Lateral with Tom Scott - 110: A very 'odd' race

Episode Date: November 15, 2024

Ella Hubber, Caroline Roper and Tom Lum from 'Let's Learn Everything!' face questions about concealed clocks, unique units and sneaky shoplifting. BOOK OUT NOW: https://www.lateralcast.com/book LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wonderful answers, hosted by Tom Scott. For business enquiries, contestant appearances or question submissions, visit https://lateralcast.com. 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: Nate, Joseph Gallear, Adam Matthews, Sam Walsh, Matthew, Martijn Pennings, Chris Shenton, Ólafur Waage, Chopin, Katie Waning, Ondrej. FORMAT: Pad 26 Limited/Labyrinth Games Ltd. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: David Bodycombe and Tom Scott. © Pad 26 Limited (https://www.pad26.com) / Labyrinth Games Ltd. 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a Fizz member, you can look forward to free data, big savings on plans, and having your unused data roll over to the following month, every month. At Fizz, you always get more for your money. Terms and conditions for our different programs and policies apply. Details at fizz.ca What used to be measured in kilo girl hours? The answer to that at the end of the show. My name's Tom Scott and and this is LATTRAL. [♪ Music playing. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme song. LATTRAL theme The Wi-Fi password is outside the box 123, but feel free to invent your own if you don't like ours. Please note that the oven only runs on non-sequiturs,

and the bathroom is equipped with a quantum toilet that may or may not flush depending on whether you observe it. And the bed in the loft is actually a thought experiment, so you can sleep on that. Here to load up the dishwasher and put the garbage out, please, we have the team from Let's Learn Everything. Welcome back to the show. You are favorites of our listeners.

It is wonderful to see you all back. Let's introduce yourselves one at a time. Ella Hubber, how are you doing? I'm so good. I'm so happy to be back, always. We've never left. That's actually vaguely worrying, to be honest. It should be. Help us.

We do make sure all our guests get thorough enrichment exercises, and I'm away from this, the recording. What has Let's Learn Everything been learning recently? We recently have just learnt why aunts, Queen aunts don't have babies with their offspring. And we learnt this from Hank Green, who came and joined us to teach us a lovely little incest story, so... Insect incest.

Insect incest. It's gonna sound weird if I say that's on-brand for Hank, but it is kind of on-brand for Hank. Yeah, it really is. Caroline Roper, the... I don't want to put you in order, but it is kind of on brand for Hank. It's fair. Yeah, it really is. Caroline Roper, the... I don't want to put you in order, but I'm going to say the second, in terms of introduction to this podcast, chronologically the second third of Let's Learn Everything.

How are you doing? I'm doing good. Actually, I will take this ranking of Ella, Dr. Ella at the top, me in the middle, and then the funny one-ish kind of at the bottom. This feels good to me. I thought this was going to be in, like, degrees, and I was like, and then the funny one-ish kind of at the bottom. This feels good to me, you know? I thought this was going to be in, like, degrees, and I was like, that's fair, Caroline, just have a master's, I'm happy to just stay with my undergrad. But then you went for the low blow.

I went for it, I'm sorry. We did have two PhDs on the show a while back, and I introduced both of them as doctor, because that was in their briefing. And, Kelsby, should I be introducing Dr. Ella Hubba here? I would say, if you don't want to offend me, like you have been doing for the past few years. LAUGHTER Oh, part of me has taken that as a joke,

and part of me is having the most socially awkward feeling I've had in a long while, because just some bit of my brain believes that. Well I feel like, Ella, it does, it's great to set a lower expectation for our quality on this show and how well we'll do also. That's the thing. I really don't want people to think I'm going to come in and do this well. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. Well also please welcome the third third of Let's Learn Everything, and now from his own YouTube channel as well, Tom Loh. Oh yeah! Hello! Smash that subscribe button!

What have you made on there so far? Because I remember linking to your first video in my newsletter. Yeah, I did a big old video about carbon dating and that whole process, and I recently just dropped a Patreon bonus video going through everything on this bookshelf that is behind me. But yeah, doing that YouTube thing. Well, very best of luck to all three of you. It is always a joy to have you on the show. As you settle in to the accommodation here, let's hope you give a five-star review to Question One. Ha ha ha ha.

Thank you to previous lateral contestant, Olof Vorge, for this question. Since he began in 2010, Daniel could justifiably claim to be the most photographed person of all time. How? And one more time, since he began in 2010, Daniel could justifiably claim to be the most photographed person of all time. How? Oh, I love... I know, Ella, I think recently you said this, you're like, the best kind of correct is technically correct. And I'm so, I feel like this is going to be a real like, well, actually I'm the most photographed. You said since he began, and then gave absolutely no context in that statement.

