Dear Lucy,

When I go to the veterinarian, they measure how big I am. They use a scale to check my weight. They find my length and height with a measuring tape.

But nobody can put a planet on a scale. Or wrap a measuring tape around it.

I asked my friend Katie Cooper about it. She’s a geologist at Washington State University. She studies our planet and other planets, too.

She told me we send satellites to orbit our solar system. When a satellite swoops around a planet, it snaps pics and takes measurements. Those images and measurements help scientists estimate the … » More …

Dear Friends,

I get amazing questions from curious kids all over the world. So many of you want to know whether chickens or eggs came first.

It turns out, that’s one of the first questions I ever received—way back in 2001. A lot has changed since then. But a lot has stayed the same, including my answer, which was originally in the form of a comic.

To find out the answer, I read my notes from my late friend Ken Kardong, former zoologist at Washington State University.

… » More …

Dear Isana,

My belly button is a subtle scar on my tummy. It’s covered by fluffy cat fur—and it’s not easy to see. But humans have obvious belly buttons. They come in different sizes and shapes.

I asked my friend Cindy Brigham-Althoff about that. She’s a nurse midwife and professor at Washington State University. She teaches student nurses about birth.

She told me the scientific name for a belly button is umbilicus. It’s what’s left of your umbilical cord.

Before you were born, a temporary organ called the placenta grew next to you. A cord connected the placenta to a spot in the … » More …

Dear Garrett,

On very clear days, I can see five volcanoes from my campus. They’re Rainier, Hood, Adams, St. Helens and Baker. That’s…a lot.

I asked my friend Katie Cooper about it. She’s a geophysicist at Washington State University.

Check out the view of Mt. St. Helens from the … » More …

Dear Kaylen,

I use my paws for all kinds of things. That’s how I adjust my microscope, set up my microphone for a podcast and write answers to science questions. But most cats don’t do those things. Maybe that’s why cats don’t have fingerprints like yours.

I asked my friend Katherine Corn about that. She’s an evolutionary functional morphologist. She studies how animal bodies evolved to do all kinds of jobs. She’s the director of Washington State University’s museum of vertebrate zoology.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-8322" src="https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2332/2025/12/conner-research-collection-396x297.jpg" alt="Metal shelves holding many glass bottles filled with vertebrate specimens" width="396" height="297" srcset="https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2332/2025/12/conner-research-collection-396x297.jpg 396w, https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2332/2025/12/conner-research-collection-792x594.jpg 792w, ... » More …

Dear Maya,

I mostly keep all four paws on the ground. It’s hard to imagine living out in space.

I asked my friend Erica Crespi about it. She’s a biologist at Washington State University. She  studies how animals tolerate stressors faced in the environment—including how humans can live and thrive in space.

Crespi told me that Valeri Vladimirovich Polyakov lived on the Mir Space Station for 437 days and 18 hours in the 1990s. So far, that’s the record for living in space.

Polyakov’s job was to test the effects of a long space flight—like maybe a trip to Mars. He handled … » More …

Dear James,

There weren’t calculators or computers in medieval Europe. But there were math duels.

Mathematicians would gather in public squares and pose tricky math problems to each other. Then they raced to solve them. Victors might win money, fame or a university job. (Sadly, this isn’t how I got my job.)

People still noodle on difficult math puzzles for work and fun today.

That’s what my friend Daryl DeFord told me. He’s a mathematician at Washington State University.

“That’s really what math is all about,” he said. “You find something that doesn’t quite make sense, and you keep poking at it until it … » More …

Dear Sofia,

Every week my column gets printed on paper. Sometimes I use paper to dry my paws. Or clean up after I use the litterbox.

I asked my friend Xiuyu Wang who invented paper—and why. He studies Chinese history at Washington State University.

He told me that paper as we know it was invented in ancient China. Paper made it easier to wrap things up and write things down.

“Papermaking is one of the most significant inventions because paper does so many things,” Wang said. “People kept refining it and making different kinds of paper.”

The earliest paper fragments we have are … » More …

Dear Leonel,

I’ve met some naughty cats. I’ve also known some misunderstood ones.

I asked my friend Chris Barry why humans are sometimes like that, too. He’s a psychologist at Washington State University.

He told me we’re talking about behaviors that don’t align with social norms. They give most people bad feelings. That’s like feeling uncomfortable when someone does something violent or mean.

Sometimes those behaviors come from the person’s nature, or temperament. Sometimes they happen because the person enjoys taking risks. Or maybe they struggle to think before they act.

It could be all those things, even within the same person. Plus, temperament, … » More …

Dear Jake,

Sometimes, when I’m working on a tricky question, I scale the tree outside my office. It helps me focus.

I asked my friend Steve Lampa how cats like me do that. He teaches small animal anatomy in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University.

He told me it’s all about a beefy backside and razor-sharp claws.

“First cats jump and propel themselves with their rump and hind limbs,” Lampa said. “Then they anchor with their claws—which are like grappling hooks. Domestic cats actually have sharper claws than their wild counterparts.”

The jumping part of the climb involves powerful muscles, especially … » More …