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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 7pm 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!
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
Sounds like Mindy.
Better go see what's going on out there.
So run, don't walk.
Ooh, me, me, me, me.
I want to get my nitpick.
Mindy, what are you doing out here?
What kind of stand are you running?
Oh, hey, Guy Razzi.
Want to get nitpicked?
What?
No, I... Mindy, how about these?
They look like nits.
Nah, your head is just covered in crumbs.
Ah, rats.
Uh... You sure, Guy Raz? running a special deal today.
Twice the lice for twice the price.
Okay, first of all, that is not a deal.
And second of all, lice?
Hey, Fingerling, you get back here and let me inspect your brain case.
See if you've got any of my pet lice up there.
Pet lice?
He's all clear, Grandma G. Forest.
I already checked him.
He's just covered in cracker crumbs.
Andy!
Will somebody please explain to me what is going on?
My pet Lysol ran off and disappeared.
I got a case of the old head crumbs.
I'm trying to run a nitpicking Cody catcher business here.
Uh.
Huh.
Okay, there's a lot to sort out here, so let me just get this straight.
Grandma G-Force, you lost your pet lice?
Well, I don't see them on my head, do ya?
And if I don't get my team of lice back, we're gonna have to forfeit the entire lice-capades competition down at the stadium.
Oh, the Skadium is a stadium for skating competitions downtown.
Grandma G-Force has been working so hard training her team of lice.
But now that they've all disappeared, we have to check every head in the entire neighborhood if we want to find them.
And I need to figure out why I'm covered in cracker crumbs.
Wait, could it be from my bedtime crackers?
No, no, no, no, no, no.
That's too obvious.
All right.
So you Mindy, decided to open up a stand here in your front yard where you nitpick or rid people's heads of lice.
Well, for a price.
Right.
Anywho, being a professional nitpicker takes a lot of patience and hard work.
I can imagine.
Lice are teeny, tiny, wingless insects that can live and reproduce on human scalps.
Eh. and they feed on the blood from the scalps where they live, right?
That is correct.
Oh, I think I got one.
Nope, false alarm.
Just a sesame seed.
Oh.
Ugh.
Anyhoo, as I was saying, being a professional nitpicker takes a lot of hard work.
So I set up this cootie-catching stand to help clean any potential lice off of people's heads.
And in turn I get to give all the lice that I find to Grandma G-Force for her lice-capade skating team.
Huh.
Everybody wins.
I see.
That's very interesting.
You know, I love talking to business entrepreneurs in my spare time.
Do you have a business model for this enterprise?
Oh, yeah.
Great.
Mind if I take a look?
Oh, well, it's not here.
Okay, so where is it?
At the bottom of the sea.
Mindy, we've been through this.
Sunken treasure chests are not reliable places to keep important documents.
It's not in a sunken treasure chest, Guy Raz.
Phew.
It's in the crevice of a coral reef.
I mean, I'm happy to take you there if you'd like to see for yourself.
But what about your nitpicking stand?
Hmm.
Hang on a second.
Hey!
Grandma G-Force!
What?
Mind taking over the nitpicking while Guy Raz and I run a quick errand?
It would be my pleasure, Mindy.
Thanks, Grandma G-Force.
I knew I could count on you.
Hugs?
Talk louder.
Okay, never mind.
All right, give me your attention.
This here nitpicking stand is under new management and I don't got time for any funny business.
So from here on out, I'm gonna pick and I'm gonna choose the clients I wish to take on.
Uh-oh.
Well, G-Force, you still got it.
But if you smell like the enemy, I'm going to hide under this here, counter until the old manager gets back.
I'm not here to risk my life.
Have I made myself clear?
What in the... on a little errand?
Mindy, Mindy, what was that all about?
Picking which clients she wants to take on, hiding from her enemies.
Are you sure you want to leave her in charge of your business?
I mean, this could be disastrous.
Nah, it's all part of the business plan I was telling you about, Guy Raz.
Oh, right.
The one we're going to find at the bottom of the sea, right?
That's the one.
Now, don't worry.
Soon, it will all make sense.
Now, hang on a second, because I've got to go grab my adventure toolkit.
Run, run, run, run, run.
Come on, G-Force.
Look at this one here.
It's definitely not a crumb.
Look it.
It jumps.
See?
What?
Get out of here.
Oh.
Lice don't jump.
They need a bridge.
Sheesh.
Run, run, run, run, run, run, run.
I'm back.
Got my adventure toolkit.
I think we're all set to go, Reg.
Brr, brr, brr.
Okay, Guy Raz, I'm just going to hop on here first.
Then I'm going to pull you up, okay?
