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Hey, Wowzer fans, Mindy here.
And before we start the show, I gotta 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!
Ah, what a beautiful day. evening.
A clear, dark sky, quiet, and just me and my telescope.
Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing could take away from this peaceful bucolic night.
Oh, I love looking at the stars.
That's it!
Sounding great, guys!
What is that?
Over Much better.
I can hear you now.
What were you saying?
Mindy, what in the world are you doing?
What?
I was enjoying a peaceful night in this field looking through my telescope at the stars.
Oh, wow.
Well, that sounds like fun.
Can I take a look?
Mindy, why are you making such a racket?
A racket?
Guy Raz, are you talking about those sweet sounds you just heard?
Can it, boys!
Shh!
Sorry.
Guy Raz, that was my...
Pots and Pans band practicing for our Wednesday night jamboree.
Well, actually, I'd have preferred the Moonlight Sonata.
Oh, we can do that.
Hey, boys, Moonlight Sonata.
Ready?
No.
And a one, and a two, and a... No, Mindy, no.
That's not what I was asking for.
Can I just get some peace and quiet here?
Ooh, Guy Ross, calm down.
You don't have to shout.
Man, my ears.
Ah.
Okay, I guess I'll send the band home.
Time to pack it in, boys!
Wrap it up!
Thank you.
Okay, so you were saying?
Well, I was trying to observe the cosmos.
You mean outer space?
Yeah.
With this little telescope?
Well, yeah.
I'm hoping to try and understand the mysteries of our universe.
Mysteries?
Yeah.
Mysteries like what?
Well, for starters, the biggest mystery of all, which is...
How did we even get here?
How did we get here?
Well, let me see.
We took the 32 bus from 5th Avenue and Broadway and then we got up at the wrong stop.
No, no, no, no.
Not how did we get here to this particular park, but how did all of us humans get here?
Like, how did our planet get here?
How did the sun and our solar system and all the stars and planets in the sky get here?
Wait a minute.
Are you talking about...
The origins of our universe?
Yes.
The source of our existence?
Yes.
Okay, then I'm going to need to put on my leotard.
Where is it?
And my sweatband.
Leotarded sweatband?
Oh, yeah.
Because, Guy Raz, it's time to get metaphysical.
You get it?
Oh, brother.
Here.
I brought you a Moo Moon Melon Unitard.
It's one size fits most.
Not sure I'll be needing that.
I'm just trying to explore one of the greatest theories in cosmology.
Cosmology.
Cosm... Oh, cosmology!
You're talking about, like, the study of our universe, right?
Yep.
And one of the greatest scientific theories in cosmology, or explanations based on facts and information found by scientists, is what's known as the.
I think I know where this is going.
Well, can you guess?
If I was a betting man, I'd say you were talking about the Big Bang.
Exactamundo, Mindy.
I'm talking about the very, very, very...
Very beginnings of our universe and everything and everyone inside of it.
Man, if only I could hop into the time machine and see it.
Well, that would be cool, but maybe we don't have to do that.
In fact, every single night, of every single day, of every single year, each and every one of us can become a time traveler.
Without a time machine?
Go on.
Here, here, let me show you.
Right now?
Go ahead, Mindy.
Look through the telescope.
Okay.
Well, yeah, let me look through this thing.
Hmm.
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
Oh, I think the star I'm looking at is... Is that Proxima Centauri?
That's the one.
And as you know, Mindy, Proxima Centauri is the closest star in space to our solar system.
Okay, but just to be clear, the closest star to Earth is, of course, our own sun.
Right.
Our sun is the center of our solar system.
We have eight planets in our system that orbit or circle the sun.
And I always kind of think of our solar system as like our block or our neighborhood.
Interesting.
Because our solar system is kind of like our neighborhood, but in space.
That's a really interesting way to think about it.
And Mindy in space, just like with neighborhoods, there are millions and millions more solar systems in space.
Millions of suns with their own planets circling around.
Well, does that mean that there are other creatures out there somewhere in space?
