WEBVTT - Could a 'thinking cap' make me a genius?

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<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

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<v Speaker 1>It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff you Should Know

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<v Speaker 1>from house Stuff Works dot Com. Hey, and welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>the podcast. I'm Josh Clark and guess who's with me?

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<v Speaker 1>That would be Mr Charles W. Chuck Bryant, who, based

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<v Speaker 1>on his headwear Today has Headwear Choice Today, apparently has

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<v Speaker 1>joined the Cuban Revolution, Right, is that correct? US Friday

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<v Speaker 1>Hat Day? So I'm doing my best Fidel Castro. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>va shay. It's called a combat cat. Feel like that.

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<v Speaker 1>It is. It's very cool. It's very cool, Chuck. You

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<v Speaker 1>want to know something cooler? Yes, Okay, So actually I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know if cools your right word. Maybe horrific is

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<v Speaker 1>a better word. Okay. Uh. There's a study conducted here

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<v Speaker 1>in the States. And of course you know that the

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<v Speaker 1>United States, like most other countries, have a long history

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<v Speaker 1>of you know, um, well meaning but really misplaced medical

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<v Speaker 1>experiments or psychological experiments by giving LSD to unsuspecting a

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<v Speaker 1>mayor ends, which we've talked about right exactly. This one

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<v Speaker 1>was a little different, um. This one involved separating twins

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<v Speaker 1>who were up for adoption at birth in the state

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<v Speaker 1>of New York. And uh, there were I think thirteen

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<v Speaker 1>sets of twins in one set of triplets, and they

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<v Speaker 1>were all separated through this one adoption agency as part

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<v Speaker 1>of a study of nature versus nurture. So like, the

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<v Speaker 1>only thing the adopting parents knew was that their kid

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<v Speaker 1>was part of an ongoing um child psychology study. And

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<v Speaker 1>so these researchers were allowed access to these kids over

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<v Speaker 1>their their lifetimes. And then it went from the sixties

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<v Speaker 1>to I think night and um, the guy who was

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<v Speaker 1>running the show, his name was Peter Newbauer, right, he

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<v Speaker 1>was a child psychologist. He um apparently realized that if

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<v Speaker 1>he were to publish this study. Uh, basically he'd beat

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<v Speaker 1>lynched right right that by the time rolled around, people

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<v Speaker 1>didn't think too highly of separating twins, Like the the

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<v Speaker 1>ethics of experimentation had changed enough, not based on the results,

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<v Speaker 1>just space on the fact that he did this to

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<v Speaker 1>because he under yeah right, so Um, basically what he

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<v Speaker 1>did was take all of the research. He had the

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<v Speaker 1>study it was ready to be published, and he sealed

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<v Speaker 1>it and um it cannot be open until twenty six

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<v Speaker 1>and it's sitting in the archives at Yale university. I

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<v Speaker 1>imagine twenty six. He imagined he'd be long dead by then, Right,

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<v Speaker 1>so in six we're gonna find out a lot about

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<v Speaker 1>nature versus nurture. I will be long dead, but you might.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm supposed to make it, as you know. That's what

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<v Speaker 1>your death clock. Death clock says. So I don't think

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<v Speaker 1>so I'll be. I've got my vagas. Odds are against that. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>so um okay, So Chuck, that's a that's an example

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<v Speaker 1>of a really terrible experiment. Yeah. Right, have you heard

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<v Speaker 1>of savants, autistic savants? I have, Indeed you have. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>they actually provide a much less horrible, uh natural experiment,

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<v Speaker 1>perfect natural experiment to study the brain. Right, Okay, you

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<v Speaker 1>want to talk about savants for a second, because I'm

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<v Speaker 1>going to explain later how they make this perfect experiment. Sure, Josh,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, autistic savants are people who are mentally deficient

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<v Speaker 1>in some areas but excel and others, like a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of times and others. That kid that plays the piano,

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<v Speaker 1>you've seen him in the jazz trio, I have not.

