Did dinosaurs have baby teeth?

Teething, losing teeth, growing new teeth. It’s a part of life that every human goes through! But what about dinosaurs? Did they experience the same thing? We asked paleontologist Shaena Montanari to help us find the answer.
Got a dinomite question for us? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help you out because we’re as smart as a thesaurus!

Could you use up all the energy in the universe?

Energy powers our entire universe, whether it’s light from a star or energy stored in the food we eat. But could we ever run out? Will there be a time, far in the future, when the last drop of energy is used up?  We asked physicist Dr. Kiley Kennedy to help us find the answer.
Got a question that’s draining your mental battery? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact and we’ll find the answer for you, because knowledge is power!

Why do clothes shrink in the wash?

Have you ever noticed how sometimes when you wash and dry a piece of clothing, it comes out a little smaller? Why does that happen? We asked science professor Dr. Mark Lorch to help us find the answer.
Got a question that’s tumbling around your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we won’t shrink away from answering it! 

Why don't ears have bones?

Are your ears burning? ‘Cause we’ve been thinking about them. Sure, they’re an incredible self-cleaning marvel that we can wax poetic about all day. Sure, they’re a great place for dads to store all kinds of hairs. But do ears have bones?  We asked Olivia Bermingham-McDonogh from the University of Washington to help us find the answer.
Heard a good question recently? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, because we’re ear for you. 

How does antivenin work?

Some snakes make a chemical in their bodies called venom. They use it to hunt and protect themselves. Sometimes, if a human gets bitten by a snake, they need to take a special medicine called antivenin.  How does this medicine work? We asked pediatrician Emma Gerstenzang to help us find the answer.
Got a question that’s snaking around in your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help find a sssssatisfying answer! 

Why are there holes in Swiss cheese?

Have you noticed that there’s a kind of cheese that’s holier than all the rest? Swiss! Why does it have all those holes anyway? We asked Jenny Eastwood of Small Goods to help us answer this delicious question.Hungry for some answers? Send your questions to BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll briepare an answer justfor you.

Have you noticed that there’s a kind of cheese that’s holier than all the rest? Swiss! Why does it have all those holes anyway? We asked Jenny Eastwood of Small Goods to help us answer this delicious question.

Hungry for some answers? Send your questions to BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll briepare an answer just for you.


How do ping-pong balls bounce so high?

Ping pong is a super fun game. It’s like miniature tennis, where people use paddles to make balls fly across a table., and sometimes way, way up in the air!  But how do those  tiny plastic balls manage to bounce so high? We asked physicist Dr. Kiley Kennedy to help us find the answer.  Got a question that’s bouncing around your brain? Ping us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll serve up the answer!

How does gasoline turn into exhaust?

Lots of cars, trucks and buses are powered by gasoline. You put the gasoline in a little hole on the side of the vehicle, it powers the engine and then it comes out of the tailpipe as exhaust fumes. But what’s going on inside that engine? And how does gas turn into exhaust anyway? We asked chemistry professor Dr. Josie Nardo to help us find the answer.
Got a question that’s really exhausting you? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll steer you toward the answer! 

What happens in our bodies when we are sick?

Let’s say you wake up on a Tuesday morning feeling fine and fresh. But by the end of the night your throat hurts, you’re coughing, and there’s snot dripping from your nose. What happened in the course of that one day to make you feel so sick? Dr. Courtney Jordan Baechler helps us stick our noses in this (t)issue. 
Got a question you can’t fever out? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and then be patient! We’ll help find the answer. 

Why are some trees taller than others?

There are all different kinds of trees in the world, from towering redwoods to tiny willow trees smaller than an action figure. Why are there so many different sizes of trees, anyway? We asked tree expert Jake Miesbauer to help us find the answer.
Got a tree-mendous question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll ginkGO find the answer!

Why do some trees grow taller than others?

Why are peaches and some other fruits fuzzy?

Have you ever picked up a peach in the supermarket and noticed that its skin is covered in soft fuzz? What’s that about? Should we be taking our peaches to barbershops? And what about kiwis? They’re covered in scratchy hairs! Why do some fruits have fuzz while others have smooth skin? We talked to Dario Chavez from the University of Georgia to find out.
Got a fresh ‘n’ fruity question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help find an a-peeling answer. 

How were black holes first discovered?

Black holes are mysterious. They are so dense that no light can escape them, which makes them super hard to find! So how did we discover the first black hole? We asked NASA engineer Varoujan Gorjian to help us find the answer.

Got a mystery you’d love to shed some light on? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help search the skies for an answer.

Black holes are mysterious. They are so dense that no light can escape them, which makes them super hard to find! So how did we discover the first black hole? We asked NASA engineer Varoujan Gorjian to help us find the answer.
Got a mystery you’d love to shed some light on? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help search the skies for an answer. 

How do records work?

Records are big flat discs with circular lines on them that you can use to play music. But how does a record work, anyway? We asked audio engineer Josh Bonati to help us find the answer.
Got a question that’s spinning around in your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help find an answer that’s music to your ears!


Do airplanes have a speed limit?

Airplanes fly high in the sky and at super fast speeds. But is there a limit to how fast they’re allowed to fly? You know, in the way cars have speed limits? For this episode, we talked to Bobby Sharp, an air traffic controller, who helps us understand if airplanes have a need for speed.
Got a question you need answered fast? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll try our plane old best to get it answered!

