And now, it's time for who smarted.
Psst, hey, smarty pants, close your eyes and imagine something with me, okay?
Eyes closed? Great.
Picture it's dark outside, pitch black, That should be easy with your eyes closed.
Now, imagine you're standing outside looking up at the night sky.
What do you see? Did you say stars?
Have you ever done that, smarty pants?
Have you ever just gazed up at all of the stars above?
it's truly spectacular.
Ooh. Here's another question for you.
How many stars do you think you can see on a clear evening with no moon and no lights around?
Is it A, 2 -3 ,000, B, 45 -50 ,000, or C, about a million and a half stars?
The answer is A. Huh?
Now that might seem surprising considering how many stars are in the galaxy, But astronomers say when conditions are absolutely perfect, a person with excellent vision might still see less than 3 ,000 stars.
But hey, it's still an incredible show available for free every single night.
Of course, it looks a bit different when viewed from above.
Number one, beam me up.
Alright captain. Welcome back aboard the USS Smarty Pants!
Ready for another space out adventure?
I sure am, Captain Trusty!
That's great Number One, but I was talking to the Smarty Pants.
Anyway, for today's mission we're going to visit some stars… but not just any stars, the ones closest to our own Sun. Smarty Pants, do you know what these stars are called?
Is it A. The Pleiades?
B. Alpha Centauri? or C, Alpha Orionis?
The answer is B, Alpha Centauri.
It's located just over four light years from Earth.
Which means if we moved incredibly fast at the speed of light, it would take us four years to get there.
No spacecraft can go that fast yet, but our podcast can.
Approaching Alpha Centauri now captain.
Thanks number one. Captain, we're picking up a strange sound.
It resembles game show music.
Hello and welcome. I'm your host, Alfonso Sontari.
And this is Dancing With the Stars.
Dancing With the Stars.
Hey, I've seen that on TV.
Me too. I didn't know you recorded the show four light years away.
Err, it's, uh, not that show.
But ours is just as fun.
Are you ready to dance, trusty?
Uh, sure. Who doesn't like dancing with the stars?
I'm loving the attitude, and best of all, you'll get to learn all about stars.
Great. Because I've always wondered how stars keep burning, what makes them twinkle, and why some of them explode.
It's time for another big whiff of science on...
Who smarted? Who's smarted?
Who's smart? Is it you?
Is it me? Is it science?
Or history? Listen up.
Everyone, we make smarting.
Lots of fun. But who's smarted?
Prepare for launch. Ready everybody?
Ready. Ok. Get ready to fly.
3, 2, 1... A ammo bag.
So, that's how my family started our Christmas vacation in the South Pacific, not exactly the way Mom and Dad planned it.
JEEZiM SHOWS presents, Hidden Island, an original audio adventure for the whole family.
Search for Imagination Amplified, Hidden Island to hear more.
Mom, Dad, this island, it's not on the map!
Hey smarty pants, you're in luck!
My first officer, number one, and I were coasting through the cosmos when we came across a familiarly named game show where we get to dance with stars.
Ooh, I wonder what celebrities we're going to meet.
Ha ha ha ha. Oh, celebrities as in movie, music, sports, or TV stars, oh -oh, no, no, no. You won't be meeting those kind of stars.
Oh, we've got much, much bigger and better actual stars.
meet Alpha Centauri A, also known as Rigel Kentarus.
Alpha Centauri A and its sister star revolve around each other in a sort of dance.
For bonus points, can you guess its sister star's name?
Uh, smartypants? Do you know?
Wouldn't it just be Alpha Centauri B?
Its name is Toleymun!
Wha -oo! Whoops! Sorry, captain.
I just thought. Which is just another name for Alpha Centauri B!
Well done, Number One!
Ha ha! Whoo hoo! I got it.
Nice going, Number One.
But don't get cocky.
Also, is everybody named Centauri around here?
Ours is Centaurus, named after an Ancient Greek mythological creature, the centaur.
Smarty -pants, do you know what a centaur is?
Is it A, Half Monkey, Half Penguin, half cat, half octopus, or half man, half horse?
If you said C, you're right.
Well done, smarty -pants, but that's just a warm -up.
Starting now, I'm going to ask you questions.
Get them wrong and you're gonna dance with the stars.
Who, me? Yep, you, and your number one and anyone listening!
Ooh, that sounds fun!
Get ready to dance, Smarty Pants!
Um, Captain, what about Smarty Pants listening in cars?
Right. Or on planes, trains, roller coasters, the toilet?
Yes, I get your point, number one.
Smarty Pants, if you can't get up and dance, just move to the beat in your seat.
