Do you have a song stuck in your head?
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You know that feeling where you get a snippet of a song stuck in your head and it loops over and over? Those hard to shake songs are also known as earworms, and in this episode Molly has a particularly sticky one in her brain.
We'll find out why some songs are catchier than others and, most importantly, scientifically-proven ways to get rid of them.
Plus, we'll hear a mystery sound and a Moment of Um that answers the question: "Do spiders have bones?"
Audio Transcript
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SOPHIA: You are listening to "Brains On!", where we're serious about being curious. "Brains On!" is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
MOLLY BLOOM: Come on, Sophia. Let's see what the crew is up to before our taping.
SOPHIA: Sure!
MOLLY BLOOM: Elevator, seventh floor, please.
ELEVATOR: Seventh floor coming up. Please enjoy this elevator music.
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]
SOPHIA: That's catchy.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, yeah. I've actually had that melody stuck in my head for days.
[BELL DINGS]
[ELEVATOR DOOR OPENS]
ELEVATOR: Here you go, seventh floor.
[HUMMING]
SOPHIA: Hey, Marc, Sanden, and Menaka. What are you guys doing?
MARC SANCHEZ: Oh, hey, Sophia and Molly. We're finally entering the annual butter sculpture contest. We've been talking about it for ages.
MENAKA WILHELM: You butter believe it. I mean, if all four of us enter, one of us is bound to win grand prize, "Best in Butter."
SANDEN TOTTEN: Yeah, this way we'll have a margarine-ly good chance of winning. Ha, ha. Anyone? Do you know what you're going to make?
MENAKA WILHELM: Oh, of course I do, Sanden. I'm going to sculpt a pair of hands, and I'm calling it "Butterfingers."
SOPHIA: Ooh, that's good, Menaka.
MENAKA WILHELM: Thanks, Sophia. What about you, Marc?
MOLLY BLOOM: [HUMMING]
MARC SANCHEZ: Maybe I'll make a set of mugs. I'll call them "Butter cups."
MENAKA WILHELM: Oo, and then fill them with popcorn? Perfect for movie night.
MOLLY BLOOM: [HUMMING]
MARC SANCHEZ: I was planning on making a cow. Buttermilk, anyone?
MENAKA WILHELM: Whoa, that's a winner for sure.
MARC SANCHEZ: Menaka, are you buttering me up?
MOLLY BLOOM: [HUMMING AND VOCALIZING]
ALL: Molly!
MARC SANCHEZ: What's with the humming? You've been at it this entire time.
MOLLY BLOOM: I am so sorry. It's the tune from the elevator. I've had it in my head all week. It's kind of driving me bananas, and I don't know how to make it stop.
MENAKA WILHELM: Molly, there's only one way to solve this.
MARC SANCHEZ: You have to high-five a dog three times.
[DOG BARKS]
SANDEN TOTTEN: No, that's for good luck. You're supposed to sneak up and scare the song out of your head, like this-- boo!
- Ah! Oh. [HUMMING] It's still there.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, right. That's for hiccups. I get those two confused.
MENAKA WILHELM: No dogs and definitely no sneak attacks. The only way to solve this problem is to do an episode about it. Hit it.
[THEME MUSIC]
MOLLY BLOOM: You're listening to "Brains On!" from American Public Media. I'm Molly Bloom, and this week my friend Sophia is joining us from Walnut Creek, California. Welcome, Sophia.
SOPHIA: Hi, Molly.
[HUMMING]
- Molly?
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, I'm so sorry. Sophia I can't shake that song.
SOPHIA: Sounds like you have an earworm.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh! There's a worm in there?
SOPHIA: No, an earworm is just a name for a song that gets stuck in your head. I promise there is no real worms.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, whew. That's a relief. That's an odd name.
SOPHIA: Yeah, right? The word earworm comes from the German word, Ohrwurm, which is an actual type of worm. But in the mid-20th century, Germans started using it to describe a musical itch.
MOLLY BLOOM: That is exactly how it feels. If only I could scratch it. Sophia, have you ever experienced an earworm?
SOPHIA: Yes, I have.
MOLLY BLOOM: What was it?
SOPHIA: It was a song that, when I was in band, we kept practicing it over and over again and I couldn't stop doing it with my fingers.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oof. Did it get annoying? Did it bother you?
SOPHIA: Kind of. Because when I was trying to do my homework, it ended up doing that.
MOLLY BLOOM: It can be very distracting. Were you able to get it out? Is it still in your head today?
SOPHIA: Ah, yeah, it's still in my head today, but it's much less.
MOLLY BLOOM: Well, that's good. Can you sing a little bit of it for us?
SOPHIA: So it goes doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo. And then it goes-- and then there's a flute solo part. And then there is like trumpets and saxophones.
MOLLY BLOOM: So you have, like, a whole orchestra in your head?
[ORCHESTRAL MUSIC SWELLING]
Well, our listeners have experienced getting songs stuck in their head too, so we asked them for help getting this song out of my head. And here are their ideas.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
LISTENER 1: My advice is for you to take a walk so you can get the song out of your head.
LISTENER 2: My advice is like you go, like, a high pitch like-- [SINGING HIGH-PITCHED]. Like, a big, high-pitched voice.
LISTENER 3: I think of a song that I don't like and hum it a little bit, and then I have this song that I don't like stuck in my head.
LISTENER 4: I have an idea to get the song stuck out of your head. Try doing something you really, really like.
LISTENER 5: My idea for getting rid of earworms or songs stuck in your head is to listen to a different song for a while.
LISTENER 6: I think you can get a stuck song out of your head is by thinking about another song constantly and maybe that'll cancel each other out.
MOLLY BLOOM: Thanks to Evelyn, Emily, Ellis, Eleanor, Aiden, and Winnie for your suggestions.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Oh, I never thought about trying any of that.
MOLLY BLOOM: Hey, it's our pal, Ruby Guthrie.
SOPHIA: Welcome.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Hi, Molly. Hi Sophia. Yeah, this happens to me all the time. You're just going about your day, eating your grilled cheese in peace, and then bam-- there's that catchy chorus looping again and again and again. And it sounds something like doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo and it's just stuck in your noggin. It's living in your head, rent-free.
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly. And I think it needs to start paying.
