And now it's time for who smarted?
Psss. Hey, Smarty Pants.
Poof! It sure is a hot day in Smartyville.
And I'm guessing you probably can figure out where I'm at.
C'mon ball! That's right Smarty Pants.
I'm at a swimming pool. But where I really need to be is IN a swimming pool.
Okay? Here I go! Ah! The water is so nice and so refreshing on a hot summer day.
Smarty Pants, what do you think a good temperature for a swimming pool is?
Is it a cold 50 degrees Fahrenheit or 10 degrees Celsius?
B, a cool 68 degrees Fahrenheit or 20 degrees Celsius?
Or C, a warm 80 degrees Fahrenheit or 27 degrees Celsius?
Hmm, if it's hot out you want the water to be cooler, right?
So B. Actually, experts say the ideal temperature is somewhere between 78 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit or 26 and 28 degrees Celsius, making C the correct answer.
But wait, it's 80 degrees out.
That would mean the pool is the same temperature as the air.
The pool doesn't feel that warm.
Are you sure your numbers are right trusty?
Absolutely. Okay, but then how come the pool feels cooler than the air?
Smarty Pants, and he guesses, is it A, the air above the pool is always warmer?
B, water moves heat out of your body faster or C, it's a trick played by your brain.
Oh boy, I hope it's not C.
It's not. The answer is B.
Water is better at moving heat than air, so heat escapes from your body faster when you're in water.
Making 80 degrees Fahrenheit or 27 degrees Celsius feel cooler than it does outside.
Oh, that makes sense. And if you ever take swimming lessons, you might notice the pool water feels warmer.
That's done on purpose, since warmer water can help with your breathing while relaxing your muscles.
A heated pool can have water as warm as 90 degrees Fahrenheit or 32 degrees Celsius.
But if you're on a swim team and or like to race in the pool, like the athletes in the Olympics, chances are you'll want the water much cooler because your body will warm itself up during the strenuous competition.
However, today Olympic pools are not allowed to be colder than 77 degrees Fahrenheit or 25 degrees Celsius, which is still fairly warm and comfortable.
I hear it's warmer than that because Olympic athletes pee in the pool.
Ew. Yeah, I've heard that too.
So when you gotta go, you gotta go.
And if it's during practice or at a race, you don't have time to get out.
So... Yeah. Anyway, there will be no peeing or competitive swimming here today.
Troubleman ball! But we will be learning cool things about swimming pools, like how and when did swimming pools start?
What are some of the most amazing ones out there?
Why are there chemicals like chlorine in the water?
And what sometimes causes your eyes to turn red and sting after swimming?
Pss. It's not the chlorine.
Ew. Get ready for another whiff of science and history on...
Hell smart, Ed. Who smarted?
Who smart is it you? Is it me?
Is it science or history?
Listen up. Everyone! We make smarting lots of fun!
Smart Ed. Hey, smarty pants!
For today's special promo, I met a heart pounding earth-shaking monster truck rally!
We're huge trucks with tires bigger than my entire family.
Stoop around a muddy track!
Now they're jumping over a giant mud pit!
Now they're crushing cars by driving right over them.
And now they're... Wait, what is that on the track?
That's not a monster truck, that's the blippy-mobile.
Hey, trusty. How's it going, trusty?
Why it's my friend's blippy and meekah?
I hadn't expected to see you two here.
Oh yeah, we wouldn't have missed it.
I love seeing huge monster trucks flying through the air.
It's so cool! Oh, Ed, hearing the roaring engines and cheering crowds.
It's awesome! Hey, I am so with you.
And let me guess, this is another stop on your awesome new podcast.
Blippy and meekah's road trip?
Yeah! In every episode meekah and I travel the world, learning by being curious.
From dinosaurs and prehistoric times, to construction sites, to outer space, and the International Space Station.
Wherever there's fun and learning, you know we'll be there!
That makes sense. And as we all know, monster trucks are the perfect blend of science, engineering, and pure adrenaline.
You're right. Just listen to those engines roar!
Yeah! It's like being inside a cloud during a thunderstorm.
Awesome. I just have one last question.
Is the blippy mobile monster truck proof?
Because that monster truck is headed right for us.
Looks like it's time to go.
Happen, trusty. Sure thing.
And some wordy pants. Be sure to catch my friend's blippy and meekah.
