Ask Dr. Universe

Welcome back, young scientists. I’m Dr. Universe.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world. Today we're talking about birds with Jennifer Phillips, an ecologist at Washington State University. Learn about sensory pollution and the difference between a phenotype and a genotypeFind out how birds get tagged and measured—and how it's a little bit like an alien abductionHear Dr. Phillips' journey to be a scientist, her favorite bird fact and how being a scientist is like being a spyResources You Can UseCheck out this video that shows how a cardinal's syrinx makes two sounds at onceDid you know there's a poisonous bird? Meet the PitohuiLearn all about birds with Audubon for KidsEnjoy these spy activities from the Spy Museum As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Welcome back, young scientists. I’m Dr. Universe.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world. Today we're talking about libraries with David Luftig, a science librarian at Washington State University. Find out what a science librarian is and how to become oneLearn how the resources at WSU's Owen Science and Engineering Library and Holland and Terrell Libraries are there for everyone in WashingtonHear how everyone is a scientist—including youResources You Can UseText, chat, email or tweet at a WSU librarian—or schedule a time to work together one-on-oneLook at this cool taxidermy bear that lives in the science libraryBrowse vintage photos and digital media from Washington and  the PalouseCheck out some of the rare books and collections at WSU As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Welcome back, young scientists. I’m Dr. Universe.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world. Today we're talking about learning with Kira Carbonneau, an educational psychologist at Washington State University. Find out what educational psychologist is and how Dr. Carbonneau became oneLearn the difference between quantitative research and qualitative researchHear Dr. Carbonneau's advice for being a good learner—and what it has to do with the movie SingResources You Can UseSee the What Works Clearinghouse yourselfCheck out what Dr. Carbonneau taught me about having a growth mindset As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Welcome back, young scientists. I’m Dr. Universe.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world. Today we're talking about babies with Masha Gartstein, a psychologist who studies infant temperament at Washington State University. Learn about the individual differences that make up a baby's temperament and how scientists study it in the lab with real babies (Hint: It involves Halloween masks!)Hear about Dr. Gartstein's job and her advice for kids who want to be scientistsResources You Can UseCheck out the Gartstein Infant Temperament Lab to learn more about Dr. Gartstein's work and see adorable photos of babies in the labWatch the trailer for Babies, Season 2 (Netflix). Dr. Gartstein is on the episode called "Nature and Nurture." Some episodes from the first season are available on YouTube. As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Welcome back, young scientists. I’m Dr. Universe.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world.  Do you love insects? Me, too. In this episode, we meet Rich Zack, an insect scientist at Washington State University. Learn about entomology, the study of insects and arthropods like spiders and scorpions, and how to study insects right now.Hear how Dr. Zack discovered his passion for entomology in college—and how there's a place in science for everyone.Resources You Can UseHave an insect to identify? Try BugGuide or iNaturalistCheck out insect content and community science projects at Xerces Society— and become a Xerces KidSee some of the WSU entomology museum with this throwback videoWatch ultraHD videos of insects with Deep Look As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Hey, friends. I’m Dr. Universe. If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world.    In this episode, we meet Adah Crandall. She’s an organizer with the Sunrise Movement. That's a youth-led organization working on solutions for climate change. She started organizing as a middle schooler when she took on the Oregon Department of Transportation. If you want to learn more, check out Sunrise on Instagram or the Green New Deal for Public Schools.  As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Welcome back, friends. I’m Dr. Universe. If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world.    In this episode, we meet Emily Erickson. She’s part of the Western Monarch Mystery Challenge team. That’s a community science project that asks people to look for monarch butterflies in early spring and send in pictures to help scientists learn more about these important pollinators.If you’re interested in helping monarch butterflies near you, check out these nectar plant guides from the Xerces Society. As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Welcome back, young scientists. I’m Dr. Universe.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world.  It's not enough to just do science—you've got to get the science out so people can read all about it. That's where science writers come in. In this episode, we meet Sara Zaske, a science writer at Washington State University. She also edits the Ask Dr. Universe column!  As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Welcome back, young scientists. I’m Dr. Universe.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world.  What's a postdoctoral fellow? How do rattlesnakes rattle? What's it like searching for snakes in the field or taking blood samples from a grizzly bear? In this episode, we meet Blair Perry, a postdoctoral fellow at Washington State University. He uses the same methods to study the genes of snakes and bears!  As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Welcome back, young scientists. I’m Dr. Universe.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world.   Do you love our solar system? Today, 4th graders from Palouse Prairie Charter School take me on a space tour in their Boomcrusher space shuttle. Come along!Ask Dr. Universe is a service of Washington State University geared toward an 8- to 13-year-old audience. If your class or group is interested in working on a podcast episode with Dr. Universe, reach out. It takes about 6 months for young scientists to research and write a script and then work through editing, factchecking, and recording. Sound effects courtesy Zapsplat.com. Thank you to Dr. Michael Allen (WSU Physics & Astronomy) for factchecking and to Northwest Public Broadcasting for recording. As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Welcome back, young scientists. I’m Dr. Universe.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world.   How do you become a scientist? What does a scientist's day look like? Is being a scientist fun?  In this episode, we meet Nora Hickey, a fish veterinarian at Washington State University. We learn about fish medicine and why it’s important to follow your interests as you grow up. As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu.  Who knows where your questions will take us next. Ask Dr. Universe is a service of Washington State University geared toward an 8- to 13-year-old audience. Check out WSU Veterinary Medicine’s Outreach Events—like the Teddy Bear Clinic—to find university experiences like Dr. Hickey had when she was a kid. As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Welcome back, young scientists. I’m Dr. Universe.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world. What was early Earth like? How did life start on Earth? And what’s up with plate tectonics?In part two of this two-part episode, we meet geologist Johannes Haemmerli of Washington State University. We learn about early Earth, some brand-new research on plate tectonics and the idea that this process helped make Earth habitable.As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu.  Who knows where your questions will take us next.Ask Dr. Universe is a service of Washington State University geared toward an 8- to 13-year-old audience. Listeners working on the Middle School History of Earth Next Generation Science Standards may particularly enjoy this episode: | MS-ESS1-4. | Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth's 4.6-billion-year-old history. | MS-ESS2-2. | Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales. | MS-ESS2-3. | Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.  As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