RUBY GUTHRIE: This constant looping, it's called involuntary musical imagery, more commonly known as an earworm. And these earworms are kind of mysterious things, but they intrigue a lot of researchers, like Lauren Stewart.
LAUREN STEWART: Hello, I'm Lauren Stewart. I'm a professor in psychology at Goldsmiths University of London.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Lauren researches how music interacts with our brains, including earworms.
LAUREN STEWART: Yeah, so an earworm is a snippet of music that comes unbidden into the mind and repeats at least once without you having any conscious control of that experience. So a tune just pops into your head, and then typically, it stays with you for a while. And normally, it's a particular section of a tune. It can be pop music. It can be classical music. There might be lyrics, there might not be.
RUBY GUTHRIE: And earworms are really common. Nearly 90% of people experience them every week. For some, it's even more often. Despite this, researchers still don't really know why these songs randomly pop into our heads. But Lauren does have one theory. It's because we're just surrounded by so much music.
LAUREN STEWART: There's a thought that actually earworms are just a byproduct of the fact that our brains have a repertoire of literally hundreds of thousands of tunes that we've been exposed to over our lifetime. So it might be a kind of a spillover from the fact that we have all of these tunes in our head.
LAUREN STEWART: Think about it. When you're not jamming out to your latest dance mix on your phone--
[MUSIC PLAYING]
--you're listening to the radio in the car--
[MUSIC PLAYING]
--or hearing a jingle on the TV.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Music has never been more accessible to us. So earworms could simply be our brains reacting to all these constant tunes. That's one theory, at least. And we do know there's a lot going on in our brains when we listen to music.
LAUREN STEWART: We know that music is the product of a symphony of brain activity, really. There isn't a single brain area that does music. It's really a concerted effort of a number of different brain areas working together.
RUBY GUTHRIE: First, a part of your brain called the auditory cortex is activated. That's in your temporal lobe, just behind your ears. That's where your brain processes audio.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MARC SANCHEZ (AS BRAIN): Oo, what a sweet tune. This auditory cortex approves.
- Your frontal lobes are also activated. Those are located just behind your forehead. And those lobes are involved with memory and language.
MARC SANCHEZ (AS BRAIN): Yo, frontal lobes, you hearing this? It's supes catchy, am I right?
MARC SANCHEZ (AS FRONTAL LOBES): Totally. I'm going to memorize these lyrics by heart.
RUBY GUTHRIE: And what's most interesting is even though we're not actually listening to music when we experience an earworm, our brains activate the same areas and react as if we were listening to a song.
SOPHIA: Whoa, brain power.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Pretty cool, right? And although these earworms are random, Lauren says there are certain things that can trigger earworms, like listening to something on repeat or hearing just a snippet of a song or sometimes, even a memory can start up an earworm.
MOLLY BLOOM: So a lot of different things can set off an earworm. But is there any kind of music that's more likely to be an earworm?
RUBY GUTHRIE: That's a great question, and something Lauren studied too. Lauren and her team gathered a big list of songs that people would often get stuck in their head. Songs like "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga--
[LADY GAGA, "BAD ROMANCE"]
LADY GAGA: (SINGING) Oh, oh, oh, oh, caught in a bad romance.
RUBY GUTHRIE: "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple.
[DEEP PURPLE, "SMOKE ON THE WATER"]
And "My Sharona" by The Knack.
[THE KNACK, "MY SHARONA"]
- (SINGING) Whoa! My--my-- my Sharona.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Then they analyzed all these songs and looked for any similarities in the way the songs were composed. It turns out earworms usually have a familiar pattern but with a slight twist.
LAUREN STEWART: It's a combination of something that's highly familiar to the brain and therefore, very predictable and comfortable, but with just enough interest to be memorable and for the brain to kind of notice that there's something a bit unique.
RUBY GUTHRIE: OK, so what she means is that most songs have a certain structure to them. And the chords, the notes in the song, follow a certain progression. According to Lauren's study, these earworm songs often followed a typical pattern but would add a slight twist to make it unique. Let's listen to "Bad Romance."
[LADY GAGA, "BAD ROMANCE"]
LADY GAGA: (SINGING) Roma, roma, ma, ma, Ga Ga, oo la la, want your bad romance. Ra, ra, ah, ah, ah.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Catchy, right? At first, this chorus follows a classic chord progression.
LADY GAGA: (SINGING) I want your love and I want your revenge. You and me could write a bad romance.
LAUREN STEWART: And this is exactly what your brain is expecting.
MARC SANCHEZ (AS BRAIN): This is a certified predictable bop. Totes fresh.
RUBY GUTHRIE: But when Gaga repeats the chorus, there's a slight change.
LADY GAGA: (SINGING) Oh, oh, oh, I want your love and all your lover's revenge. You and me could write a bad romance.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Did you hear it? The note went from a G--
[PIANO NOTE]
--to a G sharp--
[PIANO NOTE]
--which sounds a little bit funky, right?
MARC SANCHEZ (AS BRAIN): Whoa. I was not expecting that, a groovy curveball.
RUBY GUTHRIE: It's really subtle.
LADY GAGA: (SINGING) Oh, oh, oh--
[PIANO NOTE]
--I want your love and all your lover's revenge. You and me--
[PIANO NOTE]
--could write a bad romance.
RUBY GUTHRIE: That slight difference can really make a song stick out and then stick to your brain. And that's what we mean by a familiar pattern with a slight twist.
LAUREN STEWART: So it's like a sweet spot-- predictable, but still interesting.
MARC SANCHEZ (AS BRAIN): [HUMMING]
RUBY GUTHRIE: The study also found that songs with an up tempo, or a faster beat, were more likely to be earworms. Additionally, just like when we listen to music, an earworm may reflect the kind of mood you're in.
LAUREN STEWART: If people are in an upbeat state, they will get upbeat earworms and vise versa. And that parallels what we know about how people actually listen to real music.
RUBY GUTHRIE: If you're happy, you're probably listening to something upbeat with major chords like this.
[MUSIC, "MOZART'S NO.16"]
Notice how it sounds bright, almost positive? Then there's the opposite, which is called a minor key.
[SLOW, SAD MUSIC]
You're more likely to listen to this if you're feeling sluggish or maybe sad. But truly, any song can be an earworm, no matter the genre, singer, or style. Earworms know no bounds.
SOPHIA: Earworms for all.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Yes, the most democratic of imaginary worms, earworms are something most everyone has experienced. And soon enough, you'll get through it too, Molly.
