Are there insects in Antarctica?

This episode explores whether insects can survive in the extremely cold environment of Antarctica.

1. Antarctica is one of the coldest, driest, and windiest places on Earth, which creates a challenging environment for any form of life.
2. The Antarctic midge is the only known insect that lives on mainland Antarctica.
3. This midge can survive extreme cold by dehydrating itself and producing antifreeze chemicals.
4. Dr. Jennifer Mercer shares her personal experiences and scientific research in the icy continent, adding a human element to the extreme conditions discussed.
5. The episode also touches on broader environmental issues, such as climate change and its impact on Antarctic ice.

1: Introduction

Hosts Molly Bloom and Julian introduce the episode topic about insects in Antarctica, setting a playful and curious tone for the discussion. Molly Bloom: "We're talking all about Antarctica, that amazing and mysterious continent on the earth's South Pole."

2: The Antarctic Midge

Discussion about the Antarctic midge, the only known insect in Antarctica, focusing on its adaptations to the harsh climate. Molly Bloom: "The Antarctic midge... it's the only known insect that we know of that can survive outside on mainland Antarctica."

3: Dr. Jennifer Mercer Interview

An interview with Dr. Jennifer Mercer who shares insights from her research and life experiences in Antarctica. Jennifer Mercer: "It is breathtaking, both in the literal sense. During the wintertime, when it's really cold, it's hard to breathe."

4: Climate Impact Discussion

The hosts discuss the impact of climate change on Antarctica and its global implications, emphasizing the need for environmental awareness. Molly Bloom: "And as things warm up, the ice melts. Over the last 20 years, on average, Antarctica lost about 145 gigatons of ice a year."

1. Educate yourself and others about the effects of climate change on polar regions.
2. Support and participate in environmental conservation efforts to protect such extreme ecosystems.
3. Encourage sustainable practices in your community to reduce carbon footprints.
4. Stay informed about scientific research and discoveries related to climate change and its impacts.
5. Advocate for policies that promote renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Looking for an escape? Join Molly and co-host Julian as they explore Antarctica! They’ll learn about Antarctica’s massive ice sheets and active volcanoes — plus they’ll meet the largest land animal on the continent! (Hint: it’s black, shiny, and can perch on a pencil eraser!)

Then they’ll chat with scientist Dr. Jennifer Mercer about what it’s like to live and work in one the coldest places on the planet and explore what Antarctica was like 90 million years ago. (Hint: It was a lot like a beach resort!) And stick around for a mystery sound that’s so cool it’ll give you goosebumps!

People

Dr. Jennifer Mercer

Guest Name(s):

Dr. Jennifer Mercer

Content Warnings:

None

Molly Bloom

You're listening to brains on, where we're serious about being curious. Brains on is supported in part by a grant from the National Science foundation. Hey, Molly. Hey, Julian. Hi, Bob.

Bob

Beautiful day today, isn't it? Wow, Bob, you're in a great mood. Were you watching paint dry again or. Waiting for a pot of water to boil? Two of my favorite things.

I actually spent all day at a Taylor Swift concert. Wow. Seriously? That's awesome. Yeah, that's amazing.

Yes. And here's the best part. I was at a Taylor Swift concert, standing in line. The line moves a little at a time, and then when you get to the front, you can just go back to the end and start all over again. No one stops you.

And you don't even need tickets for the line. You wanna go check it out with me? Actually, we're just about to tape an episode, and we're snow excited about it. Yeah, it's gonna be pretty cool, if you know what I mean. Oh, let me guess.

Is it about frozen corn? I love frozen corn. Plain, no salt? Excellent guess, but no. We're trying to chill out and we just can't because the topic we're discussing today is brilliant.

Molly Bloom

We're not south poling your leg. It's gonna give you goosebumps. I know. It's an episode all about that feeling you get when you get out of the bathtub and your toesies touch the cold bathroom floor and you go, that's nippy. Not quite.

But don't worry, Bob. We're not penguining to feel frost traded penguins. Frost cold. Oh, I give up. What is it?

Julian

Today's episode is all about Antarctica. Ah, Antarctica. Very fun. Very fun. But maybe next time an episode about plain frozen corn.

