1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh, and 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:09,119 Speaker 1: there's Chuck and this is short Stuff coming at you 3 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: with a question I had never thought of until I 4 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: was on our old site how Stuff Works, and came 5 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:20,239 Speaker 1: across an article by Nathan Chandler which asked a surprising 6 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: question that makes a lot of sense if you think 7 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: about it. Do fish which spend their lives in the 8 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: water ever get thirsty? It's a great question, and I 9 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:35,239 Speaker 1: immediately thought of possibly one of my favorite, definitely one 10 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:37,879 Speaker 1: of my favorite all time comedies, maybe my favorite, the 11 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,520 Speaker 1: movie Arthur. I thought you were gonna say family Ties 12 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:45,519 Speaker 1: movie comedies Arthur. When Arthur says I must think that 13 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: fish get awfully tired of eating seafood. That's one that's 14 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,240 Speaker 1: not even one of the good lines. I've never seen 15 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: that one you're talking about, Arthur. Yeah, with Russell Brand. 16 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 1: Oh god, you know I'm mad, I am right now. Yeah, 17 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:04,679 Speaker 1: I know you're a big Russell Brand fan. Even though 18 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: Hodgeman was in that version, I think he really was. 19 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 1: Um and uh yeah, that's my big connection to it. 20 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,759 Speaker 1: That's his claim to fame. So h No, I haven't 21 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: seen Arthur, but I will just to keep this one going. 22 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 1: How about that? Wait, you haven't seen the original either? 23 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: For real, I've never seen any Arthur dude. It's one 24 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:26,039 Speaker 1: of the best comedies of all time. Uh. Doesn't it 25 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: have that song between the Moon and New York City? Yeah? 26 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:31,120 Speaker 1: One of the great movie theme songs of all time. 27 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:33,279 Speaker 1: It is a good theme song. I know it's crazy, 28 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: but it's true. Um. Nice. Uh. So let's keep going though, 29 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: because we need to get back to this question. Do 30 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,399 Speaker 1: fish ever get thirsty? Right? Uh? And the first thing 31 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 1: that Nathan Chandler points out, which is, you know, very 32 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: easy and I think Nathan interviewed some people, uh that 33 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: no more than we do about fish and their needs 34 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: and wants. But the first thing they point out is like, 35 00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: that's kind of a weird question because you can't really 36 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: tell whether an animal like thinks I'm thirsty or not. 37 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: The real question is basically, do fish drink and do 38 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: they need to hydrate like we do? Yeah, And Nathan 39 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:10,520 Speaker 1: Chainer is like, come on, this is what I meant 40 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: pencil neck right? Um? So uh that that is ultimately 41 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:19,399 Speaker 1: the question that we're after. So um, if you are 42 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: ever thirsty, you know, there's it's kind of like hunger, 43 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 1: like you have a sensation that tells you you need 44 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: to eat food. We need energy. This is the same 45 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:29,360 Speaker 1: thing your body sends you all sorts of cues and 46 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: signals that says you need to drink some water because 47 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:34,600 Speaker 1: we need to be hydrated. And the whole point of 48 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: staying hydrated is not just to drink water, which is fun, 49 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:41,520 Speaker 1: but that's not the point. The point is that we 50 00:02:41,639 --> 00:02:44,360 Speaker 1: have all sorts of like little minerals and salts and 51 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: electro lights, according to the good people at Gatorade, in 52 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: our bodies that we need to keep at a certain level, 53 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:52,919 Speaker 1: and we keep them at a certain level of certain 54 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: concentration by regulating our water intake. Right, So that's how 55 00:02:57,520 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 1: we stay hydrated. And that's the point of staying hydrated. 56 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: And it turns out that fish basically have to do 57 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: the same thing despite living in water, or actually I 58 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: guess because they live in water. Yeah, This whole process 59 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:17,240 Speaker 1: is called osma regulation, and fish do this. You know, 60 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: we're very closely related to fish, so it's not the 61 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 1: most different process for them. Even though we don't have gills. 