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Moment of Um is your daily answer to those questions that pop up out of nowhere and make you go… ummmmmmm. Brought to you by your friends at Brains On at APM Studios.
195 Episodes
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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!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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?
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.
Lots of people talk in their sleep, especially kids! Have you ever heard anyone babbling away in the middle of the night? Or maybe someone has told you that you do it? Sleep talking is totally normal, but why do we do it? We asked sleep specialist Chris Winter to help us find the answer.Got a question that you’ve been dreaming about? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll search through the night for the answer.
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!
Have you ever had a dream that felt so real you thought it actually happened? Our brain can cook up some really vivid images while we sleep, complete with sounds and even emotions. So how do we tell the difference between dreams and real life? We asked dream researcher Tore Nielsen to help us find the answer.Got a question that you’re dreaming about? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact – we won’t snooze on finding the answer!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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.
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!
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