Children and teens From 9 years
QUESTION SUR
Quick, simple but precise strokes, clear lines and bright colours. "Questions about" uses image to illustrate the answers provided by the scientific world to satisfy the endless curiosity of children. A specialist takes a close look at each question tackled.


Children and teens | From 9 years
Quick, simple but precise strokes, clear lines and bright colours. "Questions about" uses image to illustrate the answers provided by the scientific world to satisfy the endless curiosity of children. A specialist takes a close look at each question tackled.
Episode 1
1 min
Why do we have tummy ache?
The tummy, that general area of the body also called the stomach, actually contains seven different organs: the end of the oesophagus, the stomach itself, the pancreas, the liver, the gall bladder, the small intestine and the colon. Each one can be a source of pain.
Episode 2
2 min
Why do we have ear ache?
If we look into an ear, we see, at the end of a tube, the eardrum, a small membrane that separates the inner ear from the outer ear. When the eardrum hurts and becomes mat and red, then we're suffering from an ear infection or otitis. But what causes it?
Episode 3
2 min
Why do we have a sore throat?
When a virus or bacteria attack the interior of the throat, the body fights back. That leads to an inflammation of the affected area and the tissues swell, which in turn compresses the nerves, and that hurt's painful.
Episode 4
1 min
Why do we have to wear glasses?
Sometimes we can't see very well and poor vision generally means a blurred vision. The problem isn't due to an illness but to the eye being unable to adjust correctly (refraction). To correct it, we need to wear glasses...
Episode 5
1 min
Why do we sneeze?
Sneezing is automatic, a reflex. It is thought that it helps the nose to clear out substances that could be dangerous for the body.
Episode 6
1 min
Why can we have too much sugar in the blood?
Our body needs energy in order to function. Part of this energy comes from carbohydrates and these are found in all our food. But how do the carbohydrates we eat find their way into our cells?
Episode 7
1 min
Why do we cough?
Coughing is a reflex, its purpose is to clear out the respiratory tract. By in that case, why don't we cough all the time?
Episode 8
2 min
Why do we perspire?
Perspiration plays an important role in regulating our body temperature. It refreshes the skin and the blood vessels of the epidermis...
Episode 9
1 min
Could we live to be 120 years old?
For a long time, myths and religions led people to believe humans could live for a very long time, maybe even forever. But, with the birth of scientific demography and the verification of people's actual life spans, it is generally thought that maximum life expectancy would be about 120 years.
Episode 10
2 min
What is flu?
Flue is an acute infectious disease caused by the influenza virus.
Episode 11
1 min
Qu'est-ce qu'une crise de foie ?
Also known as being "liverish" or, in French, having a "crise de foie", a bilious attack is a painful reaction by the digestive system, generally originating in the abdomen and accompanied by constipation or diarrhoea.
Episode 12
2 min
What is stress?
Stress is the body's response to a physical or psychological threat.
Episode 14
2 min
Why do we take x-rays?
A fall when skiing? Your leg hurts? Perhaps it's broken. But the doctor needs to be certain in order to provide the most appropriate treatment: it's time to head for the X-ray department!
Episode 15
1 min
What is shyness?
The term social anxiety or social phobia is commonly used in psychophysiology to refer to extreme shyness. Social anxiety refers to an intense and constant fear of social situations. It can express itself in several different ways.
Episode 16
1 min
What is a microbe?
A microbe is a micro-organism, something so small that it can only be seen through a microscope. Professor Patrick Linder of the University of Geneva explains...
Episode 17
1 min
What are hiccups?
Hiccups are the result of an involuntary contraction of the diaphragm, a muscle that separates the lungs from the inside of the tummy.
Episode 18
1 min
What is an allergy?
Our body is constantly confronted with substances of every possible origin: food, the air around us, microbes, etc that are found in the environment that surrounds us. Most of these substances are essential and beneficial, but some can make us ill.
Episode 19
1 min
Why do we get a sun tan?
Tanning is the skin's defence to being exposed to ultraviolet (UV) rays. These rays lead to the production of free radicals in skin cells, which in turn damage their DNA.
Episode 20
1 min
Why do we blow our noses?
As the cold weather arrives, we're more and more likely to have a runny nose, although we do blow our noses all year round. But what actually composes this nasal discharge?
Episode 21
1 min
What use is a fever?
Who has never been stuck in bed with a high temperature? We shudder with cold, shiver all over and our temperature can easily rise to 39°C. But what exactly happens?
Episode 22
1 min
Why do we blush?
Blushing is an emotional reaction to a situation that embarrasses us. The younger and shyer we are, the more likely we are to blush.
Episode 23
1 min
What does blood pressure measure?
The heart is a pump which, each time it contracts, sends blood through the arteries with a certain force. In filling the arteries the blood pushes against the artery walls, like the air in a balloon. This is what we call blood pressure; it can be measured with a sphygmomanometer.
