Hey, smarty pants, want to hear a secret?
Lean in close. When I was your age, I wanted to be a merperson.
You know, like a mermaid or a merman.
With a long tail and the ability to breathe underwater.
I'd be able to surf with the dolphins, play hide and seek with the fishes among the coral reefs, chase sea turtles, and call under the sea my home.
Ah, one can only dream.
You wanted to be a merperson?
Why is this the first I'm hearing of it?
Granny, what are you doing here?
What? You have a problem with a surprise visit from your dear grandma who loves you?
No, no, of course not.
I just wasn't expecting you.
Plus, I'm working. Sorry, smarty pants.
That's my granny. Also, were you eavesdropping?
Eavesdropping? You're talking pretty loudly into a microphone.
Blabbing to all your smarty trousers.
Smarty pants. They're called smarty pants.
Whatever. I'd hardly call that a secret.
Also, a merperson? Yes, a merperson.
I take it you don't approve.
No, I'm just curious why you never told me before.
Because, you know, breathing underwater and playing with fish, turtles, and dolphins is a crazy fantasy.
Not true. In fact, I could have made your dream a reality.
Really? Are you a magical fairy grandmother who grants wishes?
No. But I am a certified master scuba diver.
I could have taken you scuba diving if I knew it was your dream to explore the ocean.
Oh, I guess that could have worked too.
But what exactly is scuba diving?
How can you breathe underwater?
What does scuba entail?
And speaking of tails, are scuba flippers like a merperson's tail?
Sounds like it's time for...
Hey, that's my line.
But go ahead, granny.
Thanks. Time for another whiff of science and history on...
Is it science or history?
Listen up, everyone.
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Okay, Granny, I may not have told you my dream of being a merperson, but you never told me that you used to scuba dive.
Used to. I still do.
Wow. How did you start?
As a little girl, I was afraid of the water.
I hated baths, hated swim lessons.
Most of all, I hated putting my head under water.
But in 1943, a French engineer named Yil Gagnon and a French Navy officer named Jacques Cousteau, co -invented something that changed the way people dove in the ocean.
And it changed my life too.
Oh, smarty pants. Any idea what this 1943 invention was?
Was it called A, the iron lung B, the aqua lung, or C, the Aquaman?
Well, Aquaman was first created two years before in 1941.
And while he did talk to fish and fight underwater villains, he did not change how people swam in the ocean.
The answer is B, the aqua lung.
But what exactly is an aqua lung?
An aqua lung is a device that releases air on demand.
And while there had been many attempts to construct diving apparatus dating back to the 19th century, it's the aqua lung that we associate with scuba diving today.
By the 1950s, ocean diving became a popular recreational activity.
Everyone wanted to explore the waters, including me.
I guess being able to breathe underwater made swimming a lot less scary.
But wait, if the machine that allows you to breathe underwater is called an aqua lung, why is it called scuba diving?
Good question. Smarty pants, have you ever heard of an acronym?
An acronym is a word formed from the first letters of other words used to describe something.
In other words, an abbreviation.
For example, you've probably heard of NASA, the space agency.
Roger that, proceed with mission.
NASA actually stands for National Aeronautics and Space Agency.
Of course, that's a mouthful.
So it's much easier to just say NASA.
Well, scuba is similar.
But what does scuba stand for?
Ooh, do one of your quizzes and see if the smarty shorts can guess.
They're smarty pants.
But good idea. Smarty pants.
What does scuba stand for?
Is it A, surfing crocodile understands breathing appropriately.
B, super confident underwater breathing appliance.
C, self -contained underwater breathing apparatus.
Or D, silver container underwater big air thingy.
Did anyone get it right?
I'm bubbling with excitement.
If you said C, self -contained underwater breathing apparatus, great job.
Give them a fish bump.
It's a fist bump. But since we're talking about scuba diving, I guess a fish bump works.
After I passed my dive classes, I couldn't wait to strip on my aqua lung and explore the ocean.
So how does an aqua lung work, grandma?
The aqua lung uses a regulator, also known as a mouthpiece.
You breathe in and out through the regulator, which is connected to a tank filled with compressed air.
I felt so at ease breathing underwater.
And to my surprise, I wasn't afraid at all.
Smarty tights. How long can one tank of oxygen last underwater?
It's smarty pants, grandma.
But that's a great question.
Smarty pants. You've probably seen a scuba diver with a tank of oxygen on their back.
So how long does that tank last them?
Is it 30 minutes? An hour?
Two hours? Grandma?
One tank of oxygen lasts an average diver 45 to 60 minutes underwater.
The slower you breathe and move around, the longer your air will last.
When scuba diving, it's super important to check the pressure gauge attached to your tank to see how much air you have left.
When the needle reaches a certain number, it's time to swim to surface before you run out of air.
Grandma, you must have been really strong.
A typical scuba tank is 12 liters in volume and weighs around 19 .5 kilograms or 42 pounds when filled.
First of all, I'm still strong.
Also, that's just the tank.
There are many other items that make up a full set of scuba gear.
Let's see if the smarty socks can guess what they are.
Smarty pants. Smarty pants, grandma.
