Ask Dr. Universe

I loved hearing about how WSU College of Veterinary Medicine's Dr. Bunch does acupuncture on all kinds of animals -- even prairie dogs! 🎙🦖

How Do You Science | Meet a Veterinarian...who does acupuncture! - Ask Dr. Universe 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 veterinarian Jessica Bunch.Learn what a veterinarian does and funny things that happenHe...

For a brilliant veterinarian like Cassidy Cordon of WSU College of Veterinary Medicine, this question wasn't even ruff 🐕

Can dogs understand what a human says? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University Dogs understand lots of human words. But dogs also pay attention to their human’s tone of voice and body language to figure out what the human means.

Eye can really see why WSU College of Veterinary Medicine's Nora Hickey thinks fish are so rad 🐟

How can fish see in the water? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University Fish eyes don’t work the same as mammal eyes. A fish’s lens is round. It focuses by moving the whole lens to zoom in or zoom out.

Thanks to WSU Pullman School of Music's Alisa Toy for helping me crack this clever question about the larynx 🎶

Why do people get voice cracks? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University Voice cracks happen when the muscles in your larynx get out of sync. That happens a lot during puberty because your larynx is growing quickly.

I loved diving into this question with WSU Vancouver's and College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University's Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens 🌊

Why did people stop exploring the ocean? I heard they only explored 5% of it. | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University Most of the unexplored ocean is the water column, which contains 321 million miles of water. Scientists target what and where they explore.

The coolest throwback Thursday ever: making ice cream with WSU Creamery 🍨

How is ice cream made? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University After making my own homemade tuna-flavored ice cream, I decided to take a trip to the Washington State University Creamery.

Learning about volcanic mud flows from WSU Pullman's and College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University's Katie Cooper totally rocks 🌋

Recently there was an online news article that mentioned cold magma that was flowing on the land. What is cold magma? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University The news may be using “cold lava” to describe a lahar. That’s a mix of water and rocky debris that sometimes whooshes down the side of a volcano.

So many thanks to Giuseppe Giannotti of WSU College of Veterinary Medicine and WSU Pullman for helping me wrap my adorably large head around this answer 👶🐱

Why do people like cute animals more than ugly ones? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University Cute animals remind humans of babies. That switches on an instinct and built-in reward system to take care of the baby or cute animal.

This bird info from WSU Pullman's Jennifer Phillips is music to my ears 🐦

Why do birds sing in the morning? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University Birds sing in the morning to tell other birds that their territory still belongs to them. They also sing to find and bond with mates.

I love taking a big gulp of anatomy knowledge with my friend Ed Johnson of WSU Pullman and the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University 🥤

Why do we need to hydrate? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University You have receptors in your brain that keep track of the fluid outside your cells. If it gets too concentrated, your brain gives you the sensation of thirst.

This month's podcast takes the pulse of advanced nursing with my friend Bevan Briggs 🧑‍⚕️🎙️ TW for brief mentions of gross body stuff https://www.buzzsprout.com/1338544/15171153 College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University WSU College of Nursing WSU Spokane

How Do You Science | Meet a Nurse Practitioner - Ask Dr. Universe 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 we're talking to nurse practitioner Bevan Briggs. Warning! This episode very briefly mentions intestines, b...

Did you know the human voice starts as clicks? Alisa Toy of WSU Pullman School of Music and WSU Pullman really gave voice to this fascinating answer 🎶

How does your voice make sound? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University The vocal folds sit next to each other in the larynx. Air whooshes up from your lungs and vibrates them. That makes clicks that will become your voice.

I'm grateful to have friends like Nathan Santo Domingo, AgWeatherNet and WSU College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences to help me answer weather questions from kids all over the world 🌪️

What safety measures can we take during extreme weather conditions? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University How to prepare depends on the extreme weather near you. You can learn about your local weather and make plans with your community to stay safe.

So many thanks to Jeb Owen of College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University, WSU College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences for drilling into this dangerous question with me 🦟

What is the most dangerous insect in the world? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University Mosquitoes are the most dangerous animal in the world. Female mosquitoes sometimes feed on blood. Sometimes they pass on pathogens that make people sick.

It snot easy to answer questions about anatomy, but luckily my friend Ed Johnson of WSU Pullman and the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University nose everything about the human body 👃

Why do we have nose hairs? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University Nose hair filters the air you breathe in through your nose. That helps keep dust, pollen and pollution like wildfire smoke from getting to your lungs.

I learned a plank-ton from talking about marine biology with Wes Dowd of WSU Pullman and the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University in the newest episode of the Ask Dr. Universe podcast 🪼

How Do You Science | Meet a Marine Biologist - Ask Dr. Universe 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 we're talking about birds with Wes Dowd, a marine biologist and environmental physiologist at Washingt...

A universe of thanks to Guy Worthey of WSU Pullman and the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University for answering this burning question 🌞

Why do we need the sun? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University The sun keeps us warm, provides energy that powers us all, and holds Earth in orbit.

I loved talking about cat-titudes with my friend Makita White of WSU Pullman and College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University

Why do we change our minds? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University We change our minds when we get new information or insight that tells us we need to make a different choice.

So many thanks to Jacob Blauer of the WSU College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences and WSU Pullman for helping me harvest this answer🫑

Why are some veggies called fruits because of their seeds? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University Veggies come from plant parts like roots, stems or leaves. Fruits come from flowers and contain seeds. But plant foods can be classified in other ways, too.

Thank you to Cindy Brigham-Althoff of WSU College of Nursing and WSU Spokane for opening my eyes to this incredible answer 👁️

Do babies open their eyes when they are in their mom’s tummy? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University Whether unborn babies can open their eyes depends on their fetal age. A fetus' eyelids form at the end of the 8th week. Then they unseal at 26 weeks.

I'm feline grateful to Jessica Bunch of WSU Pullman and
WSU College of Veterinary Medicine for helping me get my paws on the answer to this question 🐈‍⬛

Why are cats scared of cucumbers/snakes? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University Cats can be surprised by new things. That’s especially true if the new thing shows up without warning. Or while the cat has its guard down.

Spring means new plants, but how do we know they're alive? Thanks to Michael Knoblauch of WSU Pullman and the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University for digging into the answer with me 🌱

How are plants considered living if they don’t have a heart or brain? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University Scientists say living things are made of cells, reproduce, grow, keep a steady internal environment, and respond and adapt to their environment.

A million thanks to Rae Olsson of WSU Pullman and the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University for helping me comb through the idea of haplodiploidy for this sweet answer 🐝

What would happen to female honey bees if male bees didn’t exist? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University If all the male honey bees died, queens could just lay more male eggs. If male bees didn’t exist at all, there would be no new workers and no new queens.

Quench your thirst for plant knowledge with this answer from my friend Helmut Kirchhoff of WSU Pullman and the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University 🌱

Why do plants need water? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University Water makes plant cells strong and flexible. It dissolves stuff for chemical reactions for things like photosynthesis. Water also moves around nutrients.

So many thanks to Erica Crespi of WSU Pullman and the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University for helping me answer this chill question 🐸❄️

Where do frogs go in the winter? | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University Most frogs living in places with cold winters find a slightly warmer place to hunker down. They slow their bodies way down. A few kinds of frogs freeze!