Storm Trooper BFFs - cute!
Kristina Alexanderson
We hear from a lot of kids and parents saying they love Brains On! and they want more. We hear you, and we are hard at work trying to ramp up production.
In the meantime, we thought we’d introduce you to some of our BFFs – our audio buddies. In this episode we’ll get to know a few other kid-friendly audio makers and bring you snippets from their shows.
Check out cool science, amazing kids and made up shenanigans from shows like Tumble, The Show About Science and Story Pirates. They’re all right here in this episode. Plus, we added a few extra Mystery Sounds too, so listen closely and share them with your besties.
Audio Transcript
Download transcript (PDF)
[MUSIC PLAYING] SANDEN TOTTEN: [VOCALIZING]
Hey, this is Sanden. I'm hosting Brains On today. And, boy, do we have a treat for you. We're going to introduce you to some of our best friends. And by that, I mean our podcast's best friends. Because podcasts can have best friends, right?
ROBOT: Sure, why not?
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, hey, robot. Glad you agree. I mean, we like spending time with these podcasts. They make us laugh. They make us think, just like friends.
ROBOT: Makes sense to me.
SANDEN TOTTEN: We also take long walks together, share ice cream, braid each other's hair--
ROBOT: Wait, podcasts don't have hair, or do any of those things.
SANDEN TOTTEN: OK, fine. Not that part, but the rest of it's true. So stay tuned and meet some of our podcast besties.
First, though, a very special--
[MUSIC PLAYING]
CHILD: (WHISPERING) Mystery sound.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Here it is.
[BABY NOISES]
Hmm, got your guesses? All right, here comes the answer in 3, 2, 1.
MOLLY BLOOM: My name is Molly Bloom, in Minneapolis, and that was the sound of my almost six-week-old daughter, Lulu, making some noises when she gets up in the morning. I've been taking care of her for the last six weeks at home, and it has been really fun. I've missed working on Brains On, but Marc and Sanden are making some really awesome episodes, and I can't wait to come back and answer more of your questions.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Thanks, Molly. Great to hear from you. All right, now on with the show.
The first podcast bestie we want to share with you is called Tumble. It's hosted by Marshall and Lindsay, and the show looks at the stories behind scientific discoveries, like how we first figured out that dinosaurs probably had feathers, or how we learned the universe is full of mysterious, dark energy. Here's Lindsey.
LINDSEY: The point of that is to explain how science works, that it's not just one day we discovered that the Earth goes around the sun, but there was a whole process and story behind that.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Tumble has episodes on giant toads, bacteria farmers, and their latest is all about bats, which is convenient, since Lindsey and Marshall live in Austin, Texas, the bat capital of the world.
ROBOT: Bat capital-- that's a thing?
SANDEN TOTTEN: It's totally a thing. Here's Marshall.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MARSHALL: Under one bridge in Austin, there are 2.4 million bats, which is about four times as many bats as there are people in the whole city, and about 1 and 1/2 times as many bats as there are indie rock bands.
SUBJECT: Well, they do come out around sundown, and then you'll see a lot of tourists lined up on that bridge, just waiting for the bats to come out. I used to row on the river. When we would be finishing up, all of these bats who would be streaming out of the last bridge that we went under, and it would just look like smoke pouring out of the bridge. It was so cool.
MARSHALL: It's like a massive cloud, but it's all bats. They all go to feed and have their bat parties.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Bat parties, yeah! Marshall and Lindsay start their bat episode-- batisode? Ah, whatever. They start it with a question from fifth graders Jack, Jacob, and Kara, who wanted to know why do bats hang upside down? Here's a preview of that episode.
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- Hanging upside down is like top 10 things that bats do.
- What are the other nine?
- Fly.
- Fly.
- Hang out in caves.
- Eat bugs.
- Eat fruit.
- Suck blood.
- Suck blood.
- Turn into vampires.
- Yeah.
- OK, so we know hanging upside down is a popular thing for bats to do, but why do they do it?
- I'm going to take that question to a bat scientist, but first I asked Jack, Jacob, and Kara how they thought scientists might have found the answer.
- Maybe they could look at the bats, or test their DNA, or something?
- They could also, like, send a probe droid out or something, and then that's, like, not very-- that's kind of tiny and not very visible, and then watch them.
- Kind of like a stalker, but--
- I guess.
- Well, I think because to examine their bones, because their knees face backwards.
- Maybe it's like also, they feel vulnerable, maybe, if they like sit on the ground or something.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- OK, so maybe scientists go into bat caves and watch them, or just ask them how they're feeling. Like, are you feeling vulnerable today, little bat? Yeah, I'm feeling pretty vulnerable.
- Well, we just so happen to live in the bat capital of the world, Austin, Texas. So I didn't have to go too far to find the answer, at the Headquarters of Bat Conservation International.
- Sorry to keep you waiting.
