1 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Hey, Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind. My name 2 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:11,000 Speaker 1: is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick. In it's Saturday. 3 00:00:11,039 --> 00:00:13,240 Speaker 1: Time to go into the vault for a classic. Today 4 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: we are retrieving last year's Ignobel Prizes episode. That's right, 5 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:21,639 Speaker 1: This is a tradition for us. Basically what happens is 6 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:26,799 Speaker 1: generally in mid to late September um the Ignoble Prizes 7 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:30,639 Speaker 1: come out. These are prizes that celebrate the weird and 8 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:35,519 Speaker 1: the at times humorous in legitimate scientific investigation. Uh, and 9 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 1: it always makes for a fun episode. We tend to 10 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: come back and do them after Halloween. Is generally our 11 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:44,599 Speaker 1: first post Halloween episode or thereabouts. And so yeah, this 12 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:47,559 Speaker 1: is last year's selection, and we'll give your heads up 13 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: that the next new episode of Stuff to Blow Your 14 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: Mind will be some selections from the Ignoble Prizes. Let's 15 00:00:55,480 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: jump right in. Welcome to Stuff to Your Mind, a 16 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio's House to Works. Hey, Welcome 17 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name is Robert 18 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and we are revisiting a 19 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: yearly tradition. That's right. Every year, pretty much about this time, 20 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:24,480 Speaker 1: we look and see what was honored at this year's 21 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: Ignoble Prizes. The prizes themselves come out. I believe that 22 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,240 Speaker 1: the end of September or the very beginning of October 23 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:33,680 Speaker 1: timing for us, Yeah, because that's when we want to 24 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: get into our Halloween content, and so we always do. 25 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:40,119 Speaker 1: We just steamroll ahead into the Halloween content. And then afterwards, uh, 26 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:42,040 Speaker 1: you know, after especially after the dust is sort of 27 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 1: settled on the Ignobele Prizes, the mainstream media coverage of 28 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: the event has died away, then we come back and 29 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 1: we picked through the winners and sometimes we cover absolutely everything. 30 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: Sometimes we cover a few choice selections here and there, 31 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: and that's going to be the mo all we're going 32 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 1: to be employing here. Yeah, we're just gonna take a 33 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 1: look at a few highlights that stuck out to us. 34 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 1: So for those who haven't heard before, a quick refresher 35 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: on the Ignobles. Yeah, they've been awarded each year since 36 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: by the publication the Annals of Improbable Research. The purpose 37 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: of the award, according to the editors of Improbable Researches 38 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: to quote honor achievements that first make people laugh and 39 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 1: then make them think. Furthermore, they stressed that the ten 40 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:30,359 Speaker 1: prizes aren't necessarily meant to pass judgment on the winners. Instead, 41 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:34,920 Speaker 1: the official website emphasizes that the prizes quote celebrate the unusual, 42 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: honor the imaginative, and spur people's interests in science, medicine, 43 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:44,519 Speaker 1: and technology. And the principal individual here is editor Mark Abrams. So, yeah, 44 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: every year it is just a it's you know, it's 45 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:49,079 Speaker 1: making fun of the idea a little bit of the 46 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: Nobel Prizes, uh, which which celebrate, you know, key advancements 47 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: and and and key examples of work that are really 48 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: pushing forward are our understand ending of ourselves and the universe, nature. 49 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: And the Ignoble Prizes tend to highlight more absurd intreats, 50 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 1: but none not necessarily intreaes that are you know, that 51 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: are completely useless. And I think that's an important thing 52 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: to stress, and something we've tried to stress in the 53 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:17,639 Speaker 1: past when covering the event is that studies that are 54 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:22,799 Speaker 1: honored by the Ignoble Prizes maybe snick or inducing. They 55 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: may seem a little silly at first glance, but they 56 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: are all works of real science, of real ingenuity, and 57 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: if nothing else, they are expanding hoping to expand the 58 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: the threshold of human understanding. Yeah, I mean, I think 59 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: one of our favorite things to explore on this show 60 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: is realizing that there's an interesting question in a place 61 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: you wouldn't have expected to find it, and that's what 62 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:51,160 Speaker 1: a lot of this research does. And so on that note, 63 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: let us turn to the first Ignoble Prize winning study 64 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: that we would like to highlight here today, and that 65 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:01,560 Speaker 1: is the two I was in a nineteen Award winner 66 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 1: in physics, awarded to Patricia yang at All for studying 67 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: how and why wombats make a cube shaped poop. Wombats 68 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:15,119 Speaker 1: are so cute they are there. They are so adorable 69 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: to look at. I mean, obviously the babies, any baby 70 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:20,200 Speaker 1: animal is going to be adorable, but even the adults 71 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: look like living Teddy Bear creatures, like living Teddy bear 72 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,360 Speaker 1: marsu fiels. I bet they're just nightmarish, you know, it's 73 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 1: given how cute they are. I'm sure they kill thousands 74 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:32,919 Speaker 1: of people every year. Now, I mean, to be to 75 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: be clear, they can protect themselves, and sometimes they do 76 00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: harm humans if provoked or I think there have been 77 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 1: cases where like there was a wombat that had the 78 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:44,560 Speaker 1: mange or something like that and was therefore a little 79 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: more agitated. So yes, there they can. They are kind 80 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: of tough customers in their own right own right, They're 81 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:53,280 Speaker 1: not straight up wolverines or anything, but they can. They 82 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: can look after themselves. So this particular paper, how do 83 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: wombats make cubed pooh uh? Came? This was presented at 84 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: the seventy furth Annual Meeting of the APS Division of 85 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 1: Fluid Dynamics, And I believe this is presented in Atlanta, Georgia, 86 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: where of course we record the show. Yeah, I think 87 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:13,720 Speaker 1: at least part of the team is Georgia Tech, right, yeah, yeah, 88 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: So the species here, vombat us your sinus, is a 89 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:21,560 Speaker 1: pudgy herbivore roughly the size of a kind of a 90 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 1: thick dog, like a really thick dog, and it's a marsupial. 91 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: They have pouches, but since they're burrowers, they have backward 92 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: pouches so as not to fill the pouch up with 93 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 1: dirt and endanger the young one that may be within 94 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: the pouch. So interesting, so like if they're pulling themselves 95 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,720 Speaker 1: forward on their belly through the dirt, the dirt does 96 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 1: not go in, right, yeah, because we can all imagine 97 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:46,799 Speaker 1: the cartoon scenario. They're just filling up with dirt, right. 