Ask Dr. Universe

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1338544/open_sms] Purr-haps you'd like a new way to get your claws on science questions sent in by kids like you. That's litter-ally my favorite thing. Today Cosmo and I tackle a question from William, 7, from the United Kingdom: Why is snot green? You'll hear: * What mucus [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvAsZsJlzL4] is * What protein makes mucus green sometimes * How immune cells trap [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eze6F5eI7Mc] irritants and stuff that can make you sick Resources you can use: * Check out Operation Ouch's Science of Snot [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUkMm_40B6w] * Learn about the nursing career [https://www.pbs.org/video/clinical-nurse-gdcl2q/] As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu [https://askdruniverse.wsu.edu/]. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1338544/open_sms] Purr-haps you'd like a new way to get your claws on science questions sent in by kids like you. That's litter-ally my favorite thing. Today Cosmo and I tackle a question from Hillary's 1st graders in Washington: What makes snow sparkle? You'll hear: * How snowflakes are hexagonal ice crystals [https://www.snowcrystals.com/photos/photos.html] * About white light and rainbow colors [https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/primary-resource/light-and-colour-primary-resource/] * What reflection and refraction [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q73VNpFA-0Q&t=6s] mean Resources you can use: * Check out Von Walden [https://ce.wsu.edu/faculty/walden/]'s research near the North Pole [https://icecapsmelt.org/] and South Pole [https://troll-observing-network.github.io/integrated-cloud-observatory/] * Learn about atmospheric science [https://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/stem-career-connections/science-atmospheric-scientist] As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu [https://askdruniverse.wsu.edu/]. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1338544/open_sms] Welcome back, young scientists. I’m Dr. Universe.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world. Today I'm talking to WSU biological anthropologist Thomas Siek [https://anthro.wsu.edu/thomas-siek/]. * Hear about all kinds of anthropology [https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/anthropology] * Find out how Dr. Siek studied bones from the Middle Ages [https://www.pbswesternreserve.org/education/middle-ages/] in Poland * Learn how clues in bones help solve crimes [https://www.pbs.org/video/unc-tv-science-bone-lab/] with forensic anthropology Resources You Can Use * Watch this NPR team use forensic anthropology [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ7A6Nw0My4] to figure out info about a skeleton from a high school art class * See how fast you can build a human skeleton [https://www.dairy.edu.au/build-a-skeleton] * Check out the anthropology collections [https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/anthropology/collections-overview] at the Smithsonian As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu [https://askdruniverse.wsu.edu/]. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1338544/open_sms] Purr-haps you'd like a new way to get your claws on science questions sent in by kids like you. That's litter-ally my favorite thing. Today Cosmo and I tackle a question from Gabby, 9, in Kansas: Why do bees make honey? You'll hear: * What a bee proboscis [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUsTmPZnFlA] is and why bees are so adorably hairy * Why some people call honey "bee barf [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZlEjDLJCmg]" and what trophollaxis is  * How bees make foods like bee bread [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAKkjD3nEv0] and honey Resources you can use: * Check out these baby bees [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6mJ7e5YmnE] * Learn how to make homes for native bees [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVqgoFiXFJY] (they're like cousins to honey bees) * Read the answer to this question here: Why do bees make honey? [https://askdruniverse.wsu.edu/2025/01/02/bees-make-honey-2/] As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu [https://askdruniverse.wsu.edu/]. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1338544/open_sms] Welcome back, young scientists. I’m Dr. Universe.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world. Today I'm talking to WSU environmental archeologist John Blong [https://anthro.wsu.edu/faculty-and-staff/john-blong/]. * Hear what environmental archeology [https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/envarch/what/] is * Learn about fossilized poop—AKA coprolites [https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-is-a-coprolite.html#:~:text=Coprolites%20are%20the%20fossilised%20faeces,clues%20about%20an%20animal's%20diet.]—and what they reveal to scientists * Find out when the first people came to North America [https://www.nps.gov/bela/learn/historyculture/the-bering-land-bridge-theory.htm] Resources You Can Use * Follow these interactive digs [https://www.archaeological.org/programs/public/interactive-digs/] or talk to your grownup about skyping with a scientist [https://www.archaeological.org/programs/educators/aia-skype-a-scientist/] from the Archaeological Institute of America * Check out these famous archeologists [https://www.nps.gov/subjects/archeology/meet-an-archeologist.htm] * Run through these archeology lessons [https://www.saa.org/education-outreach/teaching-archaeology/k-12-activities-resources] or show them to your teacher As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu [https://askdruniverse.wsu.edu/]. Who knows where your questions will take us next.