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Owls are amazing. Most are nocturnal and hunt at night. They have incredible eyesight. And a group of them is called a parliament! One of our listeners was wondering how far they can turn their heads around. We asked Lauren Smith from the Owl Research Institute 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.

Who doesn’t love a dog nose? They’re cute, often very wet and way better at smelling the world than our puny human noses. Dog noses are one of the few places dogs don’t have hair. But what about inside? Do they have nose hair like we do? We asked dog researcher Alexandra Horowitz to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s giving you a ruff time? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll bark up the right tree for an answer!

The Earth is made up of giant masses of land called continents. There are seven continents, but which one came first? Where did it come from? We asked geologist Annie Bauer to help us find the answer. Got a groundbreaking question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll dig into it!

Have you ever noticed how we usually wear lighter colors in the warmer months, and darker colors once it gets cold? Like how your black shirt is perfect at keeping cozy in the winter, but far too sweaty for the summer. But why is that? We asked physicist Dr. Desiré Whitmore, aka the Laser Chick, to help us understand why black absorbs heat.  Got a Moment of Um question that’s absorbing your mind? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help answer it.

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.

Zippers are everywhere – holding your backpack closed, keeping you snug in your sleeping bag and of course, on your pants! But how exactly does a zipper work? We asked Bryon Robinson of YKK (the world’s largest zipper manufacturer!) to help us find the answer.  Got a question that you’d like to sink your teeth into? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help find a fasten-ating answer.

A nosebleed is just what it sounds like: it’s when blood comes out of your nose. Lots of people get nosebleeds, but what causes them? We asked pediatrician Emma Gerstenzang to help us find the answer. Got a scent-sational question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact and we promise we won’t turn our noses up at it!

Have you ever tried stirring a liquid really fast with a spoon? Sometimes, it looks like it creates a tiny tornado in the cup! Why does that happen? We asked mechanical engineer Jacy Bird to help us find the answer. Got a question that has your brain spinning? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll TEAm up to find the answer!

Have you ever experienced the term "time flies when you’re having fun"? It’s an unfortunate reality of life that time seems to crawl by when we’re waiting for something to happen, and go too fast when we’re having a blast. We asked Ruth Ogden, a psychologist at John Moores University, why this happens. Is there a question you’ve been pondering for a minute? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll set aside the time to get it answered.

Believe it or not, plants are sensitive things. They know when the sun is shining. They get stressed when an insect is munching on them. But do they feel things like an electric shock? We asked arborist Casey Clapp to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s firmly planted in your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we won’t leaf you hanging

If you’ve ever been caught in the rain, it probably wasn’t a big deal, right? Lucky for us, rain typically falls from the sky in small droplets. Listener Joe was wondering why that is, so we reached out to Monique Robinson of Mississippi State University to help us find the answer. Got a Moment of Um question that’s raining on your parade? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help weather the storm.

Have you ever started to fall asleep and then suddenly – whoa! – you jolt awake? What’s up with that? We asked sleep specialist Chris Winter to help us find the answer. Got a question that has you losing sleep? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll pull an all-nighter to find the answer!

Octopuses are some of the most incredible animals on Earth. They have three hearts and their blood is blue! Plus, they can taste and smell things with the suction cups on their powerful arms. But do octopuses have brains? We asked wildlife expert Paul Bartell to help us find the answer. Got a question for this cephalo-PODcast? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll blow your mind with the answer!

Let’s say you’re watching a bunch of people run a marathon. The runners are pumping their legs, sure. But they’re also swinging their arms. Why is that? And why do we swing them when walking too?  We asked Rachel Adenekan of Stanford University to help explain why that swinging motion is so universal.  Got a Moment of Um question that’s keeping you at arm’s length? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll point a finger at the answer.

If you’ve ever smacked a mosquito on your arm, you might have seen a little smear  of red blood on your skin afterward. But just whose blood was it? Do we have the same blood as insects? We asked biologist Claire Rusch from the University of Washington to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s buzzing around in your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, because we’re the type to help you find an answer!

In fall we like to change up our wardrobe from shorts and T-shirts to pants and sweaters. And guess what, trees do that too! Except they change the color of their leaves. Why is that? We asked Marlyse Duguid from the Yale School of the Environment to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s leaf-ing you stumped? Send it to us atBrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll put your mind at (for)rest.

Dogs have an amazing sense of smell, incredible hearing, and the most adorable tail wags. But do they remember anything from when they were puppies? We asked canine cognition researcher Alexandra Horriwitz to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s dog-gone delightful? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’re paw-sitive we’ll help find an answer.

Humans are mammals, which means that we have hair on our bodies and heads. Sometimes, as people get older, they lose some of that head hair. How does it happen? Do hair goblins come at night and sneak away with those silky strands? Ok, it’s probably not that. We asked pediatrician Dr. Emma Gerstenzang to help us find the answer. Got a hair-raising question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help tease out the answer. 

People think alligators and crocodiles are really scary - and lots of people don’t understand the difference between them. But wildlife biologist Venetia Briggs-Gonzalez says they are very cool and helps us get to the bottom of their distinctive qualities! Got a Moment of Um question that’s chomping away at your curiosity? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help hunt the answer.

Our world is FULL of microorganisms, or microbes for short! They’re tiny microscopic living things like bacteria– and they do so much for us! They help us digest our food. They help make some medicines– like antibiotics. They even help make some of our favorite foods like bread and cheese. Microbes sure are busy, but do they ever sleep? We asked microbiologist Daniel Bond to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s keeping you up at night? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we won’t sleep on it!