How did Megalodon sharks go extinct?
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!
6 Mai 7min
Did dinosaurs lay colorful eggs?
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!
5 Mai 6min
How does an immortal jellyfish go back to being a baby?
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!
2 Mai 6min
Why can you hear the ocean in a seashell?
The sounds of the ocean are so relaxing… the waves crashing on the sand, the gentle roar of the surf. And if you pick up a big seashell and put it to your ear, you can almost hear the ocean there too! One of our listeners wanted to know why, so we asked physicist Steve Errede to help us catch that wave. Do you have a great question for Moment of Um? Surf on over to BrainsOn.org/contact and share it with us.
1 Mai 3min
Why are we more closely related to fungi than plants?
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.
30 Apr 6min
Would a poisonous snake die if it bit itself?
We all know that bites from poisonous snakes can be really dangerous, but can a poisonous snake poison itself? We asked snake expert Lawrie Arends to give us the factssssssssss. If you’ve got a Moment of Um question for us, slither your way over to BrainsOn.org/contactto submit it.
29 Apr 3min
What are birthmarks?
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.
28 Apr 4min
What makes dolphins so smart?
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!
25 Apr 5min