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Episode 116: 7 inches apart
Published 27th December, 2024
Lucy Rogers, Molly Edwards and Trace Dominguez face questions about helpful handles, game show gambits and relevant roads.
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: Dorian Lidell, Leonie Mercedes, Matthew, Jay, Erik. FORMAT: Pad 26 Limited/Labyrinth Games Ltd. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: David Bodycombe and Tom Scott.
Transcript
Transcription by Caption+
Tom:
In a Japanese ceremony, who walks down the virgin road?
The answer to that at the end of the show. My name's Tom Scott, and this is Lateral.
Roll up, roll up! Welcome one and all to the Lateral Circus! I am your ringmaster of riddles.
Gaze in amazement, as the acrobats of acuity dazzle you with their mental gymnastics. Gasp as they inch their way along the high wire of reasoning and all without a safety net.
Apart from the button on the screens that lets them leave the call if they need to.
Raring to go, in their sparkly leotard, first, we have:
From That's Absurd Please Elaborate, and from PBS Stargazers, Trace Dominguez, welcome back to the show!
Trace:
Hello. Of course, yes, I'm the one in the sparkly leotard.
SFX:
(others laugh)
Trace:
I would. I would. I would do it.
Tom:
I am always wary of which order to introduce people in. And I just looked, and you know what? I'm going to go with Trace. I've got the intro that says, 'sparkly leotard'.
Trace:
I would definitely do it. Fringe, sparkles, give it to me. I'll do— Yeah, for sure.
Tom:
How are you doing these days, Trace? It's been a few weeks since you were on the show. What have you been up to?
Trace:
Oh man, just making podcasts and trying to settle into this new studio space. It's fun to design a new studio, but it means lots of mood boards.
Tom:
And what sort of things can we expect from the podcast? What have you been working on?
Trace:
We've just released an episode with Ceri Riley from SciShow Tangents.
We've got an episode from you a few weeks back, which was really good.
Tom:
Yes!
Trace:
And then we have coming up an episode with Rohin Francis from Medlife Crisis. So we're trying to get a few different guests and give Julie and my podcast partner a break and then, you know, motor into the holidays.
Tom:
Also returning to the show, Dr. Molly Edwards from Science IRL and from quite a lot of other things.
We have 'plant biologist' down here. And the question I had is, is there a difference between botanist and plant biologist? Because I feel like there is, and I feel like no one's ever told me about that.
Molly:
Oh yeah, I think there is a little bit. I feel like botanists are... They know all about plants. They're really enamored with classifying plants and describing them and understanding their evolutionary relationships. And then plant biologists, I think, can be more of a casual phrase for people doing some like molecular biology, genetics, functional stuff, that kind of thing. But there's a lot of overlap in the botany–plant biology Venn diagram.
Tom:
And what are you working on at the minute for Science IRL and all your other projects? What can we expect to see?
Molly:
Yeah, lots of plant videos. I just went back to my grad school lab and got ten years of closure... (laughs)
Tom:
(laughs)
Molly:
...from an experiment that we wanted to do my entire time in grad school, and they— but the experiment hadn't been invented yet, and they finally figured out how to do it, and I got to go back to the lab and see it. And it really... it was a full circle moment for me. (laughs)
Tom:
Well, very best of luck on the show today. The third member of our panel is Dr. Lucy Rogers, author, engineer, and... So, last time I did say, you know, former judge on Robot Wars, but the last time we met, I was hosting a deliberately terrible robot competition about six years ago, and you were judging that.
Lucy:
It was epic.
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom:
It was zero-budget robots put together... ...that day, wasn't it?
Lucy:
Yeah.
Tom:
Hebocon I think.
Lucy:
Mainly by children.
Tom:
Yes.
Lucy:
And they were fantastic. They're little clockwork things going on, or the little motors that were taking them around.
Tom:
Yes.
Lucy:
And yep. I think it was who lasted longest on the table won. They were great.
Tom:
What are you working on at the minute, then? What are we going to be seeing from you soon?
Lucy:
Well, coming out, I'm handing in next year, so it's not going to come out until 2026, but I'm now writing a popular science book that explains a whole lot from the ground all the way up into space. So touching on butterflies and aeroplanes and rockets and planets.
Tom:
Your last book was It's ONLY Rocket Science, right? It's kind of demystifying complicated things.
Lucy:
Yes, the whole of how a rocket works, how you can design it, but without maths or formula in it, so you can actually just read it and hopefully understand it.
Tom:
Well, very best of luck, because that is, to be honest, kind of all the panelists' job here today.
We have some strange questions for you to demystify. So as the circus continues, let's see if you can juggle with what our team has put together as we tumble in to question one.
This has been sent in by Jay. Thank you very much.
Since 1956, they have been 7 inches apart on all US passenger vehicles, regardless of make or model. What are they?
I'll say that one more time.
Since 1956, they have been 7 inches apart on all US passenger vehicles, regardless of make or model. What are they?
Trace:
Well, I drive a US passenger vehicle. What's in there?
SFX:
(group laughing)
Molly:
Are they two of the same thing that are 7 inches apart? Or are they two different things?
Lucy:
I was thinking seat belts, and then thinking, "My butt is not 7 inches."
SFX:
(others laugh)
Trace:
Yeah, that'd be—whew! Bit tight.
