Moment of Um

We're moving the Brains On Universe Headquarters, and that means we have to stop putting out new episodes until we get settled. We know: not cool. But, our new home is going to be bigger and better and the absolute BEST. We can't wait until it's ready for you to visit.In the meantime, we still have some live shows planned this fall. Brains On Live will be in Dallas, TX on September 13. And Smash Boom Best will bring the debate heat to Princeton, NJ on October 26. Head over to brainson.org/events to get tickets. We can't wait to high five you all in person!And, if you want to be the first to hear about our shiny, new home, sign up for our newsletter. There will be six more bathrooms, 10 more water slides and, we're finally going to fix the doorbell! Also, if you have any questions or want to reach out to us, you can still head to brainson.org/contact to get in touch.

They come in cool colors, catch popcorn kernels and sometimes even have spacers - it's braces! Ever wondered how braces magically straighten teeth? We asked Dr. ArNelle Wright - a real life dentist! - to help us break down the science of these tiny metal wonders.Bracing for a tough question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll help uncover the tooth. 

Waiting for a stoplight to turn green can be really annoying, especially when you're running late. It would be awesome if you had a magic wand you could wave to get the light to change. But alas, such things don't exist. But how do stoplights know when to switch colors? We asked Jerry Kotzenmacher with the Minnesota Department of Transportation to help us find the answer.Got a nagging question that just won't yield? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll put you in the express lane to answersville.

There are all different kinds of yogurt: Greek, vanilla bean, blueberry, even sheep's milk yogurt! But how did people first figure out how to make this yummy food? We asked journalist Allison Conroe to help us find the answer.Got a question that's whey cool? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll find a legen-dairy answer.

Some people have allergic reactions to foods like peanuts, sesame, and raw eggs. But when people with egg allergies eat cooked eggs, there's no reaction. What's up with that? We asked pediatrician Liz Placzek to help us find the answer.Have you hatched a really great question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll help find EGG-xactly what you need.

When you're sick, it's important to get plenty of rest to help your body heal. But it can be hard to sleep when your brain keeps showing you bizarre fever dreams (Like being chased by a giant fireball! Or swimming in nacho cheese!) Why do we have strange dreams when we're sick, anyway? We asked dream researcher Michael Schredl to help us find the answer.Got any burning questions? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll search feverishly for the right answer! 

Dogs come in so many different sizes, from the tiniest teacup terrier to the giant Great Dane. How did we get such a delightful assortment of these furry best buddies? We asked Brains On producer and archaeologist Anna Goldfield to help us find the answer.Got a question that's been hounding you? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll make sure to bark up the right tree!

Dogs come in so many different sizes, from the tiniest teacup terrier to the giant Great Dane. How did we get such a delightful assortment of these furry best buddies? We asked Brains On producer and archaeologist Anna Goldfield to help us find the answer.Got a question that's been hounding you? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll make sure to bark up the right tree!

Dogs come in so many different sizes, from the tiniest teacup terrier to the giant Great Dane. How did we get such a delightful assortment of these furry best buddies? We asked Brains On producer and archaeologist Anna Goldfield to help us find the answer.Got a question that's been hounding you? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll make sure to bark up the right tree!

Some planets have lots of moons. Others have none. Earth has just one moon, but it's a really great one. It can glow bright and white and sometimes it's shaped like a big round ball. Other times it's skinny like the white tip of a fingernail. Makes you wonder, why does the moon look the way it does? We asked Preston Dyches from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to help us find the answer.Got a question orbiting around your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll illuminate an answer.

You fart. I fart. Your dog farts. We all fart! Or do we…? Birds don't fart, and they're the closest living descendants of the dinosaurs. So, did dinosaurs fart? We asked paleontologist Kallie Moore to help us find the answer.Got a question rumbling around in your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll find you an answer TOOT-suite!

Dinosaurs went extinct around 65 million years ago after an asteroid crashed into Earth. So we know when dinosaurs disappeared from the planet, but when did they appear? What was the first dinosaur, and how long ago did it live? We asked paleontologist Kallie Moore to help us find the answer.Got a question that's got you full of veloci-RAPTURE?  Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll TRY(ceratops) to answer it!

Megalodon was the biggest shark species that ever lived. The biggest ones were almost 60 feet long, which is longer than a school bus! These gigantic sharks went extinct millions of years ago, but why? We asked paleontologist Kallie Moore to help us find the answer.Got a question that you megalo-don't know how to answer? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll hunt down an expert to explain!

Dinosaurs were reptiles, which means they laid eggs! But what did these eggs look like? Were they big? Small? Speckly? Colorful? We asked paleontologist Kallie Moore to help us find the answer.Got a question you just can't egg-nore? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll help unscramble the answer!