On Blippy and Meekah's road trip, anywhere you listen to podcasts.
Hey, smarty pants. If the weather is hot and you love swimming, splashing around, jumping, doing underwater handstands, or just waiting, it's hard to beat a day at the swimming pool all around the planet.
People love their swimming pools.
But there's one country that's claimed to be the world's swimming pool champion with one pool for every seven people.
Whoa. Any guess what country that is?
Is it A, Australia? B, the United States?
Or C, Russia? The answer is, A, Australia.
Although France has also been making a big splash.
With a private swimming pool for every 20 people.
And then there's the United States, which has the most swimming pools in the world, with more than 10 and a half million of them.
But since the population of the US is much bigger, that comes out to one pool for every 31 people.
Still, that's pretty good, huh?
Get it, ball! But despite those countries love for swimming pools, none of them were the home to the very first swimming pools.
Nooo! Smartypants, when do you think the first swimming pool was invented?
Was it A in the 1800s? B, during medieval times.
Or C, in ancient times. While the exact date is unknown.
Historians believe the first man-made pool was built four to five thousand years ago during ancient times.
And can you guess where?
Was it Pakistan, China, or Egypt?
Ooh, I bet it was someplace hot!
I say Egypt! Sorry, that's not it.
Ah! I'm way better at doing cannonballs than taking these quizzes!
So where was it? Historians believe the first man-made pool was the great bath of Moenjo Daro, which is in modern-day Pakistan.
The pool measured about 12 by 7 meters, or 39 by 22 feet, larger than most home pools, but smaller than an Olympic pool.
And a half meters deep, or about 8 feet, pretty close to today's pool depth.
Cannonball! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no cannonballs!
Why no cannonball? You said it was 8 feet deep!
Still, not a good idea. Smartypants, can you guess why you shouldn't fling yourself into the air and hug your knees to make a cannonball splash in the first man-made pool?
Are you gonna give us some choices?
Sure. Was it because A, ancient people were no fun?
B, the ancient pool was filled with lava, instead of water.
Or C, the pool was likely used for religious ceremonies.
I have no idea. The answer is C, this pool was for ceremonies, not swimming, and definitely not for cannonballs.
What if I whispered it? No, sorry.
But hey, not every ancient society made pool strictly for worship.
More than 2,000 years after the first pools, the ancient Greeks began to change their purpose.
Originally, they used them as baths.
But soon, they became a place for meeting friends and exercising kind of like the way swimming pools are used today.
The ancient Greeks, and later the ancient Romans, used pools to teach swimming to young kids.
The Romans even added a circulation system to their pools for fresh water, and they also introduced the heated swimming pool.
So, yes cannonball? Hold on, hold on.
The ancient Greeks and Romans may have perfected the swimming pool, but smarty pants, can you guess what happened to swimming pools after the Roman Empire fell?
A, they became even more popular.
B, they were outlawed. Or C, they mostly went away.
Cannonball! Ugh, this isn't a pool, it's a muddy swamp!
I'm sorry to say it's smarty pants, but the answer is C.
For hundreds of years, swimming pools just stopped being a thing.
Pools existed here and there, but they just weren't very popular, not like before.
And as for cannonballs?
Yeah, yeah, yeah! They existed just not the swimming type.
Fire the cannonball! Swimming pools didn't become a hit again until the 1800s.
Ah! Can you guess which country brought them back?
Was it the United States, England, or China?
The answer is England. Swimming races became the latest craze, and in 1837, the world's first swimming organization was formed in London.
The British started building indoor pools throughout the country to keep up with demand, as a new international athletic competition brought swimming to a whole new level in 1896.
Smarty pants, do you know what this competition was called?
That's right, the Olympics.
But wasn't there already swimming in the Olympics?
There sure was. The first modern Olympics in Athens, Greece, made swimming a worldwide sensation.
However, those competitions were held in the sea.
London moved the races to a swimming pool when it hosted the games in 1908.
Ah! And that's when the Olympians started peeing in the pool!
Unfortunately, luckily, new technology during the 1900s kept the water from getting too… well, disgusting.
In the early days, the only way to clean a pool was to empty all the water out of it.
Fortunately, pools don't have to be emptied anymore to be clean, thanks to modern filtration systems and a chemical that kills bacteria.
Smarty pants, do you know the name of that chemical?
Is it A, chloroform? B, chlorophyll?
