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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!
Guy Raz!
Hey, Mindy.
Whoa, is that a claw machine?
Sure is.
I engineered it myself.
Uh, who is that hanging upside down from it?
Is that your grandma?
Yeah, you remember Grandma G-Force?
Uh, okay.
Your upside down grandma is the I know.
Genius, right?
She's hanging upside down by her toes, using her prize-winning fingernail claws to grab everything we need for today's show.
Oh.
Okay, let's fire this thing up.
The J-Force is activated!
Oh, look!
I think she caught a Pokemon!
Gotcha!
What?
She's picking up the pollution!
Oh, J-Force!
Why is your...
Oh, you'll see.
Oh, wait, what do you want her to get next?
Hey, can you see if she can catch that national park way in the back?
Yeah, she's going for it.
How about the jet plane over there to the right?
Mindy, what is my cell phone doing in there?
Yes!
It looks like she was able to grab everything that we need for today's show, Guy Raz!
Except for your cell phone.
She dropped it.
Sorry.
Oh, no.
I'm going to climb in to get it.
Not so fast there, big guy.
First, we have to take all this stuff and turn it into a show.
And then can we get my cell phone?
Oh, let me drive.
I don't know, Guy Raz.
Judging by the way that G-Force is candy crushing it on your phone over there.
What?
I think you're going to have to fight her for it.
What? have to deal with this later.
Yeah.
Because right now, it's time for Wow in the World.
Wow in the World.
Hey, Guy Raz.
What are you doing?
Oh, hey, Mindy.
I'm just playing some Pokemon Go here in the backyard.
You're playing Pokemon Go?
Guy Raz, you told me if I played that game, my eyeballs would pop out of my head.
Mindy, can you please move to your left a little?
I want to try to capture this squirtle.
Ah, just missed it.
Did you just say squirtle?
Guy Raz, what is happening to you?
You don't play video games.
You drink kombucha.
Hold on, Mindy.
I think I see Psyduck hiding behind that tree.
What?
Hold it right there, Psyduck.
Here I come.
Oh, are you okay, little buddy?
Speak to me.
Speak to me.
Tell me I can have your car keys.
My aching back.
Oh.
I just missed that Psyduck so close.
Okay, what is going on with you, Guy Raz?
You don't play video games.
You don't even like screens.
You won't even watch the TV at the gas pump.
Oh, yeah, you're right, Mindy.
I don't know what got into me.
One minute I was lounging on this chair just enjoying a warm summer afternoon reading the latest edition of the Journal of Media Psychology, and the next minute I'm playing Pokemon Go.
Okay, that's weird.
Right?
Wait a minute, Guy Raz.
I think I found a clue.
Look, it's right here in your Journal of Media Psychology.
A clue?
Yeah, it's right here on page seven.
Look, the title says Pokemon Go as a Catalyst for Positive Life Experiences.
It's like what you're doing.
That's it, Mindy.
Now I know exactly what happened.
I was deep in my reading when I came across this exact article.
Hold the phone, Guy Raz.
A minute ago you said that this was a journal of some kind, but it doesn't look like any journal I've ever read.
It actually looks more like a magazine, only not really, because it doesn't have any photographs or little pull-out things to spit your gum in.
So what exactly is it?
This is a scientific journal, which is a sort of a cross between a book and a magazine, but inside there are articles written by scientists.
Oh, okay, so like stories.
Well, kind of, but the articles are usually based on the research or the experiments the scientists have conducted.
And once they've discovered something new or some interesting information, they write an article for a scientific journal.
Oh, like weekly scientist homework.
Sounds easy enough.
Well, believe it or not Mindy, these articles can sometimes take years and years to write, because once a scientist or a group of scientists write their article, they have to send it to other scientists and professors to review the article.
So you mean like to give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down?
Well, yeah.
It's called peer review and it's one of the most important parts of getting a new discovery or observation or theory out into the world.
And if other scientists and professors think the article is correct without any mistakes, then it gets published in an academic journal.
OK, I got it.
So basically, scientists don't release their big discoveries out into the wild until they've had their scientist friends check their work first.
Yeah.
But what I want to know is how reading this journal article led you, of all people, to play Pokemon Go.
Guy Raz.
Oh, right.
Of course.
Well, you see, I was reading this article written by a team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin.
And they were very curious about the game Pokemon Go.
Okay.
And Mindy, they wanted to know who were the kinds of people who seemed to be Pokemon Go players.
Probably the same kind of people who would go out in public wearing a giant Pikachu onesie.
