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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!
Thank you, even up.
You're gonna wake up the whole neighborhood and it's about time wake up.
Good morning, guy ross.
Can i interest you in a jar of freshly ground coffee?
Uh well, as long as i'm up, i might as well take you up on that offer.
Just stay right there.
Uh, i've got to grab my robe and i'll be down in a minute.
Cool mountain air.
Okay, Mindy, I'm up and at them.
How about that jar of freshly ground coffee?
Oh, sure.
Reggie, one jar of freshly ground coffee.
Coming right up.
Here you go, Guy Ross.
That will be free 99 plus tax.
Uh, Mindy?
Yeah?
This is just an empty jar.
Where's the coffee?
Uh, it's in the jar.
Mindy, I know what coffee looks like, and I can assure you that there is nothing in this jar.
Well, that's because smells are invisible, Guy Raz.
Smells?
Yeah.
If you want your freshly ground coffee smelled, you're going to have to open that jar.
You woke me up and got me out of bed for nothing?
Open the jar, Guy Raz.
Okay.
Okay.
Invisible coffee, what's next?
Mindy, this jar won't open.
That's because I put a childproof lid on it.
Here, let me take a crack at it.
There, your freshly ground coffee.
Smell.
You weren't kidding, Mindy.
This coffee smell is almost as good as the real thing.
Now, where is the real thing?
Oh, uh, I don't know.
Maybe Dennis' house or something?
Dennis?
You have coffee?
Oh, boy, do I ever!
I have fresh, single-origin beans imported from Peru's Cajamarca region.
Handpicked and sorted.
Fully washed and sun-dried.
Roasted to perfection.
And here we have a... Oh, my carafe!
Never mind, I don't have coffee.
Mindy, are all of these empty jars filled with...
Ogres?
Well, yeah.
I mean, look here.
We've got the smell of wet clothes left in the washing machine for three days.
And this one is that super specific convenience store smell.
And this one over here is rotten eggs.
Ooh, that one smells like Uranus.
What?
What?
Uranus, the planet.
It's made up of gas called hydrogen sulfide. bears an uncanny resemblance to rotten eggs?
Surprised you didn't know that.
Okay.
Well, scientifically speaking, he's not wrong.
Thanks, Dennis!
You're welcome!
So, Mindy, do you have any good odors in these jars?
Yeah, um, let me see here.
Ooh, try this one.
Ah, what is that?
The smell of a pile of dirt?
Dirt?
No, you're smelling beads.
You know, that Purple root vegetable that you roast in the oven and eat on salads.
Turns your poop pink.
Well, you know, for some reason, beets have always smelled like dirt to me.
What else you got?
Let me... Ooh, I know.
Here, try this one.
What do you think?
I think that one might be completely empty, Mindy.
Actually, Guy, I can smell it from here.
It's Lily of the Valley.
Yeah, you're right, Dennis.
This one is Lily of the Valley.
Lily of the Valley?
As in that highly poisonous woodland flowering plant?
Exactly.
My mother would wear the scent every fall as I left home for boarding school.
She said it signified the return of happiness.
Ah, how my mother loved boarding school.
What is he talking about, Mindy?
Okay, so the scent of Lily of the Valley is one of those smells that skincare and beauty product companies are always trying to recreate.
Do you mean for, like, perfumes and soaps and lotions?
Yeah, it contains this chemical called borginol.
And for a lot of people, like Dennis, even a tiny droplet of this stuff can smell super intense.
But what about for people like me who can't smell it at all?
Well, you're not alone, Guy Raz.
You see this geneticist named Casey Trimmer.
She got together with a team of researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia and Rockefeller University in New York City.
And she and her team set out to find out why different people smell different things differently.
And just to be clear, a geneticist is the type of scientist who studies how certain features are passed down from different generations of people.
Right,
Right.
Like how I inherited my mother's sense of smell and my great-grandfather's sense of entitlement.
So I'm wondering did Dr Trimmer and her team suspect that genes or what makes you, you and me me, have some kind of role to play in the way different people experience different smells?
You know it.
So she and her fellow researchers decided to conduct a little scientific experiment.
Ooh, I love a little scientific experiment.
What do they do?
Well, I could tell you.
Yeah?
But I'd rather show you.
Come on, help me lug all these smells to the olfactory in my backyard.
Olfactory?
Mindy, isn't the olfactory system literally your sense of smell?
Yeah, but while you were sleeping, I built a literal olfactory in my backyard.
I wanted to have a place where I could bottle up and reproduce all my smells.
How long was I sleeping?
Oh boy, finally something I can help with.
Let me consult my eavesdropper almanac.
Okay, let's see.
Says here, 10 p.m., Guy begins snoring loudly.
Then, 2.05 a.m., Guy mumbles incoherently in his sleep.
3.31 a.m., Guy wakes up and reads a text message I sent him.
