WEBVTT - Listener Mail: Crab Walking Down Human Street 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:05.280 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:11.479 My Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:15.720 Listener Mail. This is Robert Lamb and this is Joe McCormick. 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:17.680 And today we're reading back some of the messages that 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:20.040 you've sent in over the past couple of weeks. So 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:22.279 I thought I would kick things off here with a 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:25.720 couple of responses to our episode on the IG Nobel 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:37.599 Prizes for So this first message comes from Karen. Karen says, Hi, 0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:40.919 Joe and Robert, in response to your IG Nobel Prize 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:45.080 grab Bag episode where you've discussed collision avoidance in crowds. 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:48.200 I live in Australia and the last time I visited 0:00:48.240 --> 0:00:50.880 the US, I noticed I kept walking in the way 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:54.000 of others, even when it wasn't crowded. At one point 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:56.080 it occurred to me that I would keep to the 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:58.840 left hand side of any path or head to head, 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:02.840 presumably cause in Australia we drive on the left. Once 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:05.080 I made a point of correcting and keeping to the right, 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:09.800 I was suddenly less in the way. Interesting, UM, I 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:13.480 wonder if this means that collision avoidance works differently in 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:16.640 like international airports, where there is more of a mingling 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:19.840 of people from from different countries of origin with different 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:22.960 side of the road preferences. Oh yeah, that would be 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:25.400 a whole experiment there where any kind of like pre 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:29.440 programming for this side or that side UM is just 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:32.560 totally out the window, like a news Maybe maybe it 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:36.679 works better because a new system has to emerge UM, 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:40.240 you know, on its own, and you can't just depend 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:42.959 on the dominant culture to be the guy that everyone 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:46.600 falls in line with. Right, So Karen goes on on 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:50.040 an opposing note. Sometimes I play a walking game called 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:53.320 Don't get out of Men's Way and watch them freak 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:56.360 out just by walking along in a straight line and 0:01:56.440 --> 0:01:59.080 not being the one to automatically change course when a 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:01.720 man is approaching from the other direction. A woman can 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:05.200 really blow their minds winking face emoji. Thanks for the 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:07.480 great show. It's one of the key reasons that I 0:02:07.600 --> 0:02:12.919 listened to a podcast about is my main catchphrase, cheers Karen. Well, 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:16.640 thanks Karen, and actually regarding not getting out of men's 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:19.280 way on the sidewalk as a as a game women play. 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:22.480 Karen was not the only person who wrote in. A 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.720 listener named Ginger shared an article on this very subject 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:30.880 which the article calls patriarchy chicken, which I found very funny. Though, 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:33.520 I I started to think about this actually, and I 0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:37.720 was wondering how, assuming this is true, how this interacts 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:41.200 with the general finding from these studies, like that study 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:45.359 out of Japan that collision avoidance is a collaborative, emergent 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:50.160 product that requires constant monitoring and coordination from both sides. 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:53.880 Remember the studies about how how jammed up across walk 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:56.919 would get if only a few people were distracted. So 0:02:57.040 --> 0:03:00.760 if it's true that there are also gender norms about 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:04.000 collision avoidance, how do they fit into the equation? Like 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:07.280 would it be that more often women are expected to 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:11.560 make the first move in diverting pathways? So so this 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:14.000 is another thing actually that made me laugh at first, 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:17.880 That made me think, yeah, yeah, I mean, without a doubt, 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:20.600 you do have some some gender dynamics, uh, you know, 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:23.960 cultural dynamics playing in there. But you know, we were 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:26.680 talking about we're mostly talking about grown ups here though, 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:30.720 We're talking about grown ups walking down the street and 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:33.120 crashing or not crashing into each other, usually not crashing 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:35.760 into each other. But you know, you throw kids into 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:39.480 this scenario and things I wonder where the research would go. 