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Episode 148: Cheese and laser
Published 8th August, 2025
Transcription by Caption+
Tom Scott:
What is the only food that humans regularly eat that isn't produced by a living organism?
The answer to that at the end of the show. My name's Tom Scott, and this is Lateral.
I've got some good news for those of you who are looking to complete their collectible miniatures set of Lateral guests. Let's take a look at their stats.
With Charisma: 21, Constitution: 18, and Inside Leg: 30, it's Tom Lum!
Tom Lum:
(enters sideways fighting stance)
Ella:
(laughs)
Tom Lum:
This is a visual joke. I'm in my miniature pose.
Ella:
Visual gag on a podcast.
Tom Scott:
Visual gag on a podcast that's still— A lot of people listen to in audio.
Tom Lum:
And I shrunk down to miniature size. "Help, I'm so tiny!"
Tom Scott:
Incredible skill demonstration there. How are you doing, Tom?
Tom Lum:
Doing wonderful. It's so nice to be back on.
Tom Scott:
Next, with Dexterity: 23, Wisdom: 19, and Platform: 7, it's Caroline Roper.
Caroline:
Oh, it's me. That's exciting. Thank you.
SFX:
(group chuckling)
Tom Scott:
I did worry that perhaps David the producer had made these stats try to make sense. And I'm happy to report that they don't.
Caroline:
Boo.
Ella:
Well, let's see what you say for me.
Caroline:
Oh yeah.
Tom Lum:
Yeah, Beauty: 20? Intelligence: 20?
SFX:
(Ella and Caroline laugh)
Tom Scott:
Yeah, these are actually all percentages.
How are you doing, Caroline?
SFX:
(guests laugh uproariously)
Tom Lum:
Oh, that's...
Caroline:
Apart from... mildly offended from the get go, I'm doing okay.
SFX:
(group chuckling)
Tom Scott:
Only mildly? We've started well this time.
Caroline:
We'll take it. Yeah. (laughs)
Tom Scott:
And finally, with Intelligence: 24, Strength: 17, and Gas Mark: 5, it's Ella Hubber.
SFX:
(group laughing)
Ella:
I'll take it.
Caroline:
We're easy to please, aren't we?
Tom Scott:
Welcome back to the show. All three of you together, you are Let's Learn Everything.
What have you been learning recently?
Tom Lum:
Well, we are a science and comedy podcast. We learn about science and a bit of everything else as well.
Very recently, we learned about dinosaur diet detectives, how you figure that out. And also the history of podcasts, which I think some of your listeners might know what those are.
SFX:
(others chuckling)
Tom Lum:
There's always the chance someone just picked up a phone that was playing it, and they're like, "Oh, what's this?"
Tom Scott:
I saw your post, Tom, about wherever you get your podcasts, and I really, really agree with it.
Tom Lum:
Oh, I'm so glad.
Tom Scott:
No one owns that system.
Tom Lum:
And I hope listeners who listen to the podcast also think podcasts are cool. Chances are— This is really— I'm really—
Ella:
We're getting so meta.
Tom Lum:
Preaching to the choir, aren't I? Podcasts are good.
Caroline:
Uh-huh.
Tom Scott:
Yeah, there's a lot of pluggin' going on here. I appreciate it. Very best of luck to all of you. Let's hope you roll a nat 20 on question one.
Thank you to Conall K for this question.
In what way have a meatball and a worm both been sent to space?
I'll say that again.
In what way have a meatball and a worm both been sent to space?
And I can see Tom Lum nodding already.
Ella:
You know this?
Tom Lum:
Sure did roll that natural 20, baby.
Tom Scott:
Yep. If anyone was gonna get this one, I thought it was gonna be Tom Lum. Caroline, Ella, this one's on you.
Ella:
Why is that? Why is it you thought that Tom Lum would get this? I must know.
Caroline:
Yeah, what's that all about? Huh? Huh?
Tom Lum:
Well, there might be a hint in that.
Caroline:
Oh?
Tom Lum:
Only slightly.
Tom Scott:
Only slightly.
Ella:
A worm?
Caroline:
(guffaws) You're a meatball? What?
Tom Scott:
You are some of the most regular guests on Lateral. And just based on many previous episodes, I'm like, I think Tom might get this one.
Ella:
Okay, so... I would guess then it's something to— Knowing— Okay. I'm gonna go off Tom's background.
Tom Lum:
Oh no.
Ella:
Which is in computer science, right? Is that right? You, computer science. So is it—
Tom Scott:
I wouldn't go too inside baseball on that, but...
Ella:
Okay, fine. I was like, maybe it's like that— a word, a coding system or something. One's called WRM, and one's called MTBL.
Tom Scott:
Ooh.
Caroline:
That's a great shout. My brain went to, maybe they were projected into space through an explosion or something like that, and you're like, maybe it's like a coding systems name or something. Like very different mindsets here.
Ella:
I think that's a great— I think that's lateral thinking.
Caroline:
Yeah.
Tom Lum:
Ella, I know you've talked on the pod many times about the many, many animals that have gone into space.
Ella:
I talked about so many things that were sent into space, and I know... I know C. elegans is a type of worm that's been sent to space, which is a common model organism. But I haven't, I'll be honest, I haven't ever seen anything about a meatball being sent to space in the traditional sense of it being, living on the ISS in a lab situation.
SFX:
(group laughing)
Caroline:
A living meatball floating around existed.
Ella:
I guess my question would be, are these an— do you mean, is this an actual worm and an actual meatball?
Caroline:
Yeah.
Ella:
Or is this representative of something else? And if you tell me that, have I asked too much of you?
SFX:
(group laughing)
Ella:
Based on your face. Okay. Go on Caroline, do some...
Caroline:
(laughs uproariously)
Tom Lum:
(whinnies)
Caroline:
On command, go.
Ella:
Go.
SFX:
(Caroline and Ella giggle)
Caroline:
The only way that I could imagine... like if it is like a meatball, is for it to be like space food, meatball, right? And, obviously, you know... Astronaut food, freeze-dried food. Maybe a worm ended up accidentally entering the mix? And you know, a lot of food has a quantity of animal product in it. Could it be that way?
Ella:
Oh, we learned that recently too. Maybe it's like a— Ooh, no, but that's gross. Surely—
SFX:
(others laugh uproariously)
Caroline:
Thanks, Ella.
Tom Scott:
I feel like that's not a worm going to space. That is worm going to space.
Caroline:
Oh, so—
SFX:
(group laughs uproariously)
Ella:
It's a very—
Tom Lum:
I'll say—
Ella:
It's a small but very important distinction.
Tom Scott:
Yeah. As the names imply, the meatball is round, and the worm is long and thin.
