WeWow on the Weekend

Hello, wowsers! It's me, Dennis! And before we start the show, did you hear about March Gladness? Reggie, no! Not basketball tournament stuff! March Gladness tournament stuff! Yeah, exactly! March Gladness is where I think of all the things that made me the Gladness this month, and then I put them head to head in a tournament-style bracket! Oh, so you do know what I'm talking about? Well, then as you know, the winner of my March Gladness tournament was my new haircut! Do you love it? What do you mean? Don't worry, it'll grow back! Whatever! Wowser fams, you too can fill out your very own March Gladness bracket by going to tickercast.com slash march. There, you can print your very own free March Gladness bracket, then fill it out to see what made you the Gladness this month! Put your favorite things head to head in a tournament of Gladness! One more time, that's tickercast.com slash march. Now, let's get on with the show! We wow on the weekend, we wow on the weekend, we wow on the weekend, cause this is what we do on the weekend! Talking, laughing, me and Reggie singing, laughing, and then we- Oh wait, no I said laughing twice. Ah, whatever! We wow on the weekend, we wow on the weekend, we wow on the weekend, cause this is what we do on the weekend! Hello and welcome to We Wow on the weekend! I'm your host, Dennis. Please pardon my voice today. I'm a little under the weather, but the show must go on! Right, Reggie? Uh, Reggie? Where's Reggie? Reggie! There you are! Why are you so late, mister? You got caught in traffic, but you can fly, Reggie! How could you get stuck in traffic? Oh, sky traffic! Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Let's tell everyone all about it in a Reggie report! Hello and welcome to a special weekend traffic update from Reporter Reggie! Reggie, it seems like the clear blue skies weren't so clear today. Tell us what's been going on up there! Oh no! A hot air balloon pile up! What happened? Tom is fingerling and Grandma G4's crashed their hot air balloons into each other and ended up stuck in a tree! And then Mindy tried to rescue them by gluing buffalo chicken wings to her motor pickle so it would fly! And it did fly, but one of the wings had too much blue cheese dressing on it and it threw the motor pickle off balance and she also crashed into the tree! And then you got them all safely back on the ground! And you're a hero? And everything's okay now? Wow! Thanks for that action-packed news, CupRidge Reggie! Okay, next up is a little segment I like to call... Inside TinkerCast Studios! Inside TinkerCast Studios! This is the part where we revisit an episode of one of my favorite TinkerCast shows. And today we're listening to Wow in the World Season 3, Episode 23 called... Dinosaurs Take Flight! Oh, I love this one! It's where I get to hang out with an ostrich. What do you mean what's so great about ostriches? They're giant birds! Yes, you're a giant bird too, but ostriches are flightless giant birds. And in this episode, we teach an ostrich how to fly! Yes, Veggie, we all know you're a very good flyer. What's your point? Oh, don't be such a jealous Marcellus. Okay, here we go! And play! We Wow will be right back! Grownups, this message is for you! Whoa-ho-ho! Whoa-ho-ho! You're listening to Bongo in the Big Toot! In the morning on K-W-O-W! Hey, Bongo, guess what time it is? Looks to be about 7.40 a.m. Ha-ha! No, it's time for Big Toot's Big Favorite! Big Favorite! Oh yeah, the part of the show when you, Big Toot, hit us with your favorite new song! Woo-hoo! What you got for us today? Alright, today's Big Favorite is a song from a new artist called Wow in the World. Well, what's the song? It's called... The scientifically most danceable song in the whole wide world. Wow, that's a big title! Yeah, let me spin you up a clip. What you got for us today? The scientifically most danceable song in the world. The scientifically most danceable song in the world. The scientifically most danceable song in the world. The scientifically most danceable song in the world. Where can we listen to the rest of the song? Anywhere you get your tunes, Bongo. They're out on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you like to spin your tracks. Well, thanks for tuning in to Big Two's Big Favorite here on Bongo in the Big Two. In the morning on K-W-O-W. Bye-bye now. Waiters. That's it. Now back to the show. We're in the world. Okay, time to check the local news. Remote control. Click. For W-O-W-T-V, I'm Barb Dwyer, sitting in for Colin Sick. In today's top story, the local zoo is missing one of its own. After a seven-foot, 220-pound African ostrich escaped from its enclosure, we now go live to the zoo to check in with an eyewitness who claims to have seen the ostrich, quote, prancing away like a pantless thunder goose. Who wrote this? Yeah, that's right. I saw it. At first, I thought it was just this dude running around wearing a sombrero and sunglasses, and then I noticed the beak and the feathers, and I thought, hey, man, something ain't right about that guy. And I says, look at there. His knees has been in the wrong way, and he ain't got no ears. Museum officials believe that the pantless thunder goose, uh-uh, ostrich, may have been assisted in its escape by this unidentified individual. Nothing to see here, folks. Just walk it through the zoo. Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk. No, Mandy, no. The zoo is offering a $100 reward for the return of the ostrich and asking that all sightings be reported to zoo officials at 5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5. Ugh, what has she done this time? Okay, on your mark, get set, go! Wait, what? Come on, come on, run faster! You can do it! Get those little wings and take flight! Huh? Woo! Mandy, what are you doing? That was a good one. Hey, guys, it's just a second. Dennis, how fast was that? 45 miles per hour, 16 feet in a single stride. Wow, and still didn't lift off the ground? Well, it was hard to tell. Guy distracted me. He was making that face he makes when you're being a rascal. You know, the one with the twitchy eye and the steam coming out of his ears. That's the one. Mandy, where did you get that ostrich? What ostrich? Mandy, I think he means this ostrich. Right here, the one you brought home from the zoo. Okay, Guy-Roz, I can explain. This is a disaster, Mandy. Calm down. As usual, I've got everything out of control. I'm simply helping this ostrich to be able to fly. And then I'm taking him back to the zoo, new and improved. You helped the live animal escape from a zoo? Uh-huh. Mandy, you can't do that. Sure you can. You just dress the animal up in disguise and then roll it away in a shopping cart while everyone else is distracted by the poop-flinging monkeys. And then you have your best friend and neighbor, who's not annoying at all, drive the getaway scooter. Dennis! Okay, well, we are going to put it right back in that shopping cart and roll it right back to the zoo. Come on. Wait, wait, wait. Unless we can train it to fly back to the zoo. Meh? Mindy, are you seriously trying to train an ostrich to fly? Yeah. Why? Well, number one, because it's a bird. And number two, because I'm trying to understand the evolution of flight. I'm just using this ostrich here as a stand-in for the dinosaur known as the Cadipteryx. Wait, Cadipteryx? You mean the two-legged theropod that lived 125 million years ago? Yeah. The one that was believed to be the size of a peacock? Uh-huh. And had little feathery flightless wings? You know it. The one that looked like a big angry chicken? Yep, that's the one. The majestic Cadipteryx. But wait, did the Cadipteryx even know how to fly? No, but I just read this pretty wow study from these researchers at Tsinghua University. Ah, Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Uh-huh. Okay, you've got me intrigued Mindy. What was the study about? Okay, so this group of paleontologists. Which are of course scientists who study fossils. Yeah, so these paleontologists got together with this mechanical engineer named Xing Shanjiao, and together they set out on a quest to find out once and for all how modern day birds evolved to be able to fly. And by evolved you mean to slowly develop over time from a simple to a more complex form. Ha ha ha, Mindy, guys, look at me. What in the... Dennis, stop riding the ostrich. He likes me. You know we really should return that ostrich to the zoo before Dennis breaks him. Reggie, will you go get Dennis off the ostrich? Ha ha ha, Reggie, do you want to try the... Ah, Reggie, quit it, wait your turn. So, as I was saying, Dr. Zhao and his team wanted to find out if the Cudipterics dinosaur held any clues as to how birds today evolved to fly the way they do. Okay, so let me just get this straight. You read this study. Yes. You were inspired to understand the connection between the birds we see every day and prehistoric dinosaurs. Yeah. And so you helped a 200 pound flightless bird escape from the zoo? Um, yeah. So, Mr. Ostrich, where are you from? Oh wow, Africa. You know, I once met an emu from Australia. Are you related? Are you related to all flightless birds? Who would win in a fight, you or a penguin? Oh, Dennis! Actually, Mindy, if Dennis keeps this up, your ostrich friend might just return to the zoo voluntarily. Dennis, you're going to scare it away! So Mindy, what does a flightless ostrich have to do with dinosaurs and modern