The Science of Whiskers

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!

You can listen to The Science of Whiskers online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The Science of Whiskers is an episode from Tumble Science Podcast for Kids by Tumble Media.

This episode is 16:54 long.

This episode was published on Dec 26, 2025.

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