Staying home: How social distancing helps fight coronavirus

GUS: You're listening to Brains On, where we're serious about being curious.

CHILD: Brains On is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

BOB (ON VIDEO CALL): How do I get this thing to work?

SANDEN TOTTEN: Hi, Bob. Sanden's on the call.

MENAKA WILHELM: Menaka's here.

MARC SANCHEZ: Hey, everybody. Marc here. Bob, this is a great idea.

MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, hi. Molly's here. Can you guys see me?

SANDEN TOTTEN: Yep. Are we waiting for anyone else?

GUNGADOR: Gungador on the video conference call! Hello?

BOB: I think that's everyone? Well, OK. Well, thanks for joining me. I was getting a little lonely, and I missed you guys, so--

[PAPER CRINKLING]

What's that sound? Anyone hear paper crinkling?

MENAKA WILHELM: Oh, sorry. My roommate is making an entire origami zoo. She's just finishing the giraffes. I'll mute.

BOB: Well, as I was saying, I was feeling lonely, and I--

[BEEPING SOUNDS]

Sanden, what's that noise?

SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh! Hey, sorry, that's me. My poodle Penelope discovered this new app. It's like a daily scent scavenger hunt for dogs. She's been using it all over the house. Anyway, I'll mute.

BOB: Thank you. So, now that we're all--

[SWORDFIGHTING NOISE]

Oh, heavens, what now?

MARC SANCHEZ: Ha-ha! Oops! That's me. My Guinea pigs are using their downtime to learn fencing. Muting now.

[MARCHING BAND TUNE]

BOB: More noise?

GUNGADOR: Sorry! Gungador listening to marching band records, helps lift spirits.

MOLLY BLOOM: And I was knitting myself a lab coat of many colors. Sorry, will mute.

BOB: Ah, finally, peace and quiet. Actually, it's too quiet. I'm feeling all alone again. Ah, forget it, I don't care about the noise. I just want to hear your voices. Unmute everybody!

[BEEPING SOUNDS]

MOLLY BLOOM: Aw, we miss you too, Bob.

MENAKA WILHELM: Yeah, it's good to hear you all.

GUNGADOR: Sanden look taller on screen.

SANDEN TOTTEN: Aw, man, I miss you guys.

BOB: Hey, you know, everybody, if I got some popsicles and hold them up to the screen--

MARC SANCHEZ: This is nice.

SANDEN TOTTEN: Is anyone else not getting out of their pajamas?

GUNGADOR: Next time, virtual dance party!

MOLLY BLOOM: I already knitted a sweater for my microphone. Oh, and I knitted some earmuffs for Penelope the poodle--

BOB: Hey, Menaka, it looks like you can still ride your scooter at home.

MARC SANCHEZ: Have you changed your hair?

MENAKA WILHELM: I can scooter, but I have to scooter really slowly.

MARC SANCHEZ: I can totally send out taco recipes if anybody wants them.

[THEME MUSIC]

MOLLY BLOOM: This is Brains On. I'm Molly Bloom, and back again is our pal, Gus, from Seattle, Washington. Hi, Gus.

GUS: Hi, Molly.

MOLLY BLOOM: A lot has changed over the last few weeks because of this new coronavirus.

GUS: Yeah, people are being extra careful.

MOLLY BLOOM: They're not going out much.

GUS: They're avoiding crowds.

MOLLY BLOOM: A lot of schools and restaurants and stores are closed for a while. Lots of events and parties have been canceled.

GUS: And everyone is washing their hands.

MOLLY BLOOM: So much handwashing. But hands are tough. They can handle it. Right, hands?

HAND 1: Oh, yeah, Molly, we're doing great.

HAND 2: Yeah, just remember to moisturize us sometimes, OK?

MOLLY BLOOM: Sure thing, hands.

GUS: Do you always talk to your hands?

MOLLY BLOOM: It's a new thing. I figured if they're going to help me fight the spread of this virus, I should really get to know them.

HAND 1: We agree. It's a good idea.

