1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,560 Speaker 1: M Hey everybody, it's me Josh and for this week's 2 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Saturday Select Stuff you Should Know, I'm choosing how Silly 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: Putty Works. It originally ran in October two thousand and eleven, 4 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: and as I say in this episode, it has it all. 5 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,439 Speaker 1: It has all six pillars of a great Stuff you 6 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: should Know episode five maybe I don't quite remember. Either way, 7 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:25,800 Speaker 1: you'll find out what they are in this thrilling enjoy. 8 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:38,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Should Know from house Stuff Works 9 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. 10 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:52,279 Speaker 1: There's Charles W Chuck Bryant uh with me as always 11 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: looking good. I am, yeah, thank you, Josh um that 12 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: makes the Stuff you Should Know, and you were looking 13 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: good as well. Sort said in is your No, I'm not, 14 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: it's I don't less than six months old. I guess 15 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: it's kind of new, all right. I'm trying to think 16 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:13,759 Speaker 1: it was pouring way I could start a show pretty 17 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 1: high up there. Josh is wearing a lovely stripe blue 18 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 1: button up as he has one to do, and I'm 19 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: wearing a Everything is Bigger in Texas green T shirt. 20 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: We're both in jeans. I have on my last chance 21 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: garage hat, yep, anything else I want to I want 22 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:31,639 Speaker 1: to set the scene for once. I've got a beard. 23 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: Now you've had a beard. I'm clean shaven, clean shaven. Yeah, 24 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: I've started to do the clean shaven thing more than scruffy. 25 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: I was doing scruffy for a while. Are you which 26 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 1: way do you like? I hope for you? Yeah, I 27 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 1: think whatever you mean likes, which is clearly not scruffy. 28 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: She likes it both ways. Oh yeah, yeah, all right, 29 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: that's that's that is the most boring way to ever 30 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: start a show. We should all go to sleep. Now. 31 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 1: I've got a story for you, all right, all right, 32 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 1: and you know some of this so you don't have 33 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: to pretend like you're surprised. Back in eighteen thirty nine, 34 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 1: there is a man named Charles Goodyear, and Charles Goodyear 35 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: whose last name you might recognize for good reason, Uh, 36 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: figured out a way to make rubber, natural rubber tougher 37 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:24,360 Speaker 1: than leather. It's called vulcanization. Yes, okay, So this process 38 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: of vulcanization took rubber, which is naturally um kind of 39 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: stickier gooey at warmer temperatures and um rigid at cooler temperatures. 40 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: And made it much more appliable, much more, much more flexible, 41 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 1: but able to stand up to really punishing conditions like heat, 42 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: lots of pressure and force, which made it perfect for 43 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:50,360 Speaker 1: car tires, hoses, fan belts, all of the stuff that 44 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: we use rubber for today. This guy is the reason 45 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 1: we're able to write the reason that's tough enough. Yes. Now, 46 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: the fact that this came at nine means that this 47 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: in ovation came during the Industrial Revolution, which means that 48 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: all that stuff that the rubber could be used for 49 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: could be mass produced, which means that we needed a 50 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:12,959 Speaker 1: vast source of rubber as a raw material for this 51 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 1: volcanization process. And luckily, I guess you could say, at 52 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,839 Speaker 1: least for the Westerners, uh, we knew where to get 53 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: vast stores of rubber, the Amazon, which is where this 54 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 1: very specific type of rubber tree is indigenous and is 55 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: found in vast supply, right, all right, you with me 56 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:33,840 Speaker 1: so far? So we went down on the Amazon, and 57 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: as a result, these parts of Brazil that were just 58 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 1: totally impoverished were suddenly suddenly found themselves at the center 59 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: of a global rubber boom and just became decadently wealthy, 60 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: like almost overnight, Brazil and the Amazon was the center 61 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: of this global trade and rubber for decades until these 62 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: British guys snuck some rubber tree seeds out of the 63 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: Amazon on and took them to the botanical gardens in London, Okay, 64 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: and they started to work on forming a hybrid that 65 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: was even better than the ones in Brazil. A hybrid plant, 66 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: a hybrid rubber tree that could coincidentally thrive in British 67 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: colonies in Southeast Asia. Perfect, it was perfect for the British. 68 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:26,520 Speaker 1: By the Brazilian stranglehold on the rubber um trade was 69 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 1: being challenged and was in real trouble by countries like 70 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:36,039 Speaker 1: Malaysia and Sri Lanka, Um and Thailand, and by nineteen 71 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: twenty the Far East held the basically the monopoly on 72 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: the rubber market. All right, that's a good background. Thanks, 73 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: I'm almost done. So about the time the Southeast Asia 74 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:52,840 Speaker 1: started to dominate rubber, we needed it even more than 75 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: when Brazil dominated rubber because cars were being mass produced 76 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: in each of those required four rubber tires. Right, So 77 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,680 Speaker 1: Southeast Asia's hold on rubber was even stronger than than 78 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: the one that Brazil had, plus one in the trunk. Yeah, 79 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: that's right, five um. And by the time World War 80 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 1: Two rolled around, we come to rely on rubber so 81 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: much that it was calculated the US military the Pentagon 82 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: needed thirty two pounds of rubber for every troop on 83 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: the ground for things like tires, boots, anything you need 84 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,720 Speaker 1: rubber for right every soldier, which makes it a It 85 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:30,360 Speaker 1: was a very very, very big deal. When the Japanese 86 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 1: successfully invaded the Pacific theater, including Malaysia, including Sri Lanka, 87 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: including all these rubber producing places and cut off the 88 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:42,600 Speaker 1: rubber supply to the US and We're like, we need rubber, yeah, 89 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,040 Speaker 1: we need it bad. And they were like, well we've 90 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,839 Speaker 1: got it, yes, And by the way, let's go. When 91 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: you win, there's going to be stragglers on these islands. 