Lateral with Tom Scott - 9: The purple seats mystery

Episode Date: December 9, 2022

Corry Will, Luke Cutforth and Jade Tan-Holmes face questions about mysterious medicines, calamitous currency and dodgy dealings. 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://www.lateralcast.com. HOST: Tom Scott. QUESTION PRODUCER: David Bodycombe. RECORDED AT & EDITED BY: The Podcast Studios, Dublin. EDITOR: Julie Hassett. MUSIC: Karl-Ola Kjellholm ('Private Detective'/'Agrumes', courtesy of epidemicsound.com). ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS: Josh Halbur, Ben Justice, Lewis Tough, Arun Uttamchandani, Eglė Vaškevičiūtė. FORMAT: Pad 26 Limited/Labyrinth Games Ltd. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: David Bodycombe and Tom Scott. © Pad 26 Limited (https://www.pad26.com) / Labyrinth Games Ltd. 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

maple syrup we love you but canada is way more it's poutine mixed with kimchi maple syrup on halo halo montreal style bagels eaten in brandon manitoba here we take the best from one side of the world and mix it with the other and you can shop that whole world right here in our aisles find it all here with more ways to save at Real Canadian Superstore. Why did the comedian Leslie Hope change his name to Bob Hope? The answer to that at the end of the show. My name is Tom Scott and this is Lateral. Joining us for Lateral this time are a trio the likes of which haven't been seen since the three musketeers or maybe huey dewey and louie i'm not sure we have from up and atom jade tam holmes

hi great to be here from the sci-guys podcast cory will hello and also from the sci-guys podcast luke cutforth hello nothing is predictable with the questions in this game we're going to be Hello. And also from the Sci Guys podcast, Luke Cutforth. Hello. Nothing is predictable with the questions in this game. We're going to be throwing our panellists onto the trampolines of logic and seeing which way they bounce. These scripts are getting increasingly bizarre as time goes on, and I'm kind of here for it. We start with a question from me, as usual, which is... In 1985, it was reported that some flocks of sheep in the town of Blanalfastiniog in Wales

had been quarantined. Without that, millions of pounds worth of infrastructure would have become obsolete. What had they done, and how had they done it? I'll give you that one more time. In 1985 it was reported that some flocks of sheep in Blanalfastiniog, Wales, had been quarantined. Without that safety measure, millions of pounds of infrastructure would have become obsolete. What had they done, and how had they done it? The question's phrased like the sheep did something.

Like, what have they done? So I'm thinking the sheep ate something? Ate something poisonous, or? I mean, you're absolutely right. This is on the sheep. This is 100% the sheep ate something ate something poisonous or i mean you're absolutely right this is this is on the sheep this is 100 what can a sheep do i mean not not much i got to film a video about sheep herding a while back and it's not much so the uh the the millions of pounds of infrastructure that's just general like sheep processing equipment, I would imagine. Like shearing equipment, whatever they use to process mutton, that kind of stuff. This is like a really far out there thing. But I'm thinking, okay, what if the sheep ate something that had like all termites in them or something?

And then you know how termites like eat through walls and stuff like that? them or something. And then you know how termites like eat through walls and stuff like that. That's where I'm connecting like destroying infrastructure and how much a sheep is actually capable of doing. Can termites survive the gut bacteria of sheep? Maybe they were like termite eggs. Termites can survive a lot, but Britain doesn't have them. This is a video I didn't get to film. Britain doesn't have them. This is a video I didn't get to film. Britain had them for 25 years in one house, and the government spent 25 years and a lot of money stopping that termite infestation from spreading because we don't have them. They spent an enormous amount, but that was in Devon, not Wales.

Sorry, that's not on my notes, that's just a video I'm annoyed I didn't find out about in time before they got rid of the termites and the house is safe now. Damn. So, is Wales terribly relevant? No, no, not at all. This is just a lovely story for Blan Alfa Stiniog. Yes. Also, I enjoy saying the words Blan Alfa Stiniog.

So... Understandable. Unfortunately, like, there is a lot in there. There is Electric Mountain near Blan Alfa Stiniog. There's a big... Oh, yes. With the big water yeah the dynamo yeah it's reversible hydroelectric plant for pump storage again

nothing to do with that unfortunately uh is that going to norweg uh it's next to blano for stenial oh very cool um so we've gathered that all sheep can do is just eat stuff and kind of be there that's their whole thing okay that's true yeah the causality we've got to all sheep can do is just eat stuff and kind of be there. That's their whole thing. That's true. Yeah, the causality we've got to figure out is a sheep eats something, and that has the potential to make millions of pounds of equipment obsolete. It's not about eating things. It's certainly something a sheep did, but they had to quarantine that flock.

