Hey there, Smarty Pants.
It's time once again for Smarty Q, the show where I, the trusty narrator, answer questions from you, the Smarty Pants.
Today, we've got some super fun questions about cats, candy, shark teeth, crying, and the speedy blue video game legend, Sonic the Hedgehog.
I can't wait to get smarted.
Here we go.
Our first question comes from Smarty Fan Mia in Minneapolis Minnesota, who asks why do cats have whiskers?
Great question, Mia.
Those whiskers on a cat's face aren't just fancy decorations.
They're actually super important tools that help them.
You see, a cat's whiskers are actually very sensitive hairs connected to special nerve endings under the skin.
This means a cat's whiskers can detect tiny changes in the air around them.
For example, when a kitty walks towards a narrow space, its whiskers can brush against the sides and tell it whether it can fit through the opening or not.
In fact, a cat's whiskers are usually about as wide as its body.
Whiskers also help cats hunt.
They can sense small movements in the air caused by nearby animals, which helps the cat locate prey even in the dark.
So, while they may look cute and twitchy, whiskers are actually one of a cat's most powerful sensory tools.
Okay, our next question comes from a Smarty Pants who was inspired by some Sour Patch Kids candy she got on Halloween.
My smarty friend Arlie asks, can something be so sour that it can hurt you?
Another excellent question.
Sour foods taste sour because they contain acids.
For example, lemons contain citric acid and many sour candies contain special food-safe acids that give them their super sour punch.
Normally these acids are mild and perfectly safe to eat in small amounts.
But if something is extremely sour or if you eat a lot of it very quickly, the acids can irritate your mouth.
That's why sour candy can sometimes make your tongue feel tingly, sensitive or even a little sore afterward.
It's because the acids are temporarily irritating the surface of your tongue.
Very strong acids like the kinds used in cleaning products or laboratories could definitely hurt you, but those are never meant to be eaten.
So the next time your face scrunches up from something sour, just know that's your taste buds reacting to the acids.
All right.
Our third question comes from Henry and his dad Kevin, who wants to know how big is a shark's tooth?
The answer...
Depends on the kind of shark.
Some small sharks have teeth that are only about the size of a grain of rice.
For example, sharks like the spiny dogfish or the smooth dogfish have very small teeth because they mostly eat smaller fish and crustaceans.
Other sharks have much bigger teeth, designed for cutting and tearing.
For example, tiger sharks have wide serrated teeth that are usually about one to two inches long.
These teeth are great for slicing through tough prey like sea turtles.
Bull sharks have thick triangular teeth that are usually about an inch long, perfect for gripping and tearing fish and other animals.
Hammerhead sharks have slightly curved teeth that are around one to one and a half inches long, helping them grab slippery prey like stingrays.
And then there's the famous fearsome predator, the great white shark, which has rows of teeth that grow about two to three inches long.
But the biggest shark teeth ever discovered come from an ancient shark called the megalodon.
This massive predator lived millions of years ago and was one of the largest sharks ever to swim in the oceans.
Megalodon teeth could grow to over seven inches long, about the size of an adult human hand.
Scientists believe the megalodon itself may have measured up to around 50 to 60 feet, or 15 to 18 meters long.
Okay, three questions down, three questions to go.
Coming up, the story of how Sonic the Hedgehog was created.
But first, a quick break for some ads from our sponsors.
And now back to Smarty Q.
Our next question comes from Maya and Brandon, who ask why are pounds labeled LBS and not PDS?
What a fantastic observation.
The reason pounds are written as elbs actually goes all the way back to ancient Rome.
The Romans used a unit of weight called the libra.
A libra was a measurement used to weigh things like food, metals, and coins.
Over time the word libra was shortened when people wrote it down and the abbreviation LB stuck around.
So even though we say pounds today, the abbreviation comes from that much older Roman word.
Fun fact, the zodiac sign Libra also gets its name from the same Latin word, which means scales or balance.
Our next question comes from super smarty fan Elsie, who asks why and how does being sad or angry make you cry?
Aw, crying is actually something your body does for several different reasons.
Sometimes tears help keep your eyes healthy by cleaning out dust and keeping the surface of your eyes moist.
But emotional crying is different.
When you feel very strong emotions like sadness anger, frustration or even extreme happiness, your brain sends signals to the tear glands near your eyes.
These glands release tears as part of your body's emotional response.
Scientists think emotional crying might help your body calm down after intense feelings.
It can also signal to other people that you need comfort or support.
So crying isn't a weakness at all.
It's actually one of the ways your brain and body deals with big emotions.
All right, Smarty Pants, we've reached our final question.
And if you're a video game fan, you're definitely going to want to hear this one.
We'll find out when where, why and how Sonic the Hedgehog was created.
Right after this quick break and some ads from our sponsors.
And now we're back with our final Smarty Q.
My smarty friend Christopher wants to know when where, why and how was Sonic the Hedgehog made, and who made it?
Well, Sonic the Hedgehog was created in the early 1990s by a Japanese video game company called Sega.
At the time, Sega wanted a brand new character who could compete with another very famous video game character, Mario from Nintendo.
A team of game designers at Sega worked together to invent a character who was fast, cool and exciting to play.
One of the key creators was a designer named Naota Oshima, and the game itself was programmed by a team led by Yuji Naka.
They decided Sonic would be a bright blue hedgehog who could run incredibly fast.
The speed of the character helped show off what Sega's game system could do better than many others at the time.
The first Sonic the Hedgehog game was released in 1991, and it quickly became a huge hit.
Players loved racing through colorful levels, collecting golden rings and battling the villain Dr Robotnik.
Since then, Sonic has appeared in dozens of video games, TV shows, movies and comics, becoming one of the most famous video game characters in the world.
And that brings us to the end of another episode of Smarty Q.
If you're a smarty pants and you've got a question for me, the trusty narrator, just have a grown-up.
Help you.
Email me at whosmarted, at whosmartedcom, and I'll happily add it to my list of smarty cues.
Until next time, keep the questions and the smarting coming, smarty pants.
Who's smarter?
