Moment Of Um

Wildlife biologist Venetia Briggs-Gonzalez educates us on the differences between alligators and crocodiles, discussing their unique features, behaviors, and the importance of preserving their habitats. Learn about their snouts, colors, and toothy smiles in this fun and informative episode!

Our world is FULL of microorganisms, or microbes for short! They’re tiny microscopic living things like bacteria– and they do so much for us! They help us digest our food. They help make some medicines– like antibiotics. They even help make some of our favorite foods like bread and cheese. Microbes sure are busy, but do they ever sleep? We asked microbiologist Daniel Bond to help us find the answer.Got a question that’s keeping you up at night? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we won’t sleep on it!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you’ve ever taken a close look at a beehive you can see that it is covered in tiny hexagons! But why is that? We asked bee researcher Jessica Kevill to help us find the answer.Got a Moment of Um question that’s buzzing around in your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help get it all sorted out.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A black hole is an area of outer space where gravity is so strong that nothing can get out … not even light! But what’s actually inside a black hole? Are there asteroids? Whole planets? A 1988 Buick LeSabre? We asked astrophysicist Amanda Farah to help us find the answer.Got a question that’s just your cup of gravi-TEA? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help find the hole truth! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bones! We’ve got lots of them. Leg bones, arm bones, face bones, even ear bones! But…not all animals even have bones inside their bodies. So what are our skeletons for? Why do we have them?  We asked pediatrician Dr. Emma Gerstenzang to help us find the answer.Got a topic you’d like to bone up on? Send us a question at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll paTELLa you the answer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever stayed up late talking to your friends while watching movies, or yelled for your teammates at a soccer match, or screamed at the top of your lungs walking through a haunted house? Maybe you woke up the next day with a hoarse, scratchy voice that you didn’t even recognize. In this episode, we talk to Dr. Jennifer Long, an otolaryngologist, about why we lose our voice when we yell or talk loudly.Do you have a Moment of Um question that’s so good it makes you want to scream? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help vocalize the answer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Geologist Marc M. Hirschmann explains the scarcity and value of diamonds, detailing their formation deep within the Earth and the challenges in bringing them to the surface. The discussion is both informative and humorous, with a focus on the unique journey of diamonds from underground to the surface.

Have you ever been tempted to lick something frozen? Hopefully not, because your tongue could get stuck!  But don’t worry, we talked to engineer Alexis Noel all about why our tongue sticks to ice, and what to do about it if that happens to you!Do you have a Moment of Um question that’s so good it’s giving you the chills? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help unfreeze your brain.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In places all over the world, there are ancient paintings in caves and on cliff walls that were made thousands of years ago by the people living there. But this was way before modern paints, and those people couldn’t mosey down to the craft store to buy their brushes…so how did they make their paintings? We asked anthropologist David Ian Howe to help us find the answer.Got a question that’s close to your heART? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll draw on all our knowledge to find the answer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bubbles are everywhere! Soap bubbles, fizzy seltzer bubbles, underwater bubbles – even bubblegum bubbles!  But how do bubbles pop? We asked mechanical engineer Jacy Bird to help us find the answer.Got a question that you’re bursting to share? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll POP by with the answer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.