Hey, Wowzer fans. It's Guy Raz and Mindy here. And before we start the show, Earth Day is finally here. Happy Earth Day to you. Happy Earth Day to you. Happy... I'm so excited. Our planet, Earth, is... We need your help to find and share the wows with our community. Because after all, if we want our planet... Or as we like to call it, Planet Wow.
And after you're done listening to the mini-episode this Tuesday, grown-ups don't forget to visit Tinkercast.com slash PlanetWow. When you visit Tinkercast.com slash PlanetWow, You'll find information on how you can join us on our epic geocaching eco-adventure and find our exclusive Planet Wow geocache boxes in... and places that wow near you. Now, we could tell you where some of these geocaches are hidden, but we'd rather show you. Guy Raz and I have placed some secret...
And then see if you can go find one of them. out in the world. We can't wait to see what wows you find out in the world. Grownups, don't forget to share with us at tinkercast.com slash planetwow. That's it. And now let's get back to the show. Ahem. We won. Oh, wait, no, I said laughing twice. Whatever. and welcome to Wee Wow on the Weekend. I'm your host, Dennis. And Reggie's here, too, also. Hey, Reggie. I was just wondering. What's your favorite dinosaur? What? Pigeons?
Reggie, those are dinosaurs. I know birds are basically dinosaurs, but I wanted you to say something fun like Stegosaurus or Spinosaurus or Dimetrodon. No, Reggie, not the T-Rex. That's everyone's favorite! Do another one! Ooh, the Archaeopteryx. Good one. See, now that's how you pick a favorite dinosaur. My favorite dinosaur is the Dilophosaurus. But not the Dilophosaurus from the dinosaur book Mother gave me.
I like the Dilophosaurus from the movies. Because, Reggie, in the movies, they have neck frills. And I want neck frills. I also like the Denisodon. No, the Denisodon isn't real. But it will be once I discover it. Yeah, huh? Oh, you're right. We better move on with the show. Let's get started with a Q&A segment. Ahem. The Q&A. Alright, let's just get the old answering machine pulled up here. Okay, here we go.
Hi, you've reached Dennis from Wee Wow on the weekend. That's me. Do you have a question? Well, I do too. Lots of them. And who's going to answer all my questions? You? Probably not, but I guess I can answer yours. Leave me a message. Hi, Dennis and Reggie. My name is Thomas from Warner Robins, Georgia, and I have a question for Dennis. Okay, Thomas, what you got? What is the craziest thing you've seen Grandma G-Force do while snooping on her? Huh, what's the...
craziest thing I've seen Grandma G-Force do. Well, honestly, Grandma G-Force is really boring to snoop on because... She does the same thing every day. Yeah, first she plays guitar in a rock band. Then she practices mixed martial arts. Then comes her afternoon skydiving appointment, followed by monster truck jumping over a pit of robot crocodiles, and then an afternoon nap. I know! It's just boring old regular grandma stuff.
next question hi Dennis my name is Caleb I'm 11 years old and I'm from Mount Laurel New Jersey I'm just wondering what the fastest computer ever made was thanks Ooh, the fastest computer ever made. Yeah, I agree. I'm pretty sure the fastest computer was that laptop Mindy strapped to a rocket ship and shot into outer space. How fast do you think that computer went, Reggie? What? 26,000 miles per hour? Oh yeah, that has to be the fastest computer ever made. Next question.
Hi, Dennis. My name is Eamon. I am eight years old. I live in Cornwall, New York, and my question is... why do humans have two legs instead of four oh wow Why do humans have two legs instead of four? I don't know, but I would love to have four legs. Because, Reggie, then I could wear two pairs of pants. Then I could mix and match pants. for two times the fashion fun. Yeah, and then I'd get to wear four shoes. Can you imagine? And four ice skates.
and four rollerblades and four cowboy boots and four flip-flops. Yeah, and two sets of pedals on my bicycle. I'd go so fast. Oh, you're right. 20 toenails instead of just 10. And think of all the sock laundry. Yeah, that would be really time consuming. I have much better things to do than spend all my time clipping toenails and washing socks. And that's why we have two legs instead of four Thanks for all your calls everyone If you've got a question for me Call and leave me a message
The number is 1-888-7-WOW-WOW. That's 1-888-7-WOW-WOW. I just might answer your question on WeWow on the weekend. Okay. That takes care of that. Now it's time for our next segment, Inside Tinkercast Studios. Inside Tinkercast Studios! This is the part where we revisit an episode of one of my favorite Tinkercast shows. And today, we're listening to Wow in the World Season 2, Episode 29, called... Do birds of a feather flock together? Wow, Reggie, do they?
