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Hey, Wowzer fams.
Mindy and Guy Raz here.
And before we start the show, did you hear that we are on YouTube?
That's right, Mindy.
Wowzer fams.
You can find full episodes of Wow in the World and more of your favorite Tinkercast podcasts on our YouTube channel, WowTube.
Plus on WowTube you can also watch me explode some watermelons and test out Bonker Ball's experiments in the Laboratory of Bad Ideas.
Or you can dance along with Dennis for music videos featuring music from WeWow on the weekend.
There is so much in store made just for you on WowTube.
Visit Tinkercast.com slash YouTube to watch now.
That's Tinkercast.com slash YouTube.
Ew.
Slimey squiggly little icky buggies.
Flies and beetles and ants are so yucky.
Nasty critters scurrying and squirming and wriggling and slithering and I'm gonna barf.
Black!
Creepy crawly weak.
Creepy crawly weak.
Things with wings and too many legs.
Gross!
Creepy crawly weak.
Creepy crawly weak.
Crawly weak.
Crawly weak.
Crawly Hello and welcome to day five of Wee Wow!
Creepy Crawly Week.
I'm your host, Dennis.
And that's my co-host, Reggie.
This week is all about icky gross bugs.
And it's also about Mindy's pet cockroach, Smokey McDougal, who turns out is surprisingly not that gross.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Reggie, I don't like Smokey McDougal.
He's a bug.
But he's kind of nice and smart and not disgusting.
For a bug.
Speaking of which, it's time for Smokey McDougal's deep tissue massage.
Oh, Smokey McDougal, time to work the tension out of your thorax.
Reggie, why is the lid of Smokey McDougal's tank open?
No, Reggie, he can climb out.
He's very athletic.
We've got to find him.
Smokey, Smokey McDougal, where are you?
He couldn't have gotten far, Reggie.
I'm going to search the basement.
I know!
I need to look in all the nooks and the crannies.
If there's one thing I know about Smokey, it's that he loves those crannies.
Smokey!
Here, boy!
I've got some cheese puffs for you!
Smokey!
Come out, come out, wherever you...
Ah!
Smokey!
Oh, no!
No, no, no, no, no!
I didn't mean to step on him!
Oh, please be okay!
Please be okay!
Please be okay!
Speak to me, Smokey!
Speak to me!
Oh, thank goodness you're okay.
Don't scare me like that, Smokey.
Oh, if anything happened to you, I don't know what I'd do.
Shh, shh, shh, shh.
You're safe now.
You're safe, little Smokey.
There, there.
Papa Dennis is going to put on a podcast and rock you to sleep.
Okay, fine, Reggie.
I like him.
But only a little.
Don't worry, little Smokey.
Here's Wow in the World Season 5, Episode 2 called So You've Been Swallowed by a Frog.
Reggie, shush.
This episode's only a little creepy-crawly.
It's not that bad.
Okay, it's kind of bad.
Okay, Smokey.
Here we go.
And play.
WeeWow will be right back.
Grown-ups, this message is for you.
Hey, grown-ups, what happens when you bring a great white shark and a baby octopus to your house?
A whole lot of wow.
Hey, it's me Mindy from Wow in the World, the number one science podcast for curious kids and their grown-ups.
And we are so excited to bring the wows of sharks and sea creatures to your home without having to turn your house into an aquarium.
Our baby ocean animals are perfect for the little ones in your life.
Featuring exclusive audio that will leave the whole family saying, Aww, wow.
These Wow in the World toys make for fantastic gifts for the kids in your life who love science.
And even the ones who don't yet.
Grownups, visit Tinkercast.com slash toys to shop the wow now.
That's Tinkercast.com slash toys.
That's it.
Now back to the show.
Rise and shine, friends and neighbors.
It's your old pal Mindy with your Saturday morning wake-up call.
Wendy?
In her ice cream truck?
This early in the morning?
Now, who's feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning?
Not me.
I was up all night counting sheep.
Get out of here, sheep.
Go count yourselves.
Now, who's ready to unpack this day with them and bigger?
You're attacking my constitutional right to a peaceful sleep!
If you're with me, let me hear you snore!
I'm with you, Mindy!
S-N-O-R-E!
Let me hear you breathe loudly!
Snore!
Snore!
Yay, snore!
Uh, Dennis!
You're gonna get run over!
Ah!
Mindy!
Morning, Mindy.