98 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: They have a slow metabolism. They feed mostly on grasses 99 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:54,359 Speaker 1: and roots, and they're largely nocturnal or crepuscular, you know, 100 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:56,279 Speaker 1: so they're gonna you know, they're not going to venture out, 101 00:05:56,560 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: usually in the brightest light of the day. They may 102 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:03,159 Speaker 1: come out though on particularly overcast days, and they can again, 103 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: they can put up a fight if threatened. And you'll 104 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: find them in Australia and in Tasmania. They're cute. They're 105 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: not endangered, despite being treated as vermin by some farmers. 106 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: And oh I love this. Groups of wombats are are 107 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 1: sometimes called a mob, sometimes just called a group, but 108 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 1: sometimes they're also known as a wisdom of wombats. Oh man, 109 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: that's better than a murder of crows. That is. I 110 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:29,280 Speaker 1: just imagine these wise, cute, elder wombats that have so 111 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:31,240 Speaker 1: so much wisdom to share with the world. I don't 112 00:06:31,279 --> 00:06:33,679 Speaker 1: mean to be mean, but they don't necessarily look wise. 113 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: They do look they look more clever than wise. Well 114 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:40,240 Speaker 1: what would you what would you refer to them as 115 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 1: It's like a snuggle of wombats. It would be a 116 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: snuggy of wombats. That's pretty good. A slank it of wombats, 117 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 1: A slank it of wombats. I like that. But one 118 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,719 Speaker 1: of the more puzzling attributes of the wombat has long 119 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,840 Speaker 1: been their poop, because it is cubic. And we're not 120 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:02,279 Speaker 1: talking necessarily perfectly cubic in a Mattris geometrical sense, but 121 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: yet for a world mostly devoid, pretty much completely devoid 122 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 1: of natural squares, certainly natural biological squares, this is pretty 123 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:15,040 Speaker 1: darned cubic. Yeah, totally. I mean, if you come across 124 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 1: these things in nature, you would think they were made 125 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 1: by humans. Yeah. They look kind of like chocolate marshmallows, 126 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 1: like really square chocolate marshmallows. If you see a picture 127 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: of them, yeah, not the cylindrical marshmallows, like the more 128 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: old school like carved out ones with corners. Granted, I 129 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: think the images were both looking at here, they're dried 130 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: a little bit, but still even fresh out the shoot. 131 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: They are there. They are cubic in nature. It is 132 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: really hard to imagine how these things are made just picked. 133 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know how much time one wants 134 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 1: to spend contemplating a wombad anus, but like, it just 135 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: doesn't seem like a normal thing that would emerge physically 136 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: from a what I would assume to be rounded anus. Well, 137 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: the wombat anus is not immune for the the inquiry 138 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:03,880 Speaker 1: of science, and that's where Yang and her team come in. 139 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: Uh And again, yeah, Yang is local, based out of 140 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: the School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech, where she's 141 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:11,800 Speaker 1: a post doctoral fellow. Uh So, since she's local, maybe 142 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: we should have her on the on the show. Because 143 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: she's not just a one time Ignoble winner, she's a 144 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: two time Ignoble winner because she and co author David 145 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 1: who also shared the two thousand fifteen Ignoble Physics Prize 146 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 1: for testing the biological principle that nearly all mammals and 147 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:30,560 Speaker 1: empty their bladders in about twenty one seconds plus or 148 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:33,079 Speaker 1: minus thirteen seconds. I don't know the plus or minus 149 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:36,160 Speaker 1: thirteen seconds buys you a pretty big window there, but yeah, 150 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,440 Speaker 1: I find myself very often thinking about this one in 151 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:43,480 Speaker 1: the bathroom. So, having turned away from the world of urine, 152 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:47,920 Speaker 1: the researchers were interested by this puzzle of the wombat poop, 153 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: so they looked at how differences and wombats digestive processes 154 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:57,439 Speaker 1: and soft tissue structures informed this curious structure. So they investigated. 155 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:00,400 Speaker 1: They used the digestive tracks of wombats that had been 156 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:06,120 Speaker 1: euthanized following motor vehicle collisions in Tasmania. Uh so you 157 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:07,960 Speaker 1: have to you have to have some actual bodies to 158 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: look at there, and then it seems like a reasonable 159 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:12,040 Speaker 1: way to go about getting them. They found that the 160 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:15,920 Speaker 1: shape occurred towards the very end of the intestines. As 161 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 1: the matter became increasingly firm, it became clear that quote 162 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 1: varying elastic properties of wombats intestinal walls allowed for the 163 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:28,680 Speaker 1: cubic formation. And the result is a cube, the only 164 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 1: organic cube and nature, they say, and it's not made 165 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: yang stresses by the two typical human methods of creating cubes. 166 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:38,760 Speaker 1: We because we tend to mold a cube or we 167 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:40,960 Speaker 1: cut a cube. Right, we slice a cube out of 168 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:45,560 Speaker 1: something via you know, subtractive manufacturing. But this is a 169 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: third way. This is the way of the wombat where 170 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 1: it is it is It is formed through the you know, 171 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 1: the excretion process of the lower intestines. So this would 172 00:09:56,920 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 1: be not cutting a cube, not molding a cube, maybe 173 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:03,680 Speaker 1: pinching a cue cube yeah, pinching cube and then excreting 174 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:06,720 Speaker 1: a cube. Now you're probably wondering, well, what is the 175 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 1: why of all of this? Right, if the wombat is 176 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:11,719 Speaker 1: doing something entirely different with its poop, there has to 177 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:14,200 Speaker 1: be a reason. Well, scientists believe it comes down to 178 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:18,200 Speaker 1: the fact that these burrowing nocturnal herbivores depend largely on 179 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:21,680 Speaker 1: their sense of smell. They largely communicate by smell, and therefore, 180 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 1: like various other animals that are also smell dependent, their 181 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,400 Speaker 1: fecal matter is their calling card. I mean, you have 182 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:30,959 Speaker 1: a dog, you know how the how they behave that 183 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:34,560 Speaker 1: the sort of the the the the heightened importance of 184 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:36,800 Speaker 1: fecal matter in the dog world. Yeah, out on a 185 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:39,800 Speaker 1: walk in the neighborhood. Poop is like a Facebook status update. 186 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:41,960 Speaker 1: It's like, you know that you're interested, you want to 187 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 1: check it out, Like we just see something we don't 188 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 1: want to step in. Maybe the in the sense data 189 00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: there is just telling us not to step in it. 190 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: But to a dog with heightened, far heightened sensibilities, there's 191 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:56,840 Speaker 1: a lot of data in the sense emerging from that poop. 192 00:10:56,880 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 1: It's interesting stuff. And so while it's something like a 193 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:02,160 Speaker 1: while something like a cat hides its poop because it 194 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:04,200 Speaker 1: doesn't want to be known to either it's many prey 195 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:08,480 Speaker 1: animals or it's many predators. Wombats are a different matter. Today. 