Kind of? Reggie, what do you mean? In this episode, aren't you friends with a plover or something? Right, and a bar-tailed godwit. Okay, fine. Let's just listen to the episode. All right, here we go. And play. WeeWow will be right back. Grownups, this message is for you. That's it. Now back to the show. It's not an appeals collection! Run, run, run, run! Hold on! I'm still coming! Crawl. Crawl. Good mark! Wait!
What is this note? Sorry we missed you. Your package was undeliverable? As nobody was home? Not again! You're not getting away with it this time, buddy! Gotcha! What are you doing? I was coming over to help you organize your band-aid collection, not to be your human tackling dummy. Oh, sorry, Guy Raz. I thought you were the delivery guy. Here, let me help you up. One, two, skip to my loo and... Thanks. Wait.
Why were you trying to tackle the delivery guy? Well, my lasso's in the shop and I'm still working out the kinks on the old trap doormat. What? What? Nothing. What in the... See what I mean? I didn't even push the button. Mindy, that's dangerous. Only if you're standing on it. So, did you still want to do that...
Band-Aid sorting? I was thinking we could start by organizing them by... Not right now, Guy Raz. I gotta head down to the post office to get Reggie's package. Reggie still gets his mail delivered here? I thought he had a P.O. box. So not a package for Reggie, Guy Raz. A package from Reggie. A package from Reggie? Why? Where is he? Oh man, it's been so hard to keep up. I think he's in Mexico now, maybe? Or maybe it was...
Kosovo. Or was it Monaco? I don't know. It's definitely one of those O countries. Wait, Rich is on vacation? Yeah, he does it every year. Come inside. I'll show you. Okay. Just make sure to take your shoes off. I just refra- the floor. Okay, sure thing. One and two. Uh, Mindy? I'm in the kitchen! Okay! Whoa, Mindy, why are there so many jars of... Are those... Pickles? Yeah, I'm experimenting with a bunch of new flavors. I've got... Tropical. Tropical.
Fruit pickles? The perfect summer snack. Oh, okay. This is what I wanted to show you. Ta-da! Your fridge? No, look what's on the fridge, Guy Raz. Sticky fingerprints? No, these! Oh, are those postcards from Reggie? Yep, and those are all just from this past month. Reggie's really been clocking in the fly miles, if you know what I mean. Wow, look at this. Hawaii, the Great Wall of China, Hokkaido, Japan. Ah, Hokkaido, that's what it was.
I knew it ended in an O. And you said he does this every year? Yeah, it's his migration vacation. His migration vacation? Yeah, so here's the deal. Pigeons, like Reggie, are nesting birds, right? Which means that they like to... to stay in one spot their whole lives. Yeah, but Reggie is also a very... You can say that again. But Reggie is also a very pop. Mindy. So he has a lot of interspecies friends.
Some golden plovers, a few Canadian geese. I think his roommate in bird college might have been a bald eagle. And they are all migratory birds. Migratory meaning on the move. So, uh, so he just... joins up with them and goes along for a ride? Yeah, pretty much. It's like one big road trip in the sky. Nice. And let me just check to make sure I've got my bird fact.
straight here. Okay, hang on. Just let me get my level. Your level? Yeah, so you can see if you got your facts straight. No, no, Mindy. When I said I wanted to get my bird facts... straight. I just meant I wanted to double check the meaning of migration. Oh, well, why didn't you just say so? Okay. migration is when birds move from one area to another for either the winter or the summer. Ah, yes, and they usually head
to warmer weather in winter and then back up north when it heats up again, right? Exactoritos! So, for example, most birds in North America move south for the winter to get away from the cold and to raise their babies. That makes sense. And then, in the springtime, just before summer, they pack their bags and fly up north for the all-you-can-eat buffet of insects.
Ah, so not only do birds migrate south in the winter to avoid the cold, but also to find more food. Yep, and according to Reggie's postcards... Some of these birds are extreme endurance athletes. Just check out this postcard he sent me from Hawaii after traveling with his golden plover pals. Huh, interesting. But Mindy, I can't read this. It just looks like a bunch of bird footprints.