Care for a cup of decaffeinated espresso?
I call it a depresso.
No, thanks a latte, Dennis, but I'm trying to cut back.
I'm just out here to wake up the neighborhood for a little early morning mindfulness sesh.
Ooh!
Good morning, Mindy.
Morning, Dennis.
Did I hear someone say mindfulness?
I love mindfulness.
Breathing, meditation, relaxation, guided imagery.
What in the world wide web is all this racket?
And which one of you just said they're imaginary? imaginary fingerling.
He's a real boy.
Look.
Ow!
Why did you just pinch me?
Grandma G-Force?
Well, someone better pinch me, because this is a dream come true.
I've never had the whole neighborhood here in front of my house before.
Okay, well, I'll pinch you, too.
Ow!
Hey!
Wow!
That pinch was as good as a cup of coffee.
I'll call it a compresso.
Do it again.
Okay.
No, no, Grandma G-Force.
There is no pinching in mindfulness.
What about imaginary ones?
You know, pinches of the mind.
No!
No pinching!
Actually practicing mindfulness helps you to focus on being aware of what you're sensing and feeling in the moment.
Want to sense this, fingerling?
Gee, Forest Woods, you quit it.
I'm mindful enough.
Okay, no more pinching, okay?
No more pinching.
Mindy, Mindy, when are we going to start this morning mindfulness exercise?
Oh, uh, I don't know.
What about now?
Now?
Yeah, no better time to be in the present than the present, right?
Oh, speaking of presents, that reminds me.
I have to conduct roll call.
Now, when I shout your name, yell present.
Dennis.
Present.
Very good, Dennis.
Reggie.
Reggie, just say your name, please.
No one likes a smarty pigeon.
So, should we just take a seat where we're standing?
Oh, yes.
I need everyone to just get situated on the ground in a comfortable seated position, okay?
Okay, there we are.
In the... Don't mind me.
That's just all my bones.
Gross.
Now what?
All right, now I'm just going to run back to my ice cream truck to turn on some mindful music.
So just sit there and breathe or something, okay?
Excuse me.
I choked on this.
What in the...
I want everyone to close your eyes and take a deep breath in.
Hold it.
Now take a deep breath out.
I love breathing.
Today, I want you to focus your attention on allowing yourself to receive the gift of a little self scare.
What'd she say?
Self-scare?
Oh, I get it.
Like self-care.
But spooky.
That's right.
A little self-scare.
And as you're breathing, imagine that you are a tiny water beetle scampering through a field of lily pads.
When, oh what is that?
You see?
I don't know.
What is it?
It's a frog.
Oh, a frog.
I'm gonna kiss it.
Come here, froggy.
Gee, Forge, don't do that.
You'll get rabies.
Actually, frogs can't get rabies.
But one time, I got rabies when I... Reggie, don't interrupt me.
Ahem.
Sorry, Maggie.
The frog looks hungry and she's got her big bulging eyes set on you.
My thoughts exactly, Pigeon.
This self-scare meditation is freaking me out, dude.
Stay in the present.
Just stay in the present.
Oh, good idea, Guy Raz.
We should all hide from the frog inside of a present.
It'll never find us in there.
You can run from this frog, but you can't hide.
Oh, yeah?
Watch me!
Ah, no!
Those are my prize-winning azaleas!
Shh!
Oh, sorry.
You stop dead in your tracks, paralyzed by fear, when this frog opens her mouth wide and She's pulled you in with her longs.
Now exhale.
And before you can even digest the idea that you are inside of her big, toothless frog mouth, she takes one big gulp and she swallows you.
Ah!
Vente, no!
I want out of this meditative self-scare!
Calm down, fella.
It's not even that scary.
Why, look at Mr. Rozzy over there.
I am swallowed alive.
I am inside of a frog.
I am still in the present.
Oh, fine.
What happens next, Mindy?
You realize that you must get your tiny beetle body out of this frog.
You ask yourself, what would a bombardier beetle do?
What would a bombardier beetle do?
A bombardier beetle would surely let out a toot, so powerful it would force the amphibian to barf you up.
Ah, what?
Oh, now I'm listening.
But you, you are not a tooting bombardier beetle.
I'm not?
You are a Japanese water beetle who goes by the scientific name Regenbartia attenuata.
And you, you like to do things the hard way.
You know, that is so like me.
Just stay in the present.
Stay in the present.