MOLLY BLOOM: Thanks for sharing, Ruby.
RUBY GUTHRIE: No problemo. I got to skedaddle, though. Marc saved me a butter cup full of popcorn. Ta-ta.
SOPHIA: See ya.
MARC SANCHEZ: (SINGING) Ah, Brains On! [CLEARS THROAT]
MOLLY BLOOM: Here's something I'll never get sick of hearing. It's time for the--
- Shh.
[OSCILLATING TONES]
Mystery sound.
[OSCILLATING TONES]
MOLLY BLOOM: Here it is.
[CLINK]
It is extremely short, so let's hear it again.
[CLINK]
One more time for good measure.
[CLINK]
All right, Sophia, what is your guess?
SOPHIA: So I think maybe it's like somebody throwing a rock onto, like, a piece of metal?
MOLLY BLOOM: Hmm. That's very specific.
SOPHIA: And for some reason, somebody welding comes to mind. I don't know why.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, interesting. I like that your brain went there. Well, we'll give you another chance to hear it and have another guess a little bit later in the show.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
We are working on an episode all about teeth. And we want to know if you were the tooth fairy, what would you give kids in exchange for their teeth instead of money and why? Sophia, what do you think the tooth fairy should exchange for those mighty molars?
SOPHIA: Maybe, like, candy because if you have too much candy, your teeth won't look good. And if the tooth that the tooth fairy picked up was good, then she could give them candy because it's like a special treat.
MOLLY BLOOM: Hm, so she's like, hey, it looks like you have not been eating too much candy, so here's a little candy as a reward. Is that what you're saying?
SOPHIA: Yeah and then maybe a note to go along with it.
MOLLY BLOOM: A very nice idea. Well, listeners, we want to hear from you too. You can share your answer with us by heading to brainson.org/contact. And while you're there, you can send us your mystery sounds, drawings, and questions.
SOPHIA: Like this one.
OLIVER: This is Oliver from Oakland, California. I have a question. And the question is, do spiders have bones?
MOLLY BLOOM: We'll answer that question during our Moment of Um, and we'll read the latest group of listeners to be added to the Brain's Honor Roll, all at the end of the show.
SOPHIA: So keep listening.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, it's back. OK, focus, Molly. You're listening to "Brains On!" from American Public Media. I'm Molly.
SOPHIA: And I'm Sophia.
MOLLY BLOOM: Sophia, are you ready to hear that mystery sound again?
SOPHIA: Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: All right. Here it is.
[CLINK]
How about one more time?
[CLINK]
So before, you thought like welding, metal, stone on metal.
SOPHIA: I also hear, like, glass. Like a glass cup and somebody maybe dropping it.
MOLLY BLOOM: Very good. You ready to hear that answer?
SOPHIA: Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: Here, with the answer, is 15-year-old musician Ruby Kirk.
RUBY KIRK: The song you just heard was me clinking a glass with a spoon.
[CLINK]
MOLLY BLOOM: Hey, you were really close. You got there. [? You're ?] with the glass. So instead of dropping it, it was just someone hitting it with a spoon.
SOPHIA: Hmm.
MOLLY BLOOM: Nicely done.
[CLINKING]
Well, Ruby actually used that sound she recorded to make chords in a song she wrote. Let's hear her explain the process.
RUBY KIRK: Hi, my name is Ruby Kirk. I'm from Philly and I'm 15 years old. I'm a guitarist, musician, and I produce my own music. I took the glass clinking sound and I--
[CLINK]
--put it into my computer, and I added reverb to make it sound like it was in a room. And I made it into a keyboard and pitched around and put chords. And it sounds like this.
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]
I made a keyboard out of the glass clinking sound because I think it's really cool to make music from the sounds around us in the world and not just pre-made sounds that anyone can have access to anywhere. So I think it's really fun to make, like, drums from clapping your hands and recording that and then putting that in a song. And I think it's more unique and original, and it can make your music sound more like you. So I did that.
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]
So one thing that I like to do is on my guitar, I can put down a loop of some chords.
[GUITAR STRUMMING]
And then I'll just play around on the scale in the key all over the fretboard until I find a lick that I like and I think sounds good over it. And I can just jam over the courts for an hour or like half an hour.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
And I can find a melody that I like, and then I can record that or make it the center and then play other notes and then go back to that one lick that I found that I liked.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I always go to my parents-- I'll be like, I'll work on a song and I'm like, oh, my god, guys. Listen to this or hear this. What do you guys think? And they'll tell me what they think. They'll tell me if they like it or if it's catchy.
And then sometimes, I'll play the song for them and then maybe an hour later, one of my parents will say I have that song stuck in my head or I have your song stuck in my head. And that will make me really happy.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
It's cool when a song of mine is stuck in someone else's head because it shows that the song was catchy and it shows that I guess I did my job in making the song stick. And maybe they'll want to go back and listen to it again.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MOLLY BLOOM: So what do you think about that, Sophia? What stood out to you about what she said?
SOPHIA: How she wants her music to be more like her instead of, like, sounds that people can just have access to in everyday life. But she wants to make her own sounds and put them into her songs to make them original and unique.
MOLLY BLOOM: Yeah, it's super cool. I bet those unique sounds that make them even more catchy.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MOLLY BLOOM: Da-da, da-da da. Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.
SOPHIA: Uh-oh, you're still humming.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, no. Maybe, like, I will never, ever get this song out of my head.
ALL: Molly!
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, hey, Sanden, Menaka, and Marc. What are you guys doing here?
MARC SANCHEZ: Hey, Molly. We're taking a break from our butter sculptures to help you out.
SANDEN TOTTEN: And don't worry, we found a giant freezer to store them in the meantime.
MENAKA WILHELM: Yeah, no meltdowns for us. Anyway, all of us have been brainstorming and researching ways to help get your earworm out. Oh, my goodness. You guys are lifesavers. I feel like I've been using all my brain power to ignore this song. What do you suggest, Sanden?
SANDEN TOTTEN: Well instead of ignoring it, why not play it but with a twist?
MOLLY BLOOM: Hm. I'm listening.
SANDEN TOTTEN: My first thought? Play this song on the piano but with your feet. Many studies show that playing an entire earworm out loud can help get rid of them. Why not kick it up a notch?