All right, first question.
Where are stars formed?
Is it A, a nebula, B, an asteroid belt?
or see Hollywood. Okay, smarty pants.
We did a Who Smarted episode on this.
Go ahead and shout out your answers.
I heard some of you say it.
If you said, A, nebulae, you're right.
And if you didn't remember or didn't hear our nebulae episode, A nebulae is a giant cloud of dust and gas.
And speaking of gas.
What's the name of the simple gas that forms stars?
A. helium. B. nitrogen.
Or C. hydrogen? Hmm, well, as the nebula gas moves around and clumps together, gravity builds.
And over millions of years, gravity's force on that gas causes their tiniest parts, called atoms, to be squeezed together through a process called nuclear fusion.
This gives off a lot of heat, energy, light, and helium gas.
So helium is not the answer.
The simpler gas that's converted into helium is C, hydrogen.
Hydrogen is correct.
And the giant bowls of gas formed from nebulae are what we call stars.
Number one, was that you?
Sorry, Captain, it's Baked Bean Burrito Day in the cafeteria.
I shouldn't have had that second one.
OK, moving on. Let's talk about one of your dance partners.
Alpha Centauri A. Is Alpha Centauri A bigger, smaller, or the same size as your own sun?
Mmm. Smarty pants, what do you think?
Here's a hint. Alpha Centauri A has been called the sun's twin.
So in that case, are they the same?
Bzzzz. Whoa. Oh, no. I'm sorry.
While Alpha Centauri A and the sun are similar in age, brightness, and size, Alpha Centauri A is slightly bigger.
So with that wrong answer, it's time to dance with the stars!
Okay, that's enough of that.
Next question. True or false, stars twinkle, but planets do not?
Oh, I know this! Go ahead, smarty pants, call it out with me.
Three, two, one, true!
Correct! Another true or false, you can see the stars twinkle in space.
Oh, what do you think, smarty pants?
This one isn't so easy.
I think it's a trick.
So I'm going to say false.
Correct. Smarty pants, do you know why you see stars twinkle in the sky, but not out in space?
It has to do with the Earth's atmosphere.
As our air moves around, the light traveling through it from a distant star bends and twists out of shape.
When the light finally reaches your eye, it appears to be twinkling.
But since there's no atmosphere in space, you'd see the light directly without twinkling.
But why don't planets twinkle?
Great question! Any ideas, smarties?
The reason planets don't twinkle is because the light of planets, reflected from the sun, is much stronger because the planets are much closer to us than the stars.
Ooh! The atmosphere still affects that light, but it's hardly noticeable.
Whoa. Well said, Trusty.
Okay, here comes your next question.
Every star you earthlings see at night is brighter and larger than your sun. Hmm, that's an interesting question.
What do you think, smarty pants?
After all, the sun is so big and bright.
I think we ought to think about it.
Over this quick break, and a word from our sponsors.
Have you ever had that moment where your kiddo looks up at you from the kitchen table, frustrated, stuck on their homework, and you want so badly to help them, but you just can't?
Not because you don't care, but because school is different now, math looks like a foreign language, the grammar rules have changed, not to mention you're juggling five other things and dinner is burning.
every parent I know has been here.
That's why I wanna tell you about something that can make your life easier, I -X -L.
It's an online learning program that helps your child with math, English, science, and social studies from pre -K to 12th grade.
But while that would be enough, what makes it extra special is how it adapts to your child.
It figures out what they need and guides them gently toward mastery.
And just like who smarted, I -X -L makes learning fun.
your kids get instant feedback and even earn rewards.
So if you're trying to set your child up for success and set them up with iXcel, it works and it's fun.
And now, who smarted listeners get 20 % off when you sign up today at ixl .com slash smarted, that's ixl .com slash smarted, 20 % off so you can get the most effective learning program out there at the best price and be the helpful parent that you were meant to be.
Okay, let's be honest, life is a lot right now.
Between school drop -offs, back -to -back meetings, half -folded laundry and texts you forgot to reply to, who has time to launch that business idea that's been living in your notes app since 2021?
Especially with that one thing standing between you and finally getting your business out into the world, a website.
That part always feels like a brick wall.
You want it to look professional, you want it to work and you don't wanna spend a lot of money on it.
That's why I'm telling you use Squarespace.
With Squarespace, it's as easy as tell it what your idea is pick a style you love, boom, website.
They've got tools for selling, scheduling, newsletters, online stores, all of it and it looks beautiful and it works perfectly.
And the whole thing happens in minutes in the middle of your real messy overloaded life.
Three months from now, don't let the reason you still haven't launched your business be, but the website.
