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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! living again.
Oh, but Barry, how do we know they won't return?
Oh, we don't.
Not for certain in any case.
But if there's one thing that I know for certain, it's that nothing can keep us apart, Liza.
Nothing.
Not even an invasion from Mars.
Oh, man.
That film gets me every time, Mindy.
Now, it is perfectly natural to get emotional at science fiction movies.
Hang on a second.
Let me get you a tissue here.
There you go, buddy.
Thanks, Mindy.
Ugh!
Gross!
Is this a used tissue?
Uh-huh!
Mindy, do you have any unused tissues?
Well, I do, but I'm kind of saving those for when I really need them, so... Huh?
I gotta tell you, Mindy, this... drive-in movie double feature was such a great idea.
I know!
Socially distanced, nobody complaining about my stinky snacks.
Apart from me.
Sorry.
Also, since we're at a drive-in theater, I'm pretty sure this counts as some time in the great outdoors.
And the two movies they're playing, they're sci-fi classics.
Invasion from Mars is one of my favorite movies. free go-kart films.
Mine, too!
And I gotta say, Guy Raz, these old sci-fi movies are where I get some of my best invention ideas.
Attention, moviegoers.
Our next science fiction feature film will begin in 30 minutes.
During the intermission, be sure to blast off to the concession stand and try our limited edition flying saucers of ice cream.
Me, me, me, me!
Mindy, Do you ever think about life outside of Earth?
Uh, what do you mean?
Like the bug-eyed aliens from Mars?
No.
The blob monsters from Garbon 5?
What?
No.
The Vicaratrons from Tulsa?
No, Mindy, I'm talking about the actual scientific search for extraterrestrial life.
Like the SETI Institute, the scientific institute that spends all of its time looking for life outside of Earth.
Ah, the SETI Institute, huh?
Yeah, it stands for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
And have they found any blob monsters yet?
What?
No, no blob. blob monsters, Mindy.
In fact, we've had no reliable signs of life outside of Earth whatsoever.
Uh, is there a but coming?
Please tell me there's a but.
But?
Yes.
But that hasn't stopped scientists from looking.
For more than 50 years, NASA's been sending out spacecraft and looking out at distant galaxies through their telescopes, trying to find signs of life.
And?
Well, although we haven't found any concrete proof of life beyond Earth, we have found over 4000 exoplanets.
Oh, you're talking about those planets that are found outside of our solar system.
Yup, and out of those 4000 planets, about 6000 of them are considered to be habitable exoplanets.
And by habitable you mean an exoplanet.
That is just the right distance from a star, so that it's not too hot and it's not too cold.
It's just right.
Exactly.
In fact, some scientists refer to these planets as being, in the Goldilocks zone, the perfect distance away from a star where to harbor life.
And scientists have found 60 of these habitable exoplanets so far?
Yeah, and more and more of these exoplanets are discovered all the time, Mindy.
And scientists believe that some of them might be able to host alien life.
Blob monsters!
Well, not quite.
Because scientists believe that if life does exist outside of Earth, it's most likely that it will be microbial life.
Huh?
Teeny, tiny creatures that like to eat up other molecules and expel gas.
Oh, am I, uh... Uh... Because I like to, uh, eat up your snacks and, you know... Oh, excuse me.
Uh...
Anyway, there may not be an alien invasion coming anytime soon Mindy, but there very well could be microbial life out there in the cosmos thriving, just waiting to be discovered.
Wait a minute, Guy Raz.
Do you mean, like, on Venus?
Venus?
Yeah, you know, second planet from the sun, hottest planet in the solar system, all that jazz.
Anywho, I just read that scientists have a hunch that microbial life might exist on Venus.
Wow, really?
Yeah.
You want to check it out?
What do you mean?
Well, Venus is the brightest object other than the moon and the night sky.
Huh, you don't say.
Yeah.
In fact, I think we could probably spot it from here if it wasn't for all this light pollution!
Hey!
What?
You're jumping up the sky!
Turn off your lights!
No!
You're right, Mindy.
With all the light coming from these cars and the buildings all around us, I can barely see any stars tonight.
I got an idea!
What?
Why don't we take a quick spin out to somewhere a little bit darker so that we can see Venus and look for microbial life on it?
