Brains On! Science podcast for kids cover art

All Episodes

Brains On! Science podcast for kids — 406 episodes

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Title
1

What is puberty?

2

How does soap work?

3

More sport science: Bats and black eyes

4

Sport science: softballs, baseballs, and curve balls

5

Is there such a thing as a blue raspberry? And why are raspberries hairy?

6

Hoax Hunters: What is the Bermuda Triangle

7

How do flowers get their smells?

8

It's time for the....Mystery Sound Extravaganza!

9

Why do we have Daylight Saving Time?

10

New Brains On tour dates added: St. Paul, Atlanta, Portland -- and more!

11

Let's Go Bananas

12

What is a generation and why do we have them?

13

Why doesn’t stomach acid burn right through us?

14

Can a spider eat a wasp?

15

How do stickers stick?

16

Totally Slothsome: All about sloths

17

Hoax Hunters: Can a lake turn animals to stone?

18

Why do skunks stink?

19

Brains On presents - Rocket women: How a secret program paved the way for female astronauts

20

Brains On presents: Smash Boom Best - Hot Wheels vs Monster Trucks

21

Brains On is coming to a city near you!

22

How metal wires changed the world!

23

How mastering metal saved lives

24

How is metal made?

25

How does music get recorded and stored?

26

Do dogs know that they're dogs?

27

Mystery Sounds from the natural world

28

Why are octopuses so smart?

29

Why do electric cars sound so unique?

30

Do fidget toys really help people focus?

31

We’re back! Brains On Universe has a new headquarters

32

A big update about the Brains On Universe

33

The life of a NASA astronaut

34

How do weather stations predict the weather?

35

Tree, Myself and I: All about our leafy green friends

36

Body Bonanza: Bruises, scars and Band-Aids

37

Smarty Pass Sneak Peek: Life is Poopiful

38

Are birds dinosaurs?

39

Trends: How do they start?

40

Smarty Pass Sneak Peek: Molly’s Inconceivable Preposterous Skateboard

41

How does solar power work?

42

What is asthma?

43

How does coral communicate?

44

Why do we have crushes?

45

Smarty Pass Sneak Peek: Smarty Pass Deli

46

Why does salt make food taste so good?

47

Why is Jupiter called Earth’s bodyguard?

48

What is Down syndrome?

49

Understanding big fires and big feelings

50

Smarty Pass Sneak Peek: Myth Busting Extravaganza

51

How is paper made?

52

Whirr. Zoom! Plink plink. It’s a Mystery Sound extravaganza

53

Is it true? Vikings, dogs, and twins edition

54

Are whales communicating with their clicks and songs?

55

Smarty Pass Sneak Peek: Bones On Mystery Sounds!

56

We're back December 17!

57

Smarty Pass Sneak Peek: Mystery Animal Poetry Slam

58

Smarty Pass Presents: Noun Noun

59

The real vampires of the animal world

60

Smarty Pass Sneak Peek: Game Show Molly

61

Achoo! How fast does a sneeze travel?

62

Navigating the world with White Canes

63

How do animals pick their leaders?

64

Smarty Pass Sneak Peek: Eye-Eye, Captain!

65

How does the internet work?

66

Why do some of us have food allergies?

67

Why do some people need glasses?

68

How do we name things in space? The quest to name a quasi-moon!

69

Smarty Pass Sneak Peek: SPORTSBALL Impression Sound

70

Phones: The fun, the annoying and the confusing

71

Auroras: Nature's light show

72

Smarty Pass Sneak Peek: Me and my pet

73

Seahorses! Curly-tailed wonders of the sea

74

Singing: the how and the wow of voices

75

Catnip, cat naps, and the history of house cats

76

Smarty Pass Sneak Peek: Rhyme or Reason

77

How do trees help our cities?

78

If our bodies are 98 degrees, why does it feel so hot outside?

79

It’s a mystery sound extravaganza!

80

How do vacuums work?

81

How do stringed instruments make sounds?

82

Smarty Pass Sneak Peek: Radical Design

83

How to build a house on the Moon

84

Are there insects in Antarctica?

85

How can you tell when food is expired?

86

How does ibuprofen help stop pain?

87

Smarty Pass Sneak Peek: Mystery Sound Investigation

88

Are UFOs real?

89

Join us for Brains On live in April!

90

Why do we laugh?

91

How do satellites work?

92

Tooth or Dare: A Smarty Pass Sneak Peek

93

How does a match make fire?

94

How deep does the sand go on the beach?

95

Is hypnosis real?

96

Why do we get cavities?