HAND 2: Yeah, we like getting to know you, too, Molly.

GUS: Fair enough.

MOLLY BLOOM: Also, I don't see that many people in person anymore, so the more friends to talk to, the better. So, Gus, how are your hands doing right now?

GUS: Rashy. They're definitely rashy. I have to moisturize them every day or two.

MOLLY BLOOM: Because you've been washing them so much?

GUS: Yeah, and for some reason, it feels colder now. The water feels colder to my hands because I've been washing them so much. I don't know how that works--

MOLLY BLOOM: That's a lot of handwashing. So you and I talked exactly two weeks ago, and a lot has changed since then. So your school is closed now, right?

GUS: Yeah, six weeks.

MOLLY BLOOM: So what is life like for you right now?

GUS: Boring. I do nothing but bike, play with my drones, and do stuff like that.

MOLLY BLOOM: Anything else that you've been doing, like cooking or cleaning or writing the great American novel? What else have you been up to?

GUS: Actually, now that you mention it, I think I have been cooking more. I have been cooking breakfast a little bit more. I cooked a dinner or two.

MOLLY BLOOM: What kind of stuff are you cooking?

GUS: Stew, eggs, toast, stir fry. That's all I can think of.

MOLLY BLOOM: So you and your parents are both home all the time now. So how is that going?

GUS: Well, we're all kind of stir-crazy, so we get into a lot of arguments. They're not bad, they're just dumb.

MOLLY BLOOM: So what are you hearing from your friends? How do you communicate with them right now?

GUS: I have a little app where I can message my family and friends. Currently, I have-- two, three. So I have at least 10 people on there.

MOLLY BLOOM: And are you doing any video chatting with anybody?

GUS: Yeah, I did a couple days ago with my grandma.

MOLLY BLOOM: Nice. So, Gus, let's start today with a question that I'm sure a lot of our listeners are asking.

ISAAC: My name is Isaac. I'm from Boston, Massachusetts, and my question is, why do we have to be out of school for three weeks? Bye. Thank you!

GUS: It's a question I'm asking, too. And you know, we may end up being out of school for more than three weeks.

MOLLY BLOOM: We asked Tom Tsai to help us answer this question. He's a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who also studies how diseases spread.

GUS: He said there's one main reason people are being asked to stay home.

TOM TSAI: The main reason is you want to prevent spreading the infection. And the more everybody, not just children, but also adults, stay home from school or from work, that gives everybody a chance to decrease the chance of getting sick from this infection. And more importantly, also gives a chance for people who are sick from this infection to be able to see the doctors and get care.

MOLLY BLOOM: He said closing things down is important because this coronavirus seems to spread even before people show signs that they're sick. And some people who get this virus never really get sick at all.

GUS: So you might not think you're sick because you feel fine, but you're actually spreading this virus.

MOLLY BLOOM: And even though it might not make you very sick, you could give those germs to someone who could get very sick from them.

GUS: So keeping our distance, even if we feel fine, is our best bet. This is called social distancing.

MOLLY BLOOM: In fact, experts recommend you stay at least six feet away from anyone outside your family. And all this social distancing is related to another phrase you may have heard people saying lately--

GUS: Flattening the curve.

TOM TSAI: So what people mean by "flattening the curve," the curve is essentially a cartoon. It's just a way for us to look at a large number of numbers very quickly through a picture.

MOLLY BLOOM: So the curve he's talking about is part of something called a graph. Graphs are kind of a way to do math in pictures. In this case, scientists are using these graphs to look at the number of people who are sick over time.

GUS: If you look at these curves, they look like little hills.

MOLLY BLOOM: As the line goes up the hill, that represents the number of sick people going up, there's more sick people, then the number peaks at the top of the hill, and then the line starts going down the hill.

GUS: That means the number of people who are sick is going down, too.

MOLLY BLOOM: This hill shows the pattern of how people get sick with these kinds of germs.

GUS: The number of people who are sick goes up until it peaks, then it goes down.