Dennis!
3.34, Guy texts back.
New phone?
Who dis?
335.
I text.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Just a minute.
Before we dive into any stinky experiments, can we just talk about our olfactory sense, or how we humans are able to smell in the first place?
Sure.
Let me see your nose here, Guy Raz.
What?
Okay, so inside your nose.
Wow! there through your nostrils are about 400 different odor-detecting receptors.
Now let's count them.
One, two, three, four.
Mindy, get your fingers out of my nose.
You know the old saying you can.
You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, and you can pick your best friend's nose in a pinch.
That is not how that saying goes.
Well, as I was saying, our noses are full of these little, teeny tiny smell receptors just waiting to catch the tiny molecules that come in through the air that we breathe.
And then what happens?
Okay.
So when we breathe in those molecules through our noses, Depending on the molecule, different receptors will activate or wake up and then work together to send that odor message to our brains.
Our brains then process that smell and let us know whether it's good or bad.
Like freshly baked cookies!
Or a sweaty sock.
Yeah, these receptors can also tell you whether the smell is recognizable or unrecognizable.
Like the smell of your own house or a food you've never tried before.
And of course, they can also tell you whether what you're smelling is safe or unsafe.
Safe like newborn babies or unsafe like the smell of harmful chemicals.
You got it.
Our ability to smell is how our noses help us to make sense of the world around us.
And how many smells or scents or odors can our body's olfactory system actually detect?
Guy Raz, the human nose, just like this one hanging off your face here.
Stop grabbing my nose, Mindy.
Guy Raz, your nose has the power to tell the difference between at least one trillion different smells, and I'm working on getting one of each of them bottled up in my new backyard ol' factory.
Whoa.
Mindy, you made a life-size model of a human nose.
Wait, is that supposed to be my nose?
Surprise!
I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about this.
Come on, let's go inside.
Is there a door?
A door?
In a nose?
Uh... That's what the nostrils are for.
We're gonna climb in like the giant odor molecules that we are.
What?
I'll climb in first, and then I'll pull you up, okay?
Uh... Ew!
Rub onto my hand!
Mindy, why is it so sticky in here?
Sorry, I guess I forgot to tell you that we would be welcomed by a thick layer of mucus.
But it will all be worth it when we get to the factory part.
Just walk, walk, walk, walk.
Gross.
Gross.
Gross.
Gross.
Ah, made it.
Stepping through the smell receptor laser gate.
Analyzing odor.
Beef dog.
Huh?
Beef dog?
Ah, yeah.
I installed a bunch of smell receptor sensors in the old factory.
For some reason, every time I enter it, it recognizes me as the smell of a beef dog.
Do I smell like a beef dog?
Okay.
Mindy, this is surprisingly high-tech.
Thank you very much.
Well, what is it going to think that I smell like?
Well, why don't you pass through the smell receptor and see for yourself?
Okay.
Passing through... and fresh uni.
What?
I think I need a do-over.
No time for do-overs, Mr. Truffle Pants Uni Face.
Don't you want to see the rest of the ol' factory?
Now this is where the magic happens.
Whoa.
All of the machines you see here are bottling up millions of different smells, from dirty hot dog water to newborn puppy smell.
And built all of this while I was sleeping last night?
Well, yeah, with a little help from Reggie.
Okay, a lot of help from Reggie.
Okay, fine, Reggie basically built the whole thing while I ate corn chips and watched TV.
So Mindy, you were saying earlier that those researchers at Rockefeller University conducted a little scientific experiment to see why some people might experience smells differently.
Oh, yeah, that's right.
And I wanted to recreate that experiment here in the olfactory.
Great, so do we have everything we need?
Let's see here.
We've got 150 jars of different smells ready to go.
Okay, so assorted odors.
And that's pretty much all we need.
Oh, right.
How could I forget?
Thanks, Reg.
We're also going to need 300 people.
300 people?
How are we going to get 300 people in your backyard nose factory?
Easy.
We're going to get them to participate by giving them something for free.
People love free stuff.
Free smells, of course.
You're whiffing up what I'm putting down, Guy Raz.
Be right back.
Attention, neighbors.
Today only, we're giving away free smells, so get them Okay, I'm back.
No luck getting 300 people to take you up on your offer of free smells, huh?
Well, you know... Everyone, please come in.
One at a time.
Be civilized.
Okay, have a seat.
Yep. have a seat right there?
Free smells.
Can you believe it?
I hope my free smell is sea breeze.
I want lemon tarts.
I need everyone to just be patient.
The free smells are coming.
Mindy, what is happening?
I told you, Guy Raz.
I'm just recreating the experiment that was conducted by the researchers in this study.
Excuse me.
Will these free smells be good smells like cool mountain air and freshly baked bread or...
Will they be bad smells like toots, farts, and flatulence?
