Moment of Um

The sense of smell is so powerful. Without it, we couldn’t sniff out freshly-baked muffins, stinky garbage, or smoky campfires. Some animals use their noses, others use antennae or even their feet to smell. But what about lizards? They have nostrils, but do they use them to smell? We asked lizard researcher Laura Kojima to help us answer this question.  Got a question that you need to make scents of? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help you sniff it out.

Transcribed - Published: 23 April 2025

You might have heard of gravity as the force that keeps us firmly on the ground and not floating off the planet. Big things (like planets, moons, and stars) have gravity that pulls other objects toward them. But what about smaller things? Like… us? Do we have our own gravity? If there’s a question pulling at you like a powerful force, we can help with that!  Submit your Moment of Um question at BrainsOn.org/contact and we’ll find the answer.

Transcribed - Published: 22 April 2025

Beans are delicious. From edamame to lentils, there’s a bean for everyone! But they can also make us a little tooty. Why is that? We asked pediatrician Wendy Hunter to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s a real gas? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact and we’ll rip a good one (answer, that is)!

Transcribed - Published: 21 April 2025

If you get a cut or scratch that goes deep enough into your skin, your body will form a scar. But why don’t scars themselves heal and go away? We asked dermatologist Liz Farhat to help us find the answer. Got a question that cuts deep? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help stitch together an answer. 

Transcribed - Published: 18 April 2025

A boomerang is a specially curved wooden throwing stick that was originally used as a hunting tool by Indigenous Australians. Nowadays, you can find toy versions along with the real thing, and if you throw them just right, they’ll curve around in the air and head right back to you. At least…it works for some people. So how exactly does a boomerang fly? We asked boomerang champion Logan Broadbent to help us find the answer. Got a question that keeps coming back to you? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll booma-wrangle some answers for you.

Transcribed - Published: 17 April 2025

Make no bones about it – fossils are super cool! But what do you do if you find a fossil? We asked Jingmai O’Connor, the Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles at the Field Museum in Chicago, to help us find  the answer. Got a question that’s buried in your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help dig up the answer!

Transcribed - Published: 16 April 2025

Plastic is a part of so many of the things we use every day. But just what IS it? We asked University of Minnesota professor Frank Bates to help us find the answer. Got a question you’ve been bottling up? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll pla-stic to the topic.

Transcribed - Published: 15 April 2025

Pasta is delicious, whether it’s rigatoni, linguine, macaroni or any shape at all! When you buy pasta from the store, it’s usually hard, crunchy, and dry. But after cooking it, the pasta is tender and toothsome! How does that work? We asked cookbook author and cooking teacher Julia Turshen to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s spa-GHETTING you all worked up? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll explore the PASTAbilities to find the answer

Transcribed - Published: 14 April 2025

Have you ever looked at an animal and wondered what they were thinking? Us, too! What’s going on in a bobcat’s brain, a newt’s noggin, or a mouse’s mind? We asked science writer and author of Innovative Octopuses, Half-Brained Birds, and More Animals with Magnificent Minds Christina Couch to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s a real thinker? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll enter our mind palace to find the answer!

Transcribed - Published: 11 April 2025

If you go to the zoo during the day - you can see that things are hopping! Animals are being cared for, people are milling about, and there’s a lot of action to observe. But what happens at night? Who takes care of the animals then? Or is everyone just sleeping? We asked Nancy Hawkes, Director of Animal Care at Woodland Park Zoo to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s zookeeping you up at night? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help you find the truth – we won’t be lion!

Transcribed - Published: 10 April 2025

Have you ever peeled the leaves off of an ear of corn and noticed the white hairy-looking stuff tucked inside? What is that, anyway? We asked chef and cookbook author Kenji Lopez-Alt to help us find the answer. Got an a-MAIZE-ing question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help find an answer that’s a cut above the rest!

Transcribed - Published: 9 April 2025

Black pepper is in just about everyone’s kitchen. It’s salt’s best buddy. It comes in shakers, grinders, and little paper packets. But where does black pepper come from?  We asked historian Jenna Schultz from the University of St. Thomas to help us find the answer. Want to pepper us with questions? Drop us a line at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll serve you some freshly-ground facts.