196 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 1: Wombats don't have many natural predators, uh so certainly adult wombats, 197 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 1: and they use their piled feces to mark territory and 198 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 1: to communicate with other wombats. And and they don't live 199 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:23,839 Speaker 1: on a prairie. Their ups and down to the topography 200 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,520 Speaker 1: of their natural habitat. And placing their poops at higher 201 00:11:27,559 --> 00:11:30,880 Speaker 1: elevations such as a tops, some rocks, on top of 202 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:34,120 Speaker 1: a log, or on a ledge, it makes it stand 203 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 1: out more visually to other wombats. And again they don't 204 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:41,280 Speaker 1: have great great a sense of sight, but still you 205 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:43,840 Speaker 1: put it up there on a ledge, more wombats are 206 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:45,559 Speaker 1: able to see it, and then the wombats can come 207 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:49,760 Speaker 1: in and take a more informed a smell of the 208 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 1: wombat poop and learn something about about its maker. So 209 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: the wombat rectum is sort of designed by evolution to 210 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:03,360 Speaker 1: create poop monuments like testaments to the will of the 211 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:08,199 Speaker 1: wombat that occupies this territory, poop that stays put basically, 212 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:12,320 Speaker 1: which is interestingly quite the exact opposite of the round 213 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:16,160 Speaker 1: goat feces and many of you've probably seen emerging from 214 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:18,840 Speaker 1: the rear end of a goat, which is believed to 215 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: have evolved to roll downhill and essentially self hide in 216 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: hilly or mountainous terrain, so as better maybe to throw 217 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: off a cougar that could be pursuing yours. Right, Yeah, 218 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:31,080 Speaker 1: like for the goat, it's better that the poop just 219 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:34,200 Speaker 1: gets lost, but for the wombat, the wombat has very 220 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:38,360 Speaker 1: specific needs. They require the poop to remain in sight 221 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 1: and to be found. And so yeah, it's basically with 222 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:45,440 Speaker 1: the wombats, it's it's highly adaptive to be able to 223 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 1: poop cubes that stay put. It's part of their language 224 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:53,439 Speaker 1: of expression. Now, naturally there are potential bio mimetic possibilities here. 225 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:56,160 Speaker 1: In the future, yet, says, we might see human created 226 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:58,959 Speaker 1: cubes produced not by molding or cutting, but by this 227 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:02,200 Speaker 1: sort of excretion. So I can't help but wonder if 228 00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:04,960 Speaker 1: this will be the future of our Valentine's Day chocolates. 229 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:09,240 Speaker 1: Oh yes, like a like a mechanical industrial anus for 230 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:13,360 Speaker 1: pooping out chocolate and exactly that shape, exactly delicious. So 231 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:16,079 Speaker 1: that's the Physics Prize, and uh yeah, I just love 232 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,560 Speaker 1: this story because wombats are such interesting creatures and and 233 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:23,240 Speaker 1: this is ultimately extremely insightful like this is this is 234 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 1: not this is something that, yes, it's laughable because it's 235 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:29,200 Speaker 1: poop poop from a cute marsupial, But on the other hand, 236 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:34,520 Speaker 1: it's it really it illustrates something amazing about evolution, and 237 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:37,160 Speaker 1: it also highlights where we might go in the future 238 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,199 Speaker 1: when it comes to making cubicle candy. And if you 239 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:42,520 Speaker 1: want to learn more about this, Patricia Yang also has 240 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:46,079 Speaker 1: a website Patricia Yang dot net. Excellent. Well, maybe we 241 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:47,839 Speaker 1: should take a quick break and then when we come 242 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:54,000 Speaker 1: back we can talk about dirty money. All right, we're 243 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:58,920 Speaker 1: back dirty money. This is this year's Economics Prize for 244 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:02,840 Speaker 1: the IGNO Bells. This went to Habibkadek, Timothy A. Voss, 245 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:07,679 Speaker 1: and Andreas Voss for testing which country's paper money is 246 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:12,200 Speaker 1: best at transmitting dangerous bacteria. The paper was called Money 247 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:16,600 Speaker 1: and Transmission of Bacteria in Anti Microbial Resistance and Infection 248 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:20,520 Speaker 1: Control in and So the authors here start out with 249 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,000 Speaker 1: a pretty obvious fact. Cash gets handled a lot. It 250 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 1: changes hands. You touch it, I touch it. Tom Atkins 251 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:30,120 Speaker 1: probably touched it. Ted goes to the bathroom and then 252 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: he touches it. You sneeze, then you handle it. Then 253 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: you pay for your lunch with it. Somebody pays me 254 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:37,920 Speaker 1: the gambling debts they owe me with that same money. 255 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 1: It seems like a pretty obvious vector for disease transmission. 256 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:44,360 Speaker 1: When you were a kid, you probably heard this, and 257 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:46,760 Speaker 1: if you, like me, are a parent, you've probably said this, 258 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: don't put that money in your mouth. It's filthy, right, 259 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:53,920 Speaker 1: I mean, for some reason, when I was reading about 260 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 1: this research, the thing that kept popping into my mind 261 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:58,560 Speaker 1: is that episode of Parks and Recreation where you find 262 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 1: out that all the pawnees sit us drink from water 263 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:05,320 Speaker 1: fountains by putting their mouth over the fountain part. I 264 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:08,800 Speaker 1: had completely forgotten about this until you mentioned it. Yeah, 265 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 1: there was also a skit from the Upright Citizens Brigade right, Yes, 266 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:15,240 Speaker 1: that we can't go into full detail about here, but 267 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:19,240 Speaker 1: you can probably figure it out. Somebody who chose to 268 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: pay for things with the fouled pennies that they themselves 269 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:26,080 Speaker 1: had intentionally be fouled. Right. But as we know, not 270 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: all physical substrata are equally hospitable to germs So the 271 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 1: authors here tested different national currencies to see how well 272 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:40,560 Speaker 1: they transmitted various multi drug resistant bacteria, including methicillin resistance 273 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:44,120 Speaker 1: Staffylococcus aureus or m R s a UH, an extended 274 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: spectrum of beta lactomaces producing E. Coli and vancomycin resistant, 275 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:54,240 Speaker 1: and Tero coxi or vr E. So here's the method. 276 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:56,120 Speaker 1: The author has got a bunch of different bank notes 277 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: from different countries, including the euro, the US dollar, can 278 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 1: Adian dollar, the Croatian kuna, the Romanian lou, the Moroccan 279 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:08,480 Speaker 1: deer ham, and the Indian rupee. And they first of 280 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: course started off sterilizing the cash with UV radiation. You 281 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 1: don't want to bring in any pre existing germs, uh. 282 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,160 Speaker 1: Then they inoculated the money with incubated strains of the 283 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:21,080 Speaker 1: bacteria they were testing, and then the cash was left 284 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 1: out to dry for several lengths of time, I think 285 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,400 Speaker 1: three hours, six hours, and twenty four hours. And then 286 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:31,720 Speaker 1: the experimenters tested which bank notes allowed bacterial colonies to 287 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: survive after the various drying periods. And then in the 288 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: second experiment, they also tested the effects of people rubbing 289 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 1: the bank notes with sanitized hands. Would the would the 290 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 1: bacteria transfer from the infected bank notes to people's hands. 