97

Baby Mystery Sound: A Smarty Pass Sneak Peek

98

How did ferns survive the dinosaur extinction?

99

What happened to the Neanderthals?

100

Taxonomic Ticklers: A Smarty Pass sneak peek

101

Where does lightning come from?

102

Brains On presents Forever Ago - Superman: An immigrant's story

103

Why do our bodies take so long to grow?

104

How and why do chameleons change color?

105

Why are we afraid of the dark?

106

Why isn’t Pluto a planet anymore?

107

What is ADHD?

108

Going Viral: What is a Computer Virus?

109

Ancient beasts: A prehistoric game show!

110

How do animals build their homes?

111

How do apples grow?

112

Join us at the Big Dig!

113

Where does all our energy come from?

114

What is artificial intelligence?

115

How do our eyes, skin and hair get their colors?

116

How much can your brain hold?

117

Can boredom be good for you?

118

What’s inside a jellyfish?

119

Hip hip hooray! Why are parties so fun?

120

Smarty Pass Bonus: Gungador Hosts a Dinner Party!

121

Come see Brains On live!!!

122

How do birds communicate?

123

How would life evolve in space?

124

Do video games really rot your brain?

125

Flies on a bus, space elevators, and other brain benders!

126

Why do we like some foods, but not others?

127

How do we learn to read - and why is it hard?

128

Million Bazillion: Why are there so many of the same stores?

129

The Trash Trail: Why is there so much plastic in the ocean?

130

Why do we need bugs?

131

Why do dogs wag their tails?

132

Why do we have friends?

133

Do plants sleep?

134

How heavy is the sky?

135

Glow for it! How do creatures make light?

136

How do hearing aids work?

137

Do scientists have superpowers?

138

Is it possible to clone yourself?

139

How is concrete made? And why does it matter?

140

How were people mummified?

141

Do insects see the world in slow motion? Looking through animal eyes

142

Space: The ultimate intergalactic game show

143

Flush! Where does our poo and pee go?

144

Why are we so sweaty?

145

Introducing Smarty Pass: Your ticket to the Brains On! Universe

146

Moon Myths: Why are there so many scary stories about the full moon?

147

AHH! How music can make scary movies even scarier

148

Blood: The superhighway of the body

149

Did the Brontosaurus really exist?

150

What happens at zoos after dark?

151

Where does your imagination come from?

152

Where do accents come from?

153

Get a whiff of that: Why you smell like you

154

Why is glass see-through?

155

Body Bonanza 2.0 - Your body questions answered

156

Can stress be helpful?

157

Underwater volcanoes and lots of salt: A deep dive into the ocean

158

Why can't we remember when we were babies?

159

Million Bazillion: How do big video platforms make money?

160

The Mosties!

161

Forever Ago is back June 1!

162

Dreams: The science of a sleeping brain

163

Tongue twisters: Terribly terrific and truly tantalizing

164

How does a caterpillar become a butterfly?

165

What makes tiny tardigrades tick?

166

Into the eye of a storm: How hurricanes form

167

Is mind-reading real?

168

Owl about Owls

169

How are we related to stars?

170

Why are butts and poop so funny?

171

Inside the immune system: Bad robots and friendly monsters

172

What's up with worms?

173

Mountain life: How's the air up there?

174

Chilling out with snow

175

Could you walk around the world?

176

Why do we like sugar so much?

177

Do we live in a multiverse?

178

Why are giraffe tongues blue? - A Moment of Um extra

179

Introducing Moment of Um!

180

What happens if you drop a feather in space?

181

The innies and outies of belly buttons

182

A guide to getting your COVID shot

183

Shark teeth: The sharp bits of a squishy animal

184

Spooky superstitions! Why we think 13 is bad luck

185

Crystals: More than just shiny rocks

186

Squirrelsperience: Trying out squirrel skills

187

The heroes we need to defeat the coronavirus

188

How to conquer Garbage Mountain

189

The invention of trash

190

Take a deep breath: How does breathing work?

191

What does the giraffe say? Our animal mystery sound extravaganza!

192

Why do we lose teeth?

193

What causes wildfires?

194

Million Bazillion answers your questions about money

195

Why do mosquitoes bite? Scratching that itch

196

Why do songs get stuck in our heads?

197

Vaccines for kids and silver linings: Our second COVID summer

198

Do dogs know they're dogs?

199

Our 200th episode is SUN-sational!

200

How far can a cloud travel?

201

Totally Slothsome: All about sloths

202

How do computers store so much info in such a tiny space?

