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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!
Give an ice cream truck.
Oh, hang on a sec, Guy Raz.
I'll be right there.
Her truck is called a Midsummer Night's Creamy?
You just got served.
Soft served.
Mindy, when did you get in the business of selling ice cream?
I don't know, about an hour ago.
You see, Guy Raz, a wise old owl, once told me that the secret to life is to find what you love doing the most and to get paid for it.
So with that I had to throw starting a podcast out the window and do the thing I loved second most ice cream.
Okay, first of all, that wise old owl was me.
And second of all, it looks like you've got your profits dripping all over your face.
Well, as a responsible business boss lady, I had to test out my product before opening it up to the public.
Well, let me clean that off for you.
Here, I've got a handkerchief in my pocket.
Now, let me see your face.
Almost there.
All cleaned up.
Disgusting, Guy Raz.
That's the problem with ice cream, Mindy.
You found a problem with ice cream?
Well as delicious as ice cream can be, These warm temperatures can melt it faster than we can eat it.
Ah, yes, the old creamy, creamy, melty, melty conundrum.
The what?
But boy, howdy do?
I have some good news for you, Guy Raz, because there's some new science that says that that's all about to change.
What?
And soon, our sticky finger licking days will be gone for good.
What do you mean?
I'm talking about a newly discovered recipe for melt-resistant ice cream.
Ice cream that will melt in your mouth but not in your hands?
Guy Raz.
This could be the biggest scientific breakthrough of the 21st century.
Well, that might be a bit overstating things.
I mean there was the discovery of stem cells to grow human organs and the discovery of water on Mars and the Ahem back to melt-resistant ice cream.
Oh, right.
So, uh, what's the scoop?
The scoop?
The scoop is that these Colombian researchers got together with these scientists from the University of Guelph in Canada and found a secret ingredient that would make ice cream nearly unmeltable, or at least melt in slow motion.
What's the secret ingredient, Mindy?
Well, if I told you, then it wouldn't be a secret, then would it?
Well, since when are you able to keep a secret?
Feroz, I am not going to tell you what the secret ingredient is.
Hmm.
I'm gonna show you what the secret ingredient is.
Well, what's the difference?
Hop in the Midsummer Night's Cream Truck, Guy Raz.
Just watch out for the sprinkle party down there on the floor.
Had a little accident.
Uh, are you sure this thing is safe to ride in, Mindy?
Yes, of course I'm not sure it's safe to ride in, Guy Raz.
Now go ahead and strap yourself into that vat of cookies and cream over there.
There are no seats in this ice cream truck?
Ugh.
I thought this truck was high maintenance.
My buns are freezer burning!
My buns are freezer burning!
Oh, wait!
There's a seat that someone left on the curb over there.
Hold tight, little buddy.
I'll hop out and grab it for you.
But, Mindy, that's a... Don't go anywhere.
I'll be right back.
Run, run, run, run, run, run.
Hey, guys.
I just thought this chair is sitting right here.
Do you mind if I take it?
Ow!
Did you just punch me?
Oh!
Pleasure doing business with you guys.
Thank you very much.
Maybe I'll run into you again sometime.
Sorry, I had to fight off a pack of wild squirrels for it.
What?
But it's still mostly in one piece.
Squirrel's got the sippy cup holder.
Mindy, that's a child's car seat.
Now we're just going to squeeze you in.
Stop wiggling.
Ah, too tight, too tight.
There, now you're not going anywhere for the rest of your life.
We better not be going too far.
Nah, just a quick drive to South America.
South America?
Mindy, what does this have to do with melting ice cream?
Nothing.
What?
But it has everything to do with ice cream not melting.
So, you ready to go find the secret?
Start up the engine, Mindy.
Yes.
Anything for science.
Anything for science, Guy Raz.
Now hand me that wire coat hanger over there so I can start this baby up.
What?
Shove that in there and... Huh.
Try this again.
Hmm.
I wonder what... Are we there yet?
Nope.
Still got a ways to go.
Are we there yet?
Guy Raz, you'll know when we get there because we'll be there.
Okay.
Are we there yet?
Guy Raz!
What?
Are we there yet?
No!
We've hit a little snag in our travel plans.
Uh, snag?
Well, we've made it all the way to Panama, so that's the good news.
Uh, and what's the bad news?
We ran out of highway.
We ran out of what?
This Pan-American highway in Central America.
We've reached the end.