How do stethoscopes work?

Have you ever been to the doctor and had them listen to your body with a stethoscope? It’s that funny looking thing that looks like a long rubbery tube with a round metal circle on one end and two ear pieces on the other. Doctors always seem to have one handy, but what is it and how does it work? We asked pediatrician Emma Gerstenzang to help us find the answer.
Got a question that you need scoped out? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll prescribe you an answer!

How many times does our heart beat a day?

Most of us know that we have a heart. We know that it beats - sometimes faster, sometimes slower. But just how many times does it beat in a day? We asked Dr. Courtney Jordan Baechler to have a heart-to-heart with us about this question. (She is also the host of the podcast Heart-to-Heart Conversations!)

Got a question that you just love? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we won’t beat around the bush!

How many times does our heart beat a day? 

How do sinkholes form?

Have you ever seen a sinkhole? These are spots in the Earth’s surface where the ground has collapsed and formed a hole. Sometimes they can be more than a hundred feet deep! But how do sinkholes form? We asked geologist Hazel Barton to help us find the answer.
Got a question that’s a real hole in one? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help dig up the answer!

What would happen if I went into a black hole?

Black holes are super dense spots in space. They have so much gravity that when something falls into a black hole, it can’t escape. We asked UCLA astrophysicist Dakotah Tyler to help us imagine what it would be like if we traveled through one of these dark marvels.
Is there a question that’s really pulled you in? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll spaghettiFIND you an answer!

What would happen if you fell into a black hole?

What would happen if I went inside a black hole?

How do 3D glasses work?

3D glasses. Those little paper spectacles with one red lens and one blue. Put ’em on, and suddenly, POW! Images seem to leap right off the screen! Do these glasses play magical mind tricks on our brain? Do they give our eyeballs multi-dimensional superpowers? For a lens into how it all works, we talked to UW-Madison physicist Pupa Gilbert.
Got a question that’s really jumping out at you? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help you put it into focus.

Today's Moment of Um comes from our archives! 3D glasses. Those little paper spectacles with one red lens and one blue. Put ’em on, and suddenly, POW! Images seem to leap right off the screen! Do these glasses play magical mind tricks on our brain? Do they give our eyeballs multi-dimensional superpowers? For a lens into how it all works, we talked to UW-Madison physicist Pupa Gilbert.
Got a question that’s really jumping out at you? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help you put it into focus.

How do vocal cords work?

Vocal cords are magical things. They let us speak, sing, squawk and scream. But what are vocal cords and how do they do all that? We asked pediatrician Emma Gerstenzang to help us find the answer.
Got a question that’s chattering away in your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll belt out an answer!

How do vocal cords work? 

How does hair dye work?

If you could turn your hair any color in the world… what color would you choose?! Sapphire blue, hot pink, lime green, neon orange?? There are dyes out there that can turn your hair every color of the rainbow! But how exactly do they work? We asked Chemist Michelle Wall to help us understand.
Got a hairy question that needs answering? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll style an answer for you!

How are bricks made?

Bricks are all around us: in walls, sidewalks, park benches, and more. How are these bodacious blocks made, and what makes them different colors?  We asked construction and masonry expert Brian Trimble to help us find the answer.
Constructing a question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help you find a solid answer!

When did people start using utensils?

People around the world eat with a variety of utensils like forks, chopsticks, and sporks. But what did people do before silverware was invented? We asked human evolution expert Briana Pobiner from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History to help us find the answer.
Got a question that’s unFORKgettable? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll spoon-feed you an answer.  

When did people start using utensils? 

How do our clothes get dirty?

Clothes are FUN. We strut our stuff in them. Laugh and play in them. Sometimes we love one article of clothing so much, we never want to take it off! But eventually, all clothes do have to be cleaned. We chatted with Tide Principal Scientist Jennifer Ahoni about how clothes get dirty, even when they still look spotless. Listen and learn about the secrets of body soils and invisible dirt! 
Got a question in your pocket? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll fashion an answer for you.

Clothes are FUN. We strut our stuff in them. Laugh and play in them. Sometimes we love one article of clothing so much, we never want to take it off! But eventually, all clothes do have to be cleaned. We chatted with Tide Principal Scientist Jennifer Ahoni about how clothes get dirty, even when they still look spotless. Listen and learn about the secrets of body soils and invisible dirt! 

Got a question in your pocket? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll fashion an answer for you.

All Episodes

Did dinosaurs have baby teeth?

Could you use up all the energy in the universe?

Why do clothes shrink in the wash?

Why don't ears have bones?

How does antivenin work?

Why are there holes in Swiss cheese?

How do ping-pong balls bounce so high?

How does gasoline turn into exhaust?

What happens in our bodies when we are sick?

Why do some trees grow taller than others?

Why are peaches and some other fruits fuzzy?

How were black holes first discovered?

How do records work?

Do airplanes have a speed limit?

How do stethoscopes work?

How many times does our heart beat a day?

How do sinkholes form?

What would happen if I went inside a black hole?

How do 3D glasses work?

How do vocal cords work?

How does hair dye work?

How are bricks made?

When did people start using utensils?

How do our clothes get dirty?