Oh, that's OK. Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you, too. Come upstairs.
- I met Michaela Jemison, a bat scientist and communications manager for Bat Conservation International.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- So bats hang upside down for a couple of reasons. First reason is how they evolved with flying. Bats evolved about 50 million years ago, from squirrel like ancestors, and they started off mainly gliding-- so having a thin membrane between their forelimbs and their back limbs. And then, eventually, they evolved wings.
Bats have their membrane part of the wing between both their forelimbs and their back legs, so their wings are attached to their back legs in many of them. So that means that it is quite difficult for them to be on the ground. So being upside down means that they're away from predators. And that's particularly one reason why they hang upside down, in caves and in trees, because it's very difficult for predators to get to them.
- It is to protect them from feeling vulnerable, like one of the kids said in the question.
- Yeah, yeah. They were completely right. So for bats, they don't have much strength in their lower limbs, because they have very thin bones, to make them light and able to fly. So that means they have real struggles pushing off, and being able to take off flight from a stationary position. So when they're hanging upside down, they can just drop.
- OK, so hanging upside down is just really convenient for bats.
- Yeah. Their bodies have evolved and adapted to it. And you know how Karen mentioned that bats knees face the opposite way from ours?
- Yeah.
- It's true and it also helps them hang upside down.
- Their feet are able to clench onto the tree, or onto a cave, and not actually have to extend any energy in terms of gripping. So when you and I have to grip onto something, we have to physically think about it and we have to extend some energy. It's the opposite in bats. When they're at rest, their natural tendons are gripping. They actually have to extend energy to let go. So that's how bats, when they're asleep, they don't suddenly fall off the roof of the cave.
- OK. So it's like, our natural position is for our palms to be open, but their natural position is to be clenched around something.
- Yes, that's exactly right.
- That's so cool. I had no idea.
- So I'm keeping my fists clenched from now on, just so I can be more bat-like.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- But so how do scientists know all this stuff that they know about bats?
- That's a really good question.
- We do a number of things. There are ecologists-- so like myself, where we go out and we study bats in their natural habitat, and learn from what they're doing, or learn from their behavior. So one of your kids said probing, maybe setting up cameras. We often put up infrared cameras and watch what they're doing.
- Do you consider yourself a stalker when you do that?
- [LAUGHS] Well, no. I don't know about a stalker. Maybe just a friendly observer. That's-- that's--
- But the bats didn't ask you to go there.
- That's true.
- They don't know that you're outside, looking at them.
- [LAUGHS] Well, that's very true. But you know what? You'd be surprised how many bats are flying around your house, and you don't know that they're looking at you. So not that they're all that interested in us, unfortunately. We're not a tasty bug. But I think it goes both ways.
[END PLAYBACK]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Thanks Lindsey and Marshall, for sharing that clip and for coming on our show. You can check them out at sciencepodcastforkids.com, or just search Tumble in your podcast app.
AUDIO LOGO: Brains On!
SANDEN TOTTEN: Another podcast we want to share is called The Show About Science and it's a show about science, which makes a lot of sense. The name fits. It's also hosted by a very talented dude, named Nate, who interviews scientists, science communicators, and sometimes his mom. I should probably mention Nate is five years old. So Nate, tell me how did you start podcasting? How did you get the idea that you wanted to do a show about science?
NATE BUTKUS: Well I was visiting my dad's office when I said, I want to make a podcast. Then dad said, OK, we can make podcasts here. What do you want to name it? I said Show About Science. And he was like, OK, who do you want to interview? And I was like, my mom. Then we went to the podcast room and started recording.
SANDEN TOTTEN: So your dad works for a company that makes podcasts?
NATE BUTKUS: Oh yeah, he does.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Tell people who've never heard your show what kind of things they can expect on your show, what kind of stuff they can hear.
NATE BUTKUS: You can expect all sorts of science. My most recent one, I don't think is out yet. It's bat biology. The next one is going to be the history of science.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Very cool. So why did you want to do a show about science? Why science?
NATE BUTKUS: It's my favorite subject. In chemistry, you can make new things, and in geology you can find cool rocks. And that's exactly what I did today. I found a lot of rare and cool rocks at school.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Do you have any advice for other kids who are interested in science?
NATE BUTKUS: Basically, follow your dream. Don't live a life where you don't follow your dream of what you want to be when you grow up. That's my advice.
SANDEN TOTTEN: That's really solid advice. Thanks, Nate.
NATE BUTKUS: You're, welcome.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Find out more by searching The Show About Science in a podcast app. In the meantime, here's a clip from Nate's show, where he spoke with Joe Hansen from the YouTube hit, It's OK To Be Smart. They talked about megafauna.
ROBOT: Megafauna-- I am not familiar with that term. What is it?
SANDEN TOTTEN: It's, you know, fauna that's mega. Duh.
ROBOT: That's not an answer.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Fine. Nate, please remind us what megafauna is.