Bob

Or how about room temperature water? Or standing in a really long line? Ooh. Ooh. No, no.

Standing in a really long line drinking a glass of room temperature water. That's it.

Julian

You're listening to brains on. From APM Studios, I'm Molly Bloom, and my co host today is Julian from Nashville, Tennessee. Hi, Julian. Hi, Molly. We are so glad you're here today because we're talking all about Antarctica, that amazing and mysterious continent on the earth's South Pole.

You sent in a question to us about it, right, Julian? Yeah. I wanted to know whether there are any insects on Antarctica. A great question. What made you think of it?

Molly Bloom

What made me think of it is that we have a lot of insects in summer, and I wanted to know if cold places had them, too. Excellent question. Do you have a favorite insect? A butterfly. Mm.

Julian

Do you have a favorite butterfly? Probably a monarch. Ah, yeah. They are so beautiful. So would you like to visit Antarctica if you could?

Molly Bloom

Yes, because I would get to see penguins. That would be really fun. What is your favorite thing about penguins? My favorite thing about penguins is that they can survive in Antarctica. So would you rather be really cold or really hot?

Really cold. Mm. Okay. Why? Because I would get to play in the snow.

Julian

Ah, yes. I love to play in the snow. What's your favorite snow activity? Snowball fight. Oh, very good.

So when you think of Antarctica, you might imagine a place with tons and tons of snow and not much else. But that's not the case. There's actually very little snow there. It's mostly ice. And there are lots of other really cool things.

Looking for an unforgettable vacation destination with awe inspiring views, bunchy, clinching temperatures, and sub zero mountain breezes that will literally take your breath away. Then you need to visit antarctica. Antarctica. Do you turn your nose up at sunny beaches, poo poo swimming pools? Then come to antarctica where the temperature plummets to -76 degrees fahrenheit in the winter.

And when youre chilly warm up to one of our boiling hot volcanoes? Or maybe you like super dry places. Well, youre in luck because antarctica is one of the driest places on earth. Thats right. Its actually a giant desert.

It only gets a couple inches of snow every year. Antarctica. One thing that antarctica does have. Ice. Ice, baby.

The Antarctic ice sheet is bigger than the United States and Mexico combined. Wow. So big. In some spots, the ice is almost 3 miles thick. Just think of all the winter sport possibilities.

Ice skating, ice dancing, ice skateboarding, and of course ice ping pong. And with six months of non stop daylight every year, you'll never have to stop playing Antarctica. Paid for by the Antarctica Tourism Bureaucracy. Not responsible for frostbite, but cheek tension due to prolonged clenching or ice ping pong injuries. Ice ping pong sounds awesome.

Julian

Totally. Antarctica is an extreme place full of huge mountains, super thick ice and active volcanoes. It has some of the harshest conditions on Earth. In fact, the coldest temperature ever recorded on our planet was in Antarctica. Yeah.

Back in 2018, the temperature reached -144 degrees fahrenheit there. For comparison, the freezer in your house is usually set to about zero degrees. So this was much, much colder. You might be wondering what can possibly survive in such a dry, cold place. The answer is lots of stuff.

Along the coast of Antarctica, the temperatures are a little more mild. In the summer, it can get a little above freezing, which means different things can grow there, like moss, algae, and even lichen. Lichen is that funky green and white stuff that sometimes grows on tree bark. And there's also a bunch of different kinds of marine life on the coast, like penguins, eight different kinds of whales. Giant schools of krill, which look like tiny shrimp and feed all sorts of different sea creatures, and even ferrous leopard seals.

One thing Antarctica doesnt have, polar bears. Polar bears were only found in the Arctic, near the north Pole. Remember, Antarctica is on the south pole, the other side of the planet. Right. If you were looking at a world globe, Antarctica would be on the bottom.

A lot of the creatures that live in Antarctica have special characteristics that help them survive the cold temperatures, like thick layers of blubber and fur to keep them warm. But what about insects? I'm picturing an insect with blubber, and it's kind of cute, but doesn't seem likely. Yes, you're correct. No insects with blubber.