Did a sheep make love to something inappropriate? To infrastructure, that's... Can a sheep make love? Getting philosophical again, Luke. Thus spake the vegan. So maybe the sheep got ill. Maybe, I feel like the sheep getting ill and being quarantined is too too straightforward for this show well but there's a clear there's a clear causality as to how a bunch of sheep getting ill could cause a load of equipment to go obsolete because if

if that entire flock of sheep say there's a few million pounds worth of equipment for like this giant flock of sheep um and if they infected other sheep then that would mean all the sheep have it which would make all of their maybe make all their meat um unusable maybe make all their wool unusable um which would mean that all the equipment that's used to to kill them and take their wool is also then obsolete until they can replace all of the sheep. Yeah, when I say millions of pounds of infrastructure would become obsolete, that is the cost for the whole country. Country. Oh, did they pee in the water or something?

Not for this one. I mean, a lot, presumably. That's kind of what sheep do. Is it maybe something... I feel like quarantined is maybe a red herring here. Maybe they were just cordoned off. Maybe they were blocking some kind of road or railway or something. They had to be prevented from meeting any other flocks of sheep.

To stop them from telling them about how they can block roads, obviously. No. Well, you say that. Oh, I know, I know. Oh, hang on. Wasn't there a thing about sheep, like learning to roll over cattle grids or something along those lines? Yes.

And there are millions of pounds worth of cattle grids. And if those sheep, if any other sheep saw those sheep rolling over cattle grids, then those cattle grids would be obsolete. All cattle grids would be obsolete. You would have to invent a whole new way of keeping sheep in and cars across. Yes, the flock of sheep had learned to roll across the cattle grid to get to places they weren't supposed to be. Wow, that's incredible. Amazing.

And they would have taught that to other sheep so they had to be quarantined to stop the knowledge spreading. The meme. Which increasingly feels like an argument for being vegan. I've got to be honest, Luke, you are. Yeah. Imagine if we just let sheep talk to each other. They're trying

to evolve, and we're not letting them. Yeah. There was another one. I mean, we don't have bonus points here, but 1997, a group of sheep in Hampshire came up with a completely different technique for getting across cattle grids. So other than the rolling,

put yourself in the mind of a sheep, how else might they have done it? Stack on top of each other. Stepping on each individual one surely is the most obvious way. Or getting into a car. Oh, hold on. 1997?

Is that not when Babe came out? Wait, hold wait hold on no this isn't about films this is about real life make friends with a talking pig and then the pig will help you um you said something a moment ago cory oh um oh i said uh stack on top of each other did they do that one cheap leg down on the grid and the others use them as a bridge. Yes. Oh my gosh. Wow, they're so smart. You're kidding. Goodness me. I have to add that this is all reportedly. We've clearly seen the news article how much of this

is farmer's exaggeration and everything, but with two separate instances in the news, something like this has definitely happened I think at least once. Out of interest, Tom, when you say that one sheep laid down and the others walked on top of interest, Tom, when you say that one sheep laid down and the others walked on top of it, is that one incredibly altruistic sheep

or did the sheep sort of select the weakest sheep and sort of shove it onto the cattle grid? I bet they bullied the sheep. Or was it one sheep that got stuck in the cattle grid and all the others were like, there is a bridge here now. Good luck, mate. We're off.

I feel like we should be letting these sheep go free. They're clearly smart enough to figure it out. Let them go. We're stunting their growth. So yes, in 1985, some sheep in Blanifestiniog in Wales were quarantined because they had learned to roll across cattle grids. We go now to one of our guests for a question. We're going to start with Luke this time.

What have you got for us? All right right so away from sheep and onto drugs um hydrocodone is an opioid away from sheep and onto drugs is like yeah the autobiography of a farmer who just went down to London. It all got too much. Away from sheep, onto drugs. Hydrocodone is an opioid that is approximately six times stronger than another common opioid. Who knows their opioids? What is the more common name for hydrocodone? I'm going to guess codeine. Are you?

I'm gonna guess codeine are you? I mean this sounds like I'm in a police interrogation but I don't know much about opioids your honour

me either sure you don't okay I think I might be way off but I know there's a difference between opioids and opiates

and are opioids not the ones that are just chemically similar in terms of shape? Well, a very interesting satellite fact that's nothing to do with the question. As in, that's not going to get you anywhere. That line of questioning will get you nowhere. Sorry, that sounded really rude. That wasn't meant to sound...

