Grownups, Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Wow in the World early and ad-free right now.
Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or Wondery Kids Plus on Apple Podcasts.
Hey, Wowzer fans, Mindy here.
And before we start the show, I got to let you know that this November, with a special new episode featuring our friends at Circle Round and Terrestrials on Radiolab for Kids,
And don't miss when Elmo from Sesame Street stops by Wow in the World to make us all belly laugh on November 24th.
Oh, but that's not all, Reg.
On December 1st, we are sharing our 250th episode of Wow in the World with all of you.
We think this one is going to be music to your ears.
Literally.
Did I mention it's a musical?
And if you're a member of the World Organization of Wowzers...
Oh boy, do I have a surprise for you.
You can listen to our 250th episode early with me and other members from around the world on Saturday, November 22nd, at 7 pm.
Eastern.
That's right, we are throwing another listening party.
Join us as we dance along to our new songs.
React to the episode with other members in the chat and more.
Grownups.
If you want your wowzer to join this members-only listening party, you can sign up to become a member today at Tinkercastcom.
Slash wow.
Already a member?
Well, you can find the link and password to join the event when you sign in at Tinkercastcom.
Slash wow.
That's it.
It's going to be a November to remember.
But for now, let's get on with the show.
Woo!
We'll be right back.
Let's see here, the recipe calls for two cups of flour.
Why put in only two cups?
I've got a whole bucket of flour.
Yeah, that's gonna make a lot.
Let's see, a dash of milk.
Maybe a little bit more.
A couple of eggs.
Hey Reggie, can you please hand me those eggs over there?
Thanks, buddy.
I'm just gonna crack these babies on my forehead here Oh, man, I got yolk in my eye.
Let's see.
Oh, a little bit of vanilla.
I love vanilla.
Just throw in the whole bottle, Reg.
All right, and just a touch of sugar.
OK.
Reggie, can you help me hoist this bag of sugar up?
Thanks.
OK, just keep pouring.
Yep, keep pouring.
Keep pouring.
You can never have too much sugar.
Yeah, a little bit more.
There, that should do it.
Maybe a little bit more.
Oh, um, come on in.
Hey, good morning, Mindy.
Oh, hey, Guy Raz.
You ready for our big annual brunch-a-palooza?
You bet, Mindy.
I've got everything we need right here.
I brought a cantaloupe display.
Fancy.
I've got some of my homemade granola.
Ooh.
And my world-famous ancient grain and wheat berry salad.
Ooh.
Oh, old grains.
Yeah.
Oh, by the way, how are the pancakes coming?
Almost there.
I just need to figure out how to... Hmm.
How to get this thing working.
Uh, Mindy?
Yeah?
What are you doing with that printer?
Oh, yeah.
So I was reading this article the other day about how 3D printing is changing our world.
So I thought...
Why sit here like a caveman making pancakes on the stove when I can just 3D print them?
Well, that is true about 3D technology, but I don't think this is how it works.
Of course it is.
I just put some eggs in the ink cartridge here, and then the flour I just shove in here, and Mindy
Well, I guess I just thought I would pour the milk into this tray.
The paper tray?
Yeah.
I don't know.
I think this is a bad idea, Mindy.
Guy Raz, when have pancakes ever been a bad idea?
Uh, well... Now excuse me while I just plug this baby in, and...
Press start.
Um... Um, I think it's gonna take a second to really power up the pancakes, you know what I mean?
See?
There we go!
Oh!
Does this mean it's working?
Run for our lives!
Run for our lives!
Run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run!
Wait, wait, let me go!
I can't get behind the sofa right here!
Oh boy, there's pancake batter everywhere.
My beautiful kids!
Huh.
Can't quite put my finger on it, but I kind of feel like something went wrong with my 3D-printed pancakes.
Mindy, what made you think this was a good idea?
Like I said, Guy Raz...
I keep reading about how revolutionary this 3D printing technology is going to be, but every time I try to print out some pancakes, my printer just freaks out.
Well, that's because... Short circuits and starts spinning stuff back at me.
Well, that's... Or explodes.
Well Mindy, that's because you just keep putting ingredients into your paper printer and hoping it'll make pancakes.
That's...
