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Good Question 'Reply All': Robins, Rainbows & Socks

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Robins are rocking our lawns this time of year, and that got Mary from Minneapolis wondering: How do robins know where worms are in the ground?

A lot of times you'll see robins tilting their heads. That's called "head cocking," and what they are actually doing is looking for soil pellets on top of the ground that indicate a wormhole and maybe a worm inside.

Robins have good hearing too, but since their eyes are on the sides of their heads, tilting to one side helps them see better.

Plenty of sunshine this week, but Jackie from St. Cloud was wondering about rainbows. She wants to know: Can you actually see or find the end of a rainbow?

"A rainbow is raindrops in the air that is bending the light that creates that arc around the sun," said WCCO meteorologist Mike Augustyniak.

He says if it wasn't for the ground, a rainbow and its "Roy G. Biv" colors would be a full circle. Instead, it's an arc, and unfortunately there's no pot of gold waiting for us.

"It's an optical illusion. So the closer I walk to the end of a rainbow, the farther away the end of the rainbow gets," Augustyniak said. "You're never going to find the end of it."

Jeff from Willmar had a question about socks. He wants to know: Why are socks made to have the seam running across the toes?

Dr. Jeremy Fleischmann of Fairview Clinics believes it's simply the construction of the socks. A seam has to be placed at one end so it's placed at the toes. Some feel that the seam is put there because it's less intrusive.

But not all socks are the same. The seam can sometimes lead to pressure points on the toes of diabetic patients and that can lead to sores or wounds. So there's an actual seamless sock that's made specifically for them to wear.

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