1 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:07,720 Speaker 1: Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind. My name 2 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:11,000 Speaker 1: is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and it's Saturday. 3 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: Time to go into the Old Vault. This episode originally 4 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:17,440 Speaker 1: aired on June four, nineteen, and it was called The 5 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:20,439 Speaker 1: Soap Dragon. This was about the monsters that we make 6 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: in our sewers out of fats, oils, grease, and wet wipes, 7 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: all the things you should not put down your drain, 8 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 1: you should not flush, and yet people do a k 9 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: a fat Bergs. This was the episode I believe that 10 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:38,240 Speaker 1: gave us fatburg Cop so uh, one of our favorite 11 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:41,520 Speaker 1: recurring characters on the show. So so yeah, let's let's 12 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: jump right in. Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, 13 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hey, you, 14 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name is 15 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and I thought maybe 16 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: we should start off with a little don't do what 17 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,199 Speaker 1: Donnie Don't does? All right, tell you tell us about 18 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 1: Donnie Don't. Okay, so let's let's let's see what Donnie 19 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,000 Speaker 1: Don't is doing and see if maybe we should don't 20 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:13,759 Speaker 1: do what he does? Uh, try and spot the don't. 21 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: So Donnie Don't is he's cooking up a big old 22 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: mess of French fries in his deep friar, and he 23 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: eats all the fries while watching RoboCop three, and then 24 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 1: it's time to clean up. So first of all, he 25 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:26,760 Speaker 1: realizes he is greasy all over from eating this big 26 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: batch of fries, so he gives himself a good wipe 27 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,319 Speaker 1: down with some wet wipes, and then he flushes them 28 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:33,960 Speaker 1: down the toilet. Now it's time to get rid of 29 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: the gallon of duck fat that he used to cook 30 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 1: his fries. So what does he do? He pours it 31 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 1: straight down the drain in the bathtub. Now, I think 32 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: most of us can easily I don't know about all 33 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 1: of us, because somebody's obviously doing what Donnie Don't does, 34 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: but I think most of us can easily spot the 35 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: Donnie don'ts here. He's made several errors, but now I 36 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 1: think it's pretty common knowledge that you are not supposed 37 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: to flush wet wipes and other non toilet page products 38 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: down the toilet, and you're definitely not supposed to pour 39 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: fat down the drain. Yeah, I mean there's some other 40 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: things that he's doing to potentially criticize. I mean, I 41 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: don't I don't know how how often he's eating French 42 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:15,800 Speaker 1: fries that have been fried in duck fat. Like, if 43 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: he's doing that too often, that's probably not great for 44 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 1: his health. But you know, once in a while, why not, right, Um, 45 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: RoboCop three, I have no problem with that. It may 46 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 1: not be the strongest of the RoboCop movies, but it's 47 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 1: uh it has like cyber Ninjes in it. That's kind 48 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: of cool. But yeah, it's the it's the wet wipes 49 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,079 Speaker 1: and then pouring that grease down the drain. And it's 50 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: the pouring of the grease down the drain. I often 51 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: forget that. That is a key rule. Oh do you 52 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:42,399 Speaker 1: do you break this one? No? I I just I'm 53 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: generally not in a position to break it because we 54 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: just don't. We don't cook with with fat uh much 55 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: anymore at all anymore. And uh, and then as far 56 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:55,119 Speaker 1: as wet wipes go, like I know, not to put 57 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: wet wipes down though, really no oils in your house, 58 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: no salad dressing, no like, no olive oil or anything. 59 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: But not duck fat. Oh well, I mean, of course, 60 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: other like non animal fats are still like fats and oils. 61 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 1: But I guess what I'm thinking, Like I I remember, 62 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: so I shouldn't have said just duck fat. I mean 63 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 1: that you're not supposed to pour oil or lipids of 64 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: any time down a drain but but but specifically like 65 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 1: the you know, like a big fry vat kind of 66 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: drainage situation. Like I I remember seeing jars of of 67 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 1: of fat and oil like underneath the sink. Oh yeah, 68 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: growing up, because like that was, you know, the appropriate 69 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 1: thing to do. That's a grandma's house kind of thing, 70 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 1: like the big old mason jar of bacon grease under 71 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 1: the sink. And then of course when whenever we go, 72 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: if you go to um a fast food restaurant or 73 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:47,520 Speaker 1: even a restaurant in general, you're gonna find that big 74 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: grease trap outside. Like sometimes it's a little bit hidden, 75 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: but sometimes there's no place to hide it. It's just 76 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: right up front. It's just there in the parking lot. Yeah. 77 00:03:56,640 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: I remember one of my jobs that I worked at 78 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 1: when I is in college. Every morning when i'd go 79 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: into it, I'd have to park in the parking lot 80 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: of a restaurant that was like next to where I worked, 81 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: and I parked right next to their big it was 82 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: like a Burger and Fry's place and the heart next 83 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,360 Speaker 1: to their big grease grease depository. Uh. And it just 84 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: looked like the saddest robot from some Star Wars spinoff, 85 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 1: like Lithuanian Star Wars has our Ford, uh, you know 86 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 1: D seven And it's this big black thing with with 87 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: like this dripping, sad, grease tears stained head. But of 88 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 1: course that's this restaurant usage, and we can I think 89 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: we can all understand that. I mean, there's certain rules 90 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: and regulations there they're following, and they're also producing just 91 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 1: a ton of this, uh, this material. I wonder if 92 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:47,680 Speaker 1: like the problem with a household situation is either you're 93 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: creating so little that you don't think about it, so 94 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,360 Speaker 1: it's like death by thousand cuts right right, or you know, 95 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: when you do produce a more sizeable amount doing you know, 96 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: some sort of frying scenario like you do, suddenly have 97 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: this this huge mess to clean up. And it's easy 98 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:07,160 Speaker 1: to just convince yourself, I'm just gonna do the easy thing. 99 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: I'm just gonna go and put it down the sink 100 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: and next time I'll do better. Right, Who's gonna know, 101 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:14,679 Speaker 1: But maybe we should step back and ask a question. 