And then, yes Tom, give us nothing! Since he began existing? Yeah, since he began. I do appreciate that I've just been called out in the manner of a drag queen who's just doing a really bad job. Thank you for that. Yeah, thanks for that. Yeah.

I feel like modelling is a really obvious one when it comes to, I feel like that's too on the nose, you know, but it just, it felt like since you began being photographed, it's an obvious one that I should say because I'm sure people in the comments would be like, why didn't you say modeling? So people in the comments will say, I knew this immediately because that's what they say. Yeah. I love when let's learn everything is on. Yeah. Okay.

Ella, I do love the idea that that begin means, yeah, is born. Like when someone's like, when did you begin? It's like, oh, you know, 1990. Is this like a stunt or like a. Oh, I was going to say, is this a living, real person? Or is this person in the... That's a fair question. Yeah.

It's always a fair question on lateral, but in this case, yes, an actual living identifiable person. Okay, so I feel like we need to figure out what he began. Since he began... I'll tell you what, if you solve that, you've got the whole question. The most photographed person. What, under what circumstances would you be excessively photographed? If you were a celebrity, obviously they're not famous enough. Daniel Day-Lewis.

A model like Caroline said. But I don't... Yeah. Because my brain goes just like, you know, Like the thing with a model or like an advertising thing is that that's almost more like your photo is redistributed Versus like being photographed right and so my brain for like gets taken photographs of a lot is like a tourist attraction right so that's why it's like if if Daniel was like the nickname for like the Leaning Tower of Pisa or something like that

like if Daniel was the nickname for the Leaning Tower of Pisa or something like that. But like... And also, my brain goes to... I like that the Leaning Tower of Pisa has a nickname like that. Yeah, Daniel. It's officially the Leaning Tower of Pisa. What do the locals call it? Dan. Do you want to go see Dan? I'll say I've got Dan still leaning.

When did Dan begin? Oh, 2010, so I'd leaning. 2010. That's also true, yeah. Is it... So, I think the fact it's 2010 kind of makes me think that it's like some kind of technology started at this time that needed someone to be really excessively photographed to make it work, like some kind of 3D mapping of someone, for example. I'm also wondering if this is even Daniel's face or if this is a different part of Daniel's body that might have been photographed, like a hand model or something like that.

Yeah, you know. Well, this is what I'm thinking. I'm thinking, is there some kind of, is it like, Oh boy, that got me. Well, this is what I'm thinking. I'm thinking, is there some kind of... Is it like... Also, is photographed photographed in the traditional sense, or is it some kind of imaging, like, in a scientific sense? You're getting big nods from Tom Bear, which is...

Imaging is perhaps too technical a term, but if you're expecting this to be one photographer going click click click click with a shutter button You'd be disappointed. Okay part of me was like this person has taken the most x-rays. They've taken a million I'm just thinking changed the shutter speed. It's like some kind of medical changed the shutter speed. Is this like some kind of medical photography thing that you know? No, it's not. Caroline, you just said shutter speed. Oh my God, is it Dan of the Slow Mo Guys? Yes, it is, Tom. You are absolutely right.

No, that was 100% Caroline. That's so good. Oh, we do know this Dan. Oh my goodness. Wow. That's so good. Oh, we do know this Dan! Oh my goodness, wow!

For the audience who don't know this Dan, Tom, who is this Dan? Dan is one of the duo of the Slow Mo Guys, the duo with Gavin, who they take slow motion video of various things and they've done a bunch of wonderful videos and because the shutter speed on those is like, you know, like a million pictures or something like that, a second or something like that. Like they, and I know they like, like a two second video can take like a whole like terabyte because they're just taking that many pictures. Wow.

And Dan did famously begin in 2010 existence. Since they began. And Dan did famously begin in 2010 existence. So... Oh, since they began... The sort of grammatically elided bit there is since he began being photographed for this project. Yes, yeah. Oh, that's amazing! Yeah, and he could be captured, photographed, however you want to say it, up to 1.5 million frames per second. I thought my 1 million guess was way off. That is so much. Wow.

Yeah. So even if you're someone who's got a camera pointed at you 24x7, there's probably still more frames been taken of Dan over the many, many, many slow-mo shots of all the footage that doesn't make it to air. Wow. Yes, this is Dan from the Slow Mo Guys, the duo of Gavin and Dan, who have been posting slow-motion videos since 2010. I can't believe Dan was actually a hint. Just to be clear, why is it Dan and not Gav? Why is it not the other one of the Slow Mo Guys?

Because Gavin's the one who operates the camera, I believe. Yes, Gavin is usually behind the camera, and Dan is usually having something fired at his face, or falling into a swimming pool, or these days because he used to be in the army working with munitions, firing the gun. He is often the one who has the qualifications to be able to do the stuff, and also is willing to take a football to the face. We go over to our guests for the first question.