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:44.440 Because I was thinking about this this morning because every 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:47.760 morning I walk my my son into his elementary school 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:51.280 or you know, close to it, and a lot of 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:53.080 parents are doing the same thing, and there are other 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:55.720 kids coming on and coming in on on their own, 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:59.480 and uh, it gets crazy. It's like, you know, kids 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:02.640 today it was rainy, said, Kids with umbrellas swinging around, 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:05.760 giant umbrellas almost babies in the face, and their parents 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:08.440 trying to dodge, and parents who have dropped their child 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:10.720 off trying to then go back up the same street 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:14.040 they came down. Um this time, you know, with a 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:19.200 with greater ability to dodge incoming children and adults. But uh, 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:21.440 it's a you certainly can't have your phone out during 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:24.760 all that you just plow right into multiple children. Yeah, 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:27.560 I think kids totally change things. And actually I can 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:30.520 observe that instinctually in myself, because I don't know if 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:33.400 you've had this experience. Um, I think I tend to 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:35.680 find that when I'm in a space where there are 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:41.720 little kids moving around, my movements become much more conservative 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:44.599 or curtailed. Like, uh, if I'm trying to go down 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:47.279 a grocery aisle and there are kids in the grocery aisle. 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:49.960 I will I will move much more slowly, I think, 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:52.640 just on the understanding that kids might suddenly get in 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:56.880 my path unexpectedly. There it's far harder to judge exactly 0:04:57.200 --> 0:05:00.440 where they're going to go, And I think maybe that 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:03.960 that increases the shorter they get and the younger they get. 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:06.159 You're like, I'm not sure which way she's going. I 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:08.640 think I can predict her path, but I might not 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:10.320 be able to. So I'm gonna slow down. I'm gonna 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:14.000 go into the defensive mode. Um. But then on top 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:17.560 of that, I feel like kids my my son's age 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:20.120 there at that point where they're they're really good at 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:24.000 dodging in and out of of pedestrian traffic, you know, 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:27.719 They're they're really good about about weaving their way through 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:32.479 a crowd. Uh and uh. At the same time, it's 0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:35.400 easy to assume that they are about to just plow directly, 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:38.800 you know, into you. Um Uh. There many times just 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:40.839 in the house where I'm trying to move from from 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:43.680 point A to point B and the boy comes running through, 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:46.599 and I'm just convinced we're about to collide. Uh. You know, 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:48.640 I go into like full defensive mode, like you know, 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:51.160 cover you know, any sensitive parts so I don't get 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:53.320 get injured. And he's like, what, I wouldn't gonna run 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:56.159 into you, and then he moves on. So yeah, kids 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:59.000 deplicate everything. It almost makes me wonder if they're like 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:03.280 kid lesion avoidance norms and adult collision avoidance norms and 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:06.240 that they can sort of have trouble interacting the same 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:14.840 way that left lane and right lane traffic would. Yeah, yeah, 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:17.440 all right, Robbi, you want to read this one about 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:21.960 the igno bells from Chad concerning cats and beards. Yeah. Yeah, 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:24.640 this had to do with the study um about the 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:29.280 hypothesis that beards may have evolved the male beard may 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:31.839 have evolved as a way of of softening the blow 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:35.240 of incoming punches. But also about cat chittering. Oh yeah, 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:36.960 we got a little cat chittering, a little cat talking 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:40.280 here as well. So this comes to us from Chad. 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:44.320 Chad writes, one of my cats frequently chittered at prey 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:47.239 animals when she was younger. This seems like an odd 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:50.080 instinct to me, as it seems like it could give 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:53.680 a predator's position away. What I also thought interesting is 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:56.200 that she would just barely raise her head above the 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:59.520 window sill in order to see the birds or squirrels. 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:03.200 He her ears flat, as if to minimize her visible profile, 0:07:03.279 --> 0:07:06.760 but at the same time she would noisily chitter. Uh. 