You know, when I was a kid, the times I learned the most weren't in school.
They were when I was building or making something new.
I still remember the joy of creating something with my own two hands.
That's exactly what KiwiCo brings to kids today.
With KiwiCo, every crate is a chance for your child to tinker, create, and innovate.
They'll learn the fundamentals of science technology engineering, art and math, while actually having fun.
I love that these projects build skills over time.
One month it's learning to design a working bow and arrow, and the next it's building a robot.
And what makes KiwiCo special is that these aren't one and done projects.
They're built to last so kids can play, experiment, and keep discovering long after the box is open.
KiwiCo makes it easy to give your child the gift of curiosity and confidence, delivered right to your door.
Tinker, create, innovate.
Get up to 50% off your first crate at KiwiCo.com with promo code SMARTED.
That's K-I-W-I-C-O.com, promo code SMARTED.
Hey there, Smarty Pants.
Welcome to a special, super-sized edition of Smarty Q where I, your trusty narrator, answer questions from you, our brilliant Smarty Pants listeners.
For this episode, we've got six fantastic questions that I'm sure you'll love learning the answers to.
Is everyone ready?
Great.
Let's jump right in.
Our first question comes from super smarty fan Owen in Los Gatos California, who's been waiting a long time to know what are Band-Aids made of and when were they invented?
Outstanding question, Owen.
Here's the answer.
Band-Aids are made up of a few parts.
A plastic, fabric, or flexible strip that sticks to your skin.
A small absorbent pad in the middle that covers your cut or scrape, and a thin layer of adhesive, also known as sticky stuff, to hold it all in place.
Some Band-Aids even have antibiotic ointment built in to help wounds heal faster.
As for when they were invented, Band-Aids were created in 1920 by a man named Earl Dixon who worked for Johnson & Johnson.
He wanted to help his wife, who often cut herself while cooking, to cover her wounds.
He called his invention sticking plaster.
Soon after, the first Band-Aid brand adhesive bandages were introduced by the company he worked for, Johnson & Johnson, in 1921.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Okay, I'm very excited for question number two because this is something many smarty pants have asked many times for many, many months.
Who invented Beyblades?
Great question, because Beyblades are super popular.
Beyblades were first created in Japan in 1999 by the toy company Takara Tomy.
They were designed by Takaru Kusakawa and Osamu Mashimo, and they were inspired by traditional Japanese spinning tops called Begoma.
The game got even bigger when Hasbro started selling Beyblades outside of Japan in 2002 and when the Beyblade anime TV series launched worldwide.
So the next time you're battling with your Beyblade, you can thank those Japanese inventors for giving us such a fun game.
Question three.
My smarty friend Jacob wants to know, why were army tanks made?
Great question, buddy.
Tanks were invented during World War I in the early 1900s.
The war had reached a stalemate because soldiers were stuck in trenches, protected by barbed wire and machine guns.
Armies needed something powerful that could cross rough ground, break through obstacles and protect soldiers while moving forward.
The British built the first real tank in 1916, calling it Little Willie.
It had thick armor weapons and tracks instead of wheels, so it could roll right over mud and trenches.
Tanks were game changers in modern warfare, and they've continued to evolve ever since.
Okay, those have been some great questions so far.
But guess what?
We've got more coming your way right after this quick break and a word from our sponsors.
Who Smarted is brought to you by Squarespace.
Now, you know I'm good about creating new adventures and episodes of Who Smarted, but you don't know that I procrastinate on other stuff, like a website for one of our new projects.
Oops.
When the website builder Squarespace reached out about sponsoring Whosmarted, I decided to test it out.
And now I feel silly for putting off building that website.
Squarespace's Blueprint AI thing literally built me a custom website in minutes.
I just told it a few details about the project and boom, it generated everything.
And everything you need is right there.
I can schedule guest interviews, send email campaigns, even sell merch all from one dashboard.
Now it's your turn to stop procrastinating and start building.
You can use Squarespace to launch that business site or any site that you've been dreaming about but putting off.
Today there's no excuse anymore, especially since you can head to squarespacecom smarted for a free trial and when you're ready to launch, you can use code smarted to save 10 on your first purchase of a website or domain.
That's squarespacecom smarted, code smarted.
Okay, now back to smarty cues.
Question four.
Longtime Who Smarted listener Emmy in Armenia asks, why does catnip make cats cuckoo?
Oh, I love this one. plant in the mint family.
It contains a chemical called nepitalictone.
When cats smell it, that chemical binds to special receptors in their noses, which then trigger the neurons in their brain that affect mood and behavior.
The result?
Many cats get playful, roll around, zoom through the house, or act extra silly.
It's kind of like a natural happy switch.
Not all cats respond, though.
About 30% of cats don't react to catnip at all because sensitivity is genetic.
Our next question is a fascinating one that was submitted anonymously.
Why do some people refer to elements as earth fire, water and air instead of the chemical elements on the periodic table?
Long before modern science, ancient cultures tried to explain the world using the tools they had.
The ancient Greeks believed everything was made of four classical elements—earth fire, water and air.
These weren't real chemical elements, but more like symbolic categories.
It wasn't until the 1600s and 1700s, with scientists like Robert Boyle and later Dmitri Mendeleev who created the periodic table, that people began to understand matter in terms of atoms and real chemical elements like hydrogen, oxygen and carbon.
So today, we use the periodic table for science.
But earth, fire, water, and air still live on in mythology, literature, and philosophy.
And even and fun stuff like Avatar, The Last Airbender.
And to learn more, check out our Who Smarted episode on the creation of the periodic table and learn how and why the elements are organized the way they are.
Okay for our last question.
Super smarty fan Michael and his mom Jamie, from Michigan want to know is the Whitney Mansion in Detroit Michigan, really haunted?
Ooh, that's a nice spooky one for October.
The Whitney Mansion is a giant historic home in Detroit built in the 1890s by lumber baron David Whitney Jr.
Today it's a restaurant and also one of the city's most famous quote-unquote haunted houses.
Visitors and staff have reported flickering lights footsteps, cold spots and even ghostly sightings of David Whitney himself.
Some even say the elevator moves on its own.
But is it really haunted?
Well, there's no scientific proof of ghosts, but the stories and legends make it a popular spot for ghost tours and Halloween fun.
Whether you believe in ghosts or not, the Whitney Mansion definitely has a spooky reputation.
And there you have it, a supersized edition of Smarty Qs, where I provide the A's to your Qs.
And if you have a question you'd like answered, just have an adult.
Help you, email me at whosmarted, at whosmartedcom.
Until next time, keep on smarting, smarty pants.
Who Smarted?
