The Mysteries About True Histories podcast is back for season two.
If you're a kid who would love to travel through time to solve cool mysteries, perplexing puzzles, and tricky riddles, then this podcast is the perfect audio treat for you.
Every week, join me, Molly, and my best friend Max as we take our problem-solving skills to amazing places like ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, or the Galapagos Islands in 1875 to help out the one and only Charles Darwin.
We never know where we're going to wind up or what we're going to find, which is all part of the fun.
So put on your time traveling shoes and listen as a family.
You can listen to Mysteries About True Histories on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Hello, Who Smarted Plus subscriber. I'm super excited to bring you another bonus episode of SmartyQs, where Who Smarted answers questions directly from you, the smarty pants.
Let's get right to it. The first question comes from super smarty fan and star Smarty Q asker, Charlie from Brisbane, Australia.
Charlie asks, how do glow sticks work? Oh, I love glow sticks.
I used to go roller skating and they'd turn out the lights and we'd all hold up green glow sticks.
So cool. But how do they work? The answer has to do with the emission of light, or using energy to excite atoms into releasing photons or light particles.
So how do glow sticks excite the atoms they contain?
It's through a chemical reaction known as chemiluminescence.
Glow sticks generally contain solutions of hydrogen peroxide, phenyl oxalate ester, and a fluorescent dye.
That cracking sound when you bend or activate a glow stick is a vial of hydrogen peroxide solution breaking.
The solution mixes with and oxidizes the phenyl oxalate ester, causing a chemical reaction that ends in the decomposition to carbon dioxide.
This decomposition excites atoms in the fluorescent dye and causes them to release photons or light.
Who knew glow sticks were like chemistry experiments happening right in the palm of your hand while roller skating?
Okay, our next Smarty Q is from an anonymous Smarty Pants listener who asks, how do dissolvable stitches dissolve?
The answer lies in another question. What are dissolvable stitches made of?
Dissolvable stitches, also known as absorbable stitches, are made of various sterile ingredients that your body can break down.
Natural materials like collagen, cat gut, and cow and sheep intestines. as well as some synthetic materials.
Your body views the stitches as foreign substances, and since your body is programmed to attack and destroy foreign substances, that's exactly what your body does.
The stitches then dissolve according to their decomposition rate, which is determined by how long the wound takes to heal.
Our next and last question comes from another mystery smarty who asked us, why does rain smell so good or bad?
Furthermore, why does rain smell at all?
Rain smells come from three general sources, ozone, petrichor, and geosmin.
The atmospheric gas ozone is the sweet, pungent odor you may smell before rain comes.
Lightning at very high altitude splits atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen, resulting in a chemical reaction that produces ozone. downdrafts from a storm then carry the ozone from higher altitudes to your nose level.
Petrichor is the odor you smell during a rainstorm.
Falling water disturbs plant oils accumulated on the ground, resulting in a fresh, musky scent.
However, rain does not only churn up plant oils, it releases various unpleasant odorants that have settled in concrete, asphalt, or nature, which is where a bad rain smell can come from.
Finally, there's geosmin, the earthy scent of wetness you smell after a storm.
Geosmin is a chemical in a spore produced by bacteria that live in soil.
When rain falls, it sends the geosmin-containing spores into the air we breathe, and then you smell it.
Okay, now that you know, happy rain-smelling, Smarties!
Thanks so much for listening. And if you want to have your questions answered by me, the trusty narrator, please have your adult help you email them to whosmarted at whosmarted.com.
Be sure to include your question or questions, your first name, and where you're from.
Thanks so much for smarting with us, smarty pants.
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SmartyParents, Trusty here, and I have to tell you about IXL because our whole team is absolutely obsessed with it.
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Hello, Who Smarted Plus subscriber. Thanks for your continued support of Who Smarted.
Please enjoy this bonus episode just for you of SmartyQs.
Questions asked by smarty pants like you and answered by trusty narrators like me.
Our first question is from smarty friend Dustin, who asks, why does toothpaste taste minty?
Well, Dustin, toothpaste tastes minty because of menthol, the substance in the mint oil that flavors toothpaste and gives it its trademark cooling minty fresh taste.
Menthol stimulates sensors in your mouth that react to cold temperatures.
This tricks your brain into thinking you've taken a gulp of cold water or have ice in your mouth, mimicking a refreshing, clean sensation.
The connection between mint and the feeling of a clean mouth go back a long time.
Physicians in the early 17th century recommended rinsing your mouth with mint boiled in white wine and vinegar and rubbing your gums with dry mint powder.
Thanks for the recommendation, 17th century physicians.
But I think I'll stick with today's toothpaste.
Our next question was submitted anonymously by a smarty pants who asks, how does cold water affect your body?
The simple answer is cold water cools your body down fast.
Body heat can be lost four times faster in cold water than in cold air.
That's why if you've ever taken a cold shower, you might find yourself gasping for breath.
The intense heat loss initiates cold shock, rapid changes in your breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.
Your body stimulates blood flow to aid circulation and increase warmth.
In a safe environment like a cold shower, this stimulation can be good for your health.
In a freezing cold lake or ocean, it's critical to your survival.
It's unclear if submersing extremities like hands and feet in cold water achieves the same health benefits.
But studies have shown that exposing hands or feet to cold water can help cool down the body on hot days or after exercise.
Our final question comes from Charlie in Brisbane, Australia, who asks, why do chapped lips become more chapped when you lick them?
Well, let's start with another question.
Why are your lips prone to chapping in the first place?
Chapped lips occur when the skin on your lips becomes dry or cracked, usually due to cold or dry weather or sun exposure.
This happens to your lips more easily than the rest of your skin because the skin on your lips doesn't have oil glands, making it thinner, more sensitive, and more prone to dehydration.
But if all chapped lips need is a little hydration, why does licking them make them drier?
The answer lies in your saliva's enzymes.
These enzymes are designed to help digest food and and actually strip your lips of moisture.
So if you're hoping to heal chapped lips, make sure to drink lots of water to stay hydrated and use a lip balm that doesn't contain food-digesting enzymes.
If you would like to have your Smart EQ answered by me on the show, please email your question or questions to whosmarted at whosmarted.com.
As always, thanks for smarting with Whosmarted.
Who Smarted?