I was so shocked and insulted for a moment. Sorry, sorry. I'm pushing you back on the right path with a helpful scoop of rudeness there. My apologies. Now, opioids are definitely... I've heard the phrase

opioid epidemic about the US's problem with that for a long time. So I think the... Are they a much wider class than I thought? Because I thought opioids were just the painkillers that people easily get addicted to, but I'm not sure that's right now. Okay, this is... I'm just throwing this out. It might have something to do with poppy seeds.

Are poppy seeds not... Are they not related? Yeah, if you eat enough poppy seeds, you do test positive on a drug test for opioids. Sounds like an excuse. One you're very used to using, Luke, I'm sure. You're on again. I thought you didn't know much about opioids, Tom.

I don't, but Trace Dominguez did an entire guest video for my channel on this, and he ate a load of poppy seed bagels and poppy seeds and took a test and tested positive. And as a control, also tested negative. Yeah, also tested negative beforehand. So, yeah, that's Hydro's water. Codone is... I don't know. I'm looking at the science people here because it ain't me.

I don't think either of us are chemists. Not a clue. No, I scored the worst in organic chemistry in my whole degree, actually. Luke, could you please rephrase this as a physics question? I'll give you a little nudge here which is that um you're going down the wrong route in terms of um sort of wondering about your knowledge about um about different types of drugs what you want to go down the try going down the route of etymology. Hydro... Hydro, so water. Code.

Water. It's annoying that it's six times stronger because I'm tempted to just answer with hydro code six instead of hydro code one, but that doesn't work this way round. Do you know any other painkillers? Any other opiate painkillers? Is morphine opiate? Opioid?

I think ibuprofen might be? No, ibuprofen's an anti-inflammatory. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory. So codeine is the one that is... And cocodamol, I know as well, but I think that might just be a combination of

things. You're going down the right path there, Tom. Okay. I will say that this is a tough one. The answer, I'd actually never heard, well, I've only ever heard the actual name for this drug in American TV shows. I've never heard it, because I've never had a prescription for this thing,

but I've heard it said in American TV shows, if that helps. Oh, so Americans tend to only use brand names. So they'll say Tylenol and whatnot instead of ibuprofen or paracetamol. So maybe we're looking for a brand name of the drug, right? of the drug right yes um but the brand name is also derivable um from the information i've given you to a certain extent hydrocodone six times stronger okay so it's got to have either hex or hexa or something like that in it or what other what other abbreviations for six is there? That's a great question. You can have sex, surely. I see. I didn't want to say that.

But yeah, that's also a valid abbreviation. Tom, you're going down a fantastic route with the idea of alternative ways to represent the number six. Roman numeral? Oh my God, it's Vicodin. Yes! Could you explain why, Tom? Why? How did you get there? Because Roman numerals for six are VI.

Brilliant. And it's VI-Codin. Oh my. Five times Codin. I'm angry about that question. That's so good. It's brilliant's incredible that's great lateral thinking right there jade's just sitting back in a chair equally frustrated at that that's so that is correct basically um vicodin is is six times stronger than codeine so the brand name vicodin is derived from six times stronger than codeine. So the brand name Vicodin is derived from six times stronger than codeine. This episode is brought to you by Peloton. Spring is a great time to start a new

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Here we go. At 13.557 seconds, a Danish woman holds a particular Guinness World Record for running the 100 metres. She is nearly half a second quicker than the male holder for the same record. What's the record? I'll say that again. At 13.557

seconds, a Danish woman holds a particular Guinness World Record for running a 100 metre race. She is nearly half a second quicker than the male holder for the same record. What is that record? I think that her being a woman and being faster than the man is going to be relevant because usually you'd expect to see men be quicker in these kinds of races. So maybe, and here, I'm just gonna be sexist here. Maybe it's something that women are perhaps more used to doing. This is from 2015. It is 100% traditional stereotype we're running on here.

Was she pushing a pram? Oh, see, the trouble is that what we've set up with this question is a series of stereotypes okay so we need some stereotypes of women anyone maybe it's got something to do with okay so when we think of differences between men and women in culture and stereotypes and whatnot there's there different areas, right? So it could be pushing a pram. It could be wearing different clothes. It could be... Cooking.

