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Episode 105: Unused toy boats
Published 11th October, 2024
Sabrina Cruz, Melissa Fernandes and Taha Khan from 'Answer in Progress' face questions about witty workwear, tongue ticks and wartime warnings.
HOST: Tom Scott. QUESTION PRODUCER: David Bodycombe. EDITED BY: Julie Hassett at The Podcast Studios, Dublin. MUSIC: Karl-Ola Kjellholm ('Private Detective'/'Agrumes', courtesy of epidemicsound.com). ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS: David R., Suvi Jänkälä, Ava, dratini0. FORMAT: Pad 26 Limited/Labyrinth Games Ltd. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: David Bodycombe and Tom Scott.
Transcript
Transcription by Caption+
Tom:
At a Chicago museum, some employees wear shirts with 'Avant' written on the front. What's their job? The answer to that at the end of the show. My name's Tom Scott, and this is Lateral. On today's show, we welcome back the team from Answer in Progress!
Melissa:
Hello!
Sabrina:
Wahoo!
Taha:
Woo!
Tom:
This is their 12th appearance on the show.
Sabrina:
(giggles) Oh my god!
Melissa:
Oh my gosh.
Tom:
Meaning we've crossed the line from panel game to hostage situation.
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Tom:
So, here to blink three times for their loved ones, first of all we have Taha Khan!
Taha:
Oh, sorry, I just blinked three times and realised it's a podcast.
SFX:
(others laughing)
Taha:
Hello!
Tom:
Doesn't work well in audio show, that, unfortunately. How you doing, Taha?
Taha:
I'm doing fantastic.
Tom:
After 11 previous shows, and thank you for coming back and doing this again, do you feel like you're getting the hang of the questions now?
Taha:
Yeah, I mean, I feel like, you know... at some point, the balance will tip, and it will be, "Oh yeah, those guys from Lateral who also have a YouTube channel."
Tom:
Oh no, no, no, I don't like that idea!
SFX:
(group giggling)
Tom:
Sabrina Cruz, next up. Tell us about the YouTube channel, for those who are just joining us this late in the podcast.
Sabrina:
You know, we make YouTube videos, where we ask a question and then record the journey to an answer. And it's as chaotic as it can possibly be.
Tom:
And rounding out the chaos today, Melissa Fernandes, welcome back to the show.
Melissa:
Hello, hello.
Tom:
What is Answer in Progress working on at the minute?
Melissa:
We're all working on different videos right now. Taha's working on a video about foley, Sabrina's working on a video about... Wait, which one are you working on?
Sabrina:
Both of them at the same time.
SFX:
(scattered laughter)
Melissa:
Sabrina's working on two videos right now about dark mode and the recorder, the bad instrument. And I just finished up a video about candles. 'Cause I don't know what the next one is yet, so I can't tell you. (laughs)
Tom:
Well, good luck to all three of you. As ever, it is a joy to have you back. Our questions start at impossible and get more difficult from there. So if you think you've got what it takes to solve the unsolvable, then try wrapping your mind around question one.
Melissa:
Sabrina's trying to grab knowledge from the air right now.
Tom:
(laughs) Ed clicks his tongue three times to save time. What is it for, and why is it ironic if other people do it occasionally? I'll say that again. Ed clicks his tongue three times to save time. What is it for, and why is it ironic if other people do it occasionally?
Melissa:
Guys, he's trying to time travel. He's clicking his heels together instead. He's using his tongue.
Sabrina:
(laughs) Okay, tongs as in the kitchen utensil? Tongue as in the mouth organ?
Tom:
Okay, so this is an accent dialect thing. Up until I was in my 30s, I did not know those were pronounced differently.
Sabrina:
Oh?
Taha:
Sorry?
Tom:
Growing up, for me, they're both pronounced the same way. They're both pronounced tong. And that is apparently just the area I grew up.
Sabrina:
Oh!
Taha:
Yeah, that's not even a UK thing.
Tom:
Nope, it's not, it's just the Midlands, and not even that. That specific bit of the Midlands. So, I got confusion about this for a while. I did say tongue.
Sabrina:
Okay.
Taha:
Oh!
Melissa:
Mouth, tongue.
Taha:
Wow.
Sabrina:
Okay.
Taha:
That completely changes my thoughts.
Sabrina:
(wheezes)
Taha:
Okay, so... Clicks his tongue three times to save time. Three times to save time.
Sabrina:
And then some people do it once or twice, ironically?
Melissa:
No, it messes it up if someone else does it.
Taha:
No, it's ironic if they do it.
Melissa:
Okay.
Taha:
But it's not ironically.
Sabrina:
So it's, oh man, every once in a while, I realize that I'm not quite sure what the definition of irony is. I feel like I know, but it still isn't quite there.
Taha:
If someone does something, and they're self-aware, it's them doing it ironically. But if they're not self-aware, then someone else who is self-aware could look at their actions and say, that's ironic that they're doing it.
Sabrina:
Okay.
Taha:
See what I mean?
Sabrina:
So clicking one's tongue. How does one do that? (clicks tongue) Is that—
SFX:
(Sabrina and Taha click tongue)
Tom:
Yeah, it's— Mm. Yes, that's— That's exactly the noise.
Taha:
(clicks tongue) Three times.
Melissa:
Or is like, (chk)
Sabrina:
Save time. Is he talking to a horse? I don't know why I think this is how horses talk. I just feel like—
Melissa:
Is it like a riddle? The horse's name was Friday!
Sabrina:
It's Friday!