And now we've hit the Darien Gap that connects us to South America.
Wait, I've heard of the Darien Gap, Mindy.
We're almost there.
We're almost to Columbia.
Not so fast, Guy Raz.
The Darien Gap is a major swath of roadless jungle and swampland that sits right between us here in Panama and our destination in Columbia, South America.
Hmm, no roads, huh?
Nope.
And you said jungle and swampland?
Yep.
So I guess we only have one choice left, and that's to turn around.
Turn this ice cream truck into hyperdrive.
What?
Put this ice cream bucket on your head, Guy Raz, and hold on for your life.
You want me to?
Yes.
Mindy, what does any of this have to do with the secret ingredient to melt resistant ice cream?
Brace yourself, Guy Raz.
This is gonna be a When did you learn to drive like that, Mindy?
Grandma G-Force taught me how to drive monster trucks before I could even crawl.
Of course she did.
Okay, Guy Raz.
You ready to explore the new science of Ice cream that will melt in your mouth, not in your hand?
You know, I almost forgot why we were even on this wild adventure.
Okay, first things first, take a look over there.
Where?
Over there.
Well, all I see are a bunch of people harvesting bananas.
Yeah, that's it.
Now we're going to sneak over there and you're going to distract them while I grab all of their banana waste.
I'm not sure I follow.
Guy Raz, look at me.
Look me in the eye.
Okay.
Now you're just going to have to trust me when I tell you that this next part is going to be very, very important to our mission.
Okay.
You ready?
No.
Now just tiptoe behind me.
When we get close, you do something to distract them, and I'll sweep in and snatch the goods, okay?
Well, if it's trash, couldn't we just walk up and ask for it?
Why would we want to do that, Guy Raz?
Come on, let's go.
Creep, creep, creep, creep.
Quick, now distract them so they don't notice me.
Uh, okay, uh... I'm a little teapot, short and stout.
Here is my handle and here is my...
Get Ross, let's get out of here.
But I wasn't finished with my song.
I'm a little teapot short and... Hey, she took our garbage.
So?
Oh, yeah.
So long.
Hey, Mindy, wait up.
What are you running for?
You're practically doing their job for them.
What?
Get in the ice cream truck before they catch us.
Mindy, we're running off with their garbage.
Trust me, no one's trying to catch us.
Did you just say garbage?
Uh.
You call all this garbage?
Well, you've got bushels of inedible banana stalks.
So yeah, pretty sure that's the definition of garbage.
Hm.
Well then, what if I told you that these bushels of banana stalk Garbage held the secret ingredient to melt-resistant ice cream?
Huh.
Go on.
Well, as you can see here, bananas grow on plants in places like Columbia, South America, and not in our neighborhood grocery store.
Please tell me that's not the secret.
And they grow in bunches on these tree-like perennial herbs.
Yeah, looking at these banana plants, I can see that they look sort of like trees.
Hey look, some of them are almost 30 feet tall and they have pretty sturdy stems, but they're not woody like an actual tree.
So what about their trunks?
Well, those aren't actually trunks at all.
What?
They're pseudostems, which means that they're made up of leaves packed really really tightly together.
And because they're packed so tightly together, that's what makes those stems hard.
Yep.
And you mentioned that they're perennial herbs?
Yeah, so perennial is just a fancy-pants way of saying a plant that lives for more than two years.
And an herb is any plant that makes seeds and doesn't have a woody stem and also dies down to the ground after flowering.
But a perennial herb will come back to life year after year after year.
Like these banana plants.
Yep, or lilies or orchids.
They're perennial herbs too.
So what about all this banana plant waste that you just snatched away from the harvesters?
It looks like they were throwing it away after plucking the banana bunches from it.
Oh yeah, here.
This stalk is called a rachis.
And once harvesters pick the banana bunches, they just get rid of it.
But?
Oh, this is a big but.
Mindy.
But these researchers had a hunch that maybe, just maybe, there was more to these banana ruckus than just garbage.
So what did they do?
Well, they started to extract or suck out of these ruckus these teeny tiny microfibers or threads.
Threads that have no smell or taste and are thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair.
Do these tiny fibers or threads have a name?
Yeah, but it's a mouthful.
Okay, well, try me.
They're called cellulose nanofibrils, or CNFs for short.
Huh, cellulose nanofibrils.
Has a nice ring to it.
So when they got these fibers out of the plant, what did they do with them?
Well, they sprinkled them on their ice cream.
