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Twinkle, twinkle, little terrarium, how my plants shine in the, uh, what rhymes with terrarium.
Uh, hey Grownups, did you hear the big news?
Wow in the world now has toys!
Stem toys! We've partnered with our friends at Wondery Kids and Thames & Kosmos to create hands -on stem toys that connect learning to playing and playing to tinkering.
Like, Reggie! Drum roll please!
The Wow in the World Light -Up Terrarium!
Um, each light -up terrarium comes with cress seeds so your family can watch in Wow as the seeds germinate and grow in their terrarium before your very own eyes.
This bright new take on the classic terrarium toy features miniature LED string lights and a glow -in -the -dark moon so your Wowzers plants are on display day or night!
And did we mention that it could also double as a nightlight?
Yeah! Your family can decorate their light -up terrarium with glow -in -the -dark stickers and glowing pebbles.
And like every Wow in the World STEM toy, with the light -up terrarium, your Wowzer gets access to exclusive audio content from us!
Like a mini episode of Wow in the World!
Plus, you'll also find a collectible STEM tool for your Wowzers to add to their tinkering toolkit.
Want to learn more?
Grown -ups visit tinkercast .com slash shop.
You can also click the link in the episode description or visit your local specialty toy retailer.
And speaking of terrariums, here's a brand new episode of Wow in the World!
It's all about the science behind a real -life giant terrarium for humans!
It's titled A Weekend at Bioworld!
Hit it, Reg! Wow! Whoa!
You're listening to Bongo in the Big Two!
In the morning on KWOW!
All right folks, we're back with a chance for you and five of your closest friends to win a trip to Bioworld!
Bioworld! Whoa! Bioworld!
Is that anything like Biomimicry World?
Hot! No, Bongo! Bioworld is a three -acre, 90 -foot -tall greenhouse research facility in the middle of the desert.
Ouch! Sounds hot! Yeah, it is!
Listeners, to win this relaxing weekend away for six people at Bioworld, all you gotta do is win our game called Name That Sound Effect!
That's right, Name That Sound Effect.
We play a sound effect, all you gotta do is name it!
All right, let's head to the phone lines to hear from our first contestant.
Hello, caller! You are on the air.
Everyone, quiet down!
I made it through! Sounds like we got a crew!
Welcome to the show, everyone!
Thanks, Bongo. You know, I'm a long time listener, third time caller.
Okay, Mindy! Are you ready to Name That Sound Effect?
Oh, I was born ready.
Oh, you were. All righty, here's your first sound effect.
Take a listen. That's easy.
It's a gauge three semi -conducting copper spring.
It's the same one that I use in my shrink wand.
That is correct! We also would have accepted just spring.
Okay, now it's time for sound effect number two.
Take a listen. Oh, Mindy!
I know! That's Niagara Falls!
Tell them it's Niagara Falls!
Oh, I'm hearing Niagara Falls!
Is that your final answer?
No, no, no! That Bongo is the sound of a flush -o -matic 2000 with built -in grime detection and band -scrubbing mechanics.
You don't have to be so specific.
You can just say toilet flush.
Hey, you're just one guess away from winning that beautiful weekend escape to Bioworld!
Whoa! Here comes the third sound effect.
Take a listen. Uh, I don't know that one.
Oh, Mindy, I know it.
Oh hold on, Guy Roz knows it.
Let me pass him the phone here.
Here, Guy Roz, take this.
Okay. All right, Guy Roz.
For all the marbles.
Name that sound effect.
Oh well, Mr. Tudor.
If I'm not mistaken, I believe that's the sound of a classic Gardiner three -notch sprinkler system.
I have the same irrigation system set up in my microcard.
We have a winner! Once again, way more specific than we needed, but it was a win.
Congratulations, Mindy.
You have just won a state and Bioworld!
Shab a state -of -the -art research facility designed to replicate all of Earth's biomes.
What? What are biomes?
I don't know. Okay.
Coming up next after the break on KWWU, are you smarter than a house cat?
A show where house cats roll and house humans draw.
Maybe we did it. We won the tickets.
We all helped equally.
Hush, boy. It's a good thing we won those tickets, Mindy.
It would have been really awkward turning up to Bioworld without a reservation.
Tell me about it. Are we there yet?
Not much longer now, Grandma G -Force.
Where are you taking me again?
Bioworld. What a world.
Bioworld. It's one of the largest running science experiments in the world.
