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Hey, Grownups. Mindy here from Wow in the World.
And in case you haven't heard the big news, my friend Carly Q from Who When Wow Mystery Edition will be hitting the road with me this fall.
And if you live in or around San Francisco or New York City, we are coming to you.
Introducing Make It Wow presented by our friends at Audible.
There's more to imagine when you listen.
Make It Wow is the Bonker Balls Competition Game Show where teams of kids from our live audience are challenged to turn their wildest and weirdest ideas into jaw -dropping inventions live on stage.
Featuring live music from the pop -ups and special appearances from Dennis, Grandma G.
Force and Thomas Fingerling, plus at the San Francisco performance, our buddy Guy Roz will be stopping by too.
So come join the party!
Grownups, you can get your tickets now at Tinkercast .com slash events.
That's Tinkercast .com slash events.
We can't wait to make it wow with you this fall.
We wow on the weekend, we wow on the weekend, we wow on the weekend, cause this is what we do on the weekend.
Talking, laughing, me and Reggie singing, laughing, and then we, oh wait, no I said laughing twice.
Whatever, we wow on the weekend, we wow on the weekend, we wow on the weekend, cause this is what we do on the weekend.
Hello and welcome to we wow on the weekend.
I'm your host, Dennis, and that's my co -host, Reggie.
Reggie, no, I know we're in the middle of a card game, but we have to do the show now.
No, I don't have any sevens, go fish.
I mean, don't go fish, because we have to do we wow on the weekend now.
Oh come on, don't be like that.
Reggie, how about you pick the first segment?
Yeah, we can read some reviewsies.
I'm reading reviewsies for me and for you.
We've got us some doozies, so let's read reviews.
Welcome to reading reviewsies.
This is the segment where we read the comments.
People leave us on Apple podcasts or Spotify or whatever.
Okay. First reviewsie.
This comment comes to us from username JesseBen.
The title reads unicorn emoji, unicorn emoji, unicorn emoji.
And the message says, hi, Mr.
Dennis. Hi, Jesse Ben.
I want unicorn week, Zoe.
Wait, Zoe, I thought this was from Jesse Ben.
Well, how am I supposed to know who wants unicorn week, Reggie, Zoe or Jesse Ben?
Oh, good point. Everybody probably wants unicorn week.
So how are we coming on unicorn week, Reggie?
Bad. Why? Science says unicorns are mythical creatures.
Well, what about narwhals and rhinoceroses and unicorn fish?
Well, keep working on unicorn week and get back to us, Reggie.
Next reviewsie. This one comes from username 46774356754SJT.
The title reads Dennis.
Oh, that's a good title.
And the message says, hi, Dennis.
I love we wow on the weekend and wow in the world.
Keep up the good work.
Ah, that's so nice.
P .S. Don't be annoying.
What? Don't be annoying.
All I do is be annoying.
It's my thing. Reggie, how am I supposed to both keep up the good work and not be annoying?
It's impossible. Well, I'm sorry, 4677, whatever SJT.
That is simply too much to ask.
It can't be done. Next reviewsie.
This reviewsie comes to us from username friend me.
The title says, wow.
And the message says, this is great.
Smiley face emoji. Also, Dennis has a mustache.
What? I do? Oh yeah, I forgot.
I do have a mustache.
How's it looking today?
What? There's crumbs in it.
Reggie, why didn't you say something earlier?
Oh, good point. There's no cameras.
We're audio reviews.
Okay. This last reviews comes to us from username poop cat 45.
The title reads, I love this show.
Silly face emoji, smiley face emoji, laughing face emoji.
And the title says, I love we wow on the weekend and my cousin knows guy Roz and I have a signature from guy Roz and my wow in the wild book and I love Dennis and everyone, especially Dennis.
I love this show. Reggie, did you hear that?
Poop cat 45 has guy Roz's signature.
I know. I've been trying to get his signature for years.
Remember, I'm trying to get him and Mindy to sign my petition to only allow unicycles in the neighborhood.
No more bicycles. Actually, I need your signature too, Reggie.
