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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 and honeybees and snails and rocks and sugar peas and dogs and cats and fish and mangoes and dandelions and grapes.
Reggie, why'd you turn off the drum machine?
I'm almost finished.
Five, six, seven, Welcome to another day of WeeWow!
Earth Week!
I'm your host, Dennis.
And this is my co-host, Reggie.
That's right, Reggie.
It's Earth Week!
Which means we're talking about the Earth and listening to episodes of Wow in the World about helping the Earth.
All from the comfort of my mother's basement.
What?
Reggie?
Go outside?
Why would we go out there?
To see the Earth?
Reggie!
This is a podcast.
It's audio only.
You can't see anything.
Besides, Mother's Basement is on Earth.
It still fits the theme.
Plus, today, I'm going to go through all this recycling.
Well, Reggie, I'm glad you asked.
As a concerned citizen...
I feel the need to make sure everyone in the neighborhood is sorting their recycling properly.
So, this is everyone in the neighborhood's recycling, and we are going to go through it.
Be us, Reggie!
What if people are doing it wrong?
What if someone put an aluminum can in the paper bin?
What then, Reggie?
What then?
I am Not just snooping through people's recycling bins for fun.
Okay, well, maybe I am a little, but too late now.
Let's see.
All right, what do we got here?
Ooh, looks like old Tommy Fingerling has a lot of cardboard candy boxes.
I wonder what kind of candy he's eating.
Funny Dudders?
Ew!
Didn't they stop making these like 30 years ago?
Okay, what else we got?
What's this?
Oh, this must be Grandma G-Force's paper recycling.
She's got some magazines here.
Better Diaper Homes and Gardens, Cats Illustrated, and Chainsaw Digest Quarterly.
And over here in her metal recycling, she's got... Oh, chainsaws!
Yeah, maybe don't touch those.
No, I couldn't find any of Guy Raz's trash or recycling.
He's doing a zero waste thing this week.
I did find his compost bin, but it was full of worms, so I ran away screaming.
And Mindy's using all her trash right now to build new inventions.
Yeah, even the old bacon grease.
I don't know what she's making, but it smells delicious.
Okay, well, it looks like everything else is in order here.
Yeah, once it's all recycled, all this nasty old garbage can be turned into nasty new garbage.
I mean, new useful things that aren't garbage.
Speaking of reusing old stuff we found lying around, let's listen to an episode of Wow in the World.
This one is from Season 8, Episode 18, called Plastic Eating Pets.
Yeah, it's the one where Mindy needs Guy Raz to help her take care of her new pets.
And then Guy Raz is all like, Mindy!
And Minty's all like, Guy Razzi?
Classic.
Oh, right, yeah, it's got recycling in it.
In a way.
Well, I don't want to spoil it, Reggie.
Okay, let's play the episode.
Here we go.
And play.
Hey, grownups, 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.
That's Tinkercast.com slash toys.
Now back to the show.
Okay, run!
Good.
Guy Raz, you're awake.
I am now.
Well, I'm going back to bed.
And I'm going back to my snort fight battle royale match.
Mindy, why are you banging on my door at 3 a.m.?
Sorry, Guy Raz, but it's an emergency.
I need you to feed my pets.
That's why you woke up the entire neighborhood?
Because you need me to feed your pets?
Uh, yeah.
Surely Reggie can feed himself, Mindy.
Doesn't he make you breakfast every day?
Okay, yes, but first of all, Reggie is not my pet.
He is my roommate.
Oh, sorry.
And secondly, I'm talking about the new pets that I got last week.
New pets?
I didn't know you have new pets.
You never asked.
So wait, you need me to feed these new pets?
Pets of yours?
Yes, and I've left everything you need next to the tank.
The tank?
Yeah, the water tank that it's in.
So, you got a couple of fish?
What?
No, fish are too slimy.
Then what are you talking about?
Oh, you'll see.
Anywho, I gotta go.
So, here are the keys to my gingerbread mansion.
And if the lock gives you any trouble, just kick the door in like I do.
Okay, got it.
Oh, wait a minute.
Where are you going at 3 o'clock in the morning?
Oh, I'm going to the DMV.
The DMV?
Yeah, still not exactly sure what the Department of Music Videos wants to do with my ice cream truck, but it's the only time I could get an appointment.
Uh-huh.
So, can you do it?
Sure thing, Mindy.
Yes!
You're the best guy, Rozzy.
All right, see you in a little bit.
Uh-huh.
And remember, just follow the instructions that I left next to the tank, okay?
Wait, what instructions?
Sorry, can't hear you.
We'll talk later.