No, Guy, remember, you're not in a present.
You're in a frog.
Using your tiny beetle legs to brace you, you begin to crawl and swim your way through the frog's digestive tract.
And as you work your way through its guts, its powerful and corrosive stomach juices threaten to break you.
Oh, that is just disgusting.
But you keep on eating.
I think I can.
I think I can.
I think I can.
Attaboy, Rousey.
At this point, you realize you've gone as far as you can ride down the digestive slide.
And there is only one way out.
Oh, look, everyone.
A way out.
What is it?
Like a secret door on the side of the frog or something?
Uh...
Well, I don't think it's on the side of the frog, if you know what I mean.
Um, no.
I actually don't know what you mean.
Well, looks like somebody's gonna make an exit out the old poop chute.
Oh, no.
You find what appears to be an opening of sorts, but it's closed tightly shut.
You knock three times.
Suddenly, the opening releases and you come spilling out into the world in a flood of fresh frog feces.
What?
That is really gross.
What did I say?
So disgusting.
Mindy, what kind of guided meditation was that?
A defecation meditation.
If you'll excuse me, I need to go wash out my mind's eye.
Yeah, me too.
You got any soap?
Well, let's see.
I've got hand soap, bar soap, body soap, soap on a roll.
Great job, everyone.
Now give yourselves a round of applause.
Mindy, where in the world did you get the idea for that horrifying guided meditation?
Oh, well, I got the idea from science.
Science?
Yeah, specifically this bonker balls new study that I just read from Kobe University in Japan.
It was led by this biologist named Shinji Sugira.
Wait a minute, I've read about him.
He's been studying the strange behaviors of insects and predators for years.
Yeah, and he's seen a lot of weird stuff in his day.
Yeah, like bugs who, when eaten by a frog, make the frog vomit so they can avoid being swallowed and escape alive.
Yeah, and the bombardier beetle is a pretty good example of that.
After a frog gobbles it up...
It tunes out this hot chemical spray that is so gross and so foul.
It makes the frog puke all over the place, allowing the beetle to escape the frog and live, to tell the tale.
Oh, right.
You mentioned that in your, um... Defecation meditation?
Uh... Anywho, this study was about a completely different beetle.
A Japanese water beetle who goes by the super long scientific name Regumbardia attenuata.
Whoa, that's a mouthful, even for a frog.
Yeah, I thought about calling Reg and Barty a Reggie for short, but So anywho.
Dr Sugira had been noticing these beetles and frogs hanging out together around the lily pad fields in Japan.
So he brought one beetle and one frog back to his lab so he could study how they um interacted with each other.
And was he surprised when the frog ate the beetle?
Well, he was surprised that when the frog ate the beetle, it didn't spit it right back out.
Live beetles are not exactly known for their flavor.
That tastes like chicken.
Gee, Forrest, ain't nobody want to know that.
But according to the...
That disgusting, gross mindset exercise you just put me through.
The frog must have swallowed the beetle, giving it a journey through its intestines.
You know it.
And just a couple of hours later, the beetle, having taken a little ride down the frog's digestive slide, shot right out of the frog's cloaca covered in poop.
You mean it shot out of its butt?
Well, not just a butt.
The cloaca is kind of a one-stop shop that frogs and other animals use for pooping peeing, laying eggs.
Ooh, now that sounds like a handy little multi-tool.
Where can I get one?
What?
Sorry, Mr. Fingerling, cloacas are not for most mammals.
Rats.
Oh, Reggie would like everyone to know that he has a cloaca.
In fact, all birds do.
Sheesh, Reggie.
No need to brag about it.
Excuse me, can we get back to this study, please?
Mindy, you were saying that after the beetle worked its way through the frog's digestive tract, it shot out of the same hole that the frog uses to uh um, defecate.
What'd he say?
Well, defecate is a more polite way of saying, um, uh, uh, poop.
Wow.
Oh no, Guy, not you too.
Yeah, what goes in must come out.
And when you're this particular beetle, you're using the back door.
And that. is not even the most amazing part.
It's not?
Nope.
What Dr. Sugira discovered was truly bonker balls.
When the frog pooped out the beetle... Yes?
The beetle was still alive.
What?
Oh, no, no, no.
I will not bear my listen to this nonsense.
Ahem.
That's right.
The frog eats the beetle.
The beetle emerges from the frog's behind in a pile of poop and survives.