Episode 24
1 min
What effect does salt have on food?
Salt has a very distinctive effect on our sense of taste. Some say salt is a flavour enhancer, in other words a substance that makes our taste cells more sensitive and amplifies the flavour of the food that we're eating.
Episode 25
1 min
How does our body keep its temperature at 37°C?
We are equipped with a sort of thermostat in the brain. This thermostat influences our physiology and our behaviour to ensure that our core body temperature always remains at approximately 37°C.
Episode 27
1 min
Why do men have nipples?
Very good question! Effectively, men have nipples just as women do. At first glance, they're not particularly useful for men and should have disappeared. But they didn't...
Episode 28
1 min
Why do fizzy drinks make us fat?
Fizzy drinks contain a very high quantity of sugar. But in that case, how do we manage to swallow them so easily? Because the manufacturers add an acidifier that partially masks the very sweet flavour and gives us the impression that they relieve our thirst. Which they don't...
Episode 29
2 min
How does a power snooze work?
A short 10-20 minute nap is effective to avoid a loss of concentration, a feeling of fatigue or momentary sleepiness. But why is it that we sometimes feel abnormally sleepy?
Episode 30
1 min
Why do we get sun burnt?
The sun is not always a friend and spending too long in the sunshine can turn out to be painful and even dangerous. Why?
Episode 31
1 min
What happens to our body under an anaesthetic?
Everything begins several hours before an operation, when you're asked to stop eating and drinking. The aim: to ensure that your stomach is empty and avoid its contents ending up in your bronchial tubes or on the anaesthetist's gown!
Episode 32
2 min
Why can we be frightened of going to school?
The children who are frightened of going to school aren't necessarily those who, in floods of tears, cling to their parents in the playground. They are often at home and nothing can persuade them to return to school. This is what is known as school phobia.
Episode 33
1 min
Why are the letters on our keyboards arranged as they are?
The origins go back to the design of the first mechanical typewriters. The keys were laid out such as to avoid the metal rods next to one another being used too often.
Episode 34
1 min
How can a country block the internet?
The internet is not a uniform network, but a network of networks; each country is connected to the rest of the internet by known connections. It is all these connections together, between all the different countries that make up the web.
Episode 35
1 min
When did houses first have windows?
From Neolithic times to Ancient Greece and then to the Middle Ages with the arrival of glass, we trace the history of how and when windows appeared in our houses.
Episode 36
1 min
When did we first start wearing shoes?
The oldest shoes come from Armenia where a pair has been dated to 3,600 BC. They are a few hundred years older than those worn by Ötzi, the Iceman found in the mountains of Italy.
Episode 37
2 min
Are there trolleybuses without overhead wires?
A trolleybus is like an ordinary bus but with an overhead pole that connects it to the electrical grid, because the motor of a trolleybus operates using electricity and not thermal energy.
Episode 38
2 min
Would widening motorways get rid of the traffic jams?
Take a motorway that connects two towns. It has two lanes on each side. Over the years, as the population increases and more and more people have cars, the motorway becomes congested. A third lane could well improve traffic flow, but for how long?
Episode 39
1 min
Why and how to birds migrate?
It's easy to understand that few birds want to remain in the far north all year round, but in that case why don't all birds stay permanently in warm countries?
Episode 40
1 min
Why do marmots hibernate?
Mammals can't migrate to more hospitable countries when the cold weather arrives, which leaves them with two possibilities: endure the rigours of winter and hope to find enough to eat, or fall into a deep sleep and live on the reserves of fat they accumulated during the summer.
Episode 41
1 min
Why are snails born with a shell?
Good question! There are also molluscs that look very much like snails, but that don't have a shell, such as slugs. In fact it's the animal that makes its own shell.
Episode 42
1 min
Do fish get thirsty?
It all depends on the fish. Freshwater fish don't get thirsty, whereas saltwater fish do.
Episode 44
2 min
Which animal uses its energy most efficiently for getting about?
A horse, a rabbit, a bee or a human... it's not that easy to compare them. They're not the same size and don't achieve the same speeds. We need to find a common unit of measurement...
Episode 45
2 min
How do bees make their honey?
Honey is produced by a chemical transformation of nectar and honeydew. But how does this transformation take place?
Episode 46
2 min
What makes spiders' webs so tough?
Why do all spiders produce a silk thread from their spinneret? To defend themselves, to protect their young, to move about? An explanation with drawings and images.
Episode 47
2 min
What lays eggs?
Chickens, of course! An egg, it's oval in shape and has a shell made from calcium with teeny tiny holes so the chick can breathe. But if you go to the fishmonger, you'll also find fish eggs...
Episode 48
2 min
How does a catalytic converter work?
