D4K Top 10 Questions 2006-2007

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Weather (May 2007)

Thanks to Scott Dorval and Robyn Heffernan, meteorologists for their answers

* Can animals predict the weather?  Show answer

I'm not sure they predict the weather, but they can certainly sense it. There's sometimes a feeling in the air when the pressure changes that animals can sense. We can sense that too, but maybe we're not as attuned as animals might be. I have heard many reports that before tornadoes hit; it gets very, very still. Birds stop chirping and the animals disappear. They know something is happening. That same eerie calm apparently happens before hurricanes, as well. (From Mr. Brassy's class at White Pine Elementary in Boise)  Hide

* What are dust devils and how much damage can they cause?  Show answer

A dust devil is thin, like a tornado, but it is certainly much, much weaker. It is caused by a very hot surface and low pressure in the center of that. The winds that whirl around that hot center point usually kick up dust around it. Dust devils are weak, but they have been known to cause a little bit of damage. Certainly not even what the lowest scale tornado would do, but a little damage - banging up signs or whatnot. (From Trevor at Maple Grove Elementary in Boise)  Hide

* Has anyone ever survived being hit by a lightening bolt?  Show answer

Actually that happens often. Lightning bolts hit people and some do survive. Unfortunately, many people who are struck by lightning and survive have a lot of medical problems after that. It actually can affect the body's nervous system. It's better not to tempt fate.

We always try to let everybody know that lightning safety is so important. If you are caught in a storm, try to get indoors. That's the safest place. If you are out-of-doors, try to get inside a car and not touch any metal part of the car. If you have no other choice, the best thing to do is to crouch down to the ground like you're in a ball and just have your toes touching the surface. You want to have the least amount of your body touching the ground.

Electricity is likely going to hit something tall, and you don't want that to be you. If it hits a nearby tree, the lightning could travel down the tree and along the ground. That's why you're on your toes, so there is less contact between you and the ground. (From Mitchell in Mrs. Woodall's class)  Hide

* What was the deadliest hurricane?  Show answer

By deadliest, I assume you mean the loss of human life. The deadliest hurricane of that type happened in the early 1900s. It was called the Galveston Island hurricane. Back then, they did not have the protections that we do today against those types of storms. At that time, there were reports of the hurricane from Cuba, but Galveston Island residents ignored those warnings. Galveston Island basically went underwater. Most of the individuals who lived there were killed - somewhere between 8,000 and 12,000 people. That's the deadliest. In terms of property damage, the worst hurricane was Katrina. (From Nadia in Ms. Childer's class at Hayden Meadows Elementary)  Hide

* Can you get snow at the equator?  Show answer

You can get snow anywhere it's cold enough. If a cold system dips that far south you can get snow, but typically, it does not occur because it's very warm there. But parts of Hawaii can get snow. You'll find it on the mountains on the Big Island and maybe other spots. You have to get high enough. People in Hawaii will hike up and ski down and then go surfing. Sounds like fun to me! (From Jessica in Boise)  Hide

* Where is the worst weather in the world?  Show answer

It all depends on what you mean by the worst weather. If you live in South Florida, you might think that temperatures dipping into the 20s are really bad. There are some basic kinds of severe weather: hurricanes, tornadoes, heavy rains and snowstorms, and major cold and heat waves. There are a lot of places that can have very difficult weather more often than other places. Nova Scotia, Canada, can get bad winter storms. There can be major storms in the Gulf of Alaska or in areas northwest of Idaho. And if you live in deserts in the Southwest, you can have temperatures topping 120 degrees. Those kind of conditions can be pretty bad. (From Eliseo in Ms. Lee's class at Gooding Elementary)  Hide

* What should we do if we are in a tornado?  Show answer

Tornado safety is very important. If a tornado is heading in your direction, you want to get in a solid structure - get out of mobile homes. If you live in a mobile home, talk to your parents tonight and ask where you would go. There's usually a solid structure nearby to evacuate to. Inside, you want to go to the lowest floor in an interior room and stay away from windows. Don't open the windows! The instruction to open windows is an old myth. (From Taylor in Ms. Lee's class at Gooding Elementary)  Hide

* Could two tornadoes happen at once?  Show answer

Absolutely. I saw a picture of a line of six tornadoes at one time. Sometimes when you have a thunderstorm swirling, it can produce multiple tornadoes. They are spinning and they are actually rotating around a center point, so you have individual tornadoes spinning around one central area. That usually means you're having a bad day when you see that. (From Joanne in Middleton)  Hide