Cooking. Like something, frying an omelette or something. Like an egg and spoon race whilst wearing a skirt and carrying a baby. I was thinking egg and spoon... Let's see. Has it got to do with clothing? Yeah, it absolutely has. You're going to ace this question.

You're so nearly there. So it's 13.557 seconds. I don't think it needs to be that precise, but bear in mind, 100 metres for fastest people in the world, you're talking 9 or 10. If I'm right, then this is insane. If I can give it a guess. Did she do it in high heels yes of course

yes wow that is incredible brilliant goodness me wow that was so fast that's actually interesting that the woman still did it better because um i would have thought that that wouldn't have had that big an impact you know we're gonna get some fast drag queens on this that wouldn't have had that big an impact, you know. We're going to get some fast drag queens on this. No, it's true. For a drag race, right? Hey! That's a good name for a TV show, that.

Tom Scott's Drag Race. Now that is a channel I would watch. Oh, yeah. Yeah, this is Maiken Sischlau from Denmark. 13.55 seconds in 2015. Andre Ortolf from Germany set the best male time, 14.02 seconds in 2019. I feel like there's still a lot of improvement to be had there. It's just there aren't many people doing the training for it.

Yeah, so these were people that trained specifically for this race. They weren't like runners that then just put on high heels. I actually don't know. It might be a little bit of both here. I feel like this is going to be a runner. I think it would make a difference. Because if you just took a bunch of runners and put them in high heels and they weren't used to it, like obviously the women would be better.

But if they actually trained for it and the men got used to wearing high heels, you know. That's got to hurt though surely depend i assume that there are all sorts of rules on how high the heels have to be but you're basically constantly running downhill i guess you're gonna have very strong calves and ankles it's actually not as hard as what as like it maybe looks it's kind of like running on your toes right it's just you don't want to put your heel down too much because you're going to break that. You can put the heel down.

Like if they were strong heels, I think running on your toes would kind of suck. Hmm. I just feel like it's incredibly fast, right? That's incredibly fast. I couldn't run 100 meters in any shoes in 100 seconds. In 100 seconds? Sorry.

30 seconds. Sorry. I think I could just about make it in 100 seconds even in high heels actually i can't let me say that i mean we've just got a bet there luke okay i'll happily take those odds so i have just had a note through from our producer with pictures here and this is on a full running track wearing what look like sort of regular professional office high heels we're not talking like teetering stilettos here but there's a there's a decent heel on them um i have no idea how difficult that is to walk or run in i've never tried it but i would not like to i will say that running in high heels i think is no more silly

than hurdles you know we have sports and then we add we add additional encumbrance to those sports and high heels is just the same as hurdles to me right what about 100 meters over hurdles in high heels wow that's an olympic sport i want to watch you know they have break dancing in the in the olymp sports now, so I don't feel like that's too far off. Well, if we start training, we can all get gold in this, guys. What a little breakdance team in high heels. That's the four of us. Oh, yeah.

It is a very odd restriction. You're right, now you mention it, that hurdles is a really strange event. Now you mention it. It's odd, right? It's odd right it's weird it's weird that we do that it's fine we'll have it we'll have a full pentathlon in high heels and that's that's what comes of this podcast they are actually currently planning on changing the pentathlon events uh they're going to remove horse riding from it and they're currently

testing events for what the replacement is because logistically, it's extremely difficult. And it means that pentathlon is only open to people who can afford to learn to ride a horse. And for both that reason and animal rights and logistics, they're on the verge of changing it.

The thing of replacing it with like the obstacle course from Ninja Warrior. Oh my Lord. My brain went straight to using the Boston Dynamics robots in place of horses. I feel like that would be far more interesting to watch. So they're just like piggybacking people around. Yeah, exactly.

That's one of the problems they have with all the horse riding events at the Olympics is that the horses are meant to all be the same. So like they need to do a procurement process years in advance to find 20 identically performing horses and pair them with riders. Like, yeah, there's a reason they're doing Ninja Warrior courses instead. The fact that it's harder to find horses than it is to find Olympic athletes is fantastic. Yes, you're absolutely right.

The world record for running 100 meters in high heels is currently half a second faster for a woman than a man. But I imagine that at some point, someone in this podcast is going to try and challenge that. I know a couple of drag queens. We can set them on it. Next question. We are going to go to Curry for this one.