Bye.
Well, I suppose I should head over now and get this over with.
Okay, just gotta feed Mindy's new non-fish pet and I'll be back in bed in no time.
Wow, it's so peaceful this early in the morning.
All right, let's see.
Let me try this key here.
Wait a minute.
Is this key made out of butterscotch?
I broke it.
Well, it looks like I'll have to kick in the door.
Let's see.
How does Mindy do it again?
I see she takes a step back.
She lifts her leg up and then she goes back.
That was actually kind of fun.
Reggie, what are you doing up?
Painting, huh?
Can I see what you're working on?
Is that supposed to be Dennis riding a manatee?
Well, I guess inspiration can strike any time of day or night.
Well, anyway, I'm actually here to feed Mindy's new pets.
Do you know where they are?
Through there?
All right.
Whoa.
Look at the size of that fishbowl.
And it looks like there's a note stuck to it.
Dear Guy Raz, thank you so much for looking after my brand new aquatic pets.
Their species name is Rhodococcus ruber.
And when I heard about these little buddies and their bonker balls diets in a study from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, I knew I had to see it for myself.
That's where you come in.
Their food is located in the cupboard under this tank.
Hugs, your best friend, Mindy.
All right, let's have a look, shall we, Reggie?
Is this it?
But this bag is just filled with plastic pellets.
That can't be right.
Where even are these pets?
Maybe they're under this ceramic sandcastle.
Let me just roll up my sleeve here and... Nothing.
Where are these things?
Reggie, I'm home.
Mindy.
Hey, Rozzy.
What are you doing here?
I thought you had an appointment at the DMV.
Oh, right.
Yeah.
Turns out the appointment was for 3 p.m., not 3 a.m.
Classic mistake.
Happens way more often than you think.
Anyhow, I see you've met my brand new aquatic pets.
Well, actually, Mindy, I haven't.
I can't see them anywhere.
I've checked the entire tank.
Oh, well, you're not going to see them with your eyes, Guy Raz.
What?
They're invisible.
Invisible?
Well, invisible to the naked eye.
Mindy, it's too early for this.
They're microscopic, Guy Raz.
Microscopic?
You mean they're so small that you can only see them with a microscope?
You know it.
So wait, you have microscopic pets?
Uh-huh.
Want to meet them?
Uh, yes.
OK.
Just put these glasses on over your regular glasses.
These say happy 2016.
Oh, yeah.
I upcycled my New Year's Eve glasses from a few years ago.
From 2016?
Yeah.
Every year, I'm like, there's no way they can make glasses out of this number.
And then every year, they just blow my mind.
Uh-huh.
Anywho, I modified these to magnify everything in my tank.
I call them my magnifying goggles.
TM.
Uh, that makes sense.
Yeah.
They magnify everything by like 1,000 times.
This way, I can see my little pets swimming around in the tank.
Here, check them out.
OK.
Putting on these 2016 magnifying goggles.
Whoa.
Pretty bonker balls, huh?
Mindy, this is incredible.
Wait, I think I see them.
I think I see your microscopic pets.
Tiny little oval things all stuck together?
Sort of looks like someone spilled a bunch of baked beans?
Uh, sort of.
Yep, that's them.
This is incredible.
How small are these little microbes?
Well, the biggest ones are only about two microns across.
Two microns?
That's smaller than the width of a human hair.
Yeah, about 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair.
Wow.
And you haven't even seen the most amazing part yet.
I haven't?
What is it?
Their diet.
Their diet?
Yeah.
Did you get a chance to feed them yet?
No.
I mean, I tried, but all you had in your cupboard was a bag of plastic pellets.
Oh, yeah.
That's their favorite food.
Sun-dried plastic pellets.
Huh?
That's what these little buddies eat.
They eat plastic?
Yeah.
And they love it.
Can't get enough.
Wait, wait.
Ah.
I don't get it.
OK, here's how it works, Sky Roz.
The ultraviolet light from the sun breaks the plastic down into little tiny, bite-sized chunks, just right for them to eat.
Here, look.
I'll grab some now.
I'm just going to sprinkle a couple in here.
Yeah, go for it.
Snack time.
Whoa, look at those little guys go.
Looks like they were pretty hungry.
You got that right.
I just have one question, Mindy.
Yeah, sure, what?
Well, where in the world did you get these little microscopic critters?
Oh, I got them at the pet store.
The pet store?
Mindy, what pet store sells microscopic bacteria?
Oh, you know, the one that just opened down the street.
Mike's Microscopic and Microbial Mini-Mates?
What?
It's one of those hot new pet store chains for microbes.