Transcribed - Published: 8 April 2025

If you ask us, donuts are one of the most delicious treats in the world. Chocolate frosted with rainbow sprinkles, cinnamon twists, powdered sugar, strawberry jelly-filled, we love them all! But why are they called donuts? We asked food historian Sarah Lohman to help us find the answer. Got a question that has you feeling glazed and confused? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll find an answer you like a hole lot.

Transcribed - Published: 7 April 2025

Cotton is soft and strong. It comes from cotton plants, and gets turned into everything from t-shirts to cotton balls. But why is cotton so fluffy? We asked biologist Candace Haigler to help us find the answer. Got a question threading through your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help spin up an answer for you.

Transcribed - Published: 28 March 2025

Couscous is a delicious fluffy, starchy food that people enjoy all over the world. You can find the dried version in stores, but what if you wanted to make it fresh? How does couscous actually get made? We asked cookbook author Kenji Lopez-Alt to help us find the answer. Hungry for answers to your questions? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll dish up an answer!

Transcribed - Published: 26 March 2025

Kids grow super fast and get taller and taller and taller and then – all of the sudden they stop! How do our bodies know when it’s time to stop? Why don’t we just keep growing until we reach the sky? We asked Dr. Frank Rhame to help us find the answer. Got a question that you think is a tall order? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll answer it shortly.

Transcribed - Published: 25 March 2025

Heads up! Your hair is always growing. Like your fingernails, hair is a part of our body that will grow and grow unless you cut it. But how come we don’t feel it growing? We asked pediatrician Dr Wendy Hunter to help us find the answer. Got a question that has you tearing your hair out? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help comb through research for the answer.

Transcribed - Published: 24 March 2025

DNA is the secret recipe that makes you…YOU! The color of your hair…whether you like cilantro…so many traits have something to do with this microscopic, spiralized instruction manual in your cells. But what about plants? Do they have DNA, too? We asked biologist Candace Haigler to help us find the answer. Question gotcha twisted? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help decode it for ya!

Transcribed - Published: 21 March 2025

Throwing a flat rock juuust right so that it skips across the surface of a pond or river is super satisfying. How many hops can you get? Two? Seven? Sixty-five? But how does the right kind of throw cause a rock to NOT sink as soon as it touches the water? We asked Jon Lambert of Splash Lab to help us find the answer.  Got questions skipping through your brain? Send your questions to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll throw you some answers.

Transcribed - Published: 20 March 2025

Fish swim. Frogs hop. Birds fly. Well, not all birds. Penguins and ostriches, for instance, can’t spread their wings and soar. So then, why do they have wings?  We asked paleontologist Jingmai O’Connor to help us find the answer. Is there a question that’s got your tail feathers all in a twist? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact and we’ll find a reliable answer – we promise not to wing it!

Transcribed - Published: 19 March 2025

Have you ever raced a cheetah? Hopefully not, that sounds dangerous. But if you have, that cheetah probably left you in her dust. We asked Rick Schwartz from the San Diego Zoo to help us figure out why cheetahs are so fast. Got a question that’s testing you? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help you find an answer so you don’t have to be a cheetah!

Transcribed - Published: 18 March 2025

Onions add zesty flavor to lots of different foods, like soups, salads, omelets, and much more! But sometimes, chopping them up can make your eyes water – ugh! Why does that happen, anyway? We asked chef and cookbook author Kenji Lopez-Alt to help us find the answer. Got a question ON-ion your mind? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact and we’ll find such a great answer, you’ll weep for joy!  

Transcribed - Published: 17 March 2025

Lizards are awesome creatures. Some have long forked tongues, others can move their eyeballs in opposite directions. And get this: some lizards can even drop their tails and grow new ones. But how and why do they do this? We asked lizard researcher Laura Kojima to help us find the answer. Got a question that you iguana know the answer to? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help you find the de-tails.

Transcribed - Published: 14 March 2025

Whether you have a dog, want a dog, don’t like dogs, or are a dog…one thing's for sure. Dogs can’t eat chocolate! Why is it so bad for them? We asked Cassie Panning, a certified veterinary technician from the University of Minnesota, to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s pawing at you? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help pup-date you on the topic!

Transcribed - Published: 13 March 2025

You might have seen someone faint in a movie. It usually happens after they see something shocking. They close their eyes and suddenly fall to the ground. In real life, people faint for many different reasons, not just shock. We asked pediatrician Dr. Wendy Hunter to tell us more about fainting. Got a question that’s shockingly hard to answer? Send it to BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll find a swoon worthy explanation!