102 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 1: I mean, it's not like RoboCop is going to show 103 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: the house, right, right, So that's what they do in 104 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:23,719 Speaker 1: RoboCop too, right. They reprogram him so instead of fighting crime, 105 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 1: he goes out and he he pursues uh, minor infraction, 106 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:30,480 Speaker 1: minor and littering and stuff like that and people using 107 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:34,279 Speaker 1: swear words. Uh. So we should ask this question of 108 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 1: wait a minute, why are you not supposed to do 109 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:39,359 Speaker 1: these things? Why are you not supposed to pour oil 110 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: and fat and grease down the drain? Well, one reason 111 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:45,280 Speaker 1: you're not supposed to do this has to do with 112 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 1: the way sewers work. Sewers are, I say, with no hesitation, 113 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:53,039 Speaker 1: one of the greatest human inventions. And if you doubt this, 114 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:56,559 Speaker 1: listen to our invention episodes on the toilet, or listen 115 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: to uh we did an episode of stuff to blow 116 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 1: your mind out, the miasma theory of disease. And in 117 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,720 Speaker 1: all of these we talk about how you know, properly 118 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: maintained sanitary sewer facilities are are not not just there 119 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: to make our homes and our streets more pleasant, like 120 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,320 Speaker 1: they play a crucial role in protecting public health and 121 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:20,760 Speaker 1: preventing outbreaks of diseases, especially fecal oral route diseases which 122 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:23,960 Speaker 1: are as gross as they sound, diseases like cholera. UH. 123 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:28,239 Speaker 1: Sewers work when everything flows smoothly to its destination point 124 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:31,599 Speaker 1: at a treatment facility, and they're one of the best 125 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,240 Speaker 1: innovations in the history of civilization. I say that no 126 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,840 Speaker 1: qualifications at all. But sometimes things get in the way, 127 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:42,799 Speaker 1: like tree roots can intrude on sewer pipes and block flow. 128 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: We live here in Atlanta where there are a lot 129 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: of trees and a lot of a lot of old 130 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: large trees and places that are intersecting with sewer pipes, 131 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:53,720 Speaker 1: and so this we know about this happening a lot. UH. 132 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:56,640 Speaker 1: And of course they can cause turbulence and this can 133 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 1: lead to build up. Or we can have old, decaying 134 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:03,040 Speaker 1: sewer mains that crack and do similar stuff. And sometimes 135 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:07,719 Speaker 1: blockages in these sewer sewer pipes occur from the inside out. 136 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 1: One of the most all inspiring things that can block 137 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:15,119 Speaker 1: a sewer is what we're going to be talking about today. 138 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: It's something that has in recent years come to be 139 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:22,640 Speaker 1: known as a fat berg. According to an article I 140 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:25,800 Speaker 1: was reading by Kelly oaks and new scientists from earlier 141 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 1: this year. Uh. This term was apparently coined in two 142 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: thousand and eight, but it became widely popular after news 143 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:36,120 Speaker 1: reports about a huge fatberg in and what it refers 144 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: to is a giant, solidified mass of stuff based on 145 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 1: fats and oils that just states in the heart of 146 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: a sewer system, feeding on things like wet wipes and 147 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: floss and other trash, but especially on fats and the 148 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:57,880 Speaker 1: byproducts of fats, like cooking oils, you know, uh, grease 149 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: from cooking animals, all that stuff that people wash down 150 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:04,600 Speaker 1: the drain when they just either dump out oils they 151 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 1: cook with or just when they wash their dishes and 152 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:08,800 Speaker 1: the oils that are already on the dishes come come 153 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: off and go down the down the tubes. Yeah, I 154 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: understand that they're like the wet wives, the floss, all 155 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 1: that can can sort of serve as a substrate. Right. 156 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: It was like a scaffolding on which this, uh, this 157 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 1: new mass will form. Yeah, and we'll talk about how 158 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 1: it forms in a little bit. But I wanted to 159 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 1: talk about the terminology because while fat bergs has really 160 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:31,840 Speaker 1: caught on with the public, this is like what I 161 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: think The reason that there have been so many articles 162 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: in recent years about fat bergs is just because of 163 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: the term fat bergs, Like there was now this beautiful, 164 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: attractive terminology for it, whereas previously, especially in the US, 165 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: I think they were referred to primarily with the acronym 166 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: fogs for fat oil and grease or frogs for fat 167 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,360 Speaker 1: roots as in tree roots and oil and grease. But 168 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:57,080 Speaker 1: have a really missing opportunity there to dug to dub 169 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:01,400 Speaker 1: them for instead of frogs, same letters, but it would 170 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 1: have scratched more of a chudditch, you know, and I 171 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: think maybe would have resonated a little more. Maybe not 172 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:08,400 Speaker 1: as much as fat bergs ultimately did, but I mean 173 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: attack of the forges where the forges, I feel like 174 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,360 Speaker 1: that could have resonated with with the public. If there 175 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 1: is not already a movie about one of these things 176 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 1: becoming sentient, there will be soon. But one particularly massive 177 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 1: fat burg that we might linger on for a bit 178 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:29,520 Speaker 1: has been covered extensively, especially in the British press. This 179 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:33,000 Speaker 1: was the White Chapel Burg. It was removed in Tween 180 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: and it was a mass blocking the sewer under the 181 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:39,080 Speaker 1: under White Chapel Road in East London. I think this 182 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:42,680 Speaker 1: was Jack the Rippers neighborhood. Yeah, I think that adds 183 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 1: to the appeal of the white Chapel Fatburg. And it 184 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: sounds even more sinister exactly. And the burg itself, in 185 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:52,960 Speaker 1: a way, was sort of a white chapel. It's like this, uh, 186 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:56,240 Speaker 1: this unholy things, sort of a gray off white color. 187 00:09:56,880 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: And so it was about two hundred and fifty meter 188 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,080 Speaker 1: ars long or about eight hundred and twenty feet, and 189 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: it weighed probably about a hundred and thirty tons. And 190 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,679 Speaker 1: this monster was so magnificent that a piece of it 191 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 1: was broken off and displayed in a special exhibit in 192 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:17,719 Speaker 1: the Museum of London. And I came across a gorgeous, 193 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:23,439 Speaker 1: absolutely haunting description of this sewage fatburg fragment by Sam 194 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:26,560 Speaker 1: Knight in The New Yorker. And this, this description of 195 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 1: the Fatburg was so moving that I have to quote 196 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:32,880 Speaker 1: from it. Are you ready, Robert? The piece of Fatburg 197 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: was slightly smaller than a loaf of bread and looked 198 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 1: like it might have come from the moon. It was 199 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: putty colored and marked everywhere with geological looking indentations, including 200 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:46,439 Speaker 1: a cluster of fingerprints from when it was removed from 201 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 1: a sewer. In East London last October and lifted through 202 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 1: a manhole. On the surface, there was also a dark 203 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:56,319 Speaker 1: fragment from an autumn leaf which must have slipped down 204 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:59,960 Speaker 1: the drains into its mall. Emerging through the congealed cow 205 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 1: alsified fat was the purple and orange perforated edge of 206 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 1: a double decker chocolate bar wrapper. Every detail of the 207 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: hideous object was starkly visible because it was resting on 208 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 1: a bed of black granules under a spotlight in a 209 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:17,160 Speaker 1: glass box at the Museum of London at the opening 210 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:20,720 Speaker 1: of its new exhibition Fat Bird. I stared at it 211 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:23,760 Speaker 1: for a while, and while I did so, a tiny 212 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 1: dark speck on the Fat Bird became animate and started 213 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:31,240 Speaker 1: to move. A fly the size of a pinhead flew 214 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:35,199 Speaker 1: up and battered against the glass. That's pretty great because 215 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 1: he capture us this sense of it almost being alive 216 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: and uh, and and also this this haunting feeling that 217 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:46,679 Speaker 1: it is like our sins. Uh, may you know, manifested 218 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:51,319 Speaker 1: into a physical form, Like here is all your recklessness 219 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 1: and your you're you're willing and stuff to flush inappropriate 220 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:58,720 Speaker 1: things down the toilet. Well, here it is altogether, uh, 221 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:03,160 Speaker 1: to confront you to point it's grotesque finger at Yeah, 222 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:05,840 Speaker 1: I hope this description of the fatburg it's nominated for 223 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:09,920 Speaker 1: like a Pulitzer Prize. That's uh, it's powerful stuff. But 224 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:13,560 Speaker 1: the seen white chapelberg that mentioned a minute ago was 225 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:17,720 Speaker 1: by no means the only fatburg. Fat Burgs form all 226 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:21,800 Speaker 1: the time in cities all around the world due to 227 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:26,480 Speaker 1: people flushing and washing fats and other inappropriate stuff down 228 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:30,079 Speaker 1: the drain. According to Night's article, it's estimated that London 229 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:34,280 Speaker 1: alone has at least five large fat bergs at any 230 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:36,920 Speaker 1: given time, So sometimes you know, they go down there 231 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 1: to fight them, but they're they're always new ones forming. 