How do parachutes work? - Lucas, 11, Alberta, Canada
rcwebber
Have you ever blown on a puffy white dandelion? Your breath sends dozens of seeds scattering, gliding to a soft landing somewhere new. Read More ...
Ask Dr. Universe
Technology, Engineering, Math
How does the Internet actually work? I know you can type in most anything and it just pops up and all that, but how? - Eden, 8, Oregon
jaime.chambersDear Eden,
If you wrote me a physical letter, it would take a few days to reach me. You put the letter in your mailbox. A postal worker picks it up. Then it travels between different post offices on its journey from you to me.
But within seconds of you sending this question over the Internet, it was sitting in my inbox. How can this be?
The whole Internet works like the mail system—but much faster. That’s what I learned from Adam Hahn, an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Washington State University.
Read More ...How do you make submarines? - Luke, 5, Western Washington
jaime.chambersDear Luke,
The next time you’re in the bathtub, turn a cup upside down on the water. Push down on it as hard as you can. See if you can get it to sink below the water.
It’ll be difficult to do! The air inside the cup makes it lighter than the water. But what happens if you turn the cup on its side, allowing water to rush in? You’ll see it’s easier to push underwater.
Those same basic forces make a submarine work.
That’s what I learned from Ian Richardson, an engineer at Washington State University. He is very curious about how liquids and solids interact. He has even helped NASA work on a submarine to someday go to Titan, one of Saturn’s moons.
Read More ...Dr. Universe: Why does the wind blow? -Odin, 7, Mt. Vernon, Wash.
jaime.chambersDear Odin,
When the wind blows, it can do all kinds of things. It can help pick up tiny seeds and carry them away, so plants and flowers can grow in new places. It can push a big sailboat across an ocean. We can even harness the wind to make clean energy to power our homes and schools.
That’s what I found out from my friend Gordon Taub, an engineer at Washington State University. He is very curious about wind energy and told me more about why the wind blows.
Read More ...Dr. Universe: What’s the best story ever made in the world? – Jada, 13, New Jersey
rcwebber
Humans have been telling stories for thousands of years. At first, they told these stories out loud, then they started to write.
There are more than a hundred million published books on our planet now and to find out which one is best, I visited my friend Matthew Jockers. He’s a professor at Washington State University who combines his love of stories with computer science to research what makes some books bestsellers. 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 ...
Dear Dr. Universe: Why does it hurt when we pull a muscle? -Dakota, 12
rcwebberDear Dakota,
Our big, strong, stretchy muscles can help us run, jump, and play. But sometimes these muscles stretch a little too far and it can really hurt.
Read More ...Dr. Universe: How many peas would fit in the sun? -Keegan, 8
rcwebber
Our sun is so massive, you could fit more than one million earths inside of it. To find out how many peas would fit inside the biggest object in our solar system, I decided to ask my friend and mathematician Kimberly Vincent at Washington State University.
Vincent and her students said that to figure out how much of something can fit inside the sun, we need to know the volume of the sun. The volume is how much space something takes up. Read More ...
Dr. Universe: Why do gadgets need batteries? How do they work? -Shereen and Jasmine, 8, Florida
rcwebber
Dear Shereen and Jasmine,
Batteries can power up all kinds of gadgets. To find out how batteries work, I decided to visit my friend and materials engineer Min-Kyu Song. He makes batteries in his lab at Washington State University.
As you might know, materials are made up of atoms—and atoms have tiny parts called electrons. If you’ve ever felt a spark when you touched a doorknob, you’ve felt electrons making the jump from your body to the door. Read More ...
What causes a mirage? –Georgia, 10, Wash.
rcwebberDear Georgia,
Imagine you’re riding in the car on a very hot day, when you look out the window and see a shimmering puddle of water up ahead. As you get closer, you find there’s not really anything there. It’s a mirage.
Read More ...