92 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:57,120 Speaker 1: You will one day podcast about them. Hero So what happened, Chuck, well, Josh. 93 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: Because the US is industrious and bright and has it 94 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: never say die attitude, they said, you know what, why 95 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: don't we commission some labs and academic institutions to develop 96 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: a synthetic rubber. So they put out the call because 97 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:16,360 Speaker 1: they needed this for the wartime demand, and uh, all 98 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 1: these chemists got to work on it, and uh, invented 99 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:25,159 Speaker 1: something called g R dash S, which is Government rubber styrene, 100 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 1: and it turned out to be a great replacement for rubber. 101 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: And by n we were producing twice the amount of 102 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: all the world's rubber combined, the synthetic rubber and synthetic 103 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:41,279 Speaker 1: rubber in the US. So this is like one of 104 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: the most this is one of the biggest chemical chemical 105 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 1: engineering accomplishments ever created undertaken right, um So g R 106 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,560 Speaker 1: S huge still in use today. Right, Yes, it's like 107 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: the standard for synthetic rubber. Um it changed everything like 108 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: that was it was like bye bye, Malaysia, Sorry about 109 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:04,480 Speaker 1: your your rubber monopoly falling apart. You shouldn't have let 110 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,119 Speaker 1: you pain invade. Well, I'm sure they still had plenty 111 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: of customers. I'm sure they still did. They weren't like, oh, 112 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: we got all this rubber, right, what are we gonna do? 113 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: We we we chose the wrong team. Uh So, this, 114 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: this synthetic rubber, this triumph of chemical engineering, was not 115 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 1: without setbacks though, Right well, no, anytime you're trying to 116 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: synthesize something like that, it's gonna there's gonna be some 117 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: ups and downs. And this was a nationwide challenge by 118 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 1: the War Production Board. It wasn't just like hey, you 119 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,360 Speaker 1: five guys over here. It was like, attention, all chemical engineers, 120 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 1: all chemists, anybody who has anything to do with chemistry. 121 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:42,160 Speaker 1: We need a synthetic rubber, and we needed an abundant supply. 122 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:45,320 Speaker 1: So there were a lot of people working on this. Yes, 123 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 1: and one of those guys was James Wright of General 124 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:53,400 Speaker 1: Electric GE. He mixed bork acid with silicon oil and 125 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: uh said, you know what, this is gonna be a 126 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: great synthetic rubber. Unfortunately, it wasn't a great synthetic rubber. 127 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: His quote unquote bouncing putty is what he called it. 128 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: But Gee thought I had some promise. Gee thought I 129 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: had some promise. But it did pretty much wallow away 130 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:16,320 Speaker 1: in obscurity at first, right for um, almost a decade. 131 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: It just kind of made the rounds to other places, like, hey, 132 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:21,080 Speaker 1: can your guys do anything like with this, We'll share 133 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: the patent, whatever, just just figure out what we can 134 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 1: do with this. Yeah, and apparently Gee got this. Uh. 135 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: It was so widespread that it made its way to 136 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: a party that a guy named Peter Hodgson, who owned 137 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:39,600 Speaker 1: an ad agency in New Haven, Connecticut, attended a cocktail party. 138 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: Remember spam. That's where spam came from a cocktail party 139 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:44,000 Speaker 1: on New Year's Eve. Great things happen when you get 140 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: together and drink. Uh. This guy was at a at 141 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: a cocktail party and saw some people playing with this 142 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: um bouncing putty that James as James Wright called it, 143 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: and said, you know what, these adults seem fascinated by this. 144 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 1: I just happened to be working on a cattle dog 145 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:02,840 Speaker 1: for a toy store, and I think this would make 146 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,200 Speaker 1: a great adult novelty. So he approached the lady who 147 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: owned the Block toy store, right yeah, and I got 148 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 1: there's varying accounts of this story. I think it's one 149 00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:15,320 Speaker 1: of those deals where because I saw somewhere where she 150 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:19,200 Speaker 1: was the one that saw it and contacted him and said, hey, 151 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:22,319 Speaker 1: can you put this in my catalog? So either way, 152 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:26,960 Speaker 1: Peter Hodgson and Ruth fall Gadder, who owned the Block 153 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:31,719 Speaker 1: Shop toy store, they they decided to put it on 154 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 1: the pages of their their catalog to sell as a toy, right, 155 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:40,640 Speaker 1: and it was two dollars, not chump change. No, that's 156 00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:44,319 Speaker 1: definitely not um. And it was an adult novelty, as 157 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 1: they reckoned. Right, Sorry, you just say adult novelty, and 158 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 1: a lot of things come to mind, Spencer Gifts. I know, 159 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 1: I know. It wasn't that kind of an adult worldly Okay, 160 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 1: uh no, it was an adult diversion. It became a 161 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 1: big seller, is what it became. Yeah. So yeah, it 162 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: was the blockshops biggest seller, one of them. Um. And 163 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,280 Speaker 1: then this this I found a little hazy for reasons 164 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:13,480 Speaker 1: that remain unclear. Did you find anything out about why 165 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: fall got her stopped backing the product? I couldn't find 166 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:19,079 Speaker 1: anything on that. But I guess even though it's sold 167 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:21,680 Speaker 1: big for her, she was just like whatever. Maybe she 168 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:23,559 Speaker 1: just had her thing going and she's like, why don't 169 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 1: I want to start a new product. I'm a toy 170 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:28,079 Speaker 1: store owner? Yeah, why do I want to be a millionaire? 