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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 don't know what you've been told, but we're in a golden age.
So many discoveries that are jumping off the page.
Someone told me it's all happening at the zoo.
I do believe it.
I do believe it's true.
Do something about that door, Guy Raz.
It really blocks the entry to get inside your house.
Did you just run right through it?
Don't worry, I'm finally a few scratches.
My beautiful door.
Well, you ready for a day at the zoo?
Am I ever.
I've checked off just about everything on my safety spreadsheet.
Let's see.
Sunscreen.
I got my first aid kit.
Some bubble wrap.
Some toilet seat covers.
I got a shovel to dig you out of trouble, Mindy.
Yeah, I'd say we're all set for an accident-free day at the zoo.
Right.
So in that case, I brought along some bright, reflective clothing for you to wear...
Just in case there are hunters or something.
Hunters?
Yeah, or if we get separated in a crowd of people and I need to find you more easily.
You should definitely have these bright clothes on.
Well, normally, I'm not really one for flashy clothing.
You can still wear your wool pants and tweed blazer.
Just put this stuff on top, OK?
Well, OK, but only for safety reasons, Mindy.
What other reasons could I possibly have?
Uh.
Here, put these on first.
Hot pink leggings?
Okay.
Yep, just squeeze them on right over your wool trousers.
Looking great.
Seems a little weird.
Just remember, we're doing this for safety.
Right.
Oh, that's... Now just climb into this hot pink unitard.
Easy does it.
Got it!
Okay, hold it right there.
What is this all about?
Ugh.
Okay, remember how you once said that you would do anything for science?
Yeah, pretty much anything, I guess.
Well, would you go into a dark cave filled with bats?
Sure.
Would you spend a year living with a pack of wild wolves?
Sure, especially if they listen to Prokofiev.
Well, I am asking you now.
If you believe in science... Okay.
I need you to dress up like a pink flamingo.
Okay.
Now I get it.
Okay, but I am absolutely drawing the line at the beak.
No worries.
I can just paint your nose to look like one.
Okay, if you're sure this is going to help science.
Now come here.
We've got to squeezy winded this pink leotard.
It's just doing its job, Guy Raz.
Now for the final touch.
I just need to glue all of these to you.
So stay really really still okay.
Pink feathers?
Remember, this is for science.
Okay, now hand me that crazy glue and turn around.
I gotta get the back.
Are you sure about this, Mindy?
Do I not look like I know what I'm doing?
Hey, hey, hey, what are you gonna wear?
Oh, I'm just gonna wear a sensible, tailored pantsuit.
To the zoo?
Yeah, people already think I'm ridiculous, so this is gonna show them my serious side.
I have no idea.
No idea what's going on anymore.
Okay, let me just glue one last little feather to your forehead, and we are done.
Guy Raz, the look is complete, and you are one fabulous flamingo.
Ooh.
Okay, now grab your safety sack.
It is time to go to the zoo.
We got to hurry, though, because there's something I want to investigate once we get there.
Investigate?
Come on, let's go.
My carrier pigeon is waiting outside, and he charges by the minute.
Okay, saddle up.
Get ready for takeoff, because here we go!
Mindy, your carrier pigeon moves fast.
I still can't believe you trained him to carry you everywhere you want to go.
I can't believe we made it to the zoo in one piece.
Mindy, are you sure that all this...
Pink feathered spandex was a good idea.
I feel like everyone's staring at me weird.
Oh, well, if that's what you're worried about, then I know a place where you will fit right in.
Oh, no.
Come on, let's go.
Okay.
Okay, here we are.
The flamingo pen?
Really, Mindy?
Yeah.
With your beak held high, I want you to march right on into the middle of that block.
Whoa, whoa.
And I want you to start to flamingo, okay?
Whoa.
Why is everyone taking my picture?
Okay, Roz.
Look at me.
Look at me.
You are the most beautiful and unique flamingo in the flock.
There is literally no other flamingo like you.
So own it, okay?
Okay.
Now, just follow my directions.
First...
Squat down like you're going to sit on an invisible chair, like a toilet or something.
Uh, like this?
Now, with your back straight, use your hips as a hinge and push your butt backward.
This feels weird.
Great, that means you're doing it right.
Now, stay steady.
Don't lean forward.
Your knees and ankles should be at a 90 degree angle.
Okay.
Yeah, you're doing great.
Now try it with just one leg and close your eyes and try to fall asleep, okay?
Mindy, I'm not sure what the point of all this is.
Easy does it.
Now, without losing your balance, switch over to the other leg.
I am not understanding the science here.
Oh, well, for that I have a really good explanation.
Okay, this better be good.
Okay Roz, remember how I told you that I wanted to come to the zoo today to conduct sort of an investigative science experiment.