203

How does taste work? We react to our very first episode!

204

Like bread and cheese? Thank fungus!

205

Is mold alive? A look at fascinating fungus

206

Is time travel possible?

207

Mystery Sound Extravaganza 2021

208

Why are smartphones so hard to put down?

209

What did dinosaurs sound like?

210

Dino Edition: How do we know what dinosaurs looked like?

211

What's in the COVID vaccine?

212

What's behind the waves and tides?

213

Let's go bananas!

214

A super special shot: All about coronavirus vaccines

215

Meet Gitanjali Rao, Time Magazine's first-ever Kid of the Year

216

How do synthesizers work?

217

Why is it so hard to break a habit?

218

Smash Boom Best: Flowers vs Rainbows

219

Bones from the inside out

220

Why do siblings annoy each other?

221

How do flu vaccines work?

222

Past, present and future: Using time to understand this pandemic

223

Smash: When continents collide!

224

Behind the scenes: See how we make the show

225

The buzz on bees, pt. 2

226

The buzz on bees, pt. 1

227

Stars: Twinkling, glowing, giant balls of gas

228

What makes gross things gross?

229

Poop Party: Answers to your poo questions

230

Introducing: Million Bazillion

231

Masks and mouth mist: What we know about the coronavirus now

232

The world of tiny robots

233

Why do kids have more energy than adults?

234

Why does green mean go? And other color conundrums

235

Injustice and Anger: Understanding your emotions

236

Introducing: Julie's Library

237

Coronavirus: How to be a helper from home

238

Thinking ink: The scoop on this colorful stuff!

239

Mystery Sound Extravaganza 2020

240

Can you dig to the center of the Earth?

241

Joy Overload! The science of tickles and cuteness

242

Virus Busters: How scientists are working to stop the coronavirus

243

Do plants have feelings?

244

Nervous: All about feelings, pt. 4

245

Staying home: How social distancing helps fight coronavirus

246

Narwhals: Unicorns of the sea?

247

Understanding coronavirus and how germs spread

248

Weather Watching: The birth of forecasts

249

The secret world of dust

250

For crying out loud: All about tears

251

Canine club: From wolves to dogs!

252

Mirrors, sequins and glitter: what makes them shine?

253

Aliens and UFOs: Making Sense of Myths, pt. 4

254

Mermaids, Kraken and the Loch Ness Monster: Making Sense of Myths, pt. 3

255

Lost Cities: Making Sense of Myths, pt. 2

256

Bigfoot, Unicorns and Dragons: Making Sense of Myths, pt. 1

257

How do pianos work?

258

Flavor facts: Why food is so delicious

259

What was the first life on earth?

260

Ask-A-Scientist: Bird Bonanza!

261

Books: How they're made and how your brain reads them

262

Why do we like getting scared?

263

Wonderful Wool: The secrets of this amazing fluff

264

How does the internet get to us?

265

Why do we lie?

266

The secrets of the spectacular spacesuit

267

What is dyslexia? And how do our brains read?

268

How do elevators work?

269

Hey, where did you get those genes?!?

270

Plastic: Why it's everywhere

271

Ants: Who's in charge here?

272

Going underground at Wind Cave National Park

273

Angry: All about feelings, pt. 3

274

Sad: All about feelings, pt. 2

275

Happy: All about feelings, pt. 1

276

Thinkin stinkin: Why we smell

277

Forever echo: Can a sound wave go on forever?

278

The hows and whys of hair

279

Mystery Sound Extravaganza 2019

280

Carnivores: Plants and animals that bite back

281

Black Holes, Wormholes and Donut Holes

282

Walking on walls: How ants and spiders do it

283

My air came from where?! How oxygen gets around

284

How do airplanes fly?

285

Memory and deja vu

286

Are we still evolving?

287

Brains On: Behind the scenes

288

Earthrise: The picture of our planet that changed the world

289

Soil: Can you dig it?

290

Voices: How do we make sound?

291

Roller coasters: from dream to extreme

292

Finding your way without a map

293

Video Games: A Tale of Two Pongs

294

Body Bonanza: Yawns, hiccups, goosebumps and more!

295

How to find the facts (Prove It: Part 4)

296

The scoop on journalism (Prove It: Part 3)

297

Science under the microscope (Prove It: Part 2)

298

A Brief History of Facts (Prove It: Part 1)

299

Brains On! + The Story Pirates: What makes fun things fun?

300

Keeping water healthy, one clue at a time

301

Burning rivers of fire

302

How does GPS know where you are?