232 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:44,680 Speaker 1: So let's talk about size. They can become so huge. 233 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 1: Let me restate what I said a minute ago. This 234 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 1: white Chapel beast was two hundred and fifty meters long, 235 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:54,640 Speaker 1: which is approximately the length of the Hindenburg, and it 236 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:58,439 Speaker 1: weighed probably about a hundred and thirty tons or heavier 237 00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: by about a third than the biggest ever soarra pod dinosaurs. 238 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:05,680 Speaker 1: Of course, it makes sense because they were talking about 239 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 1: a massive sewage system. We're talking about massive consumption, a 240 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 1: massive population, and therefore the clog the thing is going 241 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:16,960 Speaker 1: to be massive as well, well, yeah, and also you 242 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 1: want to consider the particulars of the London sewer system, 243 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 1: because this is where a lot of these stories come from. 244 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:25,520 Speaker 1: The London sewer system. You know, it's it's got Victorian elements, 245 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:27,840 Speaker 1: and it was the sewer system built over a hundred 246 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: years ago, uh, you know, back in Victorian times, as 247 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 1: a response to the great stink you know that we've 248 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: talked about on on this show before, where the you know, 249 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: sewage being discharged into the Thames. One year in the 250 00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 1: believe it is the eighteen fifties or sixties, sometime in 251 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:46,120 Speaker 1: the middle of the nineteenth century, it got so foul 252 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:49,160 Speaker 1: and it stanks so bad that Parliament was just you know, 253 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 1: about to puke in their uh, in their deliberation chambers. 254 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:56,320 Speaker 1: And so they eventually did something about it, and that 255 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,720 Speaker 1: was to get this sewage system, uh, not only because 256 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:01,600 Speaker 1: of the smell, but also because it was a you know, 257 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: the sewage system that they had in place of the time, 258 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:07,040 Speaker 1: which consisted of more like open sewers in the streets 259 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,280 Speaker 1: and stuff draining into the Thames which then people would 260 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 1: drink out of. It was just leading to the collar 261 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:17,600 Speaker 1: out breaks and terrible public health conditions and these horrible stinks. 262 00:14:17,679 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: So they created this massive sewer system under the ground 263 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:23,960 Speaker 1: in order to take away all of the waste water 264 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:26,560 Speaker 1: and discharge it away from the city. So you've got 265 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:30,239 Speaker 1: these like in some cases very large, like old, elaborate 266 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 1: and some sometimes kind of beautiful brick built sewage channels 267 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,320 Speaker 1: and you know, access tunnels and all this. Uh so, 268 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:40,960 Speaker 1: so you've got old facilities. But you might be wondering. Okay, 269 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:43,480 Speaker 1: so one of these giant beasts, You've you've got a 270 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:49,080 Speaker 1: hindenburg of fat and sewage and waste stuck in the sewer, blocking, 271 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 1: blocking things, preventing them from flowing. What do you do 272 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:55,760 Speaker 1: about it? Well, that's the question. We're gonna take a 273 00:14:55,840 --> 00:15:01,520 Speaker 1: quick break and when we come back we will answer it. Okay, 274 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 1: we're back. So we're talking about fat bergs. How do 275 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:06,240 Speaker 1: you fight them. You've got one of these giant concrete 276 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:11,800 Speaker 1: fat conglomerations made out of wet wipes and and dental 277 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 1: floss and old you know, wrappers of food and bits 278 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 1: of plastic, and of course all of these fats and 279 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:21,840 Speaker 1: oils and grease and sewage and waste. It just makes 280 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 1: this huge mass that blocks up the sewers. What do 281 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:27,880 Speaker 1: you do about it? Well, you literally have sewer workers 282 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: that go down to break it up and remove it. 283 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:34,240 Speaker 1: The city sewer workers in London are known as flushers, 284 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:37,160 Speaker 1: and they have to fight these wicked villains. They have 285 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:39,640 Speaker 1: to go down and confront the ball rog in person. 286 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 1: And in Night's article in The New Yorker, he he 287 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:47,000 Speaker 1: talks about the process of breaking up the White Chapel mass. So, 288 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:49,080 Speaker 1: first of all, he says, they've got to wear protection, 289 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:51,640 Speaker 1: and they've got to have a breathing apparatus because this 290 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:54,160 Speaker 1: thing is in a way alive. It's got a lot 291 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 1: of uh life feeding on it, and as a result, 292 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:01,800 Speaker 1: it can let out sudden explosion of gas like hydrogen sulfide, 293 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 1: which of course smells like rotten eggs and is the 294 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:07,520 Speaker 1: It's a common gas released as a byproduct of decaying 295 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:11,000 Speaker 1: organic matter, but it also releases methane, and sometimes it 296 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:13,680 Speaker 1: can just blast out carbon monoxide, which can be deadly. 297 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:16,720 Speaker 1: So let's say you're outfitting your D and D Adventure 298 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:19,840 Speaker 1: the flusher class to go down into this dungeon and 299 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: fight the monster. What weapons do you want to equip 300 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,600 Speaker 1: them with? We'll probably not fire. Fire would seems like 301 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 1: a bad idea. Oh yeah, that's uh. And and unfortunately 302 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,240 Speaker 1: they are not a magic using class, so they don't 303 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:33,680 Speaker 1: have any spells available to them. I don't know. Is 304 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:35,400 Speaker 1: that a thing in D and D there's some classes 305 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 1: who can't do spells, right? Uh? Yeah, I mean it 306 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 1: seems like there are a lot of classes that have 307 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 1: some sort of magical abilities, especially as they level up. 308 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:46,840 Speaker 1: But yeah, this sounds more like like fighter um uh 309 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:49,120 Speaker 1: material right here. You need somebody to go down and 310 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:53,280 Speaker 1: physically fight this physical threat and remove it. These are paladins. 311 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:57,240 Speaker 1: I'll allow it. I'll allow it. I mean, paladins have 312 00:16:57,320 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: some some you know that they have holy powers, et cetera. 313 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:03,120 Speaker 1: But a lot of these powers are about like, you know, 314 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:07,199 Speaker 1: increasing their physical prowess. Right, Okay, certainly I don't know 315 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:10,879 Speaker 1: my stuff. Sorry, Okay, we'll say their paladins anyway. Uh So, 316 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:14,200 Speaker 1: the Mighty Flusher's weapons include the bomb hose. That's the 317 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,360 Speaker 1: term bomb hose, which is just like a high pressure 318 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:20,240 Speaker 1: water jet that should be able to cut through blockages. 