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Hey, Wowzer fans, Mindy here.
And before we start the show, I gotta let you know that this November, with a special new episode featuring our friends at Circle Round and Terrestrials on Radiolab for Kids,
And don't miss when Elmo from Sesame Street stops by Wow in the World to make us all belly laugh on November 24th.
Oh, but that's not all, Reg.
On December 1st, we are sharing our 250th episode of Wow in the World with all of you.
We think this one is going to be music to your ears.
Literally.
Did I mention it's a musical?
And if you're a member of the World Organization of Wowzers...
Oh boy, do I have a surprise for you.
You can listen to our 250th episode early with me and other members from around the world on Saturday, November 22nd, at 7 pm.
Eastern.
That's right, we are throwing another listening party.
Join us as we dance along to our new songs.
React to the episode with other members in the chat and more.
Grownups.
If you want your wowzer to join this members-only listening party, you can sign up to become a member today at Tinkercastcom.
Slash wow.
Already a member?
Well, you can find the link and password to join the event when you sign in at Tinkercastcom.
Slash wow.
That's it.
It's going to be a November to remember.
But for now, let's get on with the show.
Woo!
I'm Richard.
Your package was undeliverable?
As nobody was home?
Not again!
You're not getting away with it this time, buddy.
Gotcha!
Mindy, what are you doing?
I was coming over to help you organize your band-aid collection, not to be your human tackling dummy.
Sorry, Guyron.
I thought you were the delivery guy.
Here, let me help you up.
One, two, skip to my loo, and... Thanks.
Wait, why were you trying to tackle the delivery guy?
Well, my lasso's in the shop, and I'm still working out the kinks on the old trap doormat.
What?
What?
Nothing.
See what I mean?
I didn't even push the button.
Mindy, that's dangerous.
Only if you're standing on it.
So, did you still want to do that...
Band-Aid sorting?
I was thinking we could start by organizing them by... Not right now, Guy Raz.
I gotta head down to the post office to get Reggie's package.
Reggie still gets his mail delivered here?
I thought he had a P.O. box.
No, not a package for Reggie, Guy Raz.
A package from Reggie.
A package from Reggie?
Why?
Where is he?
Oh, man, it's been so hard to keep up.
I think he's in Mexico now, maybe?
Or maybe it was Kosovo.
Or was it Monaco?
I don't know.
It's definitely one of those O countries.
Wait, Reggie's on vacation?
Yeah, he does it every year.
Come inside.
I'll show you.
Okay.
Just make sure to take your shoes off.
I just re-frosted the floor.
Okay, sure thing.
One and two.
Uh, Mindy?
I'm in the kitchen.
Okay.
Whoa, Mindy.
Why are there so many jars of... Are those... Pickles?
Pickles?
Yeah, I'm experimenting with a bunch of new flavors.
I've got raspberry, mango, tropical.
Tropical fruit pickles?
The perfect summer snack.
Oh, okay.
This is what I wanted to show you.
Ta-da!
Your fridge?
No, look what's on the fridge, Guy Raz.
Sticky fingerprints?
No, these.
Oh, are those postcards from Reggie?
Yep, and those are all just from this past month.
Reggie's really been clocking in the fly miles, if you know what I mean.
Wow, look at this.
Hawaii, the Great Wall of China, Hokkaido, Japan.
Ah, Hokkaido, that's what it was.
I knew it ended in an O. And you said he does this every year?
Yeah, it's his migration vacation.
His migration vacation?
Yeah, so here's the deal.
Pigeons, like Reggie, are nesting birds, right?
Which means that they like to stay in one spot. their whole lives.
Yeah, but Reggie is also a very popular bird.
You can say that again.
But Reggie is also a very popular... Mindy!
So he has a lot of interspecies friends.
Some golden plovers, a few Canadian geese.
I think his roommate in bird college might have been a bald eagle.
And they are all migratory birds.
Migratory meaning on the move.
So he just joins up with them and goes along for a ride?
Yeah, pretty much.
It's like one big road trip in the sky.