Molly:
(chuckles)
Lucy:
(chuckles)
Trace:
Within the instrument panel, there's all sorts of things. That's quite compact, perhaps, you know. But... Now they're all screens. And I've seen some where they're all in different places and they're not universal, 'cause my first thought was maybe turn signal lights or something.
Molly:
Mm...
Trace:
Seven inches isn't that far.
Molly:
It's not that far. It's not even the width between the two front seats, right? It's more than that.
Lucy:
How far your hands apart on the steering wheel?
Trace:
Oh.
Lucy:
The indicator stalks or something, but, no, they've been... ...on various buttons in different places.
Tom:
Yes, it doesn't matter what vehicle it is. These will be seven inches apart.
Lucy:
And only in the US?
Tom:
Only in the US. Well, the 7 inches is only in the US.
Trace:
But in other countries, they exist, obviously, in other countries, but...
Tom:
Yep.
Trace:
...they might be in different widths.
Lucy:
Okay, so what's different from US that we have to change if we're coming to the UK? So they've— You've only got front number plates...
Trace:
We've got both.
Lucy:
You got front and back?
Molly:
Mm-hm.
Trace:
Yeah. It depends on the state. Most require back.
Molly:
The spacing of the letters on the plate? Like the first and last letter on the plate?
Tom:
That's not 7 inches, but you're very close.
Trace:
Oh. Is it height? The height of the plate is about... Well, seven is still quite small. Hm...
Lucy:
The screws on the plate. The screws on your number plate... are 7 inches apart...
Tom:
Yeah—
Lucy:
...on an American passenger vehicle.
Tom:
You know what? I'm going to give you it. Technically, it says the mounting holes for the license plate, but yes. You are absolutely right. You, together, got that very quickly.
Molly:
(giggles)
Tom:
Every US passenger vehicle has two mounting holes for the license plate, and they must be seven inches apart. You know what? I'm going to ask you: 'Why?'
Trace:
Because.
Lucy:
Yeah. Just because.
Trace:
Someone decided.
Molly:
Well, we transfer our plates when we get new cars, right? So it would be really annoying to not...
Tom:
Yes. And that's the thing that doesn't happen in other countries. The UK...
Trace:
Oh really?
Molly:
Oh really?
Tom:
In the UK... the license plate stays with the car. I mean, you can get a custom one, but generally the plate stays with the car, not the driver.
Trace:
Oh yeah, I just got new license plates for my cars 'cause I moved from California to New York.
Tom:
Yep, and that's another thing that doesn't have to happen in the UK.
Molly:
Right.
Trace:
I wish. Man...
Tom:
Yes, and actually, Trace, you basically gave the reason there.
Trace:
Yeah.
Tom:
Why were they standardised? Because they have to be consistent across all 50 states. That's right.
Trace:
...for the federal Department of Transportation must have said, "It's seven inches!" which kind of comes back to, "Because!"
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom:
Yes! It's actually the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators agreed with the US states in 1956 to standardise the distance to 7 inches and that the plates will be roughly 6 by 12 inches in size. So, all this— The details differ a lot from state to state, but the mounting holes in the US must be 7 inches apart.
Molly:
The first time that states could agree on anything. Probably.
Trace:
Yeah, yeah.
SFX:
(others giggling)
Tom:
Each of our guests has brought a question along. And we're going to start today with Molly. Whenever you're ready.
Molly:
A 2011 newspaper article claimed that Harrison Anastasio had "the best summer job in the world". From his station on the 18th floor rooftop of the James New York hotel, he texted guests every 20 to 30 minutes. What two words did he send?
A 2011 newspaper article claimed that Harrison Anastasio had "the best summer job in the world". From his station on the 18th floor rooftop of the James New York hotel, he texted guests every 20 to 30 minutes. What two words did he send?
Lucy:
"Look now!"
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom:
Or alternatively, "Look out!"
SFX:
(others laugh)
Trace:
18th floor rooftop...
Lucy:
"They're here!"
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom:
"The aliens are landing."
SFX:
(Lucy and Molly laugh)
Tom:
The 18th floor is not that high in New York.
Trace:
Yeah, not really, that's what I'm thinking.
Tom:
There's been some super tall stuff since then, but 2011, 18th floor is not that far. You'd mostly see other buildings unless...
Trace:
Yeah.
Tom:
...you specifically have a view of something.
Trace:
Something. Or you're looking for— There's a pool on the roof, which is pretty common. So maybe you're saying like, "Weather's good!"
SFX:
(group laughing)
Trace:
"It's sunny!"
Tom:
There's gotta be a sight line to... the Statue of Liberty or Central Park or something where something is happening.
Lucy:
Every 20 to 30 minutes.
Molly:
Mhm.
Tom:
Yeah.
Lucy:
And is that to all guests every... The same guests get the same...
Trace:
Thirty minutes.
Lucy:
...message every 20 minutes.
Molly:
Yes, the guests get this— Yes, the guests get the same text every 20 to 30 minutes.
Trace:
Every 20 to 30 minutes they get a text. And it's the best job in the world, so...
Molly:
Best job in the world.
Trace:
Harrison is enjoying doing this job.
Molly:
Yes.
Tom:
Yeah, so I was thinking he was watching out for the queue at a temporary attraction or something. Like, I think about 2011 there was the the Christo thing in Central Park, the gates.
Trace:
Hm.
Molly:
Oh.
Tom:
Just a big... a big art exhibition that had long queues and...
Trace:
Yeah.
Tom:
Is he on the rooftop watching for that?