Transcribed - Published: 12 March 2025

Spinning around in circles is really fun right? And then a weird thing happens. When you stop, it’s like the world is turned upside down and you don’t know which way you’re facing and you feel dizzy and sometimes even fall down! We asked infectious disease physician Dr. Frank Rhame to help understand why that is. Got a question that’s spinning you around in circles? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help set you straight!

Transcribed - Published: 11 March 2025

There are caves all over Earth. And people discover more every day!  They’re found in rock, lava, ice, and even sand. But how do caves form? We asked geologist Hazel Barton to help us find the answer. Got a deep question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help explore the answer? 

Transcribed - Published: 10 March 2025

This episode is a little bit different from a regular Moment of Um. It’s a story that is specially designed to help you relax. Research shows that using your imagination to picture scenes in a story helps the brain to shake off all the thoughts from the day and cruise into a nice rest. As you listen, take some deep breaths and give your brain a little imagination vacation.

Transcribed - Published: 7 March 2025

Whales are some of the biggest animals on the planet, and they often migrate incredible distances. But how fast can they go? Like, let’s say a whale swam from California to Japan – how long would that take? We asked science writer and whale expert Vicky Stein to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s whaley hard to figure out? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll ba-LEAN into finding the answer!

Transcribed - Published: 5 March 2025

Lots of people love a good cuddle. Whether it’s snuggling with a teddy bear, or cozying up with family – cuddles can make folks feel safe and comfortable. But why is that? Why do people cuddle? We asked brain expert India Morrison to help us find the answer. Got a question snuggled up in your noggin? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll wrap you up in a satisfying answer!

Transcribed - Published: 3 March 2025

Have you ever used a Polaroid camera? It’s a special kind of camera that takes physical photos almost instantly. As soon as you snap the button, a little piece of paper pops out of the bottom of the camera – and in just a couple minutes, a photo appears on the paper! So how does it work? We asked chemistry expert Josie Nardo to help us find the answer. Got a question, but can’t picture the answer? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help find the answer in a jiffy!

Transcribed - Published: 28 February 2025

Ballet dancers inspire us with their grace, twirls, and leaps. But how do they stand on their tip-toes? We asked contemporary ballet dancer and choreographer Penelope Freeh to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s keeping you on your toes? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll pointe you to some answers!

Transcribed - Published: 27 February 2025

Have you ever seen a dinosaur fossil from millions of years ago and wondered how scientists figured out the age of those big ol’ bones? Us too! So we asked paleontologist Jingmai O’Connor to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s absolutely petrifying? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help excavate the answer!

Transcribed - Published: 26 February 2025

Have you ever been really thirsty on a hot day? Nothing beats that thirst better than a cold glass of good old H2O. We can’t live without it! Water quenches our thirst, but does it tickle our taste buds? Does water from different places taste different? We asked Martin Riese to help us find the answer. Are you thirsting for knowledge? Send your questions to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll pour you a nice tall glass of facts.

Transcribed - Published: 25 February 2025

Have you ever gotten a new toy or pair of sneakers and noticed there’s a little white paper packet inside the box filled with tiny clear balls? It’s called silica gel. But what is this stuff? And why are the little packets labeled “Do not eat?” We asked science professor Mark Lorch to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s left you high and dry? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll offer up a fresh answer!

Transcribed - Published: 24 February 2025

Scientists develop medicines to help fight disease and keep people healthy. Some medicines are made in a lab, some come from plants, and some…even come from mold! So how does that work? We asked microbiologist Christine Salomon to help us find the answer. Got a question that totally breaks the mold? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll send you our most cultured answer.

Transcribed - Published: 21 February 2025

Have you ever been on an airplane and noticed that pressure in your ears? And then, as you’re taking off…they pop! Just like a balloon or a bubble or a freshly opened can of dough! Why does that happen? We asked infectious disease physician Dr. Frank Rhame to help us find the answer. Got a question that popped in your head? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll fly in to help answer it for you.