291 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,120 Speaker 1: So which money came out on top? Well, the Romanian 292 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:52,600 Speaker 1: lou was one of the most germ friendly. It yielded 293 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:56,760 Speaker 1: all three drug resistant pathogens after three and six hours 294 00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:59,480 Speaker 1: of drying, and it was the only currency that still 295 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: had a path the gen after a full day of drying, 296 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,920 Speaker 1: and that pathogen was vr E. The Canadian and US 297 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:08,159 Speaker 1: dollar yielded only m R s A. So I assume 298 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,120 Speaker 1: it's the U S money that Scrooge McDuck swims through 299 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:14,800 Speaker 1: in his vault. Oh well, maybe he had it purified, 300 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 1: you know, because I've always heard the scroogeman Duck was 301 00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: actually a bit of a germophobe. Oh yeah, they take 302 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:23,879 Speaker 1: after Howard use. Yeah. Okay. So the Euro yielded only 303 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:27,000 Speaker 1: the E. Coli strain after three and six hours, and 304 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:29,920 Speaker 1: vr E after three hours, the Rupie only v R E. 305 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:34,360 Speaker 1: The Croatian Kuna did not yield any of the pathogens 306 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:38,200 Speaker 1: at any period. So in the second stage of the experiment, 307 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:41,840 Speaker 1: they studied the transmission of bacteria from bank notes to 308 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 1: hands after rubbing. The Euro did not transmit bacteria to hands, 309 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,920 Speaker 1: but the US dollar and the Romanian Lou did, and 310 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:52,119 Speaker 1: they make sure to point out that all the money 311 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 1: was sterilized with UV radiation after the testing, so it 312 00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:59,960 Speaker 1: was safe to return to circulation. Uh. And the author 313 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,159 Speaker 1: there's also a point out that this means the type 314 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:08,600 Speaker 1: of bank note paper in circulation could have epidemiological implications. 315 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:12,200 Speaker 1: They think major variables here are probably like the materials 316 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,439 Speaker 1: used in creating the fiber of the bank notes. The 317 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:18,120 Speaker 1: Romanian lou, for instance, which seemed to be the most 318 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:22,640 Speaker 1: germ friendly, has plastic content that is designed to improve 319 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,680 Speaker 1: durability and make it harder to counterfeit, but it also 320 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:29,120 Speaker 1: seems to create a more pathogen friendly environment that many 321 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 1: of the other fibers and materials used in paper money 322 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:35,680 Speaker 1: don't create. So this would be like the when we've 323 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:38,200 Speaker 1: we've ever handled currency that basically has like a little 324 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:41,239 Speaker 1: clear plastic windows in it. Uh. Yeah, it could be that, 325 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:43,720 Speaker 1: or it could be more spread out through I don't 326 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:45,879 Speaker 1: know exactly what's going on with the Romanian loop, but 327 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:50,040 Speaker 1: it has polymer content that apparently is germ friendly or 328 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:53,880 Speaker 1: even you know, not just German friendly, but like antibiotic 329 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 1: resistant germ friendly. But the Croatian kuna, you can take 330 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:00,080 Speaker 1: that and just stick it directly in your mouth. No, 331 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:02,320 Speaker 1: I mean I wouldn't recommend that, but it seems like 332 00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:05,080 Speaker 1: in this particular test the kuna turned out very well. 333 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:08,239 Speaker 1: So maybe this is something other countries should consider and 334 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:11,200 Speaker 1: test out when designing the next generation of paper notes. 335 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:15,040 Speaker 1: Maybe take some inspiration from how the Croatian kuna has made. 336 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:18,159 Speaker 1: It seems to be an inhospitable environment for all of 337 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:21,080 Speaker 1: the pathogens tested. I don't know if this is something 338 00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:24,879 Speaker 1: that has ever even figured into currency design before, have 339 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:28,919 Speaker 1: like they ever considered how well currency transmits bacteria and 340 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:32,200 Speaker 1: just how gross money is. Yeah, I mean, granted there 341 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 1: is less of it that is used on a daily 342 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:39,280 Speaker 1: basis for many populations, uh, you know, using our cards 343 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:43,120 Speaker 1: more often, electronic payments, etcetera. But still there's a lot 344 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:46,160 Speaker 1: of cash out there, and it's troubling to think about how, 345 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:48,399 Speaker 1: you know, how dirty it is that you get sick 346 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:52,080 Speaker 1: for money? Uh, you know, not in a spiritual sense, 347 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:54,159 Speaker 1: which I think we're all accustomed to, but you know, 348 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:58,879 Speaker 1: in an actual biological sense. You know, even if it's kuna, 349 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,040 Speaker 1: I just say, don't put money in your mouth. Don't 350 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:04,359 Speaker 1: put it in there, Okay. So also I wanted to 351 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:06,760 Speaker 1: talk about one, not for a long time. Just a 352 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:10,879 Speaker 1: quick look at the two thousand nineteen Anatomy Prize which 353 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:16,720 Speaker 1: was awarded to Roger Musette and Boris bin Gudufa for 354 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:22,120 Speaker 1: measuring scrotal temperature asymmetry in naked and clothed postmen in France. 355 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,160 Speaker 1: And it's not just postman this. They still they study 356 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:28,320 Speaker 1: bus drivers too, and then people whose professions you don't 357 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:31,240 Speaker 1: even know. Uh. The original research was published in the 358 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:35,360 Speaker 1: journal Human Reproduction in two thousand seven. So humans are 359 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:40,080 Speaker 1: mammals showing bilaterally symmetrical anatomy. If you split us in 360 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:43,800 Speaker 1: half lengthwise, you will mostly see the halves as mirror 361 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:47,439 Speaker 1: images of one another. But we're not perfect examples of 362 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: bilateral symmetry. You've got internal organs that are oriented off center. 363 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:53,719 Speaker 1: Maybe the heart is a little more to one side, 364 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:56,200 Speaker 1: the liver more to the other, and so forth. Uh. 365 00:20:56,240 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 1: And apparently this extends to some aspects of the human scrotum. 366 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,679 Speaker 1: So the authors here begin by noting a discrepancy in 367 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:08,199 Speaker 1: the anatomical literature. Is the human scrotum on average hotter 368 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 1: on one side than the other. Uh? Some previous reports 369 00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:15,040 Speaker 1: said that it's equally hot on both sides, while others 370 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:18,000 Speaker 1: reported that the left side of the scrotum is generally 371 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:20,720 Speaker 1: hotter than the right. Interesting, and of course this comes 372 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:22,640 Speaker 1: down to the fact that, of course, on one side 373 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:24,720 Speaker 1: is one testicle, on the other side is the other testicle. 