NATE BUTKUS: Megafauna means the giant land mammals that used to roam the earth.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Right. Right, right, right. It was on the tip of my mind. Almost had it. Anyway, here's a clip from The Show About Science, featuring Joe Hansen.
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
- Do you know any creatures names that are extinct?
- I do. Actually, some of my favorite creatures around that I've ever heard of don't live anymore. Obviously, we have dinosaurs. I love dinosaurs and those aren't around anymore. Like Tyrannosaurus rex, Stegosaurus, and all those. But there's also a lot, like, have you ever seen a woolly mammoth?
- I've seen it in the Field Museum.
- Yeah, Exactly. They've got really big ones there. One of my favorites is called a giant sloth. Have you ever seen the sloths that live in the jungle today, the really slow animals that climb the trees?
- No, but I've seen pictures of them in shows.
- Well, a long time ago-- thousands of years ago, actually-- where we live in the United States, and all the way down into Central America and South America, there were sloths that were as big as a car. They could reach all the way up into the tops of trees.
- Those were part of the megafauna.
- Exactly, megafauna. We used to have a lot more big animals around and a lot of them just disappeared. I mean, can you imagine if you went out hiking in the woods and you found a saber-toothed tiger?
- Oh, goodness. If I were a caveman, I would just run away so fast.
- Me too. It's not like a kitty cat. We would not want to try to pet that.
- Because of its colossal jaws.
- Exactly. I don't think I would want to get anywhere near those jaws.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- Yeah, I know.
[END PLAYBACK]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Want to be besties with our podcast?
ROBOT: Of course.
SANDEN TOTTEN: It's easy. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter-- we're @brains_on-- or find us on Facebook. We've also got a scitastic newsletter, with lots more recommendations for things like comics, videos, and websites. Subscribe to that at brainson.org. OK, are you ready?
ROBOT: Yep.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Wait, you don't even know what's coming.
ROBOT: Who cares? I'm ready.
SANDEN TOTTEN: That's a good attitude. All right, here it is. [VOCALIZING] The Brains Honor Roll. These kids are Brains On's best friends, because they've sent us drawings, questions, mystery sounds, and high-fives. Here they are.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[LISTING HONOR ROLL]
ROBOT: Brains Honor Roll-- high-five.
SANDEN TOTTEN: [SIGH] I know we already had a mystery sound, but I kind of want some more. And we've gotten so many great ones lately from listeners, so let's listen to a couple of them. Are you ready?
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
- Mystery sound.
- I'm Aurora and I'm nine.
- I'm Ewan and I'm eight.
- I'm Reese and I'm 6.
- We have a mystery sound for you today, and here it is.
[REPETITIVE SCRAPING SOUND]
[END PLAYBACK]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Ooh, that's a good one. Thanks Aurora, Ewan, and Reese. All right, got your guesses? The answer is-- that's the sound of apples being sliced. All right, let's do another. Ready?
[SCRATCHY SOUND]
Hmm, to me that sounds like an engine shutting off, or maybe a bee landing. Here's the answer.
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
- This is Jake, from Beijing, China. That was a sound of fireworks in Chinese New Year.
[FIREWORK SIZZLING]
[END PLAYBACK]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Jake says these are the spinning kind of fireworks you light on the ground. Cool stuff, thanks. OK, here's one more.
[POPPING SOUND]
Think you got this one? Really? All right, here's the answer.
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
- That was the sound of our Whirly Pop popcorn maker. It spins, so the heavier kernels fall to the bottom and pop. It makes me wonder if it's going to explode. I'm Roland, from North Carolina, and I'm 6 years old.
[END PLAYBACK]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Thanks, Rowan.
[CLAPPING]
Another podcast bestie we want to introduce you to is called Story Pirates. It features weird, wild, wonderful stories, written by young authors. Here's Story Pirates host Lee Overtree to explain how it works.
LEE OVERTREE: We go into elementary schools and we do creative writing workshops with kids, and then take the stories that the kids write, and give them to professional actors, musicians, puppeteers. Then, we go back to the schools and we perform those stories for the kids who wrote them. We also have a radio show on Sirius XM that plays weekly. We do a podcast, and online video, and all sorts of things like that.
SANDEN TOTTEN: And can you give people a taste of what kind of stories you could expect on Story Pirates? They're not all pirate stories, are they?
LEE OVERTREE: Oh, no, no, no. In fact, most stories are not pirate stories. We're story pirates because we steal stories. Just like regular pirates steal treasure, we steal stories.
You know, so most of our stories are pretty diverse in terms of what they're about. The great thing about kids is that I think they're way funnier than adults. I think they are way more interesting, and surprising, and unexpected. So what they're writing is always totally fresh, sometimes strange, sometimes really touching.
