The Science of Whiskers

Tumble Science Podcast for Kids

Tumble Media

Education For Kids, Kids & Family

4.3 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 26 December 2025

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This is a re-broadcast of a favorite episode from 2019. We actually won our first AAAS Kavli Award for this episode, along with The Cave of the Underground Astronauts. Check it out! Why do seals have whiskers? Listener Karah’s question dives into the wonderful world of whisker science. Robyn Grant, a self-described “whisker biologist” shares her discoveries of how whiskers work, from training a friendly seal named Moe to making slow-mo movies of super speedy “whisking.” (You will find no cuter field of research… but if you do, tell us about it!) Listen to learn about humans’ hidden whisker muscles and find out to rank whiskers like the pros! Want to learn more about whisker science? We have more from our interview with Robyn on our Patreon podcast feed! Subscribe for $1/month at patreon.com/tumblepodcast. You can also tune in on the Castbox podcast app by tuning into our Premium Channel. Find more whiskery educational resources on our blog, at sciencepodcastforkids.com. If you want a t-shirt from our merch store, go check it out at tumblepodcast.dashery.com.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, Tumble fans.
0:02.0	It's Lindsay and Marshall and we are on winter break right now, so we are so excited to share with you one of our favorite old episodes.
0:12.0	This one is a classic from all the way back in season four.
0:17.0	It's called The Science of Whiskers, and it involves one of the cuter experiments.
0:21.9	I mean, we've actually had a lot of cute experiments on our show, but this is one of the cuter.
0:26.6	Top five. Top five cuteness experiments. So get ready to hear about the science of whiskers and we hope
0:33.6	you are having a wonderful holiday break. We will be back with new episodes on January 23rd,
0:40.0	but in the meantime, here's the Science of Whiskers. Hi, I'm Lindsay. And I'm Marshall. Welcome to
0:49.1	Tumble, the show where we explore stories of science discovery. Today we're talking about the science of whiskers.
0:56.6	Surprisingly, animals just don't put them on
0:58.8	in order to look cute and pose for videos.
1:01.9	Those long facial hairs are like an animal's sixth sense.
1:06.3	From seals to mice, we're off to explore the wonderful world of whiskers. My name is Kara.
1:15.6	I am six years old. I'm from Baltimore, Maryland.
1:23.6	My question is, why do seals have whiskers?
1:28.9	I mean, it's obviously so they can join the whisker club.
1:33.4	We all want to be in the whisker club.
1:35.7	That's the only reason men grow moustaches.
1:38.6	Everybody just wants to belong.
1:41.2	Listeners, what do you think is the answer to Kara's question?
1:45.2	And how would scientists study whiskers?
1:47.9	Think about it.
	...

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