MOLLY BLOOM: What? I don't want to get my dirty feet juices on my beautiful piano.
SANDEN TOTTEN: I'm afraid it's the only way, Molly. I'll stand over here while you tickle the keys with your toes.
MOLLY BLOOM: Fine, I'll do it.
[RANDOM PIANO NOTES]
Ah, now it's worse, and the piano's all stinky.
MENAKA WILHELM: I have an idea.
MOLLY BLOOM: I'm all ears.
MENAKA WILHELM: OK, but just one question. Why are we yelling?
MOLLY BLOOM: I'm sorry. My earworms just played really loudly in my head. What's your idea?
MENAKA WILHELM: Well, according to researchers at the University of Reading in the UK, chewing gum makes it harder to hear the earworms in your head.
MOLLY BLOOM: Why is that?
MENAKA WILHELM: Well, it's because when you move your jaw to chew, that interferes with both your internal dialogue-- that's the voice or the sounds inside your head-- and your short-term memory. So while you're chewing, it might make it harder for your brain to keep the rhythm of the song in your head.
MOLLY BLOOM: Hm. I guess it's worth a shot. I just got to find some gum.
SOPHIA: Ooh-ooh. I have some. It's kimchi flavored.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, my favorite.
[CHEWING LOUDLY]
That definitely made it better but it's still there.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, let me sing a cure tune I made for you. I learned about them from a study conducted in both Finland and the UK. Apparently, some songs can neutralize earworms without becoming earworms themselves. That's why they're called cure tunes.
MOLLY BLOOM: All right. Let's hear it.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Ahem. Oh, please save Molly Bloom. She must get out a tune stuck in her ear. Send her the cure for it, happy and glorious. Soon she will be free of it. Please save Molly Bloom.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK. OK, yeah. It's getting better.
SOPHIA: You know what, Molly? Maybe it's best if you just let it be.
MOLLY BLOOM: Why is that?
SOPHIA: Well, I realized that focusing on getting rid of earworms just gives them more attention. If you just go with the flow and let them be, they're bound to fade away.
MENAKA WILHELM: That's a great point, Sophia. In fact, the same researcher that led the study on chewing gum also found that actively trying to block earworms is less successful than passively accepting them.
MOLLY BLOOM: Hm, are you saying that time is the best medicine for earworms?
MENAKA WILHELM: Exactly.
MOLLY BLOOM: All right. I'll let it be. You know, the song's not that bad.
SANDEN TOTTEN: You know, I also heard conversations can help get rid of earworms.
MOLLY BLOOM: Really? Why?
SANDEN TOTTEN: Well, apparently it's because talking with other people uses a lot of the same brain resources as replaying music in your head. So the neurons and synapses that keep earworms alive, they have to focus on other things when you're in conversations with people.
MARC SANCHEZ: So, kind of like what we're doing right now?
SANDEN TOTTEN: Yeah, exactly.
MOLLY BLOOM: [GASP] It's gone. The song isn't stuck in my head anymore.
ALL: Yay!
[CHEERING]
MOLLY BLOOM: Thanks, guys. Now I can finally focus on more pressing matters.
MENAKA WILHELM: Like what?
MOLLY BLOOM: My butter sculpture, of course. I'm making a pair of wings. I'm calling it "Butterfly."
SANDEN TOTTEN: Best in butter, here we come!
[CHEERING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MOLLY BLOOM: An earworm is when a song pops into your head and loops over and over.
SOPHIA: While some songs may be more catchy than others, an earworm can strike at any time to anyone.
MOLLY BLOOM: The stickiest songs tend to have a familiar musical pattern but with a slight twist.
SOPHIA: There are different ways you can try to get rid of an earworm. But when in doubt, wait it out.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's it for this episode of "Brains On!"
SOPHIA: "Brains On!" is produced by Sanden Totten, Marc Sanchez, Menaka Wilhelm and Molly Bloom.
MOLLY BLOOM: We had production help from Ruby Guthrie and Kristina Lopez. And our intern is Koon Seong [? Dorji. ?] We had engineering help from Alex Simpson and Veronica Rodriguez. Special thanks to Morgan [? Karady, ?] Vicki Crackler, Jack Silvernagle, and Allie Katz.
SOPHIA: "Brains On!" is a nonprofit public radio program.
MOLLY BLOOM: You can support the show at brainson.org/fans. There you can find links to donate or join our free fan club or check out our "Brains On!" merch.
SOPHIA: We now have "Brains On!" shirts, baseball hats, and face masks.
MOLLY BLOOM: And you can buy the "Brains On!" book there too. That's brainson.org/fans.
SOPHIA: And now, before we go, it's time for the Moment of Um.
[REPEATED UMS]
OLIVER: Do spiders have bones?
ELEANOR SPICER RICE: Spiders do not have bones. They have something called an exoskeleton, which is like a shell, a hollow shell that's filled with all their goopy organs. So basically, their bones are on the outside of their bodies. Hi my name is Eleanor Spicer Rice and I'm an entomologist. That means I study bugs. And I wrote the book "Dr. Eleanor's Book of Common Spiders."
An exoskeleton is made mostly of this stuff called chitin, and it also has something called calcium carbonate in it. Now, chitin is the same stuff that makes squid beaks or the cell walls in mushrooms or even snail teeth. Snails have teeth, but really it's like this scrapey little tongue, and that's also made out of chitin. Calcium carbonate is the stuff that seashells and crab shells are made of, or egg shells and pearls.
Now, exoskeletons are different from our skeletons because they're on the outside of our bodies. If you think about our bones, they are on the inside of our bodies, and then all of our organs are attached to them and our skins on the outside, right? So when we grow, our skin stretches and our bones stretch, and we can spread out like that. Well, exoskeletons are shells on the outside of the body. So if something wants to grow, it has to make a new exoskeleton that's bigger.
So what it does is, like what a spider does when a spider wants to grow, is it makes this real tender, soft, squishy exoskeleton on the inside of its old shell. And then, when it gets big enough, the old shell breaks down the back and the spider will squeeze out of it like we will kind of squeeze out of a tight pair of blue jeans. And then there's our spider, and it's all squishy and soft. So it has to hide somewhere so that it can get hard and turn back into the spiders that we know and love.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[REPEATED UMS]
MOLLY BLOOM: I can't wait to hear this list. It's the Brain's Honor Roll. These are the incredible listeners who send us their questions, ideas, mystery sounds, drawings, and high fives.