171 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:32,319 Speaker 1: Money is the root of all evil for her, Rubic, 172 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 1: I have no no plans for this exactly. So. Uh So, 173 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 1: the whole, the whole, the whole drive, the whole push 174 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:43,120 Speaker 1: to make this into something big, what we now know 175 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:46,560 Speaker 1: as Silly Putty fell completely to Hodgson, and he turned 176 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:50,960 Speaker 1: into a whirling dervish. Between nineteen fifty, he borrowed a 177 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:53,960 Speaker 1: hundred and forty seven dollars and bought another batch from 178 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:58,840 Speaker 1: ge hired a Yale student to roll them into twenty 179 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 1: eight Graham one ounce balls, packaged them in plastic Easter eggs, 180 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: and sold them to Double Day book shops and Neiman 181 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:13,560 Speaker 1: Marcus along the way. He also um took them to 182 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:17,240 Speaker 1: some chemical engineers in Schenectady, right yeah, and said, hey, 183 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 1: copy that reverse engineering. Yeah, it's like that website that 184 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 1: has like all of your favorite recipes from like Applebee's 185 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:26,839 Speaker 1: and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Reverse engineering. First, get chicken from 186 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 1: a sealed bag that's pretty sauced exactly and put it 187 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:32,960 Speaker 1: in a pan. Yes, they're like, do you have Cisco's 188 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: phone number? So that's what he did, and you're right, 189 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:38,640 Speaker 1: he did make pretty quick work of it, um, because 190 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:41,920 Speaker 1: after he opened a manufacturing plant. Yes, all this is 191 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 1: in a year he first encountered this stuff. In this 192 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 1: is he believed in this what would be? Actually he's 193 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 1: he had already settled on Silly Putty as the name. Yeah, well, 194 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:54,960 Speaker 1: he was an ad agency guy, so should brainstoring some names? 195 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 1: Evaluated fifteen of them was like, this is the one 196 00:11:57,400 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: that he trademarked. It was Nutty Putty one I think 197 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 1: was one of them. I think that would have sold 198 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:04,079 Speaker 1: to so he had the Silly Putty name. At this 199 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:08,160 Speaker 1: point opened the manufacturing plant in Connecticut, and soon after 200 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:11,960 Speaker 1: that landed Neemon Marcus and Double Day bookshops as customers, 201 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 1: which was huge, it was, but it became even huger 202 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:17,960 Speaker 1: when um, some writers from the New Yorker went to 203 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,439 Speaker 1: Double Day and they encountered, do you want to read 204 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:24,719 Speaker 1: this part? You're I'm not gonna read and read this 205 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:27,000 Speaker 1: one all right. It was in the Talk of the 206 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:30,679 Speaker 1: Town section in ninety in the New Yorker. We went 207 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 1: into the Double Day bookshop at Fifth Avenue and fifty 208 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:35,560 Speaker 1: two Street the other day, intending in our innocence to 209 00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:38,120 Speaker 1: buy a book, and found all the clerks busy selling 210 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:43,640 Speaker 1: silly putty, a gooey, pinkish, repellent looking commodity. The commodity 211 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:46,960 Speaker 1: I love that that comes in plastic containers the size 212 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 1: and shape of eggs. We sought out Mr Lee Weber, 213 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 1: the manager of the bookshop, to ascertain the mysterious link 214 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:54,720 Speaker 1: between it and Double Day. He told us that silly 215 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: putty is the most terrific item and that Double Day 216 00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:02,120 Speaker 1: shops have been privileged to handle it since forever, Amber, Yeah, 217 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:04,679 Speaker 1: forever Amber. I looked it up. It was a bestseller 218 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:08,079 Speaker 1: from the forties. It was about a woman in restoration, 219 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:11,720 Speaker 1: England's late seventeenth century England who, through her sexy wit, 220 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:14,520 Speaker 1: went from rags to riches and became like the favorite 221 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:18,240 Speaker 1: mistress of Charles the second I was banned in Boston. Yeah. 222 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:23,079 Speaker 1: So because of this um pretentious bit of cynical whimsy 223 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 1: that appeared in the New Yorker, Um, the sales overnight, 224 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:33,640 Speaker 1: uh for Silly Putty just exploded. He got Hodgson got 225 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:40,200 Speaker 1: UM three hundred, seven hundred and fifty thousand orders. Two hundred. Man, 226 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:42,440 Speaker 1: why did I quarter of a mill? You're probably thinking 227 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:44,839 Speaker 1: three quarters? Yeah I was. I was thinking about the 228 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 1: orders that weren't there, exactly. He got a quarter of 229 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:50,600 Speaker 1: a mill in three days, a quarter of a million orders, 230 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: and at two bucks a pop, that's a lot of money, 231 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:58,880 Speaker 1: especially considering that he only a million dollars. Yeah, yeah, 232 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:01,240 Speaker 1: that's well, I was thinking about the half a million 233 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:38,680 Speaker 1: he didn't right. Uh So it was like basically an 234 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:41,560 Speaker 1: overnight success thanks to Neiman Markets, Double Day Books and 235 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 1: the New Yorker and G. E. And the Japanese. But 236 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: I mean, again, this is all happening in a year 237 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: that's pretty speedy. This is a whirlwind year for this guy. 238 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: I'm happy for him. Just just looking back on this story, 239 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:55,920 Speaker 1: I hope he was a good guy and he didn't 240 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:58,239 Speaker 1: like beat up little kids on his way to work. 241 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:01,680 Speaker 1: He passed away nine seven six. I hope before then 242 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: he didn't do bad things. But he saw it become 243 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:07,800 Speaker 1: a huge success because when he died in nineteen seventy six, 244 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:11,920 Speaker 1: Silly Putty was in twenty two countries plus the United States, 245 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: with sales exceeding five million a year. And that was 246 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 1: in seventy six. Yeah, which I looked it up. That's 247 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:22,680 Speaker 1: nineteen million today dollars, I think. But um, it's it's 248 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:26,440 Speaker 1: pretty it's pretty good. Yeah, uh yeah, they