MOLLY BLOOM: And basically, the steepness of this hill, how much it goes up, that shows us the speed the coronavirus is spreading. So if the hill looks like a really steep mountain, it means this virus is spreading quickly.

TOM TSAI: But if we can spread that out or flatten the curve, as many scientists are saying, what that means is you're spreading out the number of people who are infected over a much longer period of time.

GUS: Right now, we're on the upward part of the hill, and we're aiming for more of a grassy knoll or a mellow sand dune.

MOLLY BLOOM: That means fewer people get sick at once, which could also mean that fewer people get sick overall. And when fewer people are sick at once, it's easier for doctors and nurses to take care of everyone. So let's flatten that hill.

TOM TSAI: The important part to understand is, the more we work together as a group, as a society, by staying at home, doing a good job of washing our hands and preventing the spread of infection, every single person has a role to play to make sure that the disease doesn't last as long as it could.

MOLLY BLOOM: So it's frustrating that we don't know exactly how long schools and other gathering places will be closed.

GUS: And it's a total bummer that we have to cancel fun stuff, like birthday parties and trips.

MOLLY BLOOM: And it's hard that there's so much uncertainty about when exactly we can start hanging out in person again and rescheduling all these fun things that we've needed to cancel. But know that by doing this, by taking these big steps to help flatten the curve, we're helping everyone.

GUS: You're helping the people who could get sick.

MOLLY BLOOM: You're helping the people who take care of those who get sick by making sure there aren't too many people who need help all at once.

GUS: We're all doing our part.

ROBOTIC VOICE: Brains, Brains, Brains On.

MOLLY BLOOM: Say, hands, do you know what's a fun, completely safe activity you can do without leaving your house?

HAND 1: What's that? Molly?

MOLLY BLOOM: Guessing the--

[HUSHING]

CHILD (WHISPERING): Mystery sound.

MOLLY BLOOM: Are you ready for the mystery sound, Gus?

GUS: Yeah.

MOLLY BLOOM: All right, here it is.

[MYSTERY SOUND PLAYING]

GUS: Ooh, very wet. It sounds very wet.

MOLLY BLOOM: [CHUCKLING] What do you think it is?

GUS: That's a hard one. This sounds totally unrealistic, but I honestly think it sounds like someone's chopping vegetables with a mouth full of water.

MOLLY BLOOM: [LAUGHS]

I really like that guess.

GUS: But maybe like washing dishes or washing your hands in a bucket.

MOLLY BLOOM: All really good guesses. Well, we're going to be back with the answer in just a bit, so hold tight.

HAND 1: Yay, we love holding things tight, Molly.

HAND 2: Yeah, it's our forte.

MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, hands.

MEN (SINGING): Ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, Brains On.

EDITH: Hi, I'm Edith. My question is, does the virus go away when you wash your hands?

SOAP: Ha-ha! I can help with that.

[FUNKY MUSIC]

Hey, there, Edith, and everybody out there in podcastland. It is time to get down and rock and roll with your fresh-faced friend, Soap.

SINGERS (SINGING): Soap is your friend

SOAP: I've got some news to kick your blues. If you're in trouble, just look for my bubble because I totally make viruses go away. And I've always got your back.

SINGERS (SINGING): Soaps got your back.

SOAP: You see, I'm filled with special virus busting molecules. They look like tiny bent pins. One side is a little round head and the other side is a long zigzaggy pin tail. And these molecules are far out, man. They have what's called a hybrid structure.

SINGERS (SINGING): Hybrid pins

SOAP: Ha-ha! That means one side is attracted to water. The little round head sides, they just love getting wet. But the other side, the zigzag tail, it's repelled by water. It can't stand being wet. So when you lather up, the water-loving side gets all splashy, splashy, jumping right into that pool party on your hands.

SINGERS (SINGING): They like to swim

SOAP: But boy, oh boy, the other side of those sweet, soapy molecules, they do not like that pool one bit. So dig this, they start looking for anything that isn't water that they can grab onto. They especially love greasy things.