Curry, what have you got for us? At Coors Field Baseball Stadium, so we can set them on it. Next question. We are going to go to Curry for this one. Curry, what have you got for us? At Coors Field Baseball Stadium, most of the seats are dark green. However, the seats in the 20th row of the upper deck are purple. What does this indicate? And I'll give it to you again. At Coors Field Baseball Stadium,

most of the seats are dark green. However, the seats in the 20th row of the upper deck are purple what does this indicate could you tell me the name of the stadium chorus field chorus field so sorry this is my accent coming through chorus field i'm just wondering if this is anything to do with core like chorus light the beer i think i think so yeah i think they've owned the stadium that's how it works in the u. right? So there's something relating to beer there. It's an American sports question and a beer question.

I am in trouble here. Is it something to do with, like, does it look almost like the dividing line between, like, beer and head? I love that. I love that. But no, not at all all does the purple have something to do with royalty because i know that purple used to represent royalty it's not necessarily about the colors so it could be it could be any color it doesn't need to be dark green or purple

it could be literally any color the important part is that the colours are different. Was it baseball? Was that the sport? Yeah, it is. It is baseball. I'm thinking something to do with like the height of the ball. Oh, I'm thinking maybe the height of the stadium. Like you actually can't get the ball out. You can't get a home run.

So if it lands above that line, that's a home run. Oh, yeah. Because I was going to try and be an expert on baseball. I've never seen baseball. It's like cricket, but worse. Sorry, not a home run, like an out of the park? Is that a different thing? No, it's a home run.

Home run is when it goes out of the park and you cannot... No, I think... I thought, no, a home run is just when you can flick the diamonds. Okay, so an out of the park. It's an out of the park if it's above that line. Yeah, sorry, you can have an inside the park home run is just when you complete the diamond. Okay, so an out of the park. It's an out of the park if it's above that line. Yeah, sorry, you can have an inside the park home run.

I've definitely heard that phrase. Oh, okay. So a home run is just when you complete the diamond. And then I guess if you hit it out of the park, that's just like an automatic home run. Yes, it is. Yes, yes. So that's my theory is that this stadium is in some way built

to stop the ball leaving if you get an out of the park because it can damage property and stuff like that. So they've sort of put a line that means if you get it above this thing, if it lands above this thing, almost like in cricket, where you get it out of the boundary, then that is an out of the park equivalent. I presume at some point people come back to their cars in the parking lot afterwards. I'm just, there's a dent and a baseball sat there. Oh like oh well yeah that's does my insurance pay no of course well yeah there were loads of problems in cricket where they hit the ball out of the stadium and then it smashed stuff and then i think the cricket ground became liable for that so they tried they installed nets to try and stop it happening so you started off on the right track and then you started talking about baseball, which I loved but isn't necessarily

super relevant to this question about baseball. To baseball? So it's not really a baseball question, it's a stadium question. Exactly. But it's still about the limitations of stadiums. No, not at all.

So you started off talking about the height of the line, and it's not got anything to do with hitting baseballs out. I mean, American stadiums get replaced fairly often, like in the big leagues. Like they'll just build a new one because the old one's got a bit old and then get some tax money for it. So is this like the height of the old stadium that used to be there? And it's like a ceremonial line that goes round.

That means, yeah, you'd have knocked out the park in the old stadium, but these days, no, no. You've just been someone in the upper decks. So I have a super mundane suggestion. Is it just like, so the hot dog people know what their turf is? like so the hot dog people know what their turf is oh man there's just a there's just a vicious gang of upper deck hot dog sellers that do not want people muscling on their turf they're in a war they're in a war with each other yeah one of them's got the high ground oh god i wish that was the answer i wish that was the answer

one of them's just got slingshots with hot dogs just... So to sort of direct you a little bit more, it is very specific to this one stadium, in that if it was a stadium anywhere else in the country, this line wouldn't be as important. Because I imagine this was a line that went all the way around, but maybe it's one of those stadiums that's bigger on one side. And like, this is a line that that crosses. Like it's the equator.

No, this is US, right? It is the US, yeah. So this is like the state line happens to go through here. And once you're on the other side of that line, you're under like different drinking laws or something like that. This stadium's in California, except for this bit which is in Oregon, so you've got to stop drinking at 10pm.

So you were on the right track with it being particular to that state, and earlier when you were talking about the height, you were on the right track as well. And then I went completely the wrong way. Then you just went off. Is it that in this particular state, it is illegal to drink at altitude and that altitude just happens to be roughly the height of the of the 20th row in the top deck luke you are

so close but you're off in your framing if that helps how could that be is it like you're too high up so you can't drink because it's dangerous in some way? It's got nothing to do with drinking, but you're so incredibly close. I feel like if I were to tell you, do you know what state this is in? No. Hang on. Is this Colorado? It is definitely Colorado.