seem to, 249 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 1: they seem to. Yeah, well he's set up um Arnold 250 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: Clark Inc. And I never found out who Arnold Clark kiss. 251 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:36,440 Speaker 1: Maybe that was an alias of his, who knows, um, 252 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:41,600 Speaker 1: but yeah, apparently owns Silly Putty. Now, now we've just 253 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:45,360 Speaker 1: described the history of Silly Putty. That should be enough. Um, 254 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 1: But I mean, surely there's no one out there who 255 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:52,400 Speaker 1: hasn't played the Silly Putty before. I used to play 256 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: with it like crazy when I was a kid. And 257 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:56,320 Speaker 1: one thing I would do, which is something that they 258 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: found out, you know, it was originally intended for adults, 259 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 1: and they were kind of surprised learned that kids were 260 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:03,520 Speaker 1: into it, and it didn't take long for the kids 261 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 1: sales to dwarf that of adults. It was sales overtook 262 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: it initially, he said. He's like, you know, this is 263 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: great for adults because you can come home and unwind 264 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 1: at the end of the day by squeezing it and 265 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 1: just blowing off steam. By copying newsprint with it, may I, 266 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 1: And that's what I did with it, was was copied 267 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:26,600 Speaker 1: comic books. So in that New Yorker article they interviewed 268 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:29,480 Speaker 1: Hodgson and he had he had a quote, it means 269 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:33,000 Speaker 1: five minutes of escape from neurosis. It means not having 270 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,480 Speaker 1: to worry about Korea or family difficulties, and it appeals 271 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:39,920 Speaker 1: to people that supure intellect. The inherent ridiculousness of the 272 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:42,880 Speaker 1: material acts as an emotional release to hard press adults. 273 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:46,840 Speaker 1: So it obviously worked because we're not in Korea any longer. 274 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,440 Speaker 1: It's interesting though, that he was wrong. I think it's 275 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 1: funny how somebody can be wrong on something and still 276 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:55,560 Speaker 1: be right, you know what I mean, Like all the 277 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 1: uses in the intent was he was completely wrong, but 278 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:02,440 Speaker 1: it's still skyrocket and he's like, oh, well, it's for kids. 279 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: Then he kind of cast a wide net on the 280 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:09,360 Speaker 1: patent license. It was for um stress relief, hand therapy 281 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:12,160 Speaker 1: for people who needed it. Um it could be used 282 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,359 Speaker 1: to block out low frequency noises. Yeah, they still claim 283 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:17,200 Speaker 1: you can do all this stuff today, like it's good 284 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:21,760 Speaker 1: for therapy and for like guming up holes and cleaning 285 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:25,640 Speaker 1: typewriter keys, which is a huge use these days. Well 286 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:27,680 Speaker 1: computer keys. Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot about this, 287 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:31,280 Speaker 1: um but yeah. So the guy was very much focused 288 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:35,360 Speaker 1: on it being uh um for adults, but kids kind 289 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:38,280 Speaker 1: of took it for themselves, mainly because you could. One 290 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:40,679 Speaker 1: of the great properties of silly putty is you can 291 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:44,040 Speaker 1: stretch it out, push it down on newsprint, and you 292 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:46,120 Speaker 1: have a mirror image of it. That's what I said. 293 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:47,960 Speaker 1: That's what he used to do. Oh you did say that, Yeah, 294 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:50,639 Speaker 1: comics comics, and you can't. It's harder to it's harder 295 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:52,880 Speaker 1: to do that these days because the print they use, 296 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:58,520 Speaker 1: Like you literally have to find like a newspaper in 297 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:01,719 Speaker 1: order to do that. Yeah, you can't do it on 298 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 1: the internet or a magazine. Yeah, you can't do it 299 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:07,920 Speaker 1: on a kindle. You could do it on a magazine. 300 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:11,160 Speaker 1: H No, I think you can know, dude, it's got 301 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 1: to pick up the ink. I know I can't do 302 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:15,919 Speaker 1: it on a magazine. I can tell you from reading 303 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 1: Harper's by the Pool that that's stuff smears. And if 304 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: it's smears, I guarantee you can get it on silly putty. Uh. 305 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:25,919 Speaker 1: Lucky for him, though, it was non toxic, so when 306 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 1: kids started playing with it and inevitably putting it in 307 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:31,479 Speaker 1: their mouth, there were no issues with that. Right, so 308 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 1: you should not eat it. We should say that. Yeah, 309 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:36,560 Speaker 1: don't eat anything that's not food or anything that has 310 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:40,840 Speaker 1: the name silly in it or putty, silly string, silly anything. Um. 311 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 1: So Hodgson made mention of its um inherent ridiculousness of 312 00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:49,280 Speaker 1: the material. Right, Um, it has some really strange properties. Uh. 313 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 1: He originally called it so he described it as a 314 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:57,199 Speaker 1: solid liquid right when you um, when you stretch it, 315 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:02,359 Speaker 1: it's like taffy. It stretches, right. Uh. If you pull it, 316 00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:07,200 Speaker 1: it just snaps apart quickly and with a lot of force. Um. 317 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:11,800 Speaker 1: If you stick it to like, say, um bookcase, you 318 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:13,920 Speaker 1: come back a few days later, it will have very 319 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:18,480 Speaker 1: slowly moved down, very slowly, very which means it flows, 320 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:21,440 Speaker 1: which is weird, but we'll get to that in a minute. Um. 321 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 1: And when you roll it up into a ball, it 322 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:26,399 Speaker 1: bounces higher than rubber. Yeah, they did a test. They 323 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:28,719 Speaker 1: rolled it into like a perfect little ball, and they 324 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:31,639 Speaker 1: dropped it with no force from three ft and it 325 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:35,080 Speaker 1: bounce bounces back two and a half feet. Supposedly. That 326 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,200 Speaker 1: is dynamite. Not bad. And if you throw it down 327 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:39,960 Speaker 1: real hard, you know you got yourself a super ball 328 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:44,399 Speaker 1: in your hands. So what is the stuff? Well, what 329 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:47,200 Speaker 1: are the the what's the science of silly putty chuck? 