Curious Minds

Why do we say 'Okay'?

Can people really colonise Mars?

People are closer than ever to the first human footsteps on Mars.

The deepest parts of the ocean are trenches – long, narrow depressions, like a trench in the ground, but much bigger. Known as the Challenger Deep, it is 35,768 to 36,037 feet deep – almost 7 miles (11 kilometres).

Curious Minds

What was the first computer?

What was the first computer and how did it work? Professor Doug Jacobson of Iowa State University takes us through the first modern electronic computer which was built by physics Professor John Vincent Atanasoff in 1942.

Curious Minds

How do my eyes adjust to the dark and how long does it take?

Human eyes have two main features that help us see better in low light: the pupil’s ability to change size, and the eye’s two types of light-sensing cells.

Curious Minds

LISTEN: Why do we need food?

Why do we have to eat vegetables and fruits? How come we can’t just have ice-cream and lollies for every meal? Every time we eat, our food goes on an amazing journey through our body

Curious Minds

Why do old people hate new music?

Evidence shows that the brain’s ability to make subtle distinctions between different chords, rhythms and melodies gets worse with age. So to older people, newer, less familiar songs might all "sound the same."

Curious Minds

How big is the International Space Station?

It’s so big you can see it in the night sky without a telescope or binoculars. It’s 109 metres long and 75 metres wide – about the same size as a soccer field. It weighs 420 tonnes, about the same as 280 cars.

Curious Minds

LISTEN: How does our heart beat?

We all have a heart beating in our chest. Sometimes our hearts beat fast, and sometimes they beat slow, but how do they work?

Curious Minds

Why do burps make noise?

The next time someone says you’re burping too loudly, just reassure them that it was a perfectly normal mouth fart.

Curious Minds

LISTEN: What are spiderwebs made from?

"Did you know that spiders have a secret superpower? They can spin their own homes in the form of strong and sticky spider webs. But how do they do it? "

Curious Minds

LISTEN: Do animals sleep like people?

If you sleep in a cozy bed, with a soft blanket and your favourite toy, how do you think other animals sleep? Do they have beds like us?

Curious Minds

When fish get thirsty do they drink sea water?

The short answer is yes, some fish do drink seawater – but not all of them. Fish are amazing animals, and have some very cool solutions to living in water.

Curious Minds

Why don’t people fall out of bed when they are sleeping?

Even when we are asleep, we can still feel if we are comfortable and our ‘sixth sense’ is working to let us know where we are in our beds.

Curious Minds

What is the smallest animal ever?

Everything in the world has different sizes some things are small and some are bigger than others. But have you ever wondered what the smallest animal ever is?

Curious Minds

Why do I sometimes forget what I was just going to say?

Forgetting to do or to say things happens to all of us sometimes. Have you ever walked into a room and realised you can’t remember what you were looking for?

Curious Minds

Listen: Where do dreams come from?

Scientists have a few ideas about where dreams come from – but nobody knows for sure.

Curious Minds

Why are the bubbles in fizzy drinks so small? The ones I blow are much bigger

First of all, we have to know where the bubbles in the fizzy drink come from.

Curious Minds

Why is urine yellow?

If you have been drinking more water than your body needs, the body tells the kidney filters to get rid of the spare water. That’s when your urine will look paler.