Why are human babies so helpless compared to other mammals? — Ruby, 10, Florida
melissamayer
Walking upright reshaped the pelvis. Humans adapted by giving birth earlier, when the baby’s head is smaller. Read More ...
Ask Dr. Universe
History and Geography
Why is there an oz for ounces in math when there is no z in the word ounces? — Lahna, 9, New York state
melissamayerDear Lahna,
Your question made me think about how words change. The dictionary adds new words and definitions all the time.
The latest update to the Oxford English Dictionary added jelly, meaning jealous. It also included drop bear. That’s an imaginary scary-koala that appears in stories.
I asked my friend Nikolaus Overtoom how we got the abbreviation for ounces. He’s a professor of ancient history at Washington State University.
It turns out ounces—and later oz—evolved as words traveled from Ancient Rome through Medieval Europe and into England.
“The mixture of linguistic elements in English makes it one of the most flexible, diverse and complex … » More …
Read More ...Why does the Earth have lava in the middle? – Nora, 6, Florida
melissamayerDear Nora,
I live near a few volcanoes. One of them—Mount St. Helens—is bubbling with molten material that will probably gush out as lava someday.
I asked my friend Johannes Hämmerli about lava. He’s an earth scientist at Washington State University.
He told me Earth is mostly solid.
“The very center of Earth is a solid metal ball,” Hämmerli said. “Outside that ball, there’s a thick shell we think is liquid. And the rest of Earth—if you go through the mantle and crust—is pretty much solid.”
Earth formed when a cloud of dust in space collapsed. The elements inside the cloud squished … » More …
Read More ...How was the Earth made? — Penny, 8, Washington state
melissamayerDear Penny,
Blue oceans, green forests, a cozy blanket of oxygen. Our planet is a super comfy home. It’s hard to imagine there was ever a time it didn’t exist.
I asked my friend Julie Ménard how Earth formed. She’s a planetary scientist at Washington State University.
She told me it started with the Big Bang. That was nearly 14 billion years ago.
“The Big Bang is not an explosion,” Ménard said. “It’s an expansion. Everything in our universe today was in a tiny spot—smaller than the eye can see. Eventually, the pressure and density got so high that it started to expand.”
… » More …
Read More ...How did big cats change into house cats? – Morgan, 7, Washington state
melissamayerDear Morgan,
Like me, lions and tigers have sharp teeth and retractable claws. They sometimes use those fierce claws to knead or make biscuits. They enjoy a nap and good grooming sesh.
That’s not surprising because house cats share about 95% of their DNA with big cats. All cats belong to the family Felidae.
But that family is complicated. I asked my friend Haden Kingrey how house cats came to be. He’s an anthropology doctoral student at Washington State University. He studies artifacts to understand the past.
Kingrey told me that house cats are the result of evolution and domestication.
In any group of … » More …
Read More ...What came first, the chicken or the egg? – Everybody
melissamayerDear 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 …
Read More ...Can humans live in space for a month? – Maya, 11, Seattle
melissamayerDear 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 …
Read More ...Why did they invent paper? – Sofia, 9, Florida
melissamayerDear 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 …
Read More ...What was the largest dinosaur? – Carlos, California
melissamayerDear Carlos,
Your question almost stumped me. I don’t really have dinosaur scientist pals. So, I turned to an expert on finding answers.
My friend Emily Cukier is a science librarian at Washington State University. She helps students and scientists find information. I asked her what dinosaur is the largest—and how she figures that out.
Cukier told me that I should think hard about my question. Are we looking for the tallest dino? The longest? The heaviest? Those might be different answers.
Then it’s time to ask the internet.
“I’m a librarian, but the first thing I would do is put it into … » More …
Read More ...How did humans invent any language? How did they communicate back then? How did they know that difficult meant hard and what hard meant, too? – Anika, 10, Georgia
melissamayerDear Anika,
My roommate is a normal cat. When she needs a treat, she smacks her lips. When she wants outside, she paws the door. But she never talks to me using words.
I asked Nancy Bell how my human friends developed language. She studies linguistics at Washington State University.