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<v Speaker 1>He's fifteen or so now, and when he first started playing,

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<v Speaker 1>he was really young and very advanced musically. So and

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<v Speaker 1>he's autistic savant. So that's one good example. Yeah, music

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<v Speaker 1>comes out a lot in savants. Um. Um. There's a

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<v Speaker 1>guy named Blind Tom. He was this African American guy

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<v Speaker 1>at the turn of the last century, not hippie rob

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<v Speaker 1>or not Blind Tom, and he was severely um autistic,

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<v Speaker 1>and he he could play pretty much any piece of

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<v Speaker 1>music that he heard once on the piano. Um. Interesting, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>it's autistic. Savant is different than autism though, aren't those two? Sure?

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<v Speaker 1>Not every buddy who is a savant is autistic and

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<v Speaker 1>not everybody who's autistic is a savant, so there is like, yes,

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<v Speaker 1>that's a good point there. There is a very I

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<v Speaker 1>guess a subgroup called autistic savants, and perhaps the most

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<v Speaker 1>famous savant um is a guy named Kim Peak Rainman. Yeah, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>he's the real Rainman, is what they call him. I

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<v Speaker 1>thought they just made that up. No, now you were

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<v Speaker 1>dead on, Chuck. You have an amazing intuition savant. Yeah

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<v Speaker 1>maybe I don't think so, but maybe I'm terrible at math.

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<v Speaker 1>So yeah, that comes into play too as well. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>But Kim Peak is this guy who the guy who

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<v Speaker 1>wrote Rainman, Barrymorrow met uh in four and in Night

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<v Speaker 1>the movie came out. So he was very much based

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<v Speaker 1>on Kim Peak. Yeah, the guy can if you tell

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<v Speaker 1>him your birthday, your birthdate, I'll tell you what day

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<v Speaker 1>of the week you were born on. Um. He apparently

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<v Speaker 1>Um has read twelve thousand books around that, around that

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<v Speaker 1>he started reading and memorizing things at fourteen months. Wow. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>But he has severe brain damage, developmental brain damage. So

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<v Speaker 1>he can't like, button his own shirt. He can't care

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<v Speaker 1>for himself. Luckily, he's got a really good dad who

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<v Speaker 1>cares for him. Sure. But the cool thing about this

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<v Speaker 1>story is after Barrymorrow won an oscar, he gave it

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<v Speaker 1>to Kim Peake, did he write the screenplay? And so

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<v Speaker 1>Kim Peak carries it around everywhere he goes. Yeah, and

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<v Speaker 1>that cool. Yeah, that's awesome. Alright. So the reason why

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<v Speaker 1>savants and there have been some really spectacular ones throughout

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<v Speaker 1>the ages, UH provides such a great natural experiment for

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<v Speaker 1>us to investigate the brain is because they, most of them,

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<v Speaker 1>they almost exclusively have left UH damage to the left

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<v Speaker 1>hemisphere of the brain. And you know, just the very

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<v Speaker 1>fact that they can excel in math but can't button

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<v Speaker 1>their own shirts. It provides this kind of um, certain

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<v Speaker 1>framework to compare the rest of our brains to right.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, it's it's a it's an excellent comparison, right right,

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<v Speaker 1>And the left side is more about detail, correct, and

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<v Speaker 1>the right side is more about the big picture. Do

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<v Speaker 1>you love the lateralization of brain functions? Do? Well? I

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<v Speaker 1>like the brain period because it's still so mysterious. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>it's amazing how little we know still about the brain. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it's amazing and disconcerting. Yes, at the same time, I

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<v Speaker 1>predict the next fifty years are going to see tremendous

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<v Speaker 1>advances in our understanding of the brain, in part because

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<v Speaker 1>of the study of savants, right right. So yeah, you

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<v Speaker 1>were talking about the lateralization of brain function. Yeah, you're right.

