Hey, smarty pants, want to be part of a mystery?
Okay, wherever you are right now, reach out and touch any nearby object with a smooth surface.
It could be a doorknob, a table, or whatever device you're listening to who's smarted on.
A stuffed animal wouldn't be good, but a spoon or a plate would be.
And if you're in a car, it could be your rolled up window or your seat belt buckle.
Go ahead, touch it now.
I'm touching the handle of my brand new who's smarted hot cocoa mug.
Now here's the mysterious part.
What if I said that just by touching an object, you left behind evidence that could prove it was you who touched it, even if nobody saw you do it?
That's right. If my friend were here, they would know it was you.
How could this be? Is it magic?
Is my friend a magician?
Or is it a little more scientific?
Oh, here comes my friend now.
Everyone, meet McWoof, the crime pup.
Woof, woof. I mean, hello, smarty pants.
Yes, they're a talking dog, and yes, they're also a detective.
Excuse me, dear reader, I believe you wanted me to investigate this who's smarted hot cocoa mug.
Uh -huh. I noticed there was significantly less hot cocoa in it, and I believe someone may have sipped from it.
Any chance you could tell me who it was?
Woof! I mean, sure, I'm happy to investigate.
Alright, first, let me put on gloves.
Next, I'll remove a special adhesive powder.
And next, I'll dust four.
For what, smarty pants?
What is McWoof going to dust for?
Did you say fingerprints?
That's right. Using a special powder, McWoof is able to isolate, remove, and view any fingerprints left on the object.
We won't tell them, they're just my fingerprints.
We'll see if they can figure that out.
Okay, got him. But it looks like there are two sets of prints on this hot cocoa mug.
Two sets? That means someone was drinking my hot cocoa.
Looks like we have a mystery to solve after all.
But first, we need to know, how can a detective or a crime -solving puppy use fingerprints to solve a mystery?
What makes your fingerprints so unique?
And why do you even have fingerprints in the first place?
Stay tuned for another whiff of science on...
Who's smarted? Who's smarted?
Who's smart? Is it you?
Is it me? Is it science or history?
Listen up! Everyone, we make smarting lots of fun on who's smarted.
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Psst. Hey, smarty pants, true or false?
Your fingerprints form when you're inside your mommy's belly before you're even born.
If you said true, you're right.
Scientists say prints on your fingers and toes begin to form after about ten weeks, during the fetal period, which has nothing to do with feet.
But how are fingerprints actually formed?
Do you know, McWolf?
Um, I have paws, so no.
I got you, buddy. Basically, humans have three layers of skin covering our bodies.
There's the inner layer, known as the dermis, the middle layer, called the basal, and the outer layer of skin, called the apodermis.
As your body is being formed in the womb, the pressure of everything coming together causes those three layers of skin to smush up against each other.
The basal, or middle layer, is squeezed between the other two.
But, because the basal layer tends to grow faster, it raises up a little higher than the other two layers of skin, and forms little ridge -like patterns.
Ugh! I mean... FINGERPRINTS.
That's right! Smarty pants, do you think certain kinds of fingerprint patterns are more common than others?
McWolf, you deal with fingerprints all the time trying to solve mysteries like who drank my hot cocoa?
What has been your experience?
I could tell ya. Or we could hop in my car and take a ride down to the fingerprint lab so I could show ya.
Or, because this is a podcast, I could just snap my fingers and we'll just appear at the lab.
That works too. Here we are.
Let me just turn on this large screen.
It takes a second to warm up.
Wow, that screen is huge and quite bright too.
What does it do? It's basically a giant magnifying screen.
Those of us in the field of studying fingerprint patterning really rely on things magnified so we can see them better.
Makes sense. Speaking of, smarty pants, why do you call this study of fingerprints?
Is it A, printology, B, fingeronics, or C, dermatoglyphics?
The answer is C, derma meaning skin, and glyphics meaning carving.
Now wait a second, McWolf.
I can see how this giant screen comes in handy in the lab, but what about when you're at the scene of a crime?
For that I use my handy dandy magnifying glass.
Ah, like Sherlock Holmes would use.
Oof! I mean, not quite.
Modern day magnifying glasses, known as loops, look a little different.
But it serves the same purpose, making fingerprints big enough to study.
Ah. But what exactly are you looking for?
I'm looking for the different fingerprint categories.
Here, see if you and the smarty pants can guess which of the following terms have to do with fingerprints.
Ready, set, roof! Is it A, whorls, B, arches, or C, loops?
Hmm, what do you think, smarty pants?
Um, I can't decide on just one.
That's correct, narrator.
All three of those terms, whorls, arches, and loops, are different categories of fingerprints.
Really? I mean, of course.
So when it comes to whorls, arches, and loops, what determines which category a fingerprint belongs to?
Good question. I put up an example of each on the screen.
