Human beings have told stories and made art about the sun and the moon for as long as we’ve existed!  Both of them were in the sky long before humans evolved.  But just how old are they?  And is the sun or the moon older?  We asked astrophysicist Amanda Farah to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s sunsationally difficult? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll comMOONicate the answer to you

Parrots are one of the few animals in the world that can mimic human speech and other sounds. But how exactly do they do it? We asked bird expert Amanda Bender to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s a real squawk in the park? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help find an answer that’s macaw-some!

One of the best things about looking up at the night sky is gazing at our big, beautiful moon. But why do we get to have all the fun? Can a moon have its own moon? Harvard graduate student Chantanelle Nava helps us understand.  Do you have a Moment of Um question for us that’s totally far out? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help you find the answer.

Ants, they’re just like us. They like picnics, hills, and sweet things! But if ants like sweets so much, do you think they ever attack beehives? We asked bee researcher Dr. Alina Nino to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s buzzing around your head? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help ant-swer it. 

If you’ve ever hugged a tree (and we hope you have!) you’ll know that the outside of a tree can be bumpy, prickly, and can even scrape your skin. That’s because trees are covered in tree armor – otherwise known as bark. One of our listeners wanted to know what tree bark is made of, so we asked forest ecologist Diana Macias to explain. Do you have an evergreen question for Moment of Um? Leaf it for us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll try to find the answer.

Vacuums are like magic. You press a button and POOF – they can suck up all kinds of stuff: crumbs, cat fur, even coconut shrimp. But how do these handy dandy machines work? We asked mechanical engineer Tiffani Teachey to help us find the answer. Got a question, but you’re not sure Hoover answer it? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll find an answer that sweeps you off your feet!

What do a cheetah, a rocket ship, and champion sprinter Usain Bolt have in common?  If you guessed they’re all way slower than your average beam of light, you’re correct!  Nothing in our universe moves faster than light. But recently, we got an interesting puzzle from a listener: if you were able to travel at lightspeed, and you turned on a flashlight, would it turn on?  We asked astrophysicist Amanda Farah to help us investigate. Got a question that has you feeling in the dark? Send it to...

If you’ve ever jumped right out of your seat when watching a scary movie, you know that sometimes your body has a reaction to being surprised or frightened. One of our listeners wanted to know why that happens, and we asked neurologist Sarah Benish to help us understand. Got a startlingly good Moment of Um question for us? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll try to be brave enough to find the answer.

Imagine this: you’re at a karaoke competition. You grab the microphone, belt out your favorite song, and the crowd goes wild! Everyone can hear your voice, thanks to your handy dandy microphone. But how exactly do these snazzy little machines work? We asked mechanical engineer and science educator Tiffani Teachey to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s pitch perfect? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll find an answer that really ampsyou up!

We’ve all suffered with chapped lips in the winter: itchy, flaking, sometimes even bleeding. Yikes! One of our listeners wanted to know how this happens, so we asked dermatologist Roxana Daneshjou to explain.   Got a Moment of Um question for us? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll ask around for the answer.

Eyeballs! They’re squishy orbs in our skulls, made of lots of different parts that work together to send visual information to our brain. But do they get bigger as we grow from babies to adults? We asked eye doctor Stacey Pineles to help us find the answer. Are you a pupil with a burning question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help en-vision the answer!

Have you ever gone outside after a rainy day and seen mushrooms growing in the grass or on tree trunks? How do they get there? We asked urban agriculture specialist Yolanda Gonzalez to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s really growing on you? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll mold an answer for you. 

Most of us have some experience with allergies: maybe it’s pollen or a pet that makes us sneeze, or maybe there are certain foods we can’t eat. But do other creatures have allergies too? Are fish sniffling and sneezing underwater? We asked biologist Laura Zimmerman to help us understand.   Got a Moment of Um question for us? Go to BrainsOn.org/contact to send it to us, and we’ll go fishing for the answer.

Skunks are part of a family of animals called mustelids, along with weasels, badgers, and otters. All of these animals produce a unique, musky smell, but where stink is concerned, the skunk reigns supreme. They can spray a super-smelly liquid from their butts at anything that scares them. But how does that spray work? We asked biologist Caitlin Amspacher to help us find the answer. Got a question stinkin’ up your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll see what the answer...

We’ve all seen pictures of the planet Saturn, with its beautiful rings. But what if the Earth had rings? Could you look out your window and see them? We asked planetary scientist Linda Spilker to help us imagine what that might look like.  Got a Moment of Um question taking up space in your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact and you could hear the answer on a future episode!

Lots of people wear prescription glasses to help them see. An eye doctor helps to find the right prescription so that our eyeballs focus better on things that would otherwise look like a blurry mess. But how do glasses actually work? We asked eye doctor Stacey Pineles to help us find the answer. Got a question in your sights? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll focus on finding the answer!

Have you ever noticed the thin layer of sticky, oily stuff inside your ears? It’s called earwax! It’s definitely not the kind of wax you use to make candles or crayons, so what do our ears need it for? We asked pediatrician Dr. Anjuli Gans to help us find the answer. Got a question that you want us to hear? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll wax poetic about the answer. 

You might not think about your eyebrows much, but if they weren’t there, you’d definitely notice! So how did those patches of hair come to be above our eyes? Why can we wiggle them? What are they for? We asked Penny Spikins, Professor of Human Evolution at the University of York in the UK, to help us answer our questions.   If there’s a question that’s made you raise your eyebrows, we can help with that! Submit your Moment of Um question at BrainsOn.org/contact and we’ll find the answer.

There are billions of bacteria on Earth, and they’re everywhere. Bacteria are on every surface on the planet, and even live in the soil underground. Most bacteria are actually quite harmless to humans. They spend all of their time eating, resting, and making copies of themselves. But when bacteria decide it’s time for lunch, what do they eat? We asked microbiologist Daniel Bond to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s colonizing your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and...

Do you know why it doesn’t hurt to get a haircut? Because the hair on your head is actually dead. But if it’s dead, how does it grow? Dermatologist Roxana Daneshjou explained it to us.  Send your hairiest questions for Moment of Um to BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll comb for the answers.

Toes! They’re short and chunky, sometimes smell funky… but without them, we’d be toe-tally out of luck! We asked evolutionary anthropologist Darcy Shapiro to walk us through why we have toes, and what they help us do! Got a question tickling the tips of your toes? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help nail down an answer!

Carrots are a delicious, crunchy snack. But unlike other vegetables, carrots don’t have seeds inside. So how do farmers grow them?  We asked plant scientist Jeff Mitchell to help us get to the root of the matter.   Got a question that you want us to chew over?  Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll dig up some answers.

Air – we can’t breathe without it, we can’t live without it, we know it’s made up of molecules, so why is it invisible? Chemist Vicky van der Geer-Bock will help us answer this question. If there’s a question whose answer feels invisible to you, we can help with that! Submit your Moment of Um question at BrainsOn.org/contact and we’ll help find the answer.

Our hearts are strong muscles that pump blood all through our bodies. But do hearts look the same in different animals? What about a tiger, or a lizard, or…a cockroach? Do cockroaches even have hearts? ? We asked urban bug expert Dr. Jody Green to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s been bugging you? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll fly the answer your way.

Have you ever been walking around when you notice that your shoelaces have come untied, even though you just tied them? What’s up with that? We asked engineer Christine Gregg to help us understand.  Send us your questions for Moment of Um at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll do all the footwork to find the answer.