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:10.280 This is interesting and um, you know, thinking back to 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:15.200 what I was reading in the for the ignoble episode. Uh, 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:19.520 it my interpretation, and who knows catch or mysteries. This 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:22.240 could be wrong, but my interpretation, based on some of 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:24.760 the theories out there, is that it's kind of like 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:27.800 the cat is still preparing to jump, but knows it 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:32.520 cannot jump, cannot reach, cannot actually attack the prey, and 0:07:32.600 --> 0:07:34.480 that is where the chitter kicks in. You know. It's 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:38.480 like that that uncontrollable like just outburst. Uh, that the 0:07:38.560 --> 0:07:41.239 need to bite the neck, but the inability to reach 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:43.760 the neck. So in this case, if this is correct, 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:49.400 the chittering would not be a naturally evolved hunting behavior, 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:52.720 but it would be a reaction to the fact that 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:56.080 the hunting behavior is being thwarted. It's some kind of 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:59.840 displacement behavior. Yeah, I guess. And it's again it's it's 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:03.520 hard to apply the cat realm to the the animal 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:06.640 to the human realm, but I'd like to imagine if 0:08:06.640 --> 0:08:09.680 I had like my favorite sandwich, favorite sandwich in the 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:12.520 world in my hand and then you know, I'm I'm 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:14.520 bringing it up to my face and I can only 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:18.800 bring it within like half a foot. Like what kind 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.120 of frustration? What kind of sound would I make? You know? What? 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:24.560 I would just go like, you know, in sort of 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:27.679 a frustrated attempt. Uh, you know, not even an attempt, 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:30.280 but just an outburst at not being able to reach 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:34.560 the sandwich, a chittering of anguish. Yeah. But it's you know, 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:39.760 even more than that, because for us, like sandwiches are great, um, 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:43.440 but are we like highly evolved sandwich eating machines that 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:46.120 are maybe maybe not? But I mean, for like the cat, 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:49.160 the consumption of the delicious songbird, like that is it's 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.400 that is its purpose, that it's it's it's holy role 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:55.240 in the ecosystem. Uh, you know, it feels that in 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:57.800 its very genes, and now it can't get there because 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:01.079 there's this this magic glass screen between it and prey. 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:04.720 But Chad had more to say. Chad says, I have 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:07.560 a beard and trained in martial arts for six years 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:10.559 as a young adult. We we ask any martial artist 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:13.200 and Marshall people who knew more about martial arts than 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:16.760 us to chime in on this um. He continues, Perhaps 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:20.040 beards offer some slight cushioning effect, but they offer a 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:23.760 distinct disadvantage. A beard can be grabbed and pulled painfully. 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:26.360 I would guess it to be a weak point, not armor. 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:29.120 I agree that I imagine early humans would rely on 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:32.199 tools not fists for violence. Furthermore, of evolution was going 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:35.040 to protect the head, why not grow thicker bones, store 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:38.079 more fat around the face, develop a layer of rigid armor, 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:42.000 or add much thicker fur for more noticeable cushioning effect. 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:44.640 I agree that saying evolution selected for a beard is 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:48.160 armor from punches is a stretch. Thanks for another great episode. 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:51.880 Now I will say some of the suggestions that Chad 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:56.960 gets into here. Obviously we're talking about far more expensive adaptations, uh, 0:09:57.280 --> 0:10:01.600 evolutionarily speaking. So you like, there's a reason we don't have, um, 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:04.679 you know, some sort of a rigid armor growing out 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:07.240 of our body. Yeah, that's true. And and another thing, 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:12.160 of course, is that evolutionary adaptations have to they usually 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:14.520 have to have some kind of starting place, like a 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:18.480 like a morphological tool to start with. So in the 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:21.080 case of hair on the face, you could say that, well, 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:23.719 you know, maybe our our bodies used to be more 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:26.959 completely covered in hair all over, and instead, what you're 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:31.280 talking about is cases where on certain parts of the body, 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:33.599 hair that used to be all over the place is 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:36.679 retained where it was lost elsewhere, and so there's some 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:39.679 pressure causing it to be retained in those places. And 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:41.520 again with the beard, we don't know exactly what that 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:44.199 would be. So so anyway, I guess you could say 0:10:44.240 --> 0:10:47.000 that it's easier to get to a beard through a 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:49.400 string of mutations than it would be to get to 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:51.280 I don't know, some kind of like big cage of 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:55.880 bones around the jaw. Uh. But yes, also it might 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:58.040 be much more expensive to make something like that in 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:02.400 terms of energy and so forth. But yeah, so I agree, 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:07.240 chad Um. I remain open minded about more more fist 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:17.240 punching centric views of human evolution, but mostly pretty doubtful alright. 