Tom Lum:
I'll say, this isn't an accident. This is something they're proud of.
Tom Scott:
Yes.
Caroline:
Are they trying to do some sick-ass dance moves in space?
Tom Scott:
(laughs)
Tom Lum:
Oh, the worm!
Ella:
Oh, the worm?
Caroline:
The worm and the meatball.
Tom Scott:
Is that even possible in microgravity? Don't you need something to bounce off for that?
Ella:
Well, that's why they're so proud of it, Tom!
Tom Scott:
Ah.
Tom Lum:
That—
SFX:
(Caroline and Tom Lum laugh uproariously)
Tom Lum:
And the meatball is a space-only dance move. You go into a cannonball, and you spin around in zero gravity.
Tom Scott:
Okay, but someone actually did that. Someone, I cannot remember the name, but there is a dance... a choreographer, that's the word, who designed dance for zero gravity.
Tom Lum:
Whoa.
Caroline:
Oh? How do you get into that profession?
Tom Scott:
If I remember rightly, they were married to a science fiction writer.
Caroline:
Okay, that makes sense, yeah.
Ella:
Okay, so they're proud of it. Something round, something long. That's, and not an actual, I'm guessing not an actual meatball and a worm.
Tom Scott:
No, in fact, the meatball is predominantly blue.
Caroline:
Oh? You don't want your meatball to be that colour typically.
Tom Lum:
(wheezes)
Caroline:
So... (chuckles)
Ella:
Tom Lum, is there a reason why you would've gotten this, or is it just something you happen to know? Just so I know not to be thinking down those lines.
Tom Lum:
I could say it's specific to the US astronauts.
Tom Scott:
Yes, that's true.
Ella:
Oh, okay. That doesn't help actually. So, thanks.
Caroline:
Is it something to do with getting the American flag into space?
Tom Scott:
Not quite, but you are getting close.
Caroline:
(shivers) Oh, wonderful.
Ella:
Oh, is it like some kind of sym— They're symbolic. They're symbolic for something in America that we would be unaware of? That's why Tom is... Do you...
Tom Scott:
No, you're definitely aware of this. You will have seen both the meatball and the worm.
Ella:
Is it like how you call New York "the big apple", you know?
Caroline:
(blurts laugh)
Tom Scott:
In that it's a nickname for something, yes.
Ella:
The meatball and the worm.
Caroline:
Are they pieces of technology? Pieces of equipment that are in that shape?
Tom Scott:
No, you were way closer with the flags.
Caroline:
Okay, okay.
Ella:
Are they characters? Like, cartoon characters? Like figurines of cartoon characters?
Tom Scott:
Where might you see the flag on a US rocket?
Caroline:
On the outside of it, Tom.
Tom Scott:
Mm, yes.
Caroline:
Oh, okay, okay.
Ella:
It's just a picture. It's just a painted picture of a flag on the side of a rocket.
Tom Scott:
Yeah. Yes, it is. What else might be on that rocket?
Ella:
Well, clearly a meatball and a worm.
Tom Scott:
Yep. Yep.
SFX:
(Caroline and Ella laugh)
Tom Scott:
If I tell you that the four parts of the worm are letters of the alphabet...
Tom Lum:
My hint was gonna be: you will see this on a Space Shuttle, but you will also possibly see this at Hot Topic.
Tom Scott:
Yeah.
Tom Lum:
The meatball and the worm.
Tom Scott:
Yeah, you will. In fact, I'm willing to bet that you'll see it somewhere in the background of one of your books, libraries, things behind you. Chances are, it's somewhere back there.
Caroline:
What?
Ella:
It's... It's something that... It's like a pictograph, something represented.
Tom Scott:
Yep. Of the US space program.
Caroline:
Oh my— oh! So the NASA symbol is...
Tom Scott:
Yes, Caroline.
Caroline:
'Cause it's round and blue, it's...
Tom Scott:
That is the meatball.
Caroline:
Oh! Okay.
Tom Scott:
The NASA logo that you know with the round blue ball, the stars, the— this kind of arrow going through it, that's the meatball.
Caroline:
Y'all are weird for calling it that. Just putting it out there.
Tom Lum:
(laughs uproariously)
Caroline:
(laughs)
Tom Scott:
Now the question is, what's the worm?
Ella:
So the worm is NASA and... if you're saying it's four letters?
Tom Scott:
Yeah. Have you ever seen the old NASA logo, before the meatball, from the '70s and '80s?
Ella:
As we've litigated many times, we're all very young and fresh, Tom Scott.
Caroline:
Such babies. Yeah.
Tom Scott:
(chuckles) The old NASA logo with the, just, N-A-S-A using a single line for each letter, which I think you will have seen there.
Caroline:
We have, yeah.
Tom Scott:
In archive pictures. That is the worm.
Caroline:
Oh!
Tom Scott:
And the blue ball is called the meatball.
Caroline:
Wow!
Ella:
Well, that's really interesting. I can't say we actually figured that one out, to be honest.
Caroline:
Hey, I got the NASA logo.
Ella:
Well, well done Caroline.
Caroline:
Thanks.
Tom Scott:
And Tom Lum knew it immediately.
Tom Lum:
Ding.
Tom Scott:
Caroline, we will go to you for the next question.
Caroline:
This question has been sent in by Mike Sylvia. Fiona is watching a group of tourists trying to open something. She has been trained to listen out for the phrase 'cheese and laser'. Why? I'll say that one more time. Fiona is watching a group of tourists try to open something. She has been trained to listen out for the phrase 'cheese and laser'. Why?
Ella:
I know this one.
Tom Lum:
I feel like I've heard 'cheese and laser'.
Tom Scott:
Alright, so this time...
Caroline:
Interesting.
Tom Scott:
it's Ella sitting out. It's on...
Caroline:
Yeah.
Tom Scott:
Oh no. It's on me and you. It's on the Toms.
Tom Lum:
Hey everyone, welcome to the Tom and Tom Show,
SFX:
(Tom Scott and Caroline laugh)
Tom Lum:
where we take on these problems.
Tom Scott:
Okay. My first thought is Disney. Cheese and laser and tourists makes me think of Disney World and Mickey Mouse and Fantasia. And I dunno why tourists would be opening something. But my first thought is there is some kind of special effect, and 'cheese' is the code name for Mickey Mouse coming out to celebrate something.
Tom Lum:
Laser is int— My thought was... 'cause la— it made me think of... (chuckles) the accent reset phrase of 'rise up lights'. So I was like—
Tom Scott:
The what?!
Tom Lum:
That's how you get into an Australian accent.
Ella:
Okay, first of all—
Tom Lum:
You say "razor blades". You say "rise up lights".
Tom Scott:
Really?
Ella:
That's a terrible one.
