logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2019
21m 20s

Ice, Ice, Baby: Why Is Ice Slippery?

Vermont Public
About this episode
How does water turn into ice? Why is ice sometimes slippery and other times sticky? Why is it so cold? Why does it float? How are icicles made? Why are icebergs mostly underwater? What was the ice age? We'll get answers to all of those questions with help from Celeste Labedz of the California Institute of Technology. And we'll take a trip to the world's largest skating rink, the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Ontario. Download our learning guides: PDF | Google Slide | Transcript
Up next
Mar 6
How do we know life is not a dream?
Some questions are so big they’re existential, meaning that they get right to the heart of human existence. These are also sometimes called philosophical questions, so for this episode we called up a professor of philosophy, Scott Hershovitz, who teaches at the University of Mich ... Show More
32m 6s
Feb 20
How did bird dinosaurs survive the meteor?
Why did the dinosaurs go extinct? Many of you have learned about the meteorite that scientists say hit the earth 66 million years ago and killed off many dinosaur species. But some dinosaurs survived, and the birds you see flying around today are their direct descendants! In this ... Show More
29m 36s
Feb 6
Why are brothers and sisters so annoying?
Why are brothers and sisters so annoying? Why do siblings often look a lot alike? Why do siblings fight? Can your sister be your best friend? Why do we fight with our siblings even if we love them? But Why takes a look at the sibling relationship with Susan Dominus, author of The ... Show More
18m 35s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2021
Why do ice cubes stick to your fingers?
Occasionally when we hold an ice cube or a piece of frozen metal, our fingers can literally stick to it. This physical phenomenon has an easily understandable basis. The heat from our fingers melts the ice on the surface of the ice cube. At this point, the ice turns into water an ... Show More
2m 24s
Nov 2020
ELI5 Dry Ice - why it should not go in the swimming pool?
How is dry ice made? Why does metal make a 'screaming sound' when dry ice is touched to it? Is it possible to make fizzy fruit with it? Why should we never put dry ice into a swimming pool?   ... We explain like i'm five!   Thank you to the r/explainlikeimfive community as always ... Show More
9m 4s
May 2024
Why does ice help with swelling?
If you’ve ever banged your knee pretty badly, you might have noticed the knee swells up to larger than its normal size. To ease your pain and make the swelling go down, maybe someone handed you an ice pack. But why is it ice that does the trick to reduce swelling, and does anythi ... Show More
5 m
Nov 2022
What is the Ice Age?
Learn about the Ice Age, what happens during an ice age and how long it lasts in this very short introduction from Do You Know Podcast, a podcast from English Plus Podcast Network. Find the interactive transcript and the PDF practice worksheet on https://englishpluspodcast.com/do ... Show More
4m 33s
Jan 2023
How Glaciers Move
There's always a moment of intense isolation when Jessica Mejía gets dropped off on the Greenland ice sheet for a multi-week research stint. "You know you're very much alone," said Jessica, a postdoctoral researcher in glaciology at the University of Buffalo. Glaciers such as tho ... Show More
13m 50s
Dec 2023
How Glaciers Move — And Affect Sea Level Rise
Glaciers like the ones in Greenland are melting due to climate change, causing global sea levels to rise. That we know. But these glaciers are also moving. What we don't know is just how these two processes – melting and movement – interact and ultimately impact how quickly sea l ... Show More
13m 41s
Jan 2016
Why are no two snowflakes the same?
<p>In this episode, Dr. Ken Libbrecht answers all of our snowflake questions: How are snowflakes made? Why are they different shapes? How is it that they’re all unique? And how does a scientist who lives in southern California study snow?</p><p>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com ... Show More
11m 18s
Jun 2018
Chill: The science of cooking, pt. 2
<p>From ice cubes to ice cream, cold things are a crucial part of cuisine. How do we use chill to our advantage? This is part two of our series on the science of cooking, a collaboration with the brilliant foodies at America's Test Kitchen Kids. This episode is (literally) super ... Show More
29m 1s
May 2017
How Ice Roads Work
<p>Ice roads are more than just a clever way to truck supplies to isolated areas in the cold winter months. In fact, ice roads have played a meaningful role in history. Join Scott and Ben as they test the ice on this unusual method of transport.</p><p> </p> Learn more about your ... Show More
50m 2s
Sep 2020
After the Ice: The Younger Dryas, the Mesolithic, and the Birth of a New World
<p>For most of <em>Homo sapiens</em>' time out of Africa, we lived in a world defined by ice. But by around 20,000 years ago, the ice had begun to melt, the glaciers retreating back toward the poles and mountain ranges. This left behind a new world, a whole different series of en ... Show More
47m 41s