But there are insects on Antarctica. Well, I should say there is one insect that we know of that can survive outside on mainland Antarctica. It's called. Drumroll, please.

The antarctic midge. A midge? Isnt that like a tiny fly? It sure is, but this isnt just any tiny fly. Its an extraordinary tiny fly.

First of all, even though its technically a fly, its flightless, meaning it cant actually fly. Okay, not what I was expecting, but go on. And even though its so small, its actually Antarcticas biggest land animal. Thats because hardly any, any animals spend their entire lives on land there. Right.

Molly Bloom

The other animals we talked about earlier, like seals and penguins, spend part of. Their lives in the water back to the antarctic midge. The adults have shiny black bodies with big eyes and fluffy antennae on their heads that look like feather dusters. And like we mentioned, they're teeny tiny, only about one eight of an inch long. That's like half the width of a pencil eraser.

Julian

But heres the really impressive thing about this. It spends about nine months of the year frozen solid. Like a super small fly popsicle. Exactly. The babies that eventually grow into the adult flies are little, purple, wriggly grubs called larvae, and theyre super survivors.

They can live up to a month without oxygen and survive temperatures as cold as five degrees fahrenheit. Whoa. That's one tough insect. But it can get way colder than five degrees in Antarctica. How do they survive?

Scientists think part of it is where they live. The baby grubs live underground for almost two years. That makes sense. It's usually warmer underground, away from the cold air. Another thing the midge has going for it is its ability to dry out.

The baby grubs can lose almost three quarters of the water in their bodies, and without as much water in their bodies, theyre less likely to freeze. Its like they turn into little raisins. And that helps protect them from the cold? Yes. They also make special chemicals in their bodies that keep them from freezing, almost like the antifreeze chemicals we use in our cars.

Molly Bloom

Okay, youve convinced me. The baby midges are totally awesome. But what about the adults? Whats their deal? Well, the adult midges emerge from the ground in the summertime when its warmer, but they only live about two weeks.

Julian

Sometimes they form big groups of thousands of midges. Ooh, I love summer party time. Yeah, party, party. A summertime midge party. So festive.

Total midge party. Scientists definitely don't have it all figured out, though. There's still so much to learn about these super tough antarctic insects. That's so cool. So there are all different kinds of animals living in and around Antarctica, like penguins, seals, and even midges.

Plus, there's one more creature we haven't talked about yet. Humans. Oh, yeah. Lots of scientists live and work on research stations in Antarctica. We'll talk more about that in a bit and meet an actual scientist who's worked on Antarctica.

But first, it's time for the.

Molly Bloom

Mystery cell.

Julian

You ready, Julian? Yes. Here it is.

What do you think? Sounds like a saw. Ooh, excellent guess. I have no idea what this is either. Should we hear it again?

Molly Bloom

Yes. All right, let's hear it again.

Julian

What do you think now? Hmm. Still a saw. Cutting board. Still a saw.

Okay, I love that guess. Well, we will hear it again. Get another chance to guess and hear the answer after the credits. So stick around. We are working on an episode about stringed instruments and how they all make unique sounds, from ukuleles and sitars to violins and guitars.

For this episode, we want you to send us your own version of the brains on theme song. You know, da da da da da da. You can play it on the piano, bang it on a drum, strum it, beatbox it, or show us how it's sung. Maybe you want to write some lyrics. It's up to you.

You don't have to do the whole thing. Add your own flair. Julian, if you could come up with your own version of the brains on theme song, what would it be? How would you do it? It would be like a dog sparking and cats meowing.

Oh, wow. I love that idea. Can you give me an example of what that might sound like. Ruff. Ruff ruff meow meow.

Molly Bloom

Rough ruff meow. Meow. Ruff ruff rao meow. Rough ruff meow meow. I love it.

Julian

That is beautiful. That's a great idea. Well, listeners, please send us your theme song record@brainson.org contact. And while you're there, you can send. Us mystery sounds, drawings and questions like this one.

Molly Bloom

Do fishes have tongues? You can find an answer to this question on the moment of, um, podcast. It's a short dose of facts and fun every weekday. Find it wherever you listen to, brains. Um, so keep listening.