* Tell us about tornadoes. Why do tornadoes go through open land? Do they form in Idaho?  Show answer

Tornadoes need wide, open spaces for forces to collide. That's what creates a tornado. Much of the central plains of America's Midwest, sometimes called Tornado Alley, are wide, open fields. It is rare for tornadoes to go over a major city, but when they do, that's when we get the most damage. When you look at a scale of zero to 5, the strongest tornadoes (level 5) only make up one or two percent of all tornadoes. We seem to get more tornadoes in eastern Idaho than in the rest of our state. Certainly we don't get the numbers they see on in the Midwest, but we get our fair share. Tornadoes in Idaho are typically rather weak, but in 2006 we had one of the strongest tornadoes I have ever seen right on the Oregon-Idaho border. We had winds of at least 150 miles an hour in that storm, and it ripped out all the trees in the town. It can happen. It's just a little rare. (From Alexis in Meridian; Thomas in Mrs. Hunt's class in Boise; and Mary in Mrs. Peterson's class in Meridian)  Hide

* How do weather forecasters know how to predict the weather?  Show answer

We need to gather lots of information. We have satellites to bring us information on clouds. We have weather stations that give us current weather data from around the globe at one particular point in time, and we have computer forecast models. We can look and see how weather patterns will change over time. Meteorologists also study lots of weather maps. Computer models help us with short-range forecasting - what the weather will be tomorrow - and we have extended-range forecasting to help us figure out the weather for next month and the following season. (From Lindsey in Mrs. McCamish-Cameron's class at Cynthia Mann Elementary in Boise)  Hide

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Wolves (Apr 2007)

* How much does a grown wolf weigh? How long do they live and are they nocturnal?  Show answer

The average weight for a wolf in Idaho is somewhere in the 70 to 80-something-pound range. As the wolf gets older, the alpha animals, the leaders of the pack, can get up to 110 to 120 pounds, but that's a pretty big wolf. Most are probably in the 70 to 80-pound range.

Some wolves, if they're lucky will live upwards of 12 to 13 years. Actually, we just recently got the body back of one of the original re-introduced wolves to Idaho. It was the first batch of wolves brought into the state. We estimate he was close to 14 years old. That's kind of at the high end of the range. Generally, they might live to 8 or 9 on average.

Wolves are primarily active at dawn and dusk, more at night than during the day, but they can be active at anytime of the day. (From Curly in Boise, Paige in Mrs. Woodall's class at Hayden Meadows Elementary in Hayden, and Justin from Mrs. Hunt's class at Cynthia Mann Elementary in Boise)  Hide

* Can wolves really survive 40-below temperatures?  Show answer

Winter is actually kind of the gravy time for wolves. A lot of people think wild animals have it better off in the summer, and that's true for deer and elk. But when all that snow gets on the ground, a lot of elk and deer have a hard time getting through it and have a hard time finding something to eat. In winter, when the wolves don't have pups and are chasing the deer and elk around, it's a lot easier for them to catch their dinner. They also have heavy fur coats and special paws to help them survive the cold. (Maykayla from Nancy Amos' class at Potlatch Elementary)  Hide

* Do wolves hunt people?  Show answer

It's a very rare thing for wolves to attack humans. There was one case up in Canada a couple years ago where it looks like wolves probably killed a person. It was a case where wolves were eating human garbage, and the wolf lost its fear of people. That's something we work hard to avoid in Idaho. There are about 16 or 18 cases in North America where wolves in the last 30 or 40 years have actually bitten people. It's a pretty rare thing. For the most part, wolves attacking people isn't something we're very concerned about in Idaho. We haven't had anybody bit in Idaho or attacked. (From Aaron and Justin in Mrs. Bowe's class at McDonald Elementary in Moscow)  Hide

* Is it true that wolves howl for their mates?  Show answer

Actually that's one of the primary ways wolves communicate. Wolves break off from their pack. They'll run off in twos and threes and go and hunt and look for food. When they get split up and want to find each other, they'll howl. They can hear each other from a long ways away. Also sometimes they just like to howl in a pack. They call it a chorus howl. The pack gets together and they all kind of wag their tails and howl and just seem to really enjoy howling. (From Matthew in Mrs. Schweitzer's class at Riverside Elementary in Boise)  Hide