Bell told me that we don’t know exactly how or when it all started. All kinds of scientists want to figure that out.
“It’s just part of our species that we want to make meaning,” she said. “We want to communicate. That desire is what leads to language.”
Scientists use the word “hominin” … » More …
Read More ...Why do scientists use Latin when they name organisms? – Arielle, New York
melissamayerDear Arielle,
Language changes all the time. Words get new meanings. New words get made up.
I talked about it with my friend Rich Zack. He’s an insect scientist at Washington State University. He does taxonomy. That’s the science of naming and classifying living things.
The way language changes is amazing—and skibidi. It’s neat that language morphs as we use it. But that can limit how well we understand each other. Some readers might see “skibidi” and think I passed out and hit random keys.
That’s the main reason scientists use Latin or ancient Greek to name things. They’re dead languages. Nobody uses … » More …
Read More ...Are fishes related to humans? – Sarah, 9, Nigeria
melissamayerDear Sarah,
Tuna, salmon, mackerel. Cats like me are famously big fans of fish. But I’ve never looked at my afternoon sushi and wondered if it’s related to my human friends.
So, I asked one of those friends named Thomas Siek. He’s a biological anthropologist at Washington State University. He studies how humans evolved.
He told me that fish and humans are distant relatives. All vertebrates—animals with backbones—are related.
“Humans and fish aren’t close evolutionary cousins,” Siek said. “We’re part of the same phylum called Chordata. We share a common ancestor. Those in Chordata have backbones. So, this will also include birds, dogs, … » More …
Read More ...What caused the first mass extinction on Earth? – Aayush, 10, New Jersey
melissamayerDear Aayush,
It’s sad when living things go extinct. That means they’re gone forever. I think about extinct unicorns all. the. time.
My friend Jodi Rosso told me that a mass extinction is when a huge number of species die out all at once. She teaches earth science at Washington State University.
“There are periods when a whole lot of animals and plants die off in a short time,” Rosso said. “When we say a short time, we mean less than 2 million years. From a human perspective, that's forever. But in geologic time, that's short.”
Groups of living things are always expanding or shrinking their numbers. Scientists think there are as many as 10 million species on Earth right now. Between 100 and 10,000 of them go extinct every year.
A mass extinction is when big percentage of all species die off.
Read More ...Did man live with dinosaurs together? – Daniel, 9, Republic of Korea
melissamayerDear Daniel,
When I think about dinosaurs, I usually picture the big ones. I think of triceratops with its pointy horns or apatosaurus with its long, long neck.
I asked my friend John Blong if those dinos ever lived with people. He’s an environmental archeologist at Washington State University. He studies early humans.
He told me that people and dinosaurs never lived at the same time. Well, mostly.
Dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago when a giant asteroid crashed to Earth. It threw up tons of dust and soot. It made Earth super cold and dark. It stayed that way for a long time. The world became a very hard place to live. Eventually, 75% of all living things died, including all the big dinosaurs.
People didn’t live on Earth at that time. The only mammals that lived back then were tiny. They looked like shrews or moles. It would take millions of years before mammals adapted enough to become primates. Scientists think the first humans showed up about 300,000 years ago. That was long after the dinosaurs died out.
But some dinosaurs survived the asteroid.
Read More ...How did one comet kill all the dinosaurs? If crocodiles, snakes and birds came from dinosaurs, did it actually kill all of them? — Mya, 11.4, Virginia
melissamayerDear Mya,
It’s hard to imagine that one space rock wiped out the dinosaurs. But it did more than that. It killed 75% of the plants and animals on Earth. Me-OW.
I talked about that with my friend Barry Walker. He teaches geology classes about Earth’s history at Washington State University.
Walker told me that we call a space rock that hits Earth a meteorite. The meteorite that took out the dinosaurs set off changes on Earth. Those changes lasted for thousands of years. That’s how it killed so many things.
Read More ...Who invented the calendar? – Audrey, 9, Oregon
melissamayerDear Audrey,
I use a calendar to keep up with my work as a science cat. I also love calendar apps that count down to big events—like my birthday. People have always tracked time for work and holidays.