There's a story we just did, a story called Polar Bears, and it's written by Callie Thomas, who's a third grader from Mill Creek, Washington. And Callie's story is about a little girl who wakes up one morning and she's sick, really sick.
And the way she's getting sick is that she's turning into a polar bear and no one knows what to do. They take her to a doctor and the doctor knows exactly what the cure is. And to find out what that cure is-- it's pretty weird-- you're going to have to listen to the podcast to find out.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Thanks, Lee. So I bet you kind of want to know what the magic cure for this polar bear disease is.
ROBOT: Yes. I am on pins and needles, metaphorically speaking.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Me too. Let's listen and find out. Here's the story.
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- Tiffany, wakey wakey.
- [COUGHING]
- Well, time to get up, Tiffany. It's a beautiful day. Come take a walk with your mother and me.
- [GROAN]
What a wonderful animal imitation. Now come on, get up.
- [COUGHING] I don't feel good.
- You don't feel well. Now, let's not have bad grammar get in the way of this lovely day. Time to get up.
- Honey, her voice does seem deeper today.
- I feel sick.
- Maybe it's from that French dip sandwich you ate last night. What do you call that sauce you were dipping it into?
- [SNEEZE]
- That's right.
- Harold, I think she may have a fever.
- Oh, no. Well, you're a doctor. What's wrong with her?
- Well, she's very cold.
- Can I get a blanket?
- She's growing tufts of white hair all over her body.
What's this hair?
- And her throat is red.
- I think I just want a cup of hot tea and then I'm going to watch The Price Is [ROAR].
- And she seems to have developed a nasty roar.
- Well, what is it?
- I can't figure it out.
- Here, let me have a try. I'm a well known kidologist-- an expert on kids.
- So that's what you do.
- Let's see-- she's small.
- Uh-huh.
- She's wearing footie pajamas.
- OK.
- And she has 20 pounds of dead fish in her bed.
- OK, that's not normal.
- Yeah, not for a kid. I'm sorry to say I have no idea what's wrong with her.
- There's only one thing to do. I'm calling the pediatrician.
- Great idea! He's a doctor and a kidologist.
[PHONE DIALING]
- Hello, the doctor's office.
- Doctor, we have an emergency. Our daughter is sick and we don't know what to do.
- I'll drop everything and be there at once.
[CRASHING]
[DOORBELL]
- Doctor!
- I came as soon as I heard. So this is little Tiffany-- not so little, huh?
[GROWLING]
- She's growing very quickly.
- Please help us, doctor.
- All right, what are the symptoms?
- Well, she's developing a cold, wet nose.
[GROWLING]
- Her hands are turning into paws.
- I see.
- And she only wants to listen to music by Seal.
- [VOCALIZING]
- I was afraid of that. When did this start?
- Yesterday. We went to the zoo and a polar bear missed her.
- I see. That's how she got the sickness.
- Please, doctor, tell us what's wrong.
- Well, in my expert opinion as a doctor and a kidologist, I'm afraid your doctor-- your daughter is turning into a polar bear.
[GASPING]
- How do you know?
- Well, I'm also a polar bearologist.
- Well, what do we do?
- Well, move to the Arctic Circle and cancel her surprise birthday. Polar bears hate surprises.
- This can't be happening. How can I get my daughter back?
- Well there is one way but it's very strange.
- Well we're never going to survive this unless we get a little crazy.
- All right, well crazy this is. Tiffany has to eat five pizzas a day.
- What? For how long as long?
- As long as it takes! Also, people have to stay a hula hoop away from Tiffany, or else they will turn into a polar bear.
- Wait, an actual hula hoop or just the distance of a hula hoop?
- An actual hula hoop!
- Where did you learn this?
- Kidology, polar bearology medical school?
- Hi, I'd like to order five pizzas and one hula hoop. What you want on the pizza?
- [GROWL]
- One with fish, one with caribou, one with seal-- no, no, not that kind. Yes, leopard seal is fine. One with beluga whale and one with fresh mozzarella, olives, spinach, and mushrooms, and an order of garlic knots. Thank you.
- Uh-oh, the change is quickening! Let's just hope they get here fast.
[DOORBELL]
- Hi, your total is--
- No time. OK, quick, get her the pizza.
[GROWLING AND CHOMPING]
- No! Ah, now we wait.
- Oh, Tiffany, the white hair is disappearing.
- Oh, my voice is back.
- And her paws are hands again.
- I feel so much better.
- Well, over the next few days, everything will be back to normal. Her teeth will become less sharp. Her nose will dry up. But as for her love of Seal's music, there's nothing I can do.
- (SINGING) Baby!
- No, no, no. Tiffany, stop.
- Sorry, I love Seal.
- Oh, doctor, how can we ever repay you?
- Maybe I can have a slice of that caribou pizza?
- Not on my watch, Bubba!
[GROWLING]
- Ow, she bit my finger!
[LAUGHTER]
Seriously, it really hurts.
