Ask Dr. Universe

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1338544/open_sms] Today I'm talking with Von Walden, an atmospheric scientist at Washington State University. * Hear about Earth's bubble of gases AKA the atmosphere [https://climatekids.nasa.gov/menu/atmosphere/] * Learn why clouds can be weird in the polar regions * Find out what an expert thinks about climate change [https://archive.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/index.html]—and how optimistic he is about the future Resources You Can Use * Check out AMNH's climate change [https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/climate-change] resources * Watch these polar bear cams [https://polarbearsinternational.org/education-center/polar-bear-cams/] * Learn more about the polar regions [https://climatekids.nasa.gov/polar-temperatures/] * Find out more about clouds [https://climatekids.nasa.gov/cloud-formation/] and make a cloud in a jar [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_mJd1d_S2Q] 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] What up with the small intestine and the large intestine? Join Cosmo and me—and our friend Franck Carbonero [https://medicine.wsu.edu/directory/wsu-profile/franck.carbonero/], microbiologist at Washington State University—to break down how we break down food. You'll hear: * how the intestines [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe73u9GWZj4] differ in size and function * all about your gut bacteria [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ybk7E7SLbWw] * the journey food takes through your digestive tract [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UvuBYUbFk0] Resources you can use: * American Museum of Natural History's microbiology resources [https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/microbiology] * Frontiers for Young Minds' explainer on fermentation [https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2021.568656] * National Geographic Kids' info on the human digestive system [https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/science/general-science/your-digestive-system/] Sound effects courtesy Zapsplat [https://www.zapsplat.com/] 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 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.