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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!
Hey, we're trying to get to the mechanics here.
Shouldn't you all be sleeping?
I'm just glad you finally decided to take the wow machine to a professional, Mindy.
Come on, step on it.
This isn't a parade.
I mean, how many more jumps could that corrugated piece of cardboard take in?
I don't know, probably like 10, 12.
Anywho, Reggie got me this great deal with a mechanic he knew from back in the day.
And it'd be bonker balls not to take him up on his offer for a tune-up.
That is true.
Baby, coming through!
What are you doing?
Well, thanks for coming with me to pick it up.
No problem, Adia.
By the way, how far are we?
Uh, not too far.
If this traffic would get a move on it! lovely morning we're having?
How about some radio, Mindy?
That'll help us pass the time.
Oh, good idea, Guy Ross.
Let's see here.
Static.
Static.
Static.
Oh, here we go.
Mindy, that's still static.
Hang on a second.
Whoa!
Welcome back to Bongo and the Big Toot.
In the morning, we're the program for your traffic jam.
Yeah, the We talk for your gridlock.
Dude, guess which day is just around the corner?
Uh, tax day?
No, I'm talking about Mother's Day.
Oh, uh, I guess, kinda.
And we got our hands on the hot new music coming out for Mother's Day this year.
What?
We do?
That's right, we do.
It says right here on the title sheet, Mommy Music.
Bongo, no, man, that says mummy music, not mommy music.
The vocals in this song have been reconstructed from a 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy.
Ooh, let's take a listen to those vocals.
Wow, talk about auto-tuning.
Yeah, more like auto-tuming.
Auto-tuming.
Man, these guys really burn my bacon.
All right, enough of that.
Let's hear the whole song.
Oh, yes, I love this one.
You do?
Yeah, it's so catchy and I know all the words.
What?
What is this, Mindy?
Oh, you haven't heard?
A group of scientists from the University of London in England used a CT scanner and a 3D printer to bring the voice of a mummified bird back to life.
And the result is this.
Oh, yeah.
That's the stuff.
OK.
So explain this to me again, Mindy.
How are these scientists able to recreate a 3,000-year-old voice?
Oh, don't worry, Guy Razzi.
It will all be revealed.
But not right now.
Why not?
Because we're here at the mechanic shop.
Oh.
You just need to find us.
Spot to park.
Oh, here, this will do.
Mindy, this sign says no stopping.
I know, and that's why I'm not stopping.
I'm parking.
Oh.
Come on, let's go check out the wow machine.
Walk, walk, walk, walk.
Okay, so tell me again Mindy, how did this group of scientists from the University of London recreate the voice of a 3000-year-old Egyptian priest?
Oh, not just any 3,000-year-old Egyptian priest, Guy Raz.
This priest's name... was Neziumun.
And back in ancient Egypt, he was a little bit of a rock star.
Really?
Yeah.
But for the last 200 years or so he's been chilling out in the Leeds City Museum in northern England.
As a mummy?
Exact Doritos.
Only, that was only until about two months ago, when he was taken from the museum to a local hospital.
A local hospital?
How much good would that do?
I mean, the guy's been... for more than 3,000 years.
They weren't taking him to the museum for a medical checkup, Guy Raz.
They were taking him there for a CT scan.
Oh, right.
And a CT scan, which stands for computed tomography, is a type of scan that doctors do to see inside of people, like when they need to see inside of someone's brain or inside of a muscle.
Right.
A CT scan is like an X-ray, but taken from lots of different angles and then combined together to make a 3D or three-dimensional computer model.
So why in the world did this 3,000-year-old mummy need a CT scan?
Oh.
The reason that Neziumu needed a CT scan was so that those researchers from the University of London could get a 3D model of his vocal tract.
Which is the scientific term for our voice box, right?
Uh-huh.
And the vocal tract, or voice box, is made up of three parts.
The lips, the throat, and the larynx.
And so this team of scientists from England wanted to make a 3D replica of Neziumun's vocal tract?
Uh-huh.
And because Neziumun was such a rock star back in the day for having such an amazing voice, his entire vocal tract was treated very delicately when he was being mummified.
Or as I like to call it, wrapped in toilet paper, which is scientifically inaccurate.
Uh-huh.
So you're saying Mindy, that when Neziumun was wrapped up All of those years ago, they did such a good job of preserving his vocal tract that scientists 3000 years later were able to scan it and then use that scan to make a pop song?
Well, you tell me.
Is that coming out of your cell phone?
Yeah, it's my new ringtone.
Right.
But, and this is a big but, there was a problem.
Well, what?
Well, you know how I said that the vocal tract was made up of three parts?
Yeah, the throat, the lips, and the larynx.