So there is a scientific reason why I'm standing here in a flock of flamingos dressed in pink feathers.
Of course. is.
Sort of.
This better be good.
Okay, so yesterday I read this crazy study led by two scientists in Georgia.
Lena Ting, a biomedical engineer at Emory University, and Yanghui Cheng, a neuromachinist at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
So I know that a biomedical engineer is a scientist that helps doctors invent new devices and tools to help them do their jobs better.
But
I'm not as familiar with neuromachinists.
It sounds like maybe someone who works with machines and the brain?
Well, yeah, sort of.
So the way I understand it is, a neuromachinist is a scientist who works with prosthetics, meaning like artificial arms and legs for people who have either lost them or were born without them.
Wow, so...
How did their study lead me to standing here in the middle of a zoo in a homemade flamingo suit?
Well, it didn't really.
Technically, I led you here.
But what these scientists noticed was that flamingos can stand for a really, really long time on one leg, that they even sleep while standing on one leg.
Yeah, but don't lots of birds stand on one leg?
Yeah, they do, but flamingos make it look effortless.
I mean, they can stand on one leg for hours at a time, whereas most birds have to shift from one leg to the other after a while or just give up altogether and use both legs.
I'll say, I am definitely not cut out for flamingo life.
This one-leg thing is a workout.
Well, that's the thing.
So when we humans, and even other birds, stand on one leg, it takes a lot of muscle strength to hold us up and help us keep our balance.
But with flamingos?
These scientists discovered that they used almost no force at all.
The baby flamingos just slept there on one leg like nobody's business.
Wow, so how...
How did they discover this?
So the first thing they did was go to the zoo just like us.
And were they dressed as flamingos?
What?
No, that would be ridiculous.
They're respected scientists, Guy Raz.
Oh, right.
So they went to the zoo.
And with the help of the zookeepers, they got eight baby flamingos.
And they put them on this measuring device called a force plate.
And what's it look like?
Well, a force plate is like a little flat square that looks sort of like a tiny dance floor.
And it's used to measure things like balance and whatever's standing on it.
And I guess in this case, baby flamingos.
Right.
And so they fed the babies, put them on the force plate, and then they waited for them to get sleepy.
This is starting to sound really cute.
Oh, you have no idea, Guy Raz.
Anywho, once the baby flamingos started to fall asleep, they used the force plate to measure how much force they were using to keep their balance as they slept there on one leg.
And what did they discover?
They discovered that they used almost no force at all.
The baby flamingos just slept there on one leg like nobody's business.
So how is this possible?
I mean, when I stood here on one leg and closed my eyes, I almost fell into that pond over there.
That's because, when we humans start to lose our balance, our brains freak out and start shouting things like Mayday.
Mayday! to our muscles so that they tighten up and start doing their jobs.
But don't flamingos have the same signals running between their brains and their muscles?
Very little.
They don't even need it because their bodies are just designed to balance on one leg like that.
Wow, so how did they find this out?
Okay, so this part is a little gross.
Gross.
These scientists used flamingo cadavers.
Oh.
Dead flamingos.
Who, I guess, donated their bodies to science?
I guess you could say that.
The reason they used cadavers is because they don't have any muscles at all.
Because, you know, cadavers are... Thanks, I got it.
They're dead.
So they took the cadavers and they set them up on one leg with nothing else to hold them up.
And guess what happened?
They keeled over and died all over again?
Nope.
They stood there steady, completely upright, never flopped.
Wow.
And so then they decided to press their luck.
In an effort to throw the flamingo cadavers off balance, they tilted the upper part of their bodies forward and backward And no matter what they did, those cadavers just stood there majestically.
And what's even crazier is that, because of that hinge in the flamingo's hips, the scientists were able to move their legs so easily that they were still able to stand upright in a way that required almost no energy or muscle strength.
Amazing!
So in living flamingos, if they have to jump out of the mud and run from a predator or an animal that's trying to eat it, or even just stay steady on a windy day, they can easily switch their legs and stay upright without really having to activate any of their muscles.
That's incredible, Mindy.
I know, right?
You know, earlier you mentioned that Dr. Ting works with prosthetics or artificial arms and legs.
So did her discovery lead to any helpful connections between the two?
Yes.
So Dr Ting studies how people can start to move again after they've been hurt really bad or lose an arm or a leg in an accident.
And sometimes this requires the help of prosthetics.
So the idea here is that if flamingos can go back and forth standing on one leg with almost no energy, then maybe this discovery will lead to improvements in robotics or robot-powered prosthetics for humans.
Or just people like you who really want to be flamingos.
Mindy, I did this for science.
Guy Raz, you did this for the crowd of people taking pictures of you.
Yeah.
Come on, you're a fancy woman.
Oh, no.