- Ha, ha, ha, the end!
[END PLAYBACK]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Story Pirates has a lot more to share. They even do live events. Check it all out at storypirates.org. That's it for this episode of Podcast Besties. Say goodbye, robot.
ROBOT: Goodbye, robot.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Funny. I think I need to readjust your humor settings. Thanks everybody, for listening. Stay curious.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hey, this is Sanden. I'm hosting Brains On today. And, boy, do we have a treat for you. We're going to introduce you to some of our best friends. And by that, I mean our podcast's best friends. Because podcasts can have best friends, right?
ROBOT: Sure, why not?
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, hey, robot. Glad you agree. I mean, we like spending time with these podcasts. They make us laugh. They make us think, just like friends.
ROBOT: Makes sense to me.
SANDEN TOTTEN: We also take long walks together, share ice cream, braid each other's hair--
ROBOT: Wait, podcasts don't have hair, or do any of those things.
SANDEN TOTTEN: OK, fine. Not that part, but the rest of it's true. So stay tuned and meet some of our podcast besties.
First, though, a very special--
[MUSIC PLAYING]
CHILD: (WHISPERING) Mystery sound.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Here it is.
[BABY NOISES]
Hmm, got your guesses? All right, here comes the answer in 3, 2, 1.
MOLLY BLOOM: My name is Molly Bloom, in Minneapolis, and that was the sound of my almost six-week-old daughter, Lulu, making some noises when she gets up in the morning. I've been taking care of her for the last six weeks at home, and it has been really fun. I've missed working on Brains On, but Marc and Sanden are making some really awesome episodes, and I can't wait to come back and answer more of your questions.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Thanks, Molly. Great to hear from you. All right, now on with the show.
The first podcast bestie we want to share with you is called Tumble. It's hosted by Marshall and Lindsay, and the show looks at the stories behind scientific discoveries, like how we first figured out that dinosaurs probably had feathers, or how we learned the universe is full of mysterious, dark energy. Here's Lindsey.
LINDSEY: The point of that is to explain how science works, that it's not just one day we discovered that the Earth goes around the sun, but there was a whole process and story behind that.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Tumble has episodes on giant toads, bacteria farmers, and their latest is all about bats, which is convenient, since Lindsey and Marshall live in Austin, Texas, the bat capital of the world.
ROBOT: Bat capital-- that's a thing?
SANDEN TOTTEN: It's totally a thing. Here's Marshall.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MARSHALL: Under one bridge in Austin, there are 2.4 million bats, which is about four times as many bats as there are people in the whole city, and about 1 and 1/2 times as many bats as there are indie rock bands.
SUBJECT: Well, they do come out around sundown, and then you'll see a lot of tourists lined up on that bridge, just waiting for the bats to come out. I used to row on the river. When we would be finishing up, all of these bats who would be streaming out of the last bridge that we went under, and it would just look like smoke pouring out of the bridge. It was so cool.
MARSHALL: It's like a massive cloud, but it's all bats. They all go to feed and have their bat parties.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Bat parties, yeah! Marshall and Lindsay start their bat episode-- batisode? Ah, whatever. They start it with a question from fifth graders Jack, Jacob, and Kara, who wanted to know why do bats hang upside down? Here's a preview of that episode.
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- Hanging upside down is like top 10 things that bats do.
- What are the other nine?
- Fly.
- Fly.
- Hang out in caves.
- Eat bugs.
- Eat fruit.
- Suck blood.
- Suck blood.
- Turn into vampires.
- Yeah.
- OK, so we know hanging upside down is a popular thing for bats to do, but why do they do it?
- I'm going to take that question to a bat scientist, but first I asked Jack, Jacob, and Kara how they thought scientists might have found the answer.
- Maybe they could look at the bats, or test their DNA, or something?
- They could also, like, send a probe droid out or something, and then that's, like, not very-- that's kind of tiny and not very visible, and then watch them.
- Kind of like a stalker, but--
- I guess.
- Well, I think because to examine their bones, because their knees face backwards.
- Maybe it's like also, they feel vulnerable, maybe, if they like sit on the ground or something.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- OK, so maybe scientists go into bat caves and watch them, or just ask them how they're feeling. Like, are you feeling vulnerable today, little bat? Yeah, I'm feeling pretty vulnerable.
- Well, we just so happen to live in the bat capital of the world, Austin, Texas. So I didn't have to go too far to find the answer, at the Headquarters of Bat Conservation International.
- Sorry to keep you waiting.
Oh, that's OK. Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you, too. Come upstairs.
- I met Michaela Jemison, a bat scientist and communications manager for Bat Conservation International.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- So bats hang upside down for a couple of reasons. First reason is how they evolved with flying. Bats evolved about 50 million years ago, from squirrel like ancestors, and they started off mainly gliding-- so having a thin membrane between their forelimbs and their back limbs. And then, eventually, they evolved wings.