Nice.
And let me just check to make sure I've got my bird facts straight here.
Okay, hang on.
Just let me get my level.
Your level?
Yeah, so you can see if you got your facts straight.
No, no, Mindy.
When I said I wanted to get my bird facts straight, I just meant I wanted to double check the meaning of migration.
Oh well, why didn't you just say So?
Okay, migration is when birds move from one area to another for either the winter or the summer.
Ah yes, and they usually head south to warmer weather in winter and then winter back up north when it heats up again.
Right?
Exactoritos!
So, for example, most birds in North America move south for the winter to get away from the cold and to raise their babies.
That makes sense.
And then in the springtime, just before summer, they pack their bags and fly up north for the all-you-can-eat buffet insects and bugs that have been hiding all winter.
Ah, so not only do birds migrate south in the winter to avoid the cold, but also to find more food.
Yep.
And according to Reggie's postcards, some of these birds are extreme endurance athletes.
Just check out this postcard he sent me from Hawaii after traveling with his golden plover pals.
Huh.
Interesting.
But Mindy, I can't read this.
It just looks like a bunch of Bird footprints.
Oh, you don't read pigeon scratch, do you?
Huh?
That's cool.
I'll read it to you.
Let's see here.
Having a great time.
Took a ukulele lesson, did some whale watching, some surfing and oh, here we go.
It's a very nice way to relax after a 3,000-mile one-way flight.
3,000 miles?
Mindy, that's...
Farther than New York to Los Angeles.
I know.
And that's not even the crazy part.
Don't tell me they ran out of the Mediterranean tapas snack boxes.
What?
No.
The crazy part is that they did it all in one trip.
All in one trip?
Yep.
Four days straight.
You mean without stopping?
With no rest breaks and no food?
Nope.
Nada.
Wow, that's incredible.
I mean, don't you remember that one time you stayed up for one whole night embroidering your grandma G-Force's wrestling robe?
You fell asleep in your cereal the next day.
Ah, nothing beats a nice breakfast in the sunshine.
Don't you think, Mindy?
Uh, Mindy?
Hmm, that's funny.
So how do these birds not sleep or eat for four whole days?
Well, it's actually super fascinating.
So in terms of food, these birds basically have one big meal before they take off.
Kind of like how you have six bowls of spaghetti before you ride a roller coaster.
You know it, Guy Raz, and I do that for two reasons.
Number one, they never let me bring my spaghetti on the ride.
And number two, I won't be able to eat again until after the roller coaster ride is over.
That's not... Anyway, so these birds basically... basically do the same thing?
Yeah, so it's an animal behavior known as hyperphasia.
I say it that way to help me remember.
Hyperphasia?
Hyperphasia.
Look, I know that it might sound like a super classy word, but really it's just a fancy pants way of saying shoving a whole bunch of food in your mouth, which is really just a fancy pants way of saying eat like I do.
Here, want me to demonstrate?
No, no, no, I think I got it.
So these birds binge eat enough insects and food to keep them going for the four days it takes to fly from say Alaska, where they spend the summer, to Hawaii, where they spend the winter.
Yep, and they do this for almost three weeks before taking off.
But how do they go without sleep?
I mean, everyone has to sleep, Mindy.
Well, Guy Raz, that is a question that has baffled scientists for a long time.
How do birds sleep while they fly?
Right, because most birds who travel over land can just swoop down, make a nest bed, catch up on a little sleep and then head off again in the morning.
But if you're traveling over water like the golden plover is... No such luck.
No such luck.
So how do they do it?
Well, migratory birds like the golden plover can do something called...
Unihemispheric sleep.
Unihemispheric sleep?
Yep.
Okay, so let me see if I got this.
So our brains and animals' brains are made up of two different parts, right?
Right.
The right hemisphere.
Uh-huh.
And the left hemisphere.
You got it.
And these two parts of the brain work together to help us function.
Yes.
And uni means one.
You're getting it.
So unihemispheric sleep is probably means that one hemisphere sleeps, which means that these migratory birds put half of their brain to sleep while the other one stays awake to, you know, flap its wings and stuff.