We'll start today with Tom. Wonderful. This question has been sent in by Chris Shenton. Chester, an English city south of Liverpool, has a famous square clock tower on its town hall. However, only three of the four sides have clocks. According to a local legend, what explanation is given for this? I'll say that again. Chester, an English city south of Liverpool, has a famous square

clock tower on its town hall. However, only three of the four sides have clocks. According to a local legend, what explanation is given for this? I've been to Chester. I've been to Chester. I've been to Chester Zoo. Yeah, me too. Really nice zoo. Don't remember the three-sided clock. Nope. No, no, not particularly. Didn't get a shirt that was like, I saw three sides of the clock and all I got was this.

Does it matter what way, I mean, you maybe can't answer this, but does it matter what way the side of the face is not facing, the blank face? I'd say so. Okay. Now I just need to know what side it is. Ha ha ha ha. What do I know about Chester? It's got city walls.

And in a sentence that I am deliberately using in order to annoy everyone in and around Chester, feels like a lower-rent York. Oh, ah, ouch. Sorry, I'm loyal to one side of the Pennines and it shows. Here's what my initial thought was. Chester is on the border of Wales, so they decided not to have the clock face on the side of Wales so that the Welsh couldn't learn to tell the clock face on the side of Wales

so that the Welsh couldn't learn to tell the time. I was thinking to not help the Welsh invaders or to not allow the people who were not paying for their clock to see the time. Oh, that's very... Oh, that's good. But then you said there are walls, there are city walls. So I was thinking, is there a city entrance? And maybe you don't put the clock on the side that people can potentially get through any invader, Welsh or otherwise, so that the invaders can't tell the time.

I do love the idea of putting the wrong time on the face that is facing them. That would be a good strategy. But yes, I think I believe Tom hit, hit both the, the, the, what has happened and the reasoning. I mean, Ella teed me up there to be fair. Chester lies on the border with Wales Wales like you guys caught on. One of the four sides is therefore facing Wales and in theory Welsh residents are close enough to be able to see the tower but local legend has it that Chester didn't want to give the Welsh the time of day because they hadn't contributed to the cost of the class. Oh my

god that is so petty. That's brutal. I just want to say, I live in Wales and I love Wales. I know the Welsh could tell the time, I'm sorry. And while the town hall was opened in 1869, the three clocks were not added until 1979. So this is recent pettiness. Wow. This is not like... Wow, that is petty. I assumed it was ancient pettiness, and it's not.

It's 1970s pettiness. Also, it's not local legend then, is it? Oh yeah, that does make it seem like it is also more ancient than that. Visa and OpenTable are dishing up something new. Get access to primetime dining reservations by adding your Visa Infinite Privilege Card to your OpenTable account. From there, you'll unlock first-come, first-serve spots

at select-top restaurants when booking through OpenTable. Learn more at opentable.ca forward slash Visa Dining. The faster money and data move, the further your business can go to a seamless digital future for Canadians. Let's go faster forward together. In Life, Interact. This next question was sent in by Shopa. Thank you very much. In 1938, Russian air forces enhanced the range of some of their fighter planes by 80% while carrying bombs that were twice as heavy. Yet only small modifications were made to these fighters. How

was this possible? I'll give you that one more time. In 1938, Russian air forces enhanced the range of some of their fighter planes by 80% while carrying bombs that were twice as heavy. Yet only small modifications were made to these fighters. How was this possible? You know how in printers they will often have for their ink cartridges like a limiter after a certain number of pages to like stop them from printing even though there's still ink in there. And now I'm just thinking is there like a limiter in the engine in some way and they were like, oh, if we just like take that out, then it'll just fly for way longer.

What if it's even like stupider than that? It was like the fuel gauge. It said there was, like, it was empty, but actually it was just reading the wrong amount. And so they're like, oh, we can go further. Many years ago, I watched Colin Furze, if you know him, bypass the limiter on a golf cart. And it turns out that the limiter on a golf cart is just like a little thing. It took him two or three minutes. We were building a thing for a show. And he just kind of went, oh yeah, now how to do this. Kind of fiddled with the engine for a while,

and suddenly the thing went twice as fast as it was meant to. This is maybe the most, the least surprising Colin Furze story I've ever heard. It makes perfect sense. Could the bombs have doubled as fuel? It's not that, but I feel like you should work in the ministry of interesting wartime ideas back in the 1930s, when they were just sort of throwing everything out there to see what would work. That's very kind. I want you to know the humility as I walked into that so slowly, being like, I don't want to ruin this episode by getting this question. I want you to know the humility as I walked into that so slowly being like,