Brains. Brains. Brains.

Welcome back to brains on. I'm Julian. And I'm Molly. And today we're going sub zero at the South Pole. Antarctica, a land of ice and snow.

Julian

And also volcanoes where few things can survive. But somehow a hearty little flightless fly called the antarctic midge does all right there. And humans live there, too, mostly scientists. Who live on research stations like doctor Jennifer Mercer. She's a scientist with the National Science foundation who has lived and worked in Antarctica, and she's here with us today.

Molly Bloom

Hi, Doctor Mercer. Hi, Julian. Hi, Molly. What's it like living in Antarctica? It is breathtaking.

Jennifer Mercer

I think you talked about that a little bit earlier and it is breathtaking, both in the literal sense. During the wintertime, when it's really cold, it's hard to breathe, it's very, very cold air. It is spectacular visually, because as far as you can see, and you can see very, very far, there are no trees in Antarctica. You can just see snow and ice and so it's just this amazing thing that you don't see anywhere else. Wow, that's so cool.

Yeah, it really is. And I've been to Antarctica both in the summer and the winter. Their seasons are different down there. Since Antarctica is in the southern hemisphere, summer in Antarctica is when we have our winter here in the United States or in North America. So when we have our winter, they're in summer, and when we are in summer, they're in winter and their winter is totally dark.

Wow, isn't that cool? Yeah, it is. What kinds of food did you eat? Well, Julian, you're not going to believe this, but we get to eat a lot of candy and cookies, cookie bars and sweets to stay warm because since it's so cold, your body needs more calories to stay warm when you're working outside. So I have never eaten so much candy in my life.

Molly Bloom

Wow, that's cool. Isn't that that's pretty amazing, huh? Yeah. And the other thing besides cookies and candy, our New Zealand colleagues used to have this thing that we would always try to get our hands on to eat called a butter bar. And so it was like a cookie bar, but it had a lot of butter in it, and it was very delicious and kept you very warm.

What did you have to wear outside to stay warm? Yeah, good question. It really depended on the weather and the time of year. In the antarctic summer, it's really just like our winter here in North America. So clothes that you would wear maybe to go sledding or skiing, lots of layers.

Jennifer Mercer

And in the summer, since it's sunny all day long, all 24 hours of the day, it's sunny even at midnight, you have to make sure you wear sunglasses and sunscreen. In the winter, though, you have to wear even more clothes because it's so cold. And so I would wear really, really heavy boots and really, really big jacket, and then I would wear hats and gloves and layers. I think the most interesting thing in the winter is that because you're breathing into your layers of clothes, your eyelashes will get frost on them and build up. So it's like little icicles on your eyelashes, and they'll get, they'll stick together.

And so you're constantly kind of brushing your eyelashes off to get the, to get them to unstick. And I have been there when it's been so cold that even your snot freezes. Wow. What kind of research did you do there? So I was lucky enough I worked in Antarctica for many years.

And the very first time I went to Antarctica, I got to work in a place called the Dry Valleys, which is a place in Antarctica that doesn't have any snow on the ground. It's very like it's named dry. A lot of dust and rocks, and it's the closest thing we have on Earth to Mars. So if you imagine pictures you've seen of Mars, the Mars landscape, it looks like that. And I was studying the soil in the dry valleys.

But after that, then I worked for many years studying the ozone hole. The ozone layer is a shield over the earth that absorbs a lot of the sun's ultraviolet radiation. And we would go in the winter, and we would launch balloons all the way up into the stratosphere, which is the layer of the atmosphere that's above the troposphere, where we live. So way up into the atmosphere, we'd launch these huge helium balloons to measure ozone and look at the changes each year in the ozone hole, which forms over Antarctica and the Arctic each year. Wow, that's one of the coolest things you saw or did there.

Well, I got to visit the south pole station. I think that was pretty special. But maybe the most spectacular thing that I did was at the time of year we were there to study the ozone hole. There were also scientists there studying penguins. And so we got to go out to their research site one day and they, when they studied penguins, they drill a hole in the ice and they put what's called an observation tube down into the ice.