Which I'm only doing because it was on sale.
And because I had a little accident in the costume shop.
Do you remember last summer, when it seemed like everyone and their brothers and sisters were playing Pokemon Go?
Oh yeah, it got so crazy that I was actually sleepwalking and playing Pokemon Go at the same time.
I got to level 40, got 45 Ultra Balls, 2 Lucky Eggs, 9 Lure Models, and then, when I woke up, all I had was a bag of stray cats.
I had to go back to bed, but first I had to find my way home.
Uh...
Yeah, yeah.
So, as I was saying Mindy, last year, as Pokemon Go started to get really popular, some researchers at the University of Wisconsin started to ask lots and lots of people about their lives.
Like what kinds of things they like to do for fun?
Yeah, exactly.
And also questions about their friends, whether they make new friends easily.
And questions about whether they like to do physical activity, like play sports, and...
Do you know what they found out, Mindy?
Nope, but I know this is the part where you spill the beans.
Well, believe it or not Mindy, after researching 400 people, they found that Pokemon Go players tend to be happier, more positive, friendlier and more physically active than the average person.
What?
Just from playing Pokemon Go?
Well, not exactly.
I should be clear about this Mindy, because playing Pokemon Go or anything Any games on your phone or iPad will not turn you into a friendlier or happier or more positive person.
To be.
All of those things takes work, and it starts by doing small things like smiling and And not feeding your friends breadsticks from the garbage.
Yes.
And saying, I'm sorry for your loss every time someone loses a tooth.
Yeah, exactly.
That type of stuff.
So just playing Pokemon Go will not do any of that, but...
What the researchers found is that there is a correlation or a connection between nice and friendly people and people who play Pokemon Go.
Yeah, but isn't that a coincidence?
I mean, I know a lot of nice people who like to play other games, like Poop or Chocolate or Apples to Apples.
Well, that's a very good point, Mindy.
And you're right.
I mean, I love Apples to Apples.
And as you know, sometimes I can be grumpy.
So...
Does that tell us anything?
Uh, yeah, no.
But back to your question, Mindy.
You know, one of the things the researchers noticed was that there were also people who played Pokemon Go, who wanted to be friendly but were a little bit shy.
Yeah, so like when you're really friendly but you get a little bit nervous around new people.
Exactamundo, Mindy.
But the researchers also noticed that these shy people who liked to play Pokemon Go were were less shy when they played the game.
In other words, the game made them feel less shy when they'd show up at a Pokestop like the Pokemon Gym, where they'd often find other real live humans at that very same location.
And when the shy players got there, they were more likely than usual to strike up a conversation with other people.
Okay, so the theory here is that playing games like Pokemon Go could actually make shy people less shy.
Mindy, that is definitely part of the theory, but I want to be crystal clear here.
Screen time in all of its forms should be limited, because you know what happens if you spend too much time in front of the screen, right?
Oh, just let me Google that on my phone.
Got it.
It turns your brain too much.
Yes, it is.
No, it's not.
Yes, it is.
No, it's not.
Yes, it is.
No, it's not.
Yes, it is.
No, it's not.
Okay, maybe not mush, but our human bodies were designed to move and walk and play.
Pokemon Go!
Our human bodies were designed to move and walk and play Pokemon Go!
I'm on it!
That's not what you meant, is it?
Nope.
Hi, what's your name?
Hi, I'm Sarah, and I am nine years old.
So Sarah, tell me about a big wow in your world.
Well, two summers ago, I went to China with my friend and my parents.
And they're from China, so they showed us all around China.
And something really cool that I saw was the biggest Buddha in the world.
What in the world is a Buddha?
Um, it's a star, huge statue that the Chinese kind of praised, kind of like a god, and it brought them good luck or something.
For example, the one that I saw.
They carved it out of stone and they had a lot of tides and it was ruining their village.
So this one was built to see if they could stop all the tides, and they chunked out so much rock and it fell into the river that actually stopped almost all of the tides.
They thought that the Buddha did it, which in a way it kind of did, but not in the way that they thought it did it.
So
So like a happy accident.
Yeah.
If the Buddha could bring good luck to you in some area, what would you want it to be?
I'm not quite sure, but probably have all my friends come to the lake house.
You mean friends like, I don't know, like me maybe?
Yeah.
I'll see you there.
Okay.
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 created 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.
Grown-ups.
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.
That's it.
Back to the show.
What a lovely day for a walk outside in the great outdoors.
The birds are chirping.
The leaves are green.
And you haven't made a peep, Mindy.
