There are billions of bacteria on Earth, and they’re everywhere. Bacteria are on every surface on the planet, and even live in the soil underground. Most bacteria are actually quite harmless to humans. They spend all of their time eating, resting, and making copies of themselves. But when bacteria decide it’s time for lunch, what do they eat? We asked microbiologist Daniel Bond to help us find the answer.

Got a question that’s colonizing your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll send an answer right BAC-ter-ya. 

Do you know why it doesn’t hurt to get a haircut? Because the hair on your head is actually dead. But if it’s dead, how does it grow? Dermatologist Roxana Daneshjou explained it to us. 

Send your hairiest questions for Moment of Um to BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll comb for the answers.

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!

Carrots are a delicious, crunchy snack. But unlike other vegetables, carrots don’t have seeds inside. So how do farmers grow them?  We asked plant scientist Jeff Mitchell to help us get to the root of the matter.  

Got a question that you want us to chew over?  Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll dig up some answers.

Air – we can’t breathe without it, we can’t live without it, we know it’s made up of molecules, so why is it invisible? Chemist Vicky van der Geer-Bock will help us answer this question.

If there’s a question whose answer feels invisible to you, we can help with that! Submit your Moment of Um question at BrainsOn.org/contact and we’ll help find the answer.

Our hearts are strong muscles that pump blood all through our bodies. But do hearts look the same in different animals? What about a tiger, or a lizard, or…a cockroach? Do cockroaches even have hearts? ? We asked urban bug expert Dr. Jody Green to help us find the answer.

Got a question that’s been bugging you? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll fly the answer your way.

Have you ever been walking around when you notice that your shoelaces have come untied, even though you just tied them? What’s up with that? We asked engineer Christine Gregg to help us understand. 

Send us your questions for Moment of Um at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll do all the footwork to find the answer.

Say cheese! But if you’re lactose intolerant maybe don’t eat it? Cuz any kind of milk based food will probably give you a tummy-ache! But why? We asked pediatrician Dr. Anjuli Gans why some people are lactose intolerant… and she helped us understand what it is and why it happens.

Got an udderly awesome question? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll milk it for some answers!

There are so many bacteria in the world that we still haven’t discovered them all! But because bacteria are so tiny, they’re really only visible with the help of a microscope. But what if lots and lots of those teeny tiny bacteria got together in a clump? How many would have to pile together before we could see that pile with just our eyes? We asked microbiologist Daniel Bond to help us find the answer.

Got a question GERM-inating in your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help micro-SCOPE out an answer!

The sound of crickets on a warm summer evening is just so soothing, isn’t it? All those little insects in the grass, talking to each other about… well, we don’t really know! In fact, we don’t know why they chirp at all. We asked neurobiologist Jon Lambert to tell us what’s actually going on out there at night. 

If you’ve got a question that just won’t let you rest, send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll do our best to find the answer!