And that's where we're staying this weekend?
You know it. In a science experiment?
Yup. Well, what kind of science experiment?
It's sort of like a massive greenhouse.
Oh, like the one you have in your garden?
Well, yeah, but the one in my backyard is only about the size of a parking space.
This greenhouse takes up more than three acres and is over 90 feet tall.
Whoa, that's like twice the size of the White House in Washington, D .C.
Oh, wow. That seems too big.
But it's for science, Dennis.
I said it's too big.
Bioworld is actually a life -size replica of a research facility in Arizona called Biosphere 2.
Yeah, it's filled with all sorts of plants and is completely sealed off from the rest of the world.
So let me get this straight.
Our plan for this weekend is to sit down and watch a bunch of plants grow.
No. Because before they started performing all those plant experiments in Biosphere 2, they performed a different kind of experiment, one with humans.
Yay, humans! And that's the one that we're going to try to replicate or redo at Bioworld.
Neat. You got time for a story, Guy -Roz?
One second here, Mindy.
Let me check my GPS.
You are approximately one story time away from your destination.
Perfect. Story time!
Long, long ago, in a mystical time called the 90s, eight researchers and scientists were about to embark on one of the most audacious science experiments of all time.
Hey there, look at me.
I'm a researcher ready to kick this experiment's butt.
Well, nice to meet you fellow researcher.
I'm also here to kick experimental butt.
Me too! Now where's that experimental butt everyone keeps talking about?
I want to kick it! They would be locked inside a huge 136 ,000 square foot airtight greenhouse called Biosphere 2.
It was full of plants and animals and everything else someone might need to be cut off from the rest of the world.
Ooh, this place is nice!
But these researchers weren't going for just one weekend like us.
They were going for a whole two years.
Two years? Do we have any snacks?
No. Luckily, they didn't need to bring any food with them, as most of their food, 83 % of it, was grown right there in the biosphere.
Oh, phew. What do we got?
All right, let's see here.
We got banana trees, papaya trees, sweet potatoes, beets, peanuts, rice, and wheat.
Okay, yeah, that's enough snacks.
Close the door. We got enough air in here, right?
We'll be fine. And because of all these plants, they didn't need any air from the outside either.
The crew would breathe in oxygen, and breathe out carbon dioxide.
And the plants, in turn, would breathe in the carbon dioxide, and breathe out oxygen.
In a closed loop, just like a giant terraria.
Exactoritos, guy -roz.
It was the perfect plan, until something went horribly wrong.
It's the alarm that tells us when something is going horribly wrong.
No, no. Yeah, whatever.
Only a few months into the experiment, the researchers had a big problem from some very small visitors.
Is that bacteria in our soil?
Yeah, that's in here.
Somehow, some bacteria had snuck its way into the biosphere, and started wreaking havoc on their crops.
Ah, not the crops. I was going to eat those.
And that, your stomach.
Yeah, that bacteria, they don't want food.
And not only that, but this bacteria was oxygen -hungry.
Meaning that it was sucking up all of the oxygen that the plants were giving off, before the researchers and scientists got a chance to breathe it.
Is it just me, or is it getting harder to breathe in here?
This made simple tasks like standing up and walking around much, much more difficult.
I pooped. What do you mean, you're pooped?
You only moved about 10 feet today.
All in a day's work.
So what happened, Mindy?
Well, these researchers had to get extra oxygen pumped into the biosphere, and they had to raid their emergency food supplies.
Tommy, slow down. These rations are for emergencies only.
Well, my tummy says it is an emergency.
There, there, tummy.
And the next two years weren't much easier.
We're talking lots of hiccups along the way.
But on September 26, 1993, the researchers emerged from the biosphere back into the real world.
Ah, rush air. It's for the beatback, baby.
Wow. Well, I remember the 90s mutton chops, tickling your own vegetables.
I used to wax my handlebar mustache from sun up to sundown.
Fingerling they're talking about the 1990s, not the 1890s.
So was I, dude. Why would anyone want to lock themselves in a greenhouse for two whole years?
Well, Dennis, this kind of research is actually vital for the future of space travel.
Some of the people that are involved in these kinds of experiments call themselves analog astronauts.
Wait a minute. Does that mean we're going to be analog astronauts?
For this weekend we are.
You have arrived at your destination.
Look everyone, we're here.
Now, where do we park this ice cream truck?
Oh, over there. Look, ice cream truck parking.