* Are the wolves really hurting the elk and deer population?  Show answer

It's a very complicated question. Overall, the answer is no. They're not hurting the deer and elk populations. Based on hunter success and our big game surveys, it seems that elk populations are doing very well. That said, in some places, elk seem to be hurting. There are a few places in the state where elk populations are declining, and any time you have predation, that certainly impacts the prey when they're in a downward spiral. That's not to say that the wolves are the primary cause of the decline, but they're certainly not helping the situation. So I'd say, overall, they haven't had a significant impact, but there are certain instances they can have impacts. (From Lakota in Mrs. Nordby's class at Summerwind Elementary in Boise)  Hide

* Why do wolves hunt in packs?  Show answer

Wolves hunt in packs because it's a little easier for two or three wolves to bring down an elk than for just one wolf to take down a big animal. (From Justin at McDonald Elementary in Moscow)  Hide

* Why did they want to reintroduce wolves in Idaho and where do they live?  Show answer

Idaho was a great place to reintroduce wolves because it has such a vast, rugged wilderness area in the middle of the state. That's one of the reasons Idaho and Montana and Wyoming were chosen as one of the wolf recovery areas. Most of the wolves we have in Idaho are in the central Idaho wilderness areas. That's really where your core population is. The Frank Church Wilderness and the Selway Wilderness are some of the best wolf habitat we've got in the state. (From Benjamin in Middleton and Jay from Mrs. Whitesell's class in Gooding)  Hide

* How many different kinds of wolves are there?  Show answer

There are three recognized species in the world. The most common species is the gray wolf, which is found throughout North America, Europe and Asia. That's the wolf that's found here in Idaho. Another species of the wolf is the red wolf that is found in the southeastern United States. Another kind of wolf is the Ethiopian wolf found in Ethiopia. A lot of people get confused and refer to wolves as the gray wolf and then also what's called the timber wolf, and actually those two are the same species. The timber wolf is the gray wolf. It's just considered a sub-species. Another good point is a lot of people think there's a difference between the wolves re-introduced to Idaho and the wolves that were here before. The wolves are basically the same animal as was here originally. (From Michaela at Gooding Elementary)  Hide

* How long have wolves been on the endangered species list?  Show answer

Wolves were pretty much eliminated from the lower 48 states in the 1930s and 1940s. There were a few wolves that hung on in some of the more remote locations of the mountainous states like Colorado. But basically, wolves were eliminated because of conflicts with humans. People perceived them as a threat to their way of life when people made their living raising livestock and such. So basically, people felt that the wolf needed to go. The last wolf in the lower 48 states was noted back in the 1930s and 1940s. Then, in the mid-1980s, people started talking about trying to re-establish wolf populations here in the lower 48. Congress decided to re-establish the wolf population and so, starting in 1995, wildlife experts brought wolves into Idaho and Yellowstone National Park. (Mark from White Pine Elementary in Boise)  Hide

* How many wolves are in a pack?  Show answer

On average here in Idaho, a typical pack is anywhere from 8 to 10 wolves, but that can range quite a bit. I think the highest documented pack size was 18. At that point, some wolves go off and start a new pack. Typically, with what's called a breeding pair, you're just going to have the two wolves, and then they'll have pups and initiate that pack. (Kathy from McDonald Elementary in Moscow)  Hide

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Hearing (Feb 2007)

* Bonus! Can earwigs get into your ears and bore into your brain?  Show answer

No. Earwax has an agent in it that is toxic to most bugs. Besides, earwax is sticky, so if any bugs do get into your ear, they would get stuck in the outer one-third and wouldn't cause any problems. ()  Hide

* Why do we get dizzy?  Show answer

There are three parts of our body that help us to know where we are in the world in terms of our balance. One is called our tactile sensation of where we are in the world. Another is vision, where we can see. The third is our inner ear. If we turn our head one direction, the fluid in our inner ear goes the opposite direction. We turn the other way; the fluid turns in the other direction. It lets us know where we are in the world in terms of the horizon. So if there's a problem with that inner ear system, then you'll have dizziness. If you spin around on a Tilt-a-whirl, it can cause residual dizziness. (From Mikayla)  Hide

* If you were born without the outer part of your ear, would you still be able to hear?  Show answer

You can. The outer part of the ear helps funnel sound to make it more easily heard. If the canal, however, is pinched off or if there's bone and no opening to the ear canal, you'll have a greater degree of hearing loss because the sound needs to be loud enough to get through the bone or through the tissue to get to the cochlea. (From Dallas at Gooding Elementary)  Hide

* How do you get an ear infection?  Show answer

When you have fluid in the middle ear space. It should be an air-filled area — if you get fluid in it, because you have a cold and blew your nose and blew stuff up there, it can cause an ear infection because it's a breeding ground for bacteria. Babies seem to get more ear infections because their eustachian tube is almost a straight shot from the back of the throat up, so it's easy for bacteria to be lodged there. (From Reed in Caldwell)  Hide

* Can you actually break your eardrum?  Show answer

Yes, like you can tear your skin, you can break your eardrum. Q-tips can break the eardrum. A blow to the head can cause an eardrum to break. The most common are Q-tips. The old saying is true. Never put anything in your ear except your elbow. (From Conner)  Hide

* How do hearing aids help deaf people?  Show answer

People with hearing loss hear by amplifying the sounds around them. They amplify them differently depending upon whether it's a soft, medium or loud sound or whether it's speech or noise.