[LISTING HONOR ROLL]
[THEME MUSIC]
We'll be back soon with more answers to your questions.
SOPHIA: Thanks for listening.
MOLLY BLOOM: Come on, Sophia. Let's see what the crew is up to before our taping.
SOPHIA: Sure!
MOLLY BLOOM: Elevator, seventh floor, please.
ELEVATOR: Seventh floor coming up. Please enjoy this elevator music.
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]
SOPHIA: That's catchy.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, yeah. I've actually had that melody stuck in my head for days.
[BELL DINGS]
[ELEVATOR DOOR OPENS]
ELEVATOR: Here you go, seventh floor.
[HUMMING]
SOPHIA: Hey, Marc, Sanden, and Menaka. What are you guys doing?
MARC SANCHEZ: Oh, hey, Sophia and Molly. We're finally entering the annual butter sculpture contest. We've been talking about it for ages.
MENAKA WILHELM: You butter believe it. I mean, if all four of us enter, one of us is bound to win grand prize, "Best in Butter."
SANDEN TOTTEN: Yeah, this way we'll have a margarine-ly good chance of winning. Ha, ha. Anyone? Do you know what you're going to make?
MENAKA WILHELM: Oh, of course I do, Sanden. I'm going to sculpt a pair of hands, and I'm calling it "Butterfingers."
SOPHIA: Ooh, that's good, Menaka.
MENAKA WILHELM: Thanks, Sophia. What about you, Marc?
MOLLY BLOOM: [HUMMING]
MARC SANCHEZ: Maybe I'll make a set of mugs. I'll call them "Butter cups."
MENAKA WILHELM: Oo, and then fill them with popcorn? Perfect for movie night.
MOLLY BLOOM: [HUMMING]
MARC SANCHEZ: I was planning on making a cow. Buttermilk, anyone?
MENAKA WILHELM: Whoa, that's a winner for sure.
MARC SANCHEZ: Menaka, are you buttering me up?
MOLLY BLOOM: [HUMMING AND VOCALIZING]
ALL: Molly!
MARC SANCHEZ: What's with the humming? You've been at it this entire time.
MOLLY BLOOM: I am so sorry. It's the tune from the elevator. I've had it in my head all week. It's kind of driving me bananas, and I don't know how to make it stop.
MENAKA WILHELM: Molly, there's only one way to solve this.
MARC SANCHEZ: You have to high-five a dog three times.
[DOG BARKS]
SANDEN TOTTEN: No, that's for good luck. You're supposed to sneak up and scare the song out of your head, like this-- boo!
- Ah! Oh. [HUMMING] It's still there.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, right. That's for hiccups. I get those two confused.
MENAKA WILHELM: No dogs and definitely no sneak attacks. The only way to solve this problem is to do an episode about it. Hit it.
[THEME MUSIC]
MOLLY BLOOM: You're listening to "Brains On!" from American Public Media. I'm Molly Bloom, and this week my friend Sophia is joining us from Walnut Creek, California. Welcome, Sophia.
SOPHIA: Hi, Molly.
[HUMMING]
- Molly?
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, I'm so sorry. Sophia I can't shake that song.
SOPHIA: Sounds like you have an earworm.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh! There's a worm in there?
SOPHIA: No, an earworm is just a name for a song that gets stuck in your head. I promise there is no real worms.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, whew. That's a relief. That's an odd name.
SOPHIA: Yeah, right? The word earworm comes from the German word, Ohrwurm, which is an actual type of worm. But in the mid-20th century, Germans started using it to describe a musical itch.
MOLLY BLOOM: That is exactly how it feels. If only I could scratch it. Sophia, have you ever experienced an earworm?
SOPHIA: Yes, I have.
MOLLY BLOOM: What was it?
SOPHIA: It was a song that, when I was in band, we kept practicing it over and over again and I couldn't stop doing it with my fingers.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oof. Did it get annoying? Did it bother you?
SOPHIA: Kind of. Because when I was trying to do my homework, it ended up doing that.
MOLLY BLOOM: It can be very distracting. Were you able to get it out? Is it still in your head today?
SOPHIA: Ah, yeah, it's still in my head today, but it's much less.
MOLLY BLOOM: Well, that's good. Can you sing a little bit of it for us?
SOPHIA: So it goes doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo. And then it goes-- and then there's a flute solo part. And then there is like trumpets and saxophones.
MOLLY BLOOM: So you have, like, a whole orchestra in your head?
[ORCHESTRAL MUSIC SWELLING]
Well, our listeners have experienced getting songs stuck in their head too, so we asked them for help getting this song out of my head. And here are their ideas.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
LISTENER 1: My advice is for you to take a walk so you can get the song out of your head.
LISTENER 2: My advice is like you go, like, a high pitch like-- [SINGING HIGH-PITCHED]. Like, a big, high-pitched voice.
LISTENER 3: I think of a song that I don't like and hum it a little bit, and then I have this song that I don't like stuck in my head.
LISTENER 4: I have an idea to get the song stuck out of your head. Try doing something you really, really like.
LISTENER 5: My idea for getting rid of earworms or songs stuck in your head is to listen to a different song for a while.
LISTENER 6: I think you can get a stuck song out of your head is by thinking about another song constantly and maybe that'll cancel each other out.
MOLLY BLOOM: Thanks to Evelyn, Emily, Ellis, Eleanor, Aiden, and Winnie for your suggestions.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Oh, I never thought about trying any of that.
MOLLY BLOOM: Hey, it's our pal, Ruby Guthrie.
SOPHIA: Welcome.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Hi, Molly. Hi Sophia. Yeah, this happens to me all the time. You're just going about your day, eating your grilled cheese in peace, and then bam-- there's that catchy chorus looping again and again and again. And it sounds something like doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo and it's just stuck in your noggin. It's living in your head, rent-free.
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly. And I think it needs to start paying.
RUBY GUTHRIE: This constant looping, it's called involuntary musical imagery, more commonly known as an earworm. And these earworms are kind of mysterious things, but they intrigue a lot of researchers, like Lauren Stewart.
LAUREN STEWART: Hello, I'm Lauren Stewart. I'm a professor in psychology at Goldsmiths University of London.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Lauren researches how music interacts with our brains, including earworms.