And so it's this metal tube that's open to the air above and you can climb down a ladder down in there and there's a window. So you get to sit down there in this tube and watch the penguins swimming underwater. And I think that's the coolest thing I did, probably. I'm curious to know what you and the other scientists did for fun when you weren't working. Yeah, that's also a good question.

We work a lot because you're there to accomplish your science work and so oftentimes you find yourself working every day. But there used to be a bowling alley in McMurdo and that was really fun. We watch movies. You can go for hikes. And hiking in Antarctica is pretty neat because you can hike up to, up on these rocky hills and see even further.

So things like that. Very cool. And when you were Julian's age, Julian, how old are you now? Nine. Okay, so when you were nine, were you interested in Antarctica or is that something that came later?

I think that I was interested in the whole globe and all of the different places on the globe and, and just the different people across the globe when I was nine. But I will say that I always loved the, I grew up in South Dakota. I love to ski and play in the snow. And my favorite when we had huge blizzards and then school would be canceled so we could go outside and build snow forts. And that actually was very applicable because the first time I went to Antarctica, everybody goes down and you have to do survival training.

And one of those things is to build something very similar to a snow fort so that if you ever get stuck out you can build yourself a shelter and stay out of the wind. That's super cool. Well, thank you for taking the time to talk to us today. This is amazing and I've learned so much. Thanks so much for talking with us, Doctor Mercer.

It's been my pleasure, Julian. Thank you and have a great day. Goodbye everybody. Bye Doctor Mercer. Bye.

Julian

So that was so cool to be able to talk with someone who lived in Antarctica. Julian, do you think you could spend six months at a research station there? Um, probably not. Because it would be very cold. Yeah, and you're like, I don't want to bundle up.

You know, we say here in Minnesota there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes. You just need the right clothes to get out there. So if you had to, what three things would you bring with you to keep yourself happy and healthy? Um, a bag of snacks, a jacket and a weather display that would like, tell me what the weather was and how cold it was. Smart.

Doctor Mercer studied all sorts of things in Antarctica. Soil, the ozone. She met people who studied animals. There's so many different things to study there. So what would you want to study if you lived on Antarctica?

Molly Bloom

I would want to study penguins. Nice. You look at that observation tube, see what's down there. Would you like to swim with the penguins? Yeah, that'd be pretty cool.

Julian

One wild fact about Antarctica is that if you dig about 100ft underground you can find traces of a tropical rainforest. Wait, what? Yeah. Scientists have drilled deep into the icy continent and found fossils of all kinds of plants and animals. And it gets weirder.

Antarctica may be the reason there are kangaroos in Australia. Okay, I'm intrigued. Well julian, like Taylor Swift, Antarctica has had many different eras. Looking for an unforgettable vacation destination with awe inspiring views, sock sogging swamps and towering trees that will make you shout timber. Then you need to visit Antarctica 90 million years ago.

Antarctica 90 million years ago. Back before I went all Elsa and frozen, Antarctica was a warm and wild paradise for millions of years. Palm trees, ferns and other plants youd see at a fancy beach resort were just hanging out, living their best life on Antarctica. Thats because 90 million years ago the Earth was much warmer. In fact, scientists think Antarctica was about as warm as Italy.

Buongiorno. Plants and animals survived there even though like today it was pretty dark for most of the winter. So go visit Antarctica 90 million years ago. What are you waiting for? Oh, you're waiting for time travel to exist.

Yeah, us too. Yeah. Where's time travel? Paid for by the invent time travel now advocacy group not responsible for butterfly effects time dilation or accidentally stepping on an animal and wiping out all of existence in the future.

Julian

It wasn't just Antarctica that was warmer back then. The whole planet was toastier too. So it was a very different time all around. Whoa. But back to the kangaroos.

Molly Bloom

Were there kangaroos in Antarctica? I'm very invested well, 90 million years ago, it wasnt just warmer. The whole planet looked pretty different, too. Thats because the colossal land masses we live on are always moving very slowly. We call these huge areas of land continents.

Ive heard of those. We live in a continent called North America. Yep. All of South America is a continent too. Think of these as giant plates of rock that are always slowly grinding their way across the planet.