There are as many different kinds of hearing aids as there are people. It's important to make sure it's most appropriate for that person's hearing needs. Some hearing aids go behind the ear. Some hearing aids go in the ear. Others have a cochlear implant. A cochlear implant bypasses the outer ear and middle ear altogether.

The success of a hearing aid is dependent upon the individual getting a good test with the hearing aid to decide what's best and also how it should be set. (From Bridger at Pine School)  Hide

* Does the eardrum repair itself after getting hurt?  Show answer

The eardrum is skin. Just like when you have a cut on your hand and your skin will heal, the eardrum also will heal if left alone and left dry. It is able to reknit itself. (From Jacob)  Hide

* Why do ears pop?  Show answer

Ears pop to equalize the pressure. We have air pressure inside our eardrum and atmospheric pressure outside, which is zero. We like those to be equal. If there's a difference we will yawn or open our ears, and that will pop the ears and make the pressure behind the eardrum equal to the pressure outside. (From Summer in Nampa)  Hide

* Why are your ears sensitive? How come it hurts with a loud noise?  Show answer

It's the brain's way of protecting us, like if you stick your finger in your eye and you see sparkly lights. It's your brain's reaction. It's the brain's way of saying, "Let's not go there again." It is like your quick reaction when you touch a hot stove. (From Katie and Tristan in Gooding)  Hide

* How loud can you play your headphones and not risk your hearing?  Show answer

Probably the easiest way to know is — if somebody standing next to you can hear the music, it's too loud. Another way to know is — if you have to raise your voice to be heard from about three feet, then it's too loud and you should turn down the volume. (From Harrison in Mrs. Reeve's 5th grade class at Adams Elementary in Boise)  Hide

* What are the most common causes of deafness?  Show answer

The most common cause is genetics and hereditary. The second is noise-induced hearing loss, noise exposure, like if you have an iPOD and you're listening with headphones too loud, or if you're around machinery like lawn mowers and snow blowers. If you have ringing in your ears, it indicates that you may have some damage. (From Hunter in Mrs. Cameron's 4th grade class at Cynthia Mann Elementary in Boise)  Hide

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Nutrition (Jan 2007)

Thanks to Colleen Fillmore and Rhonda O'Brien for their answers

* Why do people get addicted to candy and sugar?  Show answer

I think part of what happens is that people skip meals and then they get very hungry and they need some quick energy and eat candy. Candy does give you a little energy boost. But then, because it's simply sugar, your energy drops and it leaves you feeling tired and hungry. So then you need more sugar and you can get stuck in a cycle. I think that's part of it.

Also, it does taste good. Our taste buds do like sugar and sweet tastes. Some sugary foods make a substance in our brain called serotonin. As the levels of serotonin go up in our brain, we can become more relaxed and happy. Dark chocolate especially has some other health benefits. We know it has antioxidants that are healthy. So if you are hungry, eat something healthy. Don't skip meals, and eat candy, soda pop and sugary foods in moderation. (Lisa from Mr. Monger's class at Rocky Mountain Elementary in Idaho Falls)  Hide

* How much water should you drink each day?  Show answer

Water consumption is extremely important for you. You should drink around eight cups a day. One of the most recent research studies shows that now we should drink when we are thirsty. They used to say drink before you get thirsty. We do know that if you are out snow skiing or something like that, you're going to want to increase your water consumption. You will need more water if you are doing any kind of exercise. Just listen to your body and when you get thirsty, drink. And remember to count all your liquids in those eight cups. A product, like say a tomato, has a very high percentage of water in it. There are all sorts of food products that have water in them. Be sure to count juices too. (Nathan from Mr. Monger's class at Rocky Mountain Elementary in Idaho Falls)  Hide