Transcribed - Published: 20 February 2025

If you’ve ever grabbed a flaming hot bowl of soup out of the microwave and then slurped a spoonful of icy liquid from the middle of it, you’re not alone. In fact, it feels like one of life’s great mysteries! Why does this happen to food in the microwave? We asked ceramic artist Matthew Katz to help us find the answer. Got a scalding hot question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll bowl you over with the answer. 

Transcribed - Published: 19 February 2025

Ever wish you had a frog's tongue? You wouldn’t even have to pick up a cookie with your hand…your tongue would grab it for you! How amazing is that? But really, how DO frog tongues stretch so far? We asked Kiisa Nishikawa, a professor at Northern Arizona University, to help us find the answer. Got a sticky question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll slurp up an answer for you!

Transcribed - Published: 18 February 2025

Colored eyeshadow, glossy lipstick, rosy blush – people use all sorts of makeup to change how they look. But when did we start using makeup? And how has it changed over time? We asked archaeologist and Brains On producer Anna Goldfield to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s making you blush? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help you face the answer!

Transcribed - Published: 17 February 2025

Caves are full of amazing stuff: bats, hidden passageways and of course – spectacular rock formations! So where do these rock structures come from? We asked geologist Hazel Barton to help us find the answer. Got a rock-solid question?Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help find the answer under the surface.

Transcribed - Published: 14 February 2025

People rubbing two sticks together and a fire magically appearing is a common thing you might see in movies or on television. But does it actually work? We asked engineer Vi Rapp to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s flickering in your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help put out the fire.

Transcribed - Published: 13 February 2025

Movies can take us to extraordinary places, sometimes using technology! Filmmakers create new worlds, incredible creatures, and mind-bending action scenes using something called a green screen. A green screen is just what it sounds like: a bright lime green background used to create special effects! So how does a green screen make movie magic? We asked movie-maker and film professor Jeremy Royce to help us find the answer. Got a question playing in the theater of your mind? Direct it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help screen out the answer. 

Transcribed - Published: 12 February 2025

Babies. They’re cute little peanuts, huh? Babbling and drooling while their parents talk to them in widdle baby voices. But do babies understand what people say to them? When do they start learning how to communicate with language? We asked child psychologist Dr. Beverly Goldfield to help us find the right words to explain the answer.  Got a question that’s really verbing your noun? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help you find an adjective answer.

Transcribed - Published: 11 February 2025

Mold is a type of fungus, which means it’s related to mushrooms. And it can be kind of pretty, if you’re not grossed out by it. Sometimes mold is green or white or even pink! Why does it have so many colors? We asked professor Jonathan Schilling from the University of Minnesota to help us find the answer. Got a question in your brain that’s taking up too mushroom? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact and we’ll find an answer that isn’t past its expiration date.

Transcribed - Published: 10 February 2025

Ever wandered around the supermarket and noticed that some of the food is marked “organic?” What does that mean? And why are the organic fruits and veggies in their own special section? We asked organic food expert Chris Schreiner to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s food for thought? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help you arrive at the answer organically.

Transcribed - Published: 7 February 2025

We know how important it is to wash our hands with soap and warm water. Get between the fingers, under the nails, all that good stuff. But why does soap get all foamy when you add water? Where do those bubbles come from? We asked University of Minnesota professor Frank Bates to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s bubbling up in your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help pop the question!

Transcribed - Published: 6 February 2025

If you’ve ever gotten a cut or a scrape, you might’ve noticed that your skin feels itchy while it’s healing. Why does that happen, anyway? We asked pediatrician Dr. Emma Gerstenzang to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s a cut above the rest? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll scratch our heads ‘til we find the answer!

Transcribed - Published: 5 February 2025

Sometimes we get questions from listeners that are so intertwined that we just have to include them both in one episode, and today is one of those days! Cardiologist Dr. Courtney Jordan Baechler helps us figure out the answer to two questions – why does blood taste like metal, and why are we not magnetic? And as a bonus, Dr. B. includes a super fun experiment that you can do at home. Got a question that’s meddling with your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help iron out the answer.

Transcribed - Published: 4 February 2025

Isn’t it cool that cars can go forwards and backwards? Backwards and forwards go can cars that cool it isn’t? All joking aside, these huge, heavy machines can switch directions with just the push of a lever! But how do they do it? We asked car expert Chaya Milchtein to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s driving you wild? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll steer you in the right direction!

Transcribed - Published: 3 February 2025