Bats have their membrane part of the wing between both their forelimbs and their back legs, so their wings are attached to their back legs in many of them. So that means that it is quite difficult for them to be on the ground. So being upside down means that they're away from predators. And that's particularly one reason why they hang upside down, in caves and in trees, because it's very difficult for predators to get to them.
- It is to protect them from feeling vulnerable, like one of the kids said in the question.
- Yeah, yeah. They were completely right. So for bats, they don't have much strength in their lower limbs, because they have very thin bones, to make them light and able to fly. So that means they have real struggles pushing off, and being able to take off flight from a stationary position. So when they're hanging upside down, they can just drop.
- OK, so hanging upside down is just really convenient for bats.
- Yeah. Their bodies have evolved and adapted to it. And you know how Karen mentioned that bats knees face the opposite way from ours?
- Yeah.
- It's true and it also helps them hang upside down.
- Their feet are able to clench onto the tree, or onto a cave, and not actually have to extend any energy in terms of gripping. So when you and I have to grip onto something, we have to physically think about it and we have to extend some energy. It's the opposite in bats. When they're at rest, their natural tendons are gripping. They actually have to extend energy to let go. So that's how bats, when they're asleep, they don't suddenly fall off the roof of the cave.
- OK. So it's like, our natural position is for our palms to be open, but their natural position is to be clenched around something.
- Yes, that's exactly right.
- That's so cool. I had no idea.
- So I'm keeping my fists clenched from now on, just so I can be more bat-like.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- But so how do scientists know all this stuff that they know about bats?
- That's a really good question.
- We do a number of things. There are ecologists-- so like myself, where we go out and we study bats in their natural habitat, and learn from what they're doing, or learn from their behavior. So one of your kids said probing, maybe setting up cameras. We often put up infrared cameras and watch what they're doing.
- Do you consider yourself a stalker when you do that?
- [LAUGHS] Well, no. I don't know about a stalker. Maybe just a friendly observer. That's-- that's--
- But the bats didn't ask you to go there.
- That's true.
- They don't know that you're outside, looking at them.
- [LAUGHS] Well, that's very true. But you know what? You'd be surprised how many bats are flying around your house, and you don't know that they're looking at you. So not that they're all that interested in us, unfortunately. We're not a tasty bug. But I think it goes both ways.
[END PLAYBACK]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Thanks Lindsey and Marshall, for sharing that clip and for coming on our show. You can check them out at sciencepodcastforkids.com, or just search Tumble in your podcast app.
AUDIO LOGO: Brains On!
SANDEN TOTTEN: Another podcast we want to share is called The Show About Science and it's a show about science, which makes a lot of sense. The name fits. It's also hosted by a very talented dude, named Nate, who interviews scientists, science communicators, and sometimes his mom. I should probably mention Nate is five years old. So Nate, tell me how did you start podcasting? How did you get the idea that you wanted to do a show about science?
NATE BUTKUS: Well I was visiting my dad's office when I said, I want to make a podcast. Then dad said, OK, we can make podcasts here. What do you want to name it? I said Show About Science. And he was like, OK, who do you want to interview? And I was like, my mom. Then we went to the podcast room and started recording.
SANDEN TOTTEN: So your dad works for a company that makes podcasts?
NATE BUTKUS: Oh yeah, he does.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Tell people who've never heard your show what kind of things they can expect on your show, what kind of stuff they can hear.
NATE BUTKUS: You can expect all sorts of science. My most recent one, I don't think is out yet. It's bat biology. The next one is going to be the history of science.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Very cool. So why did you want to do a show about science? Why science?
NATE BUTKUS: It's my favorite subject. In chemistry, you can make new things, and in geology you can find cool rocks. And that's exactly what I did today. I found a lot of rare and cool rocks at school.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Do you have any advice for other kids who are interested in science?
NATE BUTKUS: Basically, follow your dream. Don't live a life where you don't follow your dream of what you want to be when you grow up. That's my advice.
SANDEN TOTTEN: That's really solid advice. Thanks, Nate.
NATE BUTKUS: You're, welcome.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Find out more by searching The Show About Science in a podcast app. In the meantime, here's a clip from Nate's show, where he spoke with Joe Hansen from the YouTube hit, It's OK To Be Smart. They talked about megafauna.
ROBOT: Megafauna-- I am not familiar with that term. What is it?
SANDEN TOTTEN: It's, you know, fauna that's mega. Duh.
ROBOT: That's not an answer.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Fine. Nate, please remind us what megafauna is.
NATE BUTKUS: Megafauna means the giant land mammals that used to roam the earth.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Right. Right, right, right. It was on the tip of my mind. Almost had it. Anyway, here's a clip from The Show About Science, featuring Joe Hansen.
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
- Do you know any creatures names that are extinct?
