WEBVTT - Space Poop, Contact Congress and Elf on the Shelf 0:00:00.880 --> 0:00:03.680 Welcome to hous To Works Now. I'm your host, Lauren Vocabaum, 0:00:03.760 --> 0:00:10.560 a researcher and writer here at hous To Works every 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:12.880 week and bringing you three stories from our team about 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:16.240 the weird and wondrous advances we've seen in science, technology, 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:20.200 and culture. This week, NASA is commissioning new ideas for 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:25.000 how to handle poop in space and unrelated Some social 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:28.319 scientists are saying that good behavior based Christmas traditions like 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:31.639 Santa Crampus and now the Elf on the Shelf acclimate 0:00:31.640 --> 0:00:34.680 our children to the concept of a surveillance state. But 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:38.400 First Senior Writer Jonathan Strickland brings us a less festive 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:42.880 but equally important political segment. Thanks to our freelancer Patrick 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:45.240 Jake Haiger for the research on this one, and to 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:48.600 Aaron Scherb, the director of legislative Affairs for a government 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:52.320 transparency and accountability lobby Common Cause, for speaking with us 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:56.800 about the issue. Together, these three humans answer an increasingly 0:00:56.840 --> 0:01:00.400 relevant question, how can we ordinary citizens get members of 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:06.600 Congress to really listen to us? Following the US election, 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:10.360 people on all sides of every issue have been motivated 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:14.160 to voice their opinions and concerns. But what's the most 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:19.720 effective method to getting a congress person's attention. Warning, this 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:23.160 piece is about the United States, so people in some 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:26.320 other countries may also find it helpful when interacting with 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:30.120 their respective governments. I have some tough news for those 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:31.920 of us who rely on the Internet to get our 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:35.480 point across. It's not terribly effective when it comes to 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:41.080 actually reaching someone in Congress. Online communication is generally pretty terrific, 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:44.200 at least for those who have the means to access it. 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:47.920 It's instantaneous, and on platforms like Facebook or Twitter, it's 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:51.680 easy to share, promote, or add two messages. But when 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:54.360 it comes to making a real difference on the political level, 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:58.440 it's not great. One reason for that is it can 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:01.080 be difficult for a congress person and to determine how 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:05.560 many messages come from actual constituents. If you represent a 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:09.280 state like Georgia, for instance, you don't really care what 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:14.040 someone in California thinks. California voters don't elect you to office. 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:18.200 With most online platforms, it's difficult or impossible to determine 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:22.560 where people actually live. For that reason, many politicians pay 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:27.120 little attention to messages on social media. Email doesn't fare 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:32.320 much better, particularly online form letters, Congressional staff tend to 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:35.880 perceive them as one step above spam mail, or maybe 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:39.280 even a lateral move. If you do send an email, 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:42.280 writing your own words is better than relying on a 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:46.560 form letter format. Snail mail is a bit more effective. 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:49.640 A handwritten or type letter tends to be treated with 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:53.680 more care than electronic communication, particularly if you take the 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:56.600 time to write your thoughts out yourself. But the two 0:02:56.680 --> 0:02:59.760 most effective means of communication when trying to make your 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:04.560 tend to be phone calls and in person meetings. That's 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:07.400 not great for those of us who suffer from social anxiety, 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:10.240 but the truth of the matter is that these methods 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:13.920 tend to be taken more seriously than others. According to 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:18.080 Emily Ellsworth, a former congressional staffer, taking the time and 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:21.520 effort to contact a congress person's office or arrange a 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:25.200 meeting is necessary if you really want to affect the 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:29.959 political process. Though unless you're a politically influential person, you're 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:34.040 not likely to land a meeting with the actual congress person. Instead, 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:37.360 you'll chat with one of his or her staffers. Still, 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:41.040 that's usually more effective than tweeting how angry you are 0:03:41.080 --> 0:03:45.520 about a political issue. Unfortunately, This means many people are 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:48.720 left without an effective way to make their voices heard 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:52.120 because it requires them to have spare time and resources 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:55.600 to dedicate to such activities, and it could be argued 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:59.360 that thousands of people are wasting their time voicing their 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:03.680 concerns online rather than banding together to attend town hall 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:07.760 meetings and other events in person. Online communication could still 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:11.200 be an effective means to organize like minded individuals, but 0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:14.520 when it comes to making a difference, nothing measures up 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:22.400 to talking directly to congressional staff. Next up, I've got 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:25.080 a challenge for you from our freelance writer, Kate Kirshner 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:28.400 and none less than the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:37.360 How can we better handle excrement in space? So here's 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:40.960 what we know about everybody. They hurt, they dance, and 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:44.440 they poop. From the Queen of England to the Queen's Corgis. 