day bird flight anyway? Oh, so glad you asked. See, there was a certain group of dinosaurs known as theropods, and theropods are believed to be distant relatives of modern day birds. Ah, yes. And in that theropod group, there were all kinds of two-legged, meat-eating dinosaurs, ranging from the teeny, tiny, crow-sized micro-raptor to the six-ton Tyrannosaurus rex. And don't forget about everyone's favorite ancient flying dino, the pterodactyl! How is he always able to hear everything we say? Actually, Dennis, pterodactyls, or more correctly, pterosaurs, were not dinosaurs at all. No! Yeah, they lived at the same time as dinosaurs and became extinct at the same time as dinosaurs, but they were actually just giant winged reptiles. Giant winged reptiles? Ew! Anywho, along with micro-raptors and the T-rex, who just happens to be the closest living relative to the modern day chicken. A chicken? The dinosaur I mentioned before, the Cudipterics, is also a theropod. So what did Dr. Zhao and his team do to test their hypothesis? Hypothesis, a.k.a. an educated guess. Right, their hypothesis that bird flight as we know it began with dinosaurs. Oh yeah, so this is pretty wow. And of course, I could tell you... Yeah? But I'd rather show you. Okay, but step one better be returning that ostrich to the zoo. Ha ha, Mindy, guy, look, it's wearing a pair of my pants. What? Okay, so to test their hypothesis, Dr. Zhao and his team performed three separate experiments, all of which I will demonstrate for you today. The ostrich, the zoo. Patience, young grasshopper. Now, for my first demonstration, I am going to need you to follow me to the laboratory of bad ideas. Okay. Hey Dennis, you good to watch the ostrich while we're back in the lab? I already watched him. See? He's wearing my watch. Thanks Dennis, knew I could count on you. So, Guy Ross, while we walk back to the lab for my first demonstration, I should mention that if you were to ask any paleontologist where flight began, you would get a different opinion from every single one of them. Oh right, well, I've heard some paleontologists claim that winged dinosaurs learn to fly by climbing trees and gliding from branch to branch, kind of like flying squirrels. Oh yeah, that's the old top down theory. And then of course, there's the bottom up theory that certain kinds of winged dinosaurs first caught wind by running really fast while flapping their wings until they were flying. You know it, and other paleontologists think that maybe it was a mix of the two. Hey, wait a minute, you know who we could ask and get a final answer once and for all? Who? Reggie! Reggie! Reggie, moment of truth, where did you get your amazing avian ability to fly? Uh huh. What, what's he saying, Mindy? Yeah, I don't know, Guy Ross. Reggie's orthodontist just put this expander in his mouth, now it's making it hard for him to speak and I couldn't understand a word of that. Sorry Reggie. Reggie's seeing an orthodontist? I'm pretty sure that should have been an ornithologist. Yeah, you would think, anywho, here we are at the lab, let me just open the door. Oh no, here we go. After you. Mindy, we can't keep buying new doors, they don't grow on trees. Okay, so first things first, I'm gonna need you to grab me that bag of bones over there and then I'm just gonna power up the computer. Mindy, who do these bones belong to? I've been digging the leftover chicken bones out of your garbage and saving them up for the last two years. What? Why? Well mostly so I can bury them for future paleontologists to find when they run out of dinosaur bones and all the chickens go extinct. But today we're going to use these bones to put a chicken back together, fossil style. Yeah. That way we can see how the leg bones and the hips of the chicken work together to help the chicken run. And then we're going to make a model of it on the computer here so that we can see it in action. Huh. So you want to hand me that femur bone so we can get started? Yeah, I'm sorry Mindy, there's so much to unpack here. And the drill? Oh thank you, power on. So are you telling me that the researchers in the study reconstructed chicken bones and then made the chicken skeleton run on the computer? Yes, of course they did not reconstruct a bunch of chicken bones, Gairaz. Phew. They reconstructed the fossilized bones of a cadipteryx dinosaur. Then they used what they learned from studying the fossils to create a model or a simulation of it running. Ah. And then they studied that simulation on the computer. Ah, I think I understand. They did this to study how fast the dinosaur legs would move and how the rest of its body, like for instance its wings, would react. Winner, winner, chicken fossil dinner. No, thank