Drums are the backbone of rock?n?roll?and most other kinds of music, too! Where would we be without a big bass drum leading a parade, or a jazzy ba-dum-CH after a well-told joke? But how do drums actually make their sounds? We asked drum maker Liz Aponte to help us find the answer.

Are you ensnared by a question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we won?t miss a beat in finding the answer!

Bees are incredible! There are 20,000 species, and so much to learn about them. But have you ever wondered why they are black and yellow? Such a specific color palette, right? We asked Entomologist Dan Cariveau to help us find the answer.

Got a Moment of Um question that?s buzzing around in your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll help you BEE informed.

Good morning! Rise and shine! Time to stretch and yawn and?blech! What is that taste? What is that smell?? Morning breath can be especially stinky, even if you brush your teeth the night before. What?s up with that? We asked Dr. Michael Eggert, who teaches in the dental school at the University of Alberta to help us find the answer.

Got a question that?s really stinkin? good? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll sniff out an answer. 

If you?re an adventurous eater you might have tried spicy cuisine, or maybe added hot sauce to your meals. Did your eyes water? Did your nose run? If so, that?s a totally normal response, and  Otolaryngologist Erich P. Voigt is here to help us understand why that is.

Got a burning Moment of Um question for us? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll help you find the answer.

Have you ever looked at a bird turd? Like, really looked at it? If so, you might?ve noticed there?s a lot of white in there. But what is that white stuff?  We asked bird expert Amanda Bender to help us find the answer.

Got a question that?s poo-sitively great? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll help find an answer that doesn?t stink!

Astronauts have such cool jobs!  They get to blast off in rockets, experience micro-gravity, and see Earth from a whole new perspective.  But how does someone become a NASA astronaut?  We asked spacesuit designer Pablo de Leon to help us find the answer!

Got a question that?s out of this world? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll launch an investigation.

Shells come in so many amazing shapes and sizes -  spirals, sand dollars, sundials, ones that whirl around, ones that twirl around, ones that twist to the side and some that even look like cookies! Our listener Lily had a great question about these shapes, and Mike Sanchez, a Naturalist at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, helps us get to the bottom of this twisted subject!

Got a Moment of Um question whose shell you just can?t crack? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll help get to the bottom of it.

Throwing up isn?t fun, but it happens to everyone. Sometimes we vomit if we?re sick with a virus or an infection ? and other times, it happens because we?re feeling dizzy or carsick. But do other animals barf too? Like snakes? We asked wildlife biologist Laura Kojima to help us find the answer.

Got a question that?s retch-edly hard to figure out? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll spew out an answer!

You might have heard a rumor that snails have a big reaction when you pour salt on them. But curator Tim Pearce from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History wants you to know that it?s cruel to do so. And he?ll tell you why! 

Got a Moment of Um question that wants to come out of its shell? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll help slug out an answer.

If you fold a sheet of paper just right, you can create a paper airplane that zooms through the air! But how do you make sure that your plane zooms across a room instead of nose-diving into the couch cushions? What makes a good paper airplane? We asked physics grad student Angie Huerta to help us find the answer.

Got a question that?s just plane fun? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll launch an answer your way!

Bird eggs come in all shapes and sizes, from speckled hummingbird eggs smaller than a jellybean to mango-sized emu eggs. But how do birds make them? We asked bird expert Paul Bartell to help us find the answer.

Got a question that?s ova-whelming? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll help crack the case!

Have you ever screamed when you saw a spider in the house? First of all, don?t be scared, that spider isn?t looking for you. But second of all, did you wonder if the spider even heard you? Most of us haven?t gotten close enough to a spider to see if it has any ears at all. We asked spider expert Paul Shamble to explain how spiders hear. 

If you?ve got a question about spiders or anything else, send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact and we?ll do our best to find the answer.

Oobleck is a mix of cornstarch and water that can act like a solid or a liquid. On its own, it?s gloopy and squishy, but if you squeeze it, it turns into a solid ball in your hand! So what would happen if oobleck fell from the sky like rain?  We asked meteorologist Ginger Zee to help us find the answer.

Got a question that?s clouding your mind? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll bRAINstorm an answer!

We?ve all seen cartoon images of a mousetrap loaded with a big wedge of delicious cheese, but is that what mice actually like to eat? Maybe they like spaghetti, or tacos, or chocolate pudding. We asked veterinarian Kate Pritchett-Cornett what we should serve next time we?re having a family of mice over for dinner. 

Got another cheesy question for us? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact and we?ll try to do a gouda job of answering it.

Paper is made out of trees! But? how? Those tall, leafy, shade-giving beauties in your backyard don?t look anything like the piece of white paper coming out of your computer printer. We asked forest expert and educator Sanford Smith to help us find the answer.

