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Hello, Who Smarted Plus subscribers. Welcome to the latest edition of Smarty Q's.
We begin with a question from Smarty fan, London.
California, who asks, what is air made of?
And secondly, what creates wind? Those are great questions, London.
The answers, you might say, are blowing in the wind.
But seriously, air is made up of molecules. by volume around 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, between 1% to 4% water vapor, and certain trace elements.
These molecules are constantly zooming around, bumping into themselves and other objects, like us.
The more concentrated the molecules become, the more air pressure they create.
This pressure is governed by the pressure gradient force, which causes air in a high-pressure area where molecules collide more rapidly to rush back to low-pressure areas where there is more room to breeze.
Get it? Air rushing from high to low pressure is what causes wind.
Our next question is from Adrian in Livonia, Michigan, who asks, why are lemons so sour?
Lemons belong to the citrus family of fruits, which includes limes, oranges, and grapefruits, and are particularly sour because of their high concentration of citric acid.
When you eat a lemon, the citric acid alerts taste buds on your tongue that tell your brain something is sour.
But why do lemons have so much citric acid?
The answer is super proton pumps. Fruits and veggies have pumps that move protons through small sacs inside cells called vacuoles.
The more efficient the pumps, the more protons inside the vacuoles, the more acidic the fruit or vegetable.
Researchers recently found that lemons have proton pumps that are four times more efficient than other classes of pumps, a major contributor to their sour flavor.
As they say, when life gives you lemons, make protonade.
Lastly, we have a question from Smarty Fan Olivia, who asks, how do oysters make pearls?
The answer has to do with an oyster's mantle, a membrane inside its shell responsible for the shell's growth and the oyster's protection.
An oyster shell has three layers, the outer, proteinaceous perosteum, the middle prismatic layer, and the inner nacre, known as the mother of pearl.
When a foreign substance slips between the mantle and the shell, the mantle covers the intruder with layers of nacre to protect the oyster.
Over time, these layers build up and make a pearl at a rate of around one millimeter every five months.
Contrary to common belief, the intruders in an oyster shell are not grains of sand.
They're parasites, like drillworms, that drill into an oyster shell and and activate the mantle's defenses.
Well, that's another episode of SmartyQs.
Remember, to ask a SmartyQ that I answer on the show, simply email your question to whosmarted at whosmarted.com.
Thanks for smarting with me and all your friends at Who Smarted?
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Hey there, Smarty Pants. It's time for another edition of Smarty Q's, a bonus segment just for our Who Smarted Plus subscribers.
I, the trusty narrator, answer questions submitted by you, the smarty pants listeners.
The first question is from Adrian in Livonia, Michigan, who asks, how do plants make oxygen?
The short answer is photosynthesis. Plants take in water from the soil, carbon dioxide from the air, and light from the sun.
With the help of light energy, a chemical reaction occurs.
The water is oxidized or loses electrons, and carbon dioxide is reduced or gains electrons.
At the end of the chemical reaction, the plant is left with glucose, a sugar, which it can store or use for energy.
And ta-da! Oxygen, which it releases into the air.
Stop and smell the photosynthesis. Next, we have a question from Ali.
Ali asks, how do optical illusions trick your brain?
Well, Ali, optical illusions are images or phenomena that deceive your mind by appearing to be something they're not.
They're as tricky for you as they are for scientists who aren't entirely sure why human brains are deceived so easily.
What they do know is that neurons in your brain are responsible for interpreting details of the retinal images that your eye transmits.
When you view an optical illusion, these neurons compete with each other to see light and dark spots.
The winning neurons influence how your brain receives the transmissions, and therefore, your perception.
One theory proposes that optical illusions fool you by taking advantage of your brain's desire to predict.
These predictions help you compensate for the short lag between when an event occurs and when you perceive it.
Another theory is that rapid eye movements, normally smoothed out by your brain, may cause you to perceive motion in optical illusions where there is none.
And yet another theory claims certain optical illusions send so much information to your retina that they confuse your visual cortex.
In conclusion, solutions about optical illusions continue to elude us all.
Finally, we have a question that has come up a few times from various smarty pants who want to know, why do we say that cats have nine lives?
Well, the exact origin of the idea that cats have nine lives is unknown, although some researchers suggest it may have clawed its way out of ancient Egypt.
It was believed the Egyptian sun god Atumrah, who gave birth to eight other gods, transformed into a cat before visiting the underworld.
Atum Ra plus eight other gods equals nine, hence the nine lives of a cat.
Some version of this idea clearly survived, since it appears in an old English proverb.
A cat has nine lives. For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three—
He stays. But not everyone agrees on the number of lives.
In Arab countries, cats are said to have...
Six lives. In Spain and Italy, cats have seven lives.
However, everyone agrees cats have multiple lives.
This idea is likely influenced by cats' natural agility showcased in their riding reflex, which allows them to land on their feet when falling And they're flexible bones and ligaments that absorb the impact of those falls.
But that doesn't mean the falls don't hurt.
Why do you think cats always say, meow? Meow!
And that concludes another episode of Smarty Q's.
Remember to ask a Smarty Q that I answer for you. simply email your question to whosmarted at whosmarted.com.
It's a special service only available to our Whosmarted Plus subscribers.
Thanks for smarting with me and your friends at Who's Smarting.
Who's smarter?
