Little Ears Big Ideas

In this episode, Lily and Max look under the bonnet to discover how electric cars are different from petrol cars. They explore how petrol engines use tiny controlled bursts, why diesel engines don’t need spark plugs, and how electric motors use batteries and magnetic forces to turn the wheels. They also uncover how hybrid cars combine fuel and electricity, how regenerative braking puts energy back into a battery, and the advantages and disadvantages of each type of car.

In this episode, Lily and Max discover how a tiny seed grows into a whole plant!

They peek inside a seed to find the baby plant waiting within, learn what wakes a sleeping seed, and explore how roots know to grow down while shoots reach up toward the light. They also investigate how a delicate shoot pushes through soil, and what happens when a seed doesn’t get the water, warmth or oxygen it needs.

In this scorching episode, Lily and Max discover how Venus’s thick carbon dioxide atmosphere traps heat like an enormous blanket. They also explore Venus’s backwards spin, find out why one Venusian rotation is longer than its year, and learn how scientists use radar to see through its mysterious clouds.

In this episode, Lily and Max investigate how shiny spoons reflect light, discover the difference between convex and concave surfaces, and learn why moving a spoon closer can suddenly flip your reflection again. With a light-ray race, funny stretched faces and an easy experiment to try at home, an ordinary spoon becomes a tiny science laboratory!

In this episode, Lily and Max explore the surprising power of self-talk and why positive words work best when they’re followed by practice and action.

In this episode, Lily and Max explore how moss holds water like a tiny sponge, how wet surfaces reduce friction, and why algae and other microscopic organisms can make moss even more slippery. They also discover why moss loves damp places and how to stay safe on mossy paths, rocks and steps.

In this episode of Little Ears, Big Ideas, Lily and Max dive into the surprisingly clever science hiding inside an everyday toilet. Discover where the flushing water comes from, how gravity helps create that powerful WHOOSH, what a siphon does, why toilets have a bendy trapway, and how the tank magically knows when to stop filling.

In this episode of Little Ears, Big Ideas, Lily and Max explore how animals’ bodies are perfectly suited to the places they live. We’ll discover why legs are so useful on land, how fins and flippers help animals move through water

In this episode of Little Ears, Big Ideas, Lily and Max head beneath the Earth’s surface to discover tectonic plates, faults, seismic waves and the enormous forces that can build up underground. With a simple hands-on experiment, they explore how rocks can get stuck, pressure can build, and a sudden slip can send vibrations travelling through the Earth.

In this episode of Little Ears, Big Ideas, Lily and Max zoom out from Earth to the Solar System, the Milky Way, and far beyond to discover just how enormous space really is.