In this episode, we introduce our new mailbag segment, where we answer your questions about the natural world. This time:

Question 1: What are those blue boxes sticking out of East Coast salt marshes?

Question 2: A bunch of wasps swarmed into my friend’s bowl of ramen and died. What poisoned the wasps?

Question 3: Did life begin on Earth just once? Or could it have happened multiple times during the same period?

Question 4: If you ironed out all the mountains in a place like New Hampshire - how much bigger would the surface area of the state be?

Featuring: Gabrielle Sakolsky, Luke Steller, Jared Dyer, Debbie Maciecki, Larry Garland, and Russell Congalton

If you’ve got a question for the Outside/In[box] hotline, give us a call! We’re always looking for rabbit holes to dive down into. Leave us a voicemail at: 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837). Don’t forget to leave a number so we can call you back.

Love Outside/In? You’ll love the Outside/In newsletter! Sign-up here.

The Blue Box

A seagull rests on a greenhead fly trap out in the salt marshes.

Photo Credit: Donald Childs

The Greenhead Fly

A greenhead fly takes its bloodmeal.

Photo Credit: Ed Hoopes

Lab Wasps

Jared Dyer inspecting sticky traps under the microscope.

Trissolcus japonicus

Jared Dyer holding a leaf with a very tiny Trissolcus japonicus, also known as a samurai wasp.

Photo credit: Jared Dyer

The Primordial Soup?

Astrobiologist Luke Steller searching for clues about life origins at Tikitere hot springs, New Zealand.

Image by ABC Catalyst

A Wrinkle In Maps

A topographical map of New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

Author: Charles H. Hitchcock [ca. 1870]

Credits

Reported and produced by Taylor Quimby, Jessica Hunt, Justine Paradis, and Felix Poon

Host: Justine Paradis

Edited by Taylor Quimby

Additional Editing: Cori Princell and Rebecca Lavoie

Executive Producer: Rebecca Lavoie

Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Additional music in this episode from Blue Dot Sessions.