Tom Lum:
(laughs uproariously)
Ella:
I just go, "Naeh!"
Caroline:
Naur!
Tom Scott:
(laughs)
Tom Lum:
so I was like, Cho cheese and Laser.
Ella:
Oh, like 'beer can'.
Tom Lum:
I was like, is there a—
Ella:
Yeah, 'beer can' for 'bacon'. Jamaican 'bacon'. 'Beer can'.
Tom Lum:
Cheese and lai-sah.
Ella:
You not heard that one?
Tom Scott:
I've definitely heard that one. I'm just scared to use it.
SFX:
(Tom Lum and Caroline laugh)
Tom Lum:
Cheese an' lai-sah.
Caroline:
You're...
Tom Lum:
Chees-n-lai-sah.
Caroline:
kind of along the right... Actually you're really along the right lines there, Tom Lum.
Tom Lum:
Is it specifically Australian, I wond— So is it— it's one of those phra— Oh. Oh, wait, wait, wait.
Tom Scott:
Is it a mispronunciation or something like that? It's really easy to hear that phrase because it sounds like something in a different language. They're not saying 'cheese and laser', but to English ears... that's what it sounds like.
Caroline:
Yeah.
Tom Scott:
Okay.
Caroline:
You're really along the right lines there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's exactly it.
Tom Scott:
So just to be clear, not Mickey Mouse?
Caroline:
No.
Tom Scott:
Okay.
Caroline:
I really enjoyed listening to you talking about that idea so passionately, but no.
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom Lum:
Can we deduce the phrase, or is it in a different language that we don't know?
Caroline:
I'll say it's in a different language.
Tom Scott:
Okay.
Tom Lum:
Okay, okay. So a different— so it's not even an accent thing.
Tom Scott:
I'm not gonna try and work through every language to figure out what 'chez un laser'.
Ella:
Oh, I like that you went French with it though.
Tom Scott:
I did, I'm glad you got what accent I was attempting there. That's less risky, that one.
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Tom Lum:
So can you—
Caroline:
There was half a second of silence where it was just like, "Oh? Oh?"
Tom Lum:
What's the first part of this thing? It's when they try to open something?
Caroline:
Fiona is watching a group of tourists trying to open something.
Tom Lum:
Watching a group of tourists try to open something.
Tom Scott:
I'm still stuck on Disney parks and things like that. There's some kind of hidden door, hidden— like when you do this thing... you have to... And it's not an escape room 'cause you don't get tourists. Well, you get a few tourists for escape rooms, but not many. It's something that has to be manually triggered because they've done a thing.
Caroline:
Are you sure?
Tom Lum:
I saw Caroline's eyes fleet for a brief moment, so I'll quickly say my joke, which is that I thought this was a pull the sword from the stone situation.
Tom Scott:
That's what I was thinking, yeah. Something that's manually triggered. You— They have to do a thing... Like the sword in the stone gag at few of the... I don't know which parks this is, but it's remote triggered.
Tom Lum:
So it is Disney!
Tom Scott:
There's someone watching it. And...
Tom Lum:
Oh, and they do a—
Tom Scott:
So if an adult goes up and tries to pull it, nothing moves. But if a kid goes up... it might move a bit for them.
Tom Lum:
That's great. But it's a pickle jar.
Tom Scott:
Yeah. Yeah.
Caroline:
You are actually... Your thinking is so incredibly close, but you've gone down Disney again, rather than the thing that you did say. You did say something in there, which is spot on.
Tom Lum:
Was it escape room?
Caroline:
It was escape room, yeah.
Tom Scott:
Okay.
Caroline:
Do you wanna put the pieces, the final pieces together on that one?
Tom Scott:
Okay. Cheese and laser.
Tom Lum:
Watching the people, are they the... behind the scenes person?
Caroline:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh-huh.
Tom Lum:
At the escape room. And they're waiting to hear 'cheese and lase—' They hear...
Tom Scott:
They have to say the magic words out loud.
Caroline:
Magic words are almost making it too complicated. When you're thinking about an escape room, what might you be— I mean... I mean, I guess it kind of is a magic word.
Tom Lum:
Please?
Caroline:
No.
SFX:
(both laughing)
Caroline:
What else might— What might you be trying to open in an escape room?
Tom Scott:
The door to the exit.
Caroline:
The door to the exit. Yeah, the lock, absolutely. So what sort of thing might you need, to be able to open the lock?
Tom Lum:
Is it a code?
Tom Scott:
A key?
Caroline:
Yeah. No, you're absolutely right. It's a code. That is basically exactly it. They're listening for the code number in another language.
Tom Scott:
Oh!
Tom Lum:
Ohh!
Ella:
Chi-son-lei-zher. Something like that, right?
Tom Lum:
I forgot about the language for a second, and I was like, how— you put the cheese in the laser, and it opens up the lock. It's like in Indiana Jones, when you hold up the thing to the sunlight, but it's a cheese in the laser.
Tom Scott:
And when someone yells that number, you know, in a few seconds' time... the door's gonna be open, and you need to be there to rescue the people who are now out in the corridor.
Caroline:
Well, not even necessarily that, 'cause... what's a game master, therefore, other than just to let people out at the end of it, when you are watching an escape room happening.
Tom Lum:
Ahh.
Caroline:
You're... Sometimes technical issues happen, and they've gotta keep an ear out first.
Tom Lum:
Oh! So it's like, if it goofs up, this is the manual... If people are repeating the code because they're frustrated, you have to say—
Caroline:
Yeah, this is exactly it. You're exactly right, Tom. She's listening out for that code word. And if the door doesn't open... she then has to do something. She then has to go and open it for them, basically. So yeah, Fiona would be the game master, in an escape room. And occasionally people from other countries would turn up. 'Cheese and laser', or 'Qī-sān-liù-sì', specifically would be around Chinese.
Tom Lum:
Wow!
Caroline:
So it's a good approximation for Mandarin. For these Mandarin words for non-Mandarin speakers to listen out for, basically. And actually this story is based on a real room that Mike's company runs. So this is a real world experience thing that's happened as well.
Tom Lum:
Wow.
Tom Scott:
And now, you know the exit code, if you understand the...
Caroline:
Uh-huh.
Tom Scott:
untonal...
Tom Lum:
Speedrun!
Tom Scott:
Chinese syllables there, that...
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom Lum:
Just gonna go to any escape room. Just being like, "Hey guys, watch this trick. Cheese and laser."
Caroline:
Yeah. (laughs)
Ella:
All the doors open.
Caroline:
So yeah, you're all absolutely right. Fiona would've been listening out for the code, in another language. That language being in Mandarin.