LAUREN STEWART: Yeah, so an earworm is a snippet of music that comes unbidden into the mind and repeats at least once without you having any conscious control of that experience. So a tune just pops into your head, and then typically, it stays with you for a while. And normally, it's a particular section of a tune. It can be pop music. It can be classical music. There might be lyrics, there might not be.
RUBY GUTHRIE: And earworms are really common. Nearly 90% of people experience them every week. For some, it's even more often. Despite this, researchers still don't really know why these songs randomly pop into our heads. But Lauren does have one theory. It's because we're just surrounded by so much music.
LAUREN STEWART: There's a thought that actually earworms are just a byproduct of the fact that our brains have a repertoire of literally hundreds of thousands of tunes that we've been exposed to over our lifetime. So it might be a kind of a spillover from the fact that we have all of these tunes in our head.
LAUREN STEWART: Think about it. When you're not jamming out to your latest dance mix on your phone--
[MUSIC PLAYING]
--you're listening to the radio in the car--
[MUSIC PLAYING]
--or hearing a jingle on the TV.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Music has never been more accessible to us. So earworms could simply be our brains reacting to all these constant tunes. That's one theory, at least. And we do know there's a lot going on in our brains when we listen to music.
LAUREN STEWART: We know that music is the product of a symphony of brain activity, really. There isn't a single brain area that does music. It's really a concerted effort of a number of different brain areas working together.
RUBY GUTHRIE: First, a part of your brain called the auditory cortex is activated. That's in your temporal lobe, just behind your ears. That's where your brain processes audio.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MARC SANCHEZ (AS BRAIN): Oo, what a sweet tune. This auditory cortex approves.
- Your frontal lobes are also activated. Those are located just behind your forehead. And those lobes are involved with memory and language.
MARC SANCHEZ (AS BRAIN): Yo, frontal lobes, you hearing this? It's supes catchy, am I right?
MARC SANCHEZ (AS FRONTAL LOBES): Totally. I'm going to memorize these lyrics by heart.
RUBY GUTHRIE: And what's most interesting is even though we're not actually listening to music when we experience an earworm, our brains activate the same areas and react as if we were listening to a song.
SOPHIA: Whoa, brain power.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Pretty cool, right? And although these earworms are random, Lauren says there are certain things that can trigger earworms, like listening to something on repeat or hearing just a snippet of a song or sometimes, even a memory can start up an earworm.
MOLLY BLOOM: So a lot of different things can set off an earworm. But is there any kind of music that's more likely to be an earworm?
RUBY GUTHRIE: That's a great question, and something Lauren studied too. Lauren and her team gathered a big list of songs that people would often get stuck in their head. Songs like "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga--
[LADY GAGA, "BAD ROMANCE"]
LADY GAGA: (SINGING) Oh, oh, oh, oh, caught in a bad romance.
RUBY GUTHRIE: "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple.
[DEEP PURPLE, "SMOKE ON THE WATER"]
And "My Sharona" by The Knack.
[THE KNACK, "MY SHARONA"]
- (SINGING) Whoa! My--my-- my Sharona.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Then they analyzed all these songs and looked for any similarities in the way the songs were composed. It turns out earworms usually have a familiar pattern but with a slight twist.
LAUREN STEWART: It's a combination of something that's highly familiar to the brain and therefore, very predictable and comfortable, but with just enough interest to be memorable and for the brain to kind of notice that there's something a bit unique.
RUBY GUTHRIE: OK, so what she means is that most songs have a certain structure to them. And the chords, the notes in the song, follow a certain progression. According to Lauren's study, these earworm songs often followed a typical pattern but would add a slight twist to make it unique. Let's listen to "Bad Romance."
[LADY GAGA, "BAD ROMANCE"]
LADY GAGA: (SINGING) Roma, roma, ma, ma, Ga Ga, oo la la, want your bad romance. Ra, ra, ah, ah, ah.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Catchy, right? At first, this chorus follows a classic chord progression.
LADY GAGA: (SINGING) I want your love and I want your revenge. You and me could write a bad romance.
LAUREN STEWART: And this is exactly what your brain is expecting.
MARC SANCHEZ (AS BRAIN): This is a certified predictable bop. Totes fresh.
RUBY GUTHRIE: But when Gaga repeats the chorus, there's a slight change.
LADY GAGA: (SINGING) Oh, oh, oh, I want your love and all your lover's revenge. You and me could write a bad romance.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Did you hear it? The note went from a G--
[PIANO NOTE]
--to a G sharp--
[PIANO NOTE]
--which sounds a little bit funky, right?
MARC SANCHEZ (AS BRAIN): Whoa. I was not expecting that, a groovy curveball.
RUBY GUTHRIE: It's really subtle.
LADY GAGA: (SINGING) Oh, oh, oh--
[PIANO NOTE]
--I want your love and all your lover's revenge. You and me--
[PIANO NOTE]
--could write a bad romance.
RUBY GUTHRIE: That slight difference can really make a song stick out and then stick to your brain. And that's what we mean by a familiar pattern with a slight twist.
LAUREN STEWART: So it's like a sweet spot-- predictable, but still interesting.
MARC SANCHEZ (AS BRAIN): [HUMMING]
RUBY GUTHRIE: The study also found that songs with an up tempo, or a faster beat, were more likely to be earworms. Additionally, just like when we listen to music, an earworm may reflect the kind of mood you're in.
LAUREN STEWART: If people are in an upbeat state, they will get upbeat earworms and vise versa. And that parallels what we know about how people actually listen to real music.
RUBY GUTHRIE: If you're happy, you're probably listening to something upbeat with major chords like this.
[MUSIC, "MOZART'S NO.16"]
Notice how it sounds bright, almost positive? Then there's the opposite, which is called a minor key.
[SLOW, SAD MUSIC]
You're more likely to listen to this if you're feeling sluggish or maybe sad. But truly, any song can be an earworm, no matter the genre, singer, or style. Earworms know no bounds.
SOPHIA: Earworms for all.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Yes, the most democratic of imaginary worms, earworms are something most everyone has experienced. And soon enough, you'll get through it too, Molly.
MOLLY BLOOM: Thanks for sharing, Ruby.
RUBY GUTHRIE: No problemo. I got to skedaddle, though. Marc saved me a butter cup full of popcorn. Ta-ta.
