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Hey, grown-ups, Mindy here.
And before we start the show, we've got a big surprise for you.
Amazon Prime Day is here and on October 7th and 8th, select Wow in the World STEM toys will be on sale for up to 40 off.
Woo-hoo!
For the kids in your life who love science, and for those that don't know they do.
Yet we've got the perfect gifts.
From the microscopic wonders of our new microscope and biology kit to the two-foot-long great white shark toy.
Our Wow in the World STEM toys help connect playing to learning and learning to laughter.
Plus, every Wow in the World toy comes with exclusive audio from me and my buddy Guy Raz.
So what are you waiting for?
Grownups.
Visit Tinkercastcom slash toys this Tuesday and Wednesday for deals that wow on toys that will bring the wows of science to your home.
That's Tinkercast.com slash toys.
That's it.
And now let's get back to the show.
Hey grownups, if you're planning on taking a family trip to Orlando this summer to be transported to magical universes well, you should know there's one portal you don't want to miss.
Your portal to the original universe Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, where they have flying dragons too.
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With missions to Mars, rocket launches and deep space exploration.
No trip to Orlando is complete without landing at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
Discover something real.
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Proceeded 3, 2, 1, ignition.
I don't know what you've been told, but we're in a golden age.
So many discoveries that are jumping off the page.
Wild in the world.
Wild in the world.
Wild in the world.
Wild in the world.
Wild in the world.
Wild in the world.
Wild in the world.
Wild in the world.
Wild in the world.
It's taco, taco time.
Everybody's ready for taco time.
Taco, taco time.
Taco time, yeah.
I want to be a taco time, yeah.
Mindy?
Hey, Rosie!
Where are you going?
Where are you going?
What do you mean?
I thought we were doing Taco Tuesday.
We are doing Taco Tuesday.
I just need to pop over to the store real quick to get some guacamole, because it turns out that what I thought was guacamole was really just a whole bunch of wasabi.
Lucky for us, Reggie discovered that in a taste test.
Uh-huh.
All right.
Just open up the hatch on the wow machine here.
Uh, okay, but you're taking the wow machine to the store.
Isn't that a little excessive?
Oh, yeah, but, uh, I'm also a little excessive.
You know, Mindy, I do have avocados for guacamole at home.
I can just run back and get it for you if you like.
Thanks, Kairazi, but I actually have my own special place that I like to go to.
It has the best guacamole on the planet.
Really?
Really.
So, you want to come with me?
Yeah, I guess so.
Okay, hop in, everyone.
Alright.
Hmm.
Uh, so where exactly are we going again, Mindy?
Oh, we're going to Mexico.
Mexico?
Uh-huh.
Let me just punch in the coordinates here.
The Guam Shack.
Shishaloo, Puerto Mexico.
Wait a minute, Mindy.
Why are we going to Mexico?
Because.
Because this is where I go to get the best guacamole for Taco Tuesday, Guy Raz.
There's this little shop on the Yucatan Peninsula.
And let me tell you, the guacamole at this place is muy delicado.
The Yucatan Peninsula?
Isn't that where the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs hit?
I don't know, Guy Raz.
I can't be expected to keep track of every single asteroid that crashes into Earth.
OK.
The coordinates are all set.
Oh, and before I forget, I made some horchata for the trip.
You want some?
I think I'll save mine for when we have our tacos, Mindy.
OK, suit yourself.
More for me and Reggie.
Let me just get out my thermos here.
Here, hold out your wings, Reg.
Make a bowl shape.
There we go.
Uh, Mindy?
Oh, closer together, Reg.
It's dripping right through your feathers and onto the control panel.
What?
Not good.
Um, you better hold on to something, Skyroz.
Because here we... Man, that was a rough one.
Everyone okay?
Uh...
I'll take that as a yes.
All right.
Let's see what the damage is here.
OK.
OK.
Well, it looks like we did make it to the Yucatan Peninsula.
But.
What?
This is kind of a big but.
Mindy.
I think we might have gone just a teeny tiny bit back in time.
A teeny tiny bit?
Mindy, what year is it?
Uh, 66 million BCE?
66 million BCE?
Is there an echo in here?
Isn't that the time when...
Woo!
Dinosaurs!
Don't worry, you guys.
This happens all the time.
Really?
Yes, as usual.
I've got everything out of control.