319 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:24,280 Speaker 1: It's like a cutting jet. But apparently, according to Night's article, 320 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:27,320 Speaker 1: even this didn't work all that well on the hardened 321 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:30,480 Speaker 1: mass of the White Chapelberg, and so later on these 322 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:33,520 Speaker 1: these warriors had to use more old fashioned implements like 323 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:37,000 Speaker 1: pick axes, shovels, and he says in one case even 324 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 1: us Saul. When pieces were removed and kept for the 325 00:17:41,359 --> 00:17:45,359 Speaker 1: London Museum exhibit, one expert who handled them described the 326 00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:49,199 Speaker 1: fatberg chunks as sort of hard but light feeling like 327 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:53,880 Speaker 1: pumice stone. I think that was interesting. Yeah, but even 328 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:56,320 Speaker 1: the smaller one so so that one's gigantic, But even 329 00:17:56,359 --> 00:17:59,920 Speaker 1: the smaller ones are still huge in disgusting ways. I've 330 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,520 Speaker 1: on a brilliantly funny article with a great title on 331 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:07,760 Speaker 1: Atlas Obscura by Jessica lee Hester from January of this year, 332 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:10,679 Speaker 1: is called seven big Things. They're smaller than this fatburg, 333 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:14,840 Speaker 1: and it refers to another British fatburg, one found in 334 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:17,960 Speaker 1: a sewer beneath the town in beneath the town in Devon, 335 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:21,000 Speaker 1: and according to the water utility in that area, it 336 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: was the largest fatberg that they had come across in 337 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:25,840 Speaker 1: that area. It was about two ten feet or about 338 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:29,199 Speaker 1: sixty five ms uh. And so so what are the 339 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:32,280 Speaker 1: things she lists as smaller than this fatberg, at least 340 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:34,359 Speaker 1: in terms of dimensions. I don't think they had weight 341 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:37,200 Speaker 1: on it at the time she was writing. Um, so 342 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:40,640 Speaker 1: smaller in terms of length was the above water surface 343 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: height of the iceberg that sunk the Titanic, the tallest 344 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:48,960 Speaker 1: known Ginko tree in the world, the Christ the Redeemer statue, 345 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:52,720 Speaker 1: and Rio de Jannaro, the Coney's Island or the Coney 346 00:18:52,760 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 1: Islands Wonder Wheel, uh, the Statue of Liberty, the Roman Colosseum, 347 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:04,160 Speaker 1: and Nelson's column in Trafalgar Square all smaller than this Fatburg, 348 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: which is not even the largest Fatburg by a long shot. 349 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,520 Speaker 1: And she also pointed out something in in her article 350 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:13,840 Speaker 1: that was just an interesting phrasing of things that it's 351 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:16,159 Speaker 1: sort of echo thoughts I'd been having as I was 352 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:20,600 Speaker 1: reading about Fatburg's in in Hester's words quote, the chunky 353 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:24,560 Speaker 1: gunky sewer cloggers are murky mirrors into the behaviors of 354 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 1: people above ground because they hold all the stuff we 355 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 1: flush and try to forget about, including cooking, grease, napkins, floss, 356 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:35,439 Speaker 1: minstrel products which don't belong in the pipes in the 357 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:39,040 Speaker 1: first place. So it's this idea of like these are 358 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:41,720 Speaker 1: sort of the the places of all the things that 359 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:43,920 Speaker 1: we want to just get out of our lives. It's, 360 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:48,200 Speaker 1: you know, the purging of convenience all becomes this mass. Yeah, 361 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:51,520 Speaker 1: and again it kind of it confronts us once more. 362 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:54,679 Speaker 1: The horror is even greater because it is all it 363 00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:58,159 Speaker 1: is a it's it's congealed into this this massive form. 364 00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:00,560 Speaker 1: And I think maybe that is part of like the 365 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,520 Speaker 1: psychological reason why people can't look away, Like why was 366 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,440 Speaker 1: there a museum exhibit about these things where everybody wanted 367 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:10,239 Speaker 1: to go see them? It's this fascinating, uh, you know, 368 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:13,040 Speaker 1: almost kind of freudy and feeling kind of thing, like 369 00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:17,240 Speaker 1: the suppressed part of our culture and civilization. It's what's 370 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:20,760 Speaker 1: shoved down and covered up and not looked at, almost 371 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,840 Speaker 1: out of a sense of shame, and it becomes this stuff. 372 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:26,000 Speaker 1: And and a lot of our modern life is about 373 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:30,399 Speaker 1: distancing ourselves from the reality of our waste, from the 374 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:34,680 Speaker 1: reality of our dead things of this nature. So so yeah, 375 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:37,159 Speaker 1: I think it's it definitely speaks to us on that level. Okay, 376 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:39,879 Speaker 1: maybe we should turn to the question of how, like 377 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaker 1: how do simple bits of cooking oil and other fat 378 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,720 Speaker 1: turn into these mighty slumbering beasts, the monsters of the 379 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:49,879 Speaker 1: dungeon because it could seem almost magical right that it's 380 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 1: it's it's like this thing has become alive down there. 381 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:54,800 Speaker 1: It is like one of these uh you know, they're 382 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:57,960 Speaker 1: multiple uh uh you know, I think horror properties where 383 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,840 Speaker 1: some sort of garbage monster come is alive, and it 384 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,560 Speaker 1: basically fulfills the same purpose we're talking about here, to 385 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: confront us and to uh, you know, to to show 386 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:11,439 Speaker 1: us the horrors of our of of of our you know, 387 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:15,959 Speaker 1: disposable society. But but there's a very but the process 388 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:18,639 Speaker 1: is happening here is not magical. It is you know, 389 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:20,240 Speaker 1: we can we can we can look at what is 390 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:24,879 Speaker 1: happening chemically. Yeah. Uh so obviously there's one extremely simple 391 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 1: way that there are multiple ways here, but there's one 392 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 1: extremely simple way that fat can end up blocking sewer pipes, 393 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 1: and that's by congealing. Like if you ever cooked bacon, 394 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:35,919 Speaker 1: cooked bacon in a pan, what happens, Well, the white 395 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:39,600 Speaker 1: solid fat in the bacon in the animal flesh renders. 396 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:42,359 Speaker 1: It turns into a fluid that runs around in the 397 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:45,160 Speaker 1: pan like water, and it flows, so you can pour 398 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:47,480 Speaker 1: it out, et cetera. You can pour it down the drain. 399 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:50,760 Speaker 1: But that's only because it's hot. If you take that 400 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:53,320 Speaker 1: bacon grease and you leave it out at room temperature, 401 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:55,520 Speaker 1: you put it in the fridge, we all know what happens, right, 402 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 1: It turns into a kind of waxy solid and this 403 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:00,560 Speaker 1: is large, right. Yeah, I guess the cure process of 404 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:03,880 Speaker 1: bacon doesn't change that. Yeah. So it's pork fat either way. Uh. 405 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:08,439 Speaker 1: And now not all fats can geal into solids or 406 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:11,760 Speaker 1: semi solids at room temperature, but plenty do. So if 407 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:14,800 Speaker 1: you melt this fat and then pour it down the 408 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:18,520 Speaker 1: sink into cold pipes and wash it away, the cooling 409 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,680 Speaker 1: fat forms a solid or semi solid mass that can 410 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:25,119 Speaker 1: build up. It can coat surfaces and so forth, and 411 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:28,160 Speaker 1: can of course block sewer pipes. So that that that's 412 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:30,480 Speaker 1: like the simple version. That's just one way fat can 413 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:33,080 Speaker 1: clog up your sewers. That one reason you don't want 414 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:34,720 Speaker 1: to put it down there, right, And I think we 415 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: can all grasp that even if if you've ever washed 416 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,200 Speaker 1: dishes before, you can get a sense of how, how 417 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:42,520 Speaker 1: what's happening exactly. But this is actually not the main 418 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:46,480 Speaker 1: piece of chemistry contributing to fat bergs. The truth is 419 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:50,240 Speaker 1: actually weirder. Often the fats that we wash down the 420 00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:55,840 Speaker 1: drain essentially become soap. The chemical process is known as 421 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:59,600 Speaker 1: saponification uh. This word comes from the Latin sapo, meaning 422 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:03,360 Speaker 1: so And once a mass of fat gets washed down 423 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:06,720 Speaker 1: the drain, it chemically breaks down into fatty acids, and 424 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:10,639 Speaker 1: these fatty acids undergo a chemical reaction in the alkaline 425 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:14,280 Speaker 1: environment of the sewer, combining with other elements and compounds, 426 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 1: often calcium, to form this calcified soap like deposit. And 427 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:22,959 Speaker 1: of course, as we all know, soap can be pretty solid, 428 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:24,960 Speaker 1: like you you don't want to get whacked with a 429 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:27,560 Speaker 1: bar of soap in the bottom of sock. But it 430 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:31,760 Speaker 1: gets even worse because calcified fat bergs build up a 431 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:34,639 Speaker 1: real kind of rigidity. Like the workers who have to 432 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:37,240 Speaker 1: cut them out sometimes compare them to concrete by the 433 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:39,720 Speaker 1: time you have to go in and break them up. Uh. 434 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,000 Speaker 1: And I don't know exactly what leads to all that. 435 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:44,760 Speaker 1: It might be this forming of a solid mass and 436 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:47,560 Speaker 1: then like the sort of compacting of time, you know, 437 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:51,600 Speaker 1: thing of pressure just forcing it together. But the soap 438 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:55,240 Speaker 1: like masses tend to form around solid pieces of trash 439 00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:57,240 Speaker 1: that get flushed down the toilet. So that's the other 440 00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:01,200 Speaker 1: major component we mentioned earlier. Like wet wipes are by 441 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:03,840 Speaker 1: far the worst defender here. This is in all the 442 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:07,080 Speaker 1: British press about this is just saying like, don't wash 443 00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:10,439 Speaker 1: fats and oils down the drain and don't flush wet wipes. 