you. So what did they discover? Well, they discovered that once that cadipteryx got to running at speeds of 5.5 to 13 miles an hour, its little wings would start flapping. Here, check it out on my little chicken model. Okay, not the same thing at all, but I think I get what you're saying here, Mindy. So what was the second experiment these researchers did? Okay, for the second experiment, we're going to need to dust off that old treadmill in the corner over there. And we're also going to need to let the robot out of the closet. Uh... Reggie, release the robot! What? What? What? In the... Gai-Roz, what you're looking at here is a life-sized robot replica of the Cadipteryx. See, it's got the tiny head, the long neck, the fan of tail feathers, the short little useless wings... And leg warmers? The leg warmers are just for decoration. You know, a sporty little accessory for running on the treadmill machine. Wait, you're going to put this robot dinosaur on the treadmill? Well, it's not like I'm going to put myself on the treadmill. Last time I got on that thing, I flew off the back and dropped my soup and sandwich. Huh! Anywho, doesn't matter anyway, I'm all out of soup. The only thing going on this treadmill is my dino robot. Gai-Roz, you want to give me a hand while I lift her onto the belt? Anything for science. Almost there. There we go. Now I'm going to power this baby up, and when I do, I want you to notice the way her wings oscillate or move back and forth while she runs on this ancient prehistoric treadmill. Prehistoric treadmill? Yeah, Grandma Geforce used it to train for all of her wrestling matches back in the 80s. I see. Okay, firing this baby up in three, two, one. It's working! Wow, look at it go! Wow, Mindy, watching this robot-candipterics on the treadmill, it looks just like the computer model. You can see as her wings are flapping back and forth, it's not quite enough to get her flying, but you can see how with a little more time, those little wings could help lift her off the ground. Yeah, it's almost like a stage of free flight. Here, let's see what happens when I speed it up a little. I don't know if I would do that. Don't worry, Guyron, as usual, I've got everything out of control. Mindy, it's too fast! Cut the power! Cut the power! Well, I guess that's one way to get a cuddly-pterics to fly. Mindy! Time for the third and final experiment. Yeah, you know, I think I've seen enough. We still need to get that ostrich back to the zoo, and then we've got to find a way to fix the door to the lab and the window and the treadmill and the- Mayra, if I can take the bones left over from your chicken dinner and put the chicken back together again, then I'm pretty sure I can put a window door on a treadmill. Huh? Let's go back outside and find that ostrich so I can demonstrate for you the most wow experiment of them all. Here! Birdie birdie birdie birdie birdie birdie! Here! Birdie birdie birdie birdie birdie! Mindy, I'm pretty sure that's not how you call an ostrich. An ostrich call should sound something like, uh, like... No, no! Stop! Ah! Mindy, what's that sound? Did you steal another ostrich? But this one fell into a sewer pipe and landed on a ghost playing a saxophone and- Ahem! Oh! Hi, guy! Hey, Dennis! Can you send the ostrich back over here, please? What ostrich? Dennis? Oh, we were just getting to know each other! Dennis! Fine! Go on, Ozzy. Fly free. I mean, well, you know what I mean. Wow, that thing is even bigger up close! And speaking of big, I should probably point out that this ostrich is about the same shape as its early dinosaur relative, the Codipterics. So I'm guessing you're planning on using this actual ostrich as a stand-in for the Codipterics for your next experiment? You know it! In fact, Dr. Zhao and his team did the same thing! Now, could you hand me my adventure tool kit over there? Because there's more! Okay! What do you have in this thing? Rocks? Yeah, rocks, cats, ammers... Oh, and these babies! Whoa! Did you make these wings, Mindy? With my own two feet! Okay, so maybe I got a little help from Reggie. Oh, fine! Reggie did the whole thing while I watched pet flicks and ate pork rinds. So what are they, and what is this harness for? Well, Guy-Roz, have you ever attached an extra set of wings to an ostrich before? Never in my life. Well, in that case, your life is over. Huh? Because we're about to attach this harness and the wings to our ostrich pal here, and then we're going to sit back and observe. And finally it hopefully takes the ostrich back to the zoo where it belongs? Huh? So Dr. Zhao and his team wanted to conduct a live experiment as the final way to test their hypothesis that birds evolved to fly from winged