Before we start the show, we just want to let you know that Brains On is going on tour.
We're coming to cities across the U.S. and Canada this year.
So New Jersey, we're coming your way first.
We're going to be in Newark on January 17th and Red Bank on January 18th.
Then it's off to San Diego on the 23rd and Anaheim on the 24th.
You can get your tickets at brainson.org slash events.
And we've got a lot more dates that are coming up too, like Seattle and Vancouver.
And we're going to be announcing more very, very, very soon.
So you can go to brainson.org slash events to see the latest cities.
You can come see us sing, dance, do magic, and teach you all about the brain.
That's brainson.org slash events.
We can't wait to party with you.
See you soon.
Brains on Universe.
You're listening to Brains On, where we're serious about being curious.
The world is full of wild, hard-to-believe stories.
Long-necked monsters living in lakes.
Hairy beasts stomping through forests.
Bug-eyed aliens zooming through the sky.
Most of it is pretty easy to spot as a myth or a straight-up hoax.
But what if the wild thing you heard was about a very real place, one you could find on a map?
Today's episode is about a lake in Tanzania, part of eastern Africa.
It sits near an active volcano, has bright red water and some say it can turn living things to stone.
Sounds like something from a fairy tale.
It's gotta be a hoax, right?
Well, sort of turns out the truth is much cooler than the myths.
Stick around.
Hi, Molly and Mark here.
We want to talk to you about something important.
Lonely facts.
At Brains On, we're always finding facts that are lonely and need a home.
And by a home, we mean they need a head to live in.
Because if no one knows about a cool fact, it's just really sad.
Like, look at this poor little fact here.
There were once active volcanoes on the moon.
People should know that.
Or this one.
Lobsters have blue blood.
Such a cool fact.
It should be in everyone's noggin.
That's why we started our Adopt-A-Fact program.
We want to find a head for every cool fact to live in.
And this important work is funded by Smarty Pass.
Just like some people are allergic to pets, some pets are allergic to people.
You go, little fact.
So if facts matter to you, go to brainson.org and join Smarty Pass.
Help us help facts.
Thank you.
You're listening to Brains On, part of the Brains On universe.
I'm Molly Bloom, and I'm joined by Jade from Jefferson City, Missouri.
Hi, Jade.
Hi, Molly.
So Jade, you inspired today's episode after you sent us a very curious question.
I'm going to play it right now.
My name is Jade from Jefferson City Missouri, and my question is how does Lake Natron in Tanzania turn living things to stone?
I saw it on a TV show once and it made me wonder if living things really turn to stone in that lake and what the scientific explanation is.
That is a very, very interesting question.
And I have to admit, I'd never heard of Lake Natron before you sent this question.
So when you heard that, I mean, you wrote to us, you had questions about it.
Do you believe it was true?
Yes.
And so, when you were learning about it, did it feel to you like the animal turned into stone, like immediately?
Or like how did it happen in your mind when you heard about it?
I think it...
Did it immediately.
Cool.
Yeah, a lot of that it seems like it does, because the pictures they show kind of like have the animals kind of like frozen like they're stone.
So when you hear something that's like a new piece of information, you're like wow, can that be true?
What do you usually do?
I look up it on the internet.
And does your mom help you do that?
Mm-hmm.
On the internet now, there's a lot of information, so much information.
There's so much good information.
And there's also information that's not exactly true or accurate.
So it's kind of hard to tell sometimes what's true and what's not.
With that in mind, I asked Mark and Sandin to join us when it comes to figuring out what to believe.
There's nobody like Mark and Sandin's singing cleaning crew.
Wiping, wiping smudges away.
Gonna make those dust bunnies pay.
We've come to clean and not to play.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Um, hey guys.
We actually called you in for a different reason.
Not our singing cleaning service?
Vacuum.
The dirt stands no chance.
It's a vacuum.
No, we need the hoax hunters.
Oh, Hoax Hunters, the show where Shannon and I look into wild claims to see if they are true or not.
Exactly.
We figured when you texted us saying you needed help clearing something up, we thought you meant a mess.
Yeah, but you actually need help clearing up whether or not something is a hoax.
Gotcha.
Consider it done.
We'll take it from here.
And we'll be back, back, back for those cookie crumbs later.
Goodbye.
Thanks, Mark and Sandin.
Let us know what you find.
Sandin and Mark here.
We're two dudes who love finding out what's true... And what's bogus.
Today we're broadcasting from a top secret, heavily guarded, undisclosed location.
Uh wait wait, i thought we were in the brains on basement.