Tom Scott:
Thank you to Aurélia Duchamp for sending in this question. For years, the citizens of Levallois-Perret, in the suburbs of Paris, found it impossible to use a road leading out of the city. This was despite the road being in good condition and not obstructed in any way. Why? I'll say that again. For years, the citizens of Levallois-Perret, in the suburbs of Paris, found it impossible to use a road leading out of the city. This was despite the road being in good condition and not obstructed in any way. Why?
Caroline:
I spent so much of my time there being really impressed with your French words that I wasn't fully paying attention to some of the question there, so...
Tom Scott:
Thank you for hiding the fact that was take three. It's appreciated.
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Tom Lum:
That's because Tom said his accent phrase, 'cheese and laser'. That's why.
SFX:
(Tom Scott and Caroline laugh)
Tom Scott:
Chez un le trois, yeah.
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Ella:
Not obstructed, good working condition.
Tom Lum:
It's a road out of the city. My first thought is there's some video game reason. They haven't unlocked that area yet. That's why.
Caroline:
(chuckles)
Tom Lum:
Classic reasons you can't cross a road yet. There's a Snorlax there. Other reasons. So, did you say a year? I don't know if that'll be relevant for years or not.
Tom Scott:
For years.
Caroline:
Oh?
Tom Lum:
Four years. Okay.
Tom Scott:
No, not four years. For years.
Tom Lum:
For years, yeah.
Ella:
(laughs)
Caroline:
(giggles deeply)
Ella:
Is it... Maybe it's superstition about using the road. Or, yeah, some kind of rule. There's a law that they can't use the road. The mayor has decreed it. It's a private road?
Tom Lum:
Yeah, what would have changed is the thing, after many years, that would allow them to use... My other first thought was the road just loops back around. It's not— It's perfectly fine. It's just badly designed or something. It just doesn't go anywhere.
Caroline:
(laughs) Was there a broken traffic light that had a red light there for years?
Ella:
And no one bothered even trying to go through the light.
Caroline:
Yeah!
Tom Lum:
Ah yeah, that's...
SFX:
(Tom Lum and Caroline laugh)
Tom Lum:
They're so polite. They were just like—
Caroline:
(laughs) Oh man.
Tom Lum:
Is this a road that... there's a technology that hasn't been invented yet? 'Cause I know there's a great story that I think you covered, Tom, about an elevator shaft that was built before the elevator or something like that. There was a famous story about the— a building in Cooper Union that had... that my dad tells me all the time about a circular elevator shaft that they thought— 'cause they thought elevators were gonna be circular, and then... when they were rectangular...
Caroline:
Ah, yeah.
Tom Lum:
it was a really tiny elevator inside the circle. So I'm wondering, is this a road for... I was thinking... some electric or mechanical vehicle that can't travel, because it—
Ella:
That's such...
Caroline:
Oh wow!
Tom Scott:
It's a lovely answer, and it's completely wrong.
Caroline:
Aww.
Tom Lum:
Okay. (laughs)
Tom Scott:
The closest we've had, I think, was Ella talking about some mayoral decrees. It's not that close, but it was— you were able to walk down this road with no problems.
Ella:
You just can't drive down it, or...
Tom Scott:
You just can't drive down it.
Ella:
You can— Can you cycle a bike? Does that make a difference?
Tom Scott:
I don't think so. No.
Caroline:
Oh?
Tom Lum:
This is anti to what I just said, but I would love, truly love, if the answer was that cars weren't invented yet.
Ella:
Yeah.
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom Lum:
That was the reason you couldn't drive down. I would've loved that answer.
Ella:
You also said bikes can't go down it. So it's something to do with wheeled things not being allowed down it then, I assume. Can you push a buggy down it?
Caroline:
I was just thinking that. Yeah.
Tom Scott:
Yeah, you'd be able to do that.
Caroline:
Okay.
Tom Lum:
Is it a speed issue? Is it just super windy and scary maybe?
Tom Scott:
In the suburbs of Paris?
Caroline:
(chuckles deeply)
Tom Lum:
The windy city.
Ella:
And it's wide enough for a buggy, but not... It's not width.
Tom Scott:
It's a normal road. It leads to another nearby town.
Ella:
I mean, the only thing I think is just that it's, just... you're not allowed to.
Tom Scott:
Yeah.
SFX:
(Tom Lum and Ella laugh)
Tom Scott:
Yes. There's a bit more to it than that.
Tom Lum:
Yeah, so—
Ella:
Nah, that's fine!
SFX:
(guests laugh heartily)
Ella:
Well, lemme have it.
Caroline:
Listen up!
Tom Lum:
What's a—
Caroline:
Is it used by someone? Is it being used for military purposes, and therefore, the public can't go on it?
Tom Scott:
But then you wouldn't be able to walk on it. The city council here were trying to solve a problem.
Caroline:
Was it always super congested? And therefore, they were like, "Well, to fix the congestion problem, we're just gonna ban drivers on there"?
Tom Scott:
(hesitates silently)
Caroline:
And— oh?
Tom Scott:
They didn't want to ban drivers. Quite the opposite actually. They just wanted to make a little bit of a change. They were trying to solve a problem. So was the other town.
Ella:
Oh, they didn't want— The towns didn't want people from the other town coming in. So you said you can leave, but you can't— no one can enter, or something like that, on this road, on car.
Caroline:
Oh.
Ella:
Or something.
Tom Scott:
Now you're getting very close. How would you—
Tom Lum:
Oh, wow.
Tom Scott:
How would you make that happen? If you were a road traffic engineer... You wanna make that happen. What signs do you put up?
Tom Lum:
Like One Way or...
Ella:
Oh, there's a One Way sign on each...
Caroline:
(guffaws)
Ella:
But to block the other direction on each side? In each town?
Tom Scott:
Yes. Both towns complained the road acted as a bottleneck to other roads in their jurisdiction. So they wanted traffic diverted the other way. So what happens next?
Tom Lum:
Oh, did they both put up a One Way sign?
Caroline:
Yeah.
Ella:
That's what I said!
Tom Lum:
From both ends? No, but from both ends.
Ella:
That's what I said!
Tom Lum:
Oh, sorry!
Tom Scott:
And the thing is... And the reason I've not said yes is that's not the sign they put up.
Ella:
Surely they didn't just put a No Entry sign up.
Tom Scott:
Both towns put a No Entry sign. Becuase as far as they were concerned, it's one way the other way.
Ella:
They just never communicated with each other.
Caroline:
(laughs)
Tom Lum:
And they never— Wow!
Caroline:
Wow!
Tom Lum:
That's great!
Tom Scott:
This has now been fixed. Levallois were the ones who kept their sign.
Caroline:
Oh, good on them. Yeah, yeah. Fought the fight.