SINGERS (SINGING): They like the grease

SOAP: And you know what's good and greasy? Viruses! That's right. They've got this nasty, greasy coat on them. And that water-hating side of the soap molecule, it loves to grab that greasy virus. They get so grabby, they can break that coat apart, destroying that virus right then and there.

SINGERS (SINGING): Ooh, virus is gone

SOAP: These grabby, water-repellent sides of soap also grab on to dirt and bacteria and other uncool things on your hands. And while you scrub your mitts, they hold that stuff tight. Next, it's time to rinse it all off. The water washes those soapy molecules right off your hands. And they carry all the dirt and dead viruses they're clinging to with them, right down that drain.

SINGERS (SINGING): Ooh, soap saves the day

SOAP: That's right. That's how my molecules work. They break up viruses and grab bits of dirt and carry it with them down the drain. So make sure you let me do my thing, by washing for at least 20 seconds each time. And remember, cool cats, soap has always got your back.

SINGERS (SINGING): Soap's got your back

[UPBEAT MUSIC]

MOLLY BLOOM: We want to know, what have you been doing if you are out of school right now?

GUS: Have you been practicing the electric viola?

MOLLY BLOOM: Translating all the Harry Potter books to Pig Latin?

GUS: Surveying the bugs outside your home?

MOLLY BLOOM: Or making up new dance moves? Whatever it is, we want to know about it.

GUS: Record yourself telling us about something awesome you've been up to and send it our way.

MOLLY BLOOM: We could play it in a future episode. Just go to brainson.org/contact.

GUS: You can also send us a drawing or that mystery sound recording you've been meaning to get to.

MOLLY BLOOM: Or send us a question, like this listener.

ANSHI: Hi, my name is Anshi.

JESS: Hi, my name is Jess.

ANSHI: We're from San Ramon, California.

JESS: And our question is--

ANSHI: Why does our tongue stick to ice?

GUS: We'll answer that at the end of the show.

MOLLY BLOOM: Plus, tata-dada, we'll shout out the latest group to join the Honor Roll.

GUS: So keep listening.

MOLLY BLOOM: You're listening to Brains On from American Public Media. I'm Molly.

GUS: I'm Gus.

KARA: I'm Kara, and this is my best friend, Gilly.

GILLY: We're viruses, and we're taking over this podcast.

MOLLY BLOOM: Again?

GILLY: Well, our regular studio was shut down because of contamination.

KARA: Surprise! We were the contamination!

GILLY: Yeah, we were.

MOLLY BLOOM: I'll be right back. I'm going to go get some disinfectant wipes.

KARA: People, get ready for--

BOTH: Going Viral with Kara and Gilly.

KARA: So, I'm sure you've all seen the news.

GILLY: About the rhinovirus getting a nose job?

KARA: Gilly, rhinoviruses cause the common cold. All their jobs are in noses. That's literally where they thrive. Not news. I'm talking about this new virus that's getting all the headlines.

GILLY: Oh, that new coronavirus. Yeah, what's its deal? I bet it's a Leo.

KARA: I heard it's a Sagittarius.

GILLY: Oh, I can see that.

KARA: Anyway, we have questions and so do you.

GILLY: You guys have sent us a ton of them since our last episode.

KARA: Yeah, like so many.

SINGERS (SINGING): Tell me what she's got

GILLY: We are not coronaviruses ourselves--

KARA: And we've been busy binge-watching our favorite new show, Law and Order, Kleenex Unit, so we haven't really had time to get ourselves up to speed on this new viral sensation. So we brought in an expert to help us.

GILLY: She's a pediatrician. She studies infectious diseases and tropical medicine. She's with Baylor College. It's Dr. Jill Weatherhead.

JILL WEATHERHEAD: Oh, hi!

KARA: Nice to meet you, Doctor. Come, let's shake hands.

JILL WEATHERHEAD: I don't want you to get near me right now.

KARA: Smart move.

GILLY: So, Doctor, we've got a question from a listener that's basically what we're all wondering.

