Let's Go Bananas

Today's episode is sponsored by Bombas. It's the time of the year we think about, hmm, what am I going to do differently this year? Maybe I'm going to read more. Maybe I'm going to work out more. Maybe I'm going to learn a new skill. But really at the top of my list is number one, to get comfy. And that's where Bombas comes in. They're bringing serious comfort to all my everyday go-tos. the all new Bombas sport socks are engineered with sport specific comfort for running golf hiking skiing snowboarding and all sport this year I'm going to walk my dog more longer walks better walks and these socks are going to help me stay comfy while I do it and for all my other resolutions like going to the bookstore and picking out more books to read I'm going to wear my new squishy Saturday suede slip-on shoes which are super comfortable for being on the go Head over to bombas.com slash family26 and use code family26 for 20% off your first purchase. That's B-O-M-B-A-S dot com slash family26, code family26 at checkout. Lemonada. Brains on Universe. You're listening to Brains On, where we're serious about being curious. Update successfully installed. Yes, I did it! Harvey, you wonderful omnipresent virtual voice assistant. This is going to change everything! Why yes, Mark. I am bananas for you, too. Okay. Hey, Mark. What's new? Oh, hey, Molly. I just installed a system upgrade for Harvey. What's it do? Well, you know we get so many awesome questions from our listeners all the time? Yeah? And it's been so hard to choose which ones we're going to answer lately? Do I ever? Well, I wrote a program where Harvey does the picking for us. We just load in the questions and Harvey generates a list of episode topics. It's all based on a highly complicated algorithm I created based on our show criteria. Let's give it a try. Okay, Harvey, what question should we answer on our next episode? Okay, I'm choosing the question. The next question is, why do bananas turn brown when they ripen? Huh, okay, good question. Might not be enough for a full episode, though. What else you got, Harvey? Okay, I'm choosing the question. The next question is, are banana peels actually slippery? Another banana question? That seems improbable. Harvey, pick another question. Okay, I'm choosing the question. The next question is, where are banana seeds? Okay, three banana questions in a row? Something is up with the algorithm, Mark. I'll get it! Whoa! You guys, a truck just pulled up and delivered 162 bunches of bananas. Does anyone know what's going on? The Brains On headquarters banana supply was running low, so I placed an order. Harvey? This text is from you. Twelve banana emojis? Oh, Harvey just sent me a gif of someone slipping on a banana peel. Oh, and Harvey sent me a video. Bananas in pajamas are coming down. Ah! The blender just turned on by itself. Banana smoothie, anyone? I'll get it