62 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 1: It would be kind of fun if we did, but 63 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: we don't. But their kidneys are a big part of 64 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: this obviously in maintaining just like with us, those salt levels. Uh. 65 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: And then they do have those gills, and those gills 66 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 1: have cells that exchange water and salt, and again just 67 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: trying to keep the right uh electro political balance. Yeah, 68 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 1: I think that's a great way to put it. Or 69 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: I could just say electro light balance. Okay, I like 70 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: the electrolytical all right, so you're gonna keep it in. Well, 71 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: I mean I'm not gonna I'm not gonna cut it out. 72 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 1: I've said much dumber things. I don't think it's dumb 73 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 1: at all. I think sing and chuck. I have to 74 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 1: say if if that isn't a term, you're just coined 75 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: a term, because I'm going to spend the rest of 76 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: my day's promoting electrolytical Okay, great. So, Um, the it 77 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: turns out though, this OSMO regulation, I guess the um, 78 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: the process or the systems or the components for carrying 79 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 1: out OSMO regulation are the same basically across fish species. 80 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 1: You know, similar enough that you could call them the 81 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,800 Speaker 1: same for our purposes today. Um. But what they do 82 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:34,240 Speaker 1: or how they do it, or what their goal is 83 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: depends on what kind of water the fish lives in 84 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,160 Speaker 1: salt water or freshwater, or if the fish can kind 85 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:42,600 Speaker 1: of transcend both kinds of water. And I propose we 86 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,120 Speaker 1: take a break and come back and talk about the 87 00:04:45,160 --> 00:05:20,600 Speaker 1: setup that I just did. Sounds great, all right, freshwater fish? 88 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:22,919 Speaker 1: Should we start there? Yeah? I think so. It's a 89 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:25,719 Speaker 1: good place to start your common large mouth bass. Let's say, 90 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: sure that can eat a squirrel during a squirrel stampede. 91 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:34,600 Speaker 1: That's right. I forgot about that. So I learned a 92 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,679 Speaker 1: couple of interesting things here. One is that freshwater fish 93 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:41,880 Speaker 1: don't drink like actively because it's just gonna dilute their 94 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,480 Speaker 1: blood and other fluids in their body really quickly. Um. 95 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 1: Obviously they're what's inside their body, their tissue and their 96 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:51,480 Speaker 1: blood is going to be saltier than where they are 97 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: because they're in freshwater. Uh, so they would just act 98 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,799 Speaker 1: as a big salt water or I guess salt sponge 99 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: if they were to drink too much. So. Uh. The 100 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: other thing I learned is that they urinate. They're constantly urinating, right, 101 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:08,920 Speaker 1: that's the only way to say it. And I did 102 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:11,039 Speaker 1: not know this. So the and the urine they pe 103 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: out is super super watery. Um, because again, they're they're 104 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:19,440 Speaker 1: retaining and keeping ahold of as much of those salts 105 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: and minerals and electro lights that they possibly can um 106 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 1: because it's just they're not getting it from their surrounding environment, 107 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: that is the fresh water. So like you said, they 108 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: they they they are preventing from their solution in their 109 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:40,360 Speaker 1: blood from becoming two diluted. That's the point of their 110 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: OSMO regulation. Correct, that's right for the freshies, okay. And 111 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:47,280 Speaker 1: so if they do it correctly, if their cells and 112 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: their gills and their kidneys are working properly, they're streaming 113 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 1: out there accepting salt for the body wherever it can 114 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: get it, and they're peeing out tons and tons of 115 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: water that they're taking on and keep being the salt. 116 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:04,360 Speaker 1: But um, if you go to a salt water like 117 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:09,039 Speaker 1: the Sea saltwater area, you find pretty much the opposite 118 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: process happening for the same reason. Yes, And the cool 119 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 1: thing here is that saltwater fish actually drink through their mouths, 120 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: and they drink through their mouths to stay hydrated. So 121 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: they're drinking this ocean water and so the big rub 122 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: there is they have to avoid losing water too much 123 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 1: to that salty environment. Out there, and they also have 124 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: to keep from getting too salty, Like you know, they're 125 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: drinking in the saltwater and they have to keep that 126 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:39,680 Speaker 1: excess salt out, so their kidneys are kind of not 127 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: working over time. They're doing their regular job, like they 128 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 1: don't know how hard they're working compared to other kidneys, 129 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 1: but their kidneys are removing that salt and conserving the water. 