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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!
Move this light over here.
Pop this over here.
All right.
I think we're ready to roll, Reg.
Go ahead.
Get behind the camera.
OK.
How am I looking?
Little to the right.
All right, Reg.
Count me in.
Hey, all you cool puppies. and welcome to my ZooZoom channel.
Today, we'll... Interrupted by the doorbell?
Cut!
Take five, Reg.
Good morning, Mindy.
Good morning, Guy Razzi.
Why do you sound so chipper?
Well, Mindy, remember how I told you I was trying out a new composting method?
Oh, yes.
How could I forget?
Well, look.
It worked.
Put that away, Guyron.
What is that smell?
Do you see those maggots in there, Mindy?
Yep, yep.
I can see the maggots.
Please get them away from me.
All right.
I was just...
Mindy, what are you and Reggie up to over there?
Uh, nothing?
Mindy, is that my camera?
No.
It's your smartphone.
It just happens to have a camera built into it.
And my tripod?
Well, technically, it's a duopod now.
What?
I lost one of the legs.
Mindy!
Sorry, Guy Raz.
I was trying to support you.
Surprise you.
Surprise me with what?
With my newfound viral stardom.
Your what?
Oh, I'm a zoozoomer now.
And soon I'll be zoozoom famous.
Zoozoom famous?
Mindy, what in the wow is zoozoom?
You've never heard of zoozoom?
Uh, no. are missing out, Guy Raz.
Here, I'll show you.
Let me just get out my laptop here.
Browser, web search, clickety-clack, ZooZoom.
Oh, right, ZooZoom.
It's that video sharing website, but it's only for animals, right?
Yeah, here, check it out.
There's this blue-footed booby bird who teaches all these viral dances.
And then there's this monkey who got real rich and famous unboxing bananas.
Wait, don't you mean unpeels bananas?
Yeah, same thing.
And now there's this cat that just went viral for giving out legal advice.
Okay.
I'm here live.
I'm not a cat.
All you need to know, Guy Raz, is that with these next few videos that I'm going to be uploading, your best friend is about to become the biggest thing that ever hit ZooZoom.
Uh-huh.
And how exactly will you be doing that, Mindy?
Uh, with this camera in your smartphone?
No, Mindy.
I mean, what type of videos are you making that you think are going to be so popular that you'll become a ZooZoom star?
Oh, right.
Well, my videos are going to be all about... animal life hacks.
Animal life hacks?
Yeah, you know, little everyday tricks to make life a little easier.
Oh, right, like how I use a pants hanger to keep my recipe books open when I'm cooking.
Exactly, and my life hack is not cooking and eating your food instead.
Anywho, it turns out animals have a whole bunch of life hacks of their own.
Wow, I didn't know.
Yeah, I got the idea after reading this great life hack that these tree crickets in India use to help them find a mate.
And what do they do?
Well, I could tell you.
Or you could show me?
What?
No!
Or you can help me film my next Zoo Zoom video and find out for yourself.
Oh, yeah, of course.
Right.
Come on, Guy Razzi.
Want to put on this producer's hat and help me shoot a few videos?
Well, I guess.
Yes.
Hey, Reg.
Ready to start rolling again.
Okay, Guy Raz, this next video is going to be all about...
Love songs.
Oh, love songs.
Like, maybe this one?
Uh, not that kind of love song.
Oh, sorry.
I just got a little carried away there.
Yes, you did.
But it turns out that a lot of animals actually do find partners by singing.
By singing?
Well, maybe not singing in the way we're used to it, but they do attract mates by making a lot of noise.
Oh, right.
You mean like a mating call.
Exactly.
Birds do it.
Koalas do it.
Even crickets do it.
Oh, yeah, right.
You mentioned crickets before.
Weren't they the whole reason you started making these videos?
Yeah.
Because, according to scientists at the National Center for Biological Resources in Bangalore India, these little crickets have come up with a neat little life hack to make their mating calls louder and more attractive to potential partners.
And what's that?
Well, I'll tell you about it in a second.
But first, I've got to get into costume.
Uh, costume?
Uh-huh.
Where did I put it?
Um... Oh!
Just gotta stick my head through here.
Yep, it's not... Now I just gotta get my rear end into this.
Mindy, Mindy, what in the wow are you wearing?
My cricket costume.
Uh-huh.
It's based off those tree crickets they were studying in Bangalore, India.
Is that so?
And listen, it even trills.
What do you mean it trills?
I mean, it does this.