I don't know, Mindy.
Doesn't the next movie start in like 10 minutes?
Guy Raz.
We are sitting in a mostly functional wow machine that can have us out and back before this guy even finishes reading the snack bar specials.
Hey there, moviegoers.
Just a reminder to explore our concessions.
We've got out-of-this-world deals on delicious Martian bars, incredible close encounters of the gummy candy kind and our healthy snack option, Planet of the Apricots.
Now listen closely as I list all of our prices, sizes and combo configurations in order to frustrate you into buying something.
Let's begin with popcorn.
We have salted, buttered, heavily buttered, Just the butter in a cup.
Okay, I'm in.
Let's do some stargazing.
Just plug in the coordinates here.
All right, all set.
Reggie, Kairos, hold on to your buns, because here we go!
Where exactly are we, Mindy?
Well, just open up the hatch and find out.
All right.
Whoa.
Look at all the constellations up there, Mindy.
There's the Big Dipper and Orion's Belt.
Looks like it's gotten a little wider since the last time I saw it.
Sorry.
Sorry.
Uh-huh.
Anywho, this is my favorite spot for stargazing.
And where are we?
It looks like we're standing in the middle of a desert.
Oh, that's because we're standing in the middle of a desert.
Oh.
Kairaz, we are at the hottest, driest, and lowest point in North America.
The hottest, driest, and lowest point in North America.
Mindy, are we in Death Valley National Park?
I don't know.
Reggie, check the map.
Are we in Death Valley National Park?
Oh, looks like you're right, Guy Raz.
What are we doing here?
Well, because of how secluded this part of the world is I mean we're basically in the middle of nowhere there is very little light pollution out here.
Which makes it a great place for stargazing.
Exactoritos.
In fact, scientists classify this place as a gold-tiered dark sky park.
Wow.
So, can you spot Venus?
Well, we haven't even gotten our telescope out yet, Mindy.
You don't need a telescope to spot Venus in the night sky, Guy Raz.
At least not at this hour.
Look, it's right there.
You mean that super bright star, Mindy?
That's right.
Only it's not a star.
It's a planet.
Our sister planet.
What?
What?
Well, that's what some scientists call it because it's so similar in size and mass to Earth.
Huh.
Well, as it turns out, Guy Raz, this sister planet of ours might also be home to some extraterrestrial life.
Oh, yeah.
You were saying before that some scientists think that there might be microbes living on Venus?
Yep.
See this group of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT.
Well, they just announced that they have discovered a gas called phosphine in Venus's atmosphere.
Wait a second, Mindy.
Isn't phosphine that chemical that smells awful?
Yeah, and according to the Centers for Disease Control you know the CDC it has an odor of garlic or decaying fish.
So basically, it just smells like my pockets.
So what does this foul-smelling chemical have to do with extraterrestrial life, Mindy?
Well, here on Earth, basically the only thing that can create this gas are these teeny, tiny little microbes called anaerobic bacteria.
Microbes that love to do aerobics?
Get it, Mindy, get it?
Anywho.
Anaerobic bacteria means that it's a kind of bacteria that does not need oxygen to grow and survive.
And so these scientists from MIT.
They believe that this sort of bacteria is making that gas on Venus.
Yes!
Well, I mean, sort of.
They're not saying that this is dolphinately proof of life on Venus, but they can't really think of any other way that this gas could have gotten there.
So Wow Mindy, this is huge.
I know!
Brrrr!
Mindy, it's just my guy phone.
Uh-oh.
Uh, what oh?
Well, according to this science alert I just got on my guy phone, there might not be any phosphine on Venus after all.
What are you talking about, Guy Raz?
They just discovered it.
You can't undiscover something that you just discovered.
Well, it's sort of how science works.
It's called replicability.
Replica-what?
What?
Well, you know, replication.
It means to copy or to duplicate something.
And in science, replication is how we know for sure that something is a scientific fact.
Ah, sort of like when I tried to fit 45 different pairs of shoes on Reggie's feet...
Only to discover that it was a scientific fact that pigeons should not wear shoes.
Exactly.
Really?
And usually when a new discovery is made, scientists will discuss it with each other to make sure that their findings make sense.