Yeah, well, when they gave him the CT scan, they found that he was missing his larynx.
So what did they do?
Oh, we're here at the mechanics.
I'll tell you later.
Whew, time sure flies when you're talking about science.
Um, hello?
Is anybody here?
Hello there.
What can I do for you?
Um, hi.
I got a message in a bottle this morning saying that my wow machine was ready for pickup.
Yes, sir.
You must be Mindy.
My name's Cecil.
Come on in this way.
Follow me.
Sure, thanks.
Thank you.
Now, this was my first time tuning up a genuine syrup run interdimensional time, manipulating cardboard, wow machine thingamabobber, but But.
I think you'll find she now runs smoother than a fresh open jar of Skippy.
Uh-huh.
Here we are.
Whoa.
Yes, sir.
She's one of a kind.
Now, I've replaced the syrup intake valves here and refilled the gravy train.
Oh, nice.
And the duct tape I installed here and here should last for about two years as long as you swap it with winter duct tape around November.
You got it.
Let me just write that down on my list of things to forget.
Yes, sir.
I'd say she's ready to go.
Thank you so much for getting my wow machine back in working condition, Cecil.
Well, just doing my job.
You two look her over, and if you need anything, you know what to do.
Scream and yell for you at the top of my lungs?
That'll be the way.
Bye-bye now. it looking this good since I gave it a bubble bath back in 2016.
Yeah, Cecil's done a great job on it, huh?
I mean, should we take a look inside?
Uh, yeah.
Come on, let's open the hatch in three, two, one.
After you, Guy Raz.
Okay.
Smells like pine cones.
Check it out.
Cecil must have hung up Three dozen air fresheners in here.
Well, it did have an overpowering wet dog smell when I dropped it off.
Oh.
So, you want to take this bad boy for a spin?
Well, what do you mean?
I mean a test drive.
See if it still handles the way it used to.
Oh, sure.
What did you have in mind?
I don't know.
How about a concert?
A rock concert.
A rock concert?
Okay, so hear me out.
What do you say we go back Back in time to see Neziumun live and in concert.
And see how close those scientists got to recreating his voice?
Uh-huh.
I love it, Mindy.
Rocking and rolling for science.
Yeah.
Okay, let's do it.
Where are we going?
Ancient Egypt.
Specifically, the Karnak Temple in the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes.
Which I...
Gather is the temple where Neziumun performed most of his sermons, right?
Right.
Okay, now for the date, 1100 BCE.
Okay, you ready?
I guess we'll find out.
Here we go.
Nice touch.
Wow, Mindy, getting this wow machine repaired was the best money you ever spent.
Did you feel how smooth that landing was?
No.
It was too smooth to feel.
Uh-huh.
We still have to check whether it's taken us to the right place.
And the right time.
Should we go outside?
You want to open the hatch?
Sure, thanks.
Let me just see here.
Must be at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit or 37 degrees Celsius out here, Mindy.
Well, we are in the middle of a desert.
Yeah, and I don't see a temple anywhere.
Yeah, me neither.
Um, ooh, hey, what about right over there?
That archway?
Yeah, I think that might lead us through to the temple complex.
You see, Karnak wasn't just one building.
It was a whole bunch of buildings.
Sort of like a village.
Yeah.
In fact, the word karnak actually translates from ancient Egyptian to the fortified village.
Well, let's go check it out.
After you, Guy Razzi.
So Mindy, after those scientists from the University of London had created a 3D model of Neziumun's vocal tract, what happened next?
Well, they had to turn that computer model into a real-life model using a 3D printer.
So they printed out Neziumoon's vocal tract?
Uh-huh.
And then they stuck it onto a loudspeaker.
A loudspeaker?
Yeah, kind of like that musical thing I have on the top of my ice cream truck.
They removed the horn part of the loudspeaker and replaced it with the Neziumoon model.
I think I get it, Mindy.
They were using the loudspeaker as a replacement for a missing larynx.
Yeah.
So usually, when a person speaks, they send out blasts of air from their lungs into their larynx.
And when they do this, it vibrates their larynx and creates sound.
And as this sound works its way up through the throat, it gets louder and louder until it eventually comes out of the mouth as a noise.
And then we use our lips and our tongues to change those vibrations into words.
Right.
But the 3D model that the researchers attached to the loudspeaker doesn't have a tongue.
And I'm guessing it doesn't really have lips either.
Nope.
And so when they used a computer to send these vibrations through the model using the loudspeaker larynx replacement, they got a vowel sound that sounded a little.
Something like this.
Huh.
Well, looks like we're here.
And look, Mindy, a poster.
Do you think this could be for Neziumun's concert?
Let me see what that poster says here.