Molly:
That was a great exhibit. But it's—
Tom:
Yeah.
Molly:
But it's not an attraction. He's not looking out for it. Yeah.
Trace:
Uh-huh, 'the best summer job in the world'... So what's a great summer job where you just text somebody every 20 minutes? "Pool's still open."
SFX:
(scattered chuckling)
Lucy:
I think this says something about you, Trace, that the pool, it seems to be—
Trace:
It looked great. I want to go to the—
Molly:
Yeah, but Trace, you're onto something with the pool. Mhm.
Trace:
Am I? Okay, got it.
Tom:
Oh.
Trace:
Hm... Hm...
Tom:
And it can't be weather forecast, 'cause you can just look outside for that. You...
Trace:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tom:
Is he counting whether there's people in the pool, whether there's space in the pool?
Lucy:
"We've got another towel."
SFX:
(guests chuckling)
Trace:
Yeah, yeah.
Tom:
He's the lifeguard. "No one's dead!"
Trace:
Yeah!
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Trace:
Everybody's dead.
Tom:
Unfortunately, he's then distracted by his phone, which was ironic.
Trace:
Yeah.
Lucy:
Is there a pop band playing different music? "Oh, they're playing this song now!"
Trace:
"This song now."
Molly:
"This song now."
Tom:
But it's the whole of the summer as well. It's not like it's one event or one thing.
Trace:
Yeah.
Molly:
Yeah. Yeah, and this is his thing.
Trace:
And it's two words.
Molly:
Mhm.
Tom:
And it's important that the guests get updates on this.
Molly:
Yes.
Trace:
Yeah. Is it the temperature of the pool?
Tom:
But that's an automated sensor thing. You don't need a human...
Lucy:
It wasn't automated in 2011.
SFX:
(Molly and Tom laugh)
Trace:
They automated it with Harrison. That's Harrison's—
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom:
Yeah, no, no, that's the important thing though. What requires human judgment?
Trace:
Yeah.
Tom:
What sort of thing can you not fix with a camera that the guests can look at, or...
Lucy:
And what changes every 20 to 30 minutes?
Tom:
Right.
Trace:
Yeah. That's why I thought weather initially, 'cause it's like... sunshine, where the sunshine is. That would move every 20 to 30 minutes on a rooftop in New York would be important.
Molly:
I feel like Tom is onto something with human judgment.
Tom:
How hot the people in the pool currently are.
Trace:
I was gonna say.
Molly:
Yeah. (laughs)
Trace:
There's hot people.
Molly:
(giggles)
Tom:
I'm convinced that's it now. That he's literally just the...
Molly:
He's the hotness judge. (laughs)
Trace:
He's the hot judge.
Tom:
Yeah.
Trace:
How are the people up here? Eight out of ten.
SFX:
(Tom and Molly chuckle)
Trace:
Ten out of ten. (snickers)
Molly:
No, he's providing a service.
Lucy:
Are there dolphins on the 18th floor?
SFX:
(others chuckle)
Lucy:
And then, "Okay, it's feeding time! Feeding time!"
Molly:
(chuckles) Those are going to be some pretty fat dolphins every 30 minutes.
Trace:
Every 30 minutes!
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Trace:
Well, they say they're dolphins, they're just manatees.
Lucy:
Yeah. Is it mermaids? They put mermaids in them?
Molly:
Aw, that would be fun!
SFX:
(Molly and Trace giggle)
Molly:
No, I think, so, yeah, the pool is relevant. The weather is somewhat relevant. And yeah, he's providing a service. We're dancing. We're dancing around. And I think, you know, this is a fancy hotel. People want things done for them.
Tom:
Is he texting someone to move the parasols for them? So the shade is moving.
Molly:
Oh, you're so close. You're on the right... You're on the right... You're on the right path, Tom.
Tom:
He just texts "Change places!" and everyone has to change places.
Molly:
(widens eyes)
Lucy:
Ooh, oh.
Tom:
Oh?
Molly:
So close! So close!
Tom:
Oh, oh...
Molly:
Is it you've had enough sunshine and you're now going to burn if you don't move?
Tom:
"Turn over". He's texting them, roll over.
Molly:
Turn over, yeah. Turn over. Good job!
SFX:
(Molly and Lucy laugh)
Trace:
Turn over! Oh my gosh!
Molly:
Well done, team! (laughs)
Tom:
Because you need a human to know who's still there. Because it's a fancy hotel, you could just tag in and tag out.
Trace:
Yeah.
Molly:
But you have a... what's the word... not sommelier, not waiter, not maître d',
Tom:
but you have a...
Molly:
...concierge.
Tom:
That's the word.
Trace:
Concierge. A sun— a sun-malier.
Lucy:
So it was how hot people are.
Trace:
Yeah!
Tom:
Eyyy!
SFX:
(group laughing)
Molly:
Yes. Yes.
So Harrison was the hotel's tanning concierge. This is a real job. And it also sounds pretty great.
So yeah, every 20 to 30 minutes, he would send a text message saying "turn over" to ensure that guests tan themselves evenly and didn't get sunburned. So well done, Harrison.
Oh, and also I think what's really funny about this is that guests could opt into the texting. So they had an option of getting texted or getting a tap on the shoulder. And most of them prefer to get texted.
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom:
This question has been sent in by Eric. Thank you very much.
Martial spends three weeks of this summer completing paintings of butterflies and owls that will be seen by millions of people worldwide. Why?