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:20.160 This next message comes in response to our episodes on 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:25.200 the history of chainsaws. This comes from Shana. She says, Hello, 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:28.200 Robert and Joe, I wanted to share a funny moment 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:31.199 that happened well when listening to your episode about chainsaws 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:34.560 and particularly y'all trying to remember the color of the 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:38.439 chainsaw used by Leatherface in the Texas Chainsaw Masker films. 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:42.520 My husband works in the prop department of a major 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:47.080 theme park Halloween event. His job title is Captain of 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:51.000 Bodies and Gore. Over the years, they have done numerous 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:54.880 TCM themed mazes, he intimately knows the color of the 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:59.320 chainsaws used in the films green because the screen accurate 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:03.160 chainsaws no longer come in that color way. The prop 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:06.240 department needs to paint and gut the machinery out of 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:09.760 each chainsaw before they are handed to the scare actors. 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:13.599 But this is this is truly some fabulous feedback. But 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:17.400 Shaney goes on along the same lines. The Halloween event 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:20.640 he works is famous for the chainsaw drill team that 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:24.520 walks around the streets interacting with guests. Those are real 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:28.680 chainsaws they use, just with the teeth removed. Even without 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:31.320 the blades. The performers have to be careful because hair 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:34.880 and clothing could still get pulled into the motor. Oh wow, 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:37.439 that that's a scary image. I assume they take all 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:42.080 all appropriate precautions. But then finally, Shana says, she she 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:45.480 enjoys these uh, you know, gangs of chainsaw people running 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:49.840 around because they add more immersion. She says, uh, the 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:53.600 chainsaws are gasoline powered, and the aroma of fuel follows 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.880 them wherever they go, whether it is purposeful or incidental. 0:12:56.920 --> 0:13:00.079 The added old factory layer adds to the experience. And 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:03.160 Shana m yeah, yeah, I mean that is true that 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:06.400 the smell of the of the roaring chainsaws that your 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:09.280 local haunted attraction are very much part of it. What's 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:12.840 that It's gotta be the ben zine getting into the bulb. Yeah, 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:25.000 all right. Here's another one that comes to us. This 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:27.520 is ah this is in response to a Vault episode. 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:30.080 I think it was titled Melt with Me, And this 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:33.840 is when where we talked about the idea of people melting, 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:37.000 both in terms of, you know, the question can a 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:40.640 person actually melt? And and then getting a little into 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:43.439 the you know, the deeper questions of why do we 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:47.320 keep obsessing over melting and what about people who want 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:50.280 to melt? Is that is that reasonable? Oh? And one 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:52.680 thing this email picks up on is I think we 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:56.160 mentioned the Wicked Witch of the West from one of 0:13:56.160 --> 0:13:59.600 the most one of the most famous cinematic melting scenes. Um, 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:02.040 and if you're and it's impossible to realize that she's 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:06.520 melting right because she's saying it as well. So so 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:08.840 this's what Kenneth that is. Say. Dear Robert and Joseph, 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:13.040 I use your Sunday names because I have beef. The 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:15.680 Wicked Wish of the West was a truly evil character. 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:18.920 Falsehoods come easily to her lips, and even her final 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:22.840 words were designed to sow deceit. She did not melt. 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:25.280 I don't know what she was made of, but her 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:28.320 solid parts could not exist as a liquid at standard 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:32.680 atmospheric pressure, causing them to sublime like water ice on 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:36.160 the surface of Mars. Her fluids also vanished into thin air, 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:41.680 presumably through evaporation. Don't fall for her lies. Great episode. 