* Why do humans overeat?  Show answer

For many centuries we didn't have a lot of food. Now we have abundance here in the United States and we do overeat. I think the answer to your question could be multifaceted. We have access to a lot of high calorie, low nutrient food. We do not get all the physical activity we need, maybe sitting at a computer, watching TV, things like that. Another thing is sometimes people eat when they get emotional, either happy or sad. If someone feels they are struggling with that, they might want to journal and write down what they're eating. That might help them see what they're consuming for the day. (Einar from Mrs. Woodell's class at Hayden Meadows Elementary in Hayden)  Hide

* How can you tell which food is best for you?  Show answer

Good question. The Food Pyramid is a great way to look at which foods are healthy and how much of each type of food to eat. All of your basic food groups, the meat and protein group, the grain, fruits, vegetables, milk and dairy, those are all good for you. We do need a balance of all of them. So it's a variety.

You can also learn more about your food by reading the labels on the products. You can even find food labels in the produce section. So, learning how to read the food label really tells you if you're getting a healthier food item or not. (Alicia from Mr. Haroldson's class at Terreton Elementary in Terreton)  Hide

* What would happen to your body if you went without nutrients for a week?  Show answer

One thing that would happen, your body would start taking from reserves that you already have in your body. And so you would actually start losing weight. You would lose some fat and you would lose muscle mass. You would become more dehydrated if you are not taking in water and you would lose energy. It would just not be healthy for you. (Talisha from Mrs. Woodall's class at Hayden Meadows Elementary)  Hide

* If you eat bad foods, will you still live a long life?  Show answer

It might not shorten your life if you eat in an unhealthy manner, but you will not have the energy, you will not feel as good day in, day out. You want to eat a good balanced diet. (Lindsey from Mrs. McCamish Cameron's class at Cynthia Mann Elementary in Boise)  Hide

* Which is better for you, chips or candy?  Show answer

Good question. Chips better than candy? Probably both of those things are products that you would want to keep to a minimum in your diet. It would probably depend upon the candy bar too. If you have one with nuts, you'd be getting some protein. But I'm not really sure that I can say one is really healthier than the other. If you look at the Food Pyramid, you would see this kind of a food product is one you would want to eat in very small quantities. So it's not really a matter of which food is better than the other, they're both kind of the same. Just eat a small amount of either. (Cody from Mrs. Lane's 3rd grade class )  Hide

* Which fruit has the most fiber?  Show answer

I'm not sure which one has the most fiber. Raspberries and berries in general are right up there. But all fruits are a great source of fiber. Whole fruit instead of fruit juice is going to be your best way to get fiber. Fruits also have something called antioxidants, which are very, very important for disease prevention and keeping us healthy. So the best bet on fruits is to eat a wide variety. (Tad from Mrs. Srholec's 2nd grade class at Pioneer School in Weiser)  Hide

* What fruit juice has the most nutrients?  Show answer

All fruit juices are good. One of the most popular juices on the market is orange juice. It has to do with probably the high amount of vitamin C. Remember, fruit juices don't have a lot of fiber. So we really recommend when you consume fruit, eat the whole fresh fruit. (Haley from Mr. Spencer's class at Lincoln Elementary in St. Anthony)  Hide

* Is pizza bad for you?  Show answer

We like to think no food is bad food. It is the amount of the portions that we eat that is the problem. But pizza itself is not bad. Actually, pizza is considered a combination type of food. It has the bread or the pasta and we're seeing lots of pizzas that now have whole-wheat grain. It will have the tomato sauce, the cheese, and different proteins. So, no, we consider pizza good. (From Jamie in Mrs. Hunt's 4th grade class at Cynthia Mann Elementary school in Boise)  Hide

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Viruses (Nov 2006)

Thanks to Dr. Christine Hahn and Dr. Joseph Hornby for their answers

* Why are scientists not sure whether or not a virus is a living thing?  Show answer

That's a very good question. It really boils down to the question, "What is life? What does it mean to be alive?" That's not really a purely scientific question. That's also a philosophical question. People have different opinions about what exactly is life. I think viruses don't meet what many scientists feel are the necessary minimum criteria for life. But there are other scientists that would say that because viruses can make copies of themselves, that means they are alive. That is one thing that's fun and exciting about science — it's not all cut and dried. There's room for argument. (From Rachel in Caldwell)  Hide

* What do viruses feed on?  Show answer

The major goal of a virus is to survive and to make copies of itself. Viruses really don't eat anything. They infect or enter into a cell called the host cell and then they basically use proteins and various parts of that host cell to make copies of themselves. Then they will leave that cell and go find more cells to invade and infect. So, they really don't eat anything. (From Ristan from Potlatch)  Hide

