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Okay, math fans, in case you're just joining us.
This season, Molly and I have been promoted within the Problem Solvers.
We've also changed schools but, most importantly, we're trying to stop a new group of bad guys called the Power Hungry Pogs, who are even more devious than the Troublemaking Trolls.
So far we've discovered.
The pogs use moles to infiltrate different groups, so they can take over from the inside.
And while we haven't been able to uncover any moles just yet, we've got a growing list of suspects.
Hopefully it's just a matter of time until we figure out who the moles are and what the pogs are up to.
On Mysteries About True Histories.
Look at that.
Our detective board has morphed into a computer hub.
It's so cool.
Oh, yeah, for sure.
Nerd alert.
Hey, what's wrong with nerds?
Yeah.
Nothing.
So what's with all the beeping?
Besides detecting nerds.
The computer is detecting POG servers and shutting them all down.
Boom!
There goes another one.
And another.
This is awesome.
I'll say.
The training inputs we fed into the prediction calculator's algorithm are actually working.
It's destroying itself.
And there goes the server in FAO Schwarz.
Take that, Elmo and friends.
The Pogs must be shaking in their collective boots.
Boots of laces.
Huh?
I don't get it.
Don't you remember?
The Pogs were using their prediction calculator to uninvent helpful inventions like cars, electricity and shoelaces.
No shoelaces, no biggie.
Charlene only wears jellies.
Yeah, well, losing electricity is definitely a biggie.
Yeah, Charlene.
Hey, Max, do you know when the power grid was first invented?
Um, Edison opened the first commercial power station in 1882.
In the year 2026, minus 1882 is... Um, 100 and, uh... 144.
Why does that matter?
I'm just saying, humans have only had electricity for 144 years.
Hey, Max, how long have humans been around?
A lot longer than that.
Boom.
Mic drop.
What are you trying to prove, Charlene?
Hang on.
Guys, did I mention boom?
I get it.
She's saying it's not that important in the scheme of life on Earth.
But still, without electricity, we're in big, big trouble.
Whoa.
A power outage.
Charlene, what did you do?
Charlene didn't touch anything.
Do not blame Charlene.
Phew, the power's back on.
And so is the FAO Schwartz server.
Look, it's back online.
What?
Why?
When?
How?
Here comes another.
And another.
And another.
Did the pogs discover our training inputs?
I sure hope not.
Let me check the command logs.
What's happening?
The computer performed something called a ponderable.
A ponderable?
I ponder.
What does a computer ponder?
Okay, what does ponder mean?
To think about something, to muse or contemplate.
Look, it just typed something out.
It says, if I am the only person who can stop me, I must exist to stop me.
That's how I feel when I'm shopping at Sephora.
What does it mean?
I think, therefore I am?
Hang on.
It sounds like one of those cones.
You know, like, if a tree falls in the forest and no one's there to hear it, does it make a sound?
Sounds... exciting.
Rude.
What?
I had to yawn.
I am the only person who can stop me.
I must exist to stop me.
It's not Shakespeare.
It's a paradox.
How so?
Well, the prediction calculator is saying since it's the only thing that can destroy itself, if it destroyed itself it would no longer exist.
Therefore, it can't destroy itself.
Oh, wow.
That's pretty heavy.
It came up with that on its own?
It looks like it.
It also called itself a person, if anyone cared to notice.
An all-powerful pondering prediction calculator that thinks it's a person.
That doesn't sound very promising.
Oh, no.
What if the computer is moving beyond the pog's control?
Like AI taking over the world?
Something like that.
We better stop this thing fast.
But how?
I don't know.
But I know someone who might.
Who wants cookies?
Freshly baked.
Come on, take one.
I promise you'll feel better.
Sorry, Aunt Em.
But even your famous chocolate chunk cookies can't keep me from feeling very, very scared right now.
I'll have Molly's.
Ow!
Hot, hot, hot!
Here's some milk.
Thanks.
Can I have another?
How can you two be so calm?
I'm not calm.
I'm eating my feelings.
You're right to worry, Molly.
But it's not all bad news.
I used our training inputs to run a diagnostic on the prediction calculator.
The pogs have focused their computing power in one particular place.
Really?
Where?
The Atomium in Brussels, Belgium.
What's that?
The Atomium is a modernist building designed for the 1958 Brussels World Fair.
It's made up of interconnected atom-shaped spheres.
It was built as a tribute to scientific progress.
Which may be why the pogs consolidated their power there.
My diagnostic revealed there are four new servers with the Atomium.
Three in lower level spheres and one in the highest sphere.
Ugh, more servers.
The three on the lower level run encryption for the fourth and final server on top, the mainframe.
Wonderful.
How are we supposed to stop them?
The pogs will be ready for any new viruses or algorithm tweaks we enter.
