Toes! They’re short and chunky, sometimes smell funky… but without them, we’d be toe-tally out of luck! We asked evolutionary anthropologist Darcy Shapiro to walk us through why we have toes, and what they help us do!
Got a question tickling the tips of your toes? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help nail down an answer!

Why do we need toes?

Moment of Um is your daily answer to those questions that pop up out of nowhere and make you go… ummmmmmm. Brought to you by your friends at Brains On at APM Studios.

Kids & Family

Education for Kids

Radios are like magical devices. You just flip a switch and BAM, you can listen to everything from punk rock to world news. But how exactly does a radio work? And what’s the difference between AM and FM radio? We asked physics expert Angie Huerta to help us find the answer.
Got a question that’s AM-azing? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll dial in the answer. 

What’s the difference between AM and FM radio waves?

If you’ve ever banged your knee pretty badly, you might have noticed the knee swells up to larger than its normal size. To ease your pain and make the swelling go down, maybe someone handed you an ice pack. But why is it ice that does the trick to reduce swelling, and does anything else work? We asked physical therapist Karen Litzy to help us find the answer.
Got a Moment of Um question that’s making your brain swell? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help get it all sorted out.

Why does ice help with swelling?

Lots of people love spicy food for that tongue-tingling feeling. But where does it come from? What’s happening in our mouths when we bite down on a jalapeño or chili flake? We asked taste and smell researcher Arthur Zimmerman to help us find the answer.
Got a tasteful question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll spice up your life with the answer!

Why are spicy foods spicy?

Earth is always moving around the sun, but does the sun move too? Or is it fixed in one place in the cosmos? In this episode, we talk to astrophysicist Brittany Kamai to get to the heart of this issue!
Do you have a Moment of Um question that’s burning in your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help shine a light on the answer.

Why does the sun stay in one place?

There are so many different kinds of bird nests out there: big ones, small ones, some as big as your head! Birds build their nests out of everything from twigs and grass to spider silk! But do they make a new nest every year? We asked bird expert Paul Bartell to help us find the answer.
Got a question that you’ve been thinking about owl night? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact – you won’t egret it!

Why do we need toes?

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