Tom Lum:
I'm sorry for missing your answer, Ella. I was just so delighted in coming out and hearing it for myself in my own brain. I was like, "Wait a second!" I'm so sorry.
Tom Scott:
Ella, your question.
Ella:
This question has been sent in by Florence Bourgeois. How has an addiction for American savoury snacks helped to save thousands of lives indirectly? I'll say that again. How has an addiction for American savoury snacks helped to save thousands of lives indirectly?
Caroline:
(sighs) Indirectly. Because my first brain goes to salt having iodine, and therefore reducing malnutrition and things like that. But it's an indirect thing, so it's not. Okay.
Tom Lum:
I was gonna say, 'cause as an American, if it was the... I'll just say. The answer is savory Life Savers, which were invented. They're meat flavored Life Savers.
Tom Scott:
What's a Life Saver?
Ella:
It's a Polo.
Tom Scott:
Oh.
Tom Lum:
It's a little... It's like a mint. Savoury Polos?
Caroline:
What?
Tom Lum:
Yeah, no, that's the joke.
Caroline:
Ugh!
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom Scott:
I know I'm the only American here. But that was a joke about Americans. Right. Life Savers. Saving lives. Sav—
Tom Lum:
Yeah.
Tom Scott:
Got it. That took a while to—
Tom Lum:
(wheezes)
Tom Scott:
It's a really good gag. Just slow in the brain today. Just slow in the brain.
Ella:
It's a good gag for a good chunk of the audience.
SFX:
(Tom Scott and Caroline laugh)
Tom Lum:
I like your... iodine answer, Caroline. I wonder if it is...
Caroline:
Yeah, was it... Is it a malnutrition thing? Did it? Nah, okay.
Ella:
No, it's not.
Caroline:
Is it something to do with the packaging?
Ella:
Yes, Caroline.
Caroline:
Ooh.
Tom Lum:
Oh my gosh. What?
Caroline:
Did it have something written on it that... could be like... good life saving? But it was inadvertently. It was indirectly. So it wouldn't necessarily have been deliberate writing.
Tom Lum:
My thought was in the same way that it's like, oh, the Bible in your pocket blocks a bullet. It's a Lay's potato chip bag.
SFX:
(others laughing)
Tom Lum:
That's why they're so full of air! It's for your safety! It acts like an air cushion when you land.
SFX:
(Tom Lum and Caroline laugh)
Tom Scott:
Oh. But if you're talking American savoury snacks, then Pringles. Pringles – it was you talking about packaging—
Tom Lum:
What?
Tom Scott:
Pringles tubes. It's gotta be something to do with Pringles tubes. Surely.
Tom Lum:
Wait. Why does it? Why, Tom?
Tom Scott:
Because I'm— Because this is me looking into the question writer's head and going, American savoury snacks and the word 'addiction'. The slogan that...
Tom Lum:
"You pop one, you just can't stop" or something like that.
Tom Scott:
Yeah, that's— It's gotta be Pringles tubes, but I don't know what you would do with Pringles tubes to save lives?
Caroline:
Because my other thought was if it was a plastic packaging of some sort, and it was specifically targeted at hikers or something, could they then use it to transport water?
Tom Lum:
Oh my god. Great answer.
Caroline:
Or something like that?
Ella:
That's not— It's Pringles tubes.
Caroline:
Oh, okay.
Ella:
(laughs)
Tom Lum:
How did you— What?
Tom Scott:
Because American savoury snack and addiction.
Ella:
Yeah, that's a good shout.
Tom Scott:
Some connection lit up in my head.
Caroline:
Fun. Was it people getting their hands stuck in Pringles tubes going to the hospital?
Tom Lum:
(laughs)
Caroline:
And then the hospital staff being like, "Oh, whilst you're here, we also found... cancer." You're not gonna die anymore.
Ella:
That's so, so funny.
Tom Lum:
That's such a wild idea.
Caroline:
(laughs heartily)
Ella:
I mean—
Tom Lum:
That's why we designed it. To save you all!
Ella:
It's not that. It's not that. But the way people put their hands into the tube actually is important here.
Caroline:
I'm so upset about that.
SFX:
(Tom Scott and Caroline laugh)
Caroline:
That that helped.
Tom Lum:
Oh, is there some... Is there... Would there be some... The— If the— If you can or can't fit your hand in, in, it's like a test.
Caroline:
Ohh?
Tom Lum:
Of some...
Tom Scott:
It's a test of how big your hand is.
Caroline:
(laughs) Yeah.
Tom Lum:
Yeah, or something. I'm trying to think. Some... hyper mobility thing in your hand, or something like that, that you need to get checked up on or...
Ella:
No, no, not quite.
Tom Scott:
Here's an off-the-wall one. You can use Pringles tubes as makeshift antennas. You can do Wi-Fi extension by some kind of hook... I do not possess the electrical engineering knowledge. I've just seen the words 'can-tenna' around.
Caroline:
Nice. Brilliant. I love that.
Tom Scott:
And Pringles tubes can act as really directional Wi-Fi antennas. Yes, I'm gesturing like I'm holding a gun and a Pringles tube here.
Tom Lum:
It's just a Wi-Fi antenna.
Ella:
It's just a Pringle Wi-Fi antenna. It's not a gun. No.
SFX:
(Tom Lum and Caroline blurt laugh)
Tom Lum:
No, I swear it's a Pringle Wi-Fi antenna!
Tom Scott:
Maybe that could save lives, because they're like cheap antennas for communication somewhere. Something like that.
Ella:
I love it, Tom. I love it. But no, it's— The 'indirectly' in the question is important here. The tube itself is not saving lives.
Tom Scott:
Wi-Fi's indirect!
Ella:
No, the tube is not being involved ...in the thing. How you—
Caroline:
What's that? People putting their hand into the tube made them realise something about their own health.
Ella:
No, no, no, no.
Caroline:
No? Okay.
Tom Lum:
Is it because they're... it's hard to reach the bottom ones, and it's an unhealthy snack. Therefore, you're having... less of it, and it's saving your life?
Ella:
You went too far. You went too far. You got there, and you went too far. It is hard to reach the bottom ones.
Tom Scott:
If you can't get the bottom Pringles out, you're way too drunk to drive.
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Ella:
I think before then, probably.
Tom Lum:
It's a sobriety test!
Ella:
No. So the... you know, thinking about— Think about how your hand enters that tube. And...
Tom Lum:
Uh-huh.
Ella:
You know, do the action. Let's all do the action. The Pringle tube action. Listeners, do the Pringle tube action.
Tom Lum:
Everybody do the Pringle tube!
Ella:
Yeah.
Tom Lum:
(wheezes)
Ella:
You kind of narrow your hand, and you slip... your whole kind of arm into the tube, right?
Tom Lum:
Yeah.