Mindy?
Shh.
Are you shushing me?
No, Guy Raz, I'm shushing that jet plane that just flew up above our heads.
Can't you just hear its pollution just wafting through the atmosphere?
Yeah, I guess I just didn't notice it.
I usually notice pollution from cars and factories.
Yeah, well, I mean, that's kind of the thing.
There are lots of different types of pollution to give a hoot about.
There's water pollution. air pollution, soil pollution, and even light pollution.
Which happens in big cities, when there is too much artificial or human-created light that reaches up into the sky and can block out our view of the stars.
Or when you throw your used light bulbs out the window when you're done using them.
But what I'm here for today, Guy Raz, help clean up some of this noise pollution.
What did you say?
I can't hear you over all this noise, Mimi.
Um, can we just turn off the world for a sec?
Thank you.
Much better.
Guy Raz, here we are, lost out here in the wilderness.
We're lost?
Oh, well, I mean, I left a trail of breadcrumbs, but then I got hungry and I ate them all.
You what?
Guy Raz, being lost out here in the middle of nowhere is the least of our problems right now.
What was that sound?
Was that...
Was that a bear?
No, that was a train.
A bear train?
Oh, boy.
Guy Raz, let me tell you about a scientist named Rachel Buxton.
She's an acoustic ecologist from the University of Colorado, which basically means she studies sound and she's a really good listener.
Oh yeah, my old neighbor used to be an acoustic ecologist, which means that she studies sound and its relationship between humans and our environment.
You know everything.
Yeah.
But I bet you don't know this.
Uh... of sound in 492 protected wildlife areas across the United States.
And what kind of sounds were they measuring?
Well, first they were measuring the background sounds.
So like the sounds of birds chirping and bees buzzing and leaves rustling through the trees.
And bears?
Like the one walking up behind you right now.
Just kidding.
There's no bear.
That's just a baby mountain lion.
Ah!
Oh, no.
Guy Raz?
Anyhoo.
So, as I was saying, first these scientists measured and recorded the natural sounds or the background sound levels, and then they recorded the human-made noises, like the planes and cars and machinery and ATVs.
What did they discover?
Well, they discovered that in most of these places, the noise created by humans was double the level of the nature sound.
Wow.
And in some of the places studied, the human created noise was 10 times as loud as the background nature sounds.
So if pollution is the introduction of something harmful to an environment, What effects does human-created noise have on these wildlife areas?
Well, for one, animals count on the sounds of nature to hear things like a predator creeping up.
Or maybe their mom or dad or sister or brother hanging out.
Yeah, and noise pollution has already affected the habitats of some endangered species, like the San Bernardino kangaroo rat in California and the San Marcos salamander in Texas.
So is there anything being done to stop these crazy levels of noise pollution?
Yeah, so in some protected wildlife areas shuttle buses carry people into and out of the parks to cut down on the amount of cars and their traffic noises.
And in other areas.
They make sure that planes fly over roads and not over the wildlife areas themselves.
And what about the other kinds of human-made noise, like motorboats or snowmobiles?
Well, in places like Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming they're already cutting down on those types of things.
Same with planes flying over the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
So what can we do, Mindy?
Well, right now, the best thing that we can do is help spread the word about how important natural sounds are to wildlife, and by following the signs and the rules when you visit protected wildlife areas like national parks.
But most of all, if we just stop to appreciate the sounds of silence in nature, we'll start to value it more, and that's a good thing all around.
Hello, darkness, my old friend.
Oh, no, no, no, no.
No, Kairos.
Kairos, you woke up the bear.
Kairos, there's really a bear.
He looks angry.
He's creeping up on you.
Kairos, this is not the kind of sounds of silence I was talking about.
Oh, boy.
Kairos, get over here.
We're okay.
Yeah, totally okay.
Hey, thanks so much for listening to Wow in the World this week.
And parents, if you want to continue the conversation with your kids.
We've posted some questions about this episode at our website, wowintheworldcom.
And while you're there, you can find links to some of the sources we used to tell our stories this week.
Also, we love hearing from you.
You can write us at hello at wowintheworld.com.
Our show is produced by Jed Anderson.
Say hello, Jed.
Our theme song, Wow in the World, was written and performed by The Pop-Ups.
Check them out at thepopups.com.
And big thanks to Sarah for sharing a wow in her world with us.
Sarah, that was awesome.
We'll have a brand new episode later this week, so check back in just three sleeps for a special Thursday edition of Wow in the World.
See you then.
Can't wait for it.
And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.