Perfect. Everyone still in one piece?
Great. Then let's get this weekend started.
Locking up the ice cream truck.
Okay, follow me everyone.
The entrance is over this way.
Everyone ready to play some make believe?
Make believe? What?
I didn't know we have to make anything.
Because Reggie, that's basically what analog astronauts do.
They play make believe.
Really? Yeah. One of the main reasons why scientists take part in these sorts of experiments is because in the future when we set up habitats on the moon or on other planets, we'll have to do exactly this.
We'll have to live in airtight self -sustaining greenhouses.
So, the scientists pretend to be astronauts on other planets so that when we go there for real, we know what to do?
You got it. And that's what we're doing this weekend?
Pretending to be astronauts?
Exactly. Well, I'm going to be Sally Ride, the first woman in space.
Ooh, I want to be Buzz Aldrin, the first guy to be on the moon.
Oh, I want to be Buzz Aldrin.
It's New Zulu. Tommy, you can't just say you're Buzz Aldrin and then you're Buzz Aldrin.
Oh, the guys are looking for me.
Someone's coming. Oh, hello.
Hi, we're here for the bio world experience.
Yeah, we have a winning reservation from Bongo in the Big Toot.
I don't know who that is.
What? The reservation should be under Mindy.
Okay, let me check here.
Oh, there it is. The competition winners.
Thank you. Of course, let me show you to the crew quarters.
Follow me. Don't mind if I do.
Don't mind if I don't.
Okay, I just have to quickly scan and decontaminate you.
Who are you gonna contaminate?
And there we go. Welcome to bio world.
Get a load of this place, Mindy, and these ceilings must be 90 feet tall.
Yeah, it's like two and a half telephone poles tall.
Yeah, they fit an entire rainforest in here.
That's right. And not just a rainforest.
Bio world is divided into six different areas.
Right now we are in the rainforest area, complete with ocean and coral reef system.
Over to our left, you can see signs heading towards our mangrove wetlands ecosystem and beyond that is the fog desert ecosystem.
Ooh, frog desert. Now there I gotta see.
Not right now Thomas Fingerling, we have to go to our living quarters.
You may address me as Buzz Aldrin.
Okay. To get to the crew quarters, we need to pass through one more area of bio world.
Oh, boy. Follow me right this way.
This is the agricultural area.
Look at all them crops.
That's right. This is where you'll be getting most of your food during your stay.
Oh, what was that? Everybody, look out.
There's a wild space creature on the loose.
Actually, no. That was one of the 38 chickens we have here at Bio World.
I want to ride it. Hey, chickie, chickie, chickie, chickie, chickie.
Please don't ride the chickens.
We also have goats and pigs here in Bio World just like they did in the original biosphere too.
Can I ride them? Please don't.
Well, that's not enough.
Okay, and just through here is the crew quarters.
This is the human habitat complete with workshops, laboratories and of course living quarters.
lived on top bunk. Okay, well, that's the end of the tour.
Let me know if you need anything.
Bye bye. Wow, this place is just as amazing as I'd hoped it would be, Guy Roz.
I know, right? I mean, do you think that they'll use our experience here as research for a future space mission?
I mean, maybe, but you know, it's not just us going through this whole sealed away from the rest of the world experience.
Wait, we're not going to be sharing this biosphere with other contest winners, are we, Mindy?
Oh, no, no, we got this place all to ourselves.
But NASA has a bunch of different experiments running just like this one, where a group of scientists seal themselves off from the rest of the world and pretend to be astronauts.
What was that? I think it's a phone there, Mindy.
What do I do? We'll answer it.
Ring a ding ding ding.
You've reached Mindy.
Looks like we got ourselves a winner.
Hey Roz, is your ball going with a big toot?
Yeah, that's right.
You answered our random phone call on the fourth ring.
So you know what that means, a free weekend getaway at Bioworld.
Roz, we've won another weekend here at Bioworld.
Are we their only listeners?
Maybe we should get through this weekend first, Mindy.
We'll take it. Excellent.
Okay, coming up next on KWW, the latest track from everyone's favorite vertical transport theme band, The Elevates.
Hey, at least it's not all that bad.
Turn it up, Mindy. All right.
Oh, boy. WOW in the World will be right back.
Grownups, this message is for you.
Hey Grownups, Mindy here from WOW in the World.
And let me tell you, Karly Q and I are so excited to make it WOW in you, Norik City.