* How do you get rid of a virus?  Show answer

Often times your own immune system does the trick. Your own body will get rid of a virus that is trying to infect you. Some viruses can take a strong hold and you will need some medication for treatment. In some cases, we haven't found a way to get rid of certain viruses, so they may stay with you for the rest of your life, things like cold sores or canker sores. We have been able to eradicate one virus, smallpox. Compared to other viruses, smallpox was a little easier to get rid of. There's a vaccine that's very effective. Young kids probably never got this shot, but if they look at their parents' arms they can see a scar. It's a vaccine which causes a big scar. But a good vaccine was key to eradicating smallpox. Secondly, smallpox doesn't live outside a human so you don't have an animal host or place to get rid of too. Other viruses, like West Nile virus, one where birds can get it and mosquitoes can carry it, will be a bigger challenge to eradicate. (From Aubrey in Hailey)  Hide

* What's the difference between a virus and bacteria?  Show answer

Both viruses and bacteria are germs, of course, and they can both make you sick. Viruses though are much smaller and much simpler than bacteria. Bacteria are pretty complex little cells. They have a lot of intricate structures. Viruses are a very super simple little outfit, usually a shell with some genetic information inside. (From Mallory in Mrs. Wells' fourth grade class)  Hide

* How did we find the first vaccine for viruses?  Show answer

That one is a really interesting story. It was a very brave experiment on the part of a small boy. There is a similar disease to smallpox called cowpox. Cows carried this virus and it was noticed that milk maids, the young ladies who worked around cows a lot, didn't tend to get small pox as often as others. You always heard that term, "pretty as milk maid"? That phrase came into use because milk maids seemingly weren't scarred from small pox. So based on that theory, scientists took a little boy and purposely gave him cowpox and then, once he had recovered, exposed him to small pox. I can't imagine what mother agreed to that, but the little boy survived and did just fine. So, that was a huge step forward in proving that if you got exposed to one virus or something close to that virus, your body could build up an immunity and then you wouldn't get sick. The first actual use of what we call vaccinations, or vaccine was 60 or 70 years before that. In the early 1700s, there was a woman, Mary Montague, who was a writer from England and whose husband was an ambassador to what is now Turkey. She actually had small pox and was terribly scarred from it. She saw that the local women were doing something called engrafting, where they would take fluids from a person who had a certain type of small pox, one that isn't as deadly or damaging, and infected other individuals. She did that to her own son to protect him from what she had. (From Becky in Jerome)  Hide

* What is the most dangerous virus?  Show answer

Most likely, [something] like the Ebola virus, which tends to be very difficult to control once it infects an individual. It also has a fairly high mortality rate and can lead to quite a few deaths. I'm going to throw in what I think is a virus that's closer to home for most of us, in Idaho. The rabies virus, which exists in Idaho and is mostly in bats in Idaho, is very dangerous. It is a good reason to avoid bats and not touch them because if you're infected with that virus and you remain untreated, it almost always lead to death. Fortunately if you get bitten, you can get shots and prevent [yourself from] getting sick. But once people get sick with this virus, it's a really nasty one. (From Drew in Mrs. Kerr's class in Boise)  Hide

* Why isn't there a cure for the common cold?  Show answer

One of the major reasons why there isn't a real cure for the cold is that there are a large number of different types of viruses that actually cause what we call the common cold. The most common one goes by the name of rhinovirus, but there are many other types of viruses that do cause a cold. When rhinoviruses infect a cell, they cause errors when they copy themselves; and when they leave the cell they actually leave a little bit different than when they entered. That means your body has a difficult time remembering or recognizing that virus or the different virus. Viruses are constantly changing, so our body's immune system doesn't have a very good memory for each version of the rhinovirus. These viruses don't really cause an incredibly substantial infection, so we don't have a tendency to remember those as well so we can get sick all over again. (From Corey)  Hide

* How were viruses discovered?  Show answer

People knew of diseases that were caused by viruses for many hundreds of years, all the way back to when small pox was identified as a disease. Viruses were first identified in the late 1800s. Two people were looking at a virus that was infecting a tobacco plant. They found that if you tried to filter a solution that came from that plant, you could still infect another plant and cause it to get the same disease. We are able to show that, first of all, bacteria can be filtered and eliminated, but that viruses can actually get through that filter. That simple experiment allowed us to first know that there was something now called a virus, known as the tobacco mosaic virus, that infects a plant. The word "virus" is a Latin word for poison. (From Miranda in Pullman)  Hide

