Moment Of Um

Milk! It’s a cookie’s best friend. It’s a key part of a creamy cup of hot chocolate. And it’s delicious, whether it comes from a cow, a goat, an oat, or a coconut. But no matter where your milk comes from, one thing is probably the same – the whitish color. What’s up with that? We asked science writer Stuart Farrimond to help us find the answer.Got a question MOO-ving through your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll milk the answer for all it’s worth!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Quick, look up at the sky! Do you see any fluffy puffy cotton candy clouds? Or maybe long, wispy ones? What about dark storm clouds? There are so many different types of clouds on Earth. But what about space? Are there clouds up there, too? We asked astrophysicist Ian Hall to help us find the answer.Got a question that you want someone to take cirrus-ly? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll aim for the stars!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Star Wars famously starts with “A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away…” And boy are there some amazing galaxies in Star Wars. But a planet with two suns is just the stuff of science fiction, right? Maybe not! We asked astronomer Mark Popinchalk to help us find the answer.Got a question that’s forcing you to go ummm? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll Boba Fett-ch you an answer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You may have learned that the colors red, yellow, and blue are called primary colors. It’s sometimes said you can use those three to make all the other colors. But can red, yellow, and blue really mix to make any color, or is there more to the story?  We asked color scientist Stephen Westland to help us find the answer.Got a question that came up out of the blue? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help find a CYAN-tific answer!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Freeze-dried food seems like something that was invented for space travel, but this technique for preserving food is actually more than a hundred years old! Nowadays you might see freeze-dried mangos or strawberries in many grocery stores. You know, the ones that are dry and crispy and light as a feather? But how exactly do you make them? We asked food scientist Dave Dominguez to help us find the answer.Got an appetite for knowledge? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact and we promise we won’t give you the cold shoulder!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today’s question was sent in by a curious listener who wondered why fluffy, sugary-sweet cotton candy dissolves on your tongue. We asked food scientist Craig Sherwin to help us find the answer.Got a question that’s cotton you all confused? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help find a sweet answer for you.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you’re a movie lover, a snack lover, or just a lover of things that go “POP!”, you might be wondering what makes a kernel of corn pop. We asked food scientist Dave Dominguez for the deets on this tasty treat.Got a question that’s popped up in your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help you feel butter about the answer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Happy Food Week! We’re excited to bring you a whole week of delicious Moment of Yums leading up to Thanksgiving. First up: cheese! Cheese is delicious! It can be stringy, stretchy, stinky, salty, or sweet. It can be eaten fresh or aged for more than a decade.  But it only comes in a few different colors. We asked food scientist Craig Sherwin to help us find out why.Got a question on your rind? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help cut through to the answer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many people take vitamins along with the normal food they eat in a day. But what if you ate ONLY vitamins? Could you survive? We asked Craig Sherwin from the biotechnology company Novozymes to help us find the answer.Got a question that’s vita-l to your life? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help feed you the answer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do curling irons, campfires, and cups of hot cocoa have in common?  They’re all hot!  But nothing is as hot as the sun – at least not in our solar system!  But what about the rest of the universe?  Is the sun the hottest thing? We asked astronomer Mark Popinchalk to help us find the answer.Got a question that’s too hot to handle?   Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll find an explanation that shines!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.