I talked about this with my friend Nikolaus Overtoom. He’s a professor of ancient history at Washington State University.
He told me we use the Gregorian calendar today. That's a revised version of the Julian calendar. The Romans invented the Julian calendar.
Read More ...What diseases spread on pirate ships? – Anika, 9, Georgia
melissamayerDear Anika,
A pirate’s life was dangerous. They attacked other ships and battled other pirates as well as the law. But they were also at the mercy of another foe: sickness.
I talked about this with my friend Lawrence Hatter. He’s a history professor at Washington State University.
He told me the big era for pirates was 1710 to 1730. It was a time when lots of sailors were out of work. Some of them became pirates.
Here are four kinds of disease they might face on the job: scurvy, mosquito-borne diseases, infectious diseases and gangrene.
Read More ...Are unicorns real? – Emma, 8, Minnesota
melissamayerDear Emma,
My favorite animated GIFs are the ones with cats riding unicorns. I’m delighted to tell you about a real unicorn that lived a long time ago: the Siberian unicorn.
The Siberian unicorn was bulky and furry. It had a big hump on its back. Its horn was three feet long. That’s as big as a human preschooler!
This real-life unicorn was a kind of rhino from Eurasia. But it was bigger than modern rhinos and probably galloped like a horse.
Scientists have known about Siberian unicorns since 1808. For a long time, they thought the unicorns went extinct 200,000 years ago. Recently, that changed. Now they think the unicorns went extinct closer to 39,000 years ago.
Read More ...Who invented books? – Nicole, 6, Washington
melissamayerDear Nicole,
Some people only like paper books. But I love the library app on my phone. It’s like having stacks of library books in my pocket.
To learn more about books, I talked with my friend Greg Matthews. He’s the rare books librarian at Washington State University. “The short answer would probably be the Romans,” Matthews said. “But Rome was a really vast empire. So, it could have been a Roman in North Spain. It could have been a Roman in Egypt.”
Read More ...Native American Heritage Month: What is a land acknowledgement? Why does representation matter?
melissamayerWSU’s campuses are on ceded land belonging to the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) Tribe and Palus people, traditional Cowlitz lands, traditional lands of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, and historical Spokane Tribe lands. This story was written on land belonging to the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
November is a great time to honor historical figures and Native American scientists changing the world right now.
I talked about this with Sara Mills, a Prevention Science graduate student at Washington State University. She’s a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes.
Mills’ research centers Native American student voices. She wants to figure out what makes those students feel like they belong.
“Representation is huge,” she said. “If you can see yourself in these spaces, then you're more willing to put yourself out there and be in those spaces. I met Native American faculty right away when I got to WSU. I don't know if I would have been able to visualize myself here if I hadn't.”
Read More ...Dr. Universe: How are coins made? -Dahlia, 10, Olympia, WA
rcwebber
In the United States, pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and other coins are made through the U.S. Mint. It turns out, they’ve been making a lot more coins than usual during the global pandemic. But more on that in a moment.
It takes both science and art to make coins. Coins are made from metals that have been mixed together. We call these kinds of metals alloys. The very first coins in the world were made thousands of years ago in Turkey from electrum, an alloy of gold and silver. A penny is made from an alloy of copper and zinc.
Read More ...
Why are bears called bears when they can be called anything else, not just a bear? - Natallia, 8, Yakima, Wash.
jaime.chambersDear Natallia,
You’ve noticed something very important: there’s no natural reason for the words humans use. Any sound could be used to describe a big mammal that eats berries and salmon.
But people who speak English choose “bear.” People who speak Spanish use “oso.” People who speak Maricopa say “maxwet.” They’re all different, but they’re all correct.
That’s what I learned from my friend Lynn Gordon, a linguist at Washington State University.
“Why do we call bears ‘bears’?” she said. “Because we’ve agreed to.”
Read More ...Dear Dr. Universe: How do people name continents or places on earth? Thank you. - Lila Grace, 8, Virginia
rcwebber
Our world is full of so many different places. They get their names in lots of different ways.
One way a place might get a name is from the person who explored it. The Americas are named after an Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci. But Amerigo wasn’t the first person to explore these continents.
