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How to conquer Garbage Mountain

After getting a firsthand look at the history of trash, we’re having visions from garbage’s present and future this week. Producer Kunsang Dorjee visits a landfill to see what happens to our trash after we throw it away, and producer Ruby Guthrie shows us how we can make less trash and dispose the trash we do make in ways that are better for the planet. Plus: we hear from a kid who helped her class produce almost no waste during the school year. And our Moment of Um answers the question: if ants like sweet things, why don’t they attack beehives?


The invention of trash

A pair of ghost shoes visit Molly with a message: it's time to think about garbage. They predict that Molly will be visited by three visions of garbage, one from the past, one from the present and one from the future.


A pair of ghost shoes visit Molly with a message: it's time to think about garbage. They predict that Molly will be visited by three visions of garbage, one from the past, one from the present and one from the future.

Today, Producer Sanden Totten takes us on a time traveling journey to see how we started making all this trash in the first place. Plus: the Moment of Um answers the question: Are yawns contagious to animals?

Next week, we'll be back with a look at the present and future of garbage.

Take a deep breath: How does breathing work?

Breathing is a really cool thing. We breathe automatically without thinking about it, but we can also control our breath and play with it. We'll learn how our lungs work and why our bodies need this air in the first place. We'll also hear from a singer and a free diver about how they've trained their breath to do remarkable things -- and how you can too! And we'll talk to a doctor about how deep breathing can help you feel less stressed and she'll teach us an exercise you can do whenever anxiety starts to creep up. Plus: Our Moment of Um answers the question: what is the smallest unit of measurement?

Brains On Podcast

Smash Boom Best is a debate show for kids and families from the makers of the award-winning podcast, Brains On! Every episode takes two cool things, smashes them together and lets you decide which is best.


Smash Boom Best

Julie and her daughter, children’s author and educator Emma Walton Hamilton, invite you into their library to read their favorite children's books. Every story comes to life with sound, music and activities. Authors, kids and other special guests chime in, too! 


Julie's Library

A history show for the whole family! Every episode explores the origin of just one thing — like sandwiches, video games, clocks and more — while teaching listeners to think critically about history.


Forever Ago

Other APM Podcasts

Molly, Marc, and Sanden present a humorous, fact-and fun-filled look at life on Earth — from deep-sea creatures and carnivorous plants to the human body and stinky bacteria. Get your own copy to explore!


Get the Brains On Book Today!

Listen to all the episodes in our series on the coronavirus, get resources and more.


Coronavirus Episodes and Resources

Want to learn Spanish or build up your bilingual brainpower? This is a great place to start! Puedes escuchar al podcast aquí.


Brains On en español

Brains On teamed up with the Science Museum of Minnesota, with funding from the National Science Foundation, to launch a groundbreaking study looking at how families use podcasts.


NSF Research Summary

PHASE 1: Analysis of Secondary Data (Click Here)

PHASE 2: Listener Survey (Click Here)

Brains On! Exploratory Research: Impacts of Listening to a Children's Science Podcast

Brains On Research!

Fart Smarts: Understanding the gas we pass

Fire vs. Lasers!

Cats: Glowing eyes, puffy tails and secret purrs (Encore)

Books: How they're made and how your brain reads them

Mystery sound extravaganza!

Got curiosity? You've found the right place. Brains On is a science podcast that answers questions from kid listeners around the world. Find a few of our personal favorites to get you started here.


Is farting good for us? Where do farts come from? Why do only some make sounds? And what’s up with the smell? We tackle your questions about the gas we all pass in this episode.

Time for our next debate: fire vs lasers! Listeners sent us over 100 topics to choose from, they voted and this was the winning showdown. Fire and lasers are both cool -- but which is COOLER? Producer Marc Sanchez has tricks up his sleeve for team fire and Sanden Totten gives his all for team laser. Plus: Two mystery sounds that play a pivotal role in the debate.

Why do cat eyes look the way they do? Can cats really see in the dark? And what are they trying to tell us with that purr (you know the one)? We've got the answers -- cat behavior expert Mikel Delgado help us decode cat quirks and producer Sanden Totten teaches us what's behind cats' glowing eyes. Plus: We learn about other cool powers that animal eyes have, that ours don't.

There is so much happening in your brain when you read. From recognizing shapes as letters to discovering empathy, our brains really get a workout when we read books.

In this episode, Ben Bergen from the Language and Cognition Lab at UC San Diego drops by to shed some light on how our brains process the meaning of words. We also learn how printing books has evolved and how the invention of the printing press brought worldwide change. And recent Newberry Award-winning author Kelly Barnhill shares a little of what’s going on in HER brain as she’s writing a story.

Regular listeners of Brains On know all about our mystery sounds. Every episode we test your ears with some puzzling noise and give you a chance to guess what it is. There are so many great mystery sounds in the world -- and many, many of them have been sent to us by our listeners. So many, in fact, that we decided to devote an entire episode to these magical, magnificent, mellifluous mystery sounds.

There are a whopping 10 sounds for you to guess in this episode. Are your ears up to the challenge?

If you're the kind of person that likes a little friendly competition, make a score sheet with your answers. We'd love to see which ones you got and, better yet, what you guessed for the ones you got wrong. Upload pics of your scoresheet with #BrainsOn. Happy guessing!

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