I'll say that again.
Martial spends three weeks of this summer completing paintings of butterflies and owls that will be seen by millions of people worldwide. Why?
Lucy:
'Cause he's an artist.
Tom:
(laughs)
Trace:
Specifically butterflies and owls. I don't know, I have a kid, so I'm like, wallpaper! Or, you know, some kind of art that you would buy. But why in the summer?
Lucy:
So, I'm thinking worldwide, and if we put some on aeroplanes, then they will travel worldwide.
Trace:
Interesting.
Lucy:
But we're not getting any good looks from Tom from that, so...
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom:
We're on a video call, and you all have been on the show enough to start metagaming based on my reactions. It happens to everyone, sooner or later.
Trace:
Okay, so... Martial spends three weeks of the summer.
Tom:
Mhm.
Trace:
Three weeks.
Tom:
Yes.
Molly:
But the paintings... Are they only seen for those three weeks? Or that's how long it takes him to make the paintings, and then they'll be seen by millions of people forever after that, I wonder?
Tom:
Martial has the job for three weeks, along with a small team.
Trace:
Martial must be painting something... that's a highly visible piece of art that needs to be refreshed annually. Or something. Where, you're painting, I don't know, maybe the same butterflies and owls. You know, I'm thinking of (cracks up) the giant star on the side of the NASA building. You know, it's like, it takes time to paint it.
Tom:
They're not that big, but they are big.
Trace:
Hm.
Tom:
Many metres in size.
Molly:
Are they visible from the sky? Are they a flyover type of art?
Tom:
Yes, they are.
Molly:
Okay.
Trace:
(gasps)
Lucy:
Ooh.
Trace:
Of butterflies and owls?
Tom:
Mhm. There is a word in the question that you all skipped over there, which was 'completing'.
Lucy:
Where did that word come in the sentence?
Tom:
Martial is completing the paintings.
Molly:
Oh, he didn't start them?
Tom:
He did not start them.
Lucy:
I'm now thinking of the— those Inca drawings. The art, art paintings. The ground engravements.
Tom:
The Nazca lines.
Lucy:
Yes, the 'Nazdy line'.
Tom:
Yeah, it's that kind of artwork.
Lucy:
Something relevant about butterflies and owls. Are they... football or sports something?
Molly:
Oh, like mascots?
Lucy:
So on the sports stadium in the middle. Where, you know, where they run up and down, playing their ball sports.
Trace:
Yeah.
Tom:
The pitch.
Lucy:
Oh yeah.
Tom:
The pitch or the field, yes.
Trace:
Oh, Lucy, you're super into sports, I can tell.
SFX:
(group giggling)
Tom:
Any time we have a sports question on here, there's usually just three nerds who go, "Oh no". And then it turns out to be about something that is not about the rules of the game at all.
Lucy:
(chuckles)
Trace:
Yeah.
Tom:
It is a sports question and it is nothing about the rules of the game at all.
Molly:
Okay, good.
Trace:
Yeah, so...
Molly:
A butterfly mascot? I don't—
Trace:
So you're painting something that goes on the field.
Tom:
Field and pitch would not be the right word for this.
Molly:
A dome? Are they in a dome? Like an arena roof? Mmm, or a rink? No, that wouldn't be visible from the sky.
Trace:
An ice rink, but that would be summer.
Molly:
That would have to be a big rink.
Trace:
Yeah. And summertime, you're completing it.
Molly:
Oh, summer, yeah.
Trace:
But you're completing it in the summer. Maybe it's used in the winter, but...
Tom:
It's three very specific weeks.
Molly:
Olympics?
Trace:
Oh.
Tom:
Not quite. I imagine there may be someone who does this for the Olympics as well. Because this is an event in the Olympics. But in this case, no.
Trace:
(gasps) Ooh.
Molly:
Everything's an event in the Olympics.
Lucy:
Yeah.
Molly:
It's the breakdancing arena.
Lucy:
It's the breakdancing arena.
Trace:
Definitely breakdancing.
Lucy:
I'm now thinking of the monarch butterflies that migrate 3,000 miles across in the summer. It's like, yeah, long-distance marathons.
Tom:
Now you're getting very close. Martial does have to drive between these artworks.
Lucy:
Start and finish of something.
Tom:
And along the way.
Lucy:
Oh, okay.
Tom:
It would be quite embarrassing if he didn't do this job.
Lucy:
Are they toilets?
Tom:
(cackles)
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Tom:
Okay, so...
Lucy:
Is it, the owls are the gents, and the butterflies are the ladies, or...
Tom:
So, so, no. But weirdly you are slightly closer than you might think with...
SFX:
(guests giggle profusely)
Molly:
What?
Tom:
...toilet humour.
Trace:
What? Toilet humor?!
Molly:
The butterflies on the owls.
Tom:
(chuckles)
Molly:
(giggles) Everyone has to, let's see...
Tom:
And not a long-distance marathon, but it's something very much like that.
Lucy:
Cycling.
Tom:
Yes.
Molly:
Hmm.
Trace:
Does the, what is it, Tour de France or something? Does that have to do with—
Tom:
Yes.
Trace:
Is that in the summer for three weeks?
Tom:
Absolutely right. Martial works for the Tour de France.
Trace:
And there are butterflies and owls involved. But I don't watch the Tour de France.
Molly:
Is it the route? Does it paint the route? Is it route markers?