374 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 1: And of course part of the whole uh design of 375 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:31,520 Speaker 1: the testicles has to do with the fact that there's 376 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:34,840 Speaker 1: a there's an importance of maintaining certain temperatures. Absolutely, I 377 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:38,919 Speaker 1: mean this is highly reproductively significant information. Temperature of the 378 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 1: male reproductive organs plays a role in gamme eat production 379 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:46,440 Speaker 1: and thus in fertility. So in fact, the major biological 380 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:49,080 Speaker 1: purpose of the scrotum, as you alluded to, seems to 381 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:53,200 Speaker 1: be thermoregulation to move the testicles near or away from 382 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:55,400 Speaker 1: the body to help keep them as close to optimal 383 00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:58,800 Speaker 1: temperature as possible. Yeah, this is why sometimes if if 384 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:03,440 Speaker 1: fertility doctors may ask, okay, are you are you going 385 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 1: to a hot tub all the time? Do you have 386 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:08,200 Speaker 1: a really hot laptop setting on your lap a lot? 387 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:11,439 Speaker 1: You know these sorts of questions because you know they 388 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:15,800 Speaker 1: are susceptible to outside temperatures exactly. So, the authors here 389 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:18,440 Speaker 1: wanted to get new data to help clear up these 390 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:23,159 Speaker 1: discrepant reports, and so their methods were quote retrospective analyzes 391 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:26,720 Speaker 1: of scrotal temperatures in mid age twenty to fifty two years, 392 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:30,280 Speaker 1: measured every two minutes with probes connected to a data 393 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:34,560 Speaker 1: collector in three experiments, so three different experiments. They tested 394 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:37,520 Speaker 1: this out both naked and clothed in a number of 395 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:41,280 Speaker 1: different body positions. They also tested it on yes postal 396 00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:44,800 Speaker 1: workers who were working in a standing position for ninety 397 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:47,919 Speaker 1: minutes at a time, and they also tested out on 398 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:50,920 Speaker 1: bus drivers who were working in a sitting position for 399 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:54,480 Speaker 1: ninety minutes at a time, and they found that, especially 400 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:59,160 Speaker 1: in the clothed state, left scrotal temperature was higher, significantly 401 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:03,359 Speaker 1: higher than right scrotal temperature. Now why is this? They 402 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:07,639 Speaker 1: offered a number of possible explanations, including differences in blood 403 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:13,440 Speaker 1: flow and cutaneous heat receptors, bilateral differences in testicular volume, 404 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:16,000 Speaker 1: so if like one testicle is bigger than the other, 405 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:19,800 Speaker 1: that might also affect temperature. But then finally, one thing 406 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:23,240 Speaker 1: they pointed out as a possible explanation is the resting 407 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:26,439 Speaker 1: position of the penis, which really seems to naturally go 408 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:29,280 Speaker 1: more one to one side than the other, and they 409 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:33,119 Speaker 1: signed a study from nine by Bogart at All that 410 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 1: found that the penis is naturally positioned to the left 411 00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:40,040 Speaker 1: in about eighty nine percent of cases. So really it 412 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:43,480 Speaker 1: was an inside job the whole time. It seems very 413 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:46,399 Speaker 1: likely to be. This study is really interesting to and 414 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:48,600 Speaker 1: it is looking at like the clothed human and the 415 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:52,520 Speaker 1: naked human, especially because you really have to think at 416 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 1: times like how, how to what extent does clothing, you know, 417 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:01,440 Speaker 1: change the definition of the biological experience? You know, oh sure, 418 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:05,520 Speaker 1: I mean, clothing is a technological innovation. It comes fairly recently, 419 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:09,560 Speaker 1: and our evolutionary history is reasonable to say this might 420 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 1: somewhat change our reproductive behaviors and and how the body's 421 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:17,600 Speaker 1: reproductive organs respond to the environment. So like part of 422 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:21,359 Speaker 1: the environment our bodies were shaped for might not necessarily 423 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:25,920 Speaker 1: be having like the testicles tightly packed against the body 424 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 1: within some kind of container all the time, right right though, 425 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,440 Speaker 1: I mean to our credit like that that I think 426 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:34,879 Speaker 1: was a huge accomplishment. Like if you think back to 427 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 1: a time when when human you know, human beings did 428 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,240 Speaker 1: not have underwear, meaning they did not have as much 429 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 1: control on like how tightly bound parts of their body 430 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 1: were to their person. These are things that can get 431 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:49,879 Speaker 1: in the way of say, chasing after prey or doing 432 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:53,440 Speaker 1: you know, any kind of physical activity. Sure, but you're 433 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:55,520 Speaker 1: saying there pluses and minuses. I think so, yeah, But 434 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,000 Speaker 1: then you know the other side is, like the human body, 435 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:01,480 Speaker 1: the testicles have evolved so that they are there's a 436 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:04,639 Speaker 1: self regulation of temperature. Uh. The scrotum is supposed to 437 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:07,959 Speaker 1: be the one in charge of how closely compact the 438 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:11,639 Speaker 1: testicles are, not the individual who picks out their underwear 439 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:14,160 Speaker 1: in the morning. Right, So obviously this is a study. 440 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:17,160 Speaker 1: We can all identify why this study is hilarious because 441 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:21,399 Speaker 1: he's dealing with French postman with or without their underwear on, 442 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:26,720 Speaker 1: and temperature differences between one testicle and the bus drivers too. Yes, 443 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:29,680 Speaker 1: it's it's even funnier actually if you start reading into 444 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:32,160 Speaker 1: the like their full explanation of their methods, because they 445 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:35,119 Speaker 1: talk about, uh, like the methods that are used to 446 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:38,720 Speaker 1: determine testicular volume. There are like units of measure for that, 447 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:42,960 Speaker 1: and I think like special special apparatus, uh, some that's 448 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,679 Speaker 1: called like an orchidometer or something. This is the probe 449 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,560 Speaker 1: that was mentioned. No, I think that I think the orchidometer. 450 00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:53,280 Speaker 1: The problem is something like that, it's to measure testicular volume. 451 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,159 Speaker 1: I don't know exactly what the deal with the probe was. 452 00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,680 Speaker 1: They didn't like have a diagram that I found. But still, again, 453 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 1: this gets down to human biology re reductive system. So 454 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:06,720 Speaker 1: it is an important study. Sure. I mean, as we 455 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:10,560 Speaker 1: said at the beginning, of testicular temperature is reproductively significant. 456 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:14,120 Speaker 1: This could be useful in a clinical setting when studying 457 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 1: things about fertility, right. I mean, it's not impossible to 458 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:22,119 Speaker 1: imagine it could influence underwear design in the future either, 459 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:25,439 Speaker 1: either reasonably so with you know a situation where a 460 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:28,480 Speaker 1: doctor is saying, like, okay, we it makes more sense 461 00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,320 Speaker 1: for both testicles to be the same temperature, so we're 462 00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:33,960 Speaker 1: going to create underwear in which the penis is positioned 463 00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:38,800 Speaker 1: out of the way of the testicles, or perhaps more likely, 464 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:41,000 Speaker 1: you have a situation where somebody who just wants to 465 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:45,000 Speaker 1: sell some underwear looks at this study and this starts saying, Hey, 466 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:47,880 Speaker 1: you don't want to be one of those asymmetrical testical 467 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:51,720 Speaker 1: temperature people. You want to have both testicles the same temperature, 468 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:53,480 Speaker 1: and the only way you're gonna do that is by 469 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:57,840 Speaker 1: buying this special pair of thirty dollar underwear well against 470 00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:01,879 Speaker 1: that person's marketing concerns. I think the study found that 471 