SOPHIA: See ya.
MARC SANCHEZ: (SINGING) Ah, Brains On! [CLEARS THROAT]
MOLLY BLOOM: Here's something I'll never get sick of hearing. It's time for the--
- Shh.
[OSCILLATING TONES]
Mystery sound.
[OSCILLATING TONES]
MOLLY BLOOM: Here it is.
[CLINK]
It is extremely short, so let's hear it again.
[CLINK]
One more time for good measure.
[CLINK]
All right, Sophia, what is your guess?
SOPHIA: So I think maybe it's like somebody throwing a rock onto, like, a piece of metal?
MOLLY BLOOM: Hmm. That's very specific.
SOPHIA: And for some reason, somebody welding comes to mind. I don't know why.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, interesting. I like that your brain went there. Well, we'll give you another chance to hear it and have another guess a little bit later in the show.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
We are working on an episode all about teeth. And we want to know if you were the tooth fairy, what would you give kids in exchange for their teeth instead of money and why? Sophia, what do you think the tooth fairy should exchange for those mighty molars?
SOPHIA: Maybe, like, candy because if you have too much candy, your teeth won't look good. And if the tooth that the tooth fairy picked up was good, then she could give them candy because it's like a special treat.
MOLLY BLOOM: Hm, so she's like, hey, it looks like you have not been eating too much candy, so here's a little candy as a reward. Is that what you're saying?
SOPHIA: Yeah and then maybe a note to go along with it.
MOLLY BLOOM: A very nice idea. Well, listeners, we want to hear from you too. You can share your answer with us by heading to brainson.org/contact. And while you're there, you can send us your mystery sounds, drawings, and questions.
SOPHIA: Like this one.
OLIVER: This is Oliver from Oakland, California. I have a question. And the question is, do spiders have bones?
MOLLY BLOOM: We'll answer that question during our Moment of Um, and we'll read the latest group of listeners to be added to the Brain's Honor Roll, all at the end of the show.
SOPHIA: So keep listening.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, it's back. OK, focus, Molly. You're listening to "Brains On!" from American Public Media. I'm Molly.
SOPHIA: And I'm Sophia.
MOLLY BLOOM: Sophia, are you ready to hear that mystery sound again?
SOPHIA: Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: All right. Here it is.
[CLINK]
How about one more time?
[CLINK]
So before, you thought like welding, metal, stone on metal.
SOPHIA: I also hear, like, glass. Like a glass cup and somebody maybe dropping it.
MOLLY BLOOM: Very good. You ready to hear that answer?
SOPHIA: Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: Here, with the answer, is 15-year-old musician Ruby Kirk.
RUBY KIRK: The song you just heard was me clinking a glass with a spoon.
[CLINK]
MOLLY BLOOM: Hey, you were really close. You got there. [? You're ?] with the glass. So instead of dropping it, it was just someone hitting it with a spoon.
SOPHIA: Hmm.
MOLLY BLOOM: Nicely done.
[CLINKING]
Well, Ruby actually used that sound she recorded to make chords in a song she wrote. Let's hear her explain the process.
RUBY KIRK: Hi, my name is Ruby Kirk. I'm from Philly and I'm 15 years old. I'm a guitarist, musician, and I produce my own music. I took the glass clinking sound and I--
[CLINK]
--put it into my computer, and I added reverb to make it sound like it was in a room. And I made it into a keyboard and pitched around and put chords. And it sounds like this.
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]
I made a keyboard out of the glass clinking sound because I think it's really cool to make music from the sounds around us in the world and not just pre-made sounds that anyone can have access to anywhere. So I think it's really fun to make, like, drums from clapping your hands and recording that and then putting that in a song. And I think it's more unique and original, and it can make your music sound more like you. So I did that.
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]
So one thing that I like to do is on my guitar, I can put down a loop of some chords.
[GUITAR STRUMMING]
And then I'll just play around on the scale in the key all over the fretboard until I find a lick that I like and I think sounds good over it. And I can just jam over the courts for an hour or like half an hour.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
And I can find a melody that I like, and then I can record that or make it the center and then play other notes and then go back to that one lick that I found that I liked.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I always go to my parents-- I'll be like, I'll work on a song and I'm like, oh, my god, guys. Listen to this or hear this. What do you guys think? And they'll tell me what they think. They'll tell me if they like it or if it's catchy.
And then sometimes, I'll play the song for them and then maybe an hour later, one of my parents will say I have that song stuck in my head or I have your song stuck in my head. And that will make me really happy.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
It's cool when a song of mine is stuck in someone else's head because it shows that the song was catchy and it shows that I guess I did my job in making the song stick. And maybe they'll want to go back and listen to it again.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MOLLY BLOOM: So what do you think about that, Sophia? What stood out to you about what she said?
SOPHIA: How she wants her music to be more like her instead of, like, sounds that people can just have access to in everyday life. But she wants to make her own sounds and put them into her songs to make them original and unique.
MOLLY BLOOM: Yeah, it's super cool. I bet those unique sounds that make them even more catchy.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MOLLY BLOOM: Da-da, da-da da. Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.
SOPHIA: Uh-oh, you're still humming.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, no. Maybe, like, I will never, ever get this song out of my head.
ALL: Molly!
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, hey, Sanden, Menaka, and Marc. What are you guys doing here?
MARC SANCHEZ: Hey, Molly. We're taking a break from our butter sculptures to help you out.
SANDEN TOTTEN: And don't worry, we found a giant freezer to store them in the meantime.
MENAKA WILHELM: Yeah, no meltdowns for us. Anyway, all of us have been brainstorming and researching ways to help get your earworm out. Oh, my goodness. You guys are lifesavers. I feel like I've been using all my brain power to ignore this song. What do you suggest, Sanden?
SANDEN TOTTEN: Well instead of ignoring it, why not play it but with a twist?
MOLLY BLOOM: Hm. I'm listening.
SANDEN TOTTEN: My first thought? Play this song on the piano but with your feet. Many studies show that playing an entire earworm out loud can help get rid of them. Why not kick it up a notch?
MOLLY BLOOM: What? I don't want to get my dirty feet juices on my beautiful piano.
SANDEN TOTTEN: I'm afraid it's the only way, Molly. I'll stand over here while you tickle the keys with your toes.
MOLLY BLOOM: Fine, I'll do it.
