Outside/In: The Ramen Wasp Murders & Other Mysteries

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

1 of 6  —  A greenhead fly trap and resting seagull

The blue color is attractive to greenhead flies, who fly up under the box and are trapped inside.

Photo by Donald Childs

2 of 6  — The greenhead fly

Like deer flies, the bite of the greenhead is quite painful.

Ed Hoopes

3 of 6  — Studying wasps

Jared Dyer inspecting sticky traps under the microscope

Sam Dean

4 of 6  —  Trissolcus japonicus

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

Courtesy Jared Dyer

5 of 6  — Luke Steller

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

ABC Catalyst

6 of 6  — Smoothing out the wrinkles

A topographical map of New Hampshire, circa 1870.

Boston Public Library

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.