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:04,760 Speaker 1: while the I think the major differences were when people 472 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:08,439 Speaker 1: were clothed, but they're also were some asymmetries even when 473 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:11,159 Speaker 1: people were naked, depending on like what position they were in. 474 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:13,119 Speaker 1: All right, well, on that note, we're going to take 475 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:16,400 Speaker 1: another break, but when we come back we will discuss 476 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 1: diaper changing machines. Alright, we're back. Why does the idea 477 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:30,320 Speaker 1: of a mechanical diaper changer horrify me? Yes, it horrifies me, 478 00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:35,720 Speaker 1: and yet it is also I think a grand goal 479 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:40,439 Speaker 1: in human technology. Yeah, that's kind of utopian. It's like, 480 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,320 Speaker 1: at the same time enticing and terrifying. It's a thing 481 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:46,160 Speaker 1: that you want but you know you should not have. 482 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:49,200 Speaker 1: It is the very sort of thing that Jeff Goldblum's 483 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:53,639 Speaker 1: character in Jurassic Park would be irate over right. They 484 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:55,560 Speaker 1: were so concerned with whether or not they could they 485 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 1: didn't stop to think if they should exactly. So, I've 486 00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:01,840 Speaker 1: changed a few papers in my time, and uh, and 487 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:04,320 Speaker 1: I think I've even wondered about the possibility of a 488 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:06,760 Speaker 1: robot robotic diaper changer. It's the kind of thing you 489 00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:12,159 Speaker 1: fantasize about as you are essentially wrestling with an infant 490 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:15,440 Speaker 1: or a toddler, and especially the infant, trying to to 491 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:18,480 Speaker 1: to get at the foul diaper off of them, all 492 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:21,000 Speaker 1: the while keeping them from say, getting their own foot 493 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:24,679 Speaker 1: into the poop, uh or and then then flinging the 494 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 1: poop on the wall with said foot, trying to avoid 495 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:30,920 Speaker 1: being pete upon, especially if it's a boy, and then 496 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:33,679 Speaker 1: if there's a girl. There are other concerns about about 497 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:36,280 Speaker 1: where and where you don't want poop. It's it's it 498 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:38,640 Speaker 1: is a high. You know, we talked before about how 499 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:42,560 Speaker 1: driving is a cognitively demanding task. Changing a baby's diaper 500 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:46,400 Speaker 1: is a cognitively demanding task, and uh, and so you 501 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 1: you you fantasize, you think, I really wish a robot 502 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:50,320 Speaker 1: could come in here and do this. But on the 503 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:52,560 Speaker 1: other hand, I don't think a robot could. And I 504 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:54,120 Speaker 1: feel like this has also been exit. I feel like 505 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:57,280 Speaker 1: that the Jetson's probably had a diaper changing robot. I 506 00:28:57,280 --> 00:28:59,000 Speaker 1: could find no evidence of it, but I feel like 507 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:02,240 Speaker 1: this idea has also worked its way into fiction in 508 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:07,280 Speaker 1: the past, and so this year's Ignal bells. The engineering prize, 509 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:11,920 Speaker 1: in fact went to Iranian inventor I'm men of Fara 510 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:16,160 Speaker 1: Bakas for inventing a diaper changing machine for use on 511 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:20,160 Speaker 1: human infants. Now, this is a patent. It's US patent 512 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:23,720 Speaker 1: number one zero zero three four five two, granted on 513 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:27,080 Speaker 1: July thirty one, two thousand eighteen. And I'm going to 514 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:31,040 Speaker 1: read to you from the abstract quote. A washer and 515 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:34,680 Speaker 1: diaper changing apparatus includes a main chamber, a glass window, 516 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,880 Speaker 1: a seat, a leg holder, a safety belt, a diaper 517 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,440 Speaker 1: removing arm, a sprinkler, and a dryer. The main chamber 518 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:45,200 Speaker 1: is configured to receive an infant therein. The glass window 519 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:47,880 Speaker 1: is placed on a top wall of the main chamber. 520 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:51,080 Speaker 1: The seat is movably coupled to the main chamber and 521 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:53,760 Speaker 1: configured for placement of the infant on the seat. The 522 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,440 Speaker 1: leg holder is movably coupled to the main chamber and 523 00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:58,920 Speaker 1: configured to support at least one leg of the infant. 524 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:01,600 Speaker 1: The safety belt coupled to the seat and configured to 525 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:04,520 Speaker 1: retain the infant on the seat. The sprinkler is placed 526 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:07,520 Speaker 1: inside the main chamber and configured to spray water to 527 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,400 Speaker 1: wash at least a portion of the infant, at least 528 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:13,240 Speaker 1: a portion of the infant. Yes, like some too, I 529 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:15,600 Speaker 1: guess all of the infant. Why why am I? Why 530 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:19,280 Speaker 1: am I picturing those like sealed up self cleaning public 531 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:22,520 Speaker 1: bathrooms that got in some places like it came across 532 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 1: these in Switzerland. I don't know I've seen one of these. 533 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:27,520 Speaker 1: It's like a public bathroom. You go in, it's a 534 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:30,520 Speaker 1: small little building, and then you use the toilet, and 535 00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:32,560 Speaker 1: then when you're done, like the door shuts and like 536 00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 1: a light comes on outside and it says like cleaning. 537 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:38,880 Speaker 1: Oh wow, that sounds remarkable. I guess they're a little robotic. 538 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:41,160 Speaker 1: I don't know, sprayers and wipers and stuff in there. 539 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:43,280 Speaker 1: I don't know what happens on the inside. I couldn't see. 540 00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:46,640 Speaker 1: Surely somebody has has trapped themselves and found out, I 541 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:49,240 Speaker 1: should hope. So I have to admit. What it made 542 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 1: me think of was the surgery pod in the sci 543 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:56,200 Speaker 1: fi horror film Prometheus. Uh. Horrifying scene, but I think 544 00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:58,200 Speaker 1: actually one of the most effective parts of the movie. 545 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:01,240 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, because if if you haven't seen it. Basically, 546 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:05,000 Speaker 1: the idea is that it is a surgery pod created 547 00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:10,200 Speaker 1: for a specific male individual and an elderly individual, and 548 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:12,720 Speaker 1: the supposed to take care of any needs that that 549 00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:16,600 Speaker 1: individual has. And then our heroine in the film eventually 550 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:19,600 Speaker 1: has to use it to remove a zeno more from herself. 551 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:23,840 Speaker 1: But she's having to sort of uh improvise with the machine, 552 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:27,760 Speaker 1: and it's terrifying, just like not so much even. I mean, 553 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:30,280 Speaker 1: certainly it's terrifying when the thing starts cutting into her, 554 00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:33,480 Speaker 1: but just her climbing into it realizing what's about to happen, 555 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:38,680 Speaker 1: makes for some some great sci fi horror. Uh so yes, 556 00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:42,040 Speaker 1: I thought about that throughout reading this patent. However, the 557 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:45,560 Speaker 1: pattern does have some sketches, and when you look at them, 558 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:48,840 Speaker 1: the design looks less like a high tech surgery pod 559 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:52,840 Speaker 1: and more like a washing machine or an oven dishwasher. 