Oh, yeah, that's cool. Plate tectonics. It's the idea that all of the land we see is actually sitting on giant slabs of rock. And these giant rock plates very slowly slide around the globe. And many scientists think that around 90 million years ago, the giant rock slabs holding up South America, Antarctica and Australia were all connected.

Whoa. Today, South America and Australia are very far apart and separated by lots of water. I know, but back then they were pretty much holding hands. Scientists think at that time, animals would travel between South America and Australia. Theyd use Antarctica kind of like a land bridge.

Julian

The journey might have taken several generations, but that's one way creatures spread from east to west. Scientists think one type of animal that did this are marsupials, like kangaroos and koalas and possums. They're animals that often have pouches for their babies to live in. Exactly. Scientists have found fossils that tell us marsupials first showed up in South America, but over time they shuffled across Antarctica and ended up settling down in Australia too.

Too. Some of those evolved into kangaroos. So without Antarctica, no kangaroos. Crikey. So what happened?

Molly Bloom

Why was it so warm back then and so cold there now? Excellent question. It's something scientists are still trying to figure out. They think back then there was a lot more carbon dioxide in the air. That's one of the greenhouse gases that's causing climate change today.

Its released by burning fossil fuels. Like gasoline in our cars. Exactly. It can be released naturally too, like from volcanoes. Back then, there was a lot of that gas in the sky, way more than right now.

Julian

And the planet got so warm that even at the poles, things were pretty toasty. Sea levels were probably 200ft higher than they are now. Scientists arent exactly sure what caused all that carbon dioxide gas to show up at that time. It wasn't from dinosaurs driving cars or running coal burning factories. Nope.

But we do know, over time, the amount of carbon dioxide in the sky started dropping, the planet cooled down, and somewhere around 30 to 60 million years ago, ice caps formed in Antarctica. Then comes the ice cold and ice. But, Molly, Antarctica is changing again, right? Yes. That chilly wonderland is heating up again.

But this time we know the cause. Humans are releasing a lot of greenhouse gases into the air. And just like before, they're warming the planet. But it's happening a lot quicker than last time, which makes it really hard for the plants and animals alive right now to adjust. Yeah.

Molly Bloom

And as things warm up, the ice melts. Over the last 20 years, on average, Antarctica lost about 145 gigatons of ice a year. How much is that? Molly, I happen to be a gigaton expert. One gigaton of ice is enough to cover New York citys Central park in a block of ice thats ten stories tall.

Now imagine 145 of these huge blocks of ice. Thats 145 gigatons. That is a lot of ice. And thats how much of Antarcticas ice is melting every year. So things are changing fast.

Looking for an unforgettable vacation destination thats a crucial part of our planet's climate, a place with so much ice that if it all melted, sea levels would rise dramatically. A place thats home to unique species like penguins and leopard seals and midges. Visit Antarctica. The ice caps there are both magnificent and super important. So let's keep them nice and icy by cutting down on fossil fuels, by turning to renewable sources of energy like solar or wind, and by asking our leaders to do everything they can to fight climate change.

After all, what's good for Antarctica is good for the planet Antarctica, a place too cold for most people, but just right for the Earth. Paid for by the midges of Antarctica. We're tiny bugs with big dreams of curbing climate change. If you visit, please don't step on us.

Julian

Antarctica is a vast and wild place, home to super thick ice sheets, volcanoes, and some of the coldest temperatures on earth. All kinds of creatures live there, including a super tough little insect called the antarctic midge. It's really cold there now, but 90 million years ago, Antarctica was a warm and tropical place covered in palm trees and ferns. And it's getting warm again because of climate change. And that's causing ice in Antarctica to melt.

That's it for this episode of brains on. This episode was written by Shayla Farazon and Sandon Totten and edited by Molly Bloem and produced by Rosie Dupont. Fact checking by Nico Gonzalez Whistler. We had engineering help from Derek Ramirez, Dave Walton, and Pam Holland, with sound design by Rachel Brees. Original theme music by Mark Sanchez.

