{"podcast":{"title":"Serious Inquiries Only","slug":"serious-inquiries-only-495493","podcast_index_feed_id":495493,"rss_url":"https://seriouspod.libsyn.com/","website_url":"http://seriouspod.com","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/7/1/7/5/717589c7d819f89588c4a68c3ddbc4f2/SeriousInquiriesOnly_1400.jpg","author":"Thomas Smith","episode_count":838,"summary":"Join Thomas for some critical thinking on questions of science, philosophy, skepticism and politics. These serious topics are discussed with some serious guests, but in an entertaining and engaging way! This is not your typical interview podcast; it’s a friendly dialogue, conducted thoughtfully and with plenty of humor. It's Serious Inquiries Only; but like, not boring or anything.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-28T20:17:26.077408+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/serious-inquiries-only-495493"},"episode":{"title":"SIO517: How Is It That 9 Days in Space Means Weeks of Rehabilitation?","slug":"sio517-how-is-it-that-9-days-in-space-means-weeks-of-rehabilitation","published_at":"2026-06-09T09:50:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/serious-inquiries-only-495493/sio517-how-is-it-that-9-days-in-space-means-weeks-of-rehabilitation","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/serious-inquiries-only-495493","url":"https://seriouspod.libsyn.com/sio517-how-is-it-that-9-days-in-space-means-weeks-of-rehabilitation","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/media.blubrry.com/atheisticallyspeaking/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/seriouspod/Episode_517_astronauts.mp3?dest-id=456804","summary":"Thomas is joined by Dr. Jenessa Seymour to dig into the brain science behind a surprisingly strange phenomenon: why do astronauts who spent just nine days in space need weeks of physical therapy to walk normally again? The answer turns out to involve ancient calcium carbonate ear stones, the same material crabs use for shells, a multi-layered sensory system your brain is constantly running without your knowledge, and a wild evolutionary theory about why motion sickness exists at all. Also: why pilots fly perfectly good planes directly into the ground, and what deaf NASA research participants revealed about how proprioception actually works. Come see me at SkeptiCal ! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here ! Please support the show on Patreon! You get ad-free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/seriouspod","meta_description":"Thomas is joined by Dr. Jenessa Seymour to dig into the brain science behind a surprisingly strange phenomenon: why do astronauts who spent just nine days…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3862,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/serious-inquiries-only-495493/episodes/sio517-how-is-it-that-9-days-in-space-means-weeks-of-rehabilitation/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/serious-inquiries-only-495493/sio517-how-is-it-that-9-days-in-space-means-weeks-of-rehabilitation.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}