Pretty realistic, huh?
It's pretty loud is what it is, Mindy.
You're telling me we're talking 60 decibels.
And a decibel is a unit of measurement for sound, right?
That's right.
And 60 decibels is about the same amount of noise that you'd expect to hear in a crowded restaurant.
Yeah, like the spit-take restaurant on a Friday night.
And this annoying and loud noise... Which is called trilling.
Right.
This trilling, this is what the Indian tree cricket uses to find a mating partner?
The louder, the better.
And those little insects are able to make that much noise?
Oh, yeah.
And some of them can make much, much more.
Really?
Yep.
A big, healthy, burly cricket can make up to 70 decibels worth of noise by trilling.
Wow.
That's like being right next to a roaring vacuum cleaner.
Yeah.
And so these smaller crickets have come up with a neat little life hack to make their mating calls louder and increase their chances of finding love.
And what is it, Mindy?
Oh well, it's when two people who have very special feelings for each other No no, I know what love is, Mindy.
I'm talking about the life hack.
Oh, okay.
How do these crickets make their mating calls louder?
Well, why don't you smash that record button and find out?
Oh, right.
We rolling on sound, Reg?
Ow.
Great.
Want to count me in, Guy Raz?
Here we go.
In three, two, one.
Action.
Hey, all you cool pups and puppers.
It's your gal Mindy here coming at you with a brand new animal life hack.
Life hack!
How many times have you been trying to attract a partner with your trilling?
Only to be trilled out by the cricket next door!
Well, fear not!
Because, thanks to the good tree crickets of India, we have a hack that is going to take your trilling up to three times louder.
Louder!
Louder!
Louder!
Over to the kitchen.
And cut.
Cut.
Zoo-zooming is hard work.
That was great, Mindy.
You think so?
Absolutely.
I'm hooked.
So what's the hack?
Well, why don't we go reset in the kitchen and I'll tell you all about it.
Sounds like a plan.
All right.
You grab the camera and the tripod.
And Reggie, you still okay to do sound?
Excellent.
Follow me.
Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk.
And open.
Whoa.
Mindy, is that... A giant potato chip?
Yeah.
It must be nine feet in diameter.
Nine and a half, actually.
Mindy, why do you have a nine and a half foot potato chip in your kitchen?
I'm going to use it to help model how these tree crickets amplify their mating calls.
They amplify their mating calls with...
Potato chips?
Uh, no, not exactly.
See, the Indian tree crickets use a leaf, but the concept is basically the same.
Okay, you're going to have to explain this to me, Mindy, because I am completely lost.
Okay.
So in the wild, when a tree cricket wants to amplify its trilling, Which means to up its chances of attracting a mate, Exactly.
Exactly.
It will climb up a tree, find a nice big leaf, chomp a hole in the middle of it.
And then?
And then stick its head through the hole.
What?
It's a technique known as baffling.
Essentially, the cricket uses the leaf as an acoustic megaphone.
And this life hack actually works?
Yep.
And, according to the researchers, the smaller, quieter crickets became pretty attractive to the females once they started baffling.
She couldn't even tell the difference between them and those larger, louder male crickets.
Wow.
So the smaller crickets were able to make up for their lack of size and sound through this trick called baffling.
Yeah, and not only that, but the female crickets also stayed with the baffling crickets longer than the crickets who died.
Ah, meaning that those crickets that use this life hack have a better chance of reproducing and passing along their genes?
You know it.
That's kind of incredible Mindy, because we don't really think of insects using tools, but that's exactly what these crickets are doing.
They're using a tool to make their lives a bit easier.
See?
Life hack.
Pretty wow, huh?
Yeah.
And so your plan now is to Take a big old bite out of this giant potato chip and stick my face through it.
Yes.
Yes, it is.
Where do you want me to set up?
Uh, how about right over there next to the shrunken oven?
Huh?
You mean the toaster?
Is that what it's called?
All right.
Okay, and how we doing for sound, Reg?
Ready to roll, Guy Raz?
Just one second, Mindy.
Okay, we're ready.
All right, count me in.
In three, two, one, action.
Welcome back, all you Mindiacs, to this special episode of Animal Life Hacks.
We're here in my kitchen with the second biggest potato chip I've ever baked.
Second biggest?
And no, it's not for eating, not all of it anyway.
We're going to be using this potato chip to help us amplify our trills, making them as loud as they can be.
Okay, let me just grab the giant potato chip here.
Step one, find something large and flat, like a potato chip or a leaf.