Caroline:
Uh-huh.
Tom Scott:
Like helping a cow give birth.
Ella:
You're not so far off.
Tom Lum:
I'm sorry, what?! What?!
Caroline:
Oh! Okay. Okay. 'Cause my brain was going to those sorts of places, and then I thought, that can't be it.
Tom Lum:
Are they saving human lives?
Ella:
Yeah.
Tom Lum:
I was gonna say, is it saving cow lives?
Ella:
It's not saving cow lives.
Tom Lum:
What?
Tom Scott:
Is this... This is not like doctors training...
Tom Lum:
No!
Tom Scott:
No!
Ella:
Sorry, my face can't stop itself. What?
Tom Lum:
Is it?
Ella:
Training for what?
Caroline:
For helping to give... Not helping to give birth?
Tom Scott:
To assist birth?
Tom Lum:
To deliver babies?
Ella:
Yes. That's it. That's it.
Caroline:
What?!
Tom Lum:
What?!
Tom Scott:
What?!
Ella:
The Pringle manoeuvre, or Pringle hand...
Tom Lum:
No!
Tom Scott:
No!
Caroline:
Pringle manoeuvre. Okay.
Ella:
Or Pringle hand is taught to midwives. It's a technique used by doctors or midwives.
Tom Lum:
What?
Tom Scott:
I'm sorry, 'Pringlehand'? One word?
Ella:
The Pringle— No, no, it's two words.
Tom Lum:
Everybody do the Pringle hand!
Tom Scott:
Good evening. This is Jeremy Pringlehand reporting live.
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Ella:
So sometimes—
Tom Lum:
I'm Nurse Pringlehand. I'm gonna be helping with your baby.
Caroline:
(laughs)
Ella:
Well, she would be. Or he, let's not get gendered about it.
SFX:
(group laughing)
Ella:
So... Sometimes when a baby's born—
Tom Lum:
Any gender can stick their hand in the Pringle tube!
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Ella:
Exactly! Sometimes when a baby is born,
SFX:
(laughter continues)
Ella:
the baby's head... I'm— This is—
Caroline:
(laughs chirpily)
Tom Lum:
We've derailed. Please explain the answer. I'm genuinely, I'm so curious.
Tom Scott:
Ohh wow.
Ella:
Okay, everyone take a breath. Sometimes when a baby is born, the head comes out, but the uppermost shoulder gets stuck against the mother's pubic bone.
Tom Lum:
Oh?
Ella:
So the Pringle manoeuvre is a way to move the posterior arm. The doctor inserts a hand into the birth canal, and the hand is scrunched up as if, you know, you're reaching for the last Pringle in the tube, and then the baby can be rotated into a better position to be pulled out.
Tom Scott:
Wow!
Tom Lum:
Oh my god! That's amazing!
Ella:
It Is amazing!
Caroline:
It's really cool. And all I could focus on was how serious everyone went whilst you were explaining it. And how much I wanted to laugh during that.
SFX:
(guests laugh heartily)
Ella:
There's a lot of hand action in that explanation as well.
Tom Scott:
There was. There was.
Caroline:
(laughs heartily)
Tom Lum:
That's a real Mr. Miyagi moment. The nurses were like, why are we— why are you making me pull 100 Pringles from the bottom? It's like, you'll see. You'll see.
Ella:
So actually the person who said the question is a final-year midwifery student, and they're taught this problem is a relatively common emergency. So it gets really drummed into them that they have to do this.
Caroline:
Ah.
Tom Scott:
Thank you for realising during your studies that that was a really good Lateral question.
Tom Lum:
Exactly, exactly, yeah.
Tom Scott:
Thank you to Richard Sanderson for this next question. When football teams play at the Estádio Milton Corrêa in Macapá, northern Brazil, it's sometimes said that both sides are playing for the honour of something much bigger than their team. How? I'll say that again. When football teams play at the Estádio Milton Corrêa in Macapá, northern Brazil, it sometimes said that both sides are playing for the honour of something much bigger than their team. How? I have butchered the pronunciation of the Brazilian town in there. Doubtless the emphasis is some other way on that.
Caroline:
Does it matter who the opposing team is in this one?
Ella:
So what's bigger than their team? Their town? Their town name is perhaps particularly important? Although we wouldn't know 'cause Tom butchered it.
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Tom Scott:
It might be Mac-a-pa, Ma-cap-ah. It's an M, a C, and a P, and there's some vowels between them. And I apologise to the entire nation of Brazil.
Caroline:
(laughs)
Ella:
Yeah, as you should.
Tom Lum:
Is the giant statue of... Jesus Christ in Brazil, is that the one?
Tom Scott:
That's in Rio.
Ella:
Yeah.
Tom Lum:
Okay.
Tom Scott:
That is, I don't think, northern Brazil.
Tom Lum:
Okay 'cause I was like, that's a big honor. That's a literally bigger—
Caroline:
If you can kick the ball over it, that's the big honour that you get.
SFX:
(group laughing)
Ella:
What bigger— What's a bigger honour than your town when you're playing for a... playing a game? A match?
Tom Lum:
Being on Lateral. Can I get a hint for that?
Caroline:
(chuckles)
Ella:
When you're playing football, it's bigger... Okay. It's football. You said football, right?
Tom Scott:
Yes, football teams. So, soccer for the Americans.
Ella:
Brazilians really love football. I don't know.
Tom Lum:
Is something like, is something on the line? And also I wonder if this is a small local team, so this is sort of like they're playing for something or if this is like a bigger league that...
Caroline:
Yeah, or if...
Tom Lum:
there's some prize.
Caroline:
If somebody, sometimes... Somebody sometimes comes to watch, and therefore, it's an honour to almost perform in front of them?
Tom Scott:
There's something very special about the stadium.
Caroline:
Ooh.
Ella:
Oh, the stadium is where somebody special is buried, and they... Their last request was to be buried in that stadium and then for that team to win every single time. Otherwise, it goes against their last wishes.
Caroline:
Wow, could you imagine?
Ella:
There's a— I live in Cardiff. And the stadium, out— just outside the entrance of the stadium, there is a graveyard where they bury fans, like lifelong fans.
Caroline:
Wow.
Tom Scott:
Wow.
Caroline:
That is, whoa! (laughs) That's kinda morbid, but kinda cool.
Tom Lum:
Kinda cool.
Ella:
Yeah, exactly. So, but so not that though?
Tom Scott:
No, not that.
Tom Lum:
I'm like, is it a f— I'm just thinking weird places a football field could be. I'm like, on an aircraft carrier, and they have to do something. But how's it... What was the phrase one more time? I'm so sorry. An honor bigger than their team?
Tom Scott:
The honour of something much bigger than their team. And yes, that word order is important.
