Dear Dottie,

When I was a kitten, I learned to swim by diving for coins in the pool. It wasn’t easy seeing the coins underwater. It was blurry down there.

I talked about how fish see with my friend Nora Hickey. She’s a fish veterinarian at Washington State University.

She told me that fish eyes don’t work the same way mammal eyes do—even though we have the same eye parts.

Your cornea is the clear, squishy tissue right at the front of your eye. It’s in front of the colored ring in your eye—called the iris. There’s a dark dot in the center … » More …

Dear Jade,

Have you ever heard cats yowling? It’s expressive, that’s for sure. Sometimes when I yowl or sing, my voice cracks a little bit.

I asked my friend Alisa Toy why that happens. She’s a professional singer who teaches in the School of Music at Washington State University.

She told me it has to do with the muscles that move the larynx. That’s sometimes called the voice box. It’s a hollow tube that’s important for breathing and talking.

When you talk or sing, you push air from your lungs up through your larynx. The air passes through an opening made by your <a ... » More …

Dear Dakota,

When I think about exploring the ocean, I think about the discovery of giant tube worms. They live in super- hot, mineral-rich water deep in the ocean. They don’t do normal things like eat or poop—but they can live for 300 years or longer. Scientists were shocked when they found them—and there’s probably much more to find.

I talked about ocean exploration with my friend Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens. She’s a biological oceanographer and plankton ecologist at Washington State University.

She told me that you’re right that we’ve only explored about 5% of the ocean. But it isn’t because we stopped trying. The … » More …

Dear Israel,

It just so happens that July is National Ice Cream Month. To celebrate, I decided to whip up some homemade ice cream. You can try it at home, too.

Put milk, sugar and vanilla into a freezer bag and seal it up tight. Fill another gallon freezer bag with ice and rock salt. Place the liquid mix bag inside the bag of ice and give it a good long shake. Some scientists might call this part “agitating.” After five minutes or so, you’ll notice the liquid mix in your bag becomes solid. Then you can dig in with a spoon.

After making my … » More …

Dear Matt,

When I think about volcanoes, I picture molten magma deep inside the Earth. Or burning hot lava pouring down the side of a mountain. But you’re right that there have been news reports that mention cold lava.

I talked about what that could be with my friend Katie Cooper. She’s a geologist at Washington State University.

She told me 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. It’s also called a debris flow or a volcanic mud flow.

Dear Brayden,

Not to brag, but when I was a kitten, humans would see me and squee. Maybe it was my big, sparkly eyes or my teeny, fluffy paws.

I asked my friend Giuseppe Giannotti why people found me so adorable. He’s a scientist at Washington State University. He studies the brain.

He told me that humans like cute animals because they remind them of babies.

“We’re drawn to find traits in animals that are similar to what we think is cute in humans,” Giannotti said. “The cutest things in humans are babies—you know, big heads, giant eyes, soft cheeks—and we project this to … » More …

Dear Alexandria,

I usually write answers to kids’ science questions early in the morning. I like how it’s so quiet—except for my bird neighbors singing and singing.

I asked my friend Jennifer Phillips what’s going on. She’s a bird scientist at Washington State University.

She told me birds sing in the morning to tell other birds that their territory still belongs to them.

“The morning time is usually a little bit more calm, especially in windy areas,” Phillips said. “So, it’s a good time to broadcast your song and for that song to potentially travel a little farther.”

Dear Victor,

Is there anything better than lapping up cool water on a hot day?

I talked about why we need to hydrate with my friend Ed Johnson. He teaches classes about the human body in the School of Biological Sciences at Washington State University.

It turns out that up to 60% of an adult human’s body is water. A kid’s body contains even more water than a grown up. When you were a baby, you were about 78% water.

Humans use that water for all kinds of things. It keeps you cool when you sweat. It removes waste when you pee. It moves … » More …

Dear Bianca,

Think about all the ways you use your voice: talking, singing, whispering, shouting, yodeling. Humans make so many sounds with just their voices.

I talked about how it works with Alisa Toy. She’s a professional singer who teaches in the School of Music at Washington State University.

She told me that the human voice is the smallest instrument in the world. The parts that make the sound—called the vocal folds or vocal cords—are about as long as your thumbnail.

So, where are those tiny vocal folds and how do they do it?

Inside your throat you have two tubes. The esophagus … » More …

Dear Zadok,

When I was a kitten, a tornado tore through the neighborhood I was visiting. It got eerily quiet outside. Then the sky turned green. My littermates and I climbed into an empty bathtub to stay safe. After that, it got super loud.

I talked about extreme weather with Nathan Santo Domingo. He’s a weather scientist at Washington State University.

He told me that how to prepare depends on where you live. Different places have different kinds of extreme weather.

“Keep an eye on the forecast and know what’s coming your way,” Santo Domingo said. “Be smart about what happens in your area.”