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<v Speaker 1>Left is the detail oriented side and right sees the

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<v Speaker 1>big picture. Right. Um. And so there's some people who

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<v Speaker 1>are studying savants, um. And you know, like I said,

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<v Speaker 1>one of the reasons why they are interesting is because

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<v Speaker 1>almost all of them have damage in one form or

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<v Speaker 1>another to the left side of the brain. Uh. And

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<v Speaker 1>even more suspicious is is you can you can, um,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe get in a car wreck or have a stroke,

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<v Speaker 1>and if if you the left side is impaired people

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<v Speaker 1>have been known to basically come out of a savant

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<v Speaker 1>and sometimes autistic savant. Interesting, right, Um. So one of

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<v Speaker 1>the people that I'd like to talk about today who's

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<v Speaker 1>studying savants is Dr Allen Snyder, yes Schneider, as I

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<v Speaker 1>like to call him. He is an ex pad American

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<v Speaker 1>who runs the Center for the Mind that's the British

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<v Speaker 1>spelling of Center in Sydney, Australia. And he is he's

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<v Speaker 1>a very eccentric person. It sounds like it, he really is.

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<v Speaker 1>But he's been studying savants for years and um he

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<v Speaker 1>has come up with a theory about mindsets and it's

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<v Speaker 1>based on the lateralization of brain function. I love that. Um, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>the mindset. Basically, his theory is that mindsets are created

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<v Speaker 1>their personal um basically definitions on your experience. Right. So

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<v Speaker 1>if you see, uh, you know, a bear in the woods,

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<v Speaker 1>well let's a little let's come. Let's say a dog

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<v Speaker 1>in your driveway. You'll note things about the dog, that

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<v Speaker 1>he's furry, that he has a tail, he walks on

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<v Speaker 1>four legs, that kind of thing, and your brain kind

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<v Speaker 1>of store us that away. So next time you don't

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<v Speaker 1>see a dog, you think Oh my gosh, what's that.

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<v Speaker 1>I've never seen one of those. Yeah, he calls the mindsets, right,

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<v Speaker 1>so chuck. Uh, when we when we're basically assaulted with

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<v Speaker 1>stimuli all times, all the time, raw data basically UM

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<v Speaker 1>from like the humming of a fluorescent light, UM to

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<v Speaker 1>you know, UM, conversations that we overhear in restaurants, that

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<v Speaker 1>kind of thing, colors, actions, taste, smells. Yeah, We're we're

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<v Speaker 1>constantly assaulted with the reinput. Right. We have this thing

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<v Speaker 1>called latent inhibition, which is a brain process. They're still

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<v Speaker 1>again trying to get a handle on, UM, but latent

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<v Speaker 1>inhibition is basically the process by which we filter out

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<v Speaker 1>stuff we already know, so if we can identify, So

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<v Speaker 1>we're not constantly focused on the buzzing of a fluorescent

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<v Speaker 1>lights exactly, we're hearing all the voices in a restaurant.

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<v Speaker 1>Obviously that'd be maddening, right And actually, as a side note, UM,

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<v Speaker 1>schizophrenics uh have very low latent inhibition indeed, so they're

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<v Speaker 1>constantly assault to with all of this stuff. But they

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<v Speaker 1>also have the added, UM horrible side effect of UM

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<v Speaker 1>attaching meaning to to these snippets of conversation. Right, So

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<v Speaker 1>saying specifically, you're hearing voices, um, and you're not able

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<v Speaker 1>to externalize or internalize, meaning you can't tell the voices

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<v Speaker 1>are coming from your head and you're attaching meaning to them.

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<v Speaker 1>That's schizophrenia, right, That's horrible. So it's Snyder's belief and

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<v Speaker 1>I'm pretty sure the medical establishment at large is that, Um,

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<v Speaker 1>we're we're getting all of this raw data. It's being

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<v Speaker 1>accepted into our right hemisphere, right, which sees the big picture,

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<v Speaker 1>and uh, it sends it over to the left hemisphere,

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<v Speaker 1>which processes it into details which we hang on to.