Or C, chlorine? Even I know that one, it's C, chlorine!
Nice job! Thanks to chlorine, swimming pools can stay clean, even if the people in the pool are not.
Hey, I took a shower first?
Good, but not everybody does, and that can lead to… Weed to what?
Some unpleasant side effects.
More on that, and the world's most amazing pools after this quick break, and a word from our sponsors.
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Thanks! Now back to who smarted?
Hey smarty fans, quick question.
Besides a backyard, name a popular place with a swimming pool.
Some of you said, Jim, why, or your school.
All good answers. But what about when you're on vacation?
Yep, I'm talking about hotels.
Since the mid-1900s, hotels have installed swimming pools to attract more visitors.
One hotel may have overdone it.
According to Guinness World Records, the Lexus HiBiscus Resort in Port Dixon, Malaysia has a whopping 643 swimming pools, more than any other resort.
That's like an entire summer of Cannonball!
I should note, most of these pools are not very big.
If you're looking for big, visit the San Alfonso del Mar outside of Santiago Chile.
The pool is about the size of 16 football fields.
Even though this massive pool once held the record for the world's largest, at least two other pools are even bigger.
They're part of resorts under construction in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
And of course, the world's deepest pool is also in the Middle East.
The deep dive to buy in the United Arab Emirates has a pool that goes down 60 meters nearly 200 feet.
Cannonball! Don't worry, a cannonball jump won't get you down that far, but Scuba gear can.
And the pool has a ton of things to explore, as it's designed to look like a sunken city.
There's even a game room where you can play foosball underwater.
Learning about all these pools is super cool and all, but I gotta say the chlorine is starting to burn my eyes!
Ow! Uh, about that. Smarty pants, have your eyes ever started to sting after being in a pool for a while?
Well, I hate to tell you this, but it's not from the chlorine.
Oh, and if you ever smell that familiar pool smell?
Eww, it smells like... Yeah, that isn't from chlorine either.
Sorry. Uh-oh. Why do I get the feeling it's gonna be something pretty gross?
Yeah, cause uh, it is. But Smarty pants don't let this stop you from going to the pool.
I'll explain why later.
Okay, first things first.
The reason your eyes sting in turn red is because of irritants called chloramines.
These are formed when chlorine mixes with bodily fluids such as sweat, pee, and poop.
Chloramines also create that chemical smell you often think is from the chlorine.
So if you're smelling that and your eyes are red and stinging, even swimming around in all kinds of bodily fluids.
Oh, and while kids might be the easy target to blame for that, it's not just them.
According to surveys, a good number of adults pee in the pool too, even though they know they shouldn't.
Eww. Hey, don't forget the Olympic swimmers!
Ha-ha-ha! Right. Athletes have claimed that all Olympic swimmers pee in the pool, but at least they have a good excuse.
Swimming does make your body have to go, and it's not exactly easy to get to a restroom before competing.
But no, Olympic swimmers don't go during the race.
They usually go during warm-ups beforehand.
So what you're saying is, every pool I can't ball into has probably got pee in it.
Yes. Okay, I'm done cannonballing.
I had a nice run. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, not so fast.
Before any of you listening shy away from swimming, think about this.
There are germs everywhere.
There's lots of gross stuff on door knobs, elevator buttons, school desks, carpets, car seats, money, especially money, and also smartphones.
At least with a pool, there's an entire filtration system and strong chemicals like chlorine fighting all those nasty germs.
So relax, jump in, and enjoy swimming, splashing, handstands, Marco Polo, and whatever other fun things you do in a pool.
But do try to take a shower both before and after.
Got it! Well, not case! Cannonball!
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Thanks for smarting with us.
A double shout out to Smarty Twins Claire and Nicholas in Farmington, Connecticut.
Now, while these two might be twins, they each like Who's Smarted for different reasons.
Claire loves the science while Nicholas is all about the history.
But one thing they can't agree on is they're always ready for the next episode.
Thanks you too! This episode's swimming pools was written by Dave Backstroke Bodry and voiced by Adam Poole-Noodles Davis, Max Chlorinated Kamaski, and Jerry Colbert.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hydeive Han.
Our associate producer is Max Kamaski.
The theme song is by Brian, no splashing Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Text Davis, Who's Smarted was created and produced by Adam Text Davis, and Jerry Colbert.
This has been an atomic entertainment production.