Like that death-defying journey never even happened.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Hold on a second.
That's impossible.
I mean, first of all, how would a beetle survive being chewed up by a frog?
Yeah.
Oh, well, that's easy.
See, these pond frogs don't have teeth, so they just have to gobble and swallow their prey whole.
Okay, okay.
Well, how could the beetle possibly survive the frog's corrosive stomach acids?
I mean, the whole purpose of these digestive juices is to tear apart and break down anything that the frog eats.
Well, Dr. Sugira had the same question.
And he thinks that the exoskeleton or protective outer shell of the beetle is probably strong enough to withstand being digested by a frog.
But he'll need to do more research before he can say for sure.
Okay, but how was it able to breathe that whole time?
It was swimming through the frog's digestive tubes.
I mean, I know it's a water beetle, but still.
Well, Dr Segura suspects that, since this aquatic beetle can trap air under its wing, cases to breathe underwater.
Well, it could probably do the same to breathe inside of a frog.
Well, that checks out.
No further questions, Your Honor.
Now get to the part where the bug starts knocking on the back door, if you know what I mean.
Oh, yeah.
So once the beetle reaches the end of the, you know, tunnel, it's got to find a way back out.
Problem is, there's an obstacle in its way.
And that obstacle is a little ring of muscle holding that cloaca hole closed.
Sort of like a drawstring on a bag cinching it shut.
Or like the drawstring on my hoodie.
There.
Now I'm cool.
So wait a minute, Mindy.
Are you saying that the beetle has to get that muscle to loosen up before it can escape from the frogs behind?
You know it.
And after some poking and prodding and maybe a little knocking, the muscle loosens, the cloaca opens and out pops the beetle in a flood of fresh frog poop.
Oh, that's nasty.
And what about the beetle?
What happens after it's pooped out alive?
Well, from what Dr. Segura could tell, the beetle just goes on to live like it never even happened.
It pulls itself out of the poop and goes back to swimming around and living its little beetle life.
Mindy!
Come on, lady.
I just washed my mind's eye.
Anything for science.
So, Mindy, are we sure that this wasn't just a one-time thing?
I mean scientists have to conduct their experiments more than once to make sure that their findings are consistent.
Oh yeah.
After this, Dr Seguro went on to conduct this experiment five more times, including some different beetle species and different insect-eating frogs.
And what did he find?
Well, he found that over 90, or most of the time, the Regumbardia beetle made it out alive and went on to live happily ever after.
But the other beetles weren't so lucky.
So, besides the protective exoskeleton or shell on the Regumbardia beetle, were there any other clues to how it was able to survive?
Oh, yeah.
And those clues lie in the legs.
The legs?
Yep.
When the Regumbardia beetle had full use of its legs, it managed to pop out the other end between six minutes and six hours after it was swallowed by a frog.
Okay.
But when Dr Segura made it difficult for the beetle to use its legs by covering them with wax well, the digestion took days and the beetle did not make it out alive.
Huh.
So by conducting this experiment, he was able to determine...
What?
He was able to determine that the beetle was using its legs to crawl through the frog's intestines.
Exactoritos.
That beetle was plotting its escape route from the very beginning.
But I guess it's kind of hard to know for sure without seeing inside the frog's intestines.
Yeah, sometimes even scientists have to use their imaginations.
Hey, speaking of imagination Mindy, do you mind if I lead us all through a little mindful guided meditation?
Oh, yeah, sure.
But do you think you're going to be able to corral everyone else?
No, you get pooped out by a frog.
Just breathe in and breathe out.
I'm not listening.
I'm not listening.
And let your breath drown out the noise.
Actually, you know what?
I think I need another depresso.
No, you get pooped out by a frog.
And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.
Thanks for joining us for this edition of WeWow on the Weekend.
Our show is written by Ruth Morrison and Jed Anderson.
The role of Baby Dennis is played by Jed Anderson.
Ah, well, then who plays the role of Big Dennis?
Never you mind.
Original sound design and production is done by Henry Moskal, with contributions from Jed Anderson and Tyler Tholl.
Original music for WeWow is composed and performed by Tyler Tholl.
Special thanks to...
Thanks again for hanging out in the basement this weekend.
Be sure to check out episodes of Wow in the World every Monday.
And remember, who wows?
I wows!
No, baby Dennis.
We wow.
All right.
We wow.
Wow in the World was made by Tinkercast and sent to you by Wondery.
