Have you ever wondered if your pet is lying to you?

Why is my cat not here?

And I go in and she's eating my lunch.

Or if hypnotism is real?

You will use the suggestion in order to enhance your cognitive control.

But what's inside a black hole?

Black holes could be a consequence of the way that we understand the universe.

Well, we have answers for you in the new I-Heart original podcast, Science Stuff. Join me, or Hitcham, as we answer questions

about animals, space, our brains, and our bodies. So give yourself permission to be a science

geek and listen to Science Stuff on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcast. Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of IHeart Radio.

Hi, my name is Robert Lamb, and this is The Monster Fact, a short form series from

Stuff to Blow Your Mind focusing in omnifical creatures, ideas, and monsters in time.

As mentioned in yesterday's core episode, The Nature of Diamonds Part 1, I'd like to discuss

the fantastic salamander in today's monster fact.

Now, Dungeons and Dragons players have long noticed the startling difference between salamanders

of the natural world and salamanders as they appear in the D&D Monster Manual, where they

are described as flaming snakes and snake-like beings that, quote, slither across the sea of

ash on the elemental plane of fire. Meanwhile, real-life salamanders are quite

remarkable, but are decidedly not on fire. Ancient and medieval bestiaries are full of strange

and often fiery tales of the salamander. I turn to the writings of folk historian Carol Rose in her

book Monsters, Giants, and Dragons,

...