Zip it, ignore him.
We are definitely in a top secret fortress that no one ever.
Oh, the bed sheets are done drying.
Hold on a sec okay fine yes, we're in the basement and it's time for hoax hunters.
Today we're investigating a claim that there's a lake in Tanzania that churns living things into stone.
The lake in question is called Lake Natron.
It's in Eastern Africa, and it's definitely unusual.
It's pretty big.
It can be over 30 miles long and 15 miles wide, depending on the season.
And it sits near an active volcano.
But what really stands out is the color of the water.
Sometimes, in some parts, the water is a brilliant shade of red.
Picture a cup of watermelon juice.
Psh, easy, pictured.
Now, imagine a lake of that stuff.
Whoa.
In satellite images, it can even look like a lake of lava.
Again, whoa.
But sometimes the water is just water-colored, and the lake just looks like a lake.
Whoa!
Wait, sorry.
That's not well-worthy.
That's just normal stuff.
Lake Natron is fed by a river, but some of the water comes up from underground hot springs, which means the water in the lake is like a freshly microwaved burrito.
Really hot.
Over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
And it's full of minerals.
Specifically, a lot of a mineral called Natron.
Hence the name.
So that's the lake.
But what's with these claims?
In northern Tanzania there's a blood-red lake so deadly it can mummify animals just by touching them.
Sounds crazy, but it's true.
Animals that touch its water, they don't come back.
The lake's name is Natron, and it literally turns animals into stone.
Wander too close, and it preserves you.
Eyes open, wings spread, like you were frozen mid-flight.
Those are clips pulled from actual social media posts about Lake Natron.
Some have real pictures of the lake.
But a lot of them use animation or digitally created images.
None of them show a video of something turning to stone.
Hmm, that's sus.
As in, I'm not ready to believe it yet.
It's suspect.
If there really was a lake that could turn things into stone instantly, you'd think there'd be videos of this.
If you do a search, there are pictures of stone-like animals from the lake.
Frozen birds perched on branches or laying on the shore.
They look somewhere between a skeleton and a statue.
But there are also lots of pictures of living things just hanging out near the lake.
They look totally fine.
So what's going on?
Can a lake turn living things into stone?
It's a big wild claim.
So your first instinct should be to get skeptical.
Get skeptical.
That means to put your mental shields up and you question what you hear before you believe.
Consider me a skeptified.
Turning creatures to stone is something you see in movies or maybe hear about in stories.
In Greek mythology, there was Medusa.
She had living snakes for hair.
One look at her would petrify a person.
Instant statue.
In Harry Potter, there was the basilisk, statuifying people at Hogwarts.
In the show Wednesday, there's Ajax, who's a gorgon with snake hair.
He can stonify you if he takes off his hat.
You also see people turned into stone in the Narnia series, in the Zelda games, in folktales and in anime.
It's a pretty common theme.
But in real life, animals are turning like statues, but not like you see in movies or TV.
And there's a lot of really cool science happening at Lake Natron.
We'll tell you about it in a minute.
But first, Sandon, we should really fold these sheets.
Oh, man.
I was hoping you were going to say that.
I hate when my pillowcases get all wrinkly.
Oh, but who's going to fold the fitted sheet?
Not it.
Not it.
Oh, man.
Fine.
I'll do it.
I'll be right back.
Fitted sheets are so hard to fold.
Where are the corners on these things?
I can't even see it.
Oh.
Hey Jade, while we wait to hear the rest of the story from Mark and Sandon, do you want to wade into another mystery?
Yes.
It's time for the... Mystery Sound.
Ready, Jade?
Mm-hmm.
All right.
Here it is.
So what are your guesses?
I think it's like somebody typing on their computer.
Ooh, yes, because it's kind of clicky sounding.
Do you want to hear it again?
Yes.
Or like somebody clipping somebody's hair with scissors.
Oh, that's really good.
I really like that guess.
When I heard it this time, it almost had like a beat to it.
It was like bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum.
Maybe it was someone really tiny playing the drums, like a cricket.
Or for some reason, I'm picturing a cricket playing the drums.
I think your guess is more reasonable.
Scissors or typing.
Okay.
Well, we'll hear it again, get another chance to guess, and hear the answer at the end of the show.
So keep listening.
We are working on an episode all about how we divide up generations.
You and all the kids you know are in the same generation.
Which name would you give your generation?
Right now, people are calling you Gen Alpha, which is kind of boring.
It basically just means Generation A. Listeners, please write to us and tell us what you think.