* How does a virus make you sick?  Show answer

Some viruses will actually cause damage to your own cells, which leads to illnesses like influenza, the flu virus. Other reasons why you end up feeling sick when you have a viral infection are because your body is trying to defend itself against the invading virus with symptoms like a fever, a runny nose, a cough and such. Those symptoms are actually a good thing because it's your body's way of trying to get rid of that virus and make you healthy again. (From Savannah and Brandon in Mrs. Hager's third grade class in Grangeville)  Hide

* How does a virus get into your body?  Show answer

They can come in through the nose or mouth, or sometimes through breaks in the skin, such as a mosquito bite. For most of us, it's through the mouth or even through rubbing your eyes. Also, viruses can get inside you when you breathe them in or by ingesting them when you eat food that's been improperly handled. Viruses like those soft surfaces and they can burrow in that way. (From Colton, Hugo, and Joe in Cathy Rankin's class)  Hide

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Bird Migration (Oct 2006)

* Bats fly too; do they migrate?  Show answer

Yes, they do. Bats are mostly insectivorous. There aren't many insects around in the wintertime. So they have to migrate to continue eating. (From Dylan in Mrs. Lane's class in Grangeville)  Hide

* How did the first bird get the bird flu?  Show answer

Probably just the same way the first human got human flu. Some flu viruses occur naturally in birds, just like some viruses in humans. At some point in the past, those viruses changed in some way, mutated, and birds started getting sick. Some die. The virus continued to spread from bird to bird. So far, it is difficult for a human to catch bird flu. (From Skylar in St. Anthony)  Hide

* What can you do to help the birds that do decide to stay here?  Show answer

We recommend putting out bird seed that comes from a good source, like one of the bird stores in town, where they know what species are here during the winter and which kinds of seeds those species will need. Typically, most of the birds that we'll have in our backyards during the winter are small songbirds that are seedeaters and that's the main food we need for them. And don't forget that birds need water-especially in the winter, when it's freezing and natural water supplies may freeze up. ()  Hide

* Why are wildlife refuges important to bird migration?  Show answer

The term "refuge" means an area that we have protected. We have put areas aside and are trying to conserve the habitat there, because habitats are really important for the birds that migrate through that area. They land at those kinds of places during their migration to eat and refuel, gain energy, and gain strength to help them on their way to wherever they're going. (From Miss Whitman's class in Idaho Falls)  Hide

* How do birds know where to come back to?  Show answer

I don't think we really know all the answers. Birds use a combination of methods to migrate and to know they're going in the right direction. There's actually a small element in their brain that, basically, allows them to use the magnetic earth and to navigate-almost like a compass in their head. They use the stars. They use landmarks. They use familiar mountains and rivers and drainages, but birds' navigational ability is still a mystery in many ways. ()  Hide

* Do birds migrate back to the same place where they were hatched as babies?  Show answer

Certainly many do. In fact, some birds will leave from somewhere here in Idaho, where they might nest in a tree, and fly into Central and Southern South America for the winter. Then they'll come all the way back the following Spring and go straight back to that same tree in Idaho. So, many times they come back to the nest or at least the area in which they were born. Others come back to the general area, but not necessarily to exactly where they were born-although a lot of birds will return to exactly the place where they were born. (From Mrs. Fryer's class, Clearwater Valley Elementary)  Hide

* What is the bird with the longest migration route?  Show answer

The bird that we're aware of that has the longest migration route is the arctic tern. That's a species that literally flies from the North Pole to the South Pole, and then back again later in the year. It's about a 22,000- to 24,000-kilometer journey-one that almost literally goes around the whole world. (From Wade, in Mrs. McCoy's class in Donnelly)  Hide

* How do birds know the right way to go?  Show answer

They just seem to know. Birds that are born in a particular spring don't migrate with their parents, the adults. They just know how to go. By the way, they don't all make it. We notice that the young often end up along coastlines and other barriers to bird migration. They actually get blown off course and have to find their way. (From Haley and Sara)  Hide

* How do birds know when to migrate?  Show answer

The most obvious sign is that winter is on its way and therefore food becomes scarce. So the birds need to migrate to be able to keep eating through the winter. But we also think that when the length of day shortens, that triggers the birds' brains and tells them that they need to migrate. Often, birds start migrating while there's still plenty of food available. So we think it's the length of the day-when the day's length shortens-that lets them know it's time to migrate. (From Tristan in Hailey)  Hide

