Explore Your Curiosity

On this week’s episode, Elias completes his transformation into a hungry monster. Now the question is, who is served best as dessert? Also, contain your excitement, but we're starting up a monthly newsletter! It'll contain book recommendations, podcast recommendations, puzzles, jokes, news and more! Sign up here.We always love sounds, art and jokes sent to earth@finncaspian.com. And don't forget about Griffin's Sound Club! Send yours! You can also, of course, call our voice mail: 773-683-3166. If you have a second, and can rate or review the show in iTunes, we would be so grateful! It really helps get the word out. Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram! Many thanks to Mark Greenberg of the Mayfair Workshop for his theme music. This episode also uses music from Visager, used via Creative Commons. The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian is a sci-fi story podcast for kids, and is proud to be part of the Kids Listen collective of makers of quality audio for kids. And please do send us anything you like. We'll use it on the show! You can also shoot us an email or call 773-683-3166....moreCopy Link

J Steele-Louchart is a Perceptual Navigation Instructor with World Access for the Blind. Blind from the age of 12, J began teaching himself Perceptual Navigation based on materials published online by World Access For The Blind Lead Founder and President Daniel Kish. Now J teaches others how to see the world around them using their ears and a technique called flash sonar. He joins Nate on this episode to explain how it all works.

Pour yourself a nice glass of water, and take a close look at it. Seems pretty boring, right? It’s clear, doesn’t have a taste or smell, and just sits there. It you were trying to come up with the most ordinary thing imaginable, water might be right up there with shoelaces or potato chips. But behind it’s bland appearance, a wonderfully weird substance is hiding in plain sight. In this episode of Brains On, we explore some of the weird things water can do, like move against gravity! Or cut right through rock! We learn some of the reasons why water is so weird, and fill you in on how you can learn more about the water in your neighborhood. How is water weird? Let’s start with a water oddity that’s easy to see. Ice, the solid form of water - floats on it’s liquid! Substances can exist in 3 forms or phases: gas, liquid, and solid. These phases are different because the atoms or molecules, what makes up all the stuff in the universe, are arranged differently. Gas molecules move around really quickly, and have lots of space between them. Liquid molecules are much closer together, but still moving and flexible. Solids are packed tight, the atoms right up next to each other. Almost everything gets denser as it moves from gas to liquid to solid. But not water! When water solidifies into ice, it becomes less dense and floats! NOAA / Flickr An Arctic iceberg captured on camera aboard the NOAA Ship Fairweather in 2012. Another weird factoid - hot water seems to freeze faster than cold water! That’s right, in a race to the icy finish line, hot water will get there faster than cold water, despite having further along the thermometer to travel! This phenomenon is known as the Mpemba effect, named after Erasto Mpemba, a Tanzanian high school student who observed this phenomenon while making ice cream! Scientists still aren’t confident they know why this happens. SOFIZMAT Erasto Mpemba, the Tanzanian high school student who discovered firsthand that hot water freezes faster than cold water while making ice cream back in the 1960s. Water is what’s called a “universal solvent” which means it is really good at dissolving stuff. Table salt? No problem. Vitamins and minerals? Easy peasy. A vertical mile of rock? Give water enough time and it can carve the Grand Canyon. Water can climb upwards against gravity, absorb an unusually high amount of heat energy, and transport essential nutrients throughout our body. Why is water so weird? Well it turns out that it boils down to the forces that hold water together. Like everything, water is made up of atoms, those tiny-building blocks that make up all the stuff in the universe. Atoms combine to form molecules, and in the case of water, two hydrogen atoms combine with one oxygen atom to form H2O! Every H20 molecule has an end with a positive charge and an end with a negative charge, just like a magnet does. The Oxygen atom has a small negative charge, and the two Hydrogen atoms have an even smaller positive charge. And just like a magnet, negative and positive ends attract one another. These small attractions are called hydrogen bonds, and are indicated by the dotted lines in this picture. Clear Biology Water molecules: Dotted lines indicate hydrogen bonds These attractions are called hydrogen bonds because they only form between hydrogen atoms and other charged molecules. These Hydrogen bonds between the different water molecules are a lot weaker than the bonds that hold the two hydrogen atom to the oxygen atom of a single H2O molecule. It’s kind of like the difference between a firm, long lasting handshake and a quick high-five. Plus, Hydrogen bonds exist for just a fraction of a second, 10 picoseconds to be exact (a picosecond is to one second, what one second is to  31,700 years!) So you’ve got all these water molecules zooming around, “high-fiving” their neighbors, and being pulled together just a little bit more by hydrogen bonds. This little extra pull means water molecules can to stick really well to each other. And it helps them stick to other stuff without getting stuck, since the hydrogen bonds are so easily broken. It also explains why water expands when it freezes, since these H-bonds get “stuck” below 32 ℉, leaving more room between the molecules and making ice less dense than liquid water! Check out this video to learn more: What makes water so weird is also what makes it so essential for life. In fact, in addition to supporting life by transporting nutrients and energy, helping our cells do their work, filling the gaps between cells, and even making up the bulk of our bodies (about 70%!), water was likely a crucial player in the origin of life itself! Listen to the podcast to hear all about it! This episode was powered by the Water Main, a new initiative from American Public Media focused on connecting people to their water resources. Find out more at www.watermain.org...moreCopy Link

