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Hey, grownups.
Mindy and Guy Raz here.
And before we start the show, happy National STEM Day.
Mindy!
We think that every day should be National STEM Day, so we are bringing the wows of STEM home to you.
That's right.
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 wowser 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.
Grownups.
Help make every day feel like STEM day at your home with our latest Wow in the World toys designed with your wowzer in mind.
You can shop our Wow in the World toys at Tinkercast.com slash toys.
That's Tinkercast.com slash toys.
Oh, hey, Guy Raz, can you hand me some toys?
Oh, sure, uh...
Here you go.
Thank you.
I'm gonna throw them in the confetti can and see what happens.
Oh, no.
We wow on the weekend.
We wow on the weekend.
We wow on the weekend.
Cause this is what we do on the weekend.
Talking, laughing, me and Reggie.
Singing, laughing, and then we... Oh, wait, no, I said laughing twice.
Uh...
Wee-wow on the weekend.
Wee-wow on the weekend.
Wee-wow on the weekend.
Because this is what we do on the weekend.
Hello and welcome to Wee-wow on the weekend.
I'm your host, Dennis.
And Reggie's here too.
Welcome to the show where we chit-chat and answer questions from listeners and listen to episodes of Wow in the World.
Reggie!
Why do I sound all weird?
Well, change it back right this minute!
Ah, Reggie, credit!
Ah, no!
Put it back, put it back!
Put it back, put it back!
Put it back!
Okay, is it normal again?
Don't do that, Reggie!
What if my voice accidentally stayed that way?
Well, I'm going to learn how to work the microphones one day and make you sound like a goose.
All right, let's get into the show and answer some questions with a Q&A segment.
The Q&A segment.
All right, let's just get the old answering machine pulled up here.
Okay, here we go.
Hi, you've reached Dennis from WeWow on the weekend.
That's me.
Do you have a question?
Well, I do too.
Lots of them.
And who's going to answer all my questions?
You?
Probably not.
But I guess I can answer yours.
Leave me a message.
What question are you?
I'm Colin, by the way, from Richmond.
Hi, Colin.
I'm Dennis, by the way.
And what question do you like, do you want to ask the most?
Bye.
What question do I want to ask the most?
Good question.
I think one of my favorite questions is, how?
No, that's it.
Just how?
Oh, I also really like asking, what?
You know, like, what?
You know, like that.
And I also like asking, how dare you?
And, who do you think you are?
And, oh, a common question for me is, how could you?
Oh, yeah, no, these are all rhetorical questions.
Isn't that what Colin is wondering?
Oh, actual real questions?
Like, what questions do I want to answer on the show?
Huh, I never thought about it before.
Maybe something like, Dennis, where did you get your cool clothes?
They're so fashionable.
Oh, you're right.
That's more of a compliment.
Okay, how about, Dennis, how do you make your hair look so good?
Ah, no, that's another compliment.
Yeah, maybe I should change my request from Call and ask me a question to call and give me a bunch of compliments.
Now, you're right.
That would get boring.
Call and give me a bunch of compliments, please.
What?
I didn't say anything.
Next compliment.
I mean, next question.
Hi, Dennis.
My name is AZ and my question for you is if Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled peppers, how many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?
I guess what I'm saying is, It says he picked a peck of pickled peppers, but how much is a peck?
How much is a peck?
Okay, there's four pecks in a bushel, so that would mean that a peck is maybe like the size of two or three gallons of milk, or a small basket or a small grocery bag maybe.
And then the amount of pickled peppers that can fit in a peck would depend upon what kind of pickled pepper we're talking about.
Because, Reggie, peppers are different sizes.
Are we talking about jalapeno?
Are we talking about bell peppers?
Are we talking about pepperoncini?
And another thing.
How is Peter Piper picking peppers that are already pickled?
No, Reggie.
First you pick the peppers, then you pickle them.
They don't grow in already pickled peppers.
That's preposterous!
So, the amount of pickled peppers in a peck depends upon the proportion of the pepper.
And if the peppers Peter Piper is picking are already pickled, he should probably not pick them.
Or eat them.
Next question!
Hi Dennis, this is Izzy.
Hi Izzy!
Do you want to hear a riddle?
Oh boy, do I!
I go around the world while staying in a corner.
What am I?
Oh, what's in the corner?
What's in the corner?
A house plant.
No.
A grandfather clock.
No, no, no, no.
Mother got rid of that.
Oh, a lamp.
No, wait.
A naughty little dentist who broke the lamp.
A stamp.
Oh, a stamp.
I get it.
Because it's in the corner of the envelope.
I was so close.
Yes, I was, Reggie.
Lamp rhymes with stamp.
Thanks for the riddle, Izzy.
And thank you, everyone.
Also... Oh, Izzy wasn't done.
Sorry, Izzy.
How do people get hiccups?
Bye.
How do people get hiccups?
