Moment Of Um

We know why candles melt - from being lit, of course! But where do candles go when they melt? Do they just disappear into thin air? We asked scientist Fabien Goulay from West Virginia University to help us understand. Got a flicker of a Moment of Um question for us? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help you light up an answer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever watched a bee flitting from flower to flower? It zips through the air like a tiny plane, making a buzz-buzz-buzz sound. But why do bees buzz, anyway? We asked bee scientist Alina Niño to help us find the answer. Got a bee-YOO-tiful question for us? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we promise we won’t just wing it! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever stared in the bathroom mirror and flicked the light on and off and watched what happens to your pupils? They get bigger, then smaller, then bigger, then smaller, right? One of our listeners was wondering what happens to our pupils when we close our eyes. Since we can’t see through our own eyelids, we called on Sasha Strul, University of Minnesota Pediatric Ophthalmologist, to help us...

Say cheese! Cameras can take amazing photos and videos of just about anything. But have you ever wondered how they work? We asked mechanical engineer and science educator Tiffani Teachey to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s picture-perfect? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll snap to it! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Knock knock! Everybody loves a good joke, but how did they start? And why do we think they’re so funny? We asked Brains On producer and resident funny expert Anna Goldfield to give us the lowdown on jokes!  Got a question that’s tickling your curiosity? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll get to the punchline. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s one thing to watch a storm roll in from the safety of your own home, but what if you’re out in the middle of the ocean and things start to head in a stormy direction? Jonathan Smith, a faculty research assistant at University of Maryland, will help us understand what happens when lightning strikes water. Do you have a strikingly good Moment of Um question for us? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org...

Bread is the best. But you know what makes bread even better? Toasting it. That brown crunchy exterior with the springy chewy center can’t be beat. But how does a toaster transform bread into toast? We asked food scientist David Dominguez to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s bready to be answered? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’d loaf to find you an answer! See omnystud...

Worms! Some of us love them - some of us are terrified of them! But have you ever wondered how they get their rest? Physicist Daniel Gonzales is the expert on all things worms and sleep and he’s here to fill us in.  Got a Moment of Um question for us that’s been slithering around your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help you find the answer. See omnystudio.com/listener for...

Human beings have told stories and made art about the sun and the moon for as long as we’ve existed!  Both of them were in the sky long before humans evolved.  But just how old are they?  And is the sun or the moon older?  We asked astrophysicist Amanda Farah to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s sunsationally difficult? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll comMOONicate the...

Parrots are one of the few animals in the world that can mimic human speech and other sounds. But how exactly do they do it? We asked bird expert Amanda Bender to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s a real squawk in the park? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help find an answer that’s macaw-some! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the best things about looking up at the night sky is gazing at our big, beautiful moon. But why do we get to have all the fun? Can a moon have its own moon? Harvard graduate student Chantanelle Nava helps us understand.  Do you have a Moment of Um question for us that’s totally far out? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help you find the answer. See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

Ants, they’re just like us. They like picnics, hills, and sweet things! But if ants like sweets so much, do you think they ever attack beehives? We asked bee researcher Dr. Alina Nino to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s buzzing around your head? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help ant-swer it.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you’ve ever hugged a tree (and we hope you have!) you’ll know that the outside of a tree can be bumpy, prickly, and can even scrape your skin. That’s because trees are covered in tree armor – otherwise known as bark. One of our listeners wanted to know what tree bark is made of, so we asked forest ecologist Diana Macias to explain. Do you have an evergreen question for Moment of Um? Leaf it for...

Vacuums are like magic. You press a button and POOF – they can suck up all kinds of stuff: crumbs, cat fur, even coconut shrimp. But how do these handy dandy machines work? We asked mechanical engineer Tiffani Teachey to help us find the answer. Got a question, but you’re not sure Hoover answer it? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll find an answer that sweeps you off your feet! See o...

What do a cheetah, a rocket ship, and champion sprinter Usain Bolt have in common?  If you guessed they’re all way slower than your average beam of light, you’re correct!  Nothing in our universe moves faster than light. But recently, we got an interesting puzzle from a listener: if you were able to travel at lightspeed, and you turned on a flashlight, would it turn on?  We asked astrophysicist Am...

If you’ve ever jumped right out of your seat when watching a scary movie, you know that sometimes your body has a reaction to being surprised or frightened. One of our listeners wanted to know why that happens, and we asked neurologist Sarah Benish to help us understand. Got a startlingly good Moment of Um question for us? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll try to be brave enough to...

Imagine this: you’re at a karaoke competition. You grab the microphone, belt out your favorite song, and the crowd goes wild! Everyone can hear your voice, thanks to your handy dandy microphone. But how exactly do these snazzy little machines work? We asked mechanical engineer and science educator Tiffani Teachey to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s pitch perfect? Send it to us at Bra...

We’ve all suffered with chapped lips in the winter: itchy, flaking, sometimes even bleeding. Yikes! One of our listeners wanted to know how this happens, so we asked dermatologist Roxana Daneshjou to explain.   Got a Moment of Um question for us? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll ask around for the answer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eyeballs! They’re squishy orbs in our skulls, made of lots of different parts that work together to send visual information to our brain. But do they get bigger as we grow from babies to adults? We asked eye doctor Stacey Pineles to help us find the answer. Are you a pupil with a burning question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help en-vision the answer! See omnystudio.com/listen...

Have you ever gone outside after a rainy day and seen mushrooms growing in the grass or on tree trunks? How do they get there? We asked urban agriculture specialist Yolanda Gonzalez to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s really growing on you? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll mold an answer for you.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most of us have some experience with allergies: maybe it’s pollen or a pet that makes us sneeze, or maybe there are certain foods we can’t eat. But do other creatures have allergies too? Are fish sniffling and sneezing underwater? We asked biologist Laura Zimmerman to help us understand.   Got a Moment of Um question for us? Go to BrainsOn.org/contact to send it to us, and we’ll go fishing for the...

Skunks are part of a family of animals called mustelids, along with weasels, badgers, and otters. All of these animals produce a unique, musky smell, but where stink is concerned, the skunk reigns supreme. They can spray a super-smelly liquid from their butts at anything that scares them. But how does that spray work? We asked biologist Caitlin Amspacher to help us find the answer. Got a question...

We’ve all seen pictures of the planet Saturn, with its beautiful rings. But what if the Earth had rings? Could you look out your window and see them? We asked planetary scientist Linda Spilker to help us imagine what that might look like.  Got a Moment of Um question taking up space in your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact and you could hear the answer on a future episode! See omnystud...

Lots of people wear prescription glasses to help them see. An eye doctor helps to find the right prescription so that our eyeballs focus better on things that would otherwise look like a blurry mess. But how do glasses actually work? We asked eye doctor Stacey Pineles to help us find the answer. Got a question in your sights? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll focus on finding the an...

Have you ever noticed the thin layer of sticky, oily stuff inside your ears? It’s called earwax! It’s definitely not the kind of wax you use to make candles or crayons, so what do our ears need it for? We asked pediatrician Dr. Anjuli Gans to help us find the answer. Got a question that you want us to hear? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll wax poetic about the answer.  See omnystud...