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:48.360 Everybody on Earth has got to go, and everybody not 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:51.560 on Earth too. The world has long been interested in 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:55.240 the bathroom habits of astronauts. We ourselves devoted whole articles 0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:57.960 and podcasts to it. But the truth is that it 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:01.680 hasn't always been terribly high. Astronauts on the first of 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:04.599 Pollo missions literally had bags taped to their bums to 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:07.080 catch the crud. Alan Shepherd had to sit in a 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:09.640 soggy suit before taking off to become the first American 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:13.440 in space. It's gotten better. The International Space Station has 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:16.080 a vacuum section system that allows for a clean and 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:19.160 easy disposal. Once waste is collected, the solid waste is 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:22.720 flowing into space and urine is converted into possible drinking water. 0:05:23.440 --> 0:05:25.400 And if the I s S were to lose pressure 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:28.520 and astronauts were confined to their suits, well, the I 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:30.760 s S is only a few hours away from Earth, 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:33.960 not long enough to cause huge harm if its crew 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:36.880 were left to wallow in their filth, and while they're 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:41.000 in their suits, diapers not exactly sustainable or healthy for 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:44.520 more than a few hours. But as NASA considers missions 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:47.360 far away from Earth on places like Mars, the space 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:50.600 agency now needs some ideas about how astronauts can contain 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:53.440 their waste in a space suit. So they're asking the 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:56.520 public to help troubleshoot the issue and dangling a thirty 0:05:56.839 --> 0:06:00.400 dollar prize for an elegant solution. Something to keep in 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:03.520 mind before you get busy designing. NASA needs a solution 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:05.880 that allows a fecal, urine and menstrual waste to be 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:08.320 rooted away from the body, and that can hold up 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:11.760 to six days of waste. Here's a fun fact. NASA 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:14.280 has estimated that astronauts would need to excrete seventy five 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.599 grams that's two point six ounces of fecal matter per day. 0:06:17.640 --> 0:06:20.520 But the folks that Encyclopedia Britannica say that the average 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:23.159 human drops off between one hundred and two hundred and 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:25.960 fifty grams that's between three point five and eight point 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:29.760 eight ounces. What's up with the discrepancy. Maybe the space 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:33.479 diet produces less feces. Also, the proposed solution has to 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:36.920 work in microgravity, and of course there's not a lot 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:40.800 of space to work with. Astronauts suits already contain a 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:43.680 lot of important equipment, and there's not loads of room 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:47.039 for extra bulk. Got an idea? Get working? The contest 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:50.400 opened on October eleven, and all submissions are due by December. 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:54.839 Sorry for our delay and response. For more information, you 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:58.400 can head on over to hero x dot com slash 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:04.760 space poop. Finally, this week senior writer and Stuff to 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:07.760 Blow your Mind. Co host Robert Lamb raises questions about 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:15.120 some beloved Christmas traditions, both low and old. In Court 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:18.560 mc McCarthy's The Crossing, the author wrote, deep in each 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:22.000 man is the knowledge that something knows of his existence, 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:27.320 something knows and cannot be fled nor hid from. America's 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:30.800 elder scribe of philosophic grimness was of course talking about 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:33.960 God here or whatever counts for God and the violent 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:38.080 delights of McCarthy's Border trilogy. But his grim pronouncement may 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:41.640 well extend beyond the unblinking eye of divine judgment and 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:45.920 into our modern holiday traditions. I speak, of course, of 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:50.200 the Elf on the Shelf. Now, perhaps this most foul 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:53.880 of Santa's Mermadon's has yet to infiltrate your house. After all, 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:56.240 they were only unleashed in two thousand five with the 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:59.920 publication of Chandra Belle's children's book. In the years to follow, 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:03.080 the elf dolls made their way into millions of homes, 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:06.640 each with Bell's scripture to govern the practices surrounding their 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:11.080 supernatural presence. Yes, uninitiated, the Elf on the Shelf comes 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:15.400 with rules. Each parent is encouraged to establish the following guidelines. 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:18.840 Number one, thou shalt not touch the elf, lest the 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:22.200 sorcery of its creation drained from its form, isolating it 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:25.680 forever from Santa's realm. And number two, the elf shalt 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:29.360 neither move nor speak while its human subjects remain awake, 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:33.840 confining its unnatural movements to the inky, black dead of night. 