There were already people living there when he arrived. Still, “America” was named after Amerigo. For the most part, people name things because they are claiming possession of a place. Because of that, sometimes the original names of places are lost or erased.
That’s what I found out from my friend Theresa Jordan, a history professor who teaches a geography course at Washington State University. Read More ...
Dr. Universe: How did the first horse change into the horses of today? -Ava, 7, Kennewick, Wash.
rcwebber
We can learn a lot about animals of the past from fossils, the imprints or remains we find in rocks. One fossil found in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming helped us learn about the oldest known horses.
These horses are called Sifrhippus (siff-RIP-us). They had four toes on each foot and were very small.
Believe it or not, these tiny horses weighed only about ten pounds. That’s just a bit heavier than your average house cat. According to the fossil records, Sifrhippus lived somewhere between 54 and 30 million years ago.
When I went to visit my friend Lane Wallett, she told me all about the history of horses. As a veterinarian and a paleontologist at Washington State University, she is very curious about both horses and fossils. Read More ...
Dr. Universe: Why do people have different accents? Why do we have them and need them? -Florrie P., 9, UK
rcwebber
Whether you say hello, ‘ello, hey ya’ll, toe-may-toe or toe-ma-toe, we all have a kind of accent that often comes from where we live or who lives around us.
That’s what I found out from my friend Nancy Bell, a Washington State University professor who is really curious about the way language works. She told me more about why we have accents and why we need them.
There are a lot of different accents. You might have friends who speak English but have a Scottish, Irish, Australian, or French accent.
Even in the U.S., there are many accents from the east to the west to the mid-west to the south. In those regions, people also speak many types of English such as Chicano English, African American English, or Indian English. Read More ...
Dr. Universe: Back when cell phones weren’t a thing, how could you place a call from across the ocean? Were there wires under the ocean? -Tali, 9, Seattle, Wash.
rcwebber
Long before telephones, if you wanted to say “hi” to friend across the ocean you’d probably write them a letter and send it over on a ship.
But in the last hundred years or so, we’ve been able to connect across the ocean much faster. And yes, it often required thousands of miles of wires, or cables, deep in the sea.
That’s what I found out from my friend Bob Olsen, a professor of electrical engineering at Washington State University, who told me all about the telephone. Read More ...
Dr. Universe: How do earthquakes happen? -Aescli E., 10, Utah
rcwebber
We’ve had a lot of earthquakes on our planet this year. Maybe you’ve learned about them from the news or felt one shaking up your own neighborhood.
First, it is important to know a bit about the Earth’s outer layer, or crust. The crust is made of seven big pieces called “plates.” They are about 60 miles thick and sort of float on the molten rock beneath them. That’s what I found out from my friend Sean Long, a geology professor at Washington State University who knows a lot about earthquakes. Read More ...
Why can't we just print a bunch of money to make everyone rich? - Daniel, 8
rcwebberDear Daniel,
It sure sounds like a nice idea. Print a bunch of money and everyone gets rich. We could buy anything we wanted. Ah, if only it were that easy. It turns out printing more money would have a much different outcome than we might like to imagine.
Read More ...Why do we have different feelings? - Charan and Aishwarya V., 10 & 8, Rutherford, New Jersey
rcwebberDear Charan and Aishwarya,
Imagine you are playing a game of soccer and your best friend is on the opposing team. The sun is out, you are having a great time, and you score the winning goal. You’d probably feel pretty happy and so would your team.
Read More ...Dear Dr. Universe: How long can trees live? -Jessy, 8, Seattle, WA
rcwebberWhat kinds of trees are in your backyard? Do they have pinecones? Colorful leaves? Pods with seeds? Tell us more or send a picture to Dr.Universe@wsu.edu.
Dear Jessy,
As I was hiking through the bristlecone pine forests of the Sierra Nevada recently, I stumbled upon a tree barely six inches tall.
Read More ...Why does soda fizz? -Emily, 9, Florida
rcwebberDear Emily,
If you’ve ever had flat soda, you know a sip isn’t the same without some fizzy bubbles. We can hear them pop and feel them burst on our tongue.