SFX:
(both giggle)
Tom:
I mean, there is a famous television horse from the past called Mr. Ed, and that does feel like the kind of clue that the question writers would put in, but no. Ed, I'll tell you this, is human.
Sabrina:
Ah.
Taha:
Ah.
Sabrina:
Drat.
Taha:
Is he a YouTuber?
Sabrina:
Oh, are you saying that to cut?
Taha:
Yeah.
Sabrina:
Yeah.
Taha:
Because what I do sometimes is I'll clap after a good take so that I can see the waveforms.
Melissa:
Mmm.
Tom:
Keep talking.
Taha:
So when you put footage that you've recorded into a video editor, they give you a visualisation of the audio levels. And when you clap, it's a big spike, so you can really see it really clearly above all the general noise. And so, because it's so visual, you can sort of skim to it and cut exactly where you've clapped. And I guess that would be similar if you were clicking with your tongue.
Tom:
Yep.
Taha:
So... it makes it easier to cut footage, because you can skim to places that are important, and that would save time, so...
Sabrina:
But if other people are doing it, then it would just throw off the edit.
Melissa:
This is such a good question.
SFX:
(scattered giggling)
Melissa:
If we're right, this is great.
Sabrina:
(wheezes)
Tom:
You are right. You've got the first bit. That's why he's doing it. He's marking the end of a section.
Melissa:
Okay.
Sabrina:
Okay.
Taha:
Right.
Tom:
And there was a clue in the name, Ed the Editor.
SFX:
Ahhhh!
Taha:
That's fun.
Tom:
So, why is it ironic if other people are doing that occasionally?
Sabrina:
If other people are doing it, it might end up making the spike less visible. Because there's just more of them, and it changes what the highest peak is, potentially.
Taha:
Why is it ironic?
Melissa:
Yeah.
Sabrina:
Yeah. Again. It all comes down to, what does ironic mean?
Melissa:
It would be inefficient if they're doing it at the wrong time.
Taha:
Ohhh! Sometimes if you're saying something, and you flub it, you go, "Tsk, ah!" You make a little clicking noise with your mouth. So you'd be like, "Tsk." So it's ironic, because it's flubbed.
Tom:
Close, but not quite.
Taha:
Okay.
Tom:
You remember when you were all making those noises earlier, and I was cringing because I'm hearing them through the headphones, and feeling sympathetic for all the people in the audience?
Taha:
Yes, but I don't know why you were, because what's wrong with that noise?
Tom:
(laughs)
SFX:
(Sabrina and Melissa snicker)
Sabrina:
So is the irony that it is an unpleasant sound?
Tom:
So what does he do with it?
Taha:
He cuts it out!
Tom:
Correct.
Sabrina:
(wheezes)
Taha:
Yeah. It's ironic because it's not heard by anyone.
Tom:
Well, more than that, if other people are doing it?
Melissa:
They get silenced?
Sabrina:
So, we, Ed clicks their tongue three times to signify a good take, in order to edit it and select the correct thing. It is ironic that when other people do it, Ed will just cut it out entirely, making it a bad take.
Tom:
Spot on. These noises that he's looking for to mark the end of the section, if they're anywhere else, he just has to snip it out and remove it, because it's quite unpleasant to hear.
Sabrina:
We got to what irony means, guys!
Tom:
Yep.
Melissa:
(laughs)
Tom:
He makes the clicks to save time. When other people make them, it wastes time. Each of our guests has, as usual, brought a question with them. We start today with Sabrina.
Sabrina:
Hello.
Tom:
Hello.
Sabrina:
Horatio Bottomley owned all six runners in an official horse race on a Belgian beach. His accomplices placed large bets on the exact finishing order, since Bottomley hired the jockeys too. Jockeys and horses did their best, so how did the ploy fail? I'll say it again. Horatio Bottomley owned all six runners in an official horse race on a Belgian beach. His accomplices placed large bets on the exact finishing order, since Bottomley hired the jockeys too. Jockeys and horses did their best, so how did the ploy fail?
Taha:
The beach is a bad place to do a race.
SFX:
(Tom and Melissa snicker)
Taha:
So no one finished. And so the order... Everyone was DNF, so there's no order.
Sabrina:
You were there, and then...
Tom:
If everyone's DNF, normally the bets are just called off. If there's a complete disaster of a race, normally all bets are void, everyone just gets their stake back.
Taha:
Right.
Sabrina:
But Taha, you are right that a beach might not be the best place for a horse race.
Taha:
And it's in Belgium. And that's also probably bad.
SFX:
(others crack up)
Tom:
Well, just in general.
Taha:
Just in general, I guess, I don't know.
Tom:
That's just Taha's opinion on Belgium.
Taha:
Yeah.
SFX:
(guests snickering)
Melissa:
I don't know much about horse racing. Hmm.
Taha:
Maybe the tide came in.
Melissa:
Mm?
Taha:
And that was important. Because...
Melissa:
They all... sunk.
Sabrina:
Huh?!
Melissa:
In the sand.
Sabrina:
(laughs)
Melissa:
Because it was wet!
Sabrina:
I was just imagining the Titanic, but it's horses!
Melissa:
No! (laughs)
Tom:
Oh, it's full NeverEnding Story moment for everyone there.
Sabrina:
Oh no!
Tom:
Sorry— Sorry for giving that reference—
Sabrina:
Why are you being so sad, Tom?
Tom:
Yeah, sorry. A load of our listeners all just went, "Ohh." And the rest of them will look it up later and also go, "Ohhh."
SFX:
(Sabrina and Melissa laugh)
Taha:
I guess I'm gonna have to look it up.
Sabrina:
But I will say that all of the jockeys finished the race on their mounts.