I don't want to ruin this episode by getting this question. I want you to know how much I was like, is this okay? Should I run this by producer David to see if it's okay to say this answer that quickly? Because it's completely wrong. Sorry. If this is an actual technology thing, I have nothing. But if it's like some kind of Ridiculous work around we can get there Part of me was like you have extra mass because of the the mass of the bombs

Therefore like when you launch off of like a ramp or a roller coaster, you'll you'll get extra a roller coaster Yeah, you know you you the mask I on going down and then you launch from that. Also, pardon me, I know something about how like, you know, if you go high enough in the jet stream that like certain factors don't matter as much. And also maybe then on the way down, you go faster because you're descending with more mass, and therefore actually you can go farther physics. That might work over short distances, but this is extending the range, like the entire range of the fighters.

Yeah, and I assume by range you mean like distance it can travel? Yep. Okay. Was it fewer fewer bombs but they increased the size of them? I don't know if there's some trick in the wording there. Or even the opposite way around if it was like more bombs but lighter so that they would drop them quicker and therefore it was lighter in the long run. Oh yeah like they're lighter on the way back after they drop them? It was certainly very different on the way back.

Oh boy. The most ominous answer for that. The fuel efficiency was far, far better at the start of the journey though. They put in pedals so you can charge the... It's like a Flintstones car. You could run along the ground with the plane. I thought you were doing like a chicken run vibe of like they pedal and then it flaps. That's what I thought. Is it wheels? Did they add wheels to the plane? Before there were no wheels so it couldn't take off properly or land properly or...

It's safe to say that while the fighters themselves weren't really modified, there is something quite big going on here. Did they create really big catapults that flung them into the air so that they didn't have to use fuel to take off and therefore their fuel efficiency was better? No, but you're along the right lines. Oh, wow. There is definitely some help being received here.

They pushed, they just pushed the plane to save the fuel at the start. How would you push a plane? Very hard. Difficultly? Difficultly. They pulled the plane to get the speed up with a, with a, uh, that wouldn't give you 80%.

Yeah. 80% is a ton. It's a lot. That's, that's, that's almost so much that it feels like there's like has to be, yeah, it has to be, it's more of a trick than it is like an actual like improvement. Maybe I'm wrong here though. So they doubled the mass of the bombs on the plane and improved it 80% and on the word turn...

So you're not using a catapult, you're not using a slingshot or anything like that, you're using something that can go a lot further than that. Another plane? Another plane. What? Talk me through how that might work. No. I just said those words. I did.

Ah, yes, yes. And then, of course, every word I say I think through carefully. So just give me a second to organize my plan schematics. What, like one really big plane that had... A plane that carries the second plane. Yes, Caroline, you've nailed it. Oh! This was what they called Parasite Aircraft.

Oh! Love that. I'm back on board. So this is a Tupolev heavy bomber loaded with up to five fighter craft attached to it. No! Why am I still talking about fuel efficiency here? Why do we just not phrase this as, oh, they took the planes out and launched them from there?

Because it includes the fuel of the big plane as well, right? So it's the fuel efficiency of all of them together, rather than individual journeys? Yes. I feel like you're picturing they fly the planes there, and then they kind of just spool the engines up and go. That is what I'm picturing. Are all of the engines on? All of the engines are on.

The engines of the smaller planes are on? Yes. That's why the efficiency was so great. They have locked all these together to make one weird, like, mighty morphin' power rangers. Giant, colossal plane with up to six engines and six propellers, all working in tandem and then when they get near to the destination they can disconnect the fighters and send them off.

I'm picturing those, is it the crocodiles that have like the birds on them but then the birds are also flapping to help make the crocodiles run faster. Oh my gosh! And the other reason they do that is because the same kind of way that cyclists will work together as a pack and help each other with fuel efficiency, the planes in that close proximity also boost each other and together they work better. Wow! So yes, this was the parasite aircraft system that the Russian Air Force invented in the 1930s. To moderate success, it wasn't one of these things that just completely vanished, they in the 1930s to moderate success. It wasn't one of these things that just completely vanished.

They actually did have some success with it, where the small fighter planes were attached to a heavy bomber for the journey out. Caroline, over to you for the next question. Lovely. This question was sent in by Martin Pennings. 40 people are given a piece of paper with a large number on it. Half a day later, some of them will run back with about 10 more pieces of paper bearing the same number. They repeat this up to four more times. What's happening? And why are the numbers always odd? And once more, 40 people are given a piece of paper with a large number on it.