Tom Lum:
Honor of something much bigger. I'm wondering if bigger is metaphorical or—
Ella:
Well, the stadium is much bigger. So they're playing for the honour of their stadium.
Tom Lum:
Presumably than the team.
Tom Scott:
That stadium's location was chosen deliberately.
Caroline:
Interesting.
Tom Lum:
Is it something... if we knew about the geography of Brazil, or locations in it, that we could deduce this? or is this something—
Tom Scott:
Yes, and you don't really need to know much about Brazil for this.
Ella:
The Amazon is in Brazil. But that's not as northly, is it? That's more... further down.
Tom Lum:
Is it near the equator? Is that a thing?
Ella:
Is it on the equator?
Tom Lum:
Is it on— And then on are opposite sides of the field... on opposite sides of the equator?
SFX:
(Ella and Caroline clamour)
Tom Lum:
And— okay. Playing for something bigger than their team – the Earth or their hemisphere?
Tom Scott:
Correct!
SFX:
(Ella and Caroline cheer)
Tom Scott:
Spot on!
Tom Lum:
It's a hemisphere duel!
Tom Scott:
Yes. Each team is playing "for" a different hemisphere of Earth. This was originally—
Caroline:
Oh, that so good!
Ella:
That's so cool.
Tom Lum:
That's metal. That's so cool.
Tom Scott:
This was originally completed in 1990 as the Estádio Ayrton Senna. It is known colloquially as the Zerão, because the halfway line of the pitch was designed to line up exactly with the Earth's equator.
Tom Lum:
Great name too, man.
Tom Scott:
Yep. So when the teams play, they are each effectively defending one hemisphere of the Earth.
Caroline:
Oh, so cool!
Tom Lum:
That's so wild!
Ella:
Of course, halfway through a football game, you switch sides.
Caroline:
Yeah.
Tom Scott:
Yes you do. Yes, yes.
SFX:
(guests laugh uproariously)
Ella:
So you get to defend both sides of the equator.
Tom Scott:
You do, yes.
Tom Lum:
Well, no. And then momentarily, the magnetic field switches.
SFX:
(group laughing)
Caroline:
Of course, of course.
Tom Lum:
Yeah, they time it and—
Ella:
Every time they have a game, when you feel a weird spinning, like, "Whoa, what's happening?" That's why.
Tom Lum:
That's the game. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. All the compasses spinning around, it's like, "Oh, it must be halftime." (laughs)
Tom Scott:
Tom Lum, it is over to you.
Tom Lum:
This question has been sent in by Jean. In the 1984 computer game Karateka, players may find that starting the game a specific way caused the graphics to glitch. When calling tech support, users were gleefully told to reload the game after doing something that was both logical and illogical. What was the glitch, and what was the solution? I'll read that again.
Ella:
Licking— no.
Tom Lum:
(laughs uproariously)
Caroline:
(laughs)
Tom Lum:
No, I'll read it again, and we can all simmer on that answer while I read this. In the 1984 computer game Karateka, players may find that starting the game a specific way caused the graphics to glitch. When calling tech support, users were gleefully told to reload the game after doing something that was both logical and illogical. What was the glitch, and what was the solution?
Tom Scott:
Is it licking?
Ella:
Licking—
Caroline:
(belly laughs)
Tom Lum:
Oh, I haven't heard that.
Ella:
I was gonna say licking the CD. Because we've had a question like this before, where you could make the CD skip by...
Tom Lum:
Yes.
Ella:
licking it, right?
Caroline:
Uh-huh.
Ella:
So—
Tom Lum:
I don't think that would fix the— I believe— I remember that was for a speedrunning thing to make the game slow down and stuff. Tom, I'm just stuck on the fact— in the way that you're quiz bowl stealing an answer from someone that buzzed early. But you— But it was licking. You're like, oh, I can't wait to say it!
You fool, you buzzed in. It's the right answer, but you buzzed in too early.
Tom Scott:
Also, this is 1984.
Tom Lum:
Yeah.
Caroline:
Good point.
Tom Scott:
This is not gonna be CDs. This is gonna be a cartridge or something like that.
Ella:
Very good point.
Tom Lum:
That's a good thought.
Tom Scott:
But it's also the days when you're... if you're doing games at home in '84, it's either gonna be some very old personal computer, or it's gonna be one of the really early consoles. Either way, there's a lot of weird hardware stuff going on here.
Ella:
I'm guessing it's not just turning it off and on again, so.
Caroline:
Yeah, or blowing on the cartridge and putting it back in again.
Ella:
I've never heard of this game either.
Caroline:
No.
Tom Scott:
Neither have I.
Ella:
Is that important to the glitch?
Tom Lum:
No, I don't believe so. I think it's one of those sidescrolling beat 'em up games, I believe. Very pixely. But yeah, I don't believe that'll help you.
Caroline:
Interesting.
Tom Scott:
I do like the word gleefully in the question.
Caroline:
Yeah!
Tom Scott:
People called for tech support, and it's like, this is a joke, this is a prank. This is some— This is the developers saying they're clever.
Tom Lum:
You are— The 'gleefully' is very accurate to the type of thing that's happening here.
Ella:
I guess if you're— So, okay, let's think of the era then again.
Tom Scott:
'84.
Ella:
I think the type of thing... I think the type of thing it's using would make the most sense here. Because if you have to do— You obviously have to do something physical here. So either you're doing something to the computer it's on or the thing that it's uploaded on.
Caroline:
And it's not changing the date on the console or something like that. We've had that before.
Tom Scott:
There were all sorts of weird copy protection stuff back then, because... things weren't always online. Piracy was easier. So sometimes, the manual of the game would contain additional instructions. There was a... It was a game I remember having where every single time you went in, you would have to go to the manual, and it would give you a little puzzle or a code or something like that. You would have to look up the answer in the manual and respond. So yes, you could also pirate the manual. It's just a photocopied sheet.
Tom Lum:
(chuckles)
Tom Scott:
But that's a bigger deal than just putting a file somewhere and copying just a disc.
Tom Lum:
You wouldn't download a game manual.
SFX:
(group chuckling)
Tom Lum:
You guys are really circling on... the era of technology and the gleefulness. I know, Ella and Caroline, you mentioned something about turning it off and back on again, right? It's... Yeah, oh, you guys are— You guys— I think you guys will get it.
Tom Scott:
Was this a piracy measure? Because it could be that if the game was pirated... it did something wrong or different. And thus, they were being told, "Go buy the game, you cheapskate!"
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Tom Lum:
No, no, this, would happen with genuine copies. And if you bought it properly. It wasn't a piracy measure.
Caroline:
And is it something like if you were playing the game as intended, it wouldn't happen? Or could this happen to any player?