Well, I don't know how people get hiccups, but I do know how to get rid of them.
Yes, I do, Reggie.
First you cut a lemon in half, sprinkle it with vinegar and sugar and then sit on a chair, and then pull your legs up to your chest and lean forward a little, and then you
Pull on your tongue and squeeze your nose.
Yeah, that's it.
That's all you have to do.
Just don't fall off the chair.
See?
No hiccups.
I know I didn't have hiccups before.
This method also prevents hiccups.
Thanks for your calls, everyone.
If you've got a question for me, Call and leave me a message.
The number is 1-888-7-WOW-WOW.
I just might answer your question on WeWOW on the weekend.
Okay, that takes care of that.
All right, next up is a little segment I like to call Inside Tinkercast Studios.
Inside Tinkercast Studios.
This is the part where we revisit an episode of one of my favorite Tinkercast shows.
And today we're listening to.
Wow in the World, Season 1, Episode 6, called Dinosaurs Puzzling Backbones.
Huh, that's kind of a weird title.
What's it about?
Dinosaurs, sure.
And backbones, right.
I guess I could have figured that out.
Okay, okay, let's just get to the episode.
Here we go.
And play.
Wow in the World will be right back. messages for you hey grown-ups mindy here from wow in the world the number one podcast for curious kids and their grown-ups that's you and we are so excited to bring the wows of the world to your home with our brand new wow in the world stem toys from wondery kids and themes and cosmos channel your inner astronomer with our wow in the world telescope kit Or zoom in on the tiny wows of nature with our Wow in the World microscope and biology kit.
You can even tinker like real scientists with our 100 experiments that wow kit.
And with every Wow in the World stem toy, you unlock access to exclusive audio content from me and my buddy, Guy Raz.
There are so many ways to wow.
So whether you're shopping for a kid who loves science or one who doesn't, Our Wow in the World.
Stem toys are the perfect gift for your curious kids.
Grownups, visit Tinkercast.com slash toys to shop the wow now.
Mindy, I have a question for you.
Sure, what's up?
Have you ever had a backache?
Oh, yeah, let me tell you.
So this one time I was going horseback riding and I was just going to do it the normal way, but then I decided you know what, let's spice things up a bit.
So I had the horse ride on my back.
You did what?
Yeah, I know.
I should have put a saddle on first, but sometimes you just got to learn things the hard way.
Okay, I don't recommend that activity.
But you know, Mindy, as we humans get older...
It's not unusual for us to get back pain, because the bones that support our back, our spine and backbones, are constantly carrying our bodies around.
And that's a lot of weight and a lot of work.
I know.
You should hear my backbone and spine.
They're always complaining and fighting with each other over who's pulling the most weight.
Okay, backbone.
I have literally been carrying her around since she can walk upright.
Oh, well.
She decided to wolf down 14 chimichangas all in one day, huh?
Well, I literally... Okay, spine, backbone, stop fighting.
There's enough of me to carry around, you guys.
Hmm, interesting.
Well anyway Mindy, the average American man weighs about 191 pounds and the average American woman weighs about 159 pounds.
Now imagine being a giant sauropod, you know, one of those giant dinosaurs with a long neck and body like an apatosaurus or a brachiosaurus.
Those dinosaurs could weigh as much as 175 pounds. thousand pounds, Mindy.
I mean, imagine the back pain those dinosaurs had to deal with.
Wow, that's a lot of Tylenol.
Well, of course, animals don't use medicine like Tylenol to help with their pain.
And besides, there was no Tylenol back when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
But you have to wonder Mindy, how did those dinosaurs carry their massive bodies around without just Or maybe they did just collapse and that was the real end of the dinosaurs?
Or maybe they got around on wheels somehow.
Yeah, maybe they wore giant roller skates to roll around.
That's what I would have done.
Well, you would have to build the world's most powerful roller skates to help keep a sauropod moving.
But even then, it wouldn't answer the question.
Because those giant plant eaters had to carry all of that body weight around, even if they did have giant roller skates.
So how were these gargantuan dinosaurs able to even grow that big in the first place?
Mindy, that's a great question.
Now imagine for a moment that you lived in the United States in the late Jurassic period, so about 160 million years ago.
Okay, I'm imagining it.
Now I'm running.
I'm screaming my brains out.
Now I'm wondering where I can find some ice cream.
Maybe some friends to hang out with to help me run from these dinosaurs.
And just to be clear, there were absolutely no humans on the planet at that time.
In fact, our earliest hominid ancestors, they only appeared on planet Earth once.
About 145 million years after the sauropods were long gone and extinct.
What?
No humans at all?
So no friends?
Okay, all right.
So I'm imagining that I'm here on Earth in the late Jurassic period dinosaurs roaming all around, but no friends, and I'm getting a little lonely and a lot scared.
Mindy, you're doing just fine.
Nothing to worry about.