They seem pretty restless for the free smells you promised, Mindy.
I think we better get started.
Okay.
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Mindy's Olfactory and Odor Emporium.
Now, before I give each of you the free smells that I promised, I am going to need you to participate in a little scientific experiment.
I knew it.
There's a catch.
There's always a catch.
I'd like to introduce you to my lab assistants, Guy Raz and Reggie.
Say hi.
Hi.
Now, throughout the course of this experiment, Reggie and Guy Raz here will be bringing out 150 jars of different odors or, as I like to call them, smells.
Mm-hmm.
I will instruct you on what smells, to try, and then, on a sheet of paper, you will rate the intensity of each odor on a scale of 1 to 7.
1 being that you find the odor extremely weak, and 7 being that you find the odor extremely strong.
And I'm assuming 3 or 4 if it's somewhere in the middle.
You got it, Guy Razzi.
Next, on a scale of 1 to 7, you will rate how pleasant you found the odor to be.
One, if you found it to be extremely unpleasant.
And seven, if you found it to be extremely pleasant.
Let's do this!
Yeah!
Woo-hoo!
Reggie, bring on the smells.
Wow.
Wow.
That's a lot of odor, Mindy.
Friends and neighbors, what you're looking at here are 150 different odors collected, bottled, and in some cases, produced by yours truly.
Thank you, thank you, thank you very much.
And now, let the experiment begin!
Reggie, Reggie, is this really happening right now?
No.
First odor of business is cilantro.
Guy Raz, please open the jar and release the odor.
Okay.
And now I need everyone to take a thorough sniff and rate its intensity and pleasantness on a scale of one to seven.
Are you sure that's cilantro, Mindy?
It smells like soap.
I think Reggie begs to disagree, Guy Raz.
Next up, opening the jar of pee odor from a person who's been eating asparagus.
Indeed.
Everybody sniff.
Gross.
Smells like normal pee to me.
Now please rate your findings and feel free to include any notes you'd like to add.
Reggie, please pass the next odor to Guy Raz.
Guy Raz?
Go ahead and open the odor.
Okay.
Please be something pleasant.
Please be something pleasant.
The next odor of business is dad sweating after losing a game of racquetball smell.
Oh, wait.
There's actually a scientific name for this odor.
I think it's called androstenone.
And while some people find it pungent and gross, other people think it smells like vanilla or they can't smell it at all.
And last but not least, drumroll please.
Guy Raz, please open the jar of human toot.
The toot?
Not just any old toot, Guy Raz.
This is a certified and licensed grade A gluten USDA-approved organic Mindy Toot.
You bottled your own toot?
Sure did.
And there's more where that came from.
Oh, no.
Don't tell me you... By Roz, like most humans, I average about 15 toots a day.
And for the last 30 days, I have bottled every single one of them.
Which means?
Which means that Every single person in this ol' factory is going to take home their own jar of certified organic Mindy Toots.
Wow, humans really will take anything that's free.
But, there's a catch.
Before any of you leave here today, and before I give each one of you your free jar of Toots, I'm going to need a small jar of Your blood.
What?
No.
Anything for science, Guy Raz.
There are limits to that, Mindy.
What are limits?
Mindy, you can't invite people to your giant backyard nose factory and take their blood.
Well, if I don't take everyone's blood, then how am I supposed to reenact and show you the rest of the experiment?
You know what?
Why don't you just give these people their free smells and let them go?
And then you can just tell me what happened after the researchers took the blood samples.
Fine.
Everyone, please line up, single file, and get your free smells.
One for you, one for you.
Thank you very much for participating in our study.
One for you, one for you.
Reggie, you want to come over here and take over?
My arm is getting tired from lifting all these jars of toots.
Okay.
So once these trained and professional scientists working in an actual laboratory took the blood samples from the people who participated in the study,
What did they do with them?
Oh, so Dr Trimmer and her team took the blood samples back to another lab and then they studied the DNA of each person.
And by DNA, you mean the instruction manual for our bodies.
Right.
And those DNA instructions are what make you you and me me.
And in this experiment the scientists wanted to get a good look into each person's blood so that they could study that instruction manual.
And...
What were they looking for?
Well, they were looking for and comparing different genes in each person's olfactory system.
The system of the body that helps us to smell.
Right.
And what they found was pretty wow.
Oh yeah?
What did they discover?
They discovered that even the tiny in even one of the 400 olfactory receptors?
Meaning those little smell sensors that send messages to our brains after catching odor molecules.
Yeah, they found that even the teeniest, tiniest change could completely change the way one person experienced a certain smell compared to another person.
So that would explain why Dennis could smell that Lily of the Valley plant and I could smell nothing at all.
Or why I might be smelling beets and you think you're sniffing dirt.
Or why some people might smell sweat while other people think they're smelling vanilla.