Oh, whatever. Thanks for all your reviewsies listeners.
Keep them coming. If you leave a comment on Apple podcasts or Spotify, I just might read it on we wow on the weekend.
Five stars please and thanks.
Okay, time for our next segment inside Tinkercast Studios.
Inside Tinkercast Studios.
This is the part where we revisit an episode of one of my favorite Tinkercast shows.
And today we're listening to wow in the world season one episode 27 called invasion of the sea pickles.
I don't know about this one, Reggie.
I mean, sea pickle.
It sounds kind of gross and the invasion part sounds kind of scary.
Okay, I'll be brave, but I get to turn it off if I don't like it.
Okay, here we go and play.
We will be right back grownups.
This message is for you.
Hey, grownups, Mindy here from Wow in the world.
And let me tell you, Carly Q and I are so excited to make it Wow in New York 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 in 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. Now back to the show.
This is so nice Mindy.
Thanks for inviting me to lunch today.
Oh, you're welcome guy roz.
Mostly I just didn't want to eat in front of the bathroom here by myself.
But also that's what best friends are for.
Yeah, it sure beats eating by myself.
This calamari fish burger is off the hook.
I love that this place serves it between two puns.
And I just got an order of the fish tacos.
Wait, why are you eating tacos with a dingle hopper?
You mean this fork?
So sophisticated. Krilling me guy roz.
Hey, by the way, did your sandwich come with a pickle?
Because I love pickles.
Oh, let me see here.
Oh, pickle. You gotta be sweating me.
It's totally okay. Don't worry about it.
It is definitely not okay guy roz.
You can't have a fish sandwich without a pickle.
The pickle is the whole purpose.
This is officially a disaster.
No, really, Mindy, it's fine.
Don't worry about it.
Wait a minute. I know where we can catch some fresh pickles.
Mindy, there's going to be plenty of other opportunities to eat pickles.
So don't, wait a minute, did you just say catch some pickles?
Yes, I did. I've been hearing about these fresh pickles that you can find all over the coast of the Pacific Northwest.
Come on, paint your net.
We're going to catch us some sea pickles.
Mindy, I think you're taking this a little bit too far.
Reggie, put on your wetsuit, you cuckoo old bird.
Next stop, the southwest coast of Alaska.
Mindy, I really don't think this is necessary.
I mean, we could just run to the store and...
Yep, you gotta trust me on this one, guy roz, because I know the perfect pickle to go with my fish sandwich and your fish taco.
Once we get them on the plate together, it's going to be like a family reunion.
You'll see. Well, um...
Come on, let's go. Here, snap on your snorkel and hold on to your halibut, guy roz, because here, we go!
Man, nice water landing, Reggie.
You okay, guy roz? Mindy, we forgot to pay our bill at the restaurant.
Oh, it's fine. We're not done eating yet.
But we're in the Gulf of Alaska.
Here, hold onto my foot and I'll swim us to shore.
What is happening? You said you love pickles, so we're going to catch you a pickle.
Made it. What an adventure.
Mindy, what are we doing here?
Here, roz, wipe all this seaweed off your eye and take a look around.
What are those things?
Guy roz, beast your eyes on the great sea pickles!
What? All you can eat.
They're everywhere.
Go ahead, pick one up.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.
We are not eating these.
Sure we are. A pickle's a pickle.
I can't help it if these ones glow in the dark, aren't green, wiggle in your hands and smell like fish.
Go ahead, take a bite.
Mindy, I just don't think.
Wait a minute. I just remembered something.
What? Sea pickles are not edible.
Well, I could have told you that.
And they're not even real pickles.
I could have told you that too.
But they are super fascinating, which makes this whole trip worth it.
Mindy, my fish tacos are sitting in a restaurant on the other side of the country getting cold.
Oh, what are we doing here?
Guy roz, your fish tacos can wait because we're about to fill our bellies with science.
And when I say bellies, I mean brains, because we can't eat these pyrosomes.
Wait, pyrosomes? Oh, yeah.
So pyrosome is how you say sea pickle in science.
Interesting. So let's take a look at these things, Mindy.