NELSON: Hi, my name is Nelson, and my question is, how did the coronavirus start?

JILL WEATHERHEAD: We are, as scientists, looking into how the coronavirus started. And so this is a really good question that's going to take some time for the scientists to figure out. What we do know is that it most likely started from a bat, and that bat came in contact with another animal called an intermediate host. But we don't know currently what that intermediate host is. And that's what scientists are currently trying to figure out.

Humans then came in contact with the intermediate host, which is most likely an animal, and that's how the virus got into humans and started spreading between people.

GILLY: Oh, so there was a mystery animal involved. Any guesses what it might have been?

JILL WEATHERHEAD: So there's a lot of different animals that are being evaluated. Most recently they've talked about an animal called a pangolin.

KARA: That's an animal that's part penguin and part chameleon.

JILL WEATHERHEAD: No.

KARA: Yeah, I totally made that up. So what is a pangolin?

JILL WEATHERHEAD: It has an outside scaly layer that looks like an aardvark with scales on it. But that has not been confirmed as the source of the virus yet.

GILLY: So this coronavirus came from bats, got picked up by some, as of yet, still unknown intermediate animal--

KARA: Maybe a pangolin.

GILLY: --and then made the jump to humans.

JILL WEATHERHEAD: That's right.

GILLY: And FYI, humans, usually an animal virus, can't infect you. But sometimes we mutate.

KARA: It's like our superpower.

GILLY: And sometimes we mutate in just the right way so that we can infect a new species. And once in a while, that new species is you. Don't add us haters. It's just how we are.

KARA: Yep. So next question.

EMMA: Hi, my name is Emma, and I'm six from San Antonio, and I want to know why does the coronavirus structures look the way it does and why does it have all the spiky things.

GILLY: Yeah, who is its stylist because those spikes are on point.

KARA: Nice one, Gil.

JILL WEATHERHEAD: So, yeah, they have a very interesting appearance. They're called a coronavirus because of those spikes. The spikes are called spike proteins. The spike proteins are what help the virus get into the cells. So the spike proteins will bind to a receptor on a human cell, and that allows, when they bind together, it allows the virus to enter into the cell.

GILLY: Oh, so the spikes are like keys that help it unlock the door to a cell, very clever, coronavirus.

KARA: That brings us to our next q, which is--

CELIA: Hello, my name is Celia, and I live in Wilmington, Delaware. And my question is, what really happens to you when you get the coronavirus?

JILL WEATHERHEAD: There is actually a spectrum, meaning multiple different ways people can have symptoms. Some people actually are what's called asymptomatic, meaning they don't have symptoms at all and don't feel sick. The majority of people feel like they have the flu, so they feel like they have muscle aches, they have fever, they may have a cough. But some people actually have other symptoms like a sore throat, or they have stomach pains and diarrhea.

So people present a little bit differently, but the majority of people will have fever and cough and just not feel well.

GILLY: Fascinating stuff here, Doc. I could listen to you talk about viruses all day.

KARA: How about this one?

MARCO: Hello, my name is Marco. I live in Brisbane, Australia. My question is, if you get coronavirus, after you are better, can you get it again? Thank you.

JILL WEATHERHEAD: We don't know that yet. And we're finding out more information to know if we have what's called sustained immunity, which means once you get it, you'll have immunity to it for your life. And there's certain viruses, like measles, where once you have measles, the likelihood of getting it again is very rare.

And then we have other viruses like the flu where you can get it each year. So we don't know where on the spectrum this is going to be yet. And that will come with time as we understand more about the virus.

KARA: Next question.

ANNA: Hi, I'm Anna from Greenville, South Carolina, and my question is, why does the coronavirus impact human cells and not other animals when our DNA is so similar?

JILL WEATHERHEAD: So coronaviruses actually do affect other animals, and that's what is so interesting about it. So as we have talked about, the virus actually has mutated from an animal virus so that it is now infected in humans. Now, what we have learned so far, and when we look at the CDC and the World Health Organization, they say we actually cannot pass it to other animals.