444 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,200 Speaker 1: Don't flush wet wipes. Wet wipes are like the most 445 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 1: hated thing but the sewer workers. And that's of course 446 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 1: because you know, they're not designed industrially the way like 447 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 1: toilet paper is, which is made to break up when 448 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 1: it's in this aqueous environment. The wet wipes tend to 449 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 1: not break up. They stick together and they form a 450 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:32,679 Speaker 1: sort of binding or substrate for this nightmare soap of 451 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:34,960 Speaker 1: the deep on its way to becoming a berg. I mean, 452 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 1: it makes me think of the of the science stories 453 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:42,359 Speaker 1: we've covered about uh creating artificial Say years we have 454 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,680 Speaker 1: some sort of a scaffolding on which you're gonna you're 455 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:48,200 Speaker 1: gonna build up like the you know, the collagen and 456 00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:51,760 Speaker 1: create this artificial piece of flesh. It's kind of like 457 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:55,960 Speaker 1: that process taking place in a foul sewer. But imagine 458 00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:58,760 Speaker 1: that process is taking place where stuff just keeps flowing 459 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:02,120 Speaker 1: into it, so it just keeps getting more solid material 460 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:05,399 Speaker 1: like wet wipes and more like binding soap like fat 461 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 1: structure until it becomes an ear the size of the Hindenburg. 462 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:14,160 Speaker 1: Another contributor to the fat bergs in the London sewers, 463 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: and not just the London sewers in other places, but 464 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:20,480 Speaker 1: especially in London sewers is old rough brick surfaces. I'm 465 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 1: not positive, but I think the mechanism here is that 466 00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:28,800 Speaker 1: rough surfaces create more friction with the flowing water, and 467 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:32,520 Speaker 1: this causes turbulence. Instead of flowing smoothly the water or 468 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:34,840 Speaker 1: the you know, the sewage, it gets sort of churned 469 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 1: up and this interrupts the smooth flow and it gives 470 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:41,720 Speaker 1: uh and and so it causes build up of solid matter. 471 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,479 Speaker 1: But also I think the rough surfaces just sort of 472 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:47,760 Speaker 1: give the wet wipes and other trash little crags to 473 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:50,040 Speaker 1: catch on, and then of course once they catch on, 474 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:52,560 Speaker 1: other things can catch onto them, and it just builds 475 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:55,480 Speaker 1: up from there. Yeah. And and also so these soap 476 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:59,200 Speaker 1: like masses are not water soluble, meaning they're not dissolved 477 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 1: by water, so they're not gonna over time just like 478 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:04,159 Speaker 1: break up and wash away with the flow of the 479 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:07,480 Speaker 1: sewer water. They just sit there and they build up 480 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:10,360 Speaker 1: and they grow too mescent with new waste and trash 481 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: and layers of soapy solids made out of fat, until 482 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:17,200 Speaker 1: somebody finally goes down there to slay the dragon. And 483 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:19,880 Speaker 1: as we discussed, of course the battles of the flushers, 484 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:22,719 Speaker 1: you have to you physically break these things up and 485 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:26,080 Speaker 1: remove them. Yeah, again with things like pick axes and saws, 486 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,280 Speaker 1: because it is almost like concrete, you know, it's not 487 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:32,439 Speaker 1: just this big, you know, gross sewer jelly that you 488 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:34,840 Speaker 1: just need to sort of, you know, flush a little 489 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:36,840 Speaker 1: bit more, you know, just spray with water and you 490 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: know you'll get it done. A plunger is not going 491 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,280 Speaker 1: to do it. Now. In some cases, I do think 492 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:43,800 Speaker 1: these like water jet hoses can be used to cut 493 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:45,840 Speaker 1: it up. They just, at least in the one case 494 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:47,880 Speaker 1: I was reading about, they weren't quite doing the job 495 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:50,920 Speaker 1: and they had to resort to the old ways. Also, 496 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,199 Speaker 1: I just wanted to do a little side note on 497 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,720 Speaker 1: sepontification because what's happening here in the sewers is not 498 00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:00,520 Speaker 1: exactly the same as but it's somewhat analogous to, uh, 499 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,480 Speaker 1: something that I'm very interested in that occasionally happens to 500 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:07,800 Speaker 1: human bodies in certain burial conditions. Robert, have you been 501 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:11,000 Speaker 1: to the Mooder Museum in Philadelphia. I haven't. I've never 502 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 1: visited Philly. Yeah, I haven't been, but I've wanted to 503 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,399 Speaker 1: for a long time. So they've got an exhibit, or 504 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:19,960 Speaker 1: I don't know about an exhibit. They've got a thing 505 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,960 Speaker 1: at the Modern Museum that is a human body. It's 506 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,520 Speaker 1: known as the Soap Lady. And do you know the 507 00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:28,159 Speaker 1: soap Lady. No, but I'm already horrified because I know 508 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:31,160 Speaker 1: enough about the mood Museum to know that a soap 509 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:33,240 Speaker 1: lady there is going to be a site to behold. 510 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:35,280 Speaker 1: I think they've got a soap lady and a soap man. 511 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:38,080 Speaker 1: I've primarily read about the soap Lady, so those two 512 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: should mean exactly. So. It was originally believed that she 513 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:43,720 Speaker 1: was a woman who had lived in Philadelphia in the 514 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:46,960 Speaker 1: eighteenth century and had died of yellow fever sometime in 515 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,400 Speaker 1: the seventeen nineties. But in nineteen eighty six they did 516 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,840 Speaker 1: some X rays of the body of the Soap Lady 517 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:56,919 Speaker 1: and this revealed that she was wearing clothes with like 518 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:00,600 Speaker 1: buttons and pins that weren't manufactured in the US until 519 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,040 Speaker 1: around the eighteen thirties, So it's now believed that she 520 00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:05,919 Speaker 1: must have died later than was originally believed, but whenever 521 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:09,760 Speaker 1: she died. In eighteen seventy five, her body was exhumed 522 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,880 Speaker 1: from a local cemetery, and it was discovered that the 523 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:18,800 Speaker 1: corpse was encased almost entirely in a solid soap like substance, 524 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:22,919 Speaker 1: and that she was essentially a soap mummy. If you 525 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:25,560 Speaker 1: look at pictures of her, she looks like a mummy. 526 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:28,399 Speaker 1: She looks like some of these uh, like you know, 527 00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:32,480 Speaker 1: sort of dried mummified, preserved corpses that you might find 528 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:34,480 Speaker 1: in the case of some of like the Andean mummies. 