Tom:
Okay.
Taha:
Oh? So they tried their best to be in the order that they wanted, that this guy Horatio wanted it to be. But they couldn't... because... the beach. (snickers)
Melissa:
Because the beach.
Sabrina:
(giggles)
Tom:
It's not like it's a weird track. You can't get lost on a beach. You can't take the wrong path, because it's a beach. It's just, it's a big open expanse of sand.
Melissa:
Were there crabs on the beach or something? Did crabs flood the track?
SFX:
(Sabrina and Melissa laugh)
Sabrina:
I genuinely wonder if a horse would care if there was a crab there.
Melissa:
Maybe they have a fear of crabs. Maybe there were snakes on the beach.
Sabrina:
Weh! (laughs) I could not tell you if there were snakes on the beach, Melissa. But if there were, the snakes did not impact the results.
Taha:
Maybe the finish line was washed away.
Tom:
Oh!
Melissa:
Ooh.
Tom:
If the tide came in and washed away... or any marker, or anything like that, they just didn't know when they were finishing. But, there was still...
Sabrina:
They did finish, so there was a finish line.
Tom:
And there was an official order, presumably, because the bets were paid out.
Sabrina:
There was an official order. It just wasn't the order that Horatio wanted.
Taha:
Oh no, Horatio.
Sabrina:
Have y'all been on a beach recently?
Melissa:
Not recently.
Sabrina:
The weather can get pretty whack by the water.
Taha:
Is that a clue, or just your opinion?
SFX:
(Tom and Melissa laugh)
Sabrina:
It's— (laughs) It's something of a clue. But you might be focusing a little bit too much on what's happening with the tide.
Melissa:
The sky, there was a storm.
Sabrina:
Interesting.
Melissa:
And the sand—
Sabrina:
And the sand? What happened to the sand, Melissa?
Melissa:
The sand got wet. And... okay, I'm gonna—
Sabrina:
You need to believe more in a horse's ability to move.
SFX:
(guests giggling)
Melissa:
Maybe it got stuck. I don't know.
Sabrina:
It's not quicksand!
Taha:
Is it?
Sabrina:
It wasn't quicksand.
Melissa:
Okay.
Taha:
Okay.
Melissa:
Okay, okay, hmm. Interesting.
Tom:
Oh, if it wasn't quicksand... then I think it might have been the opposite problem?
Taha:
Slow sand.
Sabrina:
(snickers) Slow sand.
Tom:
What if there was a sandstorm? What if they just couldn't see the finish line? I mean, you wouldn't run a— You wouldn't run a horse race in a full sandstorm. In a complete—
Taha:
Do they have sandstorms on beaches?
Melissa:
In Belgium.
Sabrina:
(laughs uproariously)
Tom:
Ah, fair point.
Sabrina:
The certainty in your mind! You are on the right track. We're getting warmer. Might not have been a sandstorm. Might have been something that—
Melissa:
What other kinds of weather are there?
Taha:
Darude.
Melissa:
What?
Tom:
(laughs)
Sabrina:
Darude finished first, you see. That threw everything off.
Tom:
Also, you wouldn't run a horse race in a sandstorm, because it hurts. You can't go out in a sandstorm.
Sabrina:
The horses would simply say no.
Tom:
Yeah.
Taha:
(chuckles)
Tom:
Technically, they'd say nay, but, you know, that's...
Taha:
Eyy!
Sabrina:
Boo!
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom:
That's justified.
Sabrina:
It wasn't something as violent as a sandstorm. It wasn't an anomaly. It's something that happens fairly often when you're out on the water. But it does impact, like Tom said, visibility.
Taha:
Fog.
Sabrina:
Mm?
Taha:
Fog happens. Dew.
Sabrina:
You are as right as I would say that you can be. Because I made a very similar mistake.
Melissa:
How is fog and the beach... I'm putting my hands together. How do that— How do those cross?
Sabrina:
Okay, Melissa, put it together. Put it together for me then. Imagine that you are on a beach, you're trying to go and finish in a very particular order. But then fog happens. You can't see. What happens then?
Melissa:
Is fog exclusive to the beach?
Sabrina:
Well, it just happens there. It doesn't need to be exclusive. (laughs)
Melissa:
You were making a really big point to be like, the beach.
Sabrina:
What I'm saying is, weather can change quite drastically when you're on a waterfront, especially. It can be perfectly clear at one moment. And then you just have zero visibility the next.
Tom:
And there isn't a track to follow if it's on a beach? It's not like you can see the fence that is hemming in the horses. If you go slightly in the wrong direction, you're lost until that fog clears on the next wind, and then comes back on the next one.
Melissa:
Okay.
Sabrina:
So, basically, a sea breeze blew in, and so the jockeys couldn't see each other well enough to finish in the correct order. And as a result, Horatio Bottomley lost a fortune.
Melissa:
Oh, no.
Taha:
Classic Horatio.
Sabrina:
Classic Bottomley behavior. Just a couple more details on this. The race was held in Belgium. Not because of Taha's personal beef with it, but because the regulations were more lax than in the UK. And although—
Taha:
That sounds like a valid reason to beef. Just saying.
Sabrina:
And although Horatio was a member of Parliament, he was also a serial fraudster. He sold worthless Victory Bonds
Taha:
Wow.
Sabrina:
...after the end of World War I. And he was convicted of fraud in 1922 and sentenced to five years in prison.
Melissa:
That's what happens when you try to rig the horse race.
Taha:
Classic Horatio.
Sabrina:
Classic Horatio!