So your pets, your cats, your dogs, you're not going to pass it to them because they don't have the right receptors for the virus to be infected.

GILLY: That's right, viruses like corona and us, we do mutate, but once we jump to a new species, it doesn't mean we can just keep jumping to other animals. Mutations take time and are random, so it's not like we can spread to new animals easily.

KARA: Aw, but I really want to infect a puppy. They're so cute.

[HORN BLARES]

GILLY: Well, that's all we have time for. Thanks so much, Dr. Jill Weatherhead. We learned so much, like we became wiser, smarter. We really bonded, you know? Let's have a hug before we say goodbye.

JILL WEATHERHEAD: Nice try, but still no.

GILLY: Yeah, I was 100% going to go up your nose. Oh, well.

KARA: See you next time, viralinos.

GILLY: Bye!

MOLLY BLOOM: Finally, they're gone.

GUS: Time to go into wipe down mode? Yep, start sanitizing. Ugh.

[SPRAY WHOOSHING]

CHILDREN: Brains On!

MOLLY BLOOM: Gus, are you ready to get back to that mystery sound?

GUS: Yeah.

MOLLY BLOOM: All right, here it is again.

[MYSTERY SOUND PLAYING]

Gus, last time, you thought it was someone chopping vegetables in their mouth or washing their hands or doing the dishes. You have any new thoughts?

GUS: Maybe gutting a fish.

MOLLY BLOOM: [LAUGHS]

GUS: I don't know. It sounds like that because I've been to lakes where they have a little tent where someone can gut the fish for you or a trout farm or something like that, and they put it in a wet-- in a water bucket.

MOLLY BLOOM: Yeah, it's very gloopy, a gloopy, wet noise. All right, well, here is the answer.

MAYA: Hi, my name is Maya. I'm from Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. That was the sound of my mom making chicken pot pie. You can hear her mixing frozen vegetables with chicken and a cheese sauce. Besides chicken pot pie, my mom makes a mean mashed potato.

GUS: Oh, wait, what?

MOLLY BLOOM: There were vegetables involved and chicken and gloopiness. But it was all in the service of a chicken pot pie.

GUS: Sounded like they were chopping something.

MOLLY BLOOM: Mm-hmm. You were correct.

[UPBEAT MUSIC]

So, like we mentioned, the goal of staying home and social distancing is to help slow the spread of the coronavirus so healthcare workers can take care of everyone who needs help.

LISA DABBY: All doctors and nurses are coming to work and working hard to take care of patients. Everybody is trying to do everything they can to help take care of people.

GUS: That's Dr. Lisa Dabby.

MOLLY BLOOM: She's an emergency medicine doctor with the University of California, Los Angeles.

GUS: She's on the front lines of this fight against COVID-19.

MOLLY BLOOM: That's the name for the sickness caused by this new coronavirus.

GUS: She helps treat people with strong symptoms. But she says it's important to keep in mind that most people who get it will be able to get better all on their own.

LISA DABBY: I think what people need to step back and remember is that 80%, which 8 out of 10 people who get this virus, do just fine. They don't even need to go to the hospital.

MOLLY BLOOM: And Lisa says, by staying home, you're helping healthcare workers like her do their jobs.

LISA DABBY: I know it's hard to be home, and I know it's hard to not see your friends, but it's really, really important right now that we do our best to not spend a lot of time with other people so that we don't spread the virus. So, kids, you, too, have the power to help attack and fight this virus by not interacting with other people and not spreading it to other people.

Know that we're all out there working our hardest to try to figure this out and take care of people. And we're going to get through this just fine.

MOLLY BLOOM: Scientists are also working hard right now on new medicines and vaccines that will fight this virus.

GUS: We have an episode all about that coming soon.

MOLLY BLOOM: But if you're still feeling overwhelmed by all this, that's OK, you are not alone.

GUS: Yeah, one thing we like to do when we feel overwhelmed is to meditate.