Oh, you don't read Pigeon Scratch, do you? That's cool. I'll read it to you. Let's see here. I'm having a great time. Took a ukulele lesson. Did some whale watching. surfing, and oh, here we go. It's a very nice way to relax after a 3,000 mile one way flight. 3,000 miles? Mindy, that's farther than New York to Los Angeles. I know, and that's not even the...
crazy part. Don't tell me they ran out of the Mediterranean tapas snack boxes. What? No. The crazy part is that they did it all in one trip. All in one trip? Yep. Four days straight. Stopping with no rest breaks and no food? Nope, not. Wow, that's incredible. I mean, don't you remember that one time you stayed up for one whole night embroidering your grandma G-Force's wrestling robe? You fell asleep in your...
the next day. Ah, nothing beats a nice breakfast in the sunshine. Don't you think, Mindy? Uh, Mindy? Hmm, that's funny. I don't remember that brunch. So how do these birds not sleep or eat for four whole days? Well, it's actually super fascinating. So in terms of food, these birds basically have one big meal before they take off. Kind of like how you have six bowls of spaghetti before you ride a roller coaster. You know it, Guy Raz, and I do that for two reasons.
Number one, they never let me bring my spaghetti on the ride. And number two, I won't be able to eat again until after the roller coaster ride is over. That's not... Anyway, so these birds basically do the same thing? Yeah, so it's an animal behavior known as hyper... I say it that way to help me remember. Hyperphagia? Hyperphagia! Look, I know that it might sound like a...
Super classy word, but really it's just a fancy pants way of saying shoving a whole bunch of food in your mouth, which is really just a fancy pants way of saying eat like I do. Here, want me to demonstrate? No, no, no. I think I got it. So these birds... binge eat enough insects and food to keep them going for the four days it takes to fly from, say, Alaska, where they spend the summer, to Hawaii, where they spend the winter? Yep, and they do this for almost
three weeks before taking off. But how do they go without sleep? I mean, everyone has to sleep, Mindy. Well, Guy Raz, That is a question that has baffled scientists for a long time. How do birds sleep
while they fly. Right, because most birds who travel over land can just swoop down, make a nest bed, catch up on a little sleep, and then head off again in the morning. But if you're traveling over water like the golden... plover is no such luck no such luck so how do they do it well migratory birds like the golden plover can do something called unihemispheric Unihemispheric sleep? Yep. Okay, so let me see if I got this. So our brains and animals' brains are made up of two different...
parts, right? Right. The right hemisphere and the left hemisphere. You got it. And these two parts of the brain work together to help us function. Yes. And uni means one. You're getting it. So unihemispheric sleep... probably means that one hemisphere sleeps. which means that these migratory birds put half of their brain to sleep while the other one stays awake to, you know, flap its wings and stuff. Yes! Winner, winner, plover dinner!
Sometimes I forget how many dragons are under that bike helmet of yours. Mindy, that's not a helmet. That's my head. But you're exactly right, Guy Raz. Research from the Max Planck Institute in Germany has shown that migratory birds like the plover are able to shut down and rest most of their bodies while still using enough of their brains to avoid...
crashing into other birds. And I bet they're also able to keep track of where they're flying so they can soar on the air currents. You know it. That's so cool. Exactly. Steve. Steve? Oh, yeah. Steve is the name of Reggie's plover friend. Oh, okay. And believe it or not, Steve isn't even the longest distance flyer that Reggie rolls with. Really? Yeah, take a look. Look at some of these other postcards. Just last month, Reggie flew for eight days straight with his bar-tailed godwit friend.
It says here he traveled more than 7,200 miles. Yeah. Whoa. That's like Los Angeles to New York. Back to L.A. and then halfway to New York again. I know. And again, all without a single break. Wow. Reggie sure leads one incredible life. Say, do you know when he's coming back? You know what? I'm not sure, but we can always find out. Really? Yeah. Well, how? By going out and visiting him. We can just...
ask him in person when he plans on coming back. But Mindy, without Reggie, how are we gonna visit him at, uh, where was he again? Let me check the postcard here. It says Lake Kamukiko, Hokkaido, Japan. Right. Well, how are we going to get to Lake Kamukiko in Japan without Reggie? Well, I guess we're just going to have...
to take the time machine. But Mindy, according to the manual, the time machine is only supposed to be used for traveling to the past or... to the future okay well number one i made the manual and number two considering that japan is 17 hours ahead of our time zone then Technically, we are going to the future. Huh. Now, come on. I just got it back from the dry cleaners. The dry cleaners? Well, yeah.