560 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:56,480 Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, a dishwasher, not a washing machine. Yeah, 561 00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:58,000 Speaker 1: it's like a front loader, but it doesn't have a 562 00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:01,360 Speaker 1: spin cycle, not to this version. Maybe a future model 563 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:06,880 Speaker 1: will so um A man of Patobakas is an associate 564 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:11,160 Speaker 1: professor of Islamic Azad University in Iran, and his engineering 565 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:16,080 Speaker 1: research involves nanostructures and nanoparticles. So he's so this is 566 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:20,480 Speaker 1: a legit engineer here that has developed this. Uh, And 567 00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:23,520 Speaker 1: here's a little more from his patent quote. The apparatus 568 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:26,720 Speaker 1: may be said to be automatic, and some implementations in 569 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:29,720 Speaker 1: that once the infant is placed inside the apparatus, various 570 00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:33,000 Speaker 1: steps may in some cases be carried out automatically without 571 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:36,320 Speaker 1: needing the operator to touch the infant or interact manually 572 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:39,640 Speaker 1: with the diaper or infant during the changing process, which 573 00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:43,320 Speaker 1: may create a more sanitary environment for the ambient area 574 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:47,520 Speaker 1: and the operator's hands. So I I looked for more 575 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:50,160 Speaker 1: background on this concept and I wasn't able to find 576 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:53,000 Speaker 1: much to really shed light on just like how serious 577 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:55,200 Speaker 1: he is with the proposal as and you know not 578 00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:57,560 Speaker 1: as and is he does he seriously see this as 579 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:00,920 Speaker 1: a place our technology will get to the human lifespan? 580 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:03,400 Speaker 1: Or is this more of a sort of an engineering 581 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,920 Speaker 1: thought experiment. If you could create this thing that we 582 00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:09,960 Speaker 1: sometimes fantasize about existing, how might we go about it? 583 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:13,120 Speaker 1: What might an apparatus like that look like? Sure? Because 584 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:17,040 Speaker 1: I mean again jokes asiety. As you mentioned earlier on, 585 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:20,240 Speaker 1: it is a job that people really probably would like 586 00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:22,719 Speaker 1: to outsource if they felt they could do it safely, 587 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:25,520 Speaker 1: and if it if it is a thought experiment, though, 588 00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:27,960 Speaker 1: it is kind of a perfect thing to think about 589 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:34,080 Speaker 1: when contemplating the idea of having machines that operate alongside 590 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:37,800 Speaker 1: humans or upon humans in a human environment, because I 591 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:42,000 Speaker 1: can think of very few examples of such a highly 592 00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:45,720 Speaker 1: sensitive and specialized job for a machine than changing the 593 00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:48,960 Speaker 1: diaper of an infant, because granted, we desire a mechanical 594 00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:52,560 Speaker 1: baby changer, because number one, it's a gross job. Number two, 595 00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:56,320 Speaker 1: it can be challenging or frustrating to do, and number three, 596 00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:59,560 Speaker 1: it absolutely has to be done. Yeah, it is a 597 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,200 Speaker 1: job that is in extremely high demand and nobody wants 598 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:06,440 Speaker 1: to do. And certainly we've already thrown machines at jobs 599 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:09,160 Speaker 1: that felt that all three of these bullet points, such 600 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:12,520 Speaker 1: as sewer cleaning robots, you know, creating some sort of 601 00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:16,160 Speaker 1: a mechanical device that goes through like a pipe and 602 00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:18,200 Speaker 1: helps clean it out or at least go down there 603 00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:20,920 Speaker 1: and look and see what the clog might be. But 604 00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:24,520 Speaker 1: there's far less risk in cleaning a sewer, right right, Yeah, 605 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:27,319 Speaker 1: unlike a clog in a city sewer system, a human 606 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:30,200 Speaker 1: infant is one the most valuable thing in your life. 607 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:34,480 Speaker 1: Number two, it's afforded legal protection like it is a 608 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:37,480 Speaker 1: person and if you if you don't take care of 609 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:42,399 Speaker 1: it correctly, you could go to prison. And also it's 610 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:45,239 Speaker 1: susceptible to pain and injury. Getting more into the personhood part, 611 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:48,360 Speaker 1: like this is this this is a human child and 612 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:51,840 Speaker 1: not a sewer clock. However, like a clock, the baby 613 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:54,839 Speaker 1: is limited in its ability to fend for itself, which 614 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:58,439 Speaker 1: which I think also ties into the horror of letting 615 00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:01,040 Speaker 1: the machine have a go at the diaper. Now, granted, 616 00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:03,800 Speaker 1: we already live in an age of robot assisted surgery, 617 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:07,040 Speaker 1: such as various you know, prostate surgeries, but in these 618 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:10,440 Speaker 1: cases we're talking about the machine having an advantage in 619 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:13,640 Speaker 1: a in its ability to use tiny instruments that humans 620 00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:17,799 Speaker 1: would would have, you know, a little more difficulty operating. 621 00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:20,960 Speaker 1: And then there's also going to be a human operator 622 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:22,880 Speaker 1: in the room for those and I guess presumably with 623 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:25,720 Speaker 1: this diaper changing device, the language of it tend tends 624 00:35:25,719 --> 00:35:28,440 Speaker 1: to imply that it's sort of hands off, or it 625 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:32,279 Speaker 1: could be hands off the robotic baby changer. However, it 626 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:35,520 Speaker 1: doesn't really benefit from tiny tools. It doesn't really have 627 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:39,600 Speaker 1: an advantage over human hands or more specifically, human ability 628 00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:41,839 Speaker 1: to roll with what is often a puzzle again. How 629 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:44,080 Speaker 1: to wipe the poop without the child getting a foot 630 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:46,160 Speaker 1: in the poop, how not to be pete upon, how 631 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:48,760 Speaker 1: to keep the child from rolling over, grabbing the diaper 632 00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:52,960 Speaker 1: and flinging it, etcetera. You've ever performed this task, you 633 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:55,160 Speaker 1: know that a lot of things can go wrong and 634 00:35:55,320 --> 00:35:58,120 Speaker 1: will go wrong on the diaper changing table. Yeah, I mean, 635 00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:00,920 Speaker 1: I see a huge difference here in that robot assisted 636 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:04,800 Speaker 1: surgery is not for the purpose of allowing the doctor 637 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:07,440 Speaker 1: to not have to do the surgery. Likes to like 638 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:11,880 Speaker 1: increase the doctor's capability to increase increase the efficiency of 639 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:15,160 Speaker 1: the surgery. And I do not see a way in 640 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:19,480 Speaker 1: which having the machine involved improves the efficiency of changing 641 00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:22,880 Speaker 1: a baby's diaper. As such, I would say that this 642 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:26,400 Speaker 1: sort of machine seems to me to be more of 643 00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:29,359 Speaker 1: an end game of robotics, because creating machines that can 644 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:33,160 Speaker 1: work alongside us in human habitats, that's challenging. Word, It's 645 00:36:33,239 --> 00:36:36,360 Speaker 1: it's hard to imagine a more challenging place than the 646 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:40,640 Speaker 1: than the diaper changing station. To throw a machine, uh though, 647 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:42,520 Speaker 1: that's you know, one of the reasons perhaps that he 648 00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:44,520 Speaker 1: was pursuing the patent, you know, kind of again kind 649 00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:47,600 Speaker 1: of a mechanical thought experiment, and it does serve as 650 00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:50,719 Speaker 1: an interesting way to discuss home robotics. I mean, I 651 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:54,239 Speaker 1: think this highlights interesting questions about the future of robotics 652 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:59,200 Speaker 1: and and it reveals our intuitions that that are already 653 00:36:59,239 --> 00:37:01,279 Speaker 1: there about like what are the kinds of places where 654 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:05,799 