Not how it works?
No, Mindy.
A 3D printer is a machine that prints out very specific three-dimensional objects.
Like pancakes.
Well, yeah.
And actually, there is a 3D printer that's been designed to print pancakes.
But it's so much cooler than that, Mindy.
You can print out almost anything with a 3D printer.
From forks and knives to...
From plastic toys to metal machine parts.
Man, that's so wow.
So how do these 3D printers work anyway?
Well Mindy, first you design or download right onto your computer a 3D model of what you want to print out.
Okay, so you're talking about a three-dimensional object.
Exactly.
Something that isn't flat like a circle, but three-dimensional like a sphere or a ball.
Gotcha.
So how does this work?
So the way it works is you've got your 3D model inside the computer and then a computer program kind of slices and dices it up into thousands and thousands of layers.
Cool.
And then the printer prints out each of these slices from the bottom up, layer by layer.
And then?
And then these layers stick together, and then at the end, you have a solid 3D object.
Wow.
Guy Raz, this might literally be the greatest invention since sliced bread.
In fact, it basically is a loaf of bread.
Huh?
But in reverse.
A loaf of bread in reverse?
What are you talking about, Mindy?
It's like baking each individual slice of bread separately and then gluing them all together from the bottom up to create a whole loaf.
Huh, yeah, I guess you could put it that way.
So let me get this straight, Guy Raz.
You can have a machine in your home that can create almost any object in a matter of hours?
That's exactly right, Mindy.
They're kind of like tiny little factories.
Tiny little factories.
Huh.
Guy Raz.
A human ear.
Hey, Jed?
Can we rewind the tape?
Sure.
Okay, we need a small plastic fork, a fidget spinner, and a human ear.
Yep, that's what I thought you said, Guy Raz.
A human ear?
That's right, Mindy.
It's a process called biofabrication, which is the scientific term for using machines like 3D printers to create living tissue.
And tissue meaning skin and muscles and organs and Guts, that sort of thing?
Exactly.
These specialized medical 3D printers are able to print all kinds of living material using a similar technique to the one we talked about before.
But instead of printing layer after layer in plastic, these 3D printers print their layers in stem cells.
Huh.
Okay, so we know that cells are the building blocks for all living things, right?
Right.
And so stem cells are the cells in your body that can basically transform and then grow into any other cell in your body.
That's right.
And, generally speaking, if you put them near some skin cells, for example, they'll become skin cells.
And if you put them next to some nerve cells, they'll become nerve cells and so on.
Like a cellular chameleon.
And because of this amazing ability, stem cells are perfect for growing artificial skin or bones or even parts of the human heart.
That's so wow.
And Mindy.
Researchers from the University of California in Los Angeles and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland have recently developed a way to 3D print ears for people who suffer from a condition called microtia.
Your whatchia?
Microtia.
Microtia is a condition that results in a person's ear not fully developing when they're a baby.
So it might look like a smaller ear on one side of your head.
Okay, so how exactly are these scientists using 3D printing to help these microtia patients?
Well, Mindy, microtia usually only affects one. one of the patient's ears.
So the scientists start off by scanning the patient's good ear.
Whoa.
Then they use that scan to create a three-dimensional model of the ear on a computer.
Oh, and can't forget to flip it around since it's for the other side of their head.
Right.
And then they print out a 3D model of the ear out of a special kind of material that the stem cells can attach to, kind of like Velcro.
This is so awesome!
The scientists then attach this model, complete with the stem cells, to the ear that they want to grow bigger.
Ooh.
And then they wait.
Wait for what?
For the stem cells to do their thing.
Okay, this is taking forever.
Wait for it.
I gotta go to the bathroom.
Wait for it.
I can't wait.
Wait for it.
I'm warning you, I'm not wearing a diaper.
Almost there.
I'm gonna spontaneously combust.
There, finally.
I was just faking it.
So what's happening?
Once the stem cells have transformed into cartilage cells.
Cartilage.
Oh, that rubbery stuff that our ears and noses are made out of?
Mindy, stop pulling my cartilagey nose.
So rubbery.
Okay, where was I?
Stem cells, cartilage.