330 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:50,760 Speaker 1: The science of so? Well, before we get there, can 331 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:53,640 Speaker 1: I say about the egg? There are several varying accounts 332 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:56,480 Speaker 1: on why it was put in an egg. Some people 333 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:59,960 Speaker 1: say it was because his first batch went out before 334 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,560 Speaker 1: Easter and then he just said, hey, it's actually a 335 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:04,280 Speaker 1: pretty good idea, let's just keep it in the egg. 336 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 1: Other people say he got the inspiration while eating eggs 337 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:10,800 Speaker 1: one morning. Eggs are good for you, And still other 338 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:16,160 Speaker 1: people say that he couldn't find another container in abundance, 339 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:19,119 Speaker 1: and he had like a line on these plastic eggs, 340 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:21,439 Speaker 1: and I was like, I'll just use this because this 341 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:23,199 Speaker 1: is a pretty good way to put it in there. 342 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:26,560 Speaker 1: It's about an ounce, so let's just do that either way. 343 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:31,240 Speaker 1: That became the signature that's still used today, silly putty 344 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: full of eggs, the egg full of silly puddy, I 345 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:37,960 Speaker 1: feel silly. You could probably get silly putty full of 346 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:42,639 Speaker 1: egg but you don't have to do it yourself at home. Um. Alright, 347 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:46,879 Speaker 1: so back to what this stuff is, um, josh, it 348 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:55,560 Speaker 1: is a polymer, right, Yeah, it's a visco elastic polymer. Basically, 349 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 1: it's subject to the science of fluid chemistry, right, And 350 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:02,639 Speaker 1: fluids are not necessarily liquids. Liquids are fluids, but not 351 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:06,880 Speaker 1: all fluids or liquids. Gas can be a fluid, some 352 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:11,159 Speaker 1: semi solid substances can be fluid. Basically, a fluid is 353 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:16,600 Speaker 1: anything that yields to slight pressure and has no definite shape. 354 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:24,040 Speaker 1: So fluid your your gut is at least okay. Um, 355 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 1: So so that's uh, that's the science. That's the part 356 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 1: of chemistry and physics that we're looking as fluid chemistry UM, 357 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 1: and the ruling principle of that of fluid chemistry is viscosity. 358 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:38,400 Speaker 1: Where do we talk about this? I know we've talked 359 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:43,480 Speaker 1: about viscosity. We talked about viscosity in um quicksand right, 360 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 1: shear maynaise this visquosity, Josh. Viscosity is uh. It measures 361 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:51,440 Speaker 1: how much a fluid resists flow at a certain temperature. 362 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:54,840 Speaker 1: So so viscosity is resistant resistance to flow. If you're 363 00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:58,199 Speaker 1: like me and you can never remember what's viscosity, what's viscous, 364 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:01,920 Speaker 1: or what's high or low viscous, viscosity is resistance to flow. 365 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:04,640 Speaker 1: Actually the easiest way to remember is water is low. 366 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:07,920 Speaker 1: That pretty much says it all, just so it's easy. 367 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:10,440 Speaker 1: Like peanut butter would have a high viscosity, water would 368 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:13,639 Speaker 1: have a low viscosity. That's pretty easy way to it 369 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:17,119 Speaker 1: has a high resistance to flow or low resistance to 370 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 1: flow like honey or molasses and um. Viscosity is often 371 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:26,320 Speaker 1: measured in pascal seconds, not so much anymore now it's 372 00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:30,760 Speaker 1: measured by dying seconds per square centimeter, also called poise 373 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: and tien. Poise equals one pascal second. What that means 374 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 1: I cannot. I couldn't rant my mind around before then. Yeah, 375 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,160 Speaker 1: every site that I saw it took it for granted 376 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:46,960 Speaker 1: that I understood what what that measures. But it measures 377 00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:50,000 Speaker 1: viscosity or flow. As far as I understand. What I 378 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 1: love is that someone somewhere said, uh, tascal seconds just 379 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:57,360 Speaker 1: said and cutting it right. The guy whose last name 380 00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:00,639 Speaker 1: was Poise or poisel, I believe that's what happ came 381 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:04,800 Speaker 1: up with poise um. But yeah, so that's how viscosity 382 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:09,000 Speaker 1: is measured UM. And the more Pascal seconds are, the 383 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:14,160 Speaker 1: more poise there are, the more the higher the viscosity 384 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: is UM. But the thing about viscous fluids, they all well, 385 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:25,080 Speaker 1: I should say, most of them are subject to um temperature. 386 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:29,159 Speaker 1: That's what affects their viscosity. If you if you have 387 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:31,919 Speaker 1: cold honey that you're trying to get out of the bottle, 388 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 1: it doesn't flow very well. But if it's a room 389 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:37,640 Speaker 1: temperature or if it's warm, it flows. It's it's much 390 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:41,440 Speaker 1: less viscous, right, it flows much more easily because it's 391 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:45,360 Speaker 1: subject just to temperature. That makes it a Newtonian fluid. 392 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,240 Speaker 1: That's also a pet peeve. When you go to a 393 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:50,440 Speaker 1: place and get pancakes or waffles or French dose and 394 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:55,080 Speaker 1: they have the heated syrup. Oh I like that, you do? Yeah? 395 00:23:55,119 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 1: I like my syrup thick, okay um, you like it 396 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:01,680 Speaker 1: thin and water you like that as long as it's warm. 397 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:06,240 Speaker 1: It's watery because it's low and viscosity and it's warm. Um. 398 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:08,760 Speaker 1: But that's but it's just temperature there had it has 399 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:10,720 Speaker 1: nothing to do with force or pressure or anything like that. 400 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:14,600 Speaker 1: If a fluid is subject to not only temperature but 401 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:38,080 Speaker 1: also force, it's what's called a non Newtonian fluid. Chuck, 402 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:50,760 Speaker 1: are we at the email point? I believe we are, Chuck. 403 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:53,199 Speaker 1: This was pretty neato. We got an email from a 404 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:57,679 Speaker 1: young listener just a few weeks ago that seemingly had 405 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:01,000 Speaker 1: nothing to do with this podcast. But Josh and his 406 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:04,679 Speaker 1: wisdom looks back and says, hey, this kid actually described 407 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:08,199 Speaker 1: this Newtonian fluid very well. Yeah, and so let's just 408 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:10,399 Speaker 1: read his description. And it came before we decided to 409 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 1: do silly Place, so it was all just serendipitous, just 410 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:15,040 Speaker 1: sitting there. So I'm just gonna read the Holy hemis. 