Of course, you didn't expect me to machine wash it, did you? I guess not. So we'll just take the time machine for a quick trip out to Japan, ask Reggie when he'll be back, and then we'll hop back here. We'll be back before you can even save Hidgen Scrap. Pigeon scratch? Come on! Run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run! Ah, here we are. All right, let me just get my garage door opener here.
All right, Garaz, come on in. Just follow me. I'm just going to squeeze past the motor pickle here and over Reggie's. Saddle. Oh, look, there are those emu spacesuits we only wore once. Oh, careful, careful. You almost stepped in my crab wrestling arena. Oh, sorry. What happened to the crabs? Ah, here we go. The time machine. Now let me just open the hatch here.
Mindy, you really should replace this door. Yeah, I know, but you would not believe how hard it is to get spare parts for this model. Yeah, it does look pretty unusual. What model year is it? Hmm, let me see here. Um, 21... 45. Oh, man. Well, those future models are super rare in the present. Anywho, hop on in. We've got a plover pit stop to ponder. Okay, let me just... Modern day. Modern day. There we go. All set. Hope you got your barf bag ready. Barf bag? Because here we go!
Made it. Nice water landing, Mindy. Thanks, Guy Raz. I've been practicing. Now grab your floaties. We're headed outside. Ah, nothing like a wetland wet landing. All right, come on, follow me, Guy Raz. Mindy, wait, you don't know how. Cannonball! Deep it is. It's really real. Are you okay, Mindy? Mindy, you should never, ever jump into water without knowing how deep it is. That's how you hurt yourself. That information would have been useful like five minutes ago.
Whoa, check this place out, Mindy. thousands of birds here. Yeah, that's why I wanted to bring you here, Guy Raz. This is a migratory pit stop. Check it out. They've got a seed shack right over there. They've got some little stalls for birds to do their business? Wait a minute, Mindy. Did you say a migratory pit stop? Yeah. Well, the technical term is migratory link.
But they basically work the same way that pid stops do for us humans. Oh, you mean like on a long road trip. Exactly. Just like how on a long road trip you might... pull over into a pit stop on the side of the road to grab a snack or go to the bathroom or even maybe spend the night, these migratory birds have to do the same exact thing. Oh, now I'm getting it. So these marshy, swampy wetlands
pit stops because there's plenty of insect life to snack on and well, that mud does look kind of cozy for a bird. Maybe I'll just sit down right... But Mindy, I've heard that a lot of these wetlands are in danger. Really? What from? Well, from habitat destruction, for one, when humans build buildings and cities too close to them. But also from things like climate change. which is changing the entire ecosystems of wetland areas like this.
Man, that's terrible news, Gairaz. I know, because if migratory birds can no longer live in these wetlands... Then they'll run out of places to stop over and rest their wings for their long trip. And without that, these birds could start to die off and even become endangered. No! But, Mindy, there is something that you and I can do to help. There is? Yes, there is. But first...
We have to get ashore, so let me just help you back up here. Thanks, buddy. Now we just need to get this thing ashore. Ooh, I've got just the thing. Wait right here while I grab it from downstairs, okay? I keep forgetting this time machine has a basement. And the laundry! What? Mindy, Mindy, what on earth are those? Are the time machines rowing oars? Whoa! Watch where you're swinging those things, Mindy. It's okay, it's okay.
All right, Guy Raz, you take the port, I'll take the starboard. Okay, got it. Let me just set up the boom box here. A boom box? Mindy, why do we need a boom box? Let's row this time machine together! Row, row, row this boat gently down the stream! Row, row, row this boat gently down the stream! Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, land is filled with dreams! Oh, who is the foe? Kittin' down in the stream! Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, let's fight the train! Woo! Land ahoy!
Ah, we made it to shore, Guy Raz. Nice teamwork, buddy. Ouch. All right, I'm ready to start protecting these wetlands for some birds. Where do we start? Well, let me just have a look around here. Ah, there we are. Found some. Uh, those are feathers. Exactly. Now I just need to put them in this envelope here. Uh... And put an address on it. Let's see here. Dr. Kate Brandis. Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization, Sydney, Australia. Uh, Guy Ross? Put a stamp on it.
