Totally Slothsome: All about sloths

06/01/21 • 32 min

4 Listeners

There’s more to sloths than slowness. They’re great at saving energy, hanging upside down, and swimming! In this episode, Sloth Appreciation Society founder Lucy Cooke stops by to tell us all about these amazing animals. We also get into a sloth mystery: The Case of the Perilous Poop Journey. Luckily, there’s a sloth sleuth on the case. And sloths aren’t the only animals who aren’t in a hurry — a few others show off their slowest skills.

There’s also a Mystery Sound for you to guess, and a Moment of Um: Why do ostriches stick their heads in the ground?

This episode was sponsored by:

Mathnasium (mathnasium.com)

KiwiCo (kiwico.com Promo code: BRAINSON)

There’s also a Mystery Sound for you to guess, and a Moment of Um: Why do ostriches stick their heads in the ground?

This episode was sponsored by:

Mathnasium (mathnasium.com)

KiwiCo (kiwico.com Promo code: BRAINSON)

Previous Episode

How do computers store so much info in such a tiny space?

If you translate “Hello! How are you?” to binary code, it looks like this: 01001000 01100101 01101100 01101100 01101111 00100001 00100000 01001000 01101111 01110111 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00111111

This episode takes a look at how computers can do so much with such tiny parts. But computers weren't always small -- so we take a look at where computers came from. We visit Ada Lovelace, whose love of math and weaving paved the way for modern-day computers. And we hear about the material that let computers shrink from the size of a room to something that fits in our pockets. There’s also a visit from a yak and a ram, but you’re just going to have to listen to find out why.

All that plus a new Mystery Sound and Moment of Um that answers the question: what is the flavor of root beer?

This episode is sponsored by

Mathnasium (Mathnasium.com) and Sun Basket (sunbasket.com promo code: brains on)

Next Episode

How far can a cloud travel?

We’ve all played the “what does that cloud look like” game. Maybe you saw a bunny... or an airplane... or a unicorn. What if that same cloud could also be seen by someone in a far off continent? That’s what a listener in Minnesota wondered. He wanted to know if the same cloud he saw in a park near his house could also be seen in Africa.

We talk to Deanna Hence, one of our favorite weather experts, and she tells us about how clouds travel. We also dust off the Zoom Ray to learn about what is inside of a cloud. And have you ever noticed the similarities between cloud types, like cumulonimbus, and magic spells from Harry Potter? Well, we have, and we made a game out of it!

We also have a brand new Mystery Sound for your guessing pleasure and a Moment of Um that answers the question: Why do pugs have such scrunchy faces?

This episode was sponsored by:

Indeed.com (indeed.com/brainson)