[RANDOM PIANO NOTES]
Ah, now it's worse, and the piano's all stinky.
MENAKA WILHELM: I have an idea.
MOLLY BLOOM: I'm all ears.
MENAKA WILHELM: OK, but just one question. Why are we yelling?
MOLLY BLOOM: I'm sorry. My earworms just played really loudly in my head. What's your idea?
MENAKA WILHELM: Well, according to researchers at the University of Reading in the UK, chewing gum makes it harder to hear the earworms in your head.
MOLLY BLOOM: Why is that?
MENAKA WILHELM: Well, it's because when you move your jaw to chew, that interferes with both your internal dialogue-- that's the voice or the sounds inside your head-- and your short-term memory. So while you're chewing, it might make it harder for your brain to keep the rhythm of the song in your head.
MOLLY BLOOM: Hm. I guess it's worth a shot. I just got to find some gum.
SOPHIA: Ooh-ooh. I have some. It's kimchi flavored.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, my favorite.
[CHEWING LOUDLY]
That definitely made it better but it's still there.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, let me sing a cure tune I made for you. I learned about them from a study conducted in both Finland and the UK. Apparently, some songs can neutralize earworms without becoming earworms themselves. That's why they're called cure tunes.
MOLLY BLOOM: All right. Let's hear it.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Ahem. Oh, please save Molly Bloom. She must get out a tune stuck in her ear. Send her the cure for it, happy and glorious. Soon she will be free of it. Please save Molly Bloom.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK. OK, yeah. It's getting better.
SOPHIA: You know what, Molly? Maybe it's best if you just let it be.
MOLLY BLOOM: Why is that?
SOPHIA: Well, I realized that focusing on getting rid of earworms just gives them more attention. If you just go with the flow and let them be, they're bound to fade away.
MENAKA WILHELM: That's a great point, Sophia. In fact, the same researcher that led the study on chewing gum also found that actively trying to block earworms is less successful than passively accepting them.
MOLLY BLOOM: Hm, are you saying that time is the best medicine for earworms?
MENAKA WILHELM: Exactly.
MOLLY BLOOM: All right. I'll let it be. You know, the song's not that bad.
SANDEN TOTTEN: You know, I also heard conversations can help get rid of earworms.
MOLLY BLOOM: Really? Why?
SANDEN TOTTEN: Well, apparently it's because talking with other people uses a lot of the same brain resources as replaying music in your head. So the neurons and synapses that keep earworms alive, they have to focus on other things when you're in conversations with people.
MARC SANCHEZ: So, kind of like what we're doing right now?
SANDEN TOTTEN: Yeah, exactly.
MOLLY BLOOM: [GASP] It's gone. The song isn't stuck in my head anymore.
ALL: Yay!
[CHEERING]
MOLLY BLOOM: Thanks, guys. Now I can finally focus on more pressing matters.
MENAKA WILHELM: Like what?
MOLLY BLOOM: My butter sculpture, of course. I'm making a pair of wings. I'm calling it "Butterfly."
SANDEN TOTTEN: Best in butter, here we come!
[CHEERING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MOLLY BLOOM: An earworm is when a song pops into your head and loops over and over.
SOPHIA: While some songs may be more catchy than others, an earworm can strike at any time to anyone.
MOLLY BLOOM: The stickiest songs tend to have a familiar musical pattern but with a slight twist.
SOPHIA: There are different ways you can try to get rid of an earworm. But when in doubt, wait it out.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's it for this episode of "Brains On!"
SOPHIA: "Brains On!" is produced by Sanden Totten, Marc Sanchez, Menaka Wilhelm and Molly Bloom.
MOLLY BLOOM: We had production help from Ruby Guthrie and Kristina Lopez. And our intern is Koon Seong [? Dorji. ?] We had engineering help from Alex Simpson and Veronica Rodriguez. Special thanks to Morgan [? Karady, ?] Vicki Crackler, Jack Silvernagle, and Allie Katz.
SOPHIA: "Brains On!" is a nonprofit public radio program.
MOLLY BLOOM: You can support the show at brainson.org/fans. There you can find links to donate or join our free fan club or check out our "Brains On!" merch.
SOPHIA: We now have "Brains On!" shirts, baseball hats, and face masks.
MOLLY BLOOM: And you can buy the "Brains On!" book there too. That's brainson.org/fans.
SOPHIA: And now, before we go, it's time for the Moment of Um.
[REPEATED UMS]
OLIVER: Do spiders have bones?
ELEANOR SPICER RICE: Spiders do not have bones. They have something called an exoskeleton, which is like a shell, a hollow shell that's filled with all their goopy organs. So basically, their bones are on the outside of their bodies. Hi my name is Eleanor Spicer Rice and I'm an entomologist. That means I study bugs. And I wrote the book "Dr. Eleanor's Book of Common Spiders."
An exoskeleton is made mostly of this stuff called chitin, and it also has something called calcium carbonate in it. Now, chitin is the same stuff that makes squid beaks or the cell walls in mushrooms or even snail teeth. Snails have teeth, but really it's like this scrapey little tongue, and that's also made out of chitin. Calcium carbonate is the stuff that seashells and crab shells are made of, or egg shells and pearls.
Now, exoskeletons are different from our skeletons because they're on the outside of our bodies. If you think about our bones, they are on the inside of our bodies, and then all of our organs are attached to them and our skins on the outside, right? So when we grow, our skin stretches and our bones stretch, and we can spread out like that. Well, exoskeletons are shells on the outside of the body. So if something wants to grow, it has to make a new exoskeleton that's bigger.
So what it does is, like what a spider does when a spider wants to grow, is it makes this real tender, soft, squishy exoskeleton on the inside of its old shell. And then, when it gets big enough, the old shell breaks down the back and the spider will squeeze out of it like we will kind of squeeze out of a tight pair of blue jeans. And then there's our spider, and it's all squishy and soft. So it has to hide somewhere so that it can get hard and turn back into the spiders that we know and love.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[REPEATED UMS]
MOLLY BLOOM: I can't wait to hear this list. It's the Brain's Honor Roll. These are the incredible listeners who send us their questions, ideas, mystery sounds, drawings, and high fives.
[LISTING HONOR ROLL]
[THEME MUSIC]
We'll be back soon with more answers to your questions.
SOPHIA: Thanks for listening.
Transcription services provided by 3Play Media.
