win. As an interdisciplinary lab, we get asked this question far more often than any reasonable person would expect, and we are here to provide evidence-based guidance before you decide to taste the environment.
Taxonomy Gone Wild
Where science named things and never looked back. Scientists have named organisms, chemicals, genes, and biological processes after fictional characters, mythological monsters, inside jokes, and decisions that absolutely happened during working hours. This series celebrates the weird, wonderful, and occasionally unhinged side of scientific naming.
Peer Reviewed Chaos
We take real scientific papers and explain them in a way that doesn't require a PhD or emotional support caffeine to understand. Real science papers are packed with fascinating discoveries and enough technical language to frighten an unsuspecting civilian. We break it down so you can understand what question the scientists actually answered.
Tales from the transCrypt
Where science tells a story, and sometimes that story is complicated. Science history contains brilliant discoveries, catastrophic mistakes, bizarre experiments, accidental breakthroughs, questionable decisions, and enough drama to keep an entire streaming service in business. These are the stories the textbooks usually leaves out.
Is This Rock Interesting?
People send us rocks. Our geochemist looks at them and delivers a professional assessment. Most of the time, that assessment is "no." Sometimes the process behind the rock is metal. Occasionally a rock earns his respect. Those episodes are rare and should be documented.
Meet a Scientist
Scientists don't all live in laboratories. We talk with researchers, artists, musicians, authors, cave guides, educators, engineers, stylists, construction workers, and countless others to explore how curiosity, observation, creativity, and scientific thinking show up in everyday life. Because science belongs to far more people than academia likes to admit.
Who's That Microbe
It's basically "Who's That Pokémon?" except the contestants are bacteria, fungi, archaea, and other microscopic weirdos. We provide the clues. You make your guess. The microbes continue their tiny schemes regardless of the outcome.
Cursed Science
Sometimes we're collecting samples in caves rumored to be haunted. Sometimes we're standing in places connected to cryptids, UFOs, folklore, urban legends, or stories nobody can quite explain. This is where science meets monsters, mythology, storytelling, and the wonderfully weird things humans believe about the world around them. Because honestly, the legends are half the fun.
Behind the CHAOS
The raw, unedited, and occasionally questionable side of the Washburn CHAOS Lab. Fieldwork disasters, unexpected victories, research frustrations, celebrations, random thoughts, behind-the-scenes footage, and the reality of what happens when scientists are left unsupervised. Exclusive subscriber content.
Creative Differences
Join Dr. Rachel Washburn and artist Alissa Landefeld as they tackle the same topics from completely different directions. Science and art ask many of the same questions, just with very different tools, and the conversations that happen in the middle tend to get interesting fast.
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Washburn CHAOS Lab
Science is metal. Science is feral. Science is CHAOS.
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complex host and abiotic systems
@washburnchaoslab
Feral scientists exploring hostile systems, unstable environments, and the chemistry shaping what survives there.