Got a question printed on the inside of your brain? Send it to us at Brainson.org/contact, and we?ll help you uncrumple the answer!

About 60 miles above Earth is a line where our atmosphere ends and space begins.  That boundary is called the Karman line.  Of course, rockets that astronauts take go much farther than that.  But just how far from earth have astronauts gone?  And what do they need to bring for the trip?!  We asked spacesuit designer Pablo de Leon to help us find the answer!

Got a question that?s far out? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll shoot for the moon to find the answer.

Even though fish can be very small, it?s obvious that they have mouths. But what?s inside that mouth? Tiny teeth? A little tongue? A uvula hangy ball at the back of their throat? Tierney Thys, a marine biologist and National Geographic explorer, helps us understand at least one element of a fish?s mouth - whether they have tongues! 

Got a burning Moment of Um question that you just can?t lick? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll help you get a taste for knowledge!

At first glance, you might think bats and birds are close relatives. After all, they both flap their wings and fly! But are they actually close cousins or just coincidental copycats? We asked bird expert Amanda Bender to help us find the answer.

Got a question that?s got you in a flap? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll help find an answer?we promise we won?t just wing it! 

We already know that bats are amazing creatures. They are the only mammals that can fly. The bones in their wings resemble our fingers. They account for about one in five of all mammals living on the planet. And some can fly up to 99 miles per hour! But have you ever asked yourself why the heck they sleep upside down? We asked biologist DeeAnn Reeder to help us find the answer.

Got a Moment of Um question that?s turning you upside down? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll help get it all sorted out.

Cinnamon is used all over the world. It makes cookies, cakes, tea, and coffee taste and smell amazing, and it?s also used in lots of savory foods!But where does cinnamon come from?before it gets to the grocery store? We asked spice expert Pooja Bag to help us find the answer.

Got a question that?s flavoring your thoughts? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll bark up every tree until we find the answer!

Bacteria are everywhere. At the top of Mount Everest. At the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. There are millions on your hands and TRILLIONS in your gut! So what happens when a truck rolls over bacteria on the road? Do they get squished? We asked microbiology professor Daniel Bond to help us find the answer.

Got a crushing question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll keep on truckin? til we find an answer!

We know why candles melt - from being lit, of course! But where do candles go when they melt? Do they just disappear into thin air? We asked scientist Fabien Goulay from West Virginia University to help us understand.

Got a flicker of a Moment of Um question for us? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll help you light up an answer.

Have you ever watched a bee flitting from flower to flower? It zips through the air like a tiny plane, making a buzz-buzz-buzz sound. But why do bees buzz, anyway? We asked bee scientist Alina Niño to help us find the answer.

Got a bee-YOO-tiful question for us? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we promise we won?t just wing it!

Have you ever stared in the bathroom mirror and flicked the light on and off and watched what happens to your pupils? They get bigger, then smaller, then bigger, then smaller, right? One of our listeners was wondering what happens to our pupils when we close our eyes. Since we can?t see through our own eyelids, we called on Sasha Strul, University of Minnesota Pediatric Ophthalmologist, to help us discover the answer.

Do you have a Moment of Um question for us? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll help open your eyes to the answer.

Say cheese! Cameras can take amazing photos and videos of just about anything. But have you ever wondered how they work? We asked mechanical engineer and science educator Tiffani Teachey to help us find the answer.

Got a question that?s picture-perfect? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll snap to it!

Knock knock! Everybody loves a good joke, but how did they start? And why do we think they?re so funny? We asked Brains On producer and resident funny expert Anna Goldfield to give us the lowdown on jokes! 

Got a question that?s tickling your curiosity? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll get to the punchline.

It?s one thing to watch a storm roll in from the safety of your own home, but what if you?re out in the middle of the ocean and things start to head in a stormy direction? Jonathan Smith, a faculty research assistant at University of Maryland, will help us understand what happens when lightning strikes water.

Do you have a strikingly good Moment of Um question for us? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll help spark an answer!

Bread is the best. But you know what makes bread even better? Toasting it. That brown crunchy exterior with the springy chewy center can?t be beat. But how does a toaster transform bread into toast? We asked food scientist David Dominguez to help us find the answer.

Got a question that?s bready to be answered? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?d loaf to find you an answer!

Worms! Some of us love them - some of us are terrified of them! But have you ever wondered how they get their rest? Physicist Daniel Gonzales is the expert on all things worms and sleep and he?s here to fill us in. 

Got a Moment of Um question for us that?s been slithering around your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll help you find the answer.

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 us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we?ll help you see the light.

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 en-TAILS!

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 we?ll send an answer right BAC-ter-ya. 

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!