What was early Earth like? How did life start on Earth? And what’s up with plate tectonics?In part one of this two-part episode, we meet NASA scientist and Blue Marble Space Institute of Science founder Dr. Sanjoy Som. We learn about early Earth, stromatolites and how we can care for the planet that gave us life.As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu.  Ask Dr. Universe is a service of Washington State University curated for an 8- to 13-year-old audience. Listeners working on the Middle School History of Earth Next Generation Science Standards may particularly enjoy this episode:| MS-ESS1-4. | Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth's 4.6-billion-year-old history.| MS-ESS2-2. | Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales.| MS-ESS2-3. | Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.  As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Welcome back, young scientists. I’m Dr. Universe.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world.How do you become a scientist? What does a scientist's day look like? Is being a scientist fun?In this episode, we meet Kalli Stephens, a student scientist at Washington State University. We learn about what she does in the lab and how to find your place in science as a young person.  As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu.  Who knows where your questions will take us next! As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Welcome back, young scientists. I’m Dr. Universe.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world. How do you become a scientist? What does a scientist's day look like? Is being a scientist fun?In this episode, we meet Dr. Marcos Frank, a brain scientist at Washington State University. We learn about his path to becoming a scientist and how science works in real life. As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu.  Who knows where your questions will take us next! As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

I'm Dr. Universe, and if you're anything like me, you've got big questions about our world. I get lots of questions from kids wondering about aliens.In this episode, we meet Afshin Khan, an astrobiologist who studied signs of life when she was a Ph.D. student at Washington State University. She shares her adventures to uncover the teeny, tiny life that forms framboidal pyrite on Earth -- and what it would mean if we found those structures outside Earth.As always, submit your burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu.  Who knows where your questions will take us next!Learn more about astrobiology from scientists like Dr. Khan at Blue Marble Space Institute of Science. Thanks to the amazing student actors at Regional Theatre of the Palouse. As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Dr. Universe and a group of junior scientists from Palouse Prairie Charter School learn about underwater volcanoes and crystals. Students from the fourth-grade class in Moscow, Idaho help Dr. Universe answer earth science questions. Another big thank you to Northwest Public Broadcasting for help with recording! You can find sources for information about underwater volcanoes and crystals in the transcript. As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Dr. Universe is back with a group of junior scientists from Palouse Prairie Charter School to learn about space. Students from the fourth-grade class in Moscow, Idaho help Dr. Universe answer how we know there are planets outside our solar system and what the universe actually is. If you like thinking about multiverses, black holes and the potential for life outside Earth, this is the episode for you!A big thank you to Northwest Public Broadcasting for help with recording!You can find sources for space information in the transcript. As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Dr. Universe joins a group of junior scientists from Palouse Prairie Charter School to learn about volcanoes. Students from the fourth-grade class in Moscow, Idaho, help Dr. Universe answer how volcanoes work, how they form, what happens when they erupt, whether volcanoes are on other planets, and a lot of other cool (or hot) information about these amazing mountains. A big thank you to Northwest Public Broadcasting for help with recording!You can find sources for volcano information in the transcript. As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.

Hello young scientists. I’m Dr. Universe and if you are anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world. Today’s special guest is someone who is really curious about plants and why they get sick—yes, you heard that right, plants can get sick, too.  We'll also investigate some questions about pumpkins along the way. As always, kids can submit a question for a chance to be featured on a future episode at askDrUniverse.wsu.edu/ask As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.