And let's see here. Ah, there we go. There's a mailbox. Wait, what? Uh, why did you just send those plover feathers off to Australia? Well, it's... It's the way we can help protect these wetlands, Mindy. By mailing off some musty old bird feathers halfway around the world? Exactly. Dr. Brandis and her researchers from the University of New South Wales in Australia... are using feathers just like these. For what? Well, for starters,
to try and map out where these wetlands are. And is that it? Well, the feathers can also tell them how healthy the birds are in these places. Interesting. And not just that, Mindy. By studying feathers? These scientists can also know whether these wetlands are adequately protected by the humans around them. That's so wow, but how do they get all of this information just by studying the bird's feathers? Like, they can tell how healthy it is?
Well, what Dr. Brandis and her team do is they look for a protein in the feather called keratin. Oh, I know what keratin is. It's also found in human hair, right? That's right. And just like how... human hair can tell us a lot about the person it came from? The keratin in a bird's feather can tell us a lot about the bird that it came from. Wow, that's a lot of information in one feather. In fact, Mindy, the keratin in the bird's feathers also keeps a record of all the feathers.
food the bird ate. And so the scientists can get a really good idea of how much food was in the environment they were in at certain times. Huh. So kind of like how the rings on a tree can tell us a lot about what the environment was like when the tree was younger? Yep, exactly.
So the more feathers that Dr. Brandes gets from a certain habitat can give us a better and clearer understanding of how healthy that ecosystem is and if it needs any help from conservationists or people who want to help protect it. Well, that's... Cool. Anyway, I don't see Reggie anywhere here. Do you, Mindy? No, I don't see him either. Let me ask around real quick. Hang on. Excuse me, Mr. Plover. Sorry, my plover is a little rusty. Let me try this again. Bye.
Oh, man, really? What did he say, Mindy? He said Reggie took off last week. probably flying somewhere over New Zealand by now. Mindy, you dragged me all the way here? Guy Raz, stay calm. As usual, I've got... everything out of control. Now, we just need to hop back into the time machine, head back to the neighborhood in case he's trying to contact us there, okay?
Let's go. All righty. Let me just scoot over and make some room for me. We really need a two-seater. You ready, Mindy? Okay, just plugging in the coordinates. And here we go. What was that? I think I just squished the motor pickle. Oops. Come on, let's get back inside. Run, run, run, run, run. Oh, sweet. Hey, what's this? I think it's another postcard from Reggie. Yeah, must have arrived while we were away. Let's see here. Loving Auckland. Haven't seen any hobbits yet. What?
I'll be back next week. Hey, Ross. This is a disaster. What's a disaster? Reggie's back next week and I have nothing ready for his welcome home party. Well, that's okay, Mindy. We've got some time and I can help. What do you need? Well, I'm going to need some bird seed. Of course. Uh-huh. 400 loose steel washers. Huh? A dump truck. Uh, what? A liability insurance policy up to a million dollars. What? And some pixie dust, because I want to fly too.
So cool! And the golden plover sounds so cute! Reggie, your migration vacation sounds amazing! What did you do in Hokkaido? You had ramen? You went to a hot... You went snowboarding? Reggie, I wanna go on a migration vacation too! Can we, can we, can we, can we, can we, can we? Hooray! Okay, let's wrap up the show and get packing. Thanks to all you listeners out there for tuning in to Wee Wow on the weekend. If you have a question for me, call and leave me a message at 1-888-
seven wow wow. That's one eight eight eight seven wow wow. I just might answer your question on we wow on the weekend. All right. Let's make a list. I need to pack my pajamas and my pants and my socks and my shoes. I'm asking my... Grownups, if you like WoW in the world, you can listen early and ad-free right now on Wondery+. Join Wondery+, in the Wondery app, or on Wondery Kids+. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.
Thanks for joining us for this edition of Wee Wow on the Weekend. Our show is written by Ruth Morrison and Jed Anderson. The role of baby Dennis. is played by Jed Anderson. Who plays the role of Big Dennis? Never you buy. Original sound design and production is done by Henry Moskell with contributions from Jed Anderson and Tyler Thole. Original music for Wee Wow is composed and performed by Tyler Thole. Special thanks to Jessica Bode, Rebecca...
Thank you. Mindy Thomas, Joanna Weber, Anna Zagorski, and all of the other tinkerers at Tinkercast HQ. Be sure to visit Tinkercast.com where you can become an official member of the World Organization of Wowsers. Learn about upcoming events. Shop our Wowsers. And learn about all the other amazing podcasts from Tinkercast. Thanks again for hanging out in the basement this weekend. Be sure to check out episodes of Wow in the World every Monday. Oh, no! No, baby Dennis, we wow! Oh, right!
Wow in the World was made by Tinkercast and sent to you by Wondery.