Hey, cool cats. I’m Doctor Universe, here to answer you’re baffling science questions. Like this one. Dear Doctor Universe, why do we have earwax? Just the other day I was scratching my ears when I found some earwax. It was pretty gross, but it also made me very curious. We have earwax for many of the same reasons we’ve got boogers in our nose. Earwax helps invaders like bacteria and dirt from getting deep into our ears. It also protects our inner ears which connect to important nerves that we use for balance and hearing. The outer ear is an earwax factory. It’s where special glands under your skin produce the sticky, wet wax. When it comes to keeping our ears clean and fresh, it’s best to just dab our ears with a towel after a bath. And remember, don’t ever stick anything smaller than your elbow in your ear. You can submit a science question of your own at AskDrUniverse.wsu.edu.