Dr. Universe

PULLMAN, Wash. – Iron is found in buildings and skyscrapers. It makes up most of the earth’s core. It’s even found in the sun and stars. And yes, it’s also in a bowl of cereal.

SPOKANE, Wash. – The other day I was scratching my ears when I noticed some yellowish-brown gunk on my claw. It was pretty gross, but it also made me very curious.

PULLMAN, Wash. – You know, your question reminds me of a couple other science questions from curious readers. Evangeline, age 7, wants to know why her hair is black. Sureya, age 8, wants to know why some people have curly hair.

VANCOUVER, Wash. – It’s usually later in life that we see the more dramatic signs of aging, like gray hair, wrinkles and lots of birthday candles on our cake. But we really start growing older from the time we are born.

PULLMAN, Wash. – It’s almost March 14. You know what that means: Pi Day, as in 3/14 or 3.14159265359 and so on.

SPOKANE, Wash. – When I went to visit my friend Susan Perkins, an instructor of nursing at Washington State University, she shined a tiny light in my nose. Sure enough, she found some crusty little boogies.

PULLMAN, Wash. – There’s nothing like taking a little catnap by the fireplace, feeling the heat, watching the flames and listening to crackling sounds. But until you asked, I wasn’t entirely sure what this mesmerizing thing was or how it works.

PULLMAN, Wash. – A couple months before you were born, your skeleton was soft and bendy. It was made out of cartilage, the same material that’s in your nose and ears now. But when certain cells in your body called osteoblasts and osteoclasts began to work together, new bone started to form.

PULLMAN, Wash. – We cats have a reputation for being lazy. We sleep a lot. But the truth is when I got your question, I didn’t know much about laziness. So, I decided to talk about it with a couple of psychologists here at Washington State University.

WENATCHEE, Wash. – Last fall, my friend Lee Kalcsits and I went exploring in the apple orchards of Wenatchee. The apples were ripe and the leaves were changing from green to gold. We plucked a few leaves and took them back to his lab.