I mean, New York and San Francisco with our new live show, Make it WOW, presented by Audible.
There's more to imagine when you listen.
And apparently you're excited too because our San Francisco performance is filling up and our New York City performance is almost sold out.
So we're adding even more WOW with a second show for New York City.
Grownups, get your tickets today at tinkercast .com slash events.
That's tinkercast .com slash events.
That's it. We'll see you there.
That's it. Back to the show.
Hi, thanks for calling WOW in the World.
After the beep, get ready to record.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name is Benjamin.
I am five and a half years old.
I live in Pennington, New Jersey.
And my WOW in the World is that the world record -breaking elephant tusks was more than a thousand feet tall.
I love you, Cheryl.
Bye. Hi, Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name is Maddie and I'm from Kirkland, Washington.
And I'm five years old.
My WOW in the World is that the world has grown from one billion people to seven billion people in only 200 years.
Bye, Mindy and Guy Ross, love your show.
Say hi to Reggie for me.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name is Finley. I'm ten years old and I live in Raleigh, North Carolina.
My WOW in the World, since I love cats, is that snow leopard can't roar.
Say hi to Reggie for me.
Bye. Hi, Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name is Ella and I am seven years old.
And I live in Michigan.
My WOW in the World is that if you put Saturn in a giant pool, it would float.
But if you put Earth in the Moon in a giant pool, they would sink.
Bye, Mindy and Guy Ross.
I love your show. Hi, Mindy and girls.
My name is Seamus. I live in Wallingford, PA.
My WOW in the World is that it takes four GPS satellites to get your GPS working.
I love your show. Hi, I live in Fort Collins, Colorado.
My WOW in the World is Prehistoric Dragonflies Wingspan, or two and a half feet long.
Say hi to Reggie for me.
Bye. Hi, Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name is Julian, and I live in Buncliff, New York.
My WOW in the World is that in ostracized, bigger than its brain.
Bye. Love your show.
Hello, my name is Max.
And I'm seven and I live in Northern California.
My WOW in the World is that certain types of bamboo can grow 36 inches in 24 hours.
Thank you. I love your show.
Bye. Hi, Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name is Lucy. I'm from Venice, California.
My WOW is that peanut butter can get turned into diamonds.
Thanks for listening.
I love your show. Say hi to Reggie for me.
Bye. End of messages.
Grownups, if you like WOW in the World, you can listen early and ad -free right now on Wondery Plus.
Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Wondery Kids Plus on Apple Podcasts.
Prime members can listen ad -free on Amazon Music.
And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery .com slash survey.
WOW in the World is written by Mindy Thomas and Tom Van Calken with help from me, Guy Ross.
Original sound design and music editing is done by Tyler Thole with help from our supervising producer, Jed Anderson.
You can also hear Jed Anderson in the voices of Dennis, Thomas Fingerling, Reggie, and many of the other silly characters that you hear on our show.
And Lizzie Freilich can also be heard as some of the silly characters on our show.
Jessica Bodie keeps our facts straight as our fact checker, and Meredith Halpern -Ranser powers the WOW at Tinkercast.
Our theme song was composed and performed by three -time Grammy nominees, The Pop -Ups.
Find them at thepopups .com.
Special thanks to Kit Ballinger, Rebecca Kaban, Dr.
Natasha Crandall, Kenny Curtis, Kristen Yang, Tui Mack, Erika Medina, Henry Moskal, Jodi Nussbaum, Ali Paxima, Linda Rothenberg, Steph Sosa, Joanna Weber, Anna Zagorsky, and all of the other Tinkerers at Tinkercast HQ.
And to keep the WOW rolling after you finish this episode, visit us at Tinkercast .com.
There you can become a member of the World Organization of Wowsers to get year -round mailings and weekly activities.
Shop our WOW shop, get tickets for upcoming events, find our best -selling books, and learn about some of the other amazing podcasts from Tinkercast.
Grownups, you can follow WOW and the World on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at WOW in the World and our email address is hello at Tinkercast .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 our show or an upcoming episode of Two What's in a WOW.
Thanks again for listening.
We're here every Monday.
Or you can check out Two What's in a WOW every Friday, right here in the WOW in the World podcast feed.
And don't forget We WOW on the Weekend with Dennis, Saturday and Sunday.
Keep on WOW -ing! WOW in the World was made by Tinkercast and sent to you by Wundery.