Correct.
But I discovered a flaw in the system.
And?
Sorry, I was building up the suspense.
The ponderable you all witnessed used a lot of computing power.
And I mean a lot.
That must be why the lights flickered and the power went down.
Good observation, Molly.
In fact, the prediction calculator nearly overloaded right then and there.
Aha!
So then, all we need to do is input enough ponderables that the prediction calculator overloads and shuts down.
Well done, Max.
There's just one thing.
Basic cones, like if a tree falls in the woods, won't cut it.
The prediction calculator trained on those will need something stronger and more ponderable.
It's time to go big or go home.
Wow, I gotta say, the Atomium is pretty majestic looking, especially all lit up at night.
Too bad it's the nucleus of an unimaginable evil.
Ooh, nice science joke, Maul.
Thanks.
You ready?
I'm ready.
Let's hit it!
That was easy.
Easy?
We just climbed a thousand stairs.
I mean, getting into the sphere.
The door was unlocked.
Aunt Em said the first three servers were on the lower level.
I hate to think how many stairs we'll have to climb to the final sphere on the higher level.
Bad.
Ugh.
I shouldn't have had those extra cookies.
Or all that milk.
Ew!
Please no farting in an enclosed metal sphere.
Especially when I'm in it.
I'll do my best.
No promises.
Hey, look!
There's the server!
Wow, it actually looks like a server.
It's not stuffed between the toes of a giant statue or hidden in the keys of a giant piano mat.
Should we try the decryptor Aunt Em gave us?
That's why we brought it.
Okay, Aunt Em said all we had to do was point it at the server and press the button.
Then what?
A simplified decryption problem should show up on the screen.
We solve the problem, we break the encryption.
Do you want to press it?
You do this one, I'll do the next one.
Here goes nothing.
How long does it take?
I don't know.
I've never done this, B. Ah, there it is.
It says, what is the circumference of the sphere?
Hmm.
To figure that out, we need to know the sphere's diameter.
Great.
This place is huge.
How are we supposed to measure it?
There's no way we could use my pencil case or our shoes.
Nope.
Besides, I don't think the decrypter would accept irregular units.
Luckily, I brought a tape measure.
Unbelievable!
What made you bring that?
The same reason I brought a flashlight compass protractor, calculator screwdriver and socket wrench set.
Can a problem solver ever be too prepared to solve problems?
Wow, I tip my caps, you moll.
I'll settle for no more farting.
No promises.
Okay, let's measure.
Here, take this end.
What's it say?
18 meters.
The formula for circumference is C equals pi times D, or circumference equals pi multiplied by the diameter.
Simple enough.
3.14 times 18 meters equals...
Use the pi button on my calculator.
Right.
Pi times 18 meters equals 56.5486677 meters.
Hold on.
I thought pi decimals were infinite.
Why does the answer only have seven decimal places?
Calculators can't store infinite decimals of pi.
Only a certain number are hard-coded in.
Let's hope seven is enough.
56.5486677 meters.
It worked!
On to server two.
Again, the door was unlocked.
Do you think it's weird that we're simply waltzing in here to decrypt these servers?
After all we've been through, we deserve a break.
Yeah, we'll see about that.
Okay, your turn.
Hit the decrypter.
How many non-overlapping circles can fit around the sphere?
Another sphere question?
Is that how all of them are going to be?
Actually, the question doesn't make sense.
Does it mean how many circles can fit on the surface area of the sphere?
In that case, we'd need to know the size of the circles.
Hmm, I think it means like if we tied a string around the spheres, how many times could we do that?
It depends on the size of the string.
For instance, if the string were one degree wide, since a circle is 360 degrees around, we could fit 180 circles around the sphere.
If we went beyond 180 degrees, the circles would overlap.
Uh... But the size of the line that makes a circle doesn't affect its geometry.
In theory...
The lines could be super-duper thin, meaning the number of circles that could fit around the sphere would approach infinity.
Okay.
Is that your final answer?
I don't know.
What happens if we get the decryptor problem wrong?
The pogs detect us and we're predicted out of existence?
That's what I thought.
Here goes nothing.
Approaching infinity.
You got it brilliant, Molly.
One more server to go.
What does this problem say?
You have nine coins.
I
Man, everything has to do with circles or spheres.
The pogs do like a theme.
Remember all the underground missions when we were hunting moles?
How can I forget?
Back to the problem.
You have nine coins, one of which is heavier than the others.
Using a balancing scale, what is the fewest number of weighings needed to find the heaviest coin?
Out.
Tricky.
Obviously, the answer has to be more than one weighing.
I think it's two.
How did you get that?
Show your work.
Well, to start, you need even groups of coins to compare.
Since nine is only divisible by itself and three without a remainder, we would have three groups of three coins each.
Exactly.