Half a day later, some of them will run back with about 10 more pieces of paper, bearing the same number. They repeat this up to four more times. What's happening, and why are the numbers always odd? My first… well, okay, I'll be honest. My first guess was it was a giant check because it was a big piece of paper with a number on it. Oh, nice. Yeah. I don't think so.

My second guess for a piece of paper with a number on it is of course like marathon runners. And that also then makes sense for the running part of it. I mean, it sounds like a scavenger hunt, but I feel like that can be... Yeah, I was thinking some kind of treasure hunt or game. Oh, all of you are weirdly close right off the bat. Okay, okay. Yeah, part of me was like, is this like, you know, is this like one of those questions where it's just like a funny way of describing a real thing?

Or is this just like a literal way of describing something very strange? And so it could, it seems like it might be the latter. Half a day later. Is it like a kind of a competition, an athletic something, like a triathlon? Do you change? It's not a triathlon. And actually, Tom, Tom Lum, you were super, super close with something like a marathon. There's plenty of like like, ultra long-distance trail running things. Yeah, there are.

Where it's really, really long distances. We're talking, like, past marathon distances. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That is pretty spot on. The up to four more times is interesting, Caroline. So it's like an optional up to four more times. Or you're proving how many times you've done the course. It is something to do with how many times you might have done the trail. A trail you've done multiple times. Is this competitive trail running, which we covered on

the World Games, which is a sport that is covered there. I don't remember it being featured on the World Games, no. Yeah, we might not have mentioned it. I researched it, but it was also not there. I don't think it's part of the World Games, no. Actually, based on what I read, it's held in the same place each year. Why have they run back paper and why are the numbers odd? I have a thing in my head about some bizarre endurance race in the US. It's some kind of game of tag.

Like, you're catching other players because you're coming back with more paper, so you're taking paper off other people. Ella, that's a really wonderful thought. And it's wrong. Oh, come on. It was good. It was good. You're killing the people and getting the paper off.

Are these actual just like pieces of paper with numbers, or is this like a dollar bill or something like that? Is there some trick in that? And also, is this like regional to a specific something like that? Is there some trick in that? And also, is this like regional to a specific place that maybe makes this make more sense? Like is there like some famous mountain or some like famous track that you run around? No, no, it's nothing quite like that. The numbers are always odd because they're one and five dollar bills.

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. They're just going out and hunting for money. They're just robbing people. Is the great pickpocketing games. Yes. Oh, that'd be great. World games, add that. Pickpocketing next year's little games. What other pieces of paper have numbers on them? Or are numbered? Pages of a book.

Oh, yes, they are. Is it pages of the Bible? Is this some kind of… No, but it's… You are spot on that they are looking for pages of a book. Could this be like Da Vinci code related? Like it's like a themed thing where you have to go around the city to find pages of a book in a thing?

Wait, but pages have an odd number on one side and an even number on one side. Yeah, they do. They absolutely do, and that's key as to why these people are going to go and look for them. Oh. And go back to what you thought about with marathon runners at the beginning. It's just a marathon running with a book open in front of you. It's one of those things like chess boxing, where you have to do the marathon and then answer questions on the book that you prepared.

About crime and punishment, yeah. Is it a relay? It's just a relay? So you are collecting to prove... No, it's not a relay. That was a good word. Prove. Oh. Okay, you're proving something. Okay. Huh?

You're proving your theoretical theorem. The proof that they have been to the remote places, to the points on this trail that they have to tag in order to prove they've gone all round there. A really cheap way to do that would be to just put a book at each one of those. And if you get there first, you take the first page. And if you get there second, you take the next page.

And then that proves the order in which everyone... You're so, so incredibly close. You're so incredibly close. You're so, so close! That was really good, wow. But the 40 people with the large numbers, they're runners, right? They've got numbers pinned on them? They do have numbers pinned on them, yes. And that's just for their race number, to identify them, right?

Is it? Oh, okay. Okay, you're so close, you've got a number, to identify them, right? Is it? Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. You're so close, you've got a number pinned to them, and then numbers in a book. They need to bring back the number in the book that corresponds to the number on there. That's exactly it, yeah.

Absolutely. And that's why they have to be old, because you can't have a runner with an even number in there. Because then you could take their page instead, because they're attached to the same page. Absolutely. Yep. Oh. A sigh of relief, everyone. So if you're wearing number three, you take page three.

Yeah, that's exactly it. And four. So you can't have four because then someone else would have taken it. Yep, so this is because they are running a race and they're tearing pages out of the book as proof that they have run the whole way around. So this was a race established in 1986. This is called the Berkeley Marathons,

which is an ultra marathon held in Tennessee. It challenges competitors to complete five loops of a 20 mile off trail course. So total of a hundred miles or 160 kilometers. Uh, and they have to do it within 60 hours as well. So it's not just that you have to complete it. You have to complete it in 60 hours. This thing is grueling and a lot of people don't complete it. So to prevent cheating. So as proof that Ella said, books are hidden at various points on the map.