Okay.
Come on.
Hey, where exactly are we going anyway?
Let me just check my map here.
Looks like we are headed to the Red Sea right along the border between Israel and Jordan in the Middle East.
Are you sure we have time for this, Mindy?
Who has time to worry about time?
Uh... Here we go!
Nice water landing, Reg.
You okay back there, Guy Razzi?
I think I just swallowed a fish.
It's okay, it'll swim its way out of you.
Hey, can you hand me my adventure toolkit back there?
Sure.
Here you go.
Thanks, buddy.
Now, to show you what I want to show you, we're going to need to head to the bottom of this Red Sea.
Mindy, I didn't even bring my swimsuit.
Well, that's where my latest underwater invention is going to come in handy.
Now, let me just pull it out of my adventure toolkit here.
Behold, the submarine suit tooth.
Uh, is that a wetsuit?
What?
No, it's a waterproof suit with flipper feet and a built-in oxygen tank that hooks up to your face and helps you breathe underwater.
So, a wetsuit with scuba gear and an oxygen tank?
No, it's a submarine suit.
All of the features of a deep-sea submarine with all of the extra metal and engines.
It's also a lot less bulky than wearing an actual submarine.
Look, yours even has a tie and elbow patches.
Now that's something you don't see every day in a scuba suit.
It's not a scuba suit.
It's a submarine suit.
Sure it is.
Does a scuba suit have a little periscope growing out of the helmet to help you see what's happening on dry land?
So can I just wear it over my clothes?
Oh, yeah.
It's built to stretch.
Here, stay still and I'll zip you up.
I don't know, Mindy.
I think it might be a little tight.
Hmm.
Maybe it was mine that was built to stretch.
Sorry, Reg.
I haven't figured out how to design one to fit your wings yet.
But you can float.
Yeah, Reggie, why don't you just hang out here on the surface of the water until we get back up?
Okay, Guy Razzi, on the count of three, dive after me!
Wait, wait, wait.
Can you at least tell me what we're going to be looking for when we get down there?
Oh, yeah.
We are going to be looking for a cleaner shrimp stand that's open for business.
Cleaner shrimp?
You mean those little shrimp that kind of look like space aliens that...
Clean aquariums and the other fish that live inside of them?
Uh-huh.
So, sort of like you cleaning the lice off everyone's head in the neighborhood.
Where do you think I got the inspiration for my nitpicking stand, Guy Raz?
Aha!
It's all coming together now.
This must be why we're going to the bottom of the sea to find your business model, right?
Because you've modeled your whole nitpicking business on cleaner shrimp and their clients.
You know it.
The cleaner shrimp run these little businesses where they clean parasites off of their much larger client fish.
I'll see what I'm talking about when we get down there.
Ready to jump in?
Let's do it.
OK.
When I say three, dive after me.
You ready?
Three that will help us to communicate clearly without all this water getting in the way and mucking up the sound.
OK,
Did you really not expect it to be wet down here?
All right, here you go.
Testing, testing, tasting chocolate turtles.
Testing.
Wow, you're coming in nice and clear, Mindy.
So where are we going to find those cleaner shrimp stands?
Well, according to a new scientific study by Eleanor Caves, a bioscientist from the University of Exeter in the UK who studies cleaner shrimp, they usually set up shop in the crevices of rocks or coral.
Huh, you'd think that they'd want their businesses to be a little more I don't know visible to potential clients.
Well, maybe not when your potential clients are also potential predators.
Donuts.
Donut, donut, donut, donut, donut.
Oh, look, Mindy, over there.
I think I see one.
A shrimp-staffed cleaning station.
The shrimp is peeking its little antennas out from the crevice in that coral over there.
Look.
Yep, that's it, Guy Raz.
And it looks like that little shrimp is about to hook a big new client.
I don't know, Mindy.
The client fish is at least 10 times the size of that little shrimp.
Hey, who you calling shrimp?
Uh, the shrimp?
Oh, right.
But I should have called him lunch, because there is no way that that larger fish is going to let him get away uneaten.
Unless the shrimp can provide a service for that big fish.
Well, what do you mean, Mindy?
There's a term in biology known as mutualism.
That's right, mutualism.
It's a relationship between two species where both species benefit from a certain interaction.
Yeah.
So one example of mutualism would be pollinators like bees and flowers.
The bees will pollinate the flowers by delivering pollen to them, which helps the flowers reproduce and make more flowers.
And the flowers reward the bees with more pollen and nectar to eat.
Both the bees and the flowers benefit.
It's a win-win for all.
Mutualism!