Yes. This is... This is... You are one mile above sea level, isn't it? That is it, yes, exactly. That line denotes being one mile above sea level, because Denver... Is the mile-high city.

Yeah, exactly. Denver is almost one mile above sea level in a lot of places, and that's going to be the point where you are exactly one mile above the arbitrary marker on the geoid that is sea level. Yeah, exactly. And so the Colorado Rockies used to share the Mile High Stadium with the Denver Broncos, the NFL team, and then they moved to Coors Field,

but they've got that line to show where you are when you're sort of a mile above sea level. The next question's from me. Here we go. A gang robbed a van full of different bottles of spirits that were destined for use in pubs. Why did they find it very difficult to sell on the illicit goods without raising suspicions? I'll give you that again.

A gang robbed a van of different bottles of spirits that were destined for use in pubs. Why did they find it very difficult to sell on the illicit goods without raising suspicions? So my mind hops immediately to the fact that when I worked in some bars and pubs, the bottles of spirits that they had were giant sometimes, like bigger than you could buy in a shop. So maybe it's got to do with the specifics of spirits that are sold to bars? to do with the specifics of spirits that are sold to bars my mind jumped to it as a play on words it's actually uh bottles of ghosts my mind said that as well but then when they were like to solve to sell to bars i was like i don't think bars are going to buy ghosts haunted bars

it's a tourist attraction i now regret regret having that clarification in the question, because frankly, we got a whole riff on bottled up spirits being sold to make sure your pub is haunted here. That's a great plot for a sitcom. Yeah, Jade, haunted pubs are actually really big in the UK. This is another sort of UK-focused question here. So much I don't know. It's one of those xenophobic

podcasters, isn't it? You just kind of go online these days, you know, you just go to what's the opposite of Ghostbusters? Ghost supplies. And they just kind of just drop ship you a few bottles now, you uncork them,

you get a couple of spirits in the bathroom, you know, one behind the bar. Yeah. All the cheap bars have got ghouls. Just not the same. Doesn't look the same, you know. Wetherspoons just have identical ghosts behind every bar

that just keep banging on about how Brexit's a good thing. It's just... That officially crossed the two British thresholds. Sorry about that. No, I don't know why I need to clarify this, but we are talking about alcohol here. Thank you for the clarification. So tell us more about your bar experience, Corey.

I feel like you hold the keys here. Yeah, so, I mean, Luke has worked in a bar as well, so he's got a lot of experience too. As a ghost, though. As a ghost. I feel like I can't let that go cory i have to explain that cory is referencing the fact that i once did a youtube sponsorship that required me to work in a bar and so i technically worked in a bar for one day um you actually worked like got a job in the bar uh I worked.

I delivered drinks and food and took orders. But I actually was so bad at pulling pints that I bought all of the pints that I poured because I felt so bad. So I bought them for them.

Did the management and patrons know you were doing this? The manager did, yeah. Wait, the patrons didn't? The patrons were just like, this is some guy? The patrons didn't until I told them because I was doing everything wrong so i told them the patrons were like why does this guy suck so much and then you like had to tell them exactly so yeah cory you're right i have

just as much experience as you and so we're gonna get this this question together yeah i mean so working in bars i guess the only specific thing i can think of is the size of the spirit bottles. They have bigger spirit bottles and bars. And I feel like there must be a limit on the ones that you're allowed to sell. Oh, my gosh. Bars. If you want to get stock for a bar, you can only you can buy it from these big sort of stock depots that you can only get into if you have a business that has a license to sell alcohol. So maybe it's related to that in this case they were trying to fence them illegally so that okay that's less of an issue is it that um the spirit bottles that they use at bars have

that little weird attachment on it that like does the 25 cilinder um deposit and that's a specific attachment and nobody who doesn't already own a bar will have that attachment so they don't want to buy your alcohol you can get those at home yeah you can spot the person who hasn't worked in a bar because those do not come with the bottle no i know but you have to attach them i mean you'd have to attach it and if you don't have it you don't want to buy the alcohol optics they're called you can get them at home i know because my grandparents were alcoholics No I shouldn't put that in sorry

That's hilarious That's brilliant We're learning a lot about each other here Is it something to do with the brand Of the alcohol Was it a very like rare brand This would actually be the other way around This would only apply to the

really common kind of uh what are they called house house spirits like the the fancy ones probably wouldn't have this problem yeah so then like there's like red star vodka or something that i only ever see in bars and you can't buy anywhere else you can get like there's there's certain brands like that but in this case this case, these are cheap supermarket brands. These are the kind of things where if someone pulls up in a van and goes, these have fallen off the back of the lorry, yeah, no, entirely genuine, there might be some reason to be sceptical of them. Oh. Fine for bars, bit confusing for people.