Yes!
Winner, winner, pull over dinner, Carol.
I forget how many brains are under that bike helmet of yours.
Mindy, that's not a helmet.
That's my head.
But you're exactly right, Guy Raz.
Research from the Max Planck Institute in Germany has shown that migratory birds like the plover are able to shut down and rest most of their bodies while still using enough of their brains to avoid crashing into other birds.
And I bet they're also able to keep track of where they're flying, so they can soar on the air currents.
You know it.
That's so cool.
Exactly.
And Steve... Steve?
Oh, yeah.
Steve is the name of Reggie's plover friend.
Oh, okay.
And believe it or not, Steve isn't even the longest distance flyer that Reggie rolls with.
Really?
Yeah, take a look at some of these other postcards.
Just last month, Reggie flew for eight days straight with his bar-tailed Godwit friend.
Huh, it says here he traveled... More than 7,200 miles.
Yeah.
Whoa, that's like Los Angeles to New York, back to L.A., and then halfway to New York again.
I know, and again, all without a single break.
Wow.
Reggie sure leads one incredible life.
Say, do you know when he's coming back?
You know what?
I'm not sure, but we can always find out.
Really?
Yeah.
Well, how?
By going out and visiting him.
We can just ask him in person when he plans on coming back.
But Mindy, without Reggie, how are we going to visit him at, where was he again?
Let me check the postcard here.
It says Lake Kamukeko, Hokkaido, Japan.
Right.
Well, how are we going to get to Lake Komukiko in Japan without Reggie?
Well, I guess we're just going to have to take the time machine.
But Mindy, according to the manual, the time machine is only supposed to be used for traveling to the past or to the future.
Okay, well, number one, I made the manual.
And number two, considering that Japan is 17 hours ahead of our time zone, then technically we are going to the future.
Huh.
Now, come on.
I just got it back from the dry cleaners.
The dry cleaners?
Well, yeah, of course.
You didn't expect me to machine wash it, did you?
I guess not.
So we'll just take the time machine for a quick trip out to Japan.
Ask Reggie when he'll be back, and then we'll hop back here.
We'll be back before you can even say...
Pigeon scratch.
Pigeon scratch?
Come on.
Run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run.
Ah, here we are.
All right, let me just get my garage door opener here.
All right, Guy Raz, come on in.
Just follow me.
I'm just going to squeeze past the motor pickle here.
Ah.
And over Reggie's saddle.
Oh.
Oh, look.
There are those emu space suits we only wore once.
Huh?
Oh, careful.
Careful.
You almost stepped in my crab wrestling arena.
Oh, sorry.
What happened to the crabs?
Ah, here we go.
The time machine.
Now let me just open the hatch here.
Mindy, you really should replace this door.
Yeah, I know, but you would not believe how hard it is to get spare parts for this model.
Yeah, it does look pretty unusual.
What model year is it?
Hmm, let me see here.
Um, 2145.
Oh, man.
Well, those future models are super rare in the present.
Anywho, hop on in.
We've got a plover pit stop to ponder.
Okay, let me just... Lake Mukiko, Hokkaido, Japan...
Modern day.
Modern day.
There we go.
All set.
Hope you got your barf bag ready.
Barf bag?
Because here we go!
Made it.
Nice water landing, Mindy.
Thanks, Guy Raz.
I've been practicing.
Now grab your floaties.
We're headed outside.
Ah, nothing like a wetland wetlanding.
All right, come on.
Follow me, Guy Raz.
Mindy, wait.
You don't know how.
Cannonball!
Deep it is.
It's really, really shallow.
Are you OK, Mindy?
Mindy, you should never, ever jump into water without knowing how deep it is.
That's how you hurt yourself.
That information would have been useful like five minutes ago.
Check this place out, Mindy.
There must be thousands of birds here.
Well, yeah.
That's why I wanted to bring you here, Guy Raz.
This is a migratory pit stop.
Check it out.
They've got a seed shack right over there.