And if they do, they post about it in something called a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
Oh, Reggie, a peer-reviewed scientific journal is kind of like a newspaper for scientists.
Exactly.
And once this new discovery is out in the open, other scientists will jump on it and perform the experiment again, making sure to copy or replicate it in the exact same way as the original scientists.
So other scientists also looked for phosphine in Venus's atmosphere, just like those scientists from MIT.
That's right.
And according to this science alert, Out of the three teams of scientists that have tried to replicate and reproduce those early findings of phosphine in Venus' atmosphere, not a single one has been able to do so.
Ah, bunker balls!
But that's okay, Mindy.
This is exactly how science is supposed to work.
By replicating experiments with different groups of scientists, we're able to find out whether something is actually a scientific fact.
Or just a fluke.
Well, I guess you're right, Guy Raz, but still a big bummer.
Well, scientists still aren't certain that phosphine doesn't exist on Venus.
It's just that these new studies also have to be verified before they can say for sure.
And I suppose the only real way to know for sure would be to send a spacecraft up there and take actual readings from Venus's atmosphere.
Oh, well, that might just be happening, Guy Raz.
Really?
Yeah.
For the first time in almost 40 years, there are plans to send a spacecraft to Venus.
Whoa.
Wow.
So this private space company called Rocket Lab is planning to send a satellite and probe to our sister planet Venus as early as 2023.
And specifically, they're sending it there to collect information from the Venetian atmosphere.
And how are they gonna do that?
Uh, you know what?
Let me go to the wow machine and get out my telescope and then I'll tell you all about it.
Be right back.
Got it!
Let's get together here. setting that up, Mindy?
I got it.
There we go.
I'm fine.
I'm fine.
Let me have a look here.
Whoa.
It looks like the whole planet is one giant volcano, Mindy.
Well, Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system, Guy Raz.
It has a surface temperature of about 471 degrees Celsius.
880 degrees Fahrenheit.
That's as hot as my pizza oven.
You eat pizza?
Uh, yeah.
Anyway, are those scientists from Rocket Lab planning on sending a probe to this flaming hot fireball?
Uh-huh.
Well, if all goes according to plan.
Huh.
Ahem.
After launching from Mahia in New Zealand, the spacecraft will spend several months working, hurtling through space until it arrives at its final destination.
What does it do when it gets to Venus?
I mean, how is it going to search for life in its atmosphere?
The main part of the satellite will whiz by Venus, taking pictures and information of the planet's atmosphere from above,
But to get up close and personal, it'll release a smaller probe that will rocket down into the planet's cloudy atmosphere, collecting more and more and more information.
I don't know why I'm laughing like this.
And it's this little probe that's going to be able to tell us whether this garlic-smelling gas exists and if it's being produced by microbes.
Exact Doritos, Guy Raz.
Huh.
And so how are they going to get the probe back?
Oh, uh, They're not.
They're not?
Nope.
In fact, that probe isn't even attached to a parachute.
It's going to be slamming straight into Venus at a speed of around six miles a second.
Whoa.
That's like 21,600 miles or 34,000 kilometers per hour.
Yep.
Although I'd say the odds of this probe actually making it to the surface of Venus are per Huh.
Why is that?
Because of atmospheric pressure.
Of course.
And by atmospheric pressure, you mean how much the atmosphere squeezes an object.
Yeah.
And the pressure of Venus's atmosphere is about 75 times stronger than the pressure here on Earth.
Whoa.
So I guess that probe isn't going to last long once it enters Venus's atmosphere.
Yeah, it's going to get crushed like a tin can.
But it should have enough time to get some information about the atmosphere and tell scientists once and for all whether or not there is phosphine present on the planet.
So let me get this straight.
This little probe is going to get shot down to Venus?
Yep.
Where it'll take some measurements and information.
Uh-huh.
And then beam them back up to the satellite.
That's right.
Which then beams them back to the scientists on Earth.
Exactoritos.
Whoa.
This could be one of the greatest discoveries in human history, Mindy.
Or it could be nothing.
Well, I guess we'll just have to wait a few years to find out for ourselves.
I know.
And my patience tank here is at an all-time low.
I mean, look, there's nothing left inside.