Okay, so once the stem cells have transformed into cartilage cells, the 3D model that they were attached to breaks down and leaves behind a fully formed ear.
Wow, I wonder what other 3D body parts we could print off.
You know, Guy Raz, I've always wanted a tail.
Um... For cows.
Yeah, you do fall over more often than you should.
Well, I don't know about a tail, Mindy, but... I want a 3D butt!
But 3D printing is being used in a bunch of different ways in the medical industry.
There are experiments happening with things like...
Printing arms and legs for people who may not have them.
Even artificial skin for people who might have been burned and lost some of their skin.
That is bonker balls, Guy Raz.
You know, maybe it's time I swapped out my old paper printer for one of these fancy new gizmos.
Well, Mindy, if you and everyone else did, it would be a very different world.
I mean, just imagine for a second you've broken something.
Oh, no.
What?
It's a hypothetical situation, Mindy.
It really doesn't matter.
Was it my limited edition custom Guy Raz bobblehead doll?
Uh, you made a bobblehead of me?
Yeah, I keep it in my garden to scare the snails away.
Uh, okay.
What?
Okay, so for example, you've broken your limited edition custom bobblehead of me.
It had so much left to give.
And so you want to replace it...
And then you find out that the bobblehead store has shut down and they can no longer make them.
It can't be replaced.
This just keeps getting worse and worse.
Well, if you had a 3D printer in your home, you could just...
Print a new one right there, right on the spot from the comfort of your own living room.
Wow, so no going down to the store?
Which means fewer cars on the road.
And fewer delivery trucks.
And less packaging.
And I guess there'd be no warehouses to store unused products in.
It would be a completely different world, Mindy.
One where nothing is ever out of stock.
And one with a lot less waste and packaging and pollution.
Exactly.
Exactamundo, Mindy.
And just think about it, Guy Raz.
Where would be the toughest place in the entire universe to deliver something to?
Uh... A place where there isn't much room for storage.
Uh...
A place with a lot of breakable things?
Uh, well, doesn't your great-uncle Godfrey live in the Swiss Alps?
I mean, that's pretty hard to get to.
And way up there, there's not much storage space.
And, well, his yodeling is constantly breaking all of his glass.
Good guess, Guy Raz.
But the place I'm thinking about is... out of this world.
You mean the International Space Station?
Give this guy a prize!
You got it, buddy.
3D printing in space is now pretty normal.
I mean, they've been doing this on the International Space Station since 2014, mostly to print out new tools.
So next time they like lose a wrench up there, they could just boot up the old 3D printer and bust out a new one.
Exactoritos, Guy Raz.
Wow.
But that's not the only 3D printing that's going on in space.
It's not?
Okay well, maybe it is right now, but it won't be for long, because NASA's next big 3D mission is to send a 3D printer to Mars.
To Mars?
Yep.
Okay, so imagine this.
You've just landed on Mars...
It's taken you nine months to get there, and you're absolutely exhausted.
The last thing you're going to want to do is to set up a tent to build your hotel, right?
Obviously.
Well, when those first travelers do get to Mars, they might just open the hatch to find a bunch of homey concrete domes ready and waiting for them.
Mindy, are you talking about first contact?
With aliens?
No.
With autonomously 3D printed buildings?
Yes.
So let me see if I understand this, Mindy.
NASA, the space agency, is sending a 3D printer to Mars to build structures for future astronauts, even before they arrive.
Well, that's the plan.
So NASA engineers from the University of Southern California have been working for years on a robot that works a lot like the traditional 3D printer's, Only way, way more powerful.
So instead of printing in plastic, it uses concrete.
Huh, okay.
Well, if I look in my engineering cookbook right here... You just carry that thing around with you?
Never leave home without it, Mindy.
Let's see here.
Yeah, concrete, rocks, sand...
A touch of water, a sprinkle of chemicals.
Mindy, am I right in assuming that this 3D printing robot on Mars will be using Martian dust and rocks to make this cement?
You know it, Guy Raz.
And because of Mars' atmosphere, which is pretty weak compared to here on Earth, these structures should be able to withstand anything the Martian landscape can throw at it.
That's incredible, Mindy.
Now I'm just wondering what I could do if those NASA engineers let me replace some of that Martian dust with some flour.