Beth Perlman is our executive producer, and the executives in charge of APM Studios are Chandra Kavati and Joanne Griffith. Special thanks to Jennifer Mercer, Cassandra Eichner Rebecca Erie and Jonathan Irish. We had production help from the rest of the brains on universe team. Anna Goldfield, Ruby Guthrie, Lauren Humpert, Joshua Ray, Mark Sanchez, Charlotte Traver, Anna Wegel, and Adaron Waldis. Lassie.

Molly Bloom

Brainson is a nonprofit public radio program. There are lots of ways to support the show. Subscribe to Brainson Universe on YouTube, where you can watch animated versions of some of your favorite episodes, or head to brainson.org dot. While you're there, you can send us mystery sounds, drawings and questions. Okay, Julian, are you ready to hear the mystery sound again?

Yes. Wonderful. Here it is.

Julian

Okay, what do you think? Last time you thought it was a saw, do you have new thoughts? Um, I still think it's a saw. Okay. I'm gonna say I think it's a saw, too, but it sounds like a tiny saw.

So maybe the cats and dogs that listen to brainson are using their tiny saws to build a parade float dedicated to brains on. What do you think? I think so. Okay, great. Here to hear the answer.

Molly Bloom

Yes. Okay, let's hear it. Hi, my name is Luca, and I live in Switzerland. That was the sound of my mother twisting her feet while wearing sneakers on the wet floor of a parking garage. Oh, my goodness.

Oh, my gosh. We were not close. No.

Julian

Twisting wet sneakers on the floor of a parking garage. That is a really tricky mystery sound. Good job, Luca. You stumped us completely.

Now it's time for the brains honor roll. These are the kids who keep the show going with their questions, ideas, mystery sounds, drawings and high fives. Ezra from Charlotte, North Carolina. Eitan from Jerusalem. Daniel from Clifton Park, New York.

Domingo and Javier from Reston, Virginia. Xander from Kingsburg, California. Maya from Israel. Jane from Pennsylvania. Samira from the Netherlands.

Callie from Briar, Washington. Aria from Windsor, Ontario Gio from Waterloo, Ontario. Kevin from Canaan, Connecticut. Owen from Chicago. Jace from Lutz, Florida.

Ben from Sydney, Australia. Raj from Annapolis, Maryland. Graham from Dallas, Texas. Mark from Columbus, Ohio. Alex from Los Altos, California.

Eliza from Budapest August from Cary, North Carolina. Logan from Vallejo, California. Simona from Vancouver. Arella from Bothell, Washington. Nemo from Woodbury, Minnesota.

London from Marysville, Ohio. Simon from Virginia. Jack from Missoula, Mt Ma. Mathias Ma from Carmel, California. Josie from Port Angeles, Washington.

Collette from Portland, Oregon. Ivy from Denver. Melody from Mississauga, Ontario. Sabella from Austin, Texas. Arthur and Alice from Irvine, California.

Ellie from Calgary, Alberta. Marie from Aberdeen, UK. Miles from Tucson, Arizona. Abram, Liam and Johannes from Los Alamidos, California. Delilah from Phoenix.

Charlie from Red Rock, Ontario, jade from Orange, California Jasper from Burbank, California Leo from Seattle Navi from Hillsboro, Oregon James from Harpenden, England Galilee and Eden from Pleasant Hill, California Ade and Amal from Somerville, Massachusetts Leo and miles from Goshen, Ohio Lyra from Portland, Oregon Everett and Amelia from Bakersfield, California Cooper from Boise, Idaho Rain from Bluffdale, Utah Greta and Arthur from Dallas, Dakota from Ambler, Pennsylvania Caleb from Drayton Valley, Canada Nora from Victoria, British Columbia Clara Olivia Sophie from Grand Prairie, Alberta Presley from Joplin, Missouri Addison from Bloomington, Illinois Jaron from Oakland, California and Penelope from Aliso, Vallejo, California we'll be back next week with an episode all about building a house on the moon. Thanks for listening.

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Molly Bloom

Why does the US have so much gold in Fort Knox and what do they use it for? Help your kids understand how money fits into the world around us. Listen to million bazillion wherever you get your podcasts.

Julian

Listen to million bazillion wherever you get your podcasts.