I mean, they really do look like pickles and then there are thousands of them laid out all across this shore.
Yeah, so pick one up.
Okay. Now, what does it feel like to you?
Well, it's so bumpy, like a pickle.
But it's sort of fluffy and slimy.
I mean, it feels kind of gelatinous, almost like it's made out of kind of a jelly.
Yeah. And for a pickle, it's not exactly green.
In fact, it's pinkish and sort of clear, like it's translucent.
Crazy, right? It's almost like you can see right through it.
And if I cup it in the palm of my hands, it glows in the dark.
Oh, yeah. So some sea pickle pyrosomes are bioluminescent, which means that they're a living organism that produces light.
And in this case, kind of a bluish greenish light.
Wow. So just like some jellyfish.
Exactaritos. And if you break up the word pyrosome, pyro being the Greek word for fire and soma, meaning body, you get a bunch of little fire bodies.
Wow. Here, put on these magnifying goggles and take an even closer look.
Wait, there's a bunch of tiny creatures moving around in there.
What are those things?
Oh, so those are zuids, Skyroz.
Zuids? Yeah. So zuids are the teeny tiny little bioluminescent creatures that live inside the sea pickle and basically make it what it is.
Wow. And these little colonies of zuids use their glowing bioluminescent light to talk to each other and to work together like a team to make their pyrosome pickle propel and swim through the ocean.
Wow. So much life inside this one little pickle.
So are they all about this size?
Skyroz, some pyrosomes can get up to six feet wide and 60 feet long.
That's large enough to fit full grown humans inside.
Now you know what I want for my birthday this year.
Don't get any ideas, Mindy.
So how do they eat, by the way?
I mean, that's a lot of little mouths to feed in there.
Okay. So I should start by saying that pyrosomes are filter feeders, which means that they eat little teeny tiny sea creatures called plankton.
But given that each pyrosome is kind of like its own little colony of smaller creatures, how do they do it?
Oh, okay. So this is pretty cool.
So sea pickles or pyrosomes move slowly and effortlessly through the ocean by pushing water through their body, sort of like a tube.
And then the zooids inside grab their plankton out of that water as it passes through.
And what do they do with everything else that comes through with the water?
Well, they just filter it out through the other end of the tube.
So let me just make sure I've got this straight.
The pyrosomes suck in water with lots of stuff.
The zooids grab only the stuff they want and then the rest of the waste and water gets blown out the other end of the tube.
You got it, Gyros. It kind of works like one of those conveyor belt sushi places.
Wow. These creatures are incredible Mindy, magical, almost.
I know. So why aren't they in the fish tanks of every dentist's office around the world?
Oh, well, that's because up until now they've been a pretty rare find.
But we're standing on a beach with thousands of them.
So that's the mystery.
Did you say mystery?
Mystery. So this is where it gets dark, Gyros.
Have a seat. On the sand?
Yes, just... But my wool trouser.
Well, I mean, you know what happens if I sit on a sea pickle?
Okay, fine. Just stand.
I just want you to listen carefully because that's what you do when someone uses a voice and tells you that they have a mystery.
Right. Okay. Got it.
But I think there's a squid in my shoe.
Gyros, I'm trying to tell you a mystery!
Sorry. Hey, Jen. Can we bring the music down?
Okey -doke. Thank you.
Gyros, there has been an invasion of pyrosomes.
Invasion of the sea pickles?
Hold on to your halibut.
They're coming for us prepared for an attack!
Pull yourself together, man!
Gyros, look at me. Look at me in the eye.
They are not here to attack you.
But you said invasion.
Well, it is an invasion.
But not the kind you're thinking of.
However, this invasion of sea pickles or pyrosomes is causing big problems and clogging up the waterways off the coast of the Pacific Northwest.
Well, what kinds of problems?
I imagine that a lot of fishermen looking for salmon and halibut are met with a huge surprise when they reel in a bunch of sea pickles.
You know it, Gyros.
And in fact, just a few months ago, some researchers were searching for rare fish in Canada's Columbia River and they threw their nets out into the water.
