Moment of Um American Public Media

Spiders come in all shapes, sizes and colors. They can be smaller than a grain of sand or larger than a dinner plate. Some have fuzzy, rainbow-colored bodies, while others are black and shiny. But even though they sometimes look like insects, spiders are in their own special group! We asked wildlife ecologist Thaddeus McRae how spiders and insects are different.

Got a question that has your spidey senses tingling? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we promise we won’t tell you to bug off!

If there’s one thing most people know about volcanoes, it’s that stuff explodes out of the top. But where did that hole come from? We asked volcanologist Lissie Connors to help us find the answer.

Got an explosive question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll find someone who will volca-KNOW the answer!

The flight of a butterfly is beautiful, if not erratic. How the heck do those graceful creatures know to avoid each other mid-flight? Science journalist Cara Giaimo and her pal Jeff Dawson at Carleton University in Ontario helped us dig into this question.

Got a question that’s fluttering around your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll wing it! 

If you’ve ever seen a squirrel munching on nuts or seeds it looks ADORABLE! But it also looks efficient, as they seem to pile the food in their mouths and move it from place to place. Just how much can they store in there? We asked wildlife ecologist Thaddeus McRae to help us find the answer.

Got a question that’s making you nuts? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact and don’t worry - we won't squirrel away the answer.

Have you ever seen a fresh pile of poo in the grass and wondered why there were so many flies around it? If so, we have just the episode for you! We asked science journalist Cara Giaimo why flies are the dung devotees of the animal kingdom. 

Doo you have a question that’s left you a little scat-terbrained? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact and we’ll help find the answer, even if we’re feeling pooped.

Humans do a lot to keep our teeth clean! We brush them twice a day, we (hopefully!) remember to floss, and we visit the dentist regularly. But what about animals? Do they have to clean their teeth, too? And if they do…how do they do it? We talked to Barbara Toddes from the Philadelphia Zoo to find the answer. 

Got a question that’s on the tip of your tongue? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll brush up on the answer.