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<v Speaker 1>This this interplay between the left hemisphere and the right

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<v Speaker 1>hemisphere creates those mindsets you were talking about, right, which,

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<v Speaker 1>like you said, is how we can see a dog

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<v Speaker 1>and come to understand what a dog is, and then

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<v Speaker 1>later on when we see another agus just say, oh,

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<v Speaker 1>that's a dog. Like we kind of categorize things in packets, right. Sure. So, UM,

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<v Speaker 1>we say all that to say this, if supposedly we

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<v Speaker 1>have damage to the left side of the brain, the

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<v Speaker 1>detail oriented brain, all we're doing is getting raw data

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<v Speaker 1>and we're not able to create these mindsets. There's this

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<v Speaker 1>wonderful article by a guy named Lawrence Osburne UM, And

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<v Speaker 1>it was in the New York Times in two thousand

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<v Speaker 1>three called Savant for a Day and he spent the

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<v Speaker 1>day with Alan Snyder, and the whole article is very long,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's definitely worth reading. Um. He chronicles, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>his day with Alan Snyder. And one of the things

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<v Speaker 1>that Snyder mentions is that some of the savants that

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<v Speaker 1>he studies when they come to see him at the

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<v Speaker 1>Center for the Mind, they may have been there dozens

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<v Speaker 1>of times, but they can get lost every single time

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<v Speaker 1>just because of the change of shadows. It looks different.

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<v Speaker 1>They're getting different input, so they'll get lost because it

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't look the same way it did that last time,

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<v Speaker 1>and they can't form mindsets saying this is the direction

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<v Speaker 1>I'm going right. Right, So since people with left left

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<v Speaker 1>hemisphere brain damage uh tend to be savants, right or

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<v Speaker 1>people who are savants have that condition. Um. Snyder has

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<v Speaker 1>actually come up with a a theory that all of

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<v Speaker 1>us are savants. If you get struck on the head

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<v Speaker 1>and your left hemisphere is damaged, you you could become

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<v Speaker 1>a savant. So we're all potential savants, right, And basically

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<v Speaker 1>the left side that that helps create these mindsets that

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<v Speaker 1>pays attention to these details and hangs onto him are

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<v Speaker 1>keeping us from being savants. Right, So how do you

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<v Speaker 1>investigate something like this? Well, he uses a process called

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<v Speaker 1>transcranial magnetic stimulation. We're gonna call it TMS. Yes, much

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<v Speaker 1>easier for our purposes. Uh. TMS was originally designed Josh

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<v Speaker 1>to examine brain functions during cranial surgery. And what it

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<v Speaker 1>does is it focuses magnetic pulses to either suppress or

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<v Speaker 1>enhance the electrical functions of the brain. Yeah, it's depends

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<v Speaker 1>on the frequency of the pulses, right, absolutely. And we

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<v Speaker 1>were talking, you know, privately, and I thought it sounded

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<v Speaker 1>very relaxing as your brain was being massaged and disappointed.

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<v Speaker 1>I was disappointed because you said that you don't feel anything.

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<v Speaker 1>You're not supposed to feel anything. It sounds very nice

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<v Speaker 1>to me. It does kind of, but I think that

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<v Speaker 1>you could probably get something like what you're describing it,

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<v Speaker 1>like Brookstone maybe, So don't don't fear. Yeah, that's where

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<v Speaker 1>you're just sure sharper image. Perhaps they're under are they anyway?

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<v Speaker 1>Alan Snyder started using t MS because he found this

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<v Speaker 1>curious little side effect of people that were getting tested

0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:41.920
<v Speaker 1>with tms UM had some cognitive malthfunctions, so like speech

0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:45.960
<v Speaker 1>impediments exactly while while this thing was trained on their brain, right, right,

0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:48.720
<v Speaker 1>But it also had some uh if you did, if

0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:50.440
<v Speaker 1>you put this on an average person at some pretty

0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:52.760
<v Speaker 1>cool results. Yeah, this is what Snyder has been doing.

0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:55.840
<v Speaker 1>This is his new experiment, right, and it's very cool. Um.

0:12:57.200 --> 0:13:00.240
<v Speaker 1>Of the people, the normal folks, let's call him, that

0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:03.720
<v Speaker 1>he exposed to t M s UM, they displayed artistic

0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:06.200
<v Speaker 1>and quantitative abilities that they didn't seem to have before.