Tom:
Next question's from me, folks. Good luck. Thieves broke into the premises of 'Mysterium' in Utrecht in the Netherlands. They prised open an antique safe, even though the key was tucked around a corner. They were confused by what was inside, and stole a CCTV camera instead. What happened? I'll say that again. Thieves broke into the premises of 'Mysterium' in Utrecht in the Netherlands. They prised open an antique safe, even though the key was tucked around a corner. They were confused by what was inside, and stole a CCTV camera instead. What happened?
Sabrina:
They got punk'd!
SFX:
(Tom and Sabrina laugh)
Melissa:
Okay, did they steal the camera? Because they probably saw something that they didn't want other people to see?
Sabrina:
Ooh.
Melissa:
Right?
Sabrina:
Did they intentionally steal the camera? I didn't even think that.
Tom:
Yeah, that was intentional.
Melissa:
Because they went in looking for treasure, or supposedly treasure. Something valuable.
Sabrina:
Something in a safe, you know.
Melissa:
A body?
Sabrina:
(chokes)
Melissa:
(giggles)
Tom:
Did you just actually spit take there, Sabrina? That sounded like a spit take.
Sabrina:
I caught it. We're all good. Nothing moist has entered my devices.
Tom:
Oh! There were a number of ways to phrase that sentence. That was certainly one of them.
Taha:
I was thinking that they pried open the safe. The safe contains some information about something. However, when they opened it up, they couldn't quite figure out what the information was. Maybe it was affected by the fact that they didn't open it through legitimate means. And as a result, they were like, "Right, someone who's been here before will have opened it and revealed the valid information. So if we steal the CCTV, then you can see what the last people saw."
Sabrina:
This is very Ocean's 11 of you. Your mind.
Melissa:
Very National Treasure, what do you mean?
Sabrina:
My apologies, there's only one heist movie.
SFX:
(Sabrina and Tom snicker)
Melissa:
Or, or... Okay, the thing inside was too heavy to move. So, instead, no one had cameras on them. So the only thing that was recording what was inside there was the camera. So they're like, what if I just take the camera... I will have the knowledge that I need, with me, in a...
Sabrina:
Zoom, enhance! Zoom, enhance!
SFX:
(both laugh)
Sabrina:
Okay, yes, on that note, because you said that the key was around the corner, but they still pried it open. Now, was the key just staying behind the corner, or did somebody else have the key already? And it was like, it's like a missed connections kind of heist situation. That would be so cool.
Tom:
The key was deliberately placed where it was.
Sabrina:
Oh, interesting. I return to getting punk'd.
Tom:
I think you're giving the thieves a bit too much credit here. They were later described as "certainly not smart people".
Melissa:
Okay.
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Sabrina:
Why didn't you introduce us like that, Tom?
SFX:
(Tom and Melissa laugh)
Melissa:
Maybe they did something silly.
Sabrina:
They got embarrassed. They cracked open the safe, and inside is a paper card that was just like, "Ha ha, doof. The key is just over there." And then they were like, "We can't let anyone see this."
Tom:
Weirdly, not too far away.
Melissa:
Okay.
Tom:
What was in the safe was seemingly meaningless.
Sabrina:
NFT.
Tom:
(laughs)
Melissa:
Ay yi yi yi.
Taha:
In a safe, and they were really confused, and they stole the camera, and then the judge was like... they are certainly not smart people, because NFTs have no value.
Tom:
(laughs)
Sabrina:
Hm.
Tom:
Those meaningless messages in the safe were deliberately put there.
Sabrina:
Where— So where is this? A place, 'Mysterium'?
Tom:
'Mysterium', in Utrecht, in the Netherlands.
Sabrina:
Is the location's name 'Mysterium' relevant? 'Cause I'm just thinking...
Tom:
Oh yes.
Sabrina:
An optical illusion museum.
Taha:
Yeah, or like an escape room.
Sabrina:
Oh?
Melissa:
Oh my gosh.
Tom:
Yep, keep talking Taha.
Melissa:
They're in an escape room?
Tom:
Yep.
Sabrina:
(cackles)
Taha:
Wait! The thieves tried to steal from an escape room?
SFX:
(Sabrina and Tom laugh)
Sabrina:
No way!
Taha:
This is hilarious.
Sabrina:
No way!
Taha:
Did they go in thinking it was like a real bank vault, and it was an escape room?
Sabrina:
Oh, and that's why the key was just around the corner, because you have to be able to let people out.
Taha:
Oh no! Oh my god!
Melissa:
Wait, so why would they take the camera? I'm confused about that part.
Sabrina:
Okay, yeah, the camera, maybe it's because they're not very smart people. They could have just found the key.
Taha:
I think they were like, "Oh no. We've broken into a place. If we take the camera, then they don't know that we've been here."
Tom:
We don't know the motivation for this, but the thieves left with cash, some snacks, and the CCTV camera.
SFX:
(Melissa and Sabrina crack up)
Melissa:
Some snacks? They needed pretzels for the road.
Tom:
Which presumably was just because it's electronic equipment that they can hopefully resell.
Sabrina:
(laughs heartily)
Tom:
That's the... I would guess the motivation was just, "Oh, that's something electronic, maybe it has value. Because we just pried open this antique safe, and inside was just a load of nonsense."
Sabrina:
Oh my goodness.
Melissa:
So it wasn't even that they were trying to, you know, remove evidence. They were just like, "I could sell this on Facebook Marketplace."
Taha:
I genuinely would watch this film. Where....
SFX:
(others laughing)
Taha:
It's like Ocean's Eleven, they plan it all out, but there's some logistical error in putting into Google Maps the location, and they end up at an escape room instead of a bank vault.