So we've mentioned size and brand but is there concentration involved like the concentration it's not like the post-mix syrup they don't they don't put it they don't put it up to the optic and like it drops out one drop of pure flavored alcohol and a load of water that would be coke freestyle machines just with booze actually that's a really good wow sorry on shipping costs i mean more more like that's that's a thing you'd see built in a bar, really. You'd see a Coke Freestyle machine that someone's also put a booze thing in. Was it that they had a hard time selling it to bars or to people? To people.

Bars would have been fine with this. These would have fit right in in the bar, but they wouldn't have at home. Maybe it's the container that they were in. You've actually already touched on why with the optics. There's something that bars do that you don't have at home. Maybe it's the container that they were in. You've actually already touched on why with the optics. There's something that bars do that you don't know. Oh my gosh, I just realized, because they go into the optics, the labels are the other way around so that they're the right side up when you've got them in the optics. Absolutely right. I was hoping the one person who has properly worked at a bar would remember that at some point.

Yes. Spot on. The labels were upside down. So if you try to go into your local dodgy wherever you sell stuff, I don't know, I'm not a criminal, and go, would you like to buy some of these? They're going to go, oh, they're fake. You've got the labels on upside down.

And that is how the story goes. The bottles of spirits used in pubs, at least for the cheap brands, generally have the label upside down. Our last guest question comes from Jade. Jade, over to you. Okay, the question is, if it rises by a few cents, it can get out of control within milliseconds. If it reaches a dollar, it's a disaster. What is it? I'll give you it again. If it rises by a few cents, it can get out of control within milliseconds. If it reaches a dollar, it's a disaster. What is it? So my first thought was some kind of hyper-fast stock trading thing.

That's like that flash crash where some computer tripped a thing and all the stock markets suddenly crashed. But this is going up, not down. Reaches a dollar. So the cost of something being a dollar... Because that's already more than, say, petrol. So... Oh, what could it be? It could be like a transaction fee type of thing, or something that's meant to be pegged to a dollar or something like that. Maybe it's related. Okay, so it must be proportionally related to something else,

because if something reaches, say, a dollar, a dollar isn't very much, but a dollar per X amount of something would be a lot, right? It's the euro a few weeks ago. Yes, Luke, date this podcast. Oh yeah, sorry. It's the euro a few months ago.

It's the euro a few years ago. Thank you. We'll just edit the right bit in at whichever moment. If you can give us decades and centuries and millennia. It's the euro. That one time the euro did that thing. The minute you said rises by a few, I was thinking is this sea level or something like that? But it's cents and dollars.

I can't think of anything other than currency that's in cents and dollars. Can it go above a dollar? Is that possible? I mean, apparently, but then it's a disaster. Well, but if it reaches a dollar, it's a disaster. Can it go above a dollar? Is that possible? I mean, apparently, but then it's a disaster. Well, but if it reaches a dollar, it's a disaster. Can it go above a dollar? It has reached a dollar on a number of occasions

in different parts of the world. Out of control within milliseconds. So for a minute, I was thinking like the expected return on a lottery or something like that. So, but that's not a disaster. That's great for the lottery and the winner. There's a few times in history when lotteries have had positive expected value. So if you buy a ticket, statistically, you're likely to win more than that ticket cost. But it's really rare, and the only people who can

properly exploit that are already rich. So that's not a disaster, though. Like, if that goes over a dollar, that's great for the punters, and it's great for the lottery, because they're still making money. I think... I think it's probably... I think I might have it. It's entirely unrelated to what you were just saying, Tom.

Oh, sorry. That's fine. You know what? I'm going to claim that some word in that monologue about lotteries sparked an idea in your head. Oh, sorry. That's fine. You know what? I'm going to claim that some word in that monologue about lotteries sparked an idea in your head. Sorry, go for it. Maybe it's got to do with the cost

of production of money, right? Because if the cost of producing a dollar goes over a dollar, then that's completely out of control. And in some countries, that must have happened. Like the penny right now in the US costs more than a penny to make. Is it anything along those lines, maybe?