Don't worry about it.
And I'm pretty sure it's the same place that those researchers got their microbes.
Which researchers?
You know, the scientists who wrote the study.
It was in the note that I left for you earlier.
Oh, yeah.
Let me see your note here.
I first heard about these little buddies in a study from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research.
That's the one.
And their species name is...
Rhodococcus Ruber?
Uh-huh.
But I'd just call them Alan.
Well, which one?
Oh, all of them.
I'm not going to come up with names for every single one of them.
There's thousands of them in here.
Right.
And do you want to know what Alan's favorite hobby is, Guy Raz?
Sure.
What's their favorite hobby?
Tooting!
Excuse me.
What?
That. the amazing thing that these researchers from the Netherlands found out.
That they love to toot?
Well basically, they found that this specific species of bacteria is able to break down little, tiny chunks of plastic and turn it into CO2, you know, carbon dioxide.
Wow, that's amazing, Mindy.
Yeah, I mean.
So far these scientists have only been able to prove this in a lab, but they've calculated that these little microbes could be responsible for eating up and tooting out up to 1 of the plastic that's floating around in our oceans.
Whoa, that's a lot of plastic.
Well, I mean, it's 1%, Guy Raz.
Let's not get too excited.
1% is still something.
Can I do a story time?
Oh, sure.
Let's summon the story time music.
Okay, here we go.
Our oceans are chock full of plastic that we humans have plundered.
Put there, right now, there are about 24.4 trillion pieces of plastic floating around in our oceans.
A whole lot of this plastic sits on top of the water and clumps together in huge patches of plasticky mess.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which sits right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, is twice the size of Texas and contains about 18 trillion pieces of plastic.
And according to researchers, all of this plastic could weigh up to 578000 tons which, if I get my calculator out here, 1 of 578000 tons is 5780 tons.
So I'm guessing that's a lot of plastic?
Yeah, I mean, it's about the same as 825 African elephants' worth of plastic.
Whoa.
I mean, these microbes might explain why there isn't even more plastic in the ocean.
Uh, hold the phone, Guy Raz.
Weren't you just talking about how there's way too much plastic in the ocean?
Yes, absolutely.
There's way too much plastic in our oceans, but...
But there's not as much as there should be.
Wait, not as much as there should be?
What are you talking about, Guy Raz?
Well, based on the amount of plastic that we dump into the ocean every day, scientists would expect there to be a lot more of it floating around.
Huh.
And no one knows why there's less plastic than expected?
Well, no.
It's a scientific mystery.
A mystery.
I bet these little microbes could maybe explain why some of it isn't there.
Exactly.
Guy Raz, are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Uh, probably not.
I just had the most bonker balls idea.
Uh-huh.
If, at this moment, these little microbes are able to eat 1 of the plastic that gets thrown into our ocean,
Uh-huh.
What if we were able to make molecules more of these little buddies.
Billions more of them.
Then they could eat up all the plastic in the ocean and the problem would be solved.
Uh yeah, we could do that Mindy, but there's actually a much easier way to reduce the amount of plastic in our oceans without breathing billions and billions of bacteria.
What is it?
Recycling.
Recycling?
Yeah, recycling.
One of the Best ways to stop plastic polluting our waters is to make sure that it never gets there in the first place, by either recycling or reusing the plastic that we already have.
Huh, that's a really good point, Guy Raz.
And you know what?
Any of these leftover plastic pellets I'm going to be sure to put right into the recycling bin.
Or maybe you could get Reggie to even reuse them for one of his art projects.
Ah, upcycling.
I like it, Guy Raz.
What do you think, Reg?
In the meantime, all these little microbes I have to worry about is being the cutest little pets I've ever had.
You're so cute.
Yes, you are.
You're so cute, you tiny little adorable microbes.
Wow in the World is written by Mindy Thomas and Tom Van Kalken with help from me, Guy Raz.
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 you hear on our show.
Jessica Bode keeps our facts straight as our fact checker and Meredith Halpern-Ranzer 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 Steph Sosa, Henry Moskal, Ruth Morrison, Rebecca Caban, Kit Ballinger, Sana Ali-Mohamed, Anna Zagorski and all of the other tinkerers at Tinkercast HQ.
To keep the wows rolling, visit us at Tinkercast.com.
There you can learn more about becoming an official member of the World Organization of Wowsers.
Learn about upcoming events, shop our wow shop, find our best-selling books and learn about all of our other amazing podcasts.
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 and a Wow.
Thanks again for listening.
And until next time, be fun wowing.
Wow in the World was made by Tinkercast and sent to you by Wondery.