411 00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 1: And this marks the first time that a listener has 412 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:20,639 Speaker 1: actually contributed to the body of the show's information, and 413 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:23,440 Speaker 1: so this is a um. He's a young listener too, 414 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:27,040 Speaker 1: as we'll find out, Dearest Josh, Chuck and Jerry, And 415 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:29,240 Speaker 1: he spelled Jerry's name correctly right out of the game 416 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:32,120 Speaker 1: Kids on the Ball. Hi, guys, I wanted to say 417 00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:34,640 Speaker 1: how much I love your podcast and your soothing voices 418 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:37,040 Speaker 1: which get me through long road trips. I may be 419 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:41,159 Speaker 1: considered one of your younger quote listeners since I am 420 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:44,280 Speaker 1: eleven years young. I needed an excuse to email you, 421 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:46,600 Speaker 1: so I'll tell you a little bit about non newtonium 422 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 1: fluids this kid, Sir Isaac Newton said that fluids such 423 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:54,399 Speaker 1: as water flow continuously regardless of forces that act upon it. 424 00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:56,639 Speaker 1: So if you put your hand under a faucet, the 425 00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: water still flows no matter what, making it a newtonium 426 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:03,360 Speaker 1: flu it. But non newtonium fluids like catch up blood 427 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:06,880 Speaker 1: and yogurt behave differently based on the amount of stress 428 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:10,600 Speaker 1: added onto it. Try adding corn starch to water. If 429 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:12,560 Speaker 1: you put your hand into it, it behaves like a 430 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:14,960 Speaker 1: liquid and allows your hand to go through it. But 431 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:16,960 Speaker 1: if you punch it with a lot of force, it 432 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:19,720 Speaker 1: behaves like a solid and stops your hand from entering 433 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:22,800 Speaker 1: corn starch and water. Is called you black, like the 434 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:27,480 Speaker 1: Dr Seus's book Bartholomew, Bartholomew and the O Black. Sorry 435 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:30,200 Speaker 1: if that was long, boring or not entertaining. I don't 436 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:32,880 Speaker 1: write articles as well as you guys. Anyway, I love 437 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: the podcast and keep up the great work. I hope 438 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:37,080 Speaker 1: to keep listening to the podcast and that one day 439 00:26:37,119 --> 00:26:39,720 Speaker 1: we will hear Jerry speak together. We will find a 440 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 1: way your podcast confuse my friends with amazing knowledge and 441 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:45,800 Speaker 1: make me sound like the smartest kid in sixth grade. 442 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:48,240 Speaker 1: And for that I thank you. You'r s y s 443 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:51,960 Speaker 1: K super fan Matthew from New York PS, what kind 444 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:54,480 Speaker 1: of music do you guys like? I like Pink Floyd 445 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:58,200 Speaker 1: que Loosened the News and Weird Al Yankovic. So there's 446 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:00,960 Speaker 1: non newtonium fluids for you. And dude, when you came 447 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:03,719 Speaker 1: to me and said, hey, are you cool with us 448 00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:06,600 Speaker 1: reading this kid's thing to describe this, I went, yeah, 449 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:09,080 Speaker 1: because you know what that means. I don't have to 450 00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:12,280 Speaker 1: do it. He saved me, Yeah, he did know. He 451 00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:14,520 Speaker 1: saved both of us. Funny our favorite little U Blake, 452 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:19,360 Speaker 1: New York. Basically the non Newtonian fluid, as as Matthew 453 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:21,960 Speaker 1: points out, is basically it acts like a solid and 454 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,120 Speaker 1: a liquid all at once. So he was right, way back. 455 00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:26,639 Speaker 1: Hodgson was way back in the day correct when he 456 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 1: said it was a liquid solid or a solid liquid exactly. Um. 457 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:35,840 Speaker 1: The reason why is because it's main ingredient is polydime 458 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:40,960 Speaker 1: methyl siloxane, right, and that means that's what gives silly putty. 459 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:46,160 Speaker 1: It's fisco Alaska fisco elastic properties. So it changes depending 460 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 1: on long flow time meanings say the force of gravity 461 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:54,200 Speaker 1: acting on it down a bookcase, um, and temperatures right, 462 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: So along flow time a high temperature, it behaves like 463 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:01,399 Speaker 1: a highly viscus fluid. It will just kind of slowly flow, 464 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:05,840 Speaker 1: but at lower temperatures and when um, the when when 465 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:09,639 Speaker 1: it has short flow times high pressure is applied really quickly, 466 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:12,280 Speaker 1: it'll just break, which is why you can snap it. 467 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:14,560 Speaker 1: I wonder, I guess if you heat it up, does 468 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:17,760 Speaker 1: it become liquid? If you heat it up, it becomes radioactive. 469 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:21,720 Speaker 1: It's like super Happy fun ball. Okay, remember that you 470 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:24,440 Speaker 1: don't the same live commercial for super Happy fun Ball. 471 00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:26,200 Speaker 1: It's just like a regular ball. But there are all 472 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:28,919 Speaker 1: these warnings like, do not stand directly at super Happy 473 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:31,440 Speaker 1: fun Ball. It's super happy fun Ball begins to smoke, 474 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:34,040 Speaker 1: run away. You gotta look it up. I'll find it 475 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:36,080 Speaker 1: for you. We remember, we fought for that for the 476 00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:38,560 Speaker 1: title of our audiobooks was like the super Happy fun 477 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:41,600 Speaker 1: guy to what you know, happiness or whatever I think 478 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:46,240 Speaker 1: awesome was in there somewhere and they said, now, yeah, simplified. Um, 479 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:49,680 Speaker 1: so that's it. That's the science of silly putty. But 480 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:53,520 Speaker 1: let's say, Chuck, you don't have much money, you're down 481 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:58,320 Speaker 1: on your luck in this economy, it happens you still 482 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 1: want some silly putty. What do you do? You make it? Dude, 483 00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:05,239 Speaker 1: You can very easily make your own. I don't know 484 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:07,400 Speaker 1: this here, you do, okay? Because I don't have this, 485 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,880 Speaker 1: I know that there's probably some sort of borax involved. 