Check.
Step two, Bite a hole about the size of your head in the middle of that thing.
It's really good.
Uh, Mindy, should I keep rolling?
Uh-huh.
Make sure to get all of this.
Okay, step three.
Shove your face through the hole you just made.
Okay, now step four.
What in the... And there you have it, folks.
A quick and easy way to make your trilling loud and proud, taking it to the next level.
If you find you love using this animal life hack, be sure to smash that like button and subscribe.
And remember, to all you cool pups and puppers out there, stay pawesome!
Get my head out of this potato chip.
I'm just gonna... There we go.
That was great, Mindy.
Thanks, Guy Razzi.
Want to watch it back?
Uh, sure.
What button is that?
Uh, that one right there.
This one?
No, no, no, not that one.
That's the... Deleted.
Whoops.
I've got to bake a whole new potato chip.
Sorry, Mindy.
It's okay, Guy Razzi.
Want to help me finish this chip off?
I know how you feel about food waste.
It seems like the least I can do.
Reggie, want in on some of this potato chip?
It's your favorite.
Mmm.
Mmm.
Mmm.
Mmm. out there to make your chewing even louder.
Wow in the World will be right back.
Grownups, this message is for you.
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 WOWkit 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.
Grown-ups.
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.
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, Lindsay and Guyrod.
My name is Jack.
I'm six years old.
Alaska.
My wow in the world is there are more caribou in Alaska than people.
Say hi to Reggie, Grandma G-Force, and static man.
Bye.
I love your show.
Hi, my name is Jake and I live in Lotus, California.
My wow is that there might be an eighth continent under New Zealand called Zealandia.
Bye, love your shows.
Hi, my name is Stella.
I live in New York.
My wow in the world is that blue-butt-blooded spiders use copper in their blood cells to carry oxygen around their bodies.
This makes their blood blue.
Thanks.
Say hi to Reggie, Grandma G-Force, and Dennis for me.
Bye and Guy Ross.
My name is Ryan and I am eight.
I am from Fairfax Virginia, and my wow my world is that most US dollar bills circulate for about five to six years.
Bye hi, Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name is Karen and I live in Oahu Hawaii, and my wow in the world is that there are wild hamsters.
Say hi to Dennis for me, because Dennis is awesome.
My name is Elsa and I'm seven years old and I live in Alexandria, Virginia.
My wow is that granite countertops come from magma.
Say hi to Reggie.
And Dennis for us.
Hi there.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Raz.
My name is Oliver, and I am in Petaluma, California.
My wow in the world is that hummingbirds can flap their wings more than 60 times per second.
My name's Asher from Brooklyn, New York.
I'm four years old.
And my wow in the world is that the E-Flat Shark can swim and walk at low tide.
Say hi to Reggie for me.
Hi, Mindy and Guyrod.
My name is Robert and his is Liam.
I'm eight.
And he's seven.
We're from Maple, Ontario.
And our wow is that sea turtles live since dinosaur times.
Bye, Mimi and Guy Ross.
I love your show.
End of messages.
Hey, everyone.
Thanks so much for hanging out with us this week on Wow in the World.
And to keep the wow rolling, consider becoming a member of our World Organization of Wowzers.
Each membership includes episode-specific digital activities, science experiments, book lists and more.
Plus, you'll get a welcome box including a special edition members-only t-shirt and an autographed picture of us.
Find out more at Tinkercast.com.
There you can also find more info on our upcoming shows.
Shop our shop and find our New York Times best-selling book, the how and wow of the human body.
Wow in the World is written by Mindy Thomas and Tom Van Kalken with help from me, Guy Raz.
Our senior producer, Jed Anderson, brings our show to life with sound design and music editing and is also in charge of wrangling Dennis Thomas Fingerling, Reggie and many of the other silly characters you hear.
And Grandma G-Force wrangles Grandma G-Force.
Grandma G-Force, get out!
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 their music at thepopups.com.
And special thanks to the rest of our Wow in the World team, including Anna Zagorski, Rebecca Caban, Kit Ballinger and Henry Moskal.
Grown-ups, you can follow Wow in the World on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at...
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 or on an upcoming new episode of Two.
What's in a Wow?
Also, be sure to subscribe to Wow in the World wherever you get your podcasts.
And you can also ask your smart speaker to play Wow in the World.
Thanks for listening.
And until next time, keep on wowing.
Keep on wowing.
Wow in the world is made by Tinkercast.
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.
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