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Cosmo and I learn about microbes, thanks to Eric Lofrgren, an infectious disease expert at WSU.

Resources you can use:

• hear what microbes are
• where they live in the environment
• how some skin bacteria help us out
• what biofilms are
• ...and check out this bellybutton bacteria scientists study

Oh, and wash your paws! =^..^=

 As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu.  Who knows where your questions will take us next.

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In this episode, I learn all about what it means to be a pharmacist with my friend, Damianne Brand-Eubanks. She's a pharmacist and professor at Washington State University.

Hear about:

• different kinds of pharmacists
• rad new ways to receive medications or shots (like patches that feel like a cat's tongue and jet injectors like you see on Star Trek)
• why reading and writing are amazing for pharmacists, scientists and everybody

Resources you can use:

• Check out this CrashCourse about how scientists make new medicines—called drug discovery
• Find out what it's like to be a community pharmacist, a hospital pharmacist, a manufacturing pharmacist, a medical affairs pharmacist intern, or an informatics pharmacist
• Get some advice about medicine from a dog (who's probably cool even though he's not a cat)

 As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu.  Who knows where your questions will take us next.

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What happens if you need your third molars removed? Cosmo and I find out, after talking to our friend David Carsten. He's a dentist anesthesiologist who studied at Washington State University and now teaches at Oregon Health and Science University.

Find out the real tooth here.

Resources you can use:

• Find out what it's like to be a dentist, a dental hygienist or a dental assistant, thanks to Teeth Talk Girl
• Learn more about early humans' big jaws with Ted-Ed
• Get the official word on wisdom teeth from the American Dental Association

Sound effects courtesy Zapsplat and Pixabay

 As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu.  Who knows where your questions will take us next.

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Can Cosmo and I help a cool kid like you face their fear of bugs? Join us—and our friend Paul Strand, psychologist at Washington State University—as we dig into why things freak us out and how to beat-le those fears.

Resources you can use:

• See some beautiful bugs and relatives with All Bugs Go to Kevin
• Learn about parts of the brain like the prefrontal cortex
• Feeling anxious about something? Let's make a plan
• Try a relaxation trick like this color sorting app

Sound effects courtesy Zapsplat and Pixabay

 As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu.  Who knows where your questions will take us next.

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Today I'm talking with Von Walden, an atmospheric scientist at Washington State University.

• Hear about Earth's bubble of gases AKA the atmosphere
• Learn why clouds can be weird in the polar regions
• Find out what an expert thinks about climate change—and how optimistic he is about the future

Resources You Can Use

• Check out AMNH's climate change resources
• Watch these polar bear cams
• Learn more about the polar regions
• Find out more about clouds and make a cloud in a jar

 As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu.  Who knows where your questions will take us next.

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What up with the small intestine and the large intestine? Join Cosmo and me—and our friend Franck Carbonero, microbiologist at Washington State University—to break down how we break down food.

You'll hear:

• how the intestines differ in size and function
• all about your gut bacteria
• the journey food takes through your digestive tract

Resources you can use:

• American Museum of Natural History's microbiology resources
• Frontiers for Young Minds' explainer on fermentation
• National Geographic Kids' info on the human digestive system

Sound effects courtesy Zapsplat

 As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu.  Who knows where your questions will take us next.

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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 is
• What protein makes mucus green sometimes
• How immune cells trap irritants and stuff that can make you sick

Resources you can use:

• Check out Operation Ouch's Science of Snot
• Learn about the nursing career

 As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu.  Who knows where your questions will take us next.

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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
• About white light and rainbow colors
• What reflection and refraction mean

Resources you can use:

• Check out Von Walden's research near the North Pole and South Pole
• Learn about atmospheric science

 As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu.  Who knows where your questions will take us next.

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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.

• Hear about all kinds of anthropology
• Find out how Dr. Siek studied bones from the Middle Ages in Poland
• Learn how clues in bones help solve crimes with forensic anthropology

Resources You Can Use

• Watch this NPR team use forensic anthropology to figure out info about a skeleton from a high school art class
• See how fast you can build a human skeleton
• Check out the anthropology collections at the Smithsonian

 As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu.  Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Send us Fan Mail

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 is and why bees are so adorably hairy
• Why some people call honey "bee barf" and what trophollaxis is 
• How bees make foods like bee bread and honey

Resources you can use:

• Check out these baby bees
• Learn how to make homes for native bees (they're like cousins to honey bees)
• Read the answer to this question here: Why do bees make honey?

 As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu.  Who knows where your questions will take us next.