Now I just gotta find a way to get all of that horchata that I spilled in the control panel out of there so I can get it fixed.
Woo!
Woo!
It still tastes good.
In a second, Reg, I'm just trying to fix this control panel real quick.
Now I think all I need to do is pull the plug out of the control panel here.
Let all of the horchata drain before you can say oh wow Mindy, this guacamole is really life-changing.
Well, just be quick about it, Mindy.
I can't put my finger on it, but I have a bad feeling about this place.
What is it, Reg?
Look out the window, dino go, and why did it get so dark all of a sudden?
Uh mindy, is that a dinosaur extincting asteroid?
Uh yes mindy quit, get us out of here.
Almost there, guy ross.
Come on control panel drink, as Let's put it together here.
Maybe.
There we go.
Hold on, everyone, because we are out of here.
Woo-hoo!
Woo-hoo!
Did you see that, Kairos?
We just missed that meteor by a hair!
Kairos?
Kairos, you can open your eyes now.
We're safe.
Uh-huh.
And... Yep, perfect.
Back right where we belong.
Hey, do you hear that?
Yeah, what's that sound?
I think it's coming from outside.
Reggie, quick, open the drawbridge.
Woo-hoo!
It looks like a giant street party, Mindy.
A correction, Guy Raz.
Look at that big banner over there.
It's a Fiesta Callejera.
Yes, Mindy, that's Spanish for... Ooh, tacos!
Mindy!
Yeah, I know.
Have a nice day.
I wonder what this party is for, Mindy.
I don't know, but look at this flyer I got with my tacos.
Let me see that.
The 66 millionth, 3,322nd annual impact anniversary?
Yeah.
What do you think it means?
Mindy, I think this is a party to celebrate the impact of that meteor we just narrowly avoided.
You mean the one that killed off all the dinosaurs?
Yeah, I mean, there are a lot of different theories about what killed off the dinosaurs.
But yes, the majority of scientists agree that it was most likely a large asteroid that hit the Earth right here on the Yucatan Peninsula about 66 million years ago.
Hmm.
But there's still a lot of mystery about where in the solar system this asteroid came from.
Ah, kind of like an intergalactic whodunit.
Yeah, if by it you mean making around 75% of life on Earth go extinct.
Whoa, this asteroid extinctified 75% of living things on Earth?
That's crazy.
Yeah, and it wasn't just animal life either.
About 75% of both animals and plants were wiped out when that space rock collided with Earth.
And scientists have no idea where it came from?
Well, they didn't until very recently.
But now, thanks to some smart technology and a little detective work, they think they've been able to figure out where this killer asteroid came from.
You mean they've cracked the case?
That's right, Mindy.
I love when we do this.
Well, here are the facts of the case.
No, no, no, no.
Kairos, do it in your detective voice.
Oh, okay.
Here are the facts of the case.
We know that the asteroid that hit Earth was a C-type asteroid.
Ah, a C-type asteroid, you say?
You mean the kind that's made up of mostly carbon?
Correct.
And we know that most of these asteroids live in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Ah, an asteroid in the asteroid belt, you say?
A likely story.
But what confused scientists about this case was that these asteroids were pretty small.
The weapon did not fit the crime.
I like a plot twist.
That's right.
The asteroid that hit Earth all those years ago was huge.
About 10 kilometers or 6.2 miles wide.
What?
That's like 30 Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other.
I know.
Okay, so where did this asteroid even come from?
Well, these kinds of asteroids do exist in the asteroid belt, but they tend to be on the outer part of the belt.
You mean the part of the asteroid belt that's furthest away from the sun?
Yeah, and furthest away from us.
And up until this study, scientists thought that these asteroids were pretty hard to knock off course.
But now they don't?
Exactly.
Why?
Well, it's all thanks to computer simulations.
Computer simulations?
Computer simulations.
That's right.
These scientists went to NASA and they used the supercomputers there to run a bunch of simulations on how these types of asteroids might have found their way to Earth.
Ah, and a simulation is when scientists plug in the size, the weight and the speed of an object floating through space and then let the computer crunch the numbers to find out what it would do.
Exactly.
And so these researchers ran these simulations again and again and again.
And what did they find?
Yeah, these kinds of asteroids are ten times more likely to be knocked off course than we previously thought.
Meaning that it was pretty likely that it was one of these asteroids that collided with Earth all of those millions of years ago.
Exactly.