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:43.720 By the way, The toxic goose guy in RoboCop was 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:47.240 absolutely haunting. I am grossed out to this day. Kenneth 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:50.920 ps staying for shot on the fourth Oh in the 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:54.320 next Dune movie. Okay, okay, yeah, I mean I could 0:14:54.320 --> 0:14:57.120 see it working. I'm I'm kind of hoping they go 0:14:57.160 --> 0:15:00.360 in different directions with the with the casting. I think 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:04.240 there's there's some room to get some some more actors 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:07.880 of Middle Eastern or North African heritage in there, but 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:11.000 could but as far as like if if if Staying 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:13.360 was the pick, I mean, yeah, Staying could do it. Stings. 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:15.880 Stings a talented guy. Oh. I should also mention that 0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:20.200 in Kenneth's original email, he referred to me as Douglas. 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:23.440 I don't know why he said hello Robert and Douglas. 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:26.840 But then he immediately uh sent another email to to 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:31.520 apologize incorrect. So what what's with that interpretation? I don't know? 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:40.600 All right, this next message actually comes in Rob This 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:44.640 is when you brought in from the from the discord right, 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:48.520 that's right, there is a discord server for stuff to 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:50.760 blow your mind. You have to have like an invite 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:53.560 to get in. So just just email us and we'll 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:55.840 send you the invite. Um that's the only way, easy 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:57.840 way I know how to do it. So uh, yeah, 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:01.840 this was this is something that sent in via the 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:06.160 discord server from someone who I identifies themselves as niare 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:11.160 lathotep Okay. I think that's some kind of malevolent love 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:14.840 crafty and god if I'm not wrong. Um, yes, I 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.560 like the kind of like also kind of rounds up 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:19.800 the gods kind of speaks on behalf of the gods 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:24.160 as if I remember correctly. Okay, well, this listener says, Hi, 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:27.600 Joe and Robert, I'm listening again to airships over Venus. 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:30.800 I guess maybe we ran this as a vault. Um uh, 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:33.800 they say. Discussion of the second planet never fails to 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:37.160 inspire my imagination. The idea of a planetary body so 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:39.760 close to us, and in so many ways similar, gets 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:43.080 my mind into problem solving mode. Surely making use of 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:46.320 it as a second home is just an engineering problem, Yes, 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:50.640 a giant engineering problem. What are the few resources available 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:54.080 to a civilization in its early stages. Mars, for all 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:56.480 its hype, is just a dead rock half the size 0:16:56.480 --> 0:16:59.280 of Earth, with no active core and barely an atmosphere. 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:02.880 It can't be an unsolvable problem to tow our sister 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:05.720 Earth out to a more manageable orbit and vent off 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:08.640 the excess gases, or perhaps capture them in solid form 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:11.119 with engineered life. At least That's what I like to 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:14.520 think in my day dreams. Our biggest challenge in space 0:17:14.680 --> 0:17:17.400 is time and distance. So we actually just talked about 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:21.600 this with with Daniel Wison. Venus. Maybe our only reachable 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:25.480 goal anytime soon. Maybe once we build that Dyson's fear 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:28.760 will have the energy necessary. L O L. Topics like 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:31.280 this have seriously kept me saying through COVID, thanks so 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:34.000 much and keep up the good work. Well, thank you, 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:37.440 And yeah, I do have to say sometimes when when 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:42.440 the life on Earth gets stressful, uh, it is relaxing 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:46.080 to contemplate other planets. I think that might have been 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:49.160 part of the original, uh, the decision to to look 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:50.960 to Venus. It was just like, oh man, this everything 0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:53.720 feels a bit stressful. What's going on on Venus. Let's 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:57.680 talk about Venus. The Nusian politics are are far less stressful. 0:17:57.880 --> 0:18:00.720 Oh who was it though, who was making servations of 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:04.119 Venus in in the nineteenth century or you know, some 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:07.000 sometime in the past, and it was drawing some rather 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:11.960 wild inferences about Venusian politics from like they thought that 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:15.280 fires were being lit for a coronation ceremony basically on 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:18.120 some changes in the light on the surface. It might 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:19.960 have been in this episode that we've gotten into that. 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:23.159 If not this one of the other Venusian episodes that 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:28.840 we did. I'm slightly less than convinced on that one. 