What would you call your generation?
You can head to brainson.org slash contact and send us your recording.
We don't believe everything we're told.
And when we see laundry, we gotta fold.
We're the Hoax Hunter singing cleaning crew.
Ah, all folded.
Nice.
Okay, back to... Hoax Hunter.
To find out what's really going on with Lake Natron, the lake, some people say, can turn animals to stone.
We called up someone who's been there.
Niuvitis Sianga works for African People and Wildlife.
That's an organization that helps people keep Africa's wild resources healthy.
He works with local communities around Lake Natron to protect the lake.
We asked him about the water turning things to stone.
It's real.
This is something real.
So how does it happen?
When the animals die in or near the lake, their bodies can be calcified or mummified by the sodium carbonate in the water.
Calcified means the minerals in the lake harden the dead animal's body.
Basically, it gets turned into something hard like a statue, but not actual stone.
But...
There's a very huge and important detail about this that a lot of those sensational videos missed.
It's so important to note here that it doesn't turn live animals instantly into stones.
The calcification happens after the death, not when they are alive.
Did you catch that?
This isn't a touch it and you turn to stone kind of lake.
The process takes a very long time.
Weeks, months, maybe years.
The animals that people find around the lake looking like stone, they died and ended up in the lake.
Then the water changed their corpses over time.
Here's how it works.
The water in Lake Natron is filled with minerals, like the one called Natron.
It's also very alkaline, which means it's sort of like bleach.
Nasty, harsh stuff.
Your skin would be super irritated if you dunked your hand in there, but you wouldn't turn to stone.
But if an animal dies and ends up in that water over time, the minerals in the lake would suck out the moisture and fat from that dead body, drying it out like a wet sponge baking in the sun.
The minerals would build up in the carcass.
And what would be left is a hard, calcified body.
And it would be well preserved, like it was mummified.
In fact, in ancient Egypt, people used similar chemicals to mummify bodies.
But again, this is a slow process.
The minerals need time to do their thing.
Which is why it only works with dead animals.
Because dead animals can't move.
So the lake that turns things to stone is not a total myth.
But it's also not as dangerous as some people make it out to be.
We hunted that myth so good, bro.
Oh, yeah.
We don't miss when it comes to mystery.
Yeah.
Okay, cool fact alert.
Turns out there are animals that live and thrive in this lake, too.
Here's Neo Vidas again.
So definitely the flamingos are the most famous ones.
And Natron is one of the most important breeding sites of flamingos.
Specifically, a type called the lesser flamingo.
They love chilling in Lake Natron.
It's like the premier lesser flamingo party destination.
Flamingos are for real super tough.
Their scaly legs do just fine in that ultra-hot, chemical-filled lake water.
And that harsh water keeps baddies who want to eat them away.
So Lake Natron is a really great spot for these birds.
Almost 75% of the global population of these birds depend on this Lake Natron.
There are also certain fish that can live in the lake.
And there are teeny tiny microbes living in that water too.
Microbes are super small organisms.
The ones at Lake Natron actually eat the salty minerals.
And they make a reddish pigment, which is what gives the lake that striking color.
And the lake, it doesn't really drain anywhere.
So when the water evaporates, the lake just gets shallower.
But all the salts and the microbes, they stay behind and they build up over time.
That's when it starts looking really red.
So the color is actually thanks to a microbe pigment.
The same pigment is the one that makes the lesser flamingos pink, because that's what they eat most of the time.
So they eat the microbes from the lake.
That's true of all flamingos, by the way.
The pink comes from microbes.
Now you know, yo.
Take a look around the lake and you'll find leopards, elephants, lions, giraffes, and people.
It's a place full of life.
But like lots of cool spots in nature, It needs to be protected.
Climate change is heating the area up, leading to more and more evaporation.
And rainfall is getting less predictable, so the lake isn't filling like it used to.
Plus, people are moving herds of animals through the area, which can make the soil kind of crumbly and dry.
And that makes it easier for big chunks of earth to kind of slide off into the lake, which messes with the delicate balance of chemicals in the water.
All of these reasons, and more, are why people like Neovitis and the African People and Wildlife Group are working to protect Lake Natron.
Thanks, Neovitis.
Keep that flamingo party spot hopping.
And if you need a cleaner, give us a call.
Yeah, we'd clean it.
We'd clean it.
I mean, we'd charge, but we'd clean it.
So it turns out Lake Natron can calcify a dead animal, but it takes time.
So where did the myth of Lake Natron turning animals instantly into stone come from?