Melissa:
Oh my gosh.
Taha:
It would be so good! It would be great.
Sabrina:
Answer in Progress, first feature film. Let's do it.
Tom:
Yeah, the owner said, "I'm curious whether these bastards" – and I believe that has been translated from the Dutch, so the translator has made a choice there – "would even be able to escape if they were inside as guests. 60% of our visitors escape, and these were certainly not smart people."
SFX:
(Taha and Sabrina snicker)
Melissa:
Wow.
Sabrina:
That's fantastic.
Taha:
Very iconic.
Tom:
Taha, it is over to you for the next question.
Taha:
Okay, this question is sent in by David R. In 1885, a farmer left his home in the city of North Yakima, Washington. He rode for three miles and hitched his horse outside a local store. After shopping for a while, he left the store, unhitched his horse, and rode 2.5 miles home. Why was the ride back shorter?
Sabrina:
Horse's name was Friday.
Tom:
(laughs)
Taha:
And you got in one!
Sabrina:
(laughs)
Melissa:
(giggles)
Taha:
And I'll say it again. In 1885, a farmer left his home in the city of North Yakima, Washington. He rode for three miles and hitched his horse outside a local store. After shopping for a while, he left the store, unhitched his horse, and rode 2.5 miles home. Why was the ride back shorter?
Melissa:
(inhales sharply) Guys.
SFX:
(Sabrina and Melissa crack up)
Sabrina:
Just say it. Go. Go.
Melissa:
Okay, he was in the store for two hours, right?
Sabrina:
A few hours.
Melissa:
A few hours. Okay—
Taha:
I said a while.
Melissa:
He was there for a while. Enough time. Enough time.
Sabrina:
How long?! (giggles)
Melissa:
I'm gonna say it anyways, but I'm realizing the plot— The plot holes in my thinking.
Sabrina:
(snickers)
Melissa:
There was a storm, okay? Or there was a tornado.
Sabrina:
Wah?
Melissa:
It wiped the land. So on the way there, there was a lot of hills. And when you go up and down a hill... (laughs) it's a longer journey. But on the way back, there was no hills! So it was flat!
Sabrina:
Beautiful, I hope it's right!
Tom:
I've just written down the word 'hills' here, the minute that Taha started talking about the question, because I was like, maybe the horse can walk uphill just fine, but a fully laden horse can't take a steep track downhill, or something like that?
Sabrina:
But then the track would get sh—longer.
Tom:
Yeah, or something like that. It was something to do with the horse's abilities in hills. Because I have, weirdly, once been to Yakima. And there's not much there, but there are hills. I remember the hills.
Sabrina:
Ooh! Okay, I didn't realise that was a key component. You guys both know what it is.
Tom:
I don't know if it is. It's just my only memory of Yakima, because I tried to go up to the top of one of them, and found that every entranceway was just like, oh, private property, private property. I could not get the view over Yakima that I wanted.
Sabrina:
(cackles) I was going riverboat house.
Tom:
Oh?
Sabrina:
And high tide. But I don't know if they have water there. Apparently they only have hills.
Melissa:
Do you put the horse on the boat?
Tom:
I don't remember there being a river there, but I could be wrong. What if it's not a riverboat house, but it's a riverboat shop? And you hitch the horse up, and the horse and riverboat just steadily go downstream for a bit? I don't know why you'd have a moving shop. That's a stupid idea.
Sabrina:
(wheezes)
Melissa:
Mm.
Tom:
I just go to the shop, where is it? I don't know, it's 1885. It just moves.
Sabrina:
(laughs)
Taha:
So, your stupid idea... was exactly right.
Melissa:
Which one?
Sabrina:
Shut up!
Melissa:
Whose stupid idea?
Tom:
Which one?
Sabrina:
All of us had stupid—
Taha:
The Yakima store was being transported while he was in it. It was a moving shop.
Melissa:
What?
Tom:
What?
Taha:
Yep. In 1885, the entire city of Yakima was moved piece by piece, four miles... to North Yakima. Stores, restaurants, and even hotels remained in business while on large log rollers pulled along by mules and horses.
Sabrina:
So it wasn't a river. It was even weirder? (laughs bewilderedly)
Melissa:
There's no tornadoes.
Taha:
Yep.
Melissa:
There's no hills.
Sabrina:
Hold on, hold on. How long was he inside of the store? (laughs)
Taha:
He was in the store for about an hour or two.
Melissa:
Fast-moving mule.
Sabrina:
They made distance. Wow!
Taha:
Yeah, so the Northern Pacific Railroad wasn't given any incentives to build its transcontinental line through Yakima, instead building a new city four miles to the north. The residents of Yakima, now Union Gap, moved their buildings to North Yakima, either wholesale or plank by plank. When the offices of the city's Signal newspaper were lifted onto blocks and ready to move, a rebel blew it up with dynamite during the night. The owners simply picked up the remaining pieces and rebuilt it in North Yakima anyway.
Sabrina:
Wow.
Melissa:
Sheesh.
Tom:
How did I not film that story? I mean, there's not much to film these days, but there would've been photos. I went there. I didn't film anything in Yakima.
Sabrina:
So you didn't actually go to Yakima. You went to New Yakima.
Tom:
I was just passing through, and that was somewhere on the road trip. I had no idea about that. That's amazing. Thank you to dratini0 for sending this question in. Every year, thousands of virtually identical toy boats, each 2.4 inches long, are produced globally. Surprisingly, very few of them will ever be placed in a bath or even played with. Why? I'll say that again. Every year, thousands of virtually identical toy boats, each 2.4 inches long, are produced globally. Surprisingly, very few of them will ever be placed in a bath or even played with. Why?
