Moment of Um Brains On! Universe

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!