Since the middle of the 1950s, road traffic has constituted one of the main sources of air pollution. In, 1986, Switzerland was the first European country to impose the fitting of a catalytic converter to petrol cars to treat exhaust fumes.
Episode 49
1 min
How does a heat pump work?
From the origins of thermodynamics to today's air-conditioning, an explanation with illustrations to explain how heat pumps work.
Episode 50
1 min
How do scales recognise the fruit they have to weigh?
Before a set of electronic scales can recognise the different fruit and vegetables and distinguish between them, it has to "learn" how to do it. But how, exactly, does it learn?
Episode 51
3 min
How do vehicles pollute the air?
Motor vehicles emit two different forms of pollution: emissions that contribute to the greenhouse effect and thus to global warming, but in health terms these are not the most dangerous, and emissions that have a direct effect on our health.
Episode 52
3 min
How do we measure noise?
How to evaluate sound levels? By using a sound-level meter that measures the power of the sound. The result obtained is given in decibels.
Episode 53
2 min
How do road traffic measurement systems work?
There are several different methods used to calculate the number of vehicles that pass a given point on a road. Manual counting is particularly fastidious, but there are also mechanical counting methods, such as the pneumatic road tube method.
Episode 54
1 min
How do touchscreens work?
There are several techniques for detecting the position of a finger or fingers on a screen. What are they?
Episode 55
2 min
Why don't we use lightning to provide electricity?
It's a dream that many people share. Why not use the energy of lightning? In reality it's something that would be very difficult to do...
Episode 56
1 min
How is a ski race timed?
When a skier sets off from the top of the run, their legs open a starting gate which triggers a stopwatch. At the bottom of the run, a transmitter sends a beam of light to a sensor. When the skier crosses the finishing line the beam is cut.
Episode 57
1 min
What is Darwin's theory of evolution?
Charles Darwin's theory is part of a scientific theory: the evolution of species. According to Darwin, animal and plant species had to change in order to survive.
Episode 58
1 min
What is a black hole?
A black hole is the result of matter collapsing in on itself when the force of gravity is stronger than any repulsive force.
Episode 59
1 min
Why do fizzy drinks explode?
We've experienced it at least once, opening a bottle of fizzy drink or sparkling water only to see an uncontrollable geyser gush out. But what causes it?
Episode 60
2 min
Are biofuels environmentally-friendly?
Nowadays, maize and sugar cane are not only grown for food. Part of the production is used to make biofuels.
Episode 61
1 min
Why is snow white?
Snow is composed of millions of individual ice crystals each measuring a few millimetres, snowflakes. Taken individually, each snowflake is actually transparent as it is made of ice.
Episode 62
1 min
Why is seawater salty?
Rainwater runs over the ground, joins streams and then rivers, before finally flowing out into the seas and oceans. So how does this slightly acid water become salty?
Episode 63
3 min
Why is travelling by plane bad for the planet?
Today planes enable us to cover thousands of kilometres in just a few hours and at little cost. But those thousands of kilometres have considerable consequences for the environment.
Episode 64
1 min
How were the Alps formed?
The Alps form part of an immense mountain chain stretching for over a thousand kilometres, from Nice to Vienna. What we see today are the majestic ruins of the folds that gave birth to them, over 30 million years ago.
Episode 65
1 min
Why do trees lose their leaves?
As winter approaches, the trees' metabolism slows down as they adapt to their climate. Their leaves don't have the necessary protection to be able to withstand frost. In order to avoid wasting energy unnecessarily, the leaves are gradually cut off from the vessels that transport the sap.
Episode 66
1 min
Do plants communicate with one another?
It would appear that plants do not generally communicate with one another. However, certain special cases do exist.
Episode 67
1 min
Why do waves always head towards the beach?
Waves don't "advance". If you throw a pebble into a pond, a wave or ripple moves outwards in a circular motion from the point of impact. At the seaside it's not the water of the wave itself that moves towards the coast but the crest of the wave that "advances".
Episode 68
1 min
Why is it colder, the higher the altitude?
Warm air is less dense than cold air. It therefore has a tendency to rise. But at altitude, air pressure drops. The air therefore expands. In expanding, it becomes colder.
Quick, simple but precise strokes, clear lines and bright colours. "Questions about" uses image to illustrate the answers provided by the scientific world to satisfy the endless curiosity of children. A specialist takes a close look at each question tackled.
Réalisation : Tania Chytil
Catégories Children and teens From 9 years
Casting :
Provenance : Switzerland
Partenaire :
La Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) est une entreprise audiovisuelle de service public, appartenant au groupe média SSR (Société Suisse de radiodiffusion et télévision), qui propose des programmes sur quatre chaînes radio, deux chaînes tv et de nombreuses plateformes digitales.
https://www.rtsr.ch/
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