Yeah, there you go. So the bibs are always odd numbers to prevent any confusion since for example, if you tore out page 57, you're also removing page 58. So you would complete a loop and then actually you get given a new bib number and do the loop again so that you pull back a different page after you've done your second loop. You get a new number on your third loop. That's actually, that's some- It's clever, right? That's some really clever cryptography. That is, because also part of me was like, why don't you just have a person stay there? And then you said how long it took. And I was like, I would not. Oh my God. Yeah. I would not have a person stationed there. That's

really clever actually. Would you like a little fun fact at the end for you as well? Would love that, Caroline. Ah, thanks. So in 2024, Jasmine Paris became the first woman to complete the race. She had 99 seconds left to spare. And out of the 40 people who started this race, only five people actually completed it in 2024, Paris being one of them. Wow. So yeah, that's the reason. There are people competing in the Berkeley Marathons that require

people to rip pages out of books. The page number matches the number on their bib in order to prove that they're not cheating the race. This question was sent in by Katie Wanning. Andrei also sent in the same idea. One evening in 1985, many Czechoslovakian families argued about whether to turn on a lamp now or wait for 30 more seconds. Why? And one more time. One evening in 1985, many Czechoslovakian families argued about whether to turn on a lamp now or wait for 30 seconds. Why? My first thought is...

This... this... Oh, never mind. I guess it didn't happen. Sorry. It was sort of a thought line, though. It happens to all of us. Um, like, the power grid switches to some thing and it's like if you start earlier at this time you get like grandfathered into like a lower rate or something like that. My second thought was like a New Year's thing, you know. My thought was Christmas. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Some, some holiday in which the threshold of the 30 seconds. But it was only in one specific year. It's not something that everybody's arguing about

every single year. So there was something particular about this year. Yeah. Yeah. I'm thinking something like, so this reminds me, it's making you think of TV pickup in the UK, you know, during the like nineties, late 90s, early noughties, when everyone would go and during the advertisement breaks or half time of a football game, go and turn on their kettles and it would overload the kind of energy system. So if that, maybe there was some kind of like really big football match on in Czechoslovakia, or some kind of world event happening, and if they turned on their lamps, then it would turn off their TVs or something

because it was overloading the power grid if everyone was having their lights on at the same time. Keep thinking along those lines. TV pickups aren't much of a thing in the UK anymore, because obviously streaming and there's a hundred thousand channels. But yeah, there still is a person, as far as I know, in the National Grid Control Centre, whose job it is to call up the BBC and check when programs will be ending, and just prepare, you know. Or to watch the football match to see if it goes into overtime,

and if it does, just change the plans for when the power plant's going off. Ugh. What a fun job. Could this be a... Could this be a way to signal a vote through the power grid output? Oh. Stay with me. It's American Idol, and you want to vote for one of two contestants, and so you turn on the power grid, you check because this is before cell phones. You check if the power grid spikes during this time or during a different time and you vote based on the time at which you turn the lamp on.

Yeah, it's your, but it's Eurovision. It very well could be knowing Eurovision. Although I'm, I don't think Eurovision had public voting at this time. It would have been the juries back then, but Tom, you've basically nailed it. What? Are you kidding me? Absolutely right. Yes.

This was a TV sitcom called, and I'm translating here, The Troubles of Chef Zwartupluk. What might have been going on that required all this shenanigans? It was like a wedding ceremony or something, and it was like, the bride is going to say I do or run off, and you have to cast your vote. Yeah. Exactly right. It was interactive stories. I mean, it wasn't necessarily the wedding. I can't tell you exactly what the plot was. But there were forking plot branches in this sitcom,

and the audience could vote for them by waiting to turn on or off their lights at the right time. Oh my god! That's so clever! That's such an amazing thing to do. That's lovely. Producers asked the audience to turn off all unnecessary electronic devices, and then the head of the Czechoslovak State Energy Dispatch was tasked with monitoring the country's energy consumption and would make the call of whether to go or not go on various plot devices. That's so cool. I love the idea that these days Game of Thrones going to the National Energy Department

be like, hey, we have this idea, this is what we can't really quickly... That's so clever. That's so... I got there because I was like, what would families argue about? I was like, it wouldn't be this! There was one other similar thing they did during a different episode, which involved a TV camera, rather than calling up the energy board. What might they have done?

Could they look out at the city and see how many lights were turned on? Oh! Yep. They pointed the camera at an area of Prague and said, turn your lights on, turn your lights off, we will measure that. Wow! And go whichever way. Beautiful. It was a bit of a gimmick, because both options would and go whichever way. Wow. Beautiful.