So are you saying that some mutualism is about to happen between the big fish and this little, cleaner shrimp?
Well, let's watch and see.
Okay, well, it looks like the cleaner shrimp is coming out of his little crevice in the coral.
Yeah, and what we're looking at is his cleaning station, basically the same as my nitpicking station back in the neighborhood.
Oh, he's so tiny and cute, Mindy.
Yeah, these particular cleaner shrimp are only about five or six centimeters long, about the same size as a golf tee.
And his white antennas are practically as long as the rest of his body.
Yeah, and he uses those long white antennas to collect chemical clues about his surroundings.
And he has this really cool red and white stripe down his back, kind of like a skunk.
Ah, the shrimpy skunks of the sea.
Wait, check it out.
What's he doing, Mindy?
With his legs and antennas, it almost looks like he's... dancing.
This is exactly what Eleanor Caves and her team of scientists observed when they were studying these shrimp.
Huh.
You know how.
You were just wondering how in the world this big fish was not going to eat this little, cleaner shrimp.
Yeah, I mean, it just doesn't make any sense.
I mean, fish spend their entire days looking for food and there's a shrimp cocktail literally dancing right in front of that fish.
Uh-huh.
There is absolutely nothing in sight that will stop this fish from eating that shrimp.
I can't look, Mindy.
I can't look.
Ah, but Guy Raz, remember that term we were just talking about, mutualism?
There is nothing in sight that will stop that fish from eating that shrimp unless...
Unless that cleaner shrimp can give the fish something else she needs.
Something that only a cleaner shrimp can provide.
You're picking up what I'm putting down, Guy Raz.
Mindy, I've got it.
That fish wants to get nitpicked and the cleaner shrimp is just the shrimp for the job.
Winner, winner, crab leg dinner.
That fish's scaly body is covered in delicious parasites.
And it's not like this good-for-nothing ocean water is going to wash them away.
Wait, did you just say delicious parasites?
Oh, yeah.
Remember how, in mutualism, both species must benefit in order for the relationship to work and not fall apart.
Oh, right.
So if the client fish gets the benefit of being nitpicked or parasite plucked, then?
Well, just watch what happens, Skyroz.
The cleaner shrimp is doing his little dance.
And, according to Eleanor Graves, that's a little signal that it gives to some larger, scarier clients that he's willing to take on despite the risk that they could eat him.
Interesting.
It's almost like he's saying, I'm here, I see you, and if you try any funny business...
I am going to bolt right back into this crevice and you'll never see me again and you'll have to live with all of those parasites for the rest of your life.
So, even though he's tiny in comparison to this larger fish, he actually holds equal power in this very moment.
Well, it certainly looks that way.
And now he's getting to work.
Wow, he's really chowing down on those parasites, Mindy.
You could probably learn a thing or two for your nitpicking stand.
Ew, I'm not going to eat the lice off our neighbor's heads, Guy Raz.
And now he's climbing into the mouth of that giant fish, Mindy.
He's literally inside that fish's mouth, cleaning it.
And that fish is still not dead.
Well, do you eat your dentist when you go in for a cleaning?
I just don't understand why that little shrimp would risk his life that way.
Well, have you considered what's in it for him?
Ah, I think I've got it.
This cleaner shrimp is not nitpicking out of the kindness of his own heart.
He's getting his dinner.
Delicious parasites.
Eww.
So what we're seeing here, Guy Raz, is mutualism at work.
The fish gets cleaned, and the shrimp gets dinner.
A win-win for all!
But wait a second, Mindy.
Yeah?
What is there to stop the fish from eating the cleaner shrimp once he finishes the job?
Well, that's been a big mystery in the history of mutualisms throughout time, and one of the same questions that Eleanor Caves and her team had when they were studying these shrimp.
How have these mutualistic relationships survived for so long?
And what did they find out?
Well, let's just say that this big fish cheats and eats the cleaner shrimp right after he finishes the job.
OK.
Well, that's one less shrimp to clean the big fish the next time she's covered in parasites.
And if this happened over and over again, there would be no shrimp left to do the cleaning exact Doritos.
So in order to keep the cheaters away, the shrimp picks his clients carefully and does a little dance to show that he means business and no funny business, or else the entire mutualistic relationship or agreement would just fall apart for all.
Well Mindy, speaking of falling apart, do you think we should head back to the neighborhood to make sure that your little nitpicking business is still intact?
Yeah, I did leave it in the hands of Grandma G-Force.
And she was yelling on a bullhorn and threatening everyone as we left.
Okay, Guy Raz, hold on to my flippers and I'll power us up to shore, okay?
Okay.
Submarine suit, it's time to shore up!