And five minutes later, when they reeled them back in, they were shocked and surprised to see their nets filled with 60 ,000 sea pickles in five minutes.
So where do they come from and why now?
Well, up until now, these sea pickles or pyrosomes were so rare and so mysterious that they were known to marine biologists as the unicorns of the sea.
That's a lot of unicorns swimming around this shoreline.
And like unicorns, marine biologists knew that they existed.
They were never able to really spend much time observing them because they were so hard to find in the warm tropical, far, far out waters where they lived.
So water's much, much further south.
Yep. But, I said but, over the last three years, the waters off the coast of the Pacific Northwest have warmed to hotter than normal temperatures.
And millions of these things have been showing up and they're found all the way from northern California to the southwest coast of Alaska.
So do scientists think that the warming temperatures and the water up here makes these pyrosomes feel more at home?
Well, they don't know for sure, but that is one hypothesis or scientific guess that marine biologists are exploring.
And there's a team of researchers at the University of Oregon studying this great sea pickle invasion.
And they're also looking for clues like changes in the sea currents and the eating habits of these little creatures.
Interesting. Yeah, and they're hoping that the answers to these questions might just lead to an explanation.
Well, I guess for now we can take care of this problem by alerting the bigger fish that there's a sea pickle buffet just waiting for them.
Oh, well, actually, hey, Roz, whales and dolphins don't speak English.
Oh yeah, you're right.
I mean... Um, yeah, guys, guys, Roz, use your human words.
I mean, what, what, what.
There are not enough whales or dolphins in these waters to possibly eat all of these sea pickles.
Wow, I guess Yes, this really is the great sea pickle problem.
So what do we do? Well, for now we head back to the restaurant so you can finish your fish tacos.
Reggie! Where's Reggie?
Should we take a pickle for the road, Mindy?
Pretty sure you could get a sweet dill on one around here, Guy Roz.
I relish that idea.
Look at you, crilling it with some puns.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Watch where you're stepping, Mindy.
You almost stepped on some road dill.
Blah, hot pot is funny when it's true.
Blah. Wow, that was so cool and mysterious.
I have so many questions.
Why are there so many sea pickles?
And how do they get so big?
And how does bioluminescence work?
And who's that jet guy who controls the music?
I wish I could see a sea pickle.
Really? You'll take me to Alaska?
OK, let's go right now.
Oh, wait, let's wrap up the show first.
Thanks to all you listeners out there for tuning into We Wow on the Weekend.
If you have a question for me, call and leave me a message at 1 -888 -7 -Wow -Wow.
That's 1 -888 -7 -Wow -Wow.
I just might answer your question on We Wow on the Weekend.
OK, let's go. It's not too cold in Alaska, is it?
I don't like when places are too cold, or too hot, or don't have enough places to eat, or have too many places to eat.
And then I can't decide what I want.
Oh, you know what I want right now is a big place.
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.
Thanks for joining us for this edition of We Wow on the Weekend.
Our show is written by Ruth Morrison and Jed Anderson.
Original sound design and production is done by Henry Moskal and Marion Lozano with help from Jed Anderson and Tyler Tholl.
Original music for We Wow on the Weekend is composed and performed by Tyler Tholl.
Special thanks to Steph Sosa, Rebecca Keban, and all of the other Tinkerers at Tinkercast HQ.
There's still time to share your We Wow crafternoon challenges with us.
Grownups, you can upload pictures and videos of your projects to us at Tinkercast .com slash share or call us at 1 -888 -7 -WOW -WOW.
Our website is Tinkercast .com.
There you can learn more about becoming an official member of the World Organization of Wowsers, learn about upcoming events, shop our shop, and pick up a copy of the latest edition of our number one New York Times best -selling book series, Wow in the Wild.
Thanks again for thinking, tinkering, experimenting, and exploring with us this week.
Meet us back here on Monday for Wow in the World and remember, Who Wow's?
We Wow! Wow in the wild, wow in the wild, wow in the wild, wow in the wild!
Wow in the world was made by Tinkercast and set to you by Wundery.