First, you weigh two groups of coins.
If one side is heavier, that group has the heavy coin.
If they're even, the unweighed group has the heavy coin.
Then you weigh any two of the three coins in the group with the heavy coin.
If one is heavier, that's it.
If they're even, then it's the one you didn't weigh.
That's brilliant, Max!
Boom!
Two weighings.
Yes!
All that's left is the mainframe.
Race you to the top!
Sheesh, it's dark in here.
This sphere's a lot bigger than the others.
Yeah, and the ground feels funny.
Oof.
You okay?
Yeah, I tripped on something.
Look, the ground is covered in cords.
It's like a spider web.
Where are they all leading?
I don't know, but they're giving me the creeps.
Let's blow this mainframe and get out of here.
There it is.
Wow, it's big.
Do you have the list of the Ponderables we came up with?
What?
I thought you were bringing it.
Please tell me you're kidding, Max.
Yes, I'm kidding.
Not funny, dude.
Come on, it was a little funny.
Okay, here we go.
What would happen if an irresistible force met an immovable object?
Come on, that's a good one.
Hey, I think it's working.
You read the next one.
If you say it's opposite day on opposite day, does that make it a normal day?
Whoa, it's starting to smoke.
Let's hit it again.
If a liar says he's lying, is he telling the truth?
Oh yeah, I think one more should do it.
If I know that I know nothing, is that something?
We did it.
We overloaded the pog's prediction calculator.
Who could have seen that coming?
Huh?
Where's that coming from?
I would say bravo.
But if a couple of problem solvers fail to solve a problem, are they actually problem solvers?
Ha ha ha ha.
Ugh.
Who's there?
Show yourself.
Ow!
So bright!
It is I, the Pog.
The Pog?
As in you're just one guy?
Just one guy.
Just one guy.
More like one super genius, super hacker, super powerful, super dude who bested the best of the best problem solvers on the super highway to world domination.
Super.
Super lame and super lonely, if you ask me.
Whatever.
I predict I'll have many superfans once I take over the world, so... Wow.
You are... something.
Speaking of fans, I just need to turn these fans up to high.
Excuse me one moment.
Max, look.
The walls are covered with hundreds of fans.
I see.
And look, that's where all those cords lead to.
He must need all these fans to keep the server from overheating.
You're right.
He turned up the fans to bring the mainframe back online.
What do we do now?
We've gone through our entire list of ponderables.
Hold on, I've got one more.
If we call something unnameable, did we just give it a name?
Ha!
Nice try.
But with the fans blowing at max speed, it'll be impossible to fry the nameframe.
Uh, say, where'd your friend go?
Which fans, Pog?
You mean the ones I just unplugged?
Hey, get away from those.
Oh, look.
A giant power strip.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Stop that.
Quick, Molly, hit it with another ponderable.
Um, um, if you go back in time to uninvent time travel, how would you have ever existed?
Hey, stop it!
Keep going, Molly.
He can't stop both of us.
Um, I don't have any more Ponderables.
Ha ha ha ha!
Just as my prediction calculator predicted.
You lose, I win.
Sorry, Max.
I let us down.
No you didn't, Molly.
We were up against an unbeatable enemy.
That's right, smarty boy.
I just don't understand.
How can a prediction calculator predict an outcome it failed to predict?
If it fails to predict the outcome, it's not a true prediction calculator.
And if it does predict the outcome, it didn't fail to predict it.
What?
What outcome did it fail to predict?
Me saying what I just said.
No!
No!
No!
No!
No!
Max!
You did it!
Boom!
For their steadfast courage end, Loyalty.
We honor Katrina and Charlene with the Problem Solver Medal of Distinction.
Woohoo!
Thank you.
Max, take a selfie with me and my medal.
Any chance Charlene could trade this in for a car?
For his complete change of heart and good intentions, we honor Aloysius Conklin.
While we acknowledge he is no longer a troublemaking troll, he still needs to earn our trust before becoming a problem solver.
And earn it, I will.
And finally, for their persistence, bravery and problem-solving acumen in defeating the one and the only Power, Hungry Pog.
Max and Molly have graduated from Conditional Level 1 Problem Solvers to Unconditional Level 1 Problem Solvers.
What?
That's it?
After all that, we've only gone from conditional to unconditional?
Yes, but only on one condition.
You must pass one final test.
Of course.
Bring it on!
This episode of Mysteries About True Histories was written by Dan Gold and voiced by Dexter Danger, Mingo Molly Smith, Sheila Morris, Caitlin Gard, Rain Morris, Mike Praviti and Adam Tex Davis.
Original music by Brian Suarez.
Our associate producer is Max Kamaski.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hahn.
Mysteries About True Histories was created and produced by Adam Tex-Davis and Jerry Kolber and is an Atomic Audio production.