Well, we just don't know for sure Mindy, but if I had to guess, I'd probably say there's a decent chance, because our planet Earth is just one teeny teeny, tiny planet in our galaxy, our galaxy known as the Milky Way.
Yep.
Named after the famous candy bar.
Huh?
Nope.
And in the Milky Way.
There are millions of solar systems and, astronomers believe, as many as 400 million other planets.
And that's just our galaxy.
Exactly.
The Milky Way galaxy is full of 100 million stars and 400 million planets, and that's just one galaxy in a universe of millions or maybe billions more galaxies.
This is science.
Can't wait to make friends with aliens.
We'll jump rope.
We'll have a lemonade stand.
We'll collect pond water and stick it under a microscope.
We'll trade baseball cards.
We'll be best friends forever.
Well, I'm not so sure that's going to happen anytime soon, Mindy.
Why?
Well, for starters, the distances in space are so vast, so huge that, even if there are other living creatures somewhere out there in the cosmos, there's a good chance that, if they exist,
They haven't figured out how to travel through space and time to come and visit us.
Wait a minute.
I almost forgot, Guy Raz.
You said that if I looked through this telescope, I'd become a time traveler.
And Guy Raz, I don't know about you, but I'm standing right here, right next to you, in this park, looking up at the stars.
Bingo!
Bingo, Mindy, you got it!
I won bingo?
Bingo?
Bingo, as in you hit the nail on the head.
I'm not even holding a hammer.
You hit the bullseye.
The what?
Collared the horseshoe.
Okay, enough with the idioms.
I get it, but I don't see how I became a time traveler.
Mindy, just by looking up at that star, Proxima Centauri, you are seeing the past.
You are looking at history happen right before your eyes.
I think I know what you mean.
Proxima Centauri is the closest star to our solar system.
It means it's about 4.2 light years away.
Right.
It takes the light coming from Proxima Centauri about four years and a few months to reach the Earth.
Which means that when I look at this star from here on Earth, I'm looking at it years ago.
Yes!
You and me, Mindy, we are time travelers right at this very moment.
And anybody on planet Earth can be one, too.
Wow!
We're real-life, grade-A 100 certified organic non-GMO, free-range time travelers right here in the Wait a minute.
Guy Raz, why are you so excited?
What do you mean?
I mean we own time machine!
My dad was working on it for 30 years and I finally helped him finish it!
Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that hunk of junk.
Speaking of which... Come on, Guy Raz!
Here, put this on, quick!
A helmet?
Why do I need a helmet?
Oh, my seagull Robert requires them of all passengers now.
Robert Seagull?
What happened to Reggie?
Oh, so Reggie's auditioning for the school play Bye Bye Birdie.
Huh?
So Bob the seagull here decided to step in and help me out.
He's newly retired, so he's got a lot of free time to fill.
Where are we going anyway?
My house.
Come on.
Your house?
Well, technically, it's a gingerbread mansion.
You ready?
Not really, but here we go.
Believe i missed landing with reggie.
Glad i wore that helmet, mindy.
Mindy, where are you over here?
Guy was just dragging the time machine out of my garage here.
Can you help me with this?
Oh no mindy, do you know how late it is?
Nine o'clock.
Why?
Well, it's a weeknight, and I was supposed to be in my jammies a half hour ago.
There is no way I can travel through space and time at this very moment.
Well, good for you.
I have the perfect solution.
Uh-oh.
We'll go back in time to the very, very, very beginning of our universe.
You mean the Big Bang?
Yep, the Big Bang.
You mean 13.8 billion?
You got it, Galileo.
Well, how do you expect to go back in time 138 billion years ago, witness the Big Bang and get me home in time in bed, by 9 pm?
Ah, well, glad you asked me, compadre, because after we've witnessed the Big Bang...
All we have to do is set the time machine to 30 minutes before your bedtime and Presto back with time to spare.
Exact Doritos.
You'll have time to brush, floss, rinse, and repeat.
Oh, I love those nights.
Come on, hop in, Copernicus.