They've got some little stalls for birds to do their business.
Wait a minute, Mindy.
Did you say a migratory pit stop?
Yeah.
Well, the technical term is migratory link, but they basically work the same way that pit stops do for us humans.
Oh, you mean like on a long road trip.
Exactly.
Just like how, on a long road trip, you might pull over into a pit stop on the side of the road to grab a snack or go to the bathroom, or even maybe spend the night, These migratory birds have to do the same exact thing.
Oh, now I'm getting it.
So these marshy, swampy wetlands are perfect pit stops because there's plenty of insect life to snack on.
And, well, that mud does look kind of cozy for a bird.
Maybe I'll just sit down right here.
But Mindy, I've heard that a lot of these wetlands are in danger.
Really?
What from?
Well, from habitat destruction, for one, when humans build buildings and cities too close to them.
Huh.
But also from things like climate change, which is changing the entire ecosystems of wetland areas like this.
Oh, man, that's terrible news, Guy Raz.
I know, because if migratory birds can no longer live in these wetlands, Then they'll run out of to stop over and rest their wings for their long trips.
Exactly.
And without that, these birds could start to die off and even become endangered.
No!
But Mindy, there is something that you and I can do to help.
There is?
Yes, there is.
But first, we have to get ashore.
So let me just...
Help you back up here.
Thanks, buddy.
Now we just need to get this thing ashore.
I've got just the thing.
Wait right here while I grab it from downstairs, okay?
I keep forgetting this time machine has a basement.
And the laundry!
What?
Mindy, Mindy, what on earth are those?
These are the time machine's rowing oars.
Whoa!
You're swinging those things, Mindy.
It's OK.
It's OK.
All right, Guy Raz.
You take the port.
I'll take the starboard.
OK.
Got it.
Let me just set up the boom box here.
A boom box?
Mindy, why do we need a boom box?
For rowing.
Huh?
Let's row this time machine together.
Row, row, row this boat Gently down the stream Row, row, row this boat Gently down the stream Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is full of dream Row, row, row this boat Gently down the stream Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is full of dream Land ahoy!
We made it to shore, Guy Raz.
Nice teamwork, buddy.
Ouch.
All right.
I'm ready to start protecting these wetlands for some birds.
Where do we start?
Well, let me just have a look around here.
Ah, there we are.
Found some.
Uh, those are feathers.
Exactly.
Now I just need to put them in this envelope here.
Uh.
And put an address on it.
Let's see here.
Dr. Kate Brandes.
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization, Sydney, Australia.
Uh, Guy Ross?
Put a stamp on it, and let's see.
Ah, there.
There we go.
There's a mailbox.
Wait, what?
But why did you just send those plover feathers off to Australia?
Well, it's the way we can help protect these wetlands, Mindy.
By mailing off some musty old bird feathers halfway around the world?
Exactly.
Dr Brandes and her researchers from the University of New South Wales in Australia are using feathers just like these.
For what?
Well, for starters, to try and map out where these wetlands are.
Hm.
And is that it?
Well, the feathers can also tell them how healthy the birds are in these places.
Huh.
Interesting.
And not just that, Mindy.
By studying feathers, these scientists can also know whether these wetlands are adequately protected by the humans around them.
So, wow, but how do they get all of this information just by studying the bird's feathers?
Like, they can tell how healthy it is?
Well, what Dr. Brandes and her team do is they look for a protein in the feather called keratin.
Oh, I know what keratin is.
It's also found in human hair, right?
That's right.
And just like how human hair can tell us a lot about the person it came from, The keratin in a bird's feather can tell us a lot about the bird that it came from.
Wow, that's a lot of information in one feather.
In fact, Mindy, the keratin in the bird's feathers also keeps a record of all the food the bird ate.
And so the scientists can get a really good idea of how much food was in the environment they were in at certain times.
Huh.
So kind of like how the rings on a tree can tell us a lot about what the environment was like when the tree was younger.
Yup, exactly.