Now give the people what they want.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Step right up, step right up, and come and get your souvenir photos of the human Flamingo Boy.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Jade, I'm coming in to save you, little buddy.
Look at my beautiful feathers.
They're ruined.
You're a good guy, Roz, but a terrible bird.
Come on, let's get you out of this pink spandex and flamingo.
Yeah, adios, flamingos.
Hey, grownups.
It's Mindy and Guy Raz 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.
Hi, what's your name?
I'm Sarah, and I am nine years old.
Sarah, why are flamingos pink?
I'm not quite sure.
It's probably because they fell in pink paint.
How would a flamingo find itself in a bucket of pink paint?
Maybe one day it was walking, and then...
A lion came over and tripped it into a pink bucket.
Great answer.
Hi, what's your name?
Hi, I'm Fiona and I'm six.
Fiona, what?
No, I'm seven.
What?
Hi, I'm seven.
How do you get your age wrong?
You've had seven years to get this right.
Well, because my birthday was in May and my birthday is going to be in August because I'm having a pool party.
Wait a minute.
Your birthday was in May, but your birthday party is in August.
Yes.
It just takes a while to get it together.
I know how that is.
Fiona, why are flamingos pink?
Because they eat a lot of peaches.
Do flamingos eat peaches?
I don't know.
Hi, what's your name?
Oh, yes, hello.
My name is Andy, and I am 12 years old.
Andy, why are flamingos pink?
Because one day there was a jungle dude.
And the jungle dude walked over to Flamingo Lake.
And in Flamingo Lake, he dropped one of those little Crystal Lights packets of pink lemonade.
And at that point the flamingos were yellow because they'd always drop in the yellow lemonade.
But today he mixed it up.
And then the flamingos drank it and became pink because the explorer jungle dude got their lemonade mixed up.
Whoa, is that the actual scientific explanation for why flamingos are pink?
12% sure.
That's a pretty high percentage.
Okay, I think we need to get to the bottom of this for real.
David, you're an expert.
Why are flamingos pink?
Hey everyone, this is David Mizajewski with the National Wildlife Federation.
When flamingos are young, they actually have pale gray feathers.
Flamingos are filter feeders, swishing their beaks back and forth through the water and filtering out tiny crustaceans shrimp, mollusks and algae that are filled with a nutrient called beta-carotene.
Beta-carotene is also found in such brightly colored foods as carrots tomatoes, pumpkins and sweet potato.
So as the young birds digest their food, they actually absorb the beta-carotene and their feathers turn pink.
Different flamingo species in different parts of the world have different diets.
And some that eat a lot of beta-carotene turn an almost deep red-pink color, while others that get less of it can be almost white.
So in the case of flamingos, the old saying, you are what you eat, is visibly true.
Wow, that's incredible.
Thanks, David.
Hi, thanks for calling Wow in the World.
After the beep, get ready to record.
My name is Ava.
I'm five and a half.
One time I went to the Butterfly Wonderland and I saw a Butterfly emerging from a chrysalis.
My name's Andrea.
I live in Valley Falls, New York.
And the wow in my world is my puppy.
One time, she grabbed the toilet paper, ran out of the bathroom, and I love your show.
Hi, my name is Tyler from Palm Harbor, Florida.
My wow in the world is I went to...
Acadia National Park.
Acadia National Park is so wild because you get to climb mountains and have snacks on the trail.
Hello, I'm Moses from San Diego California, and my best weather I can think of, when I looked out the backyard and I saw a baby bunny chewing on a leaf.
I couldn't my dad and he took a picture of it and it was really cute.
I thought it was as big as your fist if you look at it.
Hi, my name is Tabitha, from Arlington Texas, and I have four chickens called Hens, and they lay one egg every day.
Hi, my name is Rocky and I'm 10 years old.
I live in Hawaii and I recently got A dog, he gets chased by the cat a lot.
And the cat's name is Cuddles.
And they like to fight.
And the dog's really funny.
And I love your show.
Bye.
End of messages.
Hey guys, thank you so much for checking out this Thursday edition of Wow in the World.
Grownups.
To keep the conversation going, we've posted some fun questions on our website, wowintheworldcom.
And we love hearing from you.
Grownups, you can find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at wowintheworld.
And our email address is hello at wowintheworld.com.
Today's show was written by me and Guy Raz and produced by Jed Anderson.
Say hello, Jed.
Our theme song is written and performed by The Pop-Ups.
You can find more of their awesome music at thepopups.com.
Finally, we've loved hearing what's been wowing you.
Thanks so much for sending in your voicemails.
We listen to each and every one of them.
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Have your grown-ups help you share something that's recently wowed you by dialing 1-888-7-WOW-WOW.
Thanks again for subscribing and telling your friends about our show.
We will be back on Monday with a new full-length episode.
In the meantime, go forth and find your own wow in the world.
And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.