Uh.
Okay, so maybe it was a little more complicated than that because, you know, scientists.
What?
Anywho, they added teen tiny CNF fibers in different amounts to scoops of ice cream mix.
And what did they find?
They found that, with just the right amount of CNF fibers mixed in, that the ice cream lasted longer than the ice cream we're used to eating.
And by lasting longer you mean I mean that it lasted longer in the freezer without going bad longer in the store.
And longer in these researchers' hands because it wasn't melting like crazy.
The secret to melt-resistant ice cream.
And that's not all.
There's more?
They also discovered that these CNF fibers from the banana plants helped low-fat ice cream have a creamier texture, meaning that low-fat ice cream can now be as delicious as regular ice cream.
Healthier ice cream.
Now you're speaking my language, Mindy.
So...
What's next?
Well, the next step is to be the first to get this melt-resistant ice cream onto freezer shelves and into grocery stores all over the world.
Wait, did you say the first?
Yeah, the competition is starting to heat up. and that could melt some scientists' dreams.
What do you mean?
Well, just last year, these Japanese scientists accidentally stumbled upon a discovery that a certain chemical found in strawberries could also help keep ice cream from melting for hours.
You know, now that I think about it, I faintly remember reading a study out of Scotland last year where scientists found a protein that could help keep ice cream from melting on a hot day as well.
Yeah, but you know what I always say?
Bonker balls?
No, I always say why wait for science when you can just do it yourself?
Oh, no.
What could possibly go wrong?
Guy Raz?
Hand me those banana stalks in a straw.
Uh, what?
I'm going to suck the rachis out of the stalk and add it to my own recipe and then make us some melt-resistant ice cream right now.
I'm pretty sure that's not how it works, Mindy.
Here goes nothing.
Oh, boy.
Do these look like tiny fibers to you?
Uh... Eh, close enough.
Spitting them into the ice cream.
Indy, that doesn't... Mixing it up.
Guy Raz, waffle cone, sugar cone, or parking cone?
Parking cone?
Pine cone it is.
Huh?
Ice cream keeps falling off.
There.
Okay.
Here you go, Guy Raz.
I call this flavor...
Banana-conda.
Huh?
Now step outside the ice cream truck and see if it doesn't melt all over your hands.
Anything for science.
Anything for science.
Anything for science.
Any updates?
What's happening?
Is it melting?
Well, Mindy, it appears that your experiment has left me covered in ice cream soup.
Man!
I went wrong.
Well, it all started when you rolled up in this falling apart ice cream truck and then drove me through swampy jungles to South America and then, Speaking of which, we should probably head back.
I'm losing business down here.
This place is bananas.
Well, let me at least get back into the truck before you take off.
Uh-oh.
Wait, wait.
The truck won't start?
What are we going to do?
Well... afraid there's only one thing we can do, Guy Raz.
Randy!
Wow in the World will be right back.
Grown-ups, this message is for you.
Hey, grown-ups, 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.
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I'm an Indian guy, Roz.
My name is Clark.
I live in Victoria, Florida.
And my wow is that Pomodoro dragons have venomous Eight years old.
And my name is Mary Ann, and I'm seven years old.
We live in Kailua, Hawaii.
Our wow in the world is that we got to see Jupiter and its four moons.
And on the same night, we got to see Saturn and its wings.
Bye.
We love your show.
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My name is Dylan, and I'm six years old, and I live in Champaign, Illinois.
My wow in the world is that there's lightning on Venus.
Bye, I love your show.
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Hi, I'm India Garamaz.
This is Avery and Carson from Boulder Colorado, and our wow in the world is that our brain is is made of a jelly-like consistency, and the bones in our skull are there to protect it.
Bye.
Keep on wowing.
Yay!
Hi, Mindy and Guy Raz.
My name is Dana, and I am from California.
My wow in the world is quarters.
Did you know that the first time that they put George Washington on the quarter, it was for his birthday?
Bye, Guy Raz and Mindy.
I love your show.
Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name is Reese.
I'm six years old, and I live in Bowie, Maryland.
And my vow in the world is that there are about 78 million dogs owned by people in the United States of America.
Bye, Mindy and Guy Ross.
I love your show.
She didn't bark.
We've got to figure out how to make her bark.
You know what we're going to have to do?
What?
Did you hang up?
Bye.
End of messages.
Hey, everyone.
Thank you so much for joining us this week on Wow in the World.
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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Hello.
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