Way out in the deep blue sea, there is a remarkable creature called the immortal jellyfish. This buoyant little blob can deal with being hurt or stressed by going from its adult form back to a baby!! Then it grows up all over again. Holy moly. How does that work? We asked science writer Christina Couch to tell us all about it. Got a question that's a ten out of TENtacles? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, ‘cause we are READY for that jelly!

All living things on Earth are related. To help keep track of how close those relationships are, scientists organize life on Earth into groups using a system called taxonomy. Sometimes, taxonomy can be surprising – like, did you know that humans are more closely related to mushrooms and other fungi than we are to plants? How does that work? We asked microbiologist Christine Salomon to help us find the answer.Got a question that's in a class by itself? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll find an answer that'll really grow on you.

Our skin is pretty incredible. It protects us and helps us sense the world around us. Some people have colored patches or dots on their skin called birthmarks. We wanted to know what birthmarks actually are, so we asked dermatologist Liz Farhat to help us find the answer.Got a question that makes you say “holy MOLE-y!” Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll help spot the answer.

Dolphins are super cool sea creatures that can swim fast, jump high, and make all kinds of nifty noises. But did you know that they also have big complicated brains like humans do? How did they get those big brains, and what do they use them for? We asked science writer Vicky Stein to help us find the answer.Got a question that's FIN-tastic? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll set out with a great sense of porpoise to find the answer!

The sense of smell is so powerful. Without it, we couldn't sniff out freshly-baked muffins, stinky garbage, or smoky campfires. Some animals use their noses, others use antennae or even their feet to smell. But what about lizards? They have nostrils, but do they use them to smell? We asked lizard researcher Laura Kojima to help us answer this question. Got a question that you need to make scents of? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll help you sniff it out.

Beans are delicious. From edamame to lentils, there's a bean for everyone! But they can also make us a little tooty. Why is that? We asked pediatrician Wendy Hunter to help us find the answer.Got a question that's a real gas? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact and we'll rip a good one (answer, that is)!

If you get a cut or scratch that goes deep enough into your skin, your body will form a scar. But why don't scars themselves heal and go away? We asked dermatologist Liz Farhat to help us find the answer.Got a question that cuts deep? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll help stitch together an answer. 

Make no bones about it – fossils are super cool! But what do you do if you find a fossil? We asked Jingmai O'Connor, the Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles at the Field Museum in Chicago, to help us find  the answer.Got a question that's buried in your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll help dig up the answer!

Pasta is delicious, whether it's rigatoni, linguine, macaroni or any shape at all! When you buy pasta from the store, it's usually hard, crunchy, and dry. But after cooking it, the pasta is tender and toothsome! How does that work? We asked cookbook author and cooking teacher Julia Turshen to help us find the answer.Got a question that's spa-GHETTING you all worked up? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll explore the PASTAbilities to find the answer

Have you ever looked at an animal and wondered what they were thinking? Us, too! What's going on in a bobcat's brain, a newt's noggin, or a mouse's mind? We asked science writer and author of Innovative Octopuses, Half-Brained Birds, and More Animals with Magnificent Minds Christina Couch to help us find the answer.Got a question that's a real thinker? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll enter our mind palace to find the answer!

Have you ever peeled the leaves off of an ear of corn and noticed the white hairy-looking stuff tucked inside? What is that, anyway? We asked chef and cookbook author Kenji Lopez-Alt to help us find the answer.Got an a-MAIZE-ing question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll help find an answer that's a cut above the rest!

If you ask us, donuts are one of the most delicious treats in the world. Chocolate frosted with rainbow sprinkles, cinnamon twists, powdered sugar, strawberry jelly-filled, we love them all! But why are they called donuts? We asked food historian Sarah Lohman to help us find the answer.Got a question that has you feeling glazed and confused? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll find an answer you like a hole lot.

Cotton is soft and strong. It comes from cotton plants, and gets turned into everything from t-shirts to cotton balls. But why is cotton so fluffy? We asked biologist Candace Haigler to help us find the answer.Got a question threading through your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll help spin up an answer for you.

Couscous is a delicious fluffy, starchy food that people enjoy all over the world. You can find the dried version in stores, but what if you wanted to make it fresh? How does couscous actually get made? We asked cookbook author Kenji Lopez-Alt to help us find the answer.Hungry for answers to your questions? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll dish up an answer!

Heads up! Your hair is always growing. Like your fingernails, hair is a part of our body that will grow and grow unless you cut it. But how come we don't feel it growing? We asked pediatrician Dr Wendy Hunter to help us find the answer.Got a question that has you tearing your hair out? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll help comb through research for the answer.

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!

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!

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.

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!

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!

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!