- I do. Actually, some of my favorite creatures around that I've ever heard of don't live anymore. Obviously, we have dinosaurs. I love dinosaurs and those aren't around anymore. Like Tyrannosaurus rex, Stegosaurus, and all those. But there's also a lot, like, have you ever seen a woolly mammoth?
- I've seen it in the Field Museum.
- Yeah, Exactly. They've got really big ones there. One of my favorites is called a giant sloth. Have you ever seen the sloths that live in the jungle today, the really slow animals that climb the trees?
- No, but I've seen pictures of them in shows.
- Well, a long time ago-- thousands of years ago, actually-- where we live in the United States, and all the way down into Central America and South America, there were sloths that were as big as a car. They could reach all the way up into the tops of trees.
- Those were part of the megafauna.
- Exactly, megafauna. We used to have a lot more big animals around and a lot of them just disappeared. I mean, can you imagine if you went out hiking in the woods and you found a saber-toothed tiger?
- Oh, goodness. If I were a caveman, I would just run away so fast.
- Me too. It's not like a kitty cat. We would not want to try to pet that.
- Because of its colossal jaws.
- Exactly. I don't think I would want to get anywhere near those jaws.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- Yeah, I know.
[END PLAYBACK]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Want to be besties with our podcast?
ROBOT: Of course.
SANDEN TOTTEN: It's easy. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter-- we're @brains_on-- or find us on Facebook. We've also got a scitastic newsletter, with lots more recommendations for things like comics, videos, and websites. Subscribe to that at brainson.org. OK, are you ready?
ROBOT: Yep.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Wait, you don't even know what's coming.
ROBOT: Who cares? I'm ready.
SANDEN TOTTEN: That's a good attitude. All right, here it is. [VOCALIZING] The Brains Honor Roll. These kids are Brains On's best friends, because they've sent us drawings, questions, mystery sounds, and high-fives. Here they are.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[LISTING HONOR ROLL]
ROBOT: Brains Honor Roll-- high-five.
SANDEN TOTTEN: [SIGH] I know we already had a mystery sound, but I kind of want some more. And we've gotten so many great ones lately from listeners, so let's listen to a couple of them. Are you ready?
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
- Mystery sound.
- I'm Aurora and I'm nine.
- I'm Ewan and I'm eight.
- I'm Reese and I'm 6.
- We have a mystery sound for you today, and here it is.
[REPETITIVE SCRAPING SOUND]
[END PLAYBACK]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Ooh, that's a good one. Thanks Aurora, Ewan, and Reese. All right, got your guesses? The answer is-- that's the sound of apples being sliced. All right, let's do another. Ready?
[SCRATCHY SOUND]
Hmm, to me that sounds like an engine shutting off, or maybe a bee landing. Here's the answer.
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
- This is Jake, from Beijing, China. That was a sound of fireworks in Chinese New Year.
[FIREWORK SIZZLING]
[END PLAYBACK]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Jake says these are the spinning kind of fireworks you light on the ground. Cool stuff, thanks. OK, here's one more.
[POPPING SOUND]
Think you got this one? Really? All right, here's the answer.
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
- That was the sound of our Whirly Pop popcorn maker. It spins, so the heavier kernels fall to the bottom and pop. It makes me wonder if it's going to explode. I'm Roland, from North Carolina, and I'm 6 years old.
[END PLAYBACK]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Thanks, Rowan.
[CLAPPING]
Another podcast bestie we want to introduce you to is called Story Pirates. It features weird, wild, wonderful stories, written by young authors. Here's Story Pirates host Lee Overtree to explain how it works.
LEE OVERTREE: We go into elementary schools and we do creative writing workshops with kids, and then take the stories that the kids write, and give them to professional actors, musicians, puppeteers. Then, we go back to the schools and we perform those stories for the kids who wrote them. We also have a radio show on Sirius XM that plays weekly. We do a podcast, and online video, and all sorts of things like that.
SANDEN TOTTEN: And can you give people a taste of what kind of stories you could expect on Story Pirates? They're not all pirate stories, are they?
LEE OVERTREE: Oh, no, no, no. In fact, most stories are not pirate stories. We're story pirates because we steal stories. Just like regular pirates steal treasure, we steal stories.
You know, so most of our stories are pretty diverse in terms of what they're about. The great thing about kids is that I think they're way funnier than adults. I think they are way more interesting, and surprising, and unexpected. So what they're writing is always totally fresh, sometimes strange, sometimes really touching.
There's a story we just did, a story called Polar Bears, and it's written by Callie Thomas, who's a third grader from Mill Creek, Washington. And Callie's story is about a little girl who wakes up one morning and she's sick, really sick.
And the way she's getting sick is that she's turning into a polar bear and no one knows what to do. They take her to a doctor and the doctor knows exactly what the cure is. And to find out what that cure is-- it's pretty weird-- you're going to have to listen to the podcast to find out.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Thanks, Lee. So I bet you kind of want to know what the magic cure for this polar bear disease is.