These submarine suits are pretty amazing, Mindy.
Mind if I keep mine on for a while?
That submarine suit yourself, Guy Raz.
Hey, Reg.
Ready to fly us back home?
Hop on, Guy Raz.
Because here we go. for the ride, Reg.
Yeah, thanks, Reggie.
Hey, Grandma G-Force, we're back.
How'd everything go while I was gone?
Did you find any nits for your Lyscapades team?
Sure did, Mandy.
That nosy feller crossed the street over there, found some, and saved them for me.
Dennis?
Yeah, that's the one, Dennis.
He said he'd bring them over.
Hmm, hmm.
Here we go, Grandma G-Force.
One team of lice picked fresh yesterday morning.
Dennis, lice can't survive off a person's head for more than 24 hours.
That can't be true.
Look, these lice are energetic and full of pep and... Oh, they're dead.
They're dead!
Oh, boy.
Okay, everybody calm down.
This is actually a good thing.
Lice are not dead. and they're definitely not ice skaters or tap dancers.
They are external parasites living on the heads of warm-blooded hosts like ourselves.
And we should do everything we can to get rid of them as soon as possible.
Okay, fine, I'll eat them.
No, no, no, no, no.
Uh Dennis, you better get in line for the nitpicking stand before your lice spreads to the whole neighborhood.
Here, take a coupon.
Wow, thanks, Mindy.
Ooh, twice the lice for twice the price.
Hey, wait a minute.
Uh... That's a great deal!
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.
That's it.
Back to the show!
Wow in the World!
Hi, thanks for calling Wow in the World.
After the beep, get ready to record.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name is Reese, and I live in Raleigh, North Carolina.
My wow in my world is that humans are made up of the same elements as stars.
Say hi to Grandma G-Force for me.
Bye.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name is Leo.
My name is Oscar.
And we live in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Our wow in the world is that astronauts orbiting the Earth see a sunset or sunrise every 45 minutes.
Isn't that crazy?
Bye.
I'm Anita.
My name's Fiona.
And I'm Maeve.
And we live in Boston, Massachusetts.
And our wow in the world is that some beaches in Australia are purple and pink.
Say hi to Grandma G-Force.
Thomas Fingerling.
Chuck.
And Reggie.
And Dennis.
And Dennis.
Hi.
Bye.
My name is Piper and I'm from Minnesota, Minnesota.
My wow in the world is that coral is an animal.
Hello Guy and Mindy.
My name is Max and I live in Montreal, Canada.
My wow in the world is that dolphins share more DNA with us than they do with sharks.
Bye.
Say hi to Reggie for me.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Raz.
My name is Sarah.
I'm from Erie, Colorado.
My will in the world is that bats can eat 1,200 mosquitoes in one hour.
And that's the only mammals that can fly.
Say hi to everyone.
I love your show.
My wow in the world is that butterflies can fly 3,000 miles.
I love these shows.
Bye.
Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm six and a half years old.
Hi, my name is Mia and I'm five years old.
We're from Saratoga, California.
My wow is that ostriches have three stomachs.
Isn't that bonker, Paul?
Reggie, I can speak pigeon.
That means love your show.
Bye.
Bye.
End of messages.
Hey, everyone.
Thank you so much for hanging out with us this week on Wow in the World.
And to keep the wow rolling, check out this week's scientific conversation starters at our website wowintheworldcom.
And grownups.
There you can find more info on how your kids can become members of the World Organization of Wowzers shop our Wow Shop.
Upload photos and videos to us and check dates for our upcoming live events.
That's wowintheworld.com.
Our show is produced by Jed Anderson.
Who provides the bells, whistles, and silly characters.
Say hello, Jed.
Hello.
Our show is written by me, Guy Raz, and Thomas Van Kalken, who also provides silly characters.
Tom?
Hello there.
Thanks also to Jessica Bode, Anna Zagorski, Rebecca Caban, Kit Ballinger, and Alex Curley.
Meredith Halpern-Ranzer powers the wow at Tinkercast.
Our theme song was composed and performed by The Pop-Ups.
For more on their three-time Grammy-nominated all-ages music, find them at thepopups.com.
And grown-ups, you can follow Wow in the World on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at wowintheworld.
And our email address is hello at wowintheworld.com.
And if you're a kid with a big wow to share with us...
Call us at 1-888-7-WOW-WOW for a chance to be featured at the end of the show.
Also, if you haven't already done so, please subscribe to Wow in the World on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Yeah, leave us a few stars, a review, or just tell a friend about the show.
Thanks again for listening, and until next time, keep on wowing.
Jinx!
And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.