* Do all birds migrate?  Show answer

No, absolutely not. Not all birds migrate. Many species of birds are not migratory. They're resident birds that don't migrate. (From Sonny at Cynthia Mann Elementary in Boise)  Hide

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Astronomy (Sep 2006)

* What are planets made out of?  Show answer

We normally split the planets into a couple of different groups. The inner four — Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars — are rocky planets. What they're mostly made of is rock and metal. The next four out — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune — are gas giants. So they're made mostly of lighter elements of gasses and liquids. Uranus and Neptune probably actually have liquid surfaces. Then when you get farther out, you get to the Kuiper Belt, which contains Pluto and similar objects that are made of mostly ice. (From Andrew in Boise)  Hide

* Is it true that if the earth was one inch closer to the sun or one inch farther away, it would burn up or freeze?  Show answer

It would take quite a bit more than an inch, I think. If the earth were a lot closer to the sun, like Venus, it could make a really big difference. The planet Mars is about twice as far from the sun as we are, and very roughly speaking, it has a very cold surface. So if the earth were as far out as Mars is, it would be a lot colder. But an inch probably wouldn't make much of a difference. (From Ester in Boise)  Hide

* What are stars made of?  Show answer

Most normal stars, like our sun, are made mostly of two kinds of the lightest elements: hydrogen gasses and helium gasses. They're about 75% hydrogen, and the rest is helium. Almost all normal stars are made mainly of those two types of elements. (From Marissa in Mrs. Kerr's class in Boise)  Hide

* What different kinds of galaxies are there?  Show answer

A galaxy is a loose collection of stars. Our galaxy is called the Milky Way. It is a spiral galaxy. It has a center mass of stars and then arms wrap around the center. There are different kinds of spiral galaxies where the arms are wrapped tighter or more loosely. Sometimes they are like a bar of stars in the middle, around the center, which is called the nucleus of the galaxy. And some galaxies are just elliptical or irregular, so they're sort of oval blobs or even irregular blobs of stars. (From Mrs. Chettergreen's class)  Hide

* How does the sun go up and down each day?  Show answer

That's an important question. We call it the rising and setting of the sun, but the way we talk about it is a little misleading, because the sun isn't really moving much. It is the earth that is spinning around in the sun. If you just looked at something in your classroom, looked straight at it, and then you started to turn your body, it would appear that the object was moving when actually it's you that's moving. That is why it only appears the sun is moving, the sun is fixed and the earth moves around it. (From Daniel in Idaho Falls)  Hide

* How are black holes created?  Show answer

Black holes are some of the most interesting objects in the sky. It takes a very special kind of environment to create a black hole. The basic idea of a black hole is that if you can put enough matter in a small enough space, then gravity becomes by far the strongest force that exists there. Normally, gravity is a pretty weak force, even though it's the most important force of astronomy. But if you can put together enough mass, gravity becomes dominant. That's why light won't escape from the black hole. (From Nicole in Mrs. Hunt's class in Boise)  Hide

* What is a supernova and what makes them?  Show answer

Stars are converting hydrogen and helium to heavier elements in their cores, and that's what makes them shine. It's what makes them burn and produces the light and heat we get from the sun. Eventually a star will run out of hydrogen and helium and the other elements in its core. At that point, the star will collapse. If the star is massive enough, the collapse will compress it until it rebounds in this big explosion, which is what we call a supernova. What's left at the core of that can be called a neutron star or even a black hole. (From Justin in Mrs. Hunt's class in Boise)  Hide

* Are there any other dwarf planets?  Show answer

There's one other dwarf planet, and it was just named Eris. (From Sam in Mrs. Kerr's class in Boise)  Hide

* Does Pluto have a moon?  Show answer

Pluto is known to have three moons right now. It has one large one that's called Charon. And they just recently discovered two smaller moons, so it's possible there are more. (From Becky at Cynthia Mann Elementary in Boise)  Hide

* Why was Pluto made a dwarf planet?  Show answer

Pluto is a lot different from the major planets, the first eight planets that we have always known about in our solar system. Pluto is much smaller and a sort of icier place. Over time it became known that Pluto had a lot more in common with other small, rocky, icy objects far out in our solar system. People started to think that Pluto was more like these things.

When scientists found some of these objects that were actually bigger than Pluto, they started to think, "Well, if Pluto is a planet, why shouldn't these larger ones be planets, too?" And so that's why the whole question of whether Pluto was a planet or not came to the forefront and they decided Pluto had more in common with these other objects than with normal planets. So they voted to reclassify Pluto as a dwarf planet. (From Emily in Idaho Falls)  Hide