Tom:
Not quite. Quite, kind of the opposite.
Lucy:
Don't go this way?
Tom:
Martial is finishing these paintings. Who might have started them?
Lucy:
Children.
Tom:
Mm, some of them, certainly.
Trace:
So, people do graffiti or something on the ground. And this is covering up the graffiti with butterflies and owls and things, so that when the cameras that are following the bicyclists, they don't see...
SFX:
(Molly and Lucy crack up)
Tom:
Yes. Martial is an effaceur. He's one of a team of people whose job it is to drive the route in the morning and see what has been graffitied.
Molly:
(wheezes softly)
Trace:
Yeah.
Tom:
The last question is, why might it be butterflies and owls quite often?
Molly:
Oh, is it, they best cover the shape of what has been graffitied?
Tom:
Yes.
Molly:
Oh no!
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Molly:
Okay. Great.
Tom:
Yes.
Trace:
Because of the different types of anatomy that you can easily make... (giggles) into butterflies and owls!
Tom:
Martial's job is specifically to drive along the route to spot if anyone has put rude graffiti down, and then adapt the various parts of the anatomy into butterflies, owls, and whatever else comes along.
Trace:
I love that. That is great.
No, you know what? Harrison does not have the greatest job in the world. Martial has the greatest job in the world.
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom:
Lucy, we will go to you for the next question.
Lucy:
This question has been sent in by Matthew.
During a solo take-off, some Navy pilots are trained to hold onto two handrails that do nothing. What is the situation, and why do they do this?
During a solo take-off, some Navy pilots are trained to hold onto two handrails that do nothing. What is the situation, and why do they do this?
Tom:
I'm sitting out of this one. Molly and Trace, it's on you.
Molly:
Ah— (wheezes)
Trace:
Hmm. I mean, I have flown in an F... an F eight... (mumbles incoherently)
Tom:
(laughs) Oh, sorry! We're just going to drop in military flight experience here, are we?
Trace:
It wasn't military. I was just riding along. It was fun. On an F-18.
Molly:
Did you grab any handlebars for no reason?
Trace:
I didn't, but I threw up. I definitely threw up on that plane. They let me keep the flight suit.
Tom:
That's the most—
SFX:
(group laughing)
Molly:
Pro tip.
SFX:
(Molly and Trace laugh)
Tom:
That's the most American thing.
"I flew an F-18."
"Was it military?"
"Nuh, some guy's just got an F-18!"
Trace:
Yeah. It was Boeing's. It was theirs.
Tom:
Okay.
Trace:
Yeah. There weren't any handles that I held onto, but... That's my first thought, is it's something about...
Molly:
So it's Navy. So they're taking off from aircraft carr— big aircraft carriers in the... in the ocean, maybe?
Lucy:
During a solo take-off, some Navy pilots are trained to hold onto two handrails.
Molly:
Are the Navy pilots in the plane at the time they are taking off?
SFX:
(Tom and Molly laugh)
Lucy:
They are.
Molly:
Maybe they're just watching.
Lucy:
No, they are the only ones in the plane.
SFX:
(Tom and Molly laugh)
Tom:
Oh, but that is exactly how the question would be worded, though, isn't it?
Trace:
Yeah, yeah.
Tom:
It's someone else's solo launch, and you've just got to hold on, just so you don't accidentally do something.
Molly:
(giggles)
Trace:
Right. So there's two handrails that do nothing, and they're trained to hold on to them.
Lucy:
Mhm.
Trace:
Things you're worried about during takeoff. If you're not holding onto the controls during a solo, I would think that would be something to worry about.
Lucy:
So flip that.
Trace:
Somebody else is controlling the plane? Or are you...
Molly:
If something goes wrong during take-off... during a good take-off... the handlebars aren't doing anything. But maybe during a bad take-off, they would give you some sort of stability or something? No, okay.
Lucy:
Nope.
Tom:
I'm gonna check here, Lucy. These are specifically Navy pilots, right?
Lucy:
Yep.
Tom:
This wouldn't happen much in the Air Force.
Lucy:
Nope. And Molly was on the right track earlier.
Trace:
So do the handrails connect to an ejector seat in case of a botched takeoff?
Lucy:
Nope.
Molly:
Do they position the pilot in a way that's like, they're more visible to folks?
Lucy:
Something to do with positioning, but ish to do with positioning.
Molly:
Ish.
Lucy:
The two handrails are above their head.
Trace:
Hmm, do you have to keep the canopy on?
SFX:
(group laughing)
Trace:
"Okay, let's go!" Like when you buy a mattress at the store and you have to get it home?
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom:
No, you don't. But those canopies have explosives in them if there's an ejector seat. Because they need to blow the canopy first. And...
Trace:
Yeah.
Tom:
I assume you had an ejector seat briefing, Trace, which is terrifying.
Trace:
It was terrifying. There's lots of yellow and black loops, and they're like, "Do not grab any of these."
SFX:
(group giggling)
Trace:
"For any reason."
Tom:
"If you grab these, you will be unconscious and two inches shorter."
Trace:
Yeah.
Tom:
Yeah.
Molly:
(hoots wincingly)
Trace:
I'm just thinking of bearing down. But if they're above your head, you wouldn't use them to bear down. Which is like, when you squeeze the body so you don't lose blood, but you don't really need that during takeoff.
Molly:
Okay, so it's maybe vaguely related to positioning.