There's a good story here and a good lesson in checking your sources.
A-C-Y-S, dude.
Always check your sources.
Plus, we'll tell you about another cool thing that happens at Lake Natron.
Phantom rain.
You won't need an umbrella for that, so stick around because it's coming up right after the mailbag.
Hello, it's me, Molly, again.
We love getting mail from you.
It is truly the very, very best.
One of our favorite things to get in the mail is drawings.
And since this is a podcast, audio only, and we can't show them to you, I'm gonna describe a couple.
Chelsea from Portland, Oregon actually sent us physical mail.
You can find that address at our website, BrainsOn.org.
She cut four circles on paper and on each one she drew a fabulous replica of the Brains On Smash Boom Best Forever Ago and Moment of Um logos.
The attention to detail is inspiring.
Like each little item on the Forever Ago shelves, the different colors of all the ums on the Moment of Um one.
Excellent work, Chelsea.
Thank you for sending it to us.
Oh, and then here's another one.
This is a photo from Cora and Noah from Arlington, Virginia.
And they wrote, we want to show you a picture of this cool carrot.
It looks like it's a person crossing its legs.
Enjoy.
And you know what?
This carrot does exactly look like a person crossing their legs.
And I did enjoy.
So whether you have a drawing of Mark and San unfolding towels, Wombat Pete playing handball hacky sack, or you just want to send us a photo of a cool carrot, we love getting mail from you.
Head to brainson.org contact to reach out.
Thanks.
Brains On is independent, which means without your support, we wouldn't exist.
If you join Smarty Pass, you can get all our episodes without ads.
Plus, you can get a custom message from me or Joy for our birthday, graduation, or whatever.
Go to BrainsOn.org to sign up.
Thanks.
Welcome back to...
That's Sandon, and I'm Mark.
And we're talking about Lake Natron.
A very real place with some pretty unreal features.
Like phantom rain.
Picture this.
You're hiking around Lake Natron, enjoying the wild landscape.
Oh, a herd of wild giraffes.
You wipe your brow.
Sweaty sweat.
Boy, it's a hot one here.
Typical in this part of Africa.
But look!
Rain clouds headed your way.
You don't have an umbrella, so you start heading back to the jeep as fast as you can.
The clouds are rolling in faster and faster.
You've got a long way to go.
Looks like you might lose this race.
So you give up and decide to get soaked.
The clouds come in, raining right overhead and...
Nothing.
Not a drop.
It's phantom rain.
This happens when it's so hot that rain evaporates before it hits the ground.
Wild, but true.
Now, let's get back to the story of Lake Natron.
As you remember, people made some wild claims about the lake.
It literally turns animals into stone.
It can mummify animals just by touching them.
Wander too close and it preserves you.
As we learned, the lake only turns dead things to stone.
And it takes a long time.
Which, last time I checked, is the opposite of instant.
So where did this myth come from?
Turns out we have a pretty good idea of how this rumor started.
The year was 2013.
Taylor Swift was on tour with her red album.
The words twerk and selfie made it into the Oxford English Dictionary.
Let me take a selfie of me twerking.
People were watching Iron Man 3, Despicable Me 2, and Frozen Part 1.
And Lake Natchan made headlines thanks to a photographer named Nick Brandt.
Nick published a book of photos from Africa called Across the Ravaged Land.
Nick is a nature photographer and his goal with the book was to call attention to how humans and habitat loss were hurting the nature in that part of the world.
In the book, there are pictures of Lake Natron.
Specifically, it shows petrified birds and bats that died around the lake.
But to make it more dramatic, Nick took these animals he found and posed them in lifelike positions.
Some were sitting on a branch, others perched on a rock.
In the book he says he posed them like that so that they'd look quote alive again in death unquote.
It made it look like the animals were turned to stone, while they were just sitting there minding their own business.
When people saw these photos, they assumed that it happened instantly.
Because the pictures made it look like these animals were still sitting upright and living when it happened.
But anyone who read more about it would have known that these were staged photos.
Sometimes, though, pictures travel faster than words, especially online.
So the myth of the lake that churns living things to stone went viral.
But now you know the truth.
It's a good reminder, when you see something unbelievable, try to find out where it came from.
If you can't track down the name of the photographer, that's a bad sign.
And even if you find out who shot the pic, try to read more about how they took the photo.
Was it part of an art project where they were trying to make pictures that look like a fantasy?
Did they use Photoshop to change the pictures digitally?
Or did they pose a bunch of petrified animals to make them look alive?
The wilder the picture, the more you should question it.