After discovering on last week's episode that fish oil contains offishoily fintastic benefits for our brains, Guy Raz and Mindy decide to take the plunge on a wild aquatic adventure to experience HOW in the world fish oil is made! Join us, as Guy and Mindy explore the latest Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, and Wow in the World of squeezing the smarts out of sardines!

The history podcast for kids and adults joins the Kids Listen Sweeps party and tells two stories about two great adventures. Melinda Beck tells the tale of Horatio Jackson and the first drive across the country (and his dog Bud), while Will Oldham/Bonnie Prince Billy shares the story of John Ledyard - who would've made it around the globe if it wasn't for that touchy queen, Catherine the Great. Also features quiz time and a performance of "Long Journey Home" by Mick Sullivan. Stories written by Mick Sullivan. Someone hire him to write stuff, please....moreCopy Link

You’ve never heard of a summer camp like this before. It’s a science camp, but the campers ARE the science! Imagine playing volleyball with electrode helmets, going to bed attached to sleep machines, and having scientists study popsicles made of your spit (“spitsicles”). We talk to the scientist who started Sleep Camp, a study that’s been going on for over 30 years. Join us as we learn what Sleep Camp has taught us about why sleep is so important for kids and teens. Our question from JoJo is, “Why do we need sleep?” Find out more about the science of sleep on our [blog post](http:// http://www.sciencepodcastforkids.com/single-post/2018/05/17/The-Crazy-Science-of-Sleep) about the Sleep Camp Experiment. And check out our NEW TRAVEL BLOG! Tumble Travels is written for both kids and adults. Follow our adventures on Instagram, too! This episode features music (about sleep science!) from The Pop Ups. Check out their new album, GIANTS OF SCIENCE, with songs about science and innovation. If you’re eager to gear up for summer with more great podcasts for kids, check out the Kids Listen app at app.kidslisten.org! It’s recently been approved by Common Sense Media, and you can find summer-themed episodes from great shows like Book Club for Kids and Buttons & Figs! Don’t forget - Your support on Patreon means EVERYTHING to us. Get a shoutout on the blog, receive special opportunities to be on the show, and get access to all our educational materials....moreCopy Link

How do owls eat? Why are owls nocturnal and how do they see in the dark? How do owls swivel their heads all the way around? Why do birds move their heads back and forth when they walk? This episode was recorded live at The Mega Awesome Super Huge Wicked Fun Podcast Playdate in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Psssst....it's Polly's birthday!  What should her birthday wish be? She'd love to hear your ideas via voice memo or see your ideas in a drawing! Let her know at http://bit.ly/earsnacks-pollysbirthdaywish !

Your pals at Short & Curly have something very special for you: a preview of the new ABC podcast Fierce Girls! It’s a show about the brave, adventurous, and mighty girls and women of the world – including our very own Molly Daniels. Who is a girl. And is always brave and mighty. Anyway, go check it out!