I'll let you drive this time.
All right.
Here, take the keys.
Let's set this baby to 13.8 billion years ago.
Okay.
Here...
We interrupt this program for a brief barf break.
Wow.
In the world.
We'll return in three, two, one.
What a journey.
And so glad you lined the time machine with those covers we use on the backseat of the car.
I mean, it really kept the barf from making a big mess.
Yeah, good call, Guy Raz.
Plus, it preserves the resale value of the time machine.
So, Mindy.
Hmm?
What do you hear?
Nothing.
Listen.
I'm listening.
What do you hear?
Nothing.
Is it possible to hear nothing?
Yes, you are hearing nothing because we are in the middle of nothing.
Hold the phone, Guy Raz.
If we're in the middle, we have to be in the middle of something.
If there's nothing, there's no middle.
Yeah, fair point.
So Mindy, peek through the window here, because we're probably better off keeping the hatch of the time machine closed, just to be on the safe side.
Especially once the big bang starts to go bang.
So...
Look out here, right here, Mindy.
Okay.
What do you see outside the window?
Describe what you see.
Is nothing an answer?
Yes, that's right, nothing.
Nada, nunca, no dice, nothing.
So this is where it all began, huh?
Yep, nothing.
There is nothing to see here.
Move it along, folks.
No here, here.
No there, there.
No where, what.
Or who, but.
Why?
Okay.
So if what I think is about to happen will happen very soon, we should start to see the birth of our universe.
You ready?
I'm not seeing anything.
Wait for it.
I'm very impatient.
Wait for it.
Still not seeing anything.
Wait for it.
Okay, I can't stand it anymore, Guy Raz.
You're saying there's going to be a giant explosion, a bang, and then the universe as we know it is going to form.
Well, not exactly.
There was probably no single moment when everything just exploded.
The truth is, no one really knows how it all happened.
So what are we waiting for?
Well, good question.
I'm not really sure, but...
Where we are right now?
In the middle of nothing.
In the middle of nothing?
There's intense energy.
Can you feel it?
Uh, no.
Not feeling it.
Hmm.
I had hoped we might feel something.
So, are we supposed to see something?
Well, I'm not sure.
I mean, all I know is that around 13.8 billion years ago...
There was this invisible, intense energy.
So much heat and pressure that it started to expand and expand and expand.
And as that heat and energy expanded and grew... It started to build our universe.
Yup.
All the stars and planets and asteroids and space rocks and eventually our Earth.
Oh, did you just hear that?
Yeah, yeah.
I heard something.
It's starting to feel like... is being pushed out.
Hey, hey.
You feel that?
Hey, Mindy.
Yeah?
We might be experiencing the earliest phase of the Big Bang.
The expansion of our universe?
Yeah, and I'm feeling like our time machine is about to get blasted into space.
It's starting to make sense.
What's starting to make sense?
My trampoline.
What?
My trampoline.
Your trampoline?
Guy Raz, what on planet Earth are you talking about?
Quick, let's go to the backyard.
I want to show you something on my trampoline.
Guy Raz, you told me it's a weeknight and you had to be in bed by 9 o'clock.
This is no time for jumping on the trampoline.
Come on, Mindy, to the trampoline.
I'm so confused.
Run, run, run, run.
Come on, up here, Mindy, come on.
Come on, get up here.
Okay, but what does a trampoline have to do with any of this?
Okay, well, think about our universe kind of like a trampoline.
Ooh, does it have a basketball hoop attached?
Not for the purposes of this experiment.
Oh, gotcha.
So, imagine that at the center of this trampoline, we put a really heavy bowling ball.
Okay, still not sure why, but...
Alright, so lucky for you, I just happen to have a bowling ball in my backpack here.
Perfect.
Okay, now imagine our planet Earth is like this baseball here at the edge of the trampoline, okay?
Okay.
When the bowling ball in the center of the trampoline moves...
Look what happens to the baseball at the edge.
Oh, it moves too.
Precisely, Mindy, precisely.