Sabrina:
They're professional toy boats.
Taha:
2.4.
Melissa:
They're for the miniature... those miniature villages.
Sabrina:
Correct, it's for models. Government models. They don't play with their toy boats. (cracks up) They're serious toy boats.
Taha:
Wait. Is it for, yeah, is it for modeling? Is it for... the... I learned this in a Tom Scott video.
SFX:
(others laughing)
Tom:
Here's a pattern.
Taha:
Where they made that... Where they made that model of... the river... or a lake. And then they put loads of boats on it to simulate a bunch of different... scenarios. I think it was to do with boat building. But is it to literally model different water conditions and how boats can travel in them?
Tom:
That wouldn't be produced globally. They'd just buy a load of boats, or more likely a load of tags or something like that.
Sabrina:
Ohh! Is it for 3D printing?
Tom:
It is for 3D printing, Sabrina. Keep going.
Sabrina:
I love it! Yeah, so when you get a 3D printer, when you need to set it up, you do test prints, and they're certain files that are just normal to do. 'Cause it lets you use— lets you try out different settings on your 3D printer, and make sure that they all function properly. And so I assume a tiny little boat is one of those.
Melissa:
Ahhh.
Tom:
Yes. This is the 3DBenchy, which is the standard benchmark test for a 3D printer. It is the equivalent of that test page your printer comes out with when you first install it.
Sabrina:
And I never consent to that page being printed out! And it scares me every time!
Tom:
Right?
SFX:
(Tom and Sabrina laugh)
Taha:
I hate that Sabrina got that in one.
Tom:
(laughs)
Sabrina:
I got it in two. I said that they were professional boats first.
Melissa:
(snickers)
Sabrina:
(giggles)
Taha:
Great.
Tom:
Yeah, you just got that one. This is the 3DBenchy, which is the common test model for 3D printers. When I say test page, it's not like it automatically prints it or anything like that, but it's been downloaded nearly four million times from the Thingiverse website, from the standard repository for things like that. So it is almost certainly the most common object produced by 3D printers around the world. Melissa, it is over to you for the next guest question.
Melissa:
Alright. This question has been sent in by Suvi Jänkälä. On the edge of a forest in Ostrobothnia, Finland, you can clearly hear an old lady recounting her experiences during wartime. This saves lives. How? (giggles) I'll say that one more time. On the edge of a forest in Ostrobothnia, Finland, you can clearly hear an old lady recounting her experiences during wartime. This saves lives. How?
Sabrina:
'Cause that's creepy as heck.
SFX:
(Tom and Sabrina laugh)
Sabrina:
They're just like, "No, I don't want to go into the forest. There's a weird old lady being in there."
Taha:
Can we establish that she is doing this— She is recounting her stories of her time during the war? Or was she recounting stories when the war was happening, during wartime?
Melissa:
You can hear the old lady's recounting her experiences during wartime.
Taha:
But is she recounting her experiences of life during a war, or were they the experience she had of a war, after the war?
Tom:
(laughs) Oh my god.
Taha:
That's what I'm trying to understand.
Tom:
Definitely the second, Taha. Gotta be the second.
Sabrina:
After the war.
Tom:
She is telling stories of wartime.
Melissa:
Yes.
Tom:
These days, presumably.
Taha:
Okay. I just didn't want to go down a massive rabbit hole.
Sabrina:
Is she alive? Is this a recording, or is she kicking?
Taha:
Ooh.
Tom:
Oh, I kind of assumed it was a recording, because it's like, you can hear the sound of.
Taha:
Ah, I didn't.
Melissa:
That was, yes. That was very clever of y'all. Point. Point one.
Sabrina:
Oh wow, there are points now?
Tom:
(laughs)
Melissa:
Yeah, the old lady's not actually there. It is a recording.
Sabrina:
Extra creepy.
Melissa:
I would agree.
Taha:
I think the creepy factor is part of it. I think there's an old abandoned building, they play these recordings, and it keeps people out because it freaks people out. You know, something along those lines.
Tom:
It is the Finnish equivalent of The Blair Witch Project.
SFX:
(Melissa and Sabrina shiver)
Sabrina:
They're trying to keep people out of the forest, is what I'm assuming, and part of that is playing this creepy old lady.
Tom:
We're assuming that it's creepy? Maybe it's kinda heartwarming. Maybe it's just really... just a warm telling of a story...
Taha:
During the war, Tom.
Melissa:
In the forest.
Tom:
Okay.
Melissa:
In the forest.
Tom:
Fine. Yes.
Sabrina:
In the forest. Does it help guide people out of the forest?
Taha:
Ahh.
Sabrina:
It could be that the voice is telling you which side... The story would be indicative of which nationality the person is. And so maybe you go towards that voice because you go towards Finland, and maybe the other side of the forest goes out into another country.
Tom:
I mean, that would be the Russian border, which you do not want to cross. I mean, they're not gonna kill you immediately for crossing it, but there's a lot of warning signs up about that.
Melissa:
We're getting a little cold here, y'all.
Sabrina:
We're getting cold?!
Tom:
Okay.
Melissa:
Getting a little cold.
Taha:
Is it? 'Cause Russia's cold, though.
Melissa:
(snickers)
Sabrina:
Yeah. (snorts)
Melissa:
So the sound is played on the edge of a forest.
Tom:
Oh?
Sabrina:
Okay.
Melissa:
So I should probably also mention that it is... There's a break in the forest, and then it continues again. The forest continues again.