Or why I might smell Parmesan cheese and you might smell... Hang on, gotta get the jar open.
You gotta smell this, Guy Ross.
Okay, here we go.
Smell this.
That smells like vomit.
Thanks to your DNA it does, but I can assure you that this is Parmesan cheese smell.
I wonder if it works the other way around.
So Mindy, now that we know that even the tiniest changes to our smell-sensing olfactory receptors can change the way a person experiences smell,
What can we do with this discovery?
Well, according to Dr Trimmer, just knowing this is going to help us to better understand how smell might affect our overall health.
Yeah, I imagine our sense of smell actually plays a pretty big role in why we choose the foods that we do.
Yeah, but don't go around thinking you can just blame your DNA on why you like or don't like every smell.
Believe me, I tried it.
Yeah, there can be lots of different things that can affect the way we perceive or experience smell.
Yeah, for example, the way we interpret smell is related to the same part of our brain that holds memories.
And that plays a big role in how we're able to taste or smell different foods.
Speaking of which, are you catching a whiff of that smell coming from outside?
Yeah, but who would be grilling at this hour of the morning?
Probably someone who was woken up before the sun and whose body clock now thinks it's lunchtime.
Well, there's only one way to find out.
Through the snotty nasal cavity.
The what?
Come on.
Follow me, Guy Raz.
Made it out of the old factory alive.
Mindy, we're covered in slime.
What did you use to make this stuff?
Oh, I've been bottling up my runny noses for years.
Finally found a good use for them.
Morning, Mindy.
Morning, Guy.
Hey, you two boogers want to come over for some burgers?
Get it?
Boogers?
Burgers?
Eh, you don't get it.
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 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.
What?
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 toys designed with your curious wowzer in mind.
You can shop our Wow in the World toys at Tinkercast.com slash toys.
That's Tinkercast.com slash toys.
Hi, thanks for calling Wow in the World.
After the beep, get ready to record.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Raz.
My name is Campbell, and I am from Sugar Land, Texas.
And my Wow in the World is that cheetahs can run as fast as A car on the freeway.
Isn't that bonker balls?
Bye.
Hi, Mindy and Guyrod.
I'm Lauren.
And I'm Kayden.
We live in Sunnyvale, California.
And my wow in the world is that there are millions of atoms in just one tiny grain of sand.
And my wow in the world is that stars look very small, but some stars are bigger than the sun.
Bye, Mindy and Guyrod.
Say hi to Thomas Fingerling for us.
Huh?
What?
Say hi to who now?
And the annoying Dennis.
Here's Dennis.
Get it?
Like Johnny Carson.
You kids like Johnny Carson?
Hi, my name is Benjamin and I live in San Diego.
Did you know that a giant squid's eyeball is as big as a basketball?
Bye, Mindy and Guy, I love your show.
I'm Indy and Gary Raz.
I'm James from Hawkins Texas, and my wow in the world is that adult walruses weigh 2200 pounds and baby walruses weigh as much as an adult human.
Love your show.
Hi, my name is Jonah.
I live in Irvine, California.
My wonder world is that did you know that if the scientists get the male DNA with the Asian elephant DNA, they could probably make the mammals come back to life?
Thank you.
Thank you, Mindy and Guy Ross.
I love your show.
And goodbye, Reggie.
My name is Amelia and I'm from Denver, Colorado.
And my wow is that a long time ago, a big, a little old planet crashed into the earth and made the moon.
Thanks.
Bye.
End of messages.
Thank you so much for hanging out with us this week on Wow in the World.
And to keep the wow rolling, check out this week's scientific conversation starters at our website wowintheworldcom.
And grownups.
There you can find more info on how your kids can become members of the World Organization of Wowzers shop, our wow shop.
Upload photos and videos to us and check dates for our upcoming live events.
That's wowintheworld.com.
Our show is produced by Jed Anderson.
Who provides the bells, whistles, and silly characters.
Say hello, Jed.
Hello.
Our show is written by me, Guy Raz, and Thomas Van Kalken, who also provides silly characters.
Tom?
Hello there.
Thanks also to Jessica Bode, Casey Koffer, Rebecca Caban, Kit Ballinger, and Alex Curley.
Meredith Halpern-Ranzer powers the wow at Tinkercast.
Our theme song was composed and performed by The Pop-Ups.
For more info on their two-time Grammy-nominated all-ages music, find them at thepopups.com.
And grown-ups, you can follow Wow in the World on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at wowintheworld.
And our email address is hello at wowintheworld.com.
And if you're a kid with a big wow to share with us, call us at 1-888-WOW for a chance to be featured at the end of the show.
Also, if you haven't already done so, please subscribe to Wow in the World on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Yeah, leave us a few stars, a review, or just tell a friend about the show.
Thanks again for listening, and until next time, keep on wowing.
Jing!
Wow in the World is made by And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.