Yes, they changed the makeup of the UK one, didn't they, as well, to make sure that wasn't possible. But I don't see that getting out of control within milliseconds. I think I'm going to give you guys a hint. It's going to completely turn everything upside down. It has nothing to do with money so what else gets measured in cents and dollars oh hold on hold on hold on are you saying dollars or doll hairs which one of those two dollars d-o-l-L-A-R-S Dollars Good question though What else can get measured in cents? Like pitch of music

Can get measured in cents But not in dollars That goes into tones and semitones So Is it colloquial then? Maybe Using cents and dollars now It goes up by a few cents.

I kind of feel like this one's the kind of thing that if you don't know it, I don't know how you would come to know it. It's out of control within milliseconds, which implies to me that it's either some computer thing or it's some complicated physics thing. Like this is a chain reaction or something like that. But if it goes, like, if it starts spiking a little, it... Yeah.

But I don't think nuclear reactions are measured in cents. Something like with the LHC, like the LHC. Does this have to do with nuclear physics? Yes. No, the Large Hadron Collider. not exactly the large hadron collider is this to do with nuclear meltdowns yes because there's been some in some different countries and yes that's it that's it exactly and dollars and cents are the units of reactivity. Oh. Oh. I definitely knew that then.

I definitely knew that at some point in my life. Which is like, why would they name units of reactivity dollars and cents? That just seems like they're trying to be confusing. For this podcast, exactly. That's the only reason. Someone thought, you know what? A podcast a few years from now is going to need this. What is reactivity? Is that how much the reactor is going?

All I remember is that you put control rods in to dampen the reaction. So is it how much that reaction is growing or how much that reaction is self-sustaining? I don't know. A state called prompt criticality is reached if the reactivity level reaches $1, which means that rate at which vision occurs increases exponentially, releasing more prompt neutrons, which trigger more reactions, and so on. So $1 is runaway chain reaction. Right.

And zero is everything steady. Who named that dollar? Like, right? They should not have been in charge. Probably an American. reaction. Right. And zero is everything steady. Who named that dollar? Right? They should not have been in charge. Probably an American. Yeah, I feel like American scientists specifically enjoy being needlessly confusing. And a patriotic. I've just had a note through to say

that his name is Lewis Slaughter, and he is a very famous physicist. Physicists do like to use the same names and symbols to rename various things. It's very annoying when you're doing a physics degree. Just another reason not to do a physics degree. No education. Reactivity is measured in dollars and cents.

Zero cents is stable. And when you get to $1, that's just a crazy reaction and you want to get out of there. So one last order of business. At the very start of the show, I asked the audience why Leslie Hope, the comedian, changed his name to the much more famous Bob Hope.

Just before I give him the answer, any ideas from the panel? Bob Hope's much more famous. Is it that Leslie Hope was already famous? Is this like a screen actor skills kind of situation? Where you can only have one name? It's very much about the name. And I don't think any comedian would want the name Leslie Hope. Oh, was there a famous sort of murderer or something at the time called Leslie Hope?

Like a serial killer? It's about the name itself. Oh. Les Hope. Leslie Hope. Oh. Les Hope. Leslie Hope. Oh, Les Hope. It shortens to Les Hope. Which means it would show up in the phone book

and in directories as... Hopeless. Oh, my gosh. Absolutely right. He changed it. Amazing. Or at least so he says. Obviously, it's an anecdote from a comedian,

so how much of that is true, I will leave to the viewer's discretion. That is our show for today. Thank you very, very much. Let's start with Luke. Tell us what you've got going on. Where can people find you? Yes, I host a podcast called SciGuys

with Corey as well. And I've also got my first feature film out called The Drowning of Arthur Braxton. You can find me at Luke Cutforth everywhere. Corey! You can find me at NotCorey everywhere. And also, as Luke said, over on SciGuys at SciGuysPod everywhere.

And Jade. I run a YouTube channel called Up and Atom and you can find me on YouTube at Up and Atom. And if you want to know more about this show, you can go to LateralCast.com. We are Lateral Cast basically everywhere. And you can catch video highlights at youtube.com slash lateralcast. Thank you very much to J. Dan Holmes.

Thank you, Tom. To Curry Will. Thank you, Tom. To Luke Cutforth. Thank you very much, Tom. I don't know why I got a round of thanks instead of goodbyes there. And I'm very grateful. And you know what?

We'll leave them in. I will take the praise. My name's Tom Scott. This has been Lateral. Thank you, Tom.