What in the... Hey, Mindy, I can't see Venus through the telescope anymore.
Oh, yeah, I created this telescope to run on quarters and, uh, looks like your time is up, buddy.
Just in time, too.
The next movie's about to start any second.
Come on, we gotta get back to the drive-in.
Walk, walk, walk back to the wow machine.
Open the hatch.
Thank you.
Okay, let's just go ahead and plug in the coordinates here for the drive-in movie place.
All right, Guy Razzi, get your popcorn ready, because here we go!
Ah, made it.
Whew.
And just in time too, Mindy.
I think it's about to start.
It's impossible.
It's unbelievable.
It's fantastic, I tell you.
But what is it?
Wherever did it come from?
Its name is Zontai.
And it came from Venus.
I guess there is life on Venus after all, Mindy.
Wow in the World will be right back.
Grunups.
This message is for you grown-ups.
It's mindy and guy ross 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.
Grown-ups.
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, Wow in the World.
It's me, Sawyer, from Crested Butte, Colorado.
And my wow is that NASA sent us a new Mars rover called Perseverance.
And they'll land on Mars in February 2021.
And say hi to Grandma G-Force, Thomas Fingerling, Baby B, Reggie, and Daddick Man.
Ha ha ha ha ha!
Ha ha!
Heavens!
Oh, snap!
Someone change my diaper!
Hi, Mindy and Guy Raz.
My name is River, and I live in Asbury Park in New Jersey.
Did you know that flying snakes don't really fly in the air?
They rather glide.
And there are five known species that do this.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Raz.
My name is Elliot from Eugene, Oregon.
And my wow is that a woodpecker's tongue is so long that it stores it up inside its skull.
Isn't that so wow? and I live in Arizona, Phoenix.
My wow is that we make thousands of decisions every day.
Say hi to Reggie, Dennis, Grandma G-Force for me.
Ahoy there!
Excuse me?
Hey, Mindy.
Hey, Guy Raz.
My name is Eitan from Jerusalem.
My wow in the world is that scientists are trying to bring back woolly mammoths using DNA.
Hey, Thomas Fingering.
Hey, Grandma Jeefus.
It was a woolly mammoth and his name was Ted.
Oh, yeah.
I love your show.
Bye.
Hi, my name is Matilda and I live in Jefferson, Maryland.
My wow in the world is Saturn's density is Hi, my name is Claire from Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
And my wow in the world is that the temperature of the Earth's core is around 7500 Kelvin, which is hotter than the sun's surface.
Bye.
Love your show.
Hi, my name is Andrew.
I live in Washington, D.C. tops off and grows a new one.
But did you know that the limb grows a new body and all the guts in it?
I love you, Reggie.
Bye.
End of messages.
Grownups, if you like Wow in the World, you can listen early and ad-free right now on Wondery Plus.
Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, or on Wondery Kids Plus on Apple Podcasts.
Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music.
And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.
Wow in the World is written by Mindy Thomas and Tom Van Kalken with help from me, Guy Raz.
Our senior producer, Jed Anderson, brings our show to life with sound design and music editing and is also in charge of wrangling Dennis Thomas Fingerling, Reggie and many of the other silly characters you hear.
Jessica Bode keeps our facts straight as our fact checker and Meredith Halpern-Ranzer powers the wow at Tinkercast.
Our theme song was composed and performed by three-time Grammy nominees, The Pop-Ups.
Find them at thepopups.com.
Special thanks to the rest of our team of tinkerers, including Anna Zagorski, Rebecca Caban, Kit Ballinger and Henry Moskal.
To keep the wows rolling, visit us at tinkercast.com.
There you can learn more about becoming an official member of the World Organization of Wowsers.
Learn more about upcoming events.
Shop our shop and pick up a copy of our new number one New York Times bestselling book, The How and Wow of the Human Body.
Grownups, you can follow Wow in the World on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at wowintheworld.
And our email address is hello at tinkercast.com.
And if you're a kid with a big wow to share with us, call us at 1-888-7-WOW-WOW for a chance to be featured at the end of our show or an upcoming episode of Two What's and a Wow.
Thanks again for listening.
And until next time, keep on wowing. the world was made by Tinkercast and sent to you by Wondery.