It was a bit of a gimmick, because both options would eventually resolve to the same storyline. Oh! Annoying. Can we use the power grid for a thing that will eventually not matter at all? Yeah, this is such a... Oh, that's so great. Yes, this is Czechoslovakian TV in 1985, who asked the audience to turn on or off their lights en masse to vote on which way the show would go. Ella, it is over to you for the next question.

Okie dokie. Wish I hadn't said okie dokie. It was a weird way of introducing things, but you know what? That's dating in. Ugh! This... It was a weird way of introducing things, but you know what, that's dating in. This question has been sent in by Joseph Gallier, Adam Matthews, Sam Walsh and Matthew. Big group. At an ASDA supercentre in Cheshire, England, goods such as DVDs were being stolen by customers

without the staff's knowledge, with no chance of triggering the security alarm. In 2015, which item was reshelved elsewhere in the store to make the crime harder to commit? I'll read that one more time. At an Asda Supercentre in Cheshire, England, goods such as DVDs were being stolen by customers without the staff's knowledge with no chance of triggering the security alarm. In 2015, which item was reshelled elsewhere in the store to make the crime harder to commit? So I can translate Asda Supercenter as Walmart Supercenter for North America. It is, I think, the same parent company. Oh, really? Just a giant big box store.

They were taking DVDs without them being triggered. Part of me was just like... Because it's like those things on the side of the door. Part of me is like you just hold it up above and you just go through. But what about DVDs? So these get set off by specific antennas, like little RFID things, like credit cards, like stuff like that, that get put onto products that might get stolen.

I have a lateral thought, if you will. Could this be maybe not the shop? Could this be like one of those like red box, like that's an American thing, but like a dispenser, like a vending machine of DVDs, basically. And then by changing the location, you like't do a gimmick to the shake or do a trick on the vending machine to steal it? No. This is just a normal, well, super centre, adster shop, and the DVDs are just on a shelf. So they've got to be put in something. There's got to be like a Faraday cage or something

that's nearby that's stopping that antenna being picked up by the big things by the door. There's got to be something that they've got to hide it inside, surely. So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,

so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so — Before the change. — Well, they reshelved the item. So they've got to put whatever this Faraday cage is, they've moved it further away. — A Faraday cage might be thinking a bit too much. — Were they putting it in something else that would also have to be— because you can just swipe it over something, can't you, and it'll like deactivate the system sometimes?

So could you be putting it in, like, I don't know, a pair of trousers that also have a tag on them, and by deactivating the trouser tag... Imagine someone scanning that and then not realising there was a DVD inside of a pair of trousers. Oh, yeah, but like, I don't know why I have an encyclopaedic knowledge of anti-theft devices, Your Honour, but... But I was assuming that it was, like, the antenna tags, because those were... I've had that problem before, but there's also those that get, like, physically clipped on,

that go on clothing, where they have to... where they get unclipped at the checkout by the cashier. It's nothing to do with the type of tag. In fact, let's say it's not leaving the store in the traditional sense through the front doors. Oh! What?! Alright, folks, it's time to put our shoplifting brains in. How else do you get out of a through the roof dig a hole? In a push chair.

Pretend you're pregnant and hide it in your belly. Was it like going in like a food delivery order or something? You could like put it in like a... You guys are coming up with great ideas. You'd be great thieves. None of them are right. Thank you. Another clue I'll give you is this is...

There's a very specific reason I've emphasised that this is a super centre. Oh. Because there's more than just a shop in here, like a normal supermarket. Is there a café as well? Maybe there is, Caroline. That would be nice. It's nothing to do with the café, though. That would be nice. It's nothing to do with the cafe, though. Aw man. Well, they end up with having things like a locksmith's and an optician's and a load of other little shops alongside.

Same as the Walmart has. Yeah, keep going. Yeah, one would be in there. A car dealership and they drive away with... They drive out with the DVDs and the boot. A pharmacy? Yeah. Pharmacy would be good.

Yeah, if they could sneak it into some way to get it out of there that isn't through the front doors, I assume, through something and it's right next to the DVDs. It was. The people stealing the DVDs, they're waiting for the DVDs to come to them. What? What? They leave the store without it. for the DVDs to come to them. What?! What? What? They leave the store without it.

My brain was like, can you bake it into something? And then like… Why are you baking in a supermarket? Okay, let's… Oh, but not baking. What if you just like, put it inside something? That then… Like, an order of flowers that you then get delivered to you or something like that?

Just like a trash can. The word delivered. Something big and cheap. Pizza? That you then... no, no, no. Just a big... you just put a load of DVDs inside a trash can or something, and then you place a click and collect order for the trash can. Or for the delivery order, something like that.