529 00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:38,400 Speaker 1: Um except that she has except that, like her features 530 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:41,760 Speaker 1: are less defined, and she's got a bunch of extra 531 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 1: stuff around the outside of her body, like almost like 532 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:48,560 Speaker 1: she's encased in some kind of concrete or something, but 533 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,960 Speaker 1: it's not concrete. This substance in reality is something kind 534 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:55,520 Speaker 1: of like soap. It's not exactly so, but it's something 535 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:59,440 Speaker 1: known as adipus here, also sometimes referred to as corpse 536 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:02,920 Speaker 1: wax or grave wax. Now, I do think I remember 537 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:06,000 Speaker 1: reading about this like years and years past and some 538 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 1: you know texts on decomposition. Uh yeah, there there's some 539 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:15,360 Speaker 1: interesting stories about the role of grave wax in uh in. Like, so, 540 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:18,680 Speaker 1: one thing that corpse wax does when it forms around 541 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:20,920 Speaker 1: a body is that it can help preserve some of 542 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:24,960 Speaker 1: the elements within um. And this like keeps corpses from 543 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:28,200 Speaker 1: decaying like they would normally. And so the formation of 544 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:30,560 Speaker 1: adapas here, I do believe, is it's chemically considered a 545 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 1: form of suppontification, like what's happening with the fat bergs 546 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:38,440 Speaker 1: and the sewers. Adapas are is this waxy substance that 547 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:42,719 Speaker 1: sometimes forms around dead bodies since they decay, particularly in 548 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 1: certain kinds of burial conditions. And these environments tend to 549 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:50,080 Speaker 1: be alkaline, you know, like the the opposite of acidic. 550 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:53,400 Speaker 1: They tend to be anaerobic, meaning without access to air, 551 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:57,560 Speaker 1: and they tend to be warm and moist, which are 552 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:00,520 Speaker 1: just you know that generally sounds like the kind of 553 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:03,080 Speaker 1: environments you don't want to bury bodies. But you know, 554 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:05,920 Speaker 1: some soil is like that. And and and I'm guessing 555 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:07,640 Speaker 1: at least some of these are gonna gonna match up 556 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,600 Speaker 1: with with sewer scenarios. And we've talked before about some 557 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:14,120 Speaker 1: of the the organisms that can grow in a sewer 558 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 1: environment that really thrive in a in a like a 559 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:22,600 Speaker 1: low oxygen environment. Yeah, exactly, So freshly formed adipas here 560 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:26,240 Speaker 1: can be kind of soft and waxy, but older adipas 561 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,760 Speaker 1: here can more closely resemble something like concrete. I was 562 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:32,400 Speaker 1: reading a Live Science article about this by Wynn Perry, 563 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:35,800 Speaker 1: and the author quotes an anthropologist from North Carolina State 564 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:39,760 Speaker 1: University named Anne Ross, and she says, quote, a lot 565 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:42,600 Speaker 1: of people say it's greasy. I always think of it 566 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:47,360 Speaker 1: like a thick cottage cheese consistency, because it's kind of lumpy. Also, 567 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:52,720 Speaker 1: so maybe not the grave wax of the grave soap, 568 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:55,800 Speaker 1: but the grave cottage cheese, cottage cheese of the dead, 569 00:30:55,960 --> 00:31:00,000 Speaker 1: the corpse cheese. Alright, well, on that grotesque note, let's 570 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:01,840 Speaker 1: one more break, and when we come back, we have 571 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:05,760 Speaker 1: some other fatburg facts to roll through, and uh, you know, 572 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:08,040 Speaker 1: maybe we'll talk to us a little bit about about 573 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:13,600 Speaker 1: the sewer monster movies at the end of the episode. Alright, 574 00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:18,080 Speaker 1: we're back, Okay, so quite clearly, uh, these things you 575 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 1: don't want fat Bergs in your sewers, and yet they 576 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,440 Speaker 1: form in sewers under cities all over the world. It's 577 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:26,680 Speaker 1: happening all the time because of this combination of like 578 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:30,400 Speaker 1: stuff that people shouldn't flush and fats and oils going 579 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:33,600 Speaker 1: down the drain, which I guess both variations of the 580 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:35,520 Speaker 1: same thing. You know, stuff that you shouldn't put down 581 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:38,160 Speaker 1: the drain is going down the drain. Uh. And in 582 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:40,960 Speaker 1: the article I mentioned earlier in New Scientist Kelly Oaks 583 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:45,240 Speaker 1: refers to a University College Dublin professor named Tom Curran 584 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:49,200 Speaker 1: who is who works in this field, and he says 585 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:52,280 Speaker 1: that the major factors contributing to a sort of recent 586 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:56,040 Speaker 1: increase in fatburg incidents in London are of course like 587 00:31:56,120 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 1: a larger populations in cities, so it's just more people 588 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:03,160 Speaker 1: washing more stuff down rains. Aging sewers contribute a lot. 589 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:06,280 Speaker 1: One factor is more dining out at restaurants, because it 590 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 1: appears that restaurants are responsible for a huge amount of 591 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:11,560 Speaker 1: the fats and oils that go down the drain. You know, 592 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:13,040 Speaker 1: you know, I would have thought it would be more 593 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:16,960 Speaker 1: regulated with the restaurants. Apparently it's Uh. In the UK, 594 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:20,120 Speaker 1: at least it is not as regulated as some people 595 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:21,560 Speaker 1: think it should be or I don't know if that's 596 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:23,560 Speaker 1: changed recently. In the articles I was reading from the 597 00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:27,040 Speaker 1: past couple of years, it's I think there's a problem 598 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:31,320 Speaker 1: with like last lack of specificity in regulations, Like there 599 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:35,200 Speaker 1: are regulations that say restaurants aren't supposed to wash anything 600 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:37,920 Speaker 1: down the drain that would be harmful to the sewer system, 601 00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:41,040 Speaker 1: but like it doesn't specifically say don't wash fats and 602 00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:44,600 Speaker 1: oils down the drain, okay, And then the other big 603 00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:46,720 Speaker 1: thing is, of course trashally goes down the drain. But 604 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:49,200 Speaker 1: there's you know, as we've already said, there's like one 605 00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:52,600 Speaker 1: huge culprit here that's like of the problem, and it's 606 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:55,400 Speaker 1: wet wipes. It just seems like that one would be 607 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:57,800 Speaker 1: an easier one to knock. It seems like that would 608 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:00,520 Speaker 1: be something we could solve. Is like, if you use 609 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:02,239 Speaker 1: a wet white no matter what you used it for, 610 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:04,960 Speaker 1: no matter how defoul it is, just put it in 611 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:11,120 Speaker 1: a garbage can. Like maybe maybe it's easier because you 612 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:13,080 Speaker 1: go to something you know, you travel to, you know, 613 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:16,800 Speaker 1: to certain parts of the world where the sewer system 614 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:19,600 Speaker 1: can't even handle toilet paper, and you get used to 615 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:21,560 Speaker 1: it you know, like at first it may seem a 616 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:24,000 Speaker 1: little weird, like, oh, you know, I must wipe and 617 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:27,520 Speaker 1: then put the toilet paper into a receptacle. Uh. You know, 618 00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:30,520 Speaker 1: it runs against what you've been doing, but you get 619 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:33,680 Speaker 1: used to it and it becomes the new normal. I 620 00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:35,640 Speaker 1: didn't even know that was the thing. Oh yeah, I 621 00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: mean you travel. Um, it just depends on the on 622 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:44,280 Speaker 1: the sewage system. And yes, some just can't handle the paper. Um. 623 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:47,520 Speaker 1: So you know, it's it's it's asking even less I 624 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:49,960 Speaker 1: feel to say, look, just you have a wet wipe. 625 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:52,320 Speaker 1: I know you just used it on some disgusting part 626 00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:55,640 Speaker 1: of like a two year old body, but you know 627 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:58,720 Speaker 1: you just put in the garbage. Apparently, so I was 628 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:01,560 Speaker 1: reading in the same article that you know, there are 629 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:05,520 Speaker 1: there are things that have proved effective, and it's essentially 630 00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:09,239 Speaker 1: regulating the stuff we're talking about. It's like regulating what 631 00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:11,800 Speaker 1: restaurants can put down the drain and putting grease traps 632 00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:14,719 Speaker 1: in place and all that, but then also doing like 633 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:18,040 Speaker 1: public education campaigns to get people to not put anything 634 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:20,400 Speaker 1: in the toilet other than human waste and toilet paper, 635 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:23,840 Speaker 1: and that this has been effective and like doubling already. 