Speaker 1: least comfortable with allowing robots to be implemented. I mean, 655 00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:07,960 Speaker 1: even if you came up with a pretty good robotics 656 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:11,520 Speaker 1: system that worked pretty much all the time, people still 657 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:15,320 Speaker 1: probably might just not feel comfortable with like allowing robotic 658 00:37:15,520 --> 00:37:18,759 Speaker 1: arms to be moving around near their near their baby, right, 659 00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:23,000 Speaker 1: like one of my very understandable reasons. Yeah, Like like 660 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:26,320 Speaker 1: one of my I think a very positive area of 661 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:30,480 Speaker 1: robot exploration is in elder care, particularly in among the 662 00:37:30,719 --> 00:37:34,359 Speaker 1: Japanese robotics companies. And in that case, to you, you're 663 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:38,319 Speaker 1: looking at aging population with fewer individuals to look after them. 664 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:41,840 Speaker 1: And also you're dealing with environments where if, for instance, 665 00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:45,600 Speaker 1: if you need help getting up and down from a toilet, 666 00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:48,399 Speaker 1: which is something that you know that that cannon will 667 00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:52,520 Speaker 1: happen with with individual of advanced age, that might be 668 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:54,520 Speaker 1: the kind of situation where you would say, yes, I 669 00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:58,000 Speaker 1: would prefer to have a robotic helper with to engage 670 00:37:58,040 --> 00:38:01,200 Speaker 1: with me in a situation like that. However, you know 671 00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:04,080 Speaker 1: you're still dealing with you know, you know, a rational 672 00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:08,719 Speaker 1: individual and not a complete infant. Who again, it's just 673 00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:11,719 Speaker 1: so many problems come to mind when you imagine just 674 00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:15,400 Speaker 1: sticking the baby inside of the diaper changing device and 675 00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:18,800 Speaker 1: letting it do its thing. Like best case scenario, you 676 00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:21,120 Speaker 1: put the baby in and you just get an error message. 677 00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:24,200 Speaker 1: It's like trying to operate any printer or all you 678 00:38:24,280 --> 00:38:26,160 Speaker 1: want to do is is get this one thing done, 679 00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:28,120 Speaker 1: But there are a million things that can and do 680 00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:30,279 Speaker 1: go wrong, and you just end up having to do 681 00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:34,520 Speaker 1: something else, change the diaper yourself in this case with printers. 682 00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:36,479 Speaker 1: I think we've talked about this on the show before, 683 00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:39,000 Speaker 1: haven't we. That like printers seem to follow an inverse 684 00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:43,120 Speaker 1: law of technological advancement, where like as most technology becomes 685 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:45,840 Speaker 1: better and better and more and more user friendly, printers 686 00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:48,440 Speaker 1: always go in the opposite direction, Like every year they 687 00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:52,520 Speaker 1: get worse and more incompatible with everything. Oh yeah, the 688 00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:54,239 Speaker 1: last time I went to buy one, I was thinking, 689 00:38:54,560 --> 00:38:57,719 Speaker 1: you know, Apple makes pretty good uh computers, got they 690 00:38:57,719 --> 00:38:59,200 Speaker 1: make a pretty good printer. How I'm going to buy 691 00:38:59,239 --> 00:39:01,279 Speaker 1: that printer. I don't care of its over priced, And 692 00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:03,840 Speaker 1: of course they don't make a printer their printers that 693 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:06,160 Speaker 1: are compatible with their machines. But it's almost as if 694 00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:08,960 Speaker 1: they're like, no, we're not touching that. That's just too complicated. 695 00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:12,120 Speaker 1: It would be bad for our brand a printer. We'll 696 00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:14,480 Speaker 1: do the printer when we do the baby changing robot, 697 00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:17,680 Speaker 1: all right, So we're gonna go ahead and call it there, 698 00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:21,240 Speaker 1: because let's see, we covered pooph We covered more poop, 699 00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:26,239 Speaker 1: more poops, qurotums, bacteria you might associate with poop, right, Yeah, 700 00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:31,759 Speaker 1: the diaper robots really just a good haul overall. Now, 701 00:39:31,960 --> 00:39:35,640 Speaker 1: once again, we did not cover all of the winners here. 702 00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:38,640 Speaker 1: We didn't even list them. There were some more interesting ones. 703 00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:41,400 Speaker 1: There was one about the health effects of eating pizza, 704 00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:45,520 Speaker 1: specifically Italian pizza made in Italy. Does it prevent cancer? 705 00:39:46,239 --> 00:39:48,200 Speaker 1: Stuff that one get picked up in in the media 706 00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:50,920 Speaker 1: a lot. Yeah. There's another one that I think we 707 00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:53,080 Speaker 1: want to return to at some point, just as a 708 00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:55,120 Speaker 1: follow up to an episode we did earlier this year 709 00:39:55,160 --> 00:39:58,120 Speaker 1: about the facial feedback hypothesis, And this had to do 710 00:39:58,239 --> 00:40:01,040 Speaker 1: with the psychologists involved in early research on the facial 711 00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:05,920 Speaker 1: feedback hypothesis participating in failed replications of their own work, 712 00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:09,439 Speaker 1: and and that leads to an interesting, bigger discussion about 713 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:13,680 Speaker 1: uh you know, the role, like how you communicate scientific 714 00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:18,239 Speaker 1: validity and whether effects are quote real or not. Uh 715 00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:21,719 Speaker 1: So that's worth revisiting, I think absolutely. If you want 716 00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:24,600 Speaker 1: to check out the full list of twenty nineteen winners. 717 00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:26,200 Speaker 1: In fact, if you want to check out the full 718 00:40:26,239 --> 00:40:29,920 Speaker 1: list of all winners from the very beginning of the Ignobles, 719 00:40:30,200 --> 00:40:34,680 Speaker 1: head on over to www. Dot Improbable dot com. That's, 720 00:40:34,719 --> 00:40:38,680 Speaker 1: of course Improbable Research. There the publication that puts out 721 00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:42,000 Speaker 1: the awards each and every year. And if you want 722 00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:44,359 Speaker 1: to check out past episodes of Stuff to Blow your mind, 723 00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:47,839 Speaker 1: go check out our past Ignobel Prize episodes, because again 724 00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:50,640 Speaker 1: we've been doing them every year. We always come. Sometimes 725 00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:52,719 Speaker 1: we cover all the winners, sometimes we cover just a 726 00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:56,920 Speaker 1: selection of the winners. But with without fail, they always 727 00:40:57,120 --> 00:41:01,920 Speaker 1: highlight some some wonderful studies that all so invoke laughter 728 00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:04,759 Speaker 1: every year. It's frank delicious. They make you laugh, they 729 00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:08,080 Speaker 1: make you think yes, yeah. And if you want to 730 00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:10,000 Speaker 1: check out all those episodes Stuff to Blow your Mind, 731 00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:11,719 Speaker 1: dot com is the website if you want to check 732 00:41:11,719 --> 00:41:14,840 Speaker 1: out our other podcast, Invention pod dot com is the 733 00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:18,600 Speaker 1: place to find Invention, a journey through human techno history. 734 00:41:19,239 --> 00:41:21,200 Speaker 1: Believe what, it's November right now. We're doing a lot 735 00:41:21,239 --> 00:41:25,680 Speaker 1: of food related inventions over at Invention, including canning, which 736 00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:28,640 Speaker 1: which is really fascinating you if you take it for granted, 737 00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:32,280 Speaker 1: but canning technology is amazing, no doubt. Check it out huge, 738 00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:36,240 Speaker 1: thanks as always to our excellent audio producer Seth Nicholas Johnson. 739 00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:37,920 Speaker 1: If you would like to get in touch with us 740 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:40,600 Speaker 1: with feedback on this episode or any other, to suggest 741 00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:43,000 Speaker 1: a topic for the future, or just to say hello, 742 00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:46,799 Speaker 1: you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow 743 00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:56,520 Speaker 1: your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is 744 00:41:56,520 --> 00:41:58,600 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For 745 00:41:58,680 --> 00:42:00,440 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, this is the i 746 00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:03,239 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 747 00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:04,040 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.