ROBOT: Yes. I am on pins and needles, metaphorically speaking.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Me too. Let's listen and find out. Here's the story.
[AUDIO PLAYBACK]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- Tiffany, wakey wakey.
- [COUGHING]
- Well, time to get up, Tiffany. It's a beautiful day. Come take a walk with your mother and me.
- [GROAN]
What a wonderful animal imitation. Now come on, get up.
- [COUGHING] I don't feel good.
- You don't feel well. Now, let's not have bad grammar get in the way of this lovely day. Time to get up.
- Honey, her voice does seem deeper today.
- I feel sick.
- Maybe it's from that French dip sandwich you ate last night. What do you call that sauce you were dipping it into?
- [SNEEZE]
- That's right.
- Harold, I think she may have a fever.
- Oh, no. Well, you're a doctor. What's wrong with her?
- Well, she's very cold.
- Can I get a blanket?
- She's growing tufts of white hair all over her body.
What's this hair?
- And her throat is red.
- I think I just want a cup of hot tea and then I'm going to watch The Price Is [ROAR].
- And she seems to have developed a nasty roar.
- Well, what is it?
- I can't figure it out.
- Here, let me have a try. I'm a well known kidologist-- an expert on kids.
- So that's what you do.
- Let's see-- she's small.
- Uh-huh.
- She's wearing footie pajamas.
- OK.
- And she has 20 pounds of dead fish in her bed.
- OK, that's not normal.
- Yeah, not for a kid. I'm sorry to say I have no idea what's wrong with her.
- There's only one thing to do. I'm calling the pediatrician.
- Great idea! He's a doctor and a kidologist.
[PHONE DIALING]
- Hello, the doctor's office.
- Doctor, we have an emergency. Our daughter is sick and we don't know what to do.
- I'll drop everything and be there at once.
[CRASHING]
[DOORBELL]
- Doctor!
- I came as soon as I heard. So this is little Tiffany-- not so little, huh?
[GROWLING]
- She's growing very quickly.
- Please help us, doctor.
- All right, what are the symptoms?
- Well, she's developing a cold, wet nose.
[GROWLING]
- Her hands are turning into paws.
- I see.
- And she only wants to listen to music by Seal.
- [VOCALIZING]
- I was afraid of that. When did this start?
- Yesterday. We went to the zoo and a polar bear missed her.
- I see. That's how she got the sickness.
- Please, doctor, tell us what's wrong.
- Well, in my expert opinion as a doctor and a kidologist, I'm afraid your doctor-- your daughter is turning into a polar bear.
[GASPING]
- How do you know?
- Well, I'm also a polar bearologist.
- Well, what do we do?
- Well, move to the Arctic Circle and cancel her surprise birthday. Polar bears hate surprises.
- This can't be happening. How can I get my daughter back?
- Well there is one way but it's very strange.
- Well we're never going to survive this unless we get a little crazy.
- All right, well crazy this is. Tiffany has to eat five pizzas a day.
- What? For how long as long?
- As long as it takes! Also, people have to stay a hula hoop away from Tiffany, or else they will turn into a polar bear.
- Wait, an actual hula hoop or just the distance of a hula hoop?
- An actual hula hoop!
- Where did you learn this?
- Kidology, polar bearology medical school?
- Hi, I'd like to order five pizzas and one hula hoop. What you want on the pizza?
- [GROWL]
- One with fish, one with caribou, one with seal-- no, no, not that kind. Yes, leopard seal is fine. One with beluga whale and one with fresh mozzarella, olives, spinach, and mushrooms, and an order of garlic knots. Thank you.
- Uh-oh, the change is quickening! Let's just hope they get here fast.
[DOORBELL]
- Hi, your total is--
- No time. OK, quick, get her the pizza.
[GROWLING AND CHOMPING]
- No! Ah, now we wait.
- Oh, Tiffany, the white hair is disappearing.
- Oh, my voice is back.
- And her paws are hands again.
- I feel so much better.
- Well, over the next few days, everything will be back to normal. Her teeth will become less sharp. Her nose will dry up. But as for her love of Seal's music, there's nothing I can do.
- (SINGING) Baby!
- No, no, no. Tiffany, stop.
- Sorry, I love Seal.
- Oh, doctor, how can we ever repay you?
- Maybe I can have a slice of that caribou pizza?
- Not on my watch, Bubba!
[GROWLING]
- Ow, she bit my finger!
[LAUGHTER]
Seriously, it really hurts.
- Ha, ha, ha, the end!
[END PLAYBACK]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Story Pirates has a lot more to share. They even do live events. Check it all out at storypirates.org. That's it for this episode of Podcast Besties. Say goodbye, robot.
ROBOT: Goodbye, robot.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Funny. I think I need to readjust your humor settings. Thanks everybody, for listening. Stay curious.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
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