Plants, Animals, Microbes | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University

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University Communications Network > Ask Dr. Universe > Plants, Animals, Microbes

Why do bees make hexagons in their hives? Why not any other shape? -Aditya, 10, New Delhi, India

November 2, 2015 rcwebber

Dear Aditya,

When bees make hexagons in their hives, the six-sided shapes fit together perfectly. In fact, we’ve actually never seen bees make any other shape. That’s what I found out when I visited my friend Sue Cobey, a bee researcher at Washington State University.

Cobey showed me some honeycombs where the female bees live and work. Hexagons are useful shapes. They can hold the queen bee’s eggs and store the pollen and honey the worker bees bring to the hive.

When you think about it, making circles wouldn’t work too well. It would leave gaps in the honeycomb. The worker bees could use triangles or squares for storage. Those wouldn’t leave gaps. But the hexagon is the strongest, most useful shape.

Dear Dr. Universe, Do animals have the same types of bones and muscles as humans? -Lydia, 8

October 12, 2015 rcwebber

Dear Lydia,

The short answer is yes, said my friend Leslie Sprunger, a veterinarian and professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University. But, as always, there’s a catch.

Dear Dr. Universe, Please answer this question: Do animals dream? What dreams do they get? I humbly request you to answer these questions. BYE! Or should I say MEOWY! -Prahlad R.

October 5, 2015 rcwebber

Dear Prahlad,

After a quick catnap and a stretch, I went to visit my friend Marcos Frank, a scientist at Washington State University who studies animal sleep.

If mollusks have such heavy shells to drag around with them, how have they spread all over the ocean? -Michel W.

August 10, 2015 rcwebber

Dear 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.”

Dr. Universe: Are aliens real? -Lily, 10, New York City, NY Is there life on other planets? -Heidi, Cincinnati, OH

July 27, 2015 rcwebber

Dear Lily and Heidi,

Well, we don’t know for certain. Looking up to the stars at night, I’ve often wondered if alien cats are out chasing alien mice or taking naps on other planets.

My imagination aside, your questions are like those scientists are asking, too. And it’s no wonder we are so curious.

With billions of planets in our galaxy, including small Earth-like worlds, the possibility of life out there is an exciting thought to many people. So, humans have set out to look for planets that might support life.

In fact, this month scientists announced the Kepler spacecraft’s discovery of … » More …

Dr. Universe: What is something a lot of people might not know about sharks?

July 10, 2015 rcwebber

It’s Shark Week, so I made a visit to my friend Jon Mallatt. He’s a Washington State University biologist who has studied the jaws of ancient sharks.

Jon Mallatt: Some of them, such as tiger sharks, cat sharks, and even great white sharks, have quite large brains—relative to their body weight— and are intelligent. They are not “primitive” animals. The shark relatives, Manta rays and devil rays, have even larger brains than any shark.

Dr. U: How long have sharks been around, anyways?

JM: At least 420 million years and maybe 460. It is … » More …

Dr. Universe: Is the puffin a descendent of the dodo -Samykutha, Chennai, India

July 6, 2015 rcwebber

Dear 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.

I saw a caterpillar and a butterfly in the neighbor's yard. So my question is, what exactly happens inside the little sack they're in while they transform into a butterfly and HOW exactly do they do it? -Eston

April 6, 2015 rcwebber

Dear Eston,

Springtime sets the stage for one of the greatest transformations in the natural world.

“It’s the construction of a butterfly or moth from caterpillar soup,” said my friend David James, an entomologist at Washington State University. James studies the science behind metamorphosis, or how a creature transforms.

Why are ripe fruits sweet and why is it so important? -Alexa, Schenzhen, China

March 30, 2015 rcwebber

Dear Alexa,

My friend Kate Evans said the answer really depends on whether you want the perspective of a person, a plant, or even a cat. Evans is a plant scientist at Washington State University in Wenatchee, where she investigates fruit in the Apple Capital of the World.

She explained how long ago, wild apples actually grew in forests. Without farmers around to plant them in orchards, trees had to scatter their own seeds to survive.

For some trees, the key to survival is growing sweet, ripe fruit.

Can you grow stuff like thread, cloth, silk, and most importantly, clothing? -Jay, Colorado

March 23, 2015 rcwebber

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Dear Jay,

We can use all kinds of animal, bug, and plant materials to make cloth. Even some of the tiniest living things on the planet can make cloth, too.

I heard about this from my friend Hang Liu, a Washington State University professor who studies the science of materials we use and wear every day.

Where does dirt come from? -Brian, Pullman, WA

March 16, 2015 rcwebber

Where does dirt come from? -Brian, Pullman, WA In just a word, the story of soil goes something like this: “CLORPT!" It’s fun to say, and it helps explain how tough rock turns into the soft soil farmers need to grow food and feed the world. Read More ...

Where do cheetahs live? -Lydia

March 10, 2015 rcwebber

What's a baby crocodile called? -Alexandra, Wisbec, England

February 4, 2015 rcwebber

Do bats have habits? -Elliot

February 4, 2015 rcwebber

Dear Elliot,

You are onto something. Quick, to the bat-lab! That’s where I met up with my friend Christine Portfors, a scientist at Washington State University who studies fruit bats.

Portfors explained that while bats don’t quite have habits like humans, they do have behaviors.

Bats are nocturnal. They sleep during the day and wake up in the early evening. The first thing they’ll do when they wake up is fly around and around their caves for a while.

Why do bees have stuff that looks like hair? The hair on their legs looks like a real hassle, what with all the crud that sticks to it.*-Elliot

February 4, 2015 rcwebber

That crud is their food, Elliott. That’s what I learned from Steve Sheppard. He studies bees here at WSU.

What was the largest dinosaur? -Carlos, Visalia, California

February 4, 2015 rcwebber

About 85-feet long (half a football field) and 65 tons (about 7 T-Rexes), the largest dinosaur scientists know about is Dreadnoughts. She was a plant-eater and with her 37-foot-long neck probably had no problem reaching the leaves at the top of trees.

Dear Dr. Universe, Do bugs have hearts and brains? -Nick

February 2, 2015 rcwebber

Take a look inside a bug and you’ll find one brain in its head and other little brains called “ganglia” along its whole body. These tiny control centers help insects see, taste, and smell. They also help them quickly escape threats, like other bugs.

“If you had little brains everywhere else, you would also be much quicker,” says bug expert Laura Lavine. Read More ...