486 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:12,800 Speaker 1: There is bo x involved, or you can use corn 487 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:15,080 Speaker 1: stars for this. I'm gonna use bo X because I 488 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:18,240 Speaker 1: think we should support our friends at twenty Mule Team 489 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:22,240 Speaker 1: bore X' doing it for a hundred something years. And 490 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:25,040 Speaker 1: by the way, kids, uh, even though this is a 491 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:27,040 Speaker 1: safe thing, you should always get your parents to help 492 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:28,680 Speaker 1: you when you're making stuff like this. Because you might 493 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:31,080 Speaker 1: just make a big mess and then they would be 494 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:34,479 Speaker 1: mad at us and take away your iPod. That's exactly right, 495 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: and we don't want that. Uh. There was I was 496 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:38,880 Speaker 1: listening to an old episode and there was one about 497 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:42,640 Speaker 1: a kid who wrote in and said that we had, um, 498 00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:46,160 Speaker 1: we've gotten his iPod taken away because his teacher he 499 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:49,120 Speaker 1: asked her about alien hand sendrame, remember that, and um, 500 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 1: his teacher couldn't answer, So she took his iPod and 501 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 1: said it was a utensil for cheating. And he said, 502 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:56,960 Speaker 1: for the record, I never used my iPods a utensil 503 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:01,480 Speaker 1: for cheating. He basically smoked her. She was embarrassed. So, um, 504 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:04,440 Speaker 1: if you want to go ahead and gather these things. Um, 505 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:07,920 Speaker 1: there's a white Craft glue. Elmer's glue will work. Um. 506 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:11,680 Speaker 1: Any bor X twenty mule team Borax works very well. Uh. 507 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:14,479 Speaker 1: Some warm water and food coloring if you like, and 508 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:20,440 Speaker 1: we'll we'll wait here while you gather thus, okay. Um, 509 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:22,880 Speaker 1: So you want to take your white Craft glue, you 510 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 1: want one cup of it sixteen ounces eight ounces sorry, right, okay, um, 511 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:31,680 Speaker 1: which I think is the standard size of just a 512 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:35,400 Speaker 1: regular thing of Elmer's glue. You take your three quarters 513 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:39,000 Speaker 1: cup warm water, and you make a nice glue water mixture, 514 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:42,400 Speaker 1: and you're gonna find that the glue dissolves pretty readily 515 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:46,240 Speaker 1: in the warm water. Chuck, and which means it has 516 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:49,520 Speaker 1: a very low viscosity. Right. Then you take your borax, 517 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 1: just a half of a teaspoon I've also seen up 518 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:55,760 Speaker 1: to a teaspoon one of those two. Slowly add it, 519 00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:59,240 Speaker 1: and you're gonna find very quickly that the viscosity increases. 520 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:03,720 Speaker 1: Dramatic claim. Okay, um, after a little while when you're 521 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:05,400 Speaker 1: stirring it, you're eventually gonna have to get it to 522 00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:06,840 Speaker 1: the point where you just pull it out and you 523 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:10,360 Speaker 1: rub it together with your hands or whatever. And um oh, 524 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:12,200 Speaker 1: when you add the borax, you also want to add 525 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:15,240 Speaker 1: the food coloring to sure if not yours have white 526 00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 1: silly putty. Um, but you you roll around in your hands, 527 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:21,960 Speaker 1: there's your silly putty. It's done. And what happened was 528 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:26,640 Speaker 1: your the polymer chains, the molecular chains of water and 529 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:30,320 Speaker 1: the glue weren't sticking. They just slid right past each other, 530 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:34,960 Speaker 1: which kept them in the Newtonian fluid category. But the 531 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,880 Speaker 1: moment you added that borax, it came in and said, hey, 532 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:40,480 Speaker 1: let's all just band together. And it took these polymer 533 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:42,800 Speaker 1: chains and linked them so they could no longer slide 534 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:45,760 Speaker 1: past one another. They were turned into a net or 535 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:49,040 Speaker 1: a web. And that's what gives the putty. It's elastic 536 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:51,440 Speaker 1: like qualities and these long polymer chains that just hook 537 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:53,080 Speaker 1: up and hook up and hook up. How long does 538 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:56,680 Speaker 1: that stuff last? You know? I don't think humanity has 539 00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,320 Speaker 1: been around long enough to know how long silly putty 540 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:02,479 Speaker 1: will last? Mean homemades everybody. I don't know until your 541 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:04,480 Speaker 1: little brother eats it. Because I thought I saw something 542 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,960 Speaker 1: about putting it in the fridge. You can store in 543 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:12,240 Speaker 1: a receivable bag or container to keep soft. Well, that nice. 544 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,280 Speaker 1: So that's it. And does it does it copy print 545 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 1: the same way? I wonder, or just had the same 546 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:21,080 Speaker 1: elastic properties? I don't know. It makes you don't let's 547 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:23,080 Speaker 1: do it all right, Okay, that's hey, that's what we're 548 00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:28,000 Speaker 1: doing this weekend. Okay, weekend. I'll bring the apron sweet 549 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:30,120 Speaker 1: to bring the beer. So that's it. I would say 550 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:34,800 Speaker 1: that this UM this podcast was a quintessential UM stuff 551 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:38,160 Speaker 1: you should know podcast. It had an iconic American product, 552 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,880 Speaker 1: It had a lot of history. It had science, the 553 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:46,760 Speaker 1: the the chemistry behind it, and it had do do 554 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:51,120 Speaker 1: it yourself at home recipes. The four Tenants and a 555 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:55,040 Speaker 1: kid and a cute kid. Five pillars, five pillars. We 556 00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:57,680 Speaker 1: we nailed this one. And a cocktail party. Six pillars. 557 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:01,360 Speaker 1: That's it, all right, Go get you some silly putty. 558 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,200 Speaker 1: I know they had. I think for their anniversary they 559 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:07,600 Speaker 1: had gold silly putty for the first time, I believe, 560 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:09,560 Speaker 1: I remember that. And I think they now have things 561 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:11,920 Speaker 1: like Glow in the Dark and you know it gets 562 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:15,640 Speaker 1: all wacky. It used to just look like, uh, I guess, pinkish, 563 00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:19,880 Speaker 1: but sort of a fleshy pinkish. Remember that. Yeah, um, 564 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:21,720 Speaker 1: I think they still have that too, though the original. 