dinosaurs. And what did they do for this test? They built a harness, just like the one I built, with special motion sensors and an extra set of wings. And then, let me guess, they put the harness onto the ostrich and watched what happened to the human-made wings as the ostrich ran? Exacteritos! Wow, so what did they find? Well, I could tell you... But you'd rather show me. Huh? Come on over here, ostrich. Let's get your wings on. Stop wiggling, ostrich! Stand still! Got it. Hold it right there. And... Oh, look at it with those extra little wings! Looks just like a condipterix! Okay, now run, little ostrich! Run like the zookeepers are chasing you! Because they probably are. There it goes! There it goes! This is so wow! So, Gaira, just as we're seeing here now, as the ostrich in the study ran and ran, Dr. Zhao and his researchers noticed that the wings were helping to counteract or lessen the weight of the ostrich's body, making it so the ostrich could almost, just barely, lift itself off the ground. Wow! And not only that, but the researchers discovered that the way the wings were oscillating or moving back and forth in a regular pattern were actually making it easier for the ostrich to run and to run fast. So basically the same thing they observed in the first two experiments. Exacteritos! Assuming that this was also true for the condipterix, is it safe to say that maybe this was indeed the first sign that those wings could evolve to serve a greater purpose? Well, if by greater purpose you mean flap and flight, then yes. So then that must solve the mystery. Dr. Zhao and his team tested their hypothesis not once, not twice, but three times. And in conclusion, their evidence supported it. Birds evolved to fly from winged dinosaurs. Well, not so fast. Huh? See, even though they did find evidence to support their hypothesis or educated guess, there are still a lot of things that these scientists don't know for sure. So there may be more experiments on the way for Dr. Zhao and his team. But I do think it's safe to say that these experiments helped us to inch a little closer to the truth. Look, there she is. She's the one who let the ostrich out of the zoo. And there's the thunder goose itself. Hey, why don't you get down nice pants? Uh-oh. Alright, camera set up over there. Good. Okay, Barb, we're ready to go live in three, two, one. Good evening, everyone. I'm Barb Dwyer reporting live for WOTV. And here I am on the scene where the local zoos escaped ostrich appears to have been found. Quick, get Ros! Grab me the harness and wings! But the ostrich is wearing them! Just, yeah, unbuckle the harness from the ostrich and give the wings to me! Hurry! I'm trying, I'm trying. Oh boy, am I on TV? A dream come true. Hi, Mother! Hi, Dennis! Mother, no! What are you doing here? Go inside and watch me on TV! Oh, okay. Oh, good. Dennis is distracting the news crew. Come on, we gotta hurry! We're joined by self-identified neighborhood snoop, Dennis. Oh, actually, I prefer the term meddler. No, actually, I prefer the term rubberneck. No, actually, I prefer the term quidnunk. Who authorities believe drove the getaway scooter as the ostrich and its accomplice fled the zoo. Dennis? Uh, oh, no, no, that couldn't have been me. It must have been someone else. Yes, definitely someone else with an amazing fedora and expertly driving a getaway scooter while not spilling my Doritos. Got it! Great, now how is it dropped onto my back? Indy, what are you getting yourself into now? Man! Run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run! Flop, flop, flop, flop, FLI! FLI! FLI! FLI! What is the FLOW!? Indy, you're FLIING! Go back to the zoo, little ostrich! Your service here is done! In a surprising plot twist that no one saw coming, it appears that the fleeing ostriches is accomplished, is flying the scene. Join us this evening for Night Night News at 11, as we cover her inevitable fall from grace. For WOWTV, I'm Barb Dwyer, signing off. Wow, that was so cool! Whoa! Yeah, Aussie the Ostrich flew just like a crow dipsticks. Right, right, right, right, right, right. A Codipterix. Hey Reggie, do you think you could make me a Codipterix suit too? Yay! Let's go do it right now! Ah, right, right, right, right, right. We gotta wrap up the show real quick. Thanks to all you listeners out there for tuning in to We Wow on the weekend! If you have a question for me, call and leave me a message at 1-888-7-WOW. That's 1-888-7-WOW. I just might answer your question on We Wow on the weekend! Okay, should we do the goodbye song? Here we go. That's the end of the show. I need to go and learn to fly like a prehistoric lizard bird. But I'll do another show tomorrow. But for now, that's the end of the show. Bye!