MOLLY BLOOM: We talked with author Mallika Chopra about this. She wrote a book called Just Breathe, which is a meditation guide for kids.

GUS: Here's one meditation she shared with us that you can try right now.

MALLIKA CHOPRA: So when we are anxious or stressed or nervous about something, we often feel it in our stomachs, like butterflies in our stomach. So a meditation that I recommend is something called blow those butterflies away. This meditation is super simple. You take a deep breath in, and you feel the air coming in your stomach.

You envision all of that nervous energy as colorful, patterned butterflies, and then you blow out forcefully from your nose. And as you blow out, you just envision the butterflies flying away. And so this is a good way to just use your breath to let that nervous energy out.

[RELAXING MUSIC]

[INHALES, EXHALES DEEPLY]

MOLLY BLOOM: To hear more meditations and learn more about where nervousness comes from or about other emotions--

GUS: Like anger, sadness, and joy--

MOLLY BLOOM: --check out our four-part series on emotions.

GUS: Just head to brainson.org and search "feelings."

MOLLY BLOOM: Before we go, we want to give a big old thanks to all of the scientists, doctors, nurses, and emergency responders for working so hard and tirelessly during this coronavirus outbreak.

GUS: Yeah, and to everybody else who is doing their part, too, teachers, grocery store workers and you. Let's give everybody a hand.

GUS'S HAND 1: Sure thing, Gus.

GUS'S HAND 2: Yeah, here we go.

MOLLY BLOOM: Gus, you're talking with your hands now, too.

GUS: What can I say? They're good company.

[THEME MUSIC]

MOLLY BLOOM: Scientists think the coronavirus started in bats, but eventually mutated to infect humans.

GUS: And people around the world are social distancing by keeping six feet apart and staying home to help stop it from spreading.

MOLLY BLOOM: The goal is to make it so fewer people get sick at the same time. It's called flattening the curve.

GUS: And if you're feeling overwhelmed, try meditating by taking deep, slow breaths. It really helps.

MOLLY BLOOM: That's it for this episode of Brains On.

GUS: Brains On is produced by Marc Sanchez, Menaka Wilhelm, Molly Bloom, and Sanden Totten.

MOLLY BLOOM: We had engineering help from the great Andrew Walsh and production help from Cristina Lopez, Rosie DuPont and Ruby Guthrie. Many thanks to Katie Horneffer, Eric Ringham, John Miller, Anna Weggel, Tracy Mumford, and Phyllis Fletcher.

GUS: And now, before we go, it's time for the Moment of Um--

JESS: Our question is--

ANSHI: Why does our tongue stick to ice?

ALEXIS NOEL: Well, your tongue is a fascinating muscle. My name is Dr. Alexis Noel. I am a mechanical engineer. And for my job, I study animals and nature to learn how we can make better robots for our future. On the outside of your tongue, if you zoom in real close, your tongue actually looks like a toothbrush. Your tongue is covered in tiny little hairs called papillae.

These hairs hold on to your saliva, much like a kitchen sponge does. On the inside of your tongue, your body pumps blood into the muscle to keep it warm. On a cold day, if you stick your tongue out into the air, your body pumps blood into the tongue to keep the saliva warm and not to give you a tongue popsicle.

So what happens when you touch your tongue to a very cold surface like ice? Well, the ice is so cold that it sucks up the heat from your tongue very quickly. Tongue can't supply warmth fast enough so the ice instantly freezes your saliva. And since your toothbrush tongue is coated in saliva, it sticks to the tongue as well.

Eventually, your tongue will win the heat battle. The ice cube won't be able to keep up with your tongue heat, and that frozen saliva will quickly defrost. If you want to speed up the process, pour some warm water on the ice cube. It will quickly unstick.

MOLLY BLOOM: Here's the latest list of cool customers. This is the Brains Honor Roll. These are the amazing listeners who sent us questions, ideas, mystery sounds, drawings, and high fives.

[LISTING HONOR ROLL]

[THEME MUSIC]

We'll be back soon with more answers to your questions.

GUS: Thanks for listening.