But yes, good idea.
I'm going to list a bunch of items.
Call out the ones that you'd think you'd need for underwater scuba diving.
Ready? Go. A mask. Snorkel.
Inflatable water wings.
Flippers. Breath mints.
Weights. Wet suit. Tuna fish sandwich.
A buoyancy control device.
And a yellow rubber ducky.
If you said mask snorkel flippers weights, wet suit, and buoyancy control device, or BCD, you're right.
And if you said inflatable water wings, breath mints, tuna fish sandwich, or yellow rubber ducky, you might want to learn a little more before going scuba diving.
All together, a full set of scuba gear weighs around 22 kilograms or 48 .5 pounds.
And well, that sounds pretty heavy.
It feels a lot lighter when you're in the water.
Granny, can you tell us about some of the scuba gear?
Sure. Let's start with your mask.
You might think, why do we need to wear a mask in the ocean?
Any guesses, smarty pants?
Human eyes aren't designed to see well in water.
A diving mask provides space between the water and your eyes.
This allows you to see clearly.
Oh, on smarty trunks.
What's something scuba divers always do before putting on their mask?
Do they A, kiss it, B, lick it, or C, spit in it?
Ugh, those all sound pretty gross.
You sure the answer isn't D, none of the above?
Nope. The answer is C.
Before putting on your mask, you should spit in it and rub your spit in.
I know it sounds gross, but your spit coats the lens and makes it too smooth for condensed vapor to hold onto.
In other words, it keeps your mask from fogging up when you're underwater.
Whoa. Well, I certainly wouldn't want a foggy mask, but is there anything I can do that's less gross than spitting?
You can use a non -abrasive toothpaste.
Ah, that's better. I'd rather my mask smell minty fresh instead of what I had for breakfast.
But… No matter which method you use, once you dive below 32 feet, you won't be able to see the colors red, orange, or yellow.
Huh? Scuba diving makes you color blind?
What do you think, smarty skirts?
Smarty pants. And the answer to why you can't see colors underwater is right after this quick break.
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So grandma, does scuba diving really make you go colorblind?
In a word, yes. You see, water absorbs different wavelengths of light, making them disappear from your vision.
And since they disappear in the order they appear in the color spectrum, red is the first color to go.
Followed by orange and yellow.
Oh, then it just scrapes your knee underwater.
Your blood would look blue.
Wow, that's crazy. Speaking of crazy, before you mentioned something called a buoyancy control device or BCD.
What's that about? Well, buoyancy means the ability to float.
A buoyancy control device allows a diver to control how much they float or sink by inflating or deflating air pockets in a special jacket or vest.
I bet it helps you float at the surface and sink below the water.
Exactly. Now, you did say that you wanted to be a merperson.
And well, that's never going to happen.
You can swim like a merperson.
Thanks to what? Uh, knowing all the words to under the sea?
No. Flippers. Flippers or swim fins help divers glide through the water as gracefully as a merperson with a long tail.
Without flippers, pushing through water would be difficult.
The fins reduce muscle movement, thus minimizing oxygen consumption, which helps you stay underwater longer.
I can't wait to dive deep down and discover mysterious sea creatures.
Well, hold on now. For recreational diving, you can only dive to a maximum of 130 feet, a little less than half a football field.
And you need proper certification to dive that deep.
I have a basic open water scuba diver, which means I can only dive down to 60 feet, about the length of a sperm whale.
Ah, right. Smarty Pants, do you know why that is?
Granny? It's because of something called nitrogen narcosis.
You see, deep dives can cause so much nitrogen to build up in your brain that you become confused or disoriented.
You might make poor decisions, such as taking out your regulator because you think you can breathe underwater.
This tends to happen when you dive beyond 100 feet.
Nitrogen narcosis is also why you should always dive with a buddy.
Ah, I've heard about the buddy system, Grandma.
What makes it so important?
Having a diving buddy keeps you safe.
You keep an eye out for one another, watch out for hazards, and make sure the other person doesn't do anything dangerous or get lost.
And you can assist one another when experiencing a tricky situation.
Once I was diving through a kelp forest in California and my flipper got tangled, my dive buddy was able to untangle me so I didn't lose a flipper.
And if one diver runs out of air, you can share air until you swim up to safety.
Exactly. Wait, I have one more question, but it's not for the Smarty Pants.
Hey, you said it right, Grandma.
But wait, if it's not for the Smarty Pants, who's your question for?
You. How would you like to take scuba lessons and be my dive buddy?
Would I? You really are a fairy, Grandmother.
You made my merry dreams come true.
A big old shout out to Dominic in Las Vegas, Nevada.
We hear you love Who's Smarted because it's super duper funny and you learn a lot of fun facts.
Well, isn't that the perfect way to smart?
Thanks so much, Dominic.
Keep on smarting with me and all your friends on Who's Smarted.
This episode's scuba was written by Jodi Dew and voiced by Jenna Hoban and Jerry Colver.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hahn.
Who's Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios.
Our associate producer is Max Kamaski.
The theme song is by Brian Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex Davis.
Who's Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colver.
This has been an atomic entertainment production.
Who's Smarted?