Now, imagine... seeing an Apatosaurus.
These creatures were 14 times bigger than the biggest elephant on Earth today.
So take one elephant, invite 13 more elephants to join that elephant and ask those elephants to pile on top of each other, and you get the picture.
Wow, that's a Big wad of elephants.
Or roughly the equivalent size of an apatosaurus.
And for a long time scientists who study dinosaurs paleontologists, have been trying to figure out how they got to be so big.
So what do they think?
Well, one theory or guess based on scientific evidence is that these sauropods had very thick legs, kind of like giant tree trunks.
And those legs helped to support their weight.
So maybe, you know, you've seen a building with pillars?
Yeah, like the U.S.
Capitol building.
That has a lot of pillars.
That's exactly right.
Or ancient Greek and Roman temples also had pillars.
Those strong tall poles that were often made from stone that support the weight of a roof, for example.
And sauropods' legs acted as sort of bearings for the dinosaur's body.
Yeah, but these dinosaurs were so heavy.
I can't imagine that their big tree trunk pillar legs would be enough to keep them from collapsing to the ground, Guy Raz.
I know, right?
I mean, imagine how long their backs were.
I mean, they could grow as long as 55 meters.
So if you've ever been to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, that's about as tall as Cinderella's.
That is how long some of these sauropods could grow.
And for the longest time paleontologists were wondering how these dinosaurs' backbones could hold all of that weight.
But Mindy, they may be getting closer to the answer.
Oh, you're about to spill some beans.
Mindy, two paleontologists named John Fronimos and Jeffrey Wilson actually study this very thing.
They are vertebrae paleontologists.
And that means they specifically study the backbones of dinosaurs.
So basically their whole job is to uncover the hidden mysteries of dinosaur spines?
That's exactly right, Mindy.
And spines are also called vertebral columns.
And a vertebra is one bone in the column.
So if you think about a backbone or spine, think of it as sort of like a series of circular bones stacked one on top of the other, and together they form a long column or backbone.
And dinosaurs basically had the same kind of bone in their backs.
Except, Mindy, in dinosaurs, these vertebral columns were massive.
Wait a minute.
So if these giant sauropods had backbones just like ours, how were they able to carry around their giant dinosaur bodies?
Well, that's a good question Mindy, because our backbones wouldn't be able to handle that much weight.
But Mindy, those two paleontologists I mentioned were trying to figure out the same question.
And they noticed that the vertebrae, the bones that make up the backbone...
The vertebrae for these sauropods had these deep, zig-zaggy lines along the top.
And what they realized Mindy, is that these zig-zaggy lines actually connected to another bone with zig-zaggy lines, almost like a jigsaw puzzle.
What?
So are you telling us that these dinosaurs basically had puzzle pieces for bones?
Well, yeah, sort of. bones that fit together exactly like puzzle pieces.
And what that meant Mindy, is that these bones, by being attached in exactly the right way, were able to handle the pressure of all of that dinosaur weight.
They would never survive in my house.
We're always losing the puzzle pieces.
Anyway, so how did this back puzzle deal help them to handle all of that dinosaur weight?
Well, the way the bones connected one next to the other probably meant that the pressure on the bones was distributed or spread across the sauropod's entire spine instead of just one part.
And when the entire backbone was working to handle all of that weight, each vertebra pitched in to keep the dinosaur up and moving.
Think about when a bunch of grown-ups moves a heavy thing like a refrigerator.
Probably takes three to four adults to do that right.
Right.
And each grown-up makes sure that they're doing their part, keeping the fridge from falling to the ground.
And that's kind of how these individual bones in the dinosaurs' back worked.
Guy Raz, let's try this out.
Let's go pick up your car with our bare hands and walk it around the neighborhood.
We could tell everyone we're playing dinosaurs fine.
I don't think that would be a good idea.
I wish I could have lived in dinosaur times.
Yeah, and ride on the back of a dinosaur like a little prehistoric prince.
Wait, what do you mean I already ride on the back of a dinosaur?
Yeah, I've ridden on your back before.
So?
Wait.
Birds are dinosaurs?
Nuh-uh.
You're telling me that you, Reggie...
A bird who likes buttered noodles and bubble baths is a descendant of the Tyrannosaurus Rex?
Oh, not the T-Rex.
A smaller dinosaur, probably.
But still a dinosaur.
I think I need to go lie down.
All right, let's wrap up the show and then I can go lie down and question everything I know about you.
Thanks to all you listeners out there for tuning in to WeWOW on the weekend.
If you have a question for me... call and leave me a message at 1-888-7-WOW-WOW.
That's 1-888-7-WOW-WOW.
I just might answer your question on WeWOW on the weekend.
All right, should we do the goodbye song?
Okay.
That's the end of the show.
I need to go and reevaluate everything I know about dinosaurs and birds.
But I'll do another show tomorrow.
But for now, that's the end of the show.
Bye.
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