636 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:27,839 Speaker 1: But it's it hasn't been effective enough everywhere, And I 637 00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:30,160 Speaker 1: wonder if the problem is that, I mean, I would 638 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:34,880 Speaker 1: hope that in a campaign against Fatburg, somebody has created, 639 00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:40,000 Speaker 1: with practical effects and costuming, an anthropomorphic fat Burg creature, 640 00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:43,200 Speaker 1: you know, or even like a you know, like thinking 641 00:34:43,239 --> 00:34:46,440 Speaker 1: about when I know we both love good like paranormal 642 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:50,680 Speaker 1: cops ploitation films from years past, like Maniac Cop and 643 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:53,000 Speaker 1: so forth. And there was that cool trailer from what 644 00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:56,319 Speaker 1: was it, melt Cop or something. Yeah, like they could 645 00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:59,120 Speaker 1: make Fatburg cop and so Fatburg copy. Is this like 646 00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:04,520 Speaker 1: anthropomorphic Fatberg in a police uniform that it comes to 647 00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:07,960 Speaker 1: your apartment or your restaurant and chastises you for your 648 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:13,799 Speaker 1: destructive ways. Fatberg Cop versus Flukeman the next big crossover hit. 649 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:15,879 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, or they're they're buddy It's a buddy cop. 650 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:19,160 Speaker 1: Oh yeah. Wait, this is making Fatberg's the hero as 651 00:35:19,239 --> 00:35:21,440 Speaker 1: you're doing it backwards, one of the fat Burg in 652 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:25,280 Speaker 1: the same way that the Fatburg confronts us Fatburg becomes 653 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:27,480 Speaker 1: the hero, like he's a cop made out of Fatberg, 654 00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:31,160 Speaker 1: raising consciousness about the need to destroy his own kind. Well, 655 00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:35,200 Speaker 1: no he's not, you know, he's like Uh, he didn't 656 00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:37,239 Speaker 1: want to be in fatberg form. You know. Maybe I 657 00:35:37,239 --> 00:35:39,000 Speaker 1: don't know, maybe he was previously human. I don't know, 658 00:35:39,040 --> 00:35:41,800 Speaker 1: maybe he took on human consciousness. Maybe it's kind of 659 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:45,120 Speaker 1: a you know, a swamp things swampman kind of a scenario. 660 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:51,560 Speaker 1: Why don't they look? But I mean, it can be 661 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:53,719 Speaker 1: hard to get people to behave you know, it's like 662 00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:57,200 Speaker 1: it's just usually pretty easy to get away with flushing 663 00:35:57,200 --> 00:35:59,880 Speaker 1: and draining things you shouldn't because who's going to catch you? 664 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:03,840 Speaker 1: Something that is momentarily your problem is now just gone, 665 00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:07,240 Speaker 1: it's purged, and it becomes instead like a small part 666 00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:10,520 Speaker 1: of a big problem that is everybody's problem. It's not 667 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:13,560 Speaker 1: your problem right now, right. And of course this, I 668 00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:16,480 Speaker 1: mean there's so many other things, uh, in the world 669 00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:18,880 Speaker 1: that can fall into this category. This is the tragedy 670 00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:21,000 Speaker 1: of the commons. I mean, it's you know, people have 671 00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:24,719 Speaker 1: shared common resources that they all need. The biggest one 672 00:36:24,719 --> 00:36:28,240 Speaker 1: probably is like the natural environment. It's you know, supposed 673 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:31,120 Speaker 1: to be something that is of common access to everyone, 674 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:34,759 Speaker 1: but in fact there are individual actors who over exploit 675 00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:38,320 Speaker 1: and foul and cause damage to this common resource resource 676 00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:42,000 Speaker 1: that should be shared by everybody. Because it's momentarily convenient 677 00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:44,359 Speaker 1: for them and they can get away with it. It's 678 00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:46,640 Speaker 1: one of the most crucial flaws in human psychology that 679 00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:49,759 Speaker 1: we exploit common resources this way and in that way. 680 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:52,400 Speaker 1: I do think we should think about sewers as a 681 00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:54,560 Speaker 1: type of commons, just like we would think about like 682 00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:57,759 Speaker 1: the oceans, the rivers, the air, the environment. Sewers are 683 00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:01,480 Speaker 1: a common shared resource among all the people who use them, 684 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:04,440 Speaker 1: and should be treated as such, even though it's definitely 685 00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:06,279 Speaker 1: that kind of thing where we don't want to think 686 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:07,680 Speaker 1: about it and we try not to think about it 687 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:10,880 Speaker 1: unless it's broken. Right. Well, Apparently, when the London Museum 688 00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:13,759 Speaker 1: was running this Fatburg exhibit, it had a plaque on 689 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:17,239 Speaker 1: the wall that read as follows the size and foulness 690 00:37:17,239 --> 00:37:20,800 Speaker 1: of fat bergs makes them impossible to ignore and reminds 691 00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:23,960 Speaker 1: us of our failings that they do. It seems like 692 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,600 Speaker 1: something that should be inscribed over like the I don't know, 693 00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:29,399 Speaker 1: over over the door of like a Puritan church from 694 00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:33,040 Speaker 1: the seventeen hundreds. But I should also point out I 695 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:36,000 Speaker 1: was reading that. Uh, at the same museum exhibit they 696 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:39,960 Speaker 1: sold something called fat burg fudge. I guess this was 697 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:42,759 Speaker 1: in the museum cafe, they'd have to have something like 698 00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:44,560 Speaker 1: in the cafe or the gift shot to line up 699 00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:48,360 Speaker 1: with it. Literally a sweet treat modeled on a fatburg 700 00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:54,320 Speaker 1: brick with raisins to represent flies. You know we mentioned earlier. 701 00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:56,520 Speaker 1: You know that, of course London isn't the only city 702 00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:58,680 Speaker 1: to have to deal with this. Obviously, there are other 703 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:02,840 Speaker 1: large metropolitan area uh that that are plagued by fat burgs. 704 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:06,840 Speaker 1: And I was reading ant Geo article titled huge Blobs 705 00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:09,279 Speaker 1: of Fat and Trash or Filling the World Sewers by 706 00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:13,040 Speaker 1: Erica Inglehop, and this was a really nice article as well, 707 00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:17,600 Speaker 1: if I remember correctly. The lead UH said that, you know, 708 00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:20,040 Speaker 1: in one part of the city, someone flushes a wet wipe, 709 00:38:20,080 --> 00:38:22,320 Speaker 1: and another part of the city someone flushes some oil. 710 00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:25,440 Speaker 1: When those two meet, a baby fat burg is born. 711 00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:30,600 Speaker 1: So I I applaud the the writing in this article. 712 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:34,080 Speaker 1: But angle Hop points out that in New York City, 713 00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:37,520 Speaker 1: according to the city's two thousand sixteen State of the 714 00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:41,960 Speaker 1: Sewers Report, Greece causes seventy one of sewer backups in 715 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:44,520 Speaker 1: the city. Uh. And then and and as a and 716 00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:47,879 Speaker 1: as a result, New York City spends eighteen million spent 717 00:38:47,960 --> 00:38:51,719 Speaker 1: eighteen million dollars over a five year period fighting fatburgs. 718 00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:55,200 Speaker 1: But even in smaller U. S cities you can see, um, 719 00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:57,919 Speaker 1: you know, the local government having to blow like half 720 00:38:57,960 --> 00:39:01,040 Speaker 1: a million dollars a year to battle these build ups. 721 00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:04,640 Speaker 1: And uh. Another interesting thing that ingle Hop pointed out though, 722 00:39:04,719 --> 00:39:08,719 Speaker 1: was that, um, there was a particular River Thames project 723 00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:14,759 Speaker 1: with argent Energy uh to potentially harvest fat burgs and 724 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:18,120 Speaker 1: turn them into renewable fuel. And this is pretty sensible 725 00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:19,720 Speaker 1: if you think about it. I mean, all that oil 726 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:22,440 Speaker 1: going down the drains, uh, you know, it should be 727 00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:25,440 Speaker 1: going somewhere else, such as in the case of restaurants, 728 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:28,879 Speaker 1: into grease traps um which are and and sometimes grease 729 00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:31,799 Speaker 1: traps are are pilfered for this very reason because their 730 00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:35,520 Speaker 1: contents are valuable in a sense. Uh and and and 731 00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:37,840 Speaker 1: there are also parts of the world where you know, 732 00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:41,920 Speaker 1: essentially sewer oil is is reclaimed and sort of sold 733 00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:44,520 Speaker 1: on the black market, you know, kind like sewer oil. 734 00:39:45,080 --> 00:39:47,399 Speaker 1: But I think this has been done with some of 735 00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:50,120 Speaker 1: the British fat bergs. I don't think all of them, 736 00:39:50,160 --> 00:39:52,160 Speaker 1: I'm I'm not sure, but yeah, I think at some 737 00:39:52,239 --> 00:39:54,640 Speaker 1: point some of them have become biofuel. Yeah, I mean, 738 00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:57,960 Speaker 1: and it seems like a logical alternative to the typical 739 00:39:58,000 --> 00:39:59,880 Speaker 1: fates for a fat burg which are I mean it 740 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:01,799 Speaker 1: if you except for the rare pieces that go to 741 00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:04,720 Speaker 1: the museum to become art, uh you know, other stuff, 742 00:40:04,719 --> 00:40:07,319 Speaker 1: it's either being hauled off to a landfill or it's 743 00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:11,440 Speaker 1: broken up so as to better diffuse into the sewer system. Um. 744 00:40:11,480 --> 00:40:14,400 Speaker 1: So yeah, to whatever extent you could. I mean, obviously, 745 00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:16,440 Speaker 1: you want to prevent the fat bird to begin with. 746 00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:19,760 Speaker 1: You don't want to have to toil with it. Um. 747 00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:20,960 Speaker 1: You know, even if you get to the point where 748 00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:23,200 Speaker 1: you could send a robot down to battle the fat birds, 749 00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:26,319 Speaker 1: it's you still gotta you know, haul it up uh 750 00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:28,400 Speaker 1: and all, and then potentially hauled off to a landfill. 