0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:09.559
<v Speaker 1>So right on the money, it seems like it's actually

0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:12.120
<v Speaker 1>tapping into a part of our brain that we have

0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:14.880
<v Speaker 1>and we don't use, which sort of backs up his theory. Right,

0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:17.160
<v Speaker 1>and some of the some of the things he puts

0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:20.320
<v Speaker 1>people through, well, uh, he he uses TMS on them,

0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:23.800
<v Speaker 1>which apparently we're kind of It looks a lot like

0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:27.679
<v Speaker 1>a shower cap has a bundle of magnetic wires in it,

0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:30.880
<v Speaker 1>a thinking cap, if you will, Yeah, which is kind

0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:34.640
<v Speaker 1>of an inaccurate moniker, but an unfortunate one. The press

0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:36.640
<v Speaker 1>is kind of put on it, right. They had to

0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:39.680
<v Speaker 1>label it, right, you got to you gotta get people

0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:41.800
<v Speaker 1>to read, right, which is why we used it in

0:13:41.800 --> 0:13:46.560
<v Speaker 1>the title of the arti um. So depending on where

0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:49.840
<v Speaker 1>you put it on the skull, um, it's going to

0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:52.960
<v Speaker 1>affect that that very localized region of the brain. So

0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:55.440
<v Speaker 1>of course Snyder is interested in training this on the

0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:58.720
<v Speaker 1>left hemisphere of the brain. Sure um. And he's actually

0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:01.920
<v Speaker 1>using a low freak and see, so he's depressing the

0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:06.400
<v Speaker 1>left brains function and reportedly, like you said, people are

0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:08.480
<v Speaker 1>showing results. One of the things he likes to get

0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:13.000
<v Speaker 1>people to do is draw animals. And apparently with those

0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:17.280
<v Speaker 1>who show a reaction to t MS, they they their

0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:20.520
<v Speaker 1>drawings tend to get better or more realistic, more lifelike.

0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:26.280
<v Speaker 1>And Snyder's theory is that this, this drawing from memory

0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:30.840
<v Speaker 1>is not based on the preconceived notions that you already

0:14:30.840 --> 0:14:34.480
<v Speaker 1>have that would come from the left hemisphere of the brain. Curiously,

0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:37.040
<v Speaker 1>he also has found that people can, um, you know,

0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:40.480
<v Speaker 1>ordinary people were talking about can identify prime numbers from sight.

0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:45.560
<v Speaker 1>I love that field and words, I believe proof reading,

0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:48.240
<v Speaker 1>grammatical errors all of a sudden out of nowhere. So

0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:51.840
<v Speaker 1>over the course of this TMS therapy or whatever, um,

0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:55.520
<v Speaker 1>they're getting progressively better at these tasks. Right, but only

0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:58.440
<v Speaker 1>last about an hour though, correct, Yes, and it may

0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:00.480
<v Speaker 1>not happen at all. There's an argue went out there

0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:02.640
<v Speaker 1>that like, if you draw fourteen cats in a row,

0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.760
<v Speaker 1>they're going to get better. That that may or may

0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:08.720
<v Speaker 1>not be true, but it is pretty interesting data that

0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:11.520
<v Speaker 1>he's coming up with. And I don't think arguments like

0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:13.480
<v Speaker 1>that are are really putting the kai bosh on his

0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:16.920
<v Speaker 1>investigations using t MS, right, I don't think so. Now, which,

0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:19.960
<v Speaker 1>by the way, also I understand you said has has

0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:22.800
<v Speaker 1>just been approved by the FDA for use in treating depression,

0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:25.720
<v Speaker 1>so g Yeah, Josh. They studied uh, three hundred people

0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:30.400
<v Speaker 1>that had clinical depression in Philadelphia, and they found out

0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:32.920
<v Speaker 1>that people that underwent the t MS therapy were twice

0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:36.160
<v Speaker 1>as likely to go into remissions. And they're also now

0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:40.680
<v Speaker 1>this is just as of last week, I think, are

0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:44.680
<v Speaker 1>studying asking for stroke victims to volunteer for studies with teams. Yeah.