Sabrina:
Animals. Is it to save— You said save lives.
Melissa:
Yes. To save lives.
Sabrina:
Is it human lives?
Melissa:
Yes.
Sabrina:
Oh, dammit.
Taha:
Oh.
Sabrina:
Boo.
Melissa:
But you're on the right track with animals.
Sabrina:
What do you mean?!
Taha:
Okay.
Sabrina:
Humans are animals. We're the animals all along.
Melissa:
No, no, no, no.
SFX:
(both giggling)
Melissa:
There are animals and humans involved in this. The human lives are being saved.
Taha:
Okay.
Sabrina:
Trying to scare off bears. Like most people. We don't want to hang out with a bear. So we have a human voice, and bears are like, "I do not— I don't wanna— I don't wanna get up in there." So the bears stay away from the edge of the forest. So that doesn't go to the human side.
Tom:
That's not a bad shout, Sabrina.
Melissa:
You're getting very, very warm.
Sabrina:
(giggles)
Melissa:
Not necessarily a bear. Another forest-dwelling creature that you would not want to be near humans.
Taha:
It keeps the animals... Foxes.
Tom:
Moose.
Taha:
It keeps the foxes or the polar bears or the moose, yeah.
Sabrina:
Polar bears?
Melissa:
One of those animals is correct.
Sabrina:
Polar bears.
Taha:
Fox.
Melissa:
No, not that one.
Tom:
Moose, I'm going with moose.
Sabrina:
(wheezes)
Melissa:
It is moose. It is moose. So we got half of it there. It's to scare moose away.
Sabrina:
From the street. There's a gap. If a car hits a moose, the car loses.
Melissa:
Yeah!
Taha:
I think the moose also loses in that situation.
Tom:
No, no, no, quite often, the car is the one that loses. Against them. The moose may not come off well.
Melissa:
You know how big a moose is?
Tom:
Yeah.
Sabrina:
It's hu-normous.
Tom:
Yeah, and the problem is, it's got fairly spindly legs. So a car will come in, take the legs out, and then the body of the moose will go through the windscreen.
Sabrina:
A moose-shaped missile.
Tom:
Yeah, it will crush the windscreen, crush whoever's in there, and if the moose is lucky, it might just wander off.
Melissa:
I feel like we've got all the pieces here.
Tom:
Is it just to scare moose from a road?
Melissa:
Yeah, exactly.
Sabrina:
(cackles)
Melissa:
So, basically—
Taha:
I feel like the touch about war stories is crazy.
SFX:
(Tom and Sabrina laugh)
Taha:
They didn't need to do that.
Melissa:
Very creepy, I will say, that there's an old lady's recording from back in the war.
SFX:
(Melissa and Sabrina wheeze)
Taha:
Heartwarming. I just love a news headline. "Heartwarming: Woman tells war stories."
Melissa:
Well, so the sound is played because moose are afraid of human voices. So if they play the sound at the edge of the road, it'll keep the moose away from the road, so that the cars can drive safely on the road, and they won't collide, and...
Sabrina:
Wonderful.
Melissa:
No crash.
Taha:
Pro tip. If you are driving through moose territory, you should wind down your windows and start telling war stories.
Tom:
(laughs)
Sabrina:
(claps) Maybe the moose isn't afraid of people. Maybe the moose is afraid of war.
Melissa:
Maybe.
Sabrina:
Think about it.
Taha:
Very deep.
Melissa:
Maybe. But yeah, in Finland, there are thousands of traffic accidents every year.
Sabrina:
Oh no!
Melissa:
Because of moose.
Sabrina:
No!
Melissa:
A lot of the time because of the moose.
Sabrina:
Our whimsical riffing suddenly seems so sad now.
Melissa:
This is— I was never— I've never been to Finland, but I remember when I went hiking in the... I'm gonna say it my way. The Appalachians, the Appalachian Trail. I know that people say it differently.
Sabrina:
Appalachian.
Melissa:
(snickers) And I was with my friend who was from the area, and she was like, "We should make sure that we were always talking and not be silent." And I didn't understand why, but I was like, "Okay, fine, let's just have a chat." And then when we got out of the forest, she was like, "Yeah, I just didn't want to scare you guys when we were in there, but there's bears. So if we talk, then they won't come near us." I was like, "Oh, thank you for telling me that after we got out of the forest. That's wonderful."
Sabrina:
(laughs)
Taha:
You guys got out of the forest, and she's like, "Okay, you can stop. I don't want to listen to you anymore."
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom:
Thanks to a couple of very quick solves there, we have unlocked the shiny bonus question.
Sabrina:
(gasps)
Melissa:
Ooh.
Taha:
Ooh, wow. I didn't know there was this level.
Tom:
When getting changed, why might someone use the rule "sometimes, always, never"? I'll say that again. When getting changed, why might someone use the rule "sometimes, always, never"?
Melissa:
Sometimes... change your shirt. Always...
Sabrina:
Always...
Melissa:
Change your underwear.
Sabrina:
Change your underpants.
Tom:
(laughs)
SFX:
(Sabrina and Melissa giggle)
Melissa:
Never change your jeans.
Sabrina:
(claps) Yes!
Tom:
To be honest, valid alternate answer. Not what I've got on the card. Not what the rule is known for, but...
Taha:
Sometimes, always, never, when getting changed. Okay. Never... be naked. I don't know.
Tom:
(chuckles)
Taha:
Sometimes, always, never. This is a terrible rule.
Melissa:
When getting changed, your clothing, or physically changed?
Tom:
Clothing.