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:35.119 All right, here comes the Crabs. This one comes to 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:38.080 us from James. Hi, guys, love the show. I've been 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:40.439 a listener for years, usually in the car, so I 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:43.360 haven't gotten around to emailing you before. I just had 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:45.560 to make time for this one though. I absolutely love 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:49.840 the episode on crabs, especially discussion about them wearing algae 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:53.159 and seeing enemies is a sort of camouflage armor and 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:56.480 ready food supply. How cool is that. I actually had 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:59.159 a saltwater crab as a pet for a time, and 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:01.960 I was practically on the edge of my seat waiting 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:05.159 for you to mention the pom pom crab. This species 0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:08.199 actually holds a pair of tiny cnm and ease in 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:11.439 its claws, like pom poms, and my understanding is that 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:13.879 they use these for mopping up food as well as 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:18.360 defending itself. Tool use in crabs. Thanks James, I think 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:20.720 you actually had an episode. You did an episode about 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:23.639 this a long time ago, right, Yeah, yeah, pompom crabs 0:19:23.640 --> 0:19:26.240 have come up on the show before. Yeah, they're they're 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:29.040 pretty cool. There's there's one study in particular. I remember. 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:31.320 It was about, like, you know, what happens when one 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:33.960 crab steals the pom pom of another crab and then 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:36.239 they have to like take their pom pom, split it 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:39.960 in half, and then they have to pom poms. So it's, uh, yeah, 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:42.399 these are great creatures because they're they're wonderful to look at. 0:19:42.520 --> 0:19:46.600 And then the yeah, the practice itself is is fascinating 0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:50.640 and indeed raises the specter of of tool use. Well. 0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:53.679 This also reminds me of how impressed at least I 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:56.560 was in in that episode about the description of the 0:19:56.600 --> 0:19:59.800 process by which these crabs who wore algae on their 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:02.840 on their carapace would would go through to uh, I 0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:06.040 guess it was sort of stalks of seaweed. The process 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:07.680 that would go through to attach it, like they would 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:09.920 clip it off, they would measure it to a certain length, 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:13.159 and then they would nibble the snipped end of it 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:14.879 to roughen it so that it would cling to the 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:18.080 spines on their shell, and then they would position it 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:19.919 back and try to attach it and go through this 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:24.200 over and over. It's like a surprisingly complex process and 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:27.239 and kind of crafty for a crab, you know. I 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:29.320 also loved to that we got to hear from somebody 0:20:29.359 --> 0:20:33.159 who has or had rather a pet crab. This is 0:20:33.200 --> 0:20:36.440 the only listener we've heard from that has or had 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:39.719 a pet crab. I refuse to believe that there's nobody 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:43.359 out there listening to us right now. Uh with with 0:20:43.440 --> 0:20:45.760 a with a hermit crab in the same room with them. 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:50.160 So if you own a pet crab, don't be shy. 0:20:50.520 --> 0:20:52.920 Send us an email. We want to hear what your 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:56.680 your pet crab eats. Give us all the details. Uh. Statistically, 0:20:56.680 --> 0:20:59.399 hermit crab owners are antisocial and they do not right 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:11.520 into podcast asked, prove him wrong. Prove him wrong hermit raisers. Okay, well, 0:21:11.520 --> 0:21:14.919 this next email does at least concern hermit crabs. This 0:21:15.000 --> 0:21:18.440 comes from Simon. Good day, gentlemen. Feel free to share 0:21:18.480 --> 0:21:20.840 this at your whim. But in regards to the crabby content, 0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:24.040 I would thought I would share a quick but amusing anecdote. Recently, 0:21:24.080 --> 0:21:27.040 I spent five minutes explaining to my five year old 0:21:27.119 --> 0:21:31.959 daughter that it is hermit crabs, not helmet crabs, before 0:21:32.040 --> 0:21:35.359 realizing that her version is so much better. Thanks for 0:21:35.400 --> 0:21:40.600 the amazing and interesting content, Simon. I read this because 0:21:40.640 --> 0:21:42.639 I feel like I've heard that same thing before. I 0:21:42.640 --> 0:21:44.879 think when I was a kid, I knew somebody who 0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:49.000 called them helmet crabs. But it makes sense. It makes 0:21:49.040 --> 0:21:51.640 so much sense you wonder, you wonder why it hasn't 0:21:52.080 --> 0:21:54.919 why that name hasn't taken over. Yeah, I mean especially 0:21:54.960 --> 0:21:59.560 for young fans of crabs. I mean, you you know 0:21:59.600 --> 0:22:01.919 what a hell it is. You might not really know 0:22:01.960 --> 0:22:07.560 what the whole concept of the hermit yet. So it's yeah, 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:10.120 it's it's a little more difficult to explain. I mean, 0:22:10.160 --> 0:22:13.080 hermit crabs are they're in amura, they're false crabs. So 0:22:13.160 --> 0:22:15.560 actually the helmet would be the more accurate part than 0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:19.160 the than the crab part. Yeah. And and certainly sometimes 0:22:19.240 --> 0:22:22.680 the behaviors seeing hermit crabs like you see them mobbing, um, 0:22:22.680 --> 0:22:25.440 you know a coconut. Uh, they don't. That doesn't look 0:22:25.520 --> 0:22:28.720 very much like hermit behavior to me. It doesn't really 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:36.040 hold true across the board. All right, we have one 0:22:36.040 --> 0:22:38.960 more here for you. This one's a weird how cinema message. 0:22:39.000 --> 0:22:41.160 This one comes to us from Dan, Hi, Robert, and Joe. 0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:43.800 I am not a doctor, but if I were, I 0:22:43.840 --> 0:22:47.000