Crane, crane, cat, person with their hands in the air like they just don't care.
Yep, it says it's just down here and to the right.
Wait a minute.
You can read Egyptian hieroglyphics?
No?
Oh, I think I hear something.
I think this is it, Mindy.
Okay, just try to blend in.
Hi, everyone.
Coming through.
Oh, excuse me.
Excuse me.
Come on.
Come on.
There's traffic out here today, huh?
That reminds me.
Here, put these things over your ear.
They'll translate the whole show for us.
Mindy, are these...
Hamburgers?
Hamburger headphones, yeah.
I brought them along just in case.
Just in case?
What could we possibly need hamburger headphones for?
They're a little invention I've been working on.
An invention?
Yeah.
You put these little hamburgers over your ears and they can translate any language you want, including ancient Egyptian.
Well, how?
Don't worry about it.
Just put them on.
And now, without further ado, your headliner, the priest who just won't cease, it's Eziamu!
Eh, thank you, thank you.
It's so great to see so many friendly faces out there today.
I love you, Thebes.
Pandering.
Shh!
This is one of my earlier ones.
I hope you like it.
It's a prayer we're all familiar with.
I'm gonna have my band help me out with this one.
It's called...
Oh, Mother Newt.
Oh, Mother Newt.
Spread your wings.
Woo!
Yes!
Love this one!
You love this one?
Oh, yeah.
This one is definitely in my top ten ancient Egyptian hymns.
Am I right?
Woo!
Huh.
It's one of Neziumun's favorites, too.
Well, how do you know that?
Well, he had the lyrics for this song engraved on his sarcophagus.
His sarcophagus?
You mean the coffin he was buried in?
Yeah.
The Leeds City Museum, which is where Nezi Amun's remains are, back in the 21st century.
They're hoping that one day they'll be able to use this 3D scanning and printing technology to recreate Nezi Amun singing this very song.
I mean, hey, one day they might even be able to have Nezi Amun introduce himself to museum visitors.
3,000 years after his mummification.
Wow, that would be pretty cool, Mindy.
And what an honor to hear Neziumun's favorite song performed for us.
Live right here in ancient Egypt.
Yep, we're two pretty lucky adventurers.
Hey, you there!
You don't look Egyptian.
Or ancient.
Uh, but I think that luck might have just run out.
Uh-oh, they must have spotted us and we were most definitely not invited.
Calling all guards!
Calling all guards!
Seize the intruders!
Which ones?
The ones in the funny-looking clothes!
Run, Mindy!
Hold on to your hamburgers, Guy Raz, and follow me!
They're getting away!
After them!
Mindy!
Okay.
Quick, Guy Raz.
Into the wow machine.
Hold the door.
Here I come.
That was a close one.
Oh, boy.
You're telling me.
All right.
Let's get us back to the 21st century.
You ready?
I'm ready.
Good.
Because here we go.
Wow, machine.
Hey there, now.
How'd she run?
I mean, to be honest, almost as fast as Usain Bolt.
What did I tell you?
All right, you've been asking for it all morning.
It's the most popular song in the country at the moment.
Here it is once again, the latest hit from Neziumoon.
I love this song.
If you like this song, just wait till you hear the sequel.
Yeah, it's called Oh, Mother Nut.
Well, if it's anything like this one, sign me up.
There's just something so toe-tappin' about this little ditty.
Come out there.
We'll 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.
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.
My name is Oliver, and I am from Boise, Idaho.
My wow in the world is that there are five different dwarf planets.
Polona is one of them.
Say hi to Reggie, Grandma, G-Force, Thomas, Fingerling.
What's up?
Booyah!
And dun, dun, dun.
Static man.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
Thanks.
Bye.
Hi, Mindy and Guyrod.
My name is Ayanna, and I am from San Jose, CA.
My wow is that Venus is deep. named after a woman and the brightest planet closest to the Earth.
And I live in Long Beach, California.
And my wow in the world is that a tornado is made of hot air and cold air chasing each other in a circle.
Say bye to the puppets for me.
Bye.
Hi, Guy Raz and Mindy.
I'm Oliver.
I'm from Houston, Texas.
And my wow is that some turtles glow in the dark.
Bye.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Raz.
My name is Lucille.
And my wow in the world is that Antarctica is actually a desert.
My name is Charlie, and I live in Savannah, Georgia.
My way around the world is that a whale's heartbeat can be heard two miles away and that a whale's heart is as big as a small car.
Hi, Dennis, and bye, Dennis.
Wow, so polite.
Hi, Charlie, and bye, Charlie.
And excuse me, Charlie.
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, Anna Zagorski, 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 on their three-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 1-888-7-WOW-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!
Jink!
Wow!
And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.