0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:48.280
<v Speaker 1>Apparently with with depression. UM, if you train it on

0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:52.480
<v Speaker 1>the frontal lobe, I believe, uh, they and you put

0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:54.920
<v Speaker 1>it on a high frequency, they've actually shown that it

0:15:55.920 --> 0:16:01.320
<v Speaker 1>restructures the brain like your neurons are are structured. UM.

0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:03.400
<v Speaker 1>And of course in the frontal lobe. That's where your

0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:08.040
<v Speaker 1>your ability to regulate mood is, right, So that's just weird,

0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:10.680
<v Speaker 1>but very hopeful it is. It makes you wonder if

0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:13.560
<v Speaker 1>this thing could be the key to making people smarter,

0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:17.520
<v Speaker 1>curing brain disease. Yeah. Interesting, so I guess. I guess

0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:20.040
<v Speaker 1>the takeaway from this one is the next time you

0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:23.320
<v Speaker 1>meet a savant of any kind and uh, here she

0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:26.400
<v Speaker 1>tries to impress you with their you know, mathematical or

0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:29.880
<v Speaker 1>musical skills, you can think to yourself, I could do

0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:32.880
<v Speaker 1>that too if I had, let's break damage. Sure, you're

0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:37.160
<v Speaker 1>not so special exactly, so Chuck, that would be uh,

0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:39.280
<v Speaker 1>what's the thinking cap? And couldn't make me a genius?

0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:42.160
<v Speaker 1>The answer is no, not really, But that's what you

0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:43.600
<v Speaker 1>would type in if you wanted to go to how

0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:47.160
<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com? Righted um, and I think you

0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:50.360
<v Speaker 1>had something you wanted to say to everybody? Well, yeah, Josh,

0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:52.640
<v Speaker 1>is pretty exciting. Before we get to a listener mail,

0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:56.880
<v Speaker 1>we are launching a blog. Not just you and I,

0:16:57.000 --> 0:16:59.480
<v Speaker 1>but I believe six or seven blogs on the website,

0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:01.680
<v Speaker 1>a whole mess of them, whole mess of them, and

0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:04.320
<v Speaker 1>they gave you and I, as you know, our own

0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:07.120
<v Speaker 1>little blog called stuff you Should Know, although the whole

0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:09.320
<v Speaker 1>entire blog section is called stuff you Should Know. Don't

0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:13.919
<v Speaker 1>get confused. Yes it is. I hadn't noticed that they

0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:17.679
<v Speaker 1>named it after. So we would like our listeners to

0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:20.600
<v Speaker 1>get active. This is a call out to our listeners

0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:22.639
<v Speaker 1>to get on the blogs. We're going to be discussing

0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:26.679
<v Speaker 1>all kinds of cool stuff that isn't long enough to

0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:30.359
<v Speaker 1>make into a full episode, so like shorter topics on there.

0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:32.560
<v Speaker 1>And we'll also be talking about the shows that we do,

0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:36.359
<v Speaker 1>uh every Tuesday and Thursday or release. So yeah, and

0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:39.760
<v Speaker 1>actually we've picked up on a couple of listeners listener

0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:43.440
<v Speaker 1>male suggestions. Sure we've written on so keep those ideas

0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:46.160
<v Speaker 1>coming too, because you know, Chuck and I can only

0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:48.240
<v Speaker 1>do so much, right, So go to go to the

0:17:48.480 --> 0:17:50.920
<v Speaker 1>website and look for blogs. It should be pretty easy

0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:52.119
<v Speaker 1>to find. We'll have a you are all for you

0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:56.320
<v Speaker 1>very shortly and uh enjoy talk to each other, connect

0:17:56.480 --> 0:17:58.879
<v Speaker 1>what nicely? Don't show thanks? Okay, So you know what

0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:04.920
<v Speaker 1>this is, right it listener mail time? Yes it is, yes,