And the employees just bring it out to you. You're like, you're on the right lines. The word delivered is key here. They're putting it into something. It has to... I think another thing here is it's only small things they're stealing, like DVDs. And there's something in the super centre that means that they can... put them out into the world. It's just groceries? It's just groceries.

Stacey It's not groceries. The DVDs were next to something, next to a product. They then used that product and another service in the super center, left the store and waited. What was the product? Stacey That's Sollies? Stacey No, small. Think small. The baskets, a DVD player. You put the DVD in a DVD player.

Oh, I like that. A pet shop? Okay, I'll tell you. I love this answer. I hate it when we're stumped. It's so red. This is heartbreaking. I don't think this has happened to us since we started.

What's the object? No. So in 2015, which item was reshelved elsewhere in the store to make the crime harder to commit? It was evidence. It was evidence. It was evidence. It was evidence. It was evidence.

It was evidence. It was evidence. It was evidence. It was evidence. It was evidence. I don't think this has happened to us since we started. So in 2015, which item was reshelved elsewhere in the store to make the crime harder to commit? It was envelopes. No, no, no. There's a post office in there. There's a post office. No, no. So they were mailing the product in the store to themselves? Exactly.

The thieves were taking DVDs and other small items off the shelves and putting them in envelopes. They took that to the in-store post office, wrote their own address in the envelope, and then walked out the store. They just posted it to themselves. That is so simple. Wow. I am so upset about this. That is so simple. Wow. I am so upset about this.

That's good high stuff. Importantly, the envelopes are taken out of the goods entrance where there's no shoplifting alarms. So you guys kind of did get with that. Oh, okay. And the thefts happened at the Ellesmere Port branch of Asda. Just in case you live near there and you wanted to know, you can't do that anymore, sorry.

It's not known how long. I've already insulted that part of the world once in this episode. I can't do it twice. Well, now we have respect for them for being very clever. So where did they move the DVDs in the shop to? Did they just put them in like eyesight of the post office so that they could see them?

No, they moved the envelopes. Oh! Oh! So it's not known how long the Ingenious scheme had been operating. But if it took us this long to figure it out and we're talking about it, I would imagine for a long time. Yeah. One last thing, then.

At the top of the show, I asked this question that was sent in by Nate. What used to be measured in kilo girl hours? Anyone want to take a shot at that before I give the audience the answer? I know typically women did a lot of computing work and like telephone work for a while. So part of me is like, is that like in the same way you had horsepower, you had how many people working at like the telephone operator line or something like that? I love that because that makes me go, I know there's like, like girl math and girl dinner. Is this just like, it's, it's the weight that I measure myself in. And then I just subtract some and say, oh, that's my kilo-gurp, I'm kilo-gurps, you know?

And also, of course, girl power is measured in the number of Spice Girls. No, um... Oh, no, you got that. You want that one. You've basically got it. It is computational processing power. Oh, actually! Wow! Back before electronic computers were common, a computer was usually a woman, usually young, and so if you...

A person who computes. Yeah. Oh, it makes sense. So it's like horsepower. You start with the... Yep. ...who's operating it. Yes, a kilo girl hour was the amount of computation

that 1,000 women could perform in one hour. There's something gently misogynistic about it, but I can't figure out why. Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think you've just really understated the entire mid-20th century. These whiffs of misogyny. Thank you very much to all of our players. Let's talk about the podcast What You've Got Going On. We will start today with Caroline.

The fun thing is that we often don't know what we've got going on because we all bring things to the table that we don't know what each other are going to bring, which is part of the joy of the show. So yeah, we simply don't know. Ella, what is the show and where can people find it? The show is Let's Learn Everything, where we learn, as the name suggests, everything and anything interesting. And you can find it anywhere you get podcasts. And Tom, what else are you working on at the minute? I'm working on a video. Oh, you know what? I'll say it now so that hopefully when this

comes out, I'll have motivation to finish it up. Working on a video on why we keep rediscovering water on Mars and what that says about science communication and how we learn. Yeah, which was also a topic on the podcast we've covered. So we can, you can, you can hear it both there and you can watch it. That's all that stuff. Baby. Just repurposing the podcast for your YouTube. Where can people find you, Tom? You forgot to drop the name and the link. Tom Lum.com or just Tom Lum. I got, got good SEO, baby. When I was born, my parents were like, this kid's going to have great SEO.

And if you want to know more about this show, you can do that at LateralCast.com. We are at LateralCast basically everywhere. And there are regular video highlights at YouTube.com slash LateralCast. Thank you very much to Tom Lum, Ella Hubber, Caroline Roper, I've been Tom Scott and that's been Lattriff.