The smarty pants listening will have to use their imagination.
Or they can look at their own fingertips and see if they can spot any of the things I describe.
Ready, set, roof! Okay, first up is a whorlprint.
A whorlprint has a distinct spiral or circle look to it.
Oh, sort of like a mini whirlpool.
Oh, wait, whorl, whirlpool.
I get it. Yep, think about the ripples that appear in a pond if you toss the stone into the water.
That's a whorlprint.
About 35 % of all fingerprints fall into the whorl category.
Next up, we have arches.
Arches tend to look more like an ocean wave.
Some arches are low, and some rise up a little, but not too high.
They only make up about 5%, or 5 out of every 100 fingerprint pattern types.
Ah, so arches are pretty rare.
What about loops? Loops are lines that recurve or loop back on themselves.
Oh, like when you're tying your sneakers and make a loop with your shoelace.
Oof, I mean, correct.
Loops are the most common pattern, making up about 60 % of all fingerprints.
But wait a second. Smarty pants, true or false?
No two people have the exact same fingerprints.
The answer, amazingly, is… Oof, I mean, true.
No one on Earth has the same fingerprints, and the probability of two people sharing the same exact fingerprints is 64 billion to one.
But that's crazy. How can every person on the planet have different fingerprints when there's only three categories of fingerprints available?
Because it might not be exactly in the way that you're thinking of it.
How so, Mick Wolf? Once again, it's easier if you just see for yourself.
Why don't you, in all the smarty pants listening, take another look at your fingerprints.
Start with your thumb.
It's the easiest to see because it has the widest surface area.
See which fingerprint categories you can detect.
Are you a loop like over half the world's population?
Or a whirl like a third of all people?
Or are you the proud owner of a rare arch print?
Hmm, I'm looking at my thumb and I'm seeing a nice loop pattern.
Hey, smarty pants, what do you see?
Maybe you could even try drawing your fingerprints after the episode.
Oof! Now, it might be hard to see, but take a look at the pattern on your next finger.
Do you notice anything strange?
Um, you're right, it is hard to see.
It would work better if you had a magnifying glass, or you could use a cell phone to take a picture, then enlarge it.
Either way, the point I'm making is every finger has a different fingerprint pattern.
Really? I figured all ten fingers would be the same.
Oof! I mean, nope. Ah, so when we say no two people have the same fingerprints, what we're really saying is no two people have the same pattern configuration across all ten of their fingers.
Oof! I mean, right?
Which is why detectives like me take down all ten of the suspect's fingerprints.
On one hand, or pah, the fact that everyone has unique fingerprints is helpful.
But on the other, the fact that every finger is different makes it harder.
So, you're saying it's going to be tough figuring out whose fingerprints are on my hot cocoa mug.
Oof! I mean, yes. But one thing we can definitely rule out is, it wasn't a koala bear.
A koala bear? Do they even like hot chocolate?
More importantly, do koalas have fingerprints too?
Wait, don't tell me.
Yet. The answer after this quick break.
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Now back to who smarted.
Okay, here's the facts.
My detective friend, Mick Woof, the crime pup, is solving the mystery of who drank my hot cocoa.
They've identified a second set of fingerprints on the handle of my new who smarted hot cocoa mug.
And they've just determined that it was not a koala bear.
To which I asked, koalas need fingerprints?
To which they responded, yes.
In fact, a koala's fingerprints are probably the closest looking to humans.
Whoa. Really? Even closer than primates like apes and gorillas?
Yep, which isn't to say that chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas don't have fingerprint -like patterns because they do.
But for some reason, the marsupial koala bear's prints most resemble those of humans.
Who knew? And how do you know it wasn't a koala who drank my hot cocoa?
I have a pretty extensive database of koala fingerprints.
These prints don't match any of them.
I also know it wasn't a cat or a dog.
Meow. How so? Smarty pants.
Do you know? It's because cats and dogs don't have fingerprints.
However, one part of a cat or a dog is a lot like a human fingerprint.
It has ridges and creases on it, and no two are alike.
And I guess what it is?
Hmm. Here's a hint.
Did you say they're noses?
That's right. No two dogs or cats' noses are identical, making them just like snowflakes or fingerprints.
Well, I sure learned a lot about fingerprints.
The only thing I didn't learn is who drank from my cop.
Hello, trusty narrator!
Hello, dog dressed as a detective!
Oh, hey, Chet Nickerson.
This is McWolf, the crime pup.
They're helping me solve the mystery of who drank my hot chocolate.
I see! But why are you showing them my new Who Smarted Hot Cocoa mug?
Your mug? Yes! I left my hot cocoa here when I had to run out and do a quick weather report.
It's about to rain.
Yours is sitting over there on the table.
Oh, whoops, mystery solved.
And that's how you take a sip out of crime.
Ruff!