0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:07.359
<v Speaker 1>it is uh so Josh, this week we heard from

0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:10.520
<v Speaker 1>a man named Jason divin Ere. You pronounced it? You know,

0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:13.440
<v Speaker 1>I don't. I've never met him or email palace. He

0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:16.080
<v Speaker 1>works for how Stuff Works up in Chicago. Okay, so

0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:18.920
<v Speaker 1>this is an insider deal, but that's fine because Jason

0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:21.760
<v Speaker 1>did right. This is about the moon landing episode and

0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:25.040
<v Speaker 1>whether or not it was faked. Jason is a three

0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:27.239
<v Speaker 1>time space camper, which is kind of cool. I hope

0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:30.560
<v Speaker 1>you ribbed them for that. And full time nerd self

0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:33.320
<v Speaker 1>professed and he said he was excited to see a

0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:36.359
<v Speaker 1>podcast about the moon landing. When you were talking about

0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:38.480
<v Speaker 1>dust on the Moon, he said in the photos video,

0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:41.200
<v Speaker 1>dust appears to be clouding or kicked up more than

0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:43.720
<v Speaker 1>dust would be on Earth. This would occur because the

0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:46.960
<v Speaker 1>particles are airborne longer due to lack of gravity. One

0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:49.840
<v Speaker 1>six to gravity. By the way, yeah, it's not no growing.

0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:54.120
<v Speaker 1>What didn't fit was when you insinuated that to recreate

0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:58.600
<v Speaker 1>this effect on Earth that would require a vacuumized sound stage. Josh,

0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:01.160
<v Speaker 1>Apparently the air has nothing to do with it. On Earth,

0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:03.000
<v Speaker 1>the dust particles will rise and fall at the same

0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:05.800
<v Speaker 1>rate regardless of the presence of air in the room.

0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:07.879
<v Speaker 1>The only effect air would have on a falling object

0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:11.359
<v Speaker 1>to provide resistance when you're dealing with something as small

0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:14.400
<v Speaker 1>as tiny rocks that make up this dust. Air resistance

0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:16.560
<v Speaker 1>would be such a small factor it would not be

0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:21.160
<v Speaker 1>perceptible to the naked eye. So Jason fully geeked out

0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:24.560
<v Speaker 1>setis straight. That's awesome. And on that note, with the

0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:26.359
<v Speaker 1>moon landing, we had a bunch of a bunch of

0:19:26.359 --> 0:19:30.240
<v Speaker 1>people right in about the MythBusters episode where they tested

0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:33.040
<v Speaker 1>out some of these theories and they actually shot uh

0:19:33.440 --> 0:19:35.840
<v Speaker 1>beam of light a laser which guess is a beam

0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:38.720
<v Speaker 1>of light, uh, and it there are these reflectors that

0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:41.800
<v Speaker 1>they left on the moon and it bounced back and

0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:45.320
<v Speaker 1>they saw this, so they pretty much proved absolutely that

0:19:45.400 --> 0:19:47.119
<v Speaker 1>we did land on the Moon. And I don't have

0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:50.119
<v Speaker 1>a list of everyone that wrote in telling us about

0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:52.200
<v Speaker 1>that show, but it was a lot of folks. Yes,

0:19:52.240 --> 0:19:57.320
<v Speaker 1>so you haven't marked lots of listeners, yes, thank you. Well,

0:19:57.320 --> 0:20:01.560
<v Speaker 1>if you want to become Chucks or my email buddy, uh,

0:20:01.600 --> 0:20:04.080
<v Speaker 1>you can send us an email about anything you like

0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:12.719
<v Speaker 1>uh at stuff podcast at how stuff works dot com

0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:15.159
<v Speaker 1>for more on this and thousands of other topics. Is

0:20:15.200 --> 0:20:19.919
<v Speaker 1>it how stuff works dot com. MHM brought to you

0:20:19.960 --> 0:20:23.320
<v Speaker 1>by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready are

0:20:23.400 --> 0:20:23.520
<v Speaker 1>you