0:08:34.480 --> 0:08:37.640 The elf watches, the elf waits. The elf reports all 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:41.800 childhood behaviors back to its bearded polar master, so that 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:46.239 he might exact his holiday judgment upon them. Stephen Nissenbaum, 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:50.200 author of The Battle for Christmas, even likens traditional Christmas is, 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:53.880 what with their crampuses and coal threats, to quote many 0:08:54.000 --> 0:08:57.520 days of doom. The elf seems an extension of that. 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:00.840 Toys or no toys, candy or no andy. For the 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:04.880 materialistic child, the stakes could scarcely be any higher. It's 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:07.680 a formative time, after all, when children learned to navigate 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:12.280 the waters of social responsibilities to human and inhuman agents alike. 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:15.319 As such, it's no wonder that parents still argue over 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:19.200 the potential harm of invoking Santa's magic on young children. 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:21.680 The elf on the shelf, however, has not lived among 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:25.080 our holiday traditions quite as long. It's less shielded from 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:28.520 our distrust and revulsion, and perhaps we feel this way 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.280 for a good reason. In the two thousand fifteen article 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:33.280 Who's the Boss, The Elf on the Shelf and the 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:38.439 Normalization of Surveillance, authors Laura Pinto and Selena Namoran questioned 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:42.960 to what extent this vile wooden idol indoctrinates children into 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:47.320 the mindset of the panopticon to refresh? The panopticon, which 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:50.800 means all seeing, was a theoretical prison design championed by 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:56.000 utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham in seventy seven. The prison would, 0:09:56.080 --> 0:10:00.520 in theory, require minimal supervision while offering an effective, sufficient 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:04.520 means of regulating a prison population. Cells would line the 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:08.240 interior walls of a vast enclosure, and a central tower 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:12.120 ensured that any given prisoner might suffer the guard's scrutiny 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:15.840 at any moment. The Panopticon was never built as Bentham 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:20.520 envisioned it, though numerous facilities would later cite panopticonic influences 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:22.959 in their design. For the most part, the idea of 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:26.559 the panopticon lives on only as a metaphor for surveillance. 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:30.839 Twentieth century French historian and philosopher Michael Fouco expounded much 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:35.200 on this notion, stating that modern disciplinary society breaks down 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:42.440 to three key governmental techniques to control the masses. Hierarchical observation, normalizing, judgment, 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:47.000 and examination. Welcome to the panopticon. The elf on the shelf, 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:51.120 unblinking in its lifeless gaze but imbued with parentally induced 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:54.600 holiday magic, would seem to offer all three of these 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:58.880 panopticonic techniques. It serves in Santa's hierarchy and stands as 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:02.800 a symbol of you liiquitous judgment and examination. These factors, 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:06.480 Pinto and Nomoran argue, make the elf particularly problematic in 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:10.040 our information age. Sure, Santa was always watching you. He 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:12.200 knows when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake. We 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:15.160 get it. But human agents always mitigated, either in the 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:18.640 form of holiday stress parents or perhaps one of Santa's 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:21.520 helpers at the shopping mall. The elf on the shelf, however, 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:24.560 is far from human. It can't be bargained with, it 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:27.920 can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity or remorse 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:31.600 or fear, and it absolutely will not stop, you know, 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:35.000 until Christmas morning, at least in this time of hacked 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:38.640 emails and Pilford eye cloud, photos of doxing attacks, and 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:42.640 professor watch lists. Pinto and no Moorn's words of caution 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:46.480 ring all the more true. Quote. While the elf may 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:49.600 be part of a pre Christmas game and might help 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:53.080 manage children's behaviors and the weeks leading up to the holiday, 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:57.280 it also sets children up for dangerous, uncritical acceptance of 0:11:57.360 --> 0:12:00.720 power structures. Perhaps it's time to rise is up against 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:04.040 elvin oppression. Perhaps it's time to cast down their likenesses, 0:12:04.400 --> 0:12:07.680 question authority, and remind our children that privacy still exists 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:11.640 and that the unblinking, judging eye of eternal surveillance is 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:14.720 not free to roam our homes. Perhaps we can even 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:17.360 stick to those values as long as it takes us 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:21.320 to lose patience with Junior's morning checklist, all the while 0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:30.720 the Polar Panopticon waits patiently. That's our show for this week. 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:33.320 Thank you so much for tuning in. Further thanks to 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:36.880 our audio producer Dylan Fagan and our editorial liaison Christopher 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:39.960 Hasseiotas filling in for Alice in louder Milk. Subscribe now 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:42.040 for more of the latest science news and send us 0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:44.200 links to anything you'd like to hear us cover plus 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:47.080 the name of your favorite hip hop album, classic, recent, whatever. 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:49.520 You can send us an email at now podcast at 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:52.360 how stuff works dot com, and of course, for lots 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:54.720 more stories like these, head on over to our home 0:12:54.800 --> 0:13:07.680 planet Now dot how stuff works dot com.