I built my first Squarespace site in less than a half hour.
This is the sign for you to build yours.
Go to squarespace .com slash smarted and use code smarted for a free trial and 10 % off your first purchase of a website or domain.
You don't need more time, you just need the right tool.
That's Squarespace.
I wore winter boots every day for two years.
I hate climbing trees.
I'm Deborah Goldstien, host of the podcast, the big fib and half of those statements were indeed fibs!
On every episode of The Big Fib, we bring on two grownups.
One is an expert and the other is a liar.
And it's the job of our human child contestant to help us figure out who is who because no one can spot a liar better than a kid.
We've had episodes on everything from Minecraft to mythology and from Lego to libraries.
Join me and my robot co -host, Lisa, on The Big Fib on Apple Podcasts or on gzmshows .com.
Now back to who smarted.
OK, smarty pants. We were just asked the following true or false question.
Are the stars you see in the night sky bigger and brighter than the sun?
What do you think? Captain, if I may.
We know the sun is very big and very bright.
I'm gonna go with false.
So, sorry. The sun is so bright because it's so close.
But if it were as far away as the other stars, even Alpha Centauri, you might not see it at all.
The stars you see at night are indeed bigger and brighter.
That means it's time to dance with the stars.
How much more? I'm getting exhausted here.
Same. OK. Hey, okay, that's enough.
Whew, thanks. You're welcome.
Next question. There are three stars in the Alpha Centauri system.
Alpha A, which is yellow, Alpha B, which is orange, and the star which orbits around the pair, Proxima Centauri, which is red.
Based on their colors, which star is the hottest?
Smarty pants, what's your guess?
Come on, red has to mean hotter, right?
It's gotta be red. No!
I'm sorry. When it comes to stars, blue stars are the hottest, yellows are cooler, oranges cooler than that, and REDS ARE THE COOLEST!
Oof. I am not good at this game.
I might have to stop calling you number one.
Ah, don't feel bad if you didn't get that right.
For one thing, just because we say red stars are the coolest, by no means should you think of them as frosty.
Proxima Suntari may be much cooler than your sun, but it's still over 5 ,000 degrees Fahrenheit, or nearly 3 ,000 degrees Celsius that's pretty hot hot hot that's pretty hot hot hot blue stars are about 13 times hotter so your answer is incorrect but that wasn't my answer everybody dance with those stars I can't do this much longer same here It's activating the bean burrito.
Please, make it stop.
Okay, next question.
Wait, there's more?
After burning for billions of years, a star runs out of hydrogen to convert to helium and its inner core collapses.
What happens next? A, the star puffs outward, eventually fading away into a nebula.
B, the star creates a massive explosion called a supernova, leaving a black hole.
Or C, the star moves to a retirement community and gets occasional lifetime achievement awards.
What do you think, smarty pants?
I don't even want to take a guess.
Oh, don't be such a chicken.
However, I'm wondering if there might be more than one answer.
I'm going to go with A and B.
That's correct. Lower mass stars like your sun will puff out and fade, while in higher mass stars, nuclear fusion keeps going, creating heavier elements in energy, throwing everything out of whack, causing a huge explosion!
Well done, Captain.
Thank you. Thank you.
And great job to any smarty pants who got even one of those answers correct.
OK, you can congratulate yourselves later.
Next question, how many stars are there?
Aha, I said that at the beginning of the episode.
2 ,000 to 3 ,000. Oh, no, wait.
I misunderstood the question.
Yep. I meant all stars, not just the ones you can see.
Astronomers say there could be up to one septillion stars.
Smarty pants, if 100 is one followed by two zeros, and 1 ,000 has three zeros and 1 million has six zeros, how many zeros are in one septillion?
The answer is 24. That's a whole lot of stars.
Now dance. feature show with Dyno fans.
Number one. Yes Captain.
Get us out of here we're speed.
All right Captain. We'll be back.
Until then I'll keep my feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.
Whoa! A big shout -out to my smartie pal Callaway in Iowa.
Thanks for emailing us to say that Who's Smarted is the best podcast ever.
And a big thanks to your smartie family for subscribing to Who's Smarted Plus.
We're so glad you love laughing and learning with me and all your friends on Who's Smarted.
This episode stars was written by Dave Beatlejuice Beaudry and voiced by Jonathan Rajul Ragier, Adam Dogstar Davis, and Jerry Colbert.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Albelber and Han.
Our associate producer is Max Vy, Canice, Majoras, Kamaski.
The theme song is by Bryan Serius Suarez with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex Davis.
Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colbert.
This has been an Atomic Entertainment Production.
things