303

Salty snack science: Popcorn, nachos and the origins of salt

304

Wanna see Mars' close approach? Just look up!

305

Smash Boom Best: Books vs Movies

306

How to cook for an alien

307

Mix: The science cooking, pt. 4

308

Chop: The science of cooking, pt. 3

309

Chill: The science of cooking, pt. 2

310

Heat: The science of cooking pt. 1

311

Boogers and sun sneezes: Know your nose

312

The wonderful weirdness of water

313

Smash Boom Best: Bats vs. Owls (new show alert!)

314

Robots take over (the show)! Live from Robotstravaganza

315

What's in your water?

316

What makes paint stick?

317

Allergy Attack: How our bodies can overreact

318

Mystery Sound Extravaganza 2018

319

How do animals breathe underwater?

320

'The Rice Cakes and the Oni': A story from Circle Round

321

Circadian rhythm pt. 2: Beyond human

322

From 8-bit to orchestras: How does video game music affect you?

323

The tick-tock of our circadian clock

324

‘Is it opposite day?’ and other mind-bending paradoxes

325

Our 100th episode! What's the big deal?

326

Meet Sandy, the left-handed mutant snail

327

Dolphins vs. Octopuses: Showdown in the sea!

328

Dogs: What's the secret of their sense of smell?

329

Mary Shelley and the science of Frankenstein

330

Super-size-asaurus: How did dinosaurs get so big?

331

Mysteries of the universe: Expansion and gravity

332

The nerve! Electricity in our bodies

333

Charged up! The science of batteries

334

High voltage! How electric power reaches your outlet

335

Shocking! The science of static (Electricity series pt. 1)

336

Where did language come from?

337

Curio: Flies on the bus

338

What's smaller than an electron?

339

Healing skin and regrowing limbs: The science of regeneration

340

Bonus: Kidcast sampler

341

Curio: Vampire of the Great Lakes

342

How do volcanoes erupt?

343

Curio: Quindar tones and talking in space

344

Mars: Our next home planet?

345

Thunder, lightning and tornadoes: Where do they come from?

346

Animal farts: A mighty wind

347

Sunburns: The why behind the ouch (and how to avoid them)

348

Everything you need to know before the solar eclipse

349

Deep Sea vs. Outer Space

350

Fart Smarts: Understanding the gas we pass

351

Riding in the car: Motion sickness and optical illusions (Road trip pt. 5)

352

Traffic: Phantom jams and chicken soup (Road trip pt. 4)

353

Monster trucks and car design (Road trip pt. 3)

354

The future of fuel, and the problem with exhaust (Road trip pt. 2)

355

How do engines work? (Road trip pt. 1)

356

Mystery sound extravaganza!

357

The science of slime: What is it and why are we so obsessed

358

Why is the ocean salty?

359

Do we all see the same colors?

360

Cats: Glowing eyes, puffy tails and secret purrs

361

Dinosaur bones: How do we know their age?

362

Lighting the way for sea turtles at Gulf Islands National Seashore

363

Surviving the desert at Joshua Tree National Park

364

Making the sands sing at Great Sand Dunes National Park

365

Tracking wild horses at Assategue Island National Seashore

366

What makes cute things cute?

367

Fire vs. Lasers!

368

How do whales communicate?

369

Could it rain lemonade?

370

How do invisible x-rays help us see?

371

Carnivorous plants: How they lure, trap and digest

372

How is glass made?

373

Mosquitoes: What are they good for?

374

Big universe, big questions

375

Why don't carnivores need to eat their vegetables?

376

How do you catch a cold?

377

Is there life on other planets?

378

Extinction!

379

Brains On! Besties

380

Living Large with the International Space Station

381

Mystery sound extravaganza!

382

Spider sense

383

Why are no two snowflakes the same?

384

The science of baking

385

Barks, growls, meows and purrs: Translating cats and dogs

386

How do meteorologists predict the weather?

387

The great cat debate: Evil or misunderstood?

388

Your booger questions, answered

389

Why does tickling make you laugh?

390

Bridges vs. Tunnels

391

Mission to Pluto!

392

Cuttlefish: Ultimate Shapeshifters!

393

Trees: From seed to shining seed

394

Why does the sun make some people sneeze?

395

How and why do jellyfish sting?

396

Volcanoes in space!

397

When parasitoids attack!

398

The mystery of gravity

399

How do monarch butterflies travel so far?

400

Water, water everywhere - but how does it get there?

401

Numbers!

402

Secrets!

403

Sleeping!

404

Music!

405

Growing!

406

Eating!