130 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: And then they have those salt cells and their gills 131 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 1: pumping salt into the water. So again you have that 132 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: same exchange going on. It's just sort of backwards or 133 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: the opposite. And you can imagine, and their urine is 134 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: super salty urine and um kind of light on the water, right, 135 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:08,160 Speaker 1: it's super concentrated solution that they're peeing out. I would 136 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 1: think so, And then I said this earlier. There are 137 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: fish that can exist in both freshwater and saltwater. And 138 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: now that you know right now that you know about 139 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,280 Speaker 1: OSMO regulation, it's like, well, wait a minute, how does 140 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 1: that work? And you can take the salmon as a 141 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 1: really good example, because when the salmon go to spawn, 142 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,680 Speaker 1: they go to spawn and freshwater, usually upstream in some 143 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:32,320 Speaker 1: river because they like to make things hard on themselves, 144 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: which means that when they come to spawn, they leave 145 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: their saltwater habitat and enter a freshwater habitat. Yeah, and 146 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:43,320 Speaker 1: it was it was interesting when I was reading this, 147 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 1: I was kind of like, well, how in the world, 148 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:47,720 Speaker 1: like do they have had their organs evolved to be 149 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: able to do both? And it kind of has in 150 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:53,320 Speaker 1: a way, but not both at the same time, because 151 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 1: salmon are really smart. So what they do is they 152 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:00,200 Speaker 1: don't go straight from their freshwater right into the saltwa water. 153 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: They hang out a little bit and what they what's 154 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:07,319 Speaker 1: called like a staging area before they complete their migration, 155 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:10,199 Speaker 1: and it's located in a space where they get a 156 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: little bit of the freshwater and a little bit of 157 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 1: the salt water and they just they just hang out 158 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:19,560 Speaker 1: until they regulate, right. Um. And it's just it's as 159 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:22,320 Speaker 1: simple as that that they use brackish water to kind 160 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:25,440 Speaker 1: of like prep themselves for the changeover. And I would 161 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:28,040 Speaker 1: guess they do this the opposite when they go back 162 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: into the sea again or the saltwater environment. The problem is, 163 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 1: like everything, there's a there's a conundrum that they're facing 164 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 1: thanks to climate change where um sea ice is breaking 165 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:44,480 Speaker 1: up more and more traveling further and further south and 166 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 1: into um salmon's breeding grounds and there it's actually the 167 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:52,200 Speaker 1: fresh water that's melting off of the sea ice is 168 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: affecting the brackish water so that the salmon have less 169 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 1: chance of a to to use that area as a 170 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 1: stage area. Yeah, it kind of just screws up their 171 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:05,560 Speaker 1: staging area because they're they're used to that area being 172 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 1: having a certain amount of salinity, and then when you 173 00:10:08,679 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: introduce that melting sea ice, it just screws everything up. 174 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 1: Yet another thing that's happening. It is so chuck. How 175 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:23,160 Speaker 1: much seawater can you ingest at a time, like me, um, 176 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: I don't know, three and a half percent of my 177 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:29,160 Speaker 1: body weight, No, three and a half percent salt, I 178 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,679 Speaker 1: think by weight. Like, you know, if you're trapped, We've 179 00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:34,559 Speaker 1: talked about this before, if you're like stranded out in 180 00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 1: the ocean, you know you will die if you just 181 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:40,400 Speaker 1: continue to drink seawater because you're gonna dehydrate, but you 182 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: can't drink a little bit of it. Yeah, I don't 183 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 1: know if we should advise anybody doing to do that though, 184 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:49,439 Speaker 1: I don't think so. But you're you're not gonna die like, 185 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:52,080 Speaker 1: all right, let's forget your stranded You're just on the 186 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:54,240 Speaker 1: beach one day and you go, like, get a small 187 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:57,199 Speaker 1: cup of ocean water and drink it. You'll be fine. 188 00:10:57,440 --> 00:10:59,600 Speaker 1: I don't think we should tell people to do that either. 189 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:04,200 Speaker 1: Let's just stay away from the encouraging drinking seawater in general. 190 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 1: All right, how about this, You're in your house and 191 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:09,360 Speaker 1: you take some very clean water and clean table salt 192 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:12,319 Speaker 1: and mix it together. You could drink that and you 193 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:14,440 Speaker 1: a little bit of that and you'd be okay. No, 194 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:16,960 Speaker 1: I'm still not okay with that either. All right, well, 195 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:18,439 Speaker 1: then why do you ask how much we could drink? 196 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:20,720 Speaker 1: I just want to know how much you personally could. 197 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:30,160 Speaker 1: Is short? Stuff out? Short stuff is out? Everybody. Stuff 198 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:32,160 Speaker 1: you should know is a production of I Heart Radio. 199 00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 1: For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the i heart 200 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:38,160 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 201 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:38,920 Speaker 1: favorite shows.