Aha.
Well, Detective Guy Raz, I'd say the case is solved.
Excuse me.
Sorry.
Sorry.
Whoa.
Hey, looks like something's happening, Mindy.
Yeah, where's everyone going?
It seems like they're all going down to the end of the street.
Yeah.
Come on, Guy Raz.
Let's follow them.
Wait up, Mindy.
Excuse me.
What is that, Mindy?
It looks like one big crane, Guy Raz.
Yeah, but what's hanging off the end of it?
Is that a...
A giant earth piñata?
It's so massive, Mindy.
I wonder how they're planning on smashing it open.
Well, my guess would be with that giant wrecking ball that's backing up over there.
Look!
That's not just any wrecking ball, Mindy.
Look at it.
Oh!
Right, Guy Raz.
It looks like there's a giant rock stuck to the end of it.
Wait, I think I get it, Mindy.
They must be recreating the Yucatan asteroid impact with this wrecking ball and this piñata.
Wow, sure looks that way.
Wait, what did she say?
She asked, who wants to drive the wrecking ball?
Oh!
Oh, me, me.
I'd like to do it over here.
A ver, a ver.
¿Qué tal la señora brincando?
Oh, Mindy, look.
She's pointing straight at you.
Me?
Here, hold on to my extra tacos, Guy Raz.
I've got a wrecking ball to drive.
Ay, santo cielo.
Ya me estoy arrepintiendo.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Gracias.
Gracias.
Hey, just get up into the driver's seat of this crane here.
Okay.
Here we go!
All set!
It's okay.
It's okay.
I think I got the hang of it now.
Hey, Guy Razzi!
Yeah?
Give me a countdown.
Uh, okay, Mindy.
Um... Tres... Dos...
What piñata is that?
It's the guacamole, Guy Raz.
Quick, scoop it up and put it in your pockets.
Uh, if you say so, Mindy.
Oh, man.
This is the best annual impact anniversary street party on Taco Tuesday I have ever been to.
Uh-huh.
Fiesta!
Wow in the World will be right back.
Grownups, this message is for you.
That's it.
Back to the show.
Wow in the World.
Hi, thanks for calling Wow in the World.
After the beep, get ready to record.
Hi, my name is Cypress.
I live in the Dallas Oregon, and my wow is that the gluteus maximus is the biggest muscle in the body.
Say hi to Dennis for me.
What?
Hi, my name's Ellie from Greenville, North Carolina.
And my wow in the world is that a Therizinosaurus, a dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period, had 32 feet long claws.
All right, that's it.
Say hi to Dennis.
Hi there.
Sledcat.
Um, Reggie.
And Grandma G-Force.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I couldn't hear that.
Bye.
Hi, my name is August.
I live in Washington, D.C.
My wow in the world is 1.3 million Earths can fit in the sun.
Say hi to Dennis and Reggie for me.
Bye.
Hi.
Hi, my name is Matilda.
I'm six.
I'm six and a half years old, and I'm from Portland, Maine.
My wow in the world is that some dinosaurs and pterosaurs would swallow rocks to digest some of their food.
Isn't that amazing?
They had a Dennis, Reggie, Grandma J-Force, and Thomas Fingerling and Mindy for me.
Oh, yeah.
Cool.
Bye.
Hi, my name is Diana and I live in Acton, Massachusetts.
My wow in the world is that there's an art museum on the moon.
Isn't that bonker balls?
Say hi to Reggie.
Grandma G-Force.
Oh, snap.
Dennis.
Ahoy there.
And Static Man.
Bye.
Hi, my name is Cody and I live in North Andover Massachusetts, and my wow in the world is that jellyfish have a butt mouth.
They poop out of their mouth.
Say hi to Grandma G-Force.
We go way back.
And Reggie.
Say hi to Reggie, too.
And Thomas Fingerling.
And Dennis.
And Mindy Slakehead.
And Dunstunstunstackman.
Bye!
End of messages.
Wow in the World is written by Mindy Thomas and Tom Van Kalken with help from me, Guy Raz.
Original sound design and music editing is done by our senior producer Jed Anderson and Tyler Thull.
You can also hear Jed Anderson in the voices of Dennis Thomas Fingerling, Reggie and many of the other silly characters you hear on our show.
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, be fun wowing!
Wowing!
Wow in the World was made by Tinkercast and sent to you by Wondery.