This is exactly what the famed physicist Albert Einstein was talking about.
Wait a minute.
You're telling me the Nobel Prize winning physicist Albert Einstein had a trampoline?
You think he did flips on it?
No, no, no, Mindy, of course not.
But you just said Albert Einstein had a trampoline.
No, no, no.
What I'm trying to figure out is Einstein's theory of gravitational waves.
You're talking about Einstein's theory that if something really big happened out there in distant space, somewhere in the cosmos, we should in theory Feel it right here on Earth.
Yes, the theory of gravitational waves.
Just like when the bowling ball moves at the center of the trampoline, it makes the baseball at the edge of the trampoline move as well.
But did Albert Einstein ever prove his theory?
No, not during his lifetime.
But amazingly, Mindy, in the past few years, astrophysicists... You mean the scientists who try to explain how our universe was born?
Right, those scientists...
They detected a gravitational wave here on Earth.
You mean they noticed something big happening in distant space that reached here on Earth?
Yes, exactly.
Here, here.
Let me show you in my birdbath over here.
Man, between your trampoline and your birdbath, your backyard is getting pretty cramped, Guy Raz.
So watch as I toss this pebble into the birdbath.
All I see are ripples going out from where you dropped the pebble.
Exactly.
Those ripples expand out from where the disturbance in the water was.
And in this case, the disturbance was caused by the pebble.
So that's sort of like how gravitational waves work.
Yes.
And Mindy, something incredible happened right here on Earth on August 17th, 2017.
And we just found out about it.
August 17th.
Oh, wait.
I know.
August 17th is National I Love My Family.
No, no, no, no.
That's not it, Mindy.
Oh, sorry.
I took a guess.
It's also Black Cat Appreciation Day.
No, no, no, Mindy.
Besides, those aren't real holidays.
They're just made up by marketers to try and get us to buy things and discuss them on.
Morning news shows in the third hour, when no one's watching.
Okay well, you may not love your feet, but I know that on August 17th I was soaking my old dogs in a warm bath of Epsom salts.
Well, on that very same day Mindy, August 17th, astrophysicists detected a gravitational wave, a ripple in space that they were able to detect using a very special laser that, for a brief moment Mindy, stretched and squished every single one of us on Earth.
Wait a minute.
You're saying we all got stretched and squished on August 17th?
Exactamundo, Mindy.
Every single human creature and object on planet Earth.
Even if we didn't actually feel it on that day, a gravitational wave, 130 million years in the making, arrived to our planet and passed through all of us.
You know...
Come to think of it, I do remember reaching all the way up to that top shelf in my library to check on the status of my sea monkeys, and I did it without a stool.
Well, that sounds like a coincidence, but it is true.
For the briefest of brief moments, we all grew a teeny tiny bit that day.
Well, what happened on August 17th to make that possible?
Mindy.
On that date, August 17th.
In 2017, astrophysicists working in labs around the world all detected a spectacular explosion.
That happened 130 million years ago.
Wait a minute.
130 million years ago?
Yes.
A ginormous explosion in distant space.
An explosion that is so far away, it took 130 million years for us to see it here from Earth.
Wow, that's sort of like when we were looking at the stars earlier tonight.
Exactly.
We were looking at the star Proxima Centauri and And that star's light took four years for us to see it now.
Right, because Proxima Centauri is a star that's about four light years away from Earth.
Which, by my calculations, would take us about 165 thousand human years to get to on the space shuttle.
Wow, really?
Well, yeah, because we humans don't have the technology to travel as fast as light does.
Mindy, what happened 130 million years ago was so powerful, so incredibly huge, that it created a gravitational wave, just like on the trampoline, just like in my bird bath.
So what caused the explosion?
Well, two giant neutron stars collided, an explosion so big it's called a kilonova.
And neutron stars are small stars, but very, very powerful stars.
So powerful Mindy, that in that moment, when those two neutron stars crashed into each other, it produced an explosion more powerful than all of the energy our own sun could make in 10 days.
That's exactly what astrophysicists believe they all witnessed.