565 00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:24,760 Speaker 1: They've got to you can't. You can't forget your roots 566 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:26,480 Speaker 1: like that. So dads can go to the toy store 567 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:28,200 Speaker 1: and say, nah, you're not getting glow in the Dark. 568 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:30,600 Speaker 1: You're getting this. You're getting pink That's what I had 569 00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:32,080 Speaker 1: when I was a kid, and I loved it. You're 570 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:34,240 Speaker 1: gonna love it too. Let's get some comics wherever they 571 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:37,760 Speaker 1: sell those and press it against their online all right, 572 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:40,040 Speaker 1: all right, So if you want to learn more about 573 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:42,160 Speaker 1: silly putty type and silly putty. It brings up a 574 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:45,960 Speaker 1: really cool article, um, including a recipe, an extended recipe 575 00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:49,479 Speaker 1: even um. So that's s I L L Y space 576 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:53,400 Speaker 1: p U T T Y. And in the search bar 577 00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:55,760 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot Com. Since I said search bar, 578 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:58,400 Speaker 1: that means it's time for a listener mail, the second 579 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:04,160 Speaker 1: one in this podcast. Indeed, Josh, I'm gonna call this 580 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:08,360 Speaker 1: smart stuff from a lady in Columbia, South Carolina. You know, 581 00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:11,839 Speaker 1: sometimes we just get these listeners that just send us 582 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:14,120 Speaker 1: really good, intelligent emails, and I think those are always 583 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:17,960 Speaker 1: worth reading. So here we go. Hey, guys, just finished 584 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:20,200 Speaker 1: listening to the Future of the Internet. Cast had a 585 00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:23,800 Speaker 1: few thoughts about the so called dumbing down of culture. First, 586 00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:27,600 Speaker 1: I'm highly skeptical of any claims that uh to assert 587 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:31,279 Speaker 1: a sea change in intellectual ability. Smart and dumb are 588 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:35,440 Speaker 1: culturally and historically relative terms, and it's also true that 589 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:39,040 Speaker 1: people have been bemoaning the intellectual poverty caused by new 590 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:42,800 Speaker 1: technologies ever since writing was invented. Secondly, I'm not actually 591 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:46,600 Speaker 1: sure the utilization of deep memory a good is a 592 00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:49,359 Speaker 1: good one in and of itself. Yes, something might be 593 00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:51,719 Speaker 1: lost with those ah ha moments. But I'm much more 594 00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:56,040 Speaker 1: impressed by someone's ability to make novel and surprising connections, 595 00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:59,600 Speaker 1: something that the Internet actually facilitates, than by the pedantic 596 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:03,960 Speaker 1: memory reization of facts, which I would argue isn't pedantic, 597 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:07,480 Speaker 1: but that's me. Third, and most personally, the ability of 598 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:09,640 Speaker 1: the Internet to store and offer up vast quantities of 599 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:13,680 Speaker 1: information doesn't necessarily wipe out sustained research or thought. I'm 600 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:17,120 Speaker 1: finishing up a dissertation that I could have couldn't have 601 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:20,319 Speaker 1: written without Google Books, and that would have taken me 602 00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:23,759 Speaker 1: a lot longer without Google scholar. Yeah, sometimes I find 603 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:28,160 Speaker 1: myself lost and the indefinitely I'm sorry, infinitely expanding more 604 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:32,520 Speaker 1: ass of tabs as I disappeared down some research rabbit hole. 605 00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:36,080 Speaker 1: This guy is obviously putting off working on his dissertation 606 00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:39,520 Speaker 1: by writing this email. It's a lady, but that's always 607 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:41,600 Speaker 1: been the nature of scholarship. You never know where a 608 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:44,840 Speaker 1: question will take you, and the ability to quickly pursue 609 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:47,000 Speaker 1: various strands and to figure out which ones aren't going 610 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:50,960 Speaker 1: to take you anywhere productive is I think transformative for academia. 611 00:35:51,719 --> 00:35:54,640 Speaker 1: All of this to say, the Internet might diminish our 612 00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:57,760 Speaker 1: ability to store quantities of facts, but mourning that ability 613 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:01,480 Speaker 1: privileges facts and quantities effects are not necessarily indicative of 614 00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:05,080 Speaker 1: a culture's intelligence. Sustained reasoning and interpretation is, of course, 615 00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:09,560 Speaker 1: something else entirely, and that is from Josephine Are of Columbia, 616 00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:16,160 Speaker 1: South Carolina via Los Angeles. Wait so wait, she's I 617 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:19,600 Speaker 1: think currently in Colombia. Okay, so from l A. No, no, 618 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:23,320 Speaker 1: no from l A. VIA's Columbia. Nope, she's in l A. 619 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:28,439 Speaker 1: From you are right then? Man? How funny this follow 620 00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:33,160 Speaker 1: up a smart email that with dum marie like dem witery. 621 00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:36,480 Speaker 1: All right, well that's it. Thank you Josephine for that. 622 00:36:36,719 --> 00:36:39,880 Speaker 1: We appreciate it. That was actually kind of a big 623 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:44,480 Speaker 1: topic of um dissent people writing in about that after that. 624 00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:48,000 Speaker 1: But thanks. I think she summed it up pretty well. 625 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:52,560 Speaker 1: I agreed. Um. Also, we should correct ourselves. Cheddar American 626 00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:58,160 Speaker 1: cheese no English after the English town of Cheddar, So 627 00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:00,399 Speaker 1: sorry about that, England. Thanks for takeing in a way 628 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:03,640 Speaker 1: one of our American cheese is. I can't think of 629 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:07,359 Speaker 1: any more corrections right now, but we will figure them out, 630 00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:09,760 Speaker 1: Yes we will. If you want to send us a correction, 631 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:11,920 Speaker 1: We're always open to that. You can also send us 632 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:15,640 Speaker 1: any cute silly putty stories that you've got um let 633 00:37:15,719 --> 00:37:17,880 Speaker 1: us hear them. You can tweet to us s y 634 00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:21,960 Speaker 1: s K podcast. You can um go onto Facebook dot 635 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:24,120 Speaker 1: com slash stuff you should know that's our fan page, 636 00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:27,240 Speaker 1: or you can send us an old email at stuff 637 00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:36,000 Speaker 1: podcast at how stuff works dot com for more on 638 00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:38,520 Speaker 1: this and thousands of other topics, does it how stuff 639 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:46,680 Speaker 1: works dot com