Have you ever seen an aurora? These spectacular night-time displays can fill our skies with dancing lights and bursts of color. But why do they happen in the first place?

Join Molly and co-host Mariam as they learn about what makes an aurora (hint: it starts with spicy sun burps) and chat with scientist Dr. Liz MacDonald about the best places to see them. Stick around for aurora trivia with Gameshow Molly and a dazzling new mystery sound!


Subscribe to Smarty Pass for ad-free feeds, bonus episodes, and ticket discounts!


Today’s episode is sponsored by:
- Indeed.com/brainson - Receive a $75 sponsored job credit with code brainson

Have you ever seen an aurora? These spectacular night-time displays can fill our skies with dancing lights and bursts of color. But why do they happen in the first place? Join Molly and co-host Mariam as they learn about what makes an aurora (hint: it starts with spicy sun burps) and chat with scientist Dr. Liz MacDonald about the best places to see them. Stick around for aurora trivia with Gameshow Molly and a dazzling new mystery sound! <a href="https://www.smartypass.org/" class="default">Subscribe to Smarty Pass</a> for ad-free feeds, bonus episodes, and ticket discounts! Today’s episode is sponsored by: - <a href="https://www.indeed.com/hire/audio-promotion-highimpact" class="default">Indeed.com/brainson</a> - Receive a $75 sponsored job credit with code brainson

Brains On!® is a science podcast for curious kids and adults from Brains On Universe. Each week, a different kid co-host joins Molly Bloom to find answers to fascinating questions about the world sent in by listeners. Like, do dogs know they’re dogs? Or, why do feet stink? Plus, we have mystery sounds for you to guess, songs for you to dance to, and lots of facts -- all checked by experts.

Sales and Distribution by Lemonada Media https://lemonadamedia.com/  

Brains On!&reg; is a science podcast for curious kids and adults from Brains On Universe. Each week, a different kid co-host joins Molly Bloom to find answers to fascinating questions about the world sent in by listeners. Like, do dogs know they&rsquo;re dogs? Or, why do feet stink? Plus, we have mystery sounds for you to guess, songs for you to dance to, and lots of facts -- all checked by experts.
Sales and Distribution by Lemonada Media <a href="https://lemonadamedia.com/" data-stringify-link="https://lemonadamedia.com/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">https://lemonadamedia.com/</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;

Brains On! Science podcast for kids

Auroras: Nature's light show

The Brains On crew is hitting the road in 2026, and our first shows have just been announced. If you like fun, games, dancing, optical illusions and... Mystery Sounds, check out Your Brain is Magic.

Head to brainson.org/events to get tickets for the following shows:

1/17 Newark, NJ Victoria Theater

1/18 Red Bank, NJ The Vogel

1/23 San Diego, CA The Observitory

1/24 Aneheim, CA House of Blues

2/21 Vancouver, BC Playhouse Theater (JFL Festival)

2/22 Seattle, WA Neptune Theater

If you don't see your city listed, we're adding more dates, so keep checking back!

The Brains On crew is hitting the road in 2026, and our first shows have just been announced. If you like fun, games, dancing, optical illusions and... Mystery Sounds, check out Your Brain is Magic.
Head to <a href="https://brainson.org/events">brainson.org/events</a> to get tickets for the following shows:
1/17 Newark, NJ Victoria Theater
1/18 Red Bank, NJ The Vogel
1/23 San Diego, CA The Observitory
1/24 Aneheim, CA House of Blues
2/21 Vancouver, BC Playhouse Theater (JFL Festival)
2/22 Seattle, WA Neptune Theater
If you don't see your city listed, we're adding more dates, so keep checking back!

Brains On is coming to a city near you!

In our final look at metal, we explore how metal wires changed the world. Once humans figured out how to send little blasts of electricity through metal, we quickly developed lots of uses for this. One was a new way of communicating called the telegraph. Join Molly and co-host Ava as they team up with Dylan Thuras, co-founder of Atlas Obscura to learn how people laid hundreds of miles of wire in hopes of sending messages across oceans. Plus, the new Brains On Headquarters is having an opening ceremony, and there’s a brand new Mystery Sound to guess!

Guest: Dylan Thuras, co-author of The Atlas Obscura Explorer's Guide to Inventing The World.

Want to support the show? Join Smarty Pass to listen to ad-free episodes or donate!

Click here or a transcript of this episode.

In our final look at metal, we explore how metal wires changed the world. Once humans figured out how to send little blasts of electricity through metal, we quickly developed lots of uses for this. One was a new way of communicating called the telegraph. Join Molly and co-host Ava as they team up with Dylan Thuras, co-founder of Atlas Obscura to learn how people laid hundreds of miles of wire in hopes of sending messages across oceans. Plus, the new Brains On Headquarters is having an opening ceremony, and there&rsquo;s a brand new Mystery Sound to guess!
Guest: Dylan Thuras, co-author of <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/unique-gifts/inventing-the-world">The Atlas Obscura Explorer's Guide to Inventing The World</a>.
Want to support the show? Join<a href="http://smartypass.org"> Smarty Pass</a> to listen to ad-free episodes or donate!
Click <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wbqcX6ArAAKNedbf-ZIqIxpCsA72kS8r/view?usp=sharing">here</a>&nbsp;or a transcript of this episode.

How metal wires changed the world!

Humans have been fascinated by metal for thousands of years. But it took us a long time to master making things with metal. In this episode we go back in time to learn how Japanese swords were forged, how swings were used to make thin metal wires and why steel cables saved so many lives. Molly and co-host Ava are joined by Dylan Thuras, co-founder of Atlas Obscura for part two of this deep dive on all things metal. Plus, Marc meets some talking boxes and there’s an all new Mystery Sound.

Guest: Dylan Thuras, co-author of The Atlas Obscura Explorer's Guide to Inventing the World.

Want to support the show? Join Smarty Pass to listen to ad-free episodes or donate!

Click here or a transcript of this episode.

Humans have been fascinated by metal for thousands of years. But it took us a long time to master making things with metal. In this episode we go back in time to learn how Japanese swords were forged, how swings were used to make thin metal wires and why steel cables saved so many lives. Molly and co-host Ava are joined by Dylan Thuras, co-founder of Atlas Obscura for part two of this deep dive on all things metal. Plus, Marc meets some talking boxes and there&rsquo;s an all new Mystery Sound.
Guest: Dylan Thuras, co-author of <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/unique-gifts/inventing-the-world">The Atlas Obscura Explorer's Guide to Inventing the World</a>.
Want to support the show? Join<a href="http://smartypass.org"> Smarty Pass</a> to listen to ad-free episodes or donate!
Click <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yvZtsl7GLRUWtN1OpcDe6oDVgbvF2oS4/view?usp=sharing">here</a> or a transcript of this episode.

Auroras: Nature's light show

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