Tom Lum:
It's a little bit of both. This 'glitch' could happen to a normal person, but if you were doing it 'properly', It shouldn't happen.
Caroline:
Interesting.
Tom Scott:
It's not piracy. It's trying to skip forward. It is...
Tom Lum:
It is purely gleefulness. It is purely...
Ella:
Or is it something that the developers have put into the game as a joke, and then so they— you can do the thing
Tom Lum:
Yes.
Ella:
that they say and then... And then it 'fixes' it. But it's actually just for fun.
Tom Lum:
Yes.
Tom Scott:
It's some form of Easter egg or something like that.
Caroline:
Ooh.
Tom Lum:
Yeah, I would more classify this as an Easter egg. Although what it causes, users would think is a glitch. But it is more like a prank than it is a... It's to delight the customer service folks on the line trying to help people out.
Caroline:
Ah!
Ella:
And do all of the games start like this? This game is... If it's a deliberate glitch?
Tom Lum:
This was a deliberate glitch for this game. I think, Tom, you might have a better insight into some of the oddities of tech of that era. You mentioned sort of what was this played on, whether it was a console or PC.
Tom Scott:
Yeah. '84, it's gonna be a very early NES. Or it might be a home PC like one of the early Amigas or Amstrad.
Ella:
A floppy disk?
Tom Lum:
Interesting.
Caroline:
Oh?
Tom Lum:
I mean, yes. I dunno why—
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom Lum:
It feels better if I say, "Hmm" rather than saying, "You're on the money."
Tom Scott:
Okay, 1994 is too early for the 3½-inch disks. This would be like a 5¼-inch literal floppy disk with a bit of wobble to it, I think in '84.
Caroline:
So was the solution to wobble it?
Ella:
(laughs) That would be so fun!
Tom Lum:
Like the pencil illusion.
Caroline:
(laughs) Yeah!
Tom Lum:
I will say—
Ella:
Yeah, like the screen, it turns on, and it's wobbly. And then as they say, wobble it and on...
Tom Lum:
So Ella, you are spot on. It is a floppy disk. I think... Tom might know the specifics of... Because I don't know if all floppy disks had this functionality, but I believe... But this was a thing you did with the floppy disk.
Tom Scott:
Okay, right. This is time— It is time for the non-Gen Z person in this call to remember floppy disk.
Ella:
I'm millennial!
Tom Scott:
If it's a 5¼-inch floppy disk, the old school ones, then... technically you could turn it upside down. But that would be—
Tom Lum:
Sure could.
Caroline:
Oh?
Ella:
What would that do to it though?
Tom Lum:
What would that do to it?
Tom Scott:
There were double-sided floppy disks.
Ella:
Oh?
Caroline:
(gasps)
Ella:
Oh my god!
Caroline:
So would—
Ella:
Okay, wait, I've got an idea. The glitch is that it's... On one side, they have the game upside down. On the other side, they have the game the right way up. And they tell you just turn the disk the other way 'round. And so you put it in and you get the right way up.
Tom Lum:
That's exactly it.
Ella:
That's cute.
Caroline:
No way!
Tom Scott:
That's lovely.
Tom Lum:
So wild that they were like, "We have some space on the back. What could we do? Hmm..."
SFX:
(Tom Lum and Caroline laugh)
Tom Lum:
Yes, so the glitch is that the game was upside down. The solution was to turn the floppy disk over to side B. The developers of the game discovered that they were able to make the graphics turn upside down by changing a data table. And that gave them the idea to put a second copy of the game, just upside down.
Ella:
That's so fun.
Tom Lum:
So that they could give this joke and this note, which is so great.
Tom Scott:
Because the label's only on one side of the disc. You would have to make a mistake. You would have to put it in the wrong way up. No one would do that deliberately unless they knew about the glitch. At which point, your game is upside down.
SFX:
(Caroline and Ella laugh)
Tom Lum:
I cannot—
Tom Scott:
So good!
Tom Lum:
What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall for people being like, "Turn off" and go, "Oh, okay. That worked." "Wait, what?"
Tom Scott:
Yeah.
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Tom Lum:
So the developers of the game discovered that they were able to make the graphics turn upside down by changing a data table, which gave them an idea to put a second copy of the game on side B of the floppy disc. And if any player loaded this version by accident, the game's graphics would appear upside down. And so occasionally, a tech support rep would have the joy of telling puzzled users, "Oh, you inserted the game upside down. Just please turn the floppy disc over and reload the game."
Caroline:
Ohh!
Ella:
So fun. So good.
Tom Lum:
And the game was created by Jordan Mechner of Prince of Persia fame.
Tom Scott:
Which brings me to the question from the very top of the show. Thank you to Harry Niall Levinson for sending this in. What is the only food that humans regularly eat that isn't produced by a living organism? Anyone want to take a quick shot at that before I tell the audience?
Tom Lum:
Is it salt? Is that a food?
Tom Scott:
It is salt. Spot on. Yes.
Tom Lum:
That's just a little science fact.
Tom Scott:
It is.
Caroline:
Yay!
Tom Scott:
I remember some child in... I must have been... year two or year three at school, really young, and the teacher saying that everything we eat goes back to living plants and then goes back to sunlight, everything. And some kid going, "What about salt?"
Tom Lum:
And that kid: Albert Einstein.
SFX:
(group laughs heartily)
Tom Lum:
And everyone clapped.
Caroline:
(laughs)
Tom Scott:
Thank you very much to all three of our players. Ella Hubber, where are y'all from?
Ella:
We're from Let's Learn Everything, a science and miscellaneous podcast. We talk about everything, everything.
Tom Scott:
Things like, Tom Lum?
Tom Lum:
Well, we talk about some silly things occasionally. We just had a big bonus episode, where we did a game show where we each hosted a game show, including a friend of this podcast, Sabrina Cruz, joining us. And also Tom Scott for a guest surprise question.
Tom Scott:
Very brief question.
Tom Lum:
Very brief, but so funny. So funny.
Tom Scott:
And where can people find you, Caroline Roper?
Caroline:
Anywhere that you can listen to podcasts. You can also find more details about all of us at letslearneverything.com.
Tom Scott:
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. There are regular video highlights at youtube.com/lateralcast and full video episodes on Spotify. (inhales deeply)
Ella:
Woah!
Tom Scott:
Thank you very much to Caroline Roper!
Caroline:
Oh, I'm out of breath just watching that.
Tom Scott:
Tom Lum!
Tom Lum:
I'm gonna hold my breath until the next episode. (inhales)
Tom Scott:
And Ella Hubber.
Ella:
Bye bye.
Tom Scott:
I've been Tom Scott, and that's been Lateral.
Caroline:
(laughs heartily)
Tom Lum:
(vocal frys)
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