So the more feathers that Dr Brandes gets from a certain habitat can give us a better and clearer understanding of how healthy that ecosystem is and if it needs any help from conservationists or people who want to help protect it.
Well, that's the plan.
Cool.
Anyway, I don't see Reggie anywhere here.
Do you, Mindy?
No, I don't see him either.
Let me ask around real quick.
Hang on.
Um, excuse me, uh, Mr. Plover.
Ahem.
Sorry.
My plover is a little rusty.
Um, let me try this again.
Uh...
What'd he say, Mindy?
He said Reggie took off last week.
He's probably flying somewhere over New Zealand by now.
Mindy, you dragged me all the way here?
Guy Raz, stay calm.
As usual, I've got everything out of control.
Now we just need to hop back into the time machine, head back to the neighborhood, in case he's trying to contact us there okay,
Let's go!
Alrighty, let me just scoot over and make some room for me. need a two-seater.
You ready, Mindy?
Okay, just plugging in the coordinates and here we go!
Oh!
What was that?
I think I just squished the motor pickle.
Oops.
Come on, let's get back inside.
Run, run, run, run, run!
Ah!
Oh, sweet.
Hey, what's this?
I think it's another postcard from Reggie.
Yeah, must have arrived while we were away.
Let's see here.
Loving Auckland.
Haven't seen any hobbits yet.
What?
I'll be back next week.
This is a disaster.
What's a disaster?
Reggie's back next week and I have nothing ready for his welcome home party.
Well, that's okay, Mindy.
We've got some time and I can help.
What do you need?
Well, I'm going to need some bird seed.
Of course.
A couple of pinatas.
Uh-huh.
400 loose steel washers.
Uh-huh.
A dump truck.
Uh, what?
A liability insurance policy up to a million dollars.
What?
And some pixie dust, because I want to fly too.
Be right back, grown-ups.
This message is for you.
Hey grown-ups, it's mindy and guy ross here from wow in the world.
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 wowzer 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.
Give the gift of wow and wonder this holiday season with our latest Wow in the World toys designed with your curious wowzer in mind.
You can shop our Wow in the World toys at Tinkercast.com slash toys.
That's Tinkercast.com slash toys.
Wow in the World Hi, thanks for calling Wow in the World.
After the beep, get ready to record.
Oh, hi Mindy and guys.
My name is Finnegan and I am 8 years old.
And I am from Cheyenne, Wyoming.
My Wow in the World is that the prairie dog is a keystone species.
They provide food and shelter everywhere. other animals and help the prairie grasses grow.
Hi, my name is Jack.
I'm seven years old and I live in Curtis, Ontario, Canada.
And my wow in the world is that leatherback sea turtles eat only jellyfish and their throats are filled with scary looking spikes that face toward their stomach.
This prevents slippery jellies from sliding out of their throats.
Bye!
Hi, Mindy and Guy Raz.
My name is Scarlett. and I'm from Ogden, Utah, and I'm 10 years old.
My wow in the world is that killer whales are actually dolphins.
Bye, Mindy and Guy Raz.
I love your show.
My name is Colin, and I'm from Bramley, England.
My wow in the world is that everybody on the planet is spinning at 1,000 miles per hour.
Bye.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Raz.
My name is Oliver, and I am 6. years old.
I am from Cheyenne, Wyoming.
My wow in the world is that a megalodon could have swallowed a school bus whole.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Raz.
My name is Ryan and I live in Columbus, Ohio.
My wow in the world is that the Grand Canyon is more than 4,000 feet deep.
Bye, Mindy and Guy Raz.
I love your show.
I'm five and a half years old.
I live in Portland, Oregon.
And my wow in the world is that Jupiter is the biggest planet in the solar system and it's a gas giant.
Bye.
Love your show.
My name is Elliot.
I live in Houston, Texas.
And I'm seven years old and my wow in the world is that worms eat dirt.
Goodbye.
End of messages.
Hey, everyone.
And if you want to keep the conversation going, check out some of the questions we posted on this episode at our website, wowintheworldcom.
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Say hello, Jed.
Hello.
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