So that's the scoop on Lake Natron.
Have you seen something hard to believe online?
Have you heard a myth you want fact-checked?
Send it to hoaxhunters at brainson.org slash contact.
And if you have stubborn grease stains that you need scrubbed off your stove, call Mark and Sandin Singing Cleaning Service.
We love myths, but we hate baked-on grease, yeah!
Back to you, Jade and Molly.
Hoax Hunters, over and out.
Don't get hoaxed.
So what surprises you about what we learned?
How the animals die and then they turn into looking like stone, but they're not stone.
Totally.
What feeling did you have when you first learned about it?
I felt worried for the animals.
Yeah, I would be too, because you're like, wait a second, this lake.
If they touch it, they turn to stone.
I don't want that to happen to the cute animals, right?
Mm-hmm.
So now, knowing that there's actually animals who live there, who are happy and it doesn't turn them to stone, how does that make you feel now?
Excited.
That's awesome.
So maybe we can go visit and say hi to the flamingos and give them high fives or something.
Do you think flamingos give high fives?
No.
Probably not.
They don't even have a hand with five fingers.
That would be too hard.
Maybe we can just salute them from a distance.
That might be better.
Yeah.
Thank you so much, Jade, for sending in your question.
And to anyone else with a question about a wild claim, send to us at brainson.org.
Lake Natron is a real lake in Tanzania, Africa.
The water there sometimes looks red.
And it's full of chemicals that can petrify dead animals.
But it doesn't turn them to stone instantly.
It takes a long time for them to be calcified.
Lake Natron is also an important place for lots of animals, like the lesser flamingo.
So it's important we protect it.
That's it for this episode of Brains On.
This episode was produced by Mark Sanchez, Shannon Totten, and me, Molly Bloom.
Special thanks to Madison Washington and Vicki Lentour.
Okay, Jade, let's take a listen to that mystery sound again.
Here it is.
All right.
What do you think this time?
I think it's somebody typing the computer.
All right.
I think that's a great guess.
I'm going to go with your guess, my cricket guess.
Probably unlikely, I would say.
All right.
Here is the answer.
Hi, my name is Alexander.
I am from South Jordan, Utah.
My mystery sound is R.
Trigger release ice cream scoop.
What?
An ice cream scoop?
I could have never guessed that.
Me neither.
So have you seen those ice cream scoops that have like a little thing on the side that helps the ice cream come out?
Like a little... Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
I never would have guessed that.
Very tricky mystery.
Do you like ice cream though?
Yes.
Me too.
What's your favorite flavor?
Chocolate and vanilla mixed.
My favorite is chocolate with rainbow sprinkles.
Do you like any toppings?
Oreos.
So good.
Okay.
We may not have gotten the mystery sound correct, but next time we see each other, we're getting ice cream.
Don't you think?
Now it's time for the Brain's Honor Roll.
These are the incredible kids who keep the show going with their questions ideas, mystery sounds, drawings and high fives.
Tino from Nashville, Charlie from Portland Oregon, Ryder from Crested Butte Colorado, Kieran from Odenton Maryland, Ian from Alexandria Virginia, Iona from Moreland Hills Ohio, Julia from Montreal, Finn and Jack from Columbus, Ohio.
Wesley from Lansdale, Pennsylvania.
Eileen from Ankara, Turkey.
Eli from Watertown.
Carter from Louisville, Texas.
Lily Joy and Benaiah James from Midwest City, Oklahoma.
Alistair from Seattle.
Jackson from Honolulu.
Joey from Xuanzhang, China.
Elena from Houston, Texas.
Lawrence and Carson from Kaiserslautern, Germany.
Nora from Amesbury, Massachusetts.
Asher from Amsterdam.
Ethan from Houston, Texas.
Declan from Waxahachie, Texas.
JJ from Beaver, Pennsylvania.
Lucy from Bloomington, Illinois.
Izzy and Jack from Lower Merion, Pennsylvania.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Lila from Toronto, Madeline from Charlotte, North Carolina, Victor and Margaret from Chicago, Santiago from Minneapolis, Leon and Ray from Columbus Ohio, Benjamin from Bolingbrook Illinois, Jackson and Jorday from Miami Florida, Jack and Emmy from Miami Florida, Penelope from Los Gatos, California.
Valentine from Laos, Caroline from Evanston Illinois, Carson and Colton from South Jordan, Utah.
Maya from Bartlett, Illinois and Josiah from Boston, Massachusetts.
We'll be back next week with another episode of Brains On.
Thanks for listening.