Mindy.
A couple of eggs.
Mindy, no.
Just hear me out, Guy Raz.
One enormous 3D printed pancake.
Okay, that does sound pretty great.
Right?
With a little bit of cantaloupe and some ancient grain and farro salad.
You gotta cut that out, man.
Maybe some kale?
You sprinkled around a few organic wow in the world.
We'll be right back.
Grown-ups, this message is for you.
Hey grown-ups, it's mindy and guy ross here from wow in the world.
Mindy and i have some Brand new WoW in the World toys out in the world just in time for the holidays.
Made for the kids who love science and for the ones who don't. yet.
From our 100 experiments, that wow kit to the telescope and astronomy kit.
Our wow in the world toys help your wowzer learn about their world through play.
Plus, you can hear exclusive audio content from me and Guy Raz to help your wowzer discover even more wows.
Grownups give the gift of wow and wonder this holiday season with our latest wow in the world.
That's it.
Back to the show. and Guy Raz.
My name is Stella.
I'm from Denver and my ball in the world is Octopuses Have Three Hearts.
Bye, Minnie and Guy Raz.
I love your show.
Hi, my name is Miranda and I live in Germany and I'm nine years old.
My ball in the world was that we went to Cape Canaveral and I saw a real rocket ship launch and I touched a real rocket ship.
Hi, my name is Mac and I live in Boston, Massachusetts.
I'm seven and three quarters.
And my wild world is that geese fly in a V shape so that each goose doesn't get tired.
Hey, Mindy, does Reggie migrate?
Bye, I love your show.
Hello, Guy, Roz and Mindy.
I am calling from England.
My name is Lachlan.
And I want to tell you that a tomato plant can release a chemical called metajasminate, which makes caterpillars eat other caterpillars.
Hello, my name is Declan and I am from Brooklyn, New York.
My big wow in the world is that I went to the Natural History Museum and saw a big dinosaur.
It was huge.
I don't like your show, but I love your show.
Hi, Mindy.
Hi, Guy Raz.
I'm Anika from South Africa.
My wow in the world is a hippo can run faster than any man on Earth.
Love your shows.
Bye.
Hi, my name is Callie.
I live in Sandy, Oregon.
I am nine.
Here is my wow.
Did you know that petting a cat or just watching one sleep lowers blood pressure in humans?
I love your show.
Hi, we're the Cane and Focal Triplets, Eliana, Judy, and Ezra.
We're seven and a half years old and from Long Island, New York.
And our wow of the world is that we drove through seven states to see the total solar eclipse.
We drove 800 miles away or 4,224,000 feet, which is like a 352,000 trip with Lana from head to toe.
Does it work?
I don't know.
End of messages.
Hey, everyone.
Thank you so much for joining us this week on Wow in the World.
And if you want to keep the conversation going, check out some of the questions we posted on this episode at our website, wowintheworldcom.
And grownups.
There you can find more details on how your kids can become part of the World Organization of Wowzers.
Lots of cool perks there.
Exclusive T-shirts, autographed pictures of us, and a bunch of other cool stuff.
WowInTheWorld.com.
Our show is produced by Jed Anderson.
Say hello, Jed.
Hello.
With help from Thomas Van Kalken, Chelsea Erson, and Jessica Bode.
Meredith Halpern-Ranzer is the big boss.
Our theme song was composed and performed by The Pop-Ups can find more of their awesome all-ages music at thepopupscom.
And parents and teachers.
If you want to send us an email, our address is hello at wowintheworldcom.
Grownups, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at wowintheworld.
And if you want to be featured at the end of the show, call us up and tell us your wow in the world.
Our phone number is 1-888-7-WOW-WOW.
That's 1-888-
And parents.
If you want to upload any photos or videos or messages to us, please visit wowintheworldcom and find a link where you can do just that.
And if you haven't already done so, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or however you get your podcasts.
Leave us a few stars and a review and be sure to tell a friend about the show.
Until next time, keep on wowing.
Wowing.
Made by Tinkercast.
Grownups, if you like Wow in the World, you can listen early and ad-free right now on Wondery+.
Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Wondery Kids Plus on Apple Podcasts.
Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music.
And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.