Read More ...Why is the ocean salty? -Alysin, 10, Ruston, La.
rcwebberDear Alysin,
At first, I thought the answer to your question might take us deep into the ocean. But it turns out the source of our salty seas is actually on land.
Read More ...Do we drink the same water dinosaurs drank? -Sophia, 7
rcwebberDear Sophia,
Yes. The water on our Earth today is the same water that’s been here for nearly 5 billion years. Only a tiny bit of it has escaped out into space. As far as we know, new water hasn’t formed either.
Read More ...Why is Pi 3.1415...? What if it was just 3? -anonymous
rcwebberDear Curious Readers,
It’s almost March 14. You know what that means: Pi Day, as in 3/14, or 3.14159265359 and so on.
I met up with my friend Nathan Hamlin, a mathematician and instructor here at Washington State University, to explore your question about this never-ending number.
We calculated Pi with some of my favorite items: yarn and a tuna can. You can try it at home, too.
Read More ...Why is yawning contagious? -Grant, 10, Pullman, WA
rcwebberDear Grant,
When I got your question, I met up with my friend Hans Van Dongen, a scientist at Washington State University in Spokane. He works in a research lab where they study sleep. As a cat who appreciates naps, it’s one of my favorite places to visit.
Read More ...If mollusks have such heavy shells to drag around with them, how have they spread all over the ocean? -Michel W.
rcwebberDear Michel,
Mollusks, from land snails and slugs to oysters and mussels in the sea, have a few things in common. They have a head. They have a soft middle part that holds their organs. Then, some have a muscle that’s known as a “foot.”
Read More ...Dr. Universe, How are magnets made? -Andrea, 8, Berkeley, CA
rcwebber
Dear Andrea,
When I saw your question, I headed straight for the Magnetics Lab and met up with my friend John McCloy. I found out the word “magnet” comes from a Greek word for the region of modern-day Turkey we once called Magnesia. That’s where people found magnets in nature.
Read More ...Dr. Universe: Is the puffin a descendent of the dodo -Samykutha, Chennai, India
rcwebberDear Samykutha,
The dodo bird isn’t with us anymore, but if you visit a city park you’ll likely see one of its very close relatives walking around. It might even be nibbling on a French fry. Dodos were a pigeon, said my friend Michael Webster.
Read More ...Dr. Universe: How did the first drop of water ever happen on Earth -Ash, 6, SeaTac, WA
rcwebber?
Dear Ash,
We’ve learned a lot about how water supports life on the blue planet, but the first drop is a bit mysterious. Scientists have a few theories about how it happened.
Read More ...Dr. Universe: Why did people invent movies? -Danielle, Latrobe, Tasmania
rcwebberDear Danielle,
Movies not only took the ideas and inventions of people, but also the work of a horse. Her name was Sallie Gardner and the debate of her day was whether or not horses ever had all four hooves off the ground during a gallop.
Read More ...Why do scientists use Latin when they name organisms? – Arielle, New York
rcwebberDear Arielle,
Language changes all the time. Words get new meanings. New words get made up.
I talked about it with my friend Rich Zack. He’s an insect scientist at Washington State University. He does taxonomy. That’s the science of naming and classifying living things.
The way language changes is amazing—and skibidi. It’s neat that language morphs as we use it. But that can limit how well we understand each other. Some readers might see “skibidi” and think I passed out and hit random keys.
That’s the main reason scientists use Latin or ancient Greek to name things. They’re dead languages. Nobody uses … » More …
Read More ...What was the largest dinosaur? – Carlos, California
rcwebberDear Carlos,
Your question almost stumped me. I don’t really have dinosaur scientist pals. So, I turned to an expert on finding answers.
My friend Emily Cukier is a science librarian at Washington State University. She helps students and scientists find information. I asked her what dinosaur is the largest—and how she figures that out.
Cukier told me that I should think hard about my question. Are we looking for the tallest dino? The longest? The heaviest? Those might be different answers.
Then it’s time to ask the internet.
“I’m a librarian, but the first thing I would do is put it into … » More …
Read More ...