Melissa:
Plastic surgery changed...
Tom:
Oh, wow.
Taha:
You know what's interesting about this rule is it does cover literally every option. You know, sometimes, always, never.
Melissa:
Yeah.
Taha:
That's my rule about things. If it needs to fit into one of these three categories.
Tom:
(chuckles) It is getting changed to do with clothing. Specific kind of clothing.
Sabrina:
Oh?
Taha:
Okay.
Melissa:
Ew.
Taha:
I wonder if it's like
Melissa:
I remember there being some rules
Taha:
about getting changed when I was in PE class, where it was like... you know, don't take off your underwear.
SFX:
(group laughing)
Taha:
It was definitely a rule. So maybe there's some level of... getting changed in a—
Sabrina:
Is it your social conduct, or does it refer to a specific article or genre of clothing?
Tom:
Definitely a specific article.
Melissa:
Oh, interesting.
Sabrina:
Sometimes, always, never. Sometimes.
Melissa:
Like a belt? A tie?
Sabrina:
Never wear underwear that has a hole in it, y'all. I've learned awful things.
Taha:
Ooh. Hang on. Is this to do with a suit?
Sabrina:
Ooh.
Tom:
Keep going, Taha.
Taha:
Because, when you do the buttons, it is... If it's a suit with two buttons, you... well, you never do the bottom button up. If it's a two-button suit, then you do the top button. And if it's a three-button suit, you sometimes do the top one?
Melissa:
What?
Tom:
Yep, keep going.
Sabrina:
This is ridiculous.
Taha:
So the rule is, sometimes top button, always middle button. Never bottom button. And then if it's a two-button suit, then it's...
Tom:
Yep, that's the rule for a single-breasted suit jacket with three buttons. Your most common basic suit, that is the rule. Sometimes the top button, always the middle button, never the bottom button. It is not meant to be done up.
Sabrina:
Melissa, I prefer your answer.
SFX:
(group laughing)
Taha:
Thank you Derek Guy on Twitter for telling me about suits.
SFX:
(Tom and Sabrina laugh)
Melissa:
Wow.
Tom:
It's not something that you're generally taught if you wear suits. You just have to kind of pick it up. At some point, someone has to nudge you and go, "Oh no, you're ruining the line of that suit. Undo the bottom button, you're not supposed to do that." It's not like you get a user manual with your suit that tells you to do that.
Taha:
Yeah, I mean, I've only ever worn two-button suits, really.
Tom:
Yep.
Taha:
So when, the first time I wore a three-button suit, I was like, I had to Google it, be like, what do I do with this third button?
Tom:
Yep. And the answer is, sometimes.
Taha:
Yeah, which wasn't helpful.
Tom:
Which means all that's left is the question I asked at the start. Thank you to Ava for sending this in. At a Chicago museum, some employees wear shirts with 'Avant' written on the front. What's their job?
Sabrina:
Guard!
Tom:
I'll say that again. At a Chicago museum, some employees wear shirts with 'Avant' written on the front.
SFX:
(Melissa and Sabrina crack up)
Tom:
What's their job? I was too busy reading the question. I didn't notice what happened.
Sabrina:
I tried to answer!
Taha:
Sabrina tried to answer the question, but didn't realise that you were going to repeat the question. But she shouted out what I assume is the answer, and she went, "Guard!"
Tom:
(chuckles)
Sabrina:
I'm so sorry. It would be funny if they weren't artists.
Tom:
Sabrina, you just want to give us that again?
Sabrina:
Guard! (laughs)
Tom:
(laughs) Yeah.
Melissa:
(giggles)
Tom:
Sabrina, what is their job and why?
Sabrina:
'Avant guard', it's a fun little pun, based off of a word, that means it's at the forefront of a movement, I assume. Which is what contemporary art is meant to represent and mean. So, it's a pun.
Taha:
So the guards... all wear shirts that say 'Avant', because they're 'avant garde'.
Tom:
Yes, they are the security guards at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, as of 2016.
Melissa:
That's great.
Tom:
They just had 'Avant' on the front, and 'Guard' on the back.
Melissa:
That's so good.
Taha:
I would hate to be a security guard there. 'Cause you just, at some point, your life becomes people visiting the museum and going, "Oh, that's really funny." And you go, "Yep. Yes, it is. Thank you. Move along."
Tom:
Congratulations to all of you, particularly Sabrina, for your enthusiasm on that last question.
Sabrina:
(snickers profusely)
Tom:
On that, let's find out, where can people find you? What are you up to? Let's start with Sabrina, still corpsing.
Sabrina:
You know, you can find us at youtube.com/answerinprogress.
Tom:
Taha, what can they find there?
Taha:
They can find YouTube videos. We make very interesting videos about all sorts of things, from why you're so tired, to why expensive candles are so expensive. And all things in between.
Tom:
And Melissa, what are you working on at the moment?
Melissa:
At the moment, we're working on a video about foley. We're working on a video about the recorder. Dark mode versus light mode, question mark? Controversial?
Sabrina:
Curry?
Melissa:
Curry?
SFX:
(both laugh)
Tom:
And if you want to know more about this show, you can do that at lateralcast.com, where you can also send in your own ideas for questions. We are at @lateralcast basically everywhere, and there are regular video highlights at youtube.com/lateralcast. Thank you very much to Taha Khan.
Taha:
Meep.
Tom:
Melissa Fernandes.
Melissa:
Bye, can we just be normal?
Tom:
And Sabrina Cruz!
Sabrina:
I'm so sorry!
Tom:
I've been Tom Scott, and that's been Lateral.
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