751 00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:29,960 Speaker 1: But if it could be turned into fuel, if it 752 00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:33,920 Speaker 1: could you know, uh, power the Deloreans the future, then 753 00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:35,719 Speaker 1: that sounds like the way to go. Well. I do 754 00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:38,040 Speaker 1: think it is a good idea to turn these things 755 00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:40,600 Speaker 1: as long as they are still being made into fuel. 756 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:43,839 Speaker 1: But don't don't get distracted by that as like an 757 00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:46,120 Speaker 1: excuse to Okay, so it's not so bad if we 758 00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:48,960 Speaker 1: keep making them because they turn into fuel, right, right. 759 00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:51,960 Speaker 1: I mean, because again, the stewer systems are not made 760 00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:55,040 Speaker 1: for fat birds. Like if you I guess, if you 761 00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:57,879 Speaker 1: reach the situation where you're like, look, we refuse to learn, 762 00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:02,720 Speaker 1: we're not gonna stop rushing oil and wet wipes, then okay, 763 00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:05,560 Speaker 1: you could conceivably imagine a scenario where the sewer systems 764 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:09,040 Speaker 1: have to be redesigned in order to um, you know, 765 00:41:09,120 --> 00:41:14,719 Speaker 1: sequester fat bergs for harvesting. But they're not built like that, 766 00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:17,080 Speaker 1: and they're probably not going to be rebuilt like that, 767 00:41:17,200 --> 00:41:21,160 Speaker 1: and it's ultimately an easier prospect to just change how 768 00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:23,480 Speaker 1: we're handling the things that we're sending down into the sewer. 769 00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:26,120 Speaker 1: This is going to become some crack pop political parties 770 00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:29,759 Speaker 1: energy platform, and they're saying all this talk about you know, 771 00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:32,959 Speaker 1: green energy. What you do is you pour oil down 772 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:36,919 Speaker 1: the drain all day, our energy problems are solved. I'm 773 00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:39,080 Speaker 1: not super up on British politics. Is there a fat 774 00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:41,399 Speaker 1: bird party? Yet? I know that the new parties get 775 00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:44,759 Speaker 1: get formed here and there. Um, I can't heard about it, 776 00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:49,000 Speaker 1: but I'm sure. I mean, like all issues, especially issues 777 00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:52,480 Speaker 1: in fact that have to do with people exploiting or 778 00:41:52,560 --> 00:41:56,000 Speaker 1: ruining the commons for everybody. These issues often do get 779 00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:59,839 Speaker 1: like politically polarized because it's advantageous for somebody to do that. 780 00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:02,879 Speaker 1: And this is why we need fat bird cop out 781 00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:04,960 Speaker 1: there on the beat, in the in the you know, 782 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:08,520 Speaker 1: at least in the eyes of the public, in the messaging, uh, 783 00:42:08,560 --> 00:42:13,960 Speaker 1: you know, confronting us, chastising us far aways, um and 784 00:42:13,960 --> 00:42:16,000 Speaker 1: and and but I mean, I mean that's seriously because 785 00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:17,719 Speaker 1: I think, like, for my part, like one of the 786 00:42:17,719 --> 00:42:22,040 Speaker 1: reasons that the other reasons that fat birds are so captivating, uh, 787 00:42:22,200 --> 00:42:25,279 Speaker 1: in addition to all the grotesque photos and footage that 788 00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:28,000 Speaker 1: shows up. I saw one article is like a video 789 00:42:28,440 --> 00:42:31,840 Speaker 1: based article online that the title was something along the 790 00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:34,960 Speaker 1: lines of the moment when a rat crawls out of 791 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:37,640 Speaker 1: the fat bird, and that was apparently the footage of 792 00:42:37,719 --> 00:42:41,840 Speaker 1: the like a live rat swarming out of fat bird. Um. 793 00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:43,760 Speaker 1: You know, so we can't look away from the grotesque 794 00:42:43,800 --> 00:42:46,839 Speaker 1: nature of them. But then also you the sewers are 795 00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:49,759 Speaker 1: this unique location where there have been a number of 796 00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:53,600 Speaker 1: notable films over the years that populate the sewers with monsters, 797 00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:57,759 Speaker 1: be it you know, Chud's or or you know or 798 00:42:57,880 --> 00:43:01,520 Speaker 1: or or Cannibals is in the Bridge ash film Raw Meat, Well, 799 00:43:01,520 --> 00:43:03,560 Speaker 1: I guess that was a subway system, but still an 800 00:43:03,640 --> 00:43:06,480 Speaker 1: environment stuff in Ghostbusters too, I think, yeah, the river 801 00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:08,480 Speaker 1: of slime flowing out of New York City, that's a 802 00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:13,000 Speaker 1: big one for me. But also definitely the Blob at 803 00:43:13,040 --> 00:43:16,600 Speaker 1: least remake kind of lot of like uh, you know, 804 00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:19,920 Speaker 1: under I think there was like these sewer system Shenanigan's 805 00:43:19,960 --> 00:43:22,640 Speaker 1: there with the blob, you know, ripping through the sewer 806 00:43:22,719 --> 00:43:25,080 Speaker 1: and attacking people. Yeah, and it definitely came up through 807 00:43:25,080 --> 00:43:30,799 Speaker 1: the drains. So it's I feel like the fat Berg 808 00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:34,600 Speaker 1: reminds us of these monstrosities as well, except there they're 809 00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:37,680 Speaker 1: not fantasy, they're real, uh you know, they just don't 810 00:43:37,719 --> 00:43:41,680 Speaker 1: actually assault us, try to digestue well. I feel like 811 00:43:41,719 --> 00:43:45,520 Speaker 1: some of these, especially Ghostbusters too. Yeah, it does bring 812 00:43:45,520 --> 00:43:47,680 Speaker 1: in some of that same metaphor stuff we were talking 813 00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:50,440 Speaker 1: about earlier about you know, like it it's all the 814 00:43:50,640 --> 00:43:52,600 Speaker 1: bad things we don't want to think about and all 815 00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:55,120 Speaker 1: the negative energies that that is what was feeding the 816 00:43:55,120 --> 00:43:57,760 Speaker 1: slime and Ghostbusters too, right, it was like Prince Vigo 817 00:43:58,239 --> 00:44:01,160 Speaker 1: and just New Yorkers being jerk. That's kind of weird 818 00:44:01,200 --> 00:44:04,239 Speaker 1: for a sequel to a movie in which an e 819 00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:08,799 Speaker 1: P A representative was a villain. But there you go. 820 00:44:09,600 --> 00:44:15,240 Speaker 1: It's a different time. Ghostbusters a bravely pro littering movie. 821 00:44:16,719 --> 00:44:19,000 Speaker 1: Al Right, Well, there you have it. A fat Bergs 822 00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:22,760 Speaker 1: for you. Now. Obviously, if anyone out there has direct 823 00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:26,279 Speaker 1: experience with fat Bergs or any other strange monstrosities in 824 00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:29,520 Speaker 1: our sewer systems, let us know. I feel like, just 825 00:44:29,920 --> 00:44:32,239 Speaker 1: thinking about the sheer number of listeners and just all 826 00:44:32,280 --> 00:44:35,520 Speaker 1: the you know, the diverse backgrounds that you all have, 827 00:44:35,960 --> 00:44:39,160 Speaker 1: somebody out there has had to have battled the fat bird. 828 00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:41,560 Speaker 1: We've got a first hand flusher in the audience. I 829 00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:43,759 Speaker 1: know it. Yeah, it's just a matter of getting you 830 00:44:43,840 --> 00:44:45,959 Speaker 1: to write in and tell us about it. Uh So, 831 00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:49,160 Speaker 1: you know, if so, do right in and tell us 832 00:44:49,160 --> 00:44:51,880 Speaker 1: about it. And also just if there's some sort of 833 00:44:51,880 --> 00:44:56,080 Speaker 1: sewer monster movie that we've failed to reference, uh yeah, 834 00:44:56,440 --> 00:44:58,640 Speaker 1: hit us up on that as well. We're always happy 835 00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:00,920 Speaker 1: to cha out about movies. And hey, if you're if 836 00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:04,320 Speaker 1: you're an artist, maybe you can create uh an image 837 00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:07,080 Speaker 1: of fat bird cop because I feel like you'd be 838 00:45:07,239 --> 00:45:09,959 Speaker 1: not only amusing us and amusing other listeners, you would 839 00:45:09,960 --> 00:45:13,440 Speaker 1: potentially be um, uh you know, saving the world by 840 00:45:13,480 --> 00:45:16,080 Speaker 1: introducing this character. In the meantime, if you want to 841 00:45:16,120 --> 00:45:17,600 Speaker 1: check out more episodes of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, 842 00:45:17,640 --> 00:45:19,200 Speaker 1: head on over to stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 843 00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:21,439 Speaker 1: That's where we'll find them all. You'll also find out 844 00:45:21,480 --> 00:45:24,400 Speaker 1: links to social media accounts as well as link to 845 00:45:24,440 --> 00:45:26,920 Speaker 1: our t shirt store. But ultimately the best thing you 846 00:45:26,920 --> 00:45:29,839 Speaker 1: can do to support the show is to just make 847 00:45:29,840 --> 00:45:31,880 Speaker 1: sure you you rate and review us wherever you have 848 00:45:31,920 --> 00:45:34,040 Speaker 1: the power to do so. Wherever you get this podcast 849 00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:38,360 Speaker 1: huge thanks as always to our excellent audio producer, Tari Harrison. 850 00:45:38,719 --> 00:45:40,160 Speaker 1: If you would like to get in touch with us 851 00:45:40,160 --> 00:45:43,080 Speaker 1: directly with feedback about this episode or any other, to 852 00:45:43,160 --> 00:45:45,279 Speaker 1: tell us about your battles for the fat Berg, to 853 00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:47,960 Speaker 1: suggest a topic for the future, to suggest a guest, 854 00:45:48,080 --> 00:45:50,120 Speaker 1: or just to say hello, you can email us at 855 00:45:50,600 --> 00:46:03,600 Speaker 1: contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff 856 00:46:03,600 --> 00:46:05,560 Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind is a production of iHeart Radio's 857 00:46:05,560 --> 00:46:07,879 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, 858 00:46:07,960 --> 00:46:10,719 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 859 00:46:10,760 --> 00:46:15,719 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows. B