Moment of Um

Astronauts have such cool jobs! They get to blast off in rockets, experience micro-gravity, and see Earth from a whole new perspective. But how does someone become a NASA astronaut? We asked spacesuit designer Pablo de Leon to help us find the answer! Got a question that’s out of this world? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll launch an investigation.

Shells come in so many amazing shapes and sizes - spirals, sand dollars, sundials, ones that whirl around, ones that twirl around, ones that twist to the side and some that even look like cookies! Our listener Lily had a great question about these shapes, and Mike Sanchez, a Naturalist at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, helps us get to the bottom of this twisted subject! Got a Moment of Um question whose shell you just can’t crack? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help get to the bottom of it.

Throwing up isn’t fun, but it happens to everyone. Sometimes we vomit if we’re sick with a virus or an infection – and other times, it happens because we’re feeling dizzy or carsick. But do other animals barf too? Like snakes? We asked wildlife biologist Laura Kojima to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s retch-edly hard to figure out? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll spew out an answer!

You might have heard a rumor that snails have a big reaction when you pour salt on them. But curator Tim Pearce from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History wants you to know that it’s cruel to do so. And he’ll tell you why! Got a Moment of Um question that wants to come out of its shell? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help slug out an answer.

If you fold a sheet of paper just right, you can create a paper airplane that zooms through the air! But how do you make sure that your plane zooms across a room instead of nose-diving into the couch cushions? What makes a good paper airplane? We asked physics grad student Angie Huerta to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s just plane fun? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll launch an answer your way!

Bird eggs come in all shapes and sizes, from speckled hummingbird eggs smaller than a jellybean to mango-sized emu eggs. But how do birds make them? We asked bird expert Paul Bartell to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s ova-whelming? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help crack the case!

Have you ever screamed when you saw a spider in the house? First of all, don’t be scared, that spider isn’t looking for you. But second of all, did you wonder if the spider even heard you? Most of us haven’t gotten close enough to a spider to see if it has any ears at all. We asked spider expert Paul Shamble to explain how spiders hear. If you’ve got a question about spiders or anything else, send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact and we’ll do our best to find the answer.

Oobleck is a mix of cornstarch and water that can act like a solid or a liquid. On its own, it’s gloopy and squishy, but if you squeeze it, it turns into a solid ball in your hand! So what would happen if oobleck fell from the sky like rain? We asked meteorologist Ginger Zee to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s clouding your mind? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll bRAINstorm an answer!

We’ve all seen cartoon images of a mousetrap loaded with a big wedge of delicious cheese, but is that what mice actually like to eat? Maybe they like spaghetti, or tacos, or chocolate pudding. We asked veterinarian Kate Pritchett-Cornett what we should serve next time we’re having a family of mice over for dinner. Got another cheesy question for us? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact and we’ll try to do a gouda job of answering it.

Paper is made out of trees! But… how? Those tall, leafy, shade-giving beauties in your backyard don’t look anything like the piece of white paper coming out of your computer printer. We asked forest expert and educator Sanford Smith to help us find the answer. Got a question printed on the inside of your brain? Send it to us at Brainson.org/contact, and we’ll help you uncrumple the answer!

About 60 miles above Earth is a line where our atmosphere ends and space begins. That boundary is called the Karman line. Of course, rockets that astronauts take go much farther than that. But just how far from earth have astronauts gone? And what do they need to bring for the trip?! We asked spacesuit designer Pablo de Leon to help us find the answer! Got a question that’s far out? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll shoot for the moon to find the answer.

At first glance, you might think bats and birds are close relatives. After all, they both flap their wings and fly! But are they actually close cousins or just coincidental copycats? We asked bird expert Amanda Bender to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s got you in a flap? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help find an answer–we promise we won’t just wing it!

We already know that bats are amazing creatures. They are the only mammals that can fly. The bones in their wings resemble our fingers. They account for about one in five of all mammals living on the planet. And some can fly up to 99 miles per hour! But have you ever asked yourself why the heck they sleep upside down? We asked biologist DeeAnn Reeder to help us find the answer. Got a Moment of Um question that’s turning you upside down? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help get it all sorted out.

Cinnamon is used all over the world. It makes cookies, cakes, tea, and coffee taste and smell amazing, and it’s also used in lots of savory foods!But where does cinnamon come from…before it gets to the grocery store? We asked spice expert Pooja Bag to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s flavoring your thoughts? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll bark up every tree until we find the answer!

Bacteria are everywhere. At the top of Mount Everest. At the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. There are millions on your hands and TRILLIONS in your gut! So what happens when a truck rolls over bacteria on the road? Do they get squished? We asked microbiology professor Daniel Bond to help us find the answer. Got a crushing question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll keep on truckin’ til we find an answer!

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.

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!

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 discover the answer. Do you have a Moment of Um question for us? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help open your eyes to the answer.

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!

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.