Lucy:
Yeah, and as you said Molly... yeah, they need to show that they're in that position.
Trace:
So you mentioned earlier, I was supposed to flip something. Are they putting their hands onto the handrails that do nothing to show someone that they're not touching the controls?
Lucy:
Exactly.
Trace:
But before the launch takeoff.
Lucy:
Yes.
Trace:
It's that...
Lucy:
Yeah.
Trace:
Yeah.
Tom:
When you say launch take-off, Trace, what do you mean?
Trace:
So you're being... I don't know if it's powered by steam or what, but you're being, like, the plane is being thrown off of an aircraft carrier at takeoff.
Lucy:
Exactly, exactly, yep.
Tom:
Which means you have to show to the team that you are not accidentally going to use the controls and do something for that first few seconds, or is it that... you're going to get yanked so hard that you're suddenly going to disrupt the controls. Which, both?
Lucy:
Both. So, they're taking off from an aircraft carrier. And it's important that they don't overreact with the controls. So the ship's catapult system... probably not steam, is so strong that...
Tom:
Some of them are.
Lucy:
They are steam?
Tom:
Some of them are steam catapults.
Lucy:
Right, I take it back.
SFX:
(Lucy and Tom laugh)
Tom:
If there's one thing that's available on nuclear-powered stuff, it's steam.
Trace:
Steam, a lot of it.
Lucy:
Okay. So... I'm now thinking Wallace and Gromit and this whole elastic band, steam powered...
SFX:
(group laughing)
Lucy:
It's so strong that the pilot would sit there and actually pull back on the joystick, if they had their hands on it. So, while they're being pushed back in their seat, and that would lead to the plane becoming uncontrollable, stalling, or whatever.
So, before takeoff, the pilot signals all systems are good, salutes the shooter, the catapult operator, and places both hands on two handles above their head to show that their hands are not on the flight stick. Once they're clear of the aircraft carrier, they can fly as normal.
Tom:
Thank you to an anonymous listener for this next question.
In the Mexican game show Escape Perfecto, contestants must drag prizes through a door before it closes, and aren't told how long they have left. Why did an adjudicator tell a contestant to stop looking towards the back of the set?
And again.
In the Mexican game show Escape Perfecto, contestants must drag prizes through a door before it closes, and aren't told how long they have left. Why did an adjudicator tell a contestant to stop looking towards the back of the set?
Trace:
Because there was somebody there being like, "They're closing it! They're closing it!"
Molly:
It's an inside job.
Trace:
"Rápido!"
SFX:
(Tom and Molly laugh)
Lucy:
Was light being reflected in? In through the door...
Molly:
Was there some mechanic, if it's— I'm imagining a big, complicated movie set with lots of moving parts. Was part of the door mechanism back there that was moving something?
Trace:
Yeah, the PA.
SFX:
(group giggles profusely)
Trace:
It was somebody's job to be pulling the rope. You can tell some of us have been on set, and we're just like, "There's— That's Earl's job. He just pulls that rope."
Tom:
Yeah, you can tell the door's not gonna shut yet. He's still got a cigarette in.
Trace:
Yeah, he's not even paying attention.
Tom:
Goddamn, spot the person who grew up watching shows in the '90s. "Still got a cigarette in".
Trace:
(giggles)
Tom:
He's still pulling on a vape, there we go.
Trace:
Yeah, there you go.
Lucy:
There's this big lead weight, like they're using the curtains, to open the curtains. And there's, opening the doors. And if the weights are still up, it hasn't gone ka-chunk yet.
Tom:
So, just to be clear on the rules of this:
They do know that there is a time limit before they enter the prize room. They do know what that time limit is, and the door is just gonna slam shut and lock at some point.
So it's not a slowly descending door. It's just gonna go clunk at some point.
Trace:
It still makes me think there's somebody back there being like...
Lucy:
Count—
Trace:
"Go!"
Lucy:
A countdown clock at the back of the set.
SFX:
(scattered giggling)
Lucy:
Tells the camera people what to do.
Trace:
Because you know, like in F1, they were worried about... people being able to predict when the lights turn off. So it's always a person who pushes the button. But if you watch that person, but that person is not visible from the field, so...
Tom:
Yeah, there wasn't really any sort of leak of the clocks or anything like that. There wasn't someone colluding. They weren't looking for a signal.
Molly:
Was there an accidental, like a tell? Like, Lucy, what you were saying about... Was there someone just accidentally giving something away in the back of the set?
Tom:
There was definitely a tell. But it was someone clever who worked this out. This wasn't just the producers missing a thing.
Lucy:
There's something like the lights on the camera start. There's a red light on the camera if you start filming. And so it's like, "Right, we'll now go to camera four," which is on the opposite side, or on the door, or something. And when that goes, they know that the door's gonna close.
Molly:
Mmn.
Trace:
Ooh, that's smart.
Tom:
There is a certain kinda metagame thing to this. There is definitely a tell... somewhere at the back of the set.
Trace:
So the door is open, you can run in, you can pull stuff out of the prize room. Whatever you can get out, you win. And at some point, the door's gonna slam shut.
Tom:
Yeah.
Trace:
So they're telling them to not look at the back of the set.
Tom:
Mhm.
Trace:
Because... The set was built cheaply, and it flexes or something before the door goes down.
SFX:
(guests giggling)
Tom:
This is a fairly modern show.
Trace:
Yeah.