And even though that explosion has long passed, the energy from that explosion just reached us here on Earth in 2017.
That's bonker balls!
And it's not just bonker balls.
It's beyond bonker balls Mindy, because this discovery has helped astrophysicists get one step closer to the truth, to understanding just how our universe was created.
Color me impressed.
And it gets better Mindy, because this gravitational wave wasn't just detected by the special lasers astrophysicists use.
A NASA satellite up in space called Fermi was also able to see that massive explosion.
Wow, so what happened after the explosion?
This is where it gets even more amazing.
What?
That explosion created 1,000 trillion tons of gold.
Gold?
Quick, Guy Raz.
Get it to the time machine.
We're going to be rich.
We're going to be rich.
Well well, hold on just a minute there Mindy, because even if we could get up there, we'd probably get turned into dust, simply because that explosion was hot, hotter than anything we've ever known.
But 1,000 trillion tons of gold?
I mean, at today's price of gold.
Okay, so one gram is about $40.
One ton is 907,000 grams.
So 907,000 grams times a trillion, that would be... Mindy, don't, don't.
That calculation is too big for your calculator.
Don't worry, little buddy.
Just a few more adjustments and... Mindy, it's too big a number.
You're gonna...
Whoa.
Short circuit.
Better start saving for a new calculator.
Man, if I just had some gold to buy one with.
Oh, no.
I'm going to bet because I know where this adventure is going to end.
But if we just put on our heat shield and the time machine.
No way.
No way.
Besides, if I don't get eight hours of sleep, I get really grumpy in the morning.
Come on.
Don't be a party pooper.
Just relax. little trip in the time machine?
No way.
Come on, just one teeny tiny itsy bitsy journey to the greatest gold rush in history?
I think I'll stick with staying here on Earth for now.
Okay.
Well, how about a goodnight lullaby?
That sounds really nice.
What do you got?
Oh, my Pots and Pants band wrote something special for this very occasion.
No!
Boys, hit it!
No, no, no!
We call it Sweet supernova sonata.
You like it?
Maybe.
Wow in the World will be right back.
Grownups, this message is for you.
Hey, grownups.
It's Mindy and Guy Raz 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 I live in Cincinnati.
My wow in the world is that NASA discovered a new planet called Planet X.
It is about as big as Neptune and in the solar system
Half Pluto.
Thanks.
Bye.
Hi, Guy, Roz, and Mindy.
I'm Daphne.
And I'm Audrey.
I'm nine.
And I'm seven.
We're from Centennial, Colorado.
And our wow in the world is that tigers have striped skin, not striped fur.
Thank you.
Bye.
Bye.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Raz.
My name is Madeline.
I am nine years old.
I live on Guam, and my wow in the world is that peeing on jellyfish stink helps it not hurt as bad.
Bye.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Raz.
My name is Novelia, and I am 11 years old.
I live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
My wow in the world is that bananas grow on banana palms. considered herbs.
Banana palm is the largest herb in the world.
Banana seeds are so small that you don't realize you are eating them.
Thanks.
Love your show.
Bye.
My name is Rowan and I'm from Montpelier, Vermont.
My wow in the world is that they're platypuses because they're mammals, but they actually lay eggs and take care of their babies by feeding them milk.
That is so cool.
And I'm five years old from Prescott, Arizona.
And My Wow in the World is about me and my sister making snow angels and having a snowball fight.
Bye.
Hi, my name is Eli.
I live in Austin, Texas.
I'm five and one quarter years old.
And My Wow in the World is when the dinosaur time was the grass growed as long as the 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, exclusive t-shirts, autographed pictures of us and a bunch of other cool stuff wowintheworldcom.
Our show is produced by Jed Anderson.
Say hello, Jed.
Hello.
With help from Thomas Van Kalken, Chelsea Urson, and Jessica Bodie.
Meredith Halpern-Ranzer is the big boss.
Our theme song was composed and performed by The Pop-Ups.
You can find more of their awesome all-ages music at thepopups.com.
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