Tom:
Have a think about what game show sets are designed like these days.
Trace:
I don't watch a lot of game shows, but a lot of screens.
Lucy:
Planes.
Trace:
More screens these days.
Lucy:
Fighting robots.
SFX:
(group giggling)
Trace:
Planes. Ball pits, you know. Basically every show is either Double Dare or Jeopardy! these days, so...
Molly:
Is it a lot of green— Are a lot of game show sets green screens these days, or...
Tom:
Ooh, no. But it is a technology thing.
Trace:
It's just a man in a green outfit.
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Lucy:
Closing the gate, closing the door. 'Cause they haven't got any money. S(group laughs uproariously)
Trace:
Here comes Miguel, he's gotta get the door!
SFX:
(laughter continues)
Tom:
But you can see the green man. Doesn't matter, the audience at home can't. No, Trace, you said screens.
Trace:
Yeah, screens.
Tom:
At the back of the set, yeah. Big, big LED screens.
Lucy:
The remote control button for the door interfered with the screens.
Tom:
It is something that's on the screens.
Lucy:
The countdown clock is on the screen.
Tom:
The countdown clock isn't, but what might be there?
Lucy:
The little twiggle things that used to be on the... I don't know if they still are. On analogue TV, there used to be a little mark before the adverts came on.
Tom:
Oh! The cue dot. That's a really British reference. Yes.
Lucy:
And that said, the... "Watch out, electricity companies, because we're about to go to the adverts, and you need to boost electricity because everyone's going to put the kettle on".
Tom:
It's a very British thing.
Lucy:
It is!
Trace:
Wow.
Tom:
In that case, that would have been added at the transmission end.
Lucy:
(scoffs)
Tom:
That is for networks to cue in commercials and things like that. You wouldn't see that on the actual display at the screen. But what might...
Trace:
Something on the display.
Tom:
What might a show put on a screen like that?
Molly:
Game show screens be showing— Are they highlighting them? Is it something about the prizes, like they're highlighting the...
Tom:
It's actually just showing the show's logo.
Trace:
Maybe the logo is... stationary. And then it starts moving right before, so that you can— so the audience can see what's happening. So it's like, you're starting something that only the audience really needs to see.
Lucy:
Or it needs to, if it's turning, it needs to come to this way 'round, rather than this. rather than this—
Trace:
Yeah, yeah.
Lucy:
It needs to come to flat on, rather than sideways.
Trace:
They reset the logo so it was correct.
Tom:
You're very close, Molly?
Molly:
It's like they start their animation sequence or their closing title or something while the door closes?
Tom:
It's just on a loop.
Trace:
So they reset the loop. We used to do that on DNews. Well, we didn't have control over it, but it was a loop. Turned out it was looping backwards, though, and the meteor— the Earth was rotating the wrong way. So we— It was always backwards.
SFX:
(others laughing)
Lucy:
Did that give you a twitch?
Trace:
Yeah, some commenter was like, "Your Earth is rotating backwards." So we just reversed the animation, so a comet flies the wrong way. But that's fine, doesn't matter.
SFX:
(Tom and Molly chuckle)
Tom:
How long was your loop, Trace?
Trace:
Oooh.
Molly:
Oooh.
Trace:
It was like a minute. It was like one minute. So, they counted the number of loops, 'cause they timed the loop to when the door was going to close, so they didn't make their show look bad.
Tom:
I will give you that. You are close enough. It was a ten second loop. They just hadn't bothered to make the loop any longer. And some of the contestants realised, "Well, if you've given us 60 seconds, and we've got no clocks and no timers, we can just look back, and every time that logo goes 'round, that's 10 seconds."
Lucy:
Cunning.
Trace:
That is cunning.
Tom:
Their solution was to get the adjudicator to ask people to not look backwards until they fixed the loop. Trace, it is over to you for the last big question of the show.
Trace:
This question has been sent in by... I hope I get this name right. Leonie Mercedes.
In some Scrabble sets, unscrupulous players could feel for the useful 'blank' tiles as they had no engraving on them. However, 1940s editions permitted a hack that was even more game-breaking. What was it?
And then, let me take it again.
In some Scrabble sets, unscrupulous players could feel for the useful 'blank' tiles as they have no engraving on them. However, 1940s editions permitted a hack that was even more game-breaking. What was it?
Lucy:
So Scrabble has got letters and numbers on. And in ye olden days, they used to be engraved. So you could tell... the blank ones weren't engraved. So in 1940s, there was something else that you could still feel, or... some other way. You put your hand in the bag. Were they heavier? Do you think they had gold-plated numbers and letters?
Tom:
(laughs heartily)
Molly:
(chuckles) But 1940s, is there something—
Tom:
Could be a wartime thing.
Molly:
Yeah, I was gonna say. Is there a ration? Was the material that was used in Scrabble sets rationed, and they had to retool it or something?
Tom:
Also, I love the idea. Scrabble sets aren't engraved anymore to reduce cheating and absolutely not to reduce production costs.
Molly:
(snickers)
Trace:
Right. Lucy, you mentioned that they had a— that you put your hand in the bag. In the 1940s, they had no bag.
Molly:
Ooh.
Lucy:
Ooh.
Trace:
So you wouldn't need— You wouldn't have a bag. So that is a hint.
Lucy:
So would they be all upside down?
Tom:
Yeah, you'd have to just kind of put the tiles upside down and draw 'em off the table, I guess.
Molly:
Were they different heights? Or widths, I guess? If they were laying flat on a table with different...
Tom:
It's a wartime home edition, and you just have to make— It's just taken on faith. You just draw some letters. You come up with them in your head. It's just taken on faith.
Lucy:
It's just written on paper.
Tom:
Yeah.
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Trace:
It's just a crossword at that point.
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom:
How can you tell, even if the letters are upside down, without a bag, how can you tell... what letter you're pulling?
Lucy:
Well, maybe you're just looking for the blank ones.
Trace:
Yeah, if you're looking for anyone, specifically.
Lucy:
They were see-through, because they were so thin.
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom:
You could just make a bag. The Scrabble set might not have come with one, but you could just put them in a bag.
Trace:
Yeah, it doesn't— That's— I wouldn't go in that direction.
Tom:
Okay.
Trace:
It's not necessarily about the bag. The tiles were selected typically face down... inside the box lid. It wasn't something necessarily about the placement of the tiles. More... Think more about how, when you're playing Scrabble, you've got your tiles in front of you, and you have to play or pick a tile. And so you're trying to get... to spell those words. What would you do?
Molly:
And if you wanted to break the game, so you wanted to pick the one you wanted. Or do they make them... where they're like different types of... Did they make different sounds as they clinked against each other?
SFX:
(Tom and Molly laugh)
Trace:
You're on the right... You're on the right track.
Molly:
Acoustic Scrabble?
Trace:
Not necessarily clinky.
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Trace:
But you're on the right track that it does have to do with the material that the tile—
Molly:
Did they— different grains? Could you feel the grains with your fingers, maybe?
Trace:
I think that's pretty darn close. (giggles)
Tom:
So what's different in the 1940s? Is this a wartime thing? Is this a set...
Trace:
It doesn't have to do with the wartime one.
Tom:
Oh, it's just bad design, okay.
Trace:
Yeah, it's just bad design, really. And, similar to the last question, very observant people. And, Molly, you're so close. It really is very close to what you just said.
Molly:
Softness of the wood? Could you— if you—
Lucy:
Was it wood?
Trace:
They were made of wood.
Tom:
Which means you can memorise the patterns on the back of the tiles?
Trace:
Yeah.
Lucy:
Oh, from the grain!
Molly:
Oh, from the grain, okay. And they're like fingerprints. Oh my god.
Lucy:
They're marked cards.
Tom:
They're marked cards! Right!
Trace:
Yes. That's exactly it.
So Molly, you were so darn close. I was like, do I give it? I don't know. Because you mentioned the wood grain, and that's exactly what it is.
People would memorize the wood grain on their tile, their Scrabble sets, and then know which tiles were which ones they wanted. So that way they could select the letters they needed.
The technique, by the way, of feeling for engraved letters – which they no longer engrave them, they started printing them on the front, so you couldn't feel them – that's called brailling. And so now they print the letters.
In the 1940s, they were made of Bavarian maple wood. So you could see this grain pattern on the back.
Lucy:
Very good.
Molly:
So you had a real home field advantage if you were working with your own home Scrabble set, but not if you went and played at a friend's house.
Trace:
Right, I wonder if they'd be like, "We're gonna open a brand new Scrabble set every time we compete."
SFX:
(Trace and Molly laugh)
Tom:
The final order of business then is the question I asked at the start of the show.
Thank you to Dorian Lidell for sending this one in.
In a Japanese ceremony, who walks down the 'virgin road'?
Anyone want to take a shot at that?
Trace:
We're clearly made to think that it's like... I don't know, a bride or something, because of our western-ness.
Tom:
(laughs) Trace, you are absolutely right!
Trace:
What?
Tom:
It is the two people in a wedding ceremony. The aisle in the church, or the office, or wherever, is referred to as the 'virgin road'.
And I love that you just thought that was the obvious route one answer, and said it, and you're right.
Trace:
Sometimes you get lucky.
Tom:
With that, thank you very much to all our players. And to Trace, you solved that last one very quickly. So let's start with you. What's going on in your world? Where can people find you?
Trace:
Yeah, still making a podcast called That's Absurd Please Elaborate, where we answer ridiculous questions sent in by the audience with sciencey-ish answers as best as we can sometimes. I'm working on one now about, what could you feed a squirrel that would make it immortal?
Tom:
(laughs)
Trace:
So that's been fun. (blurts laugh) Anyway.
Tom:
I was going to ask what the answer is, but you'll have to listen to the podcast.
Trace:
You have to listen, yeah. You have to listen to find out.
Tom:
Lucy, what's going on with you?
Lucy:
I'm squirreling away, writing my book.
SFX:
(Tom and Trace laugh)
Lucy:
Which does feel like it's going on for eternity, and it'll be out in 2026.
Tom:
Molly, how about you?
Molly:
I'm making videos over on Science IRL. I just visited the world's largest robot. So that'll be on the channel soon, which I'm really excited about. Might win some Robot Wars. I don't know, Lucy, you'll have to tell me.
SFX:
(guests chuckling)
Tom:
And, I would ask where that is. But again, you'll have to watch the channel.
And if you wanna 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 Dr. Molly Edwards.
Molly:
Thanks.
Tom:
Dr. Lucy Rogers.
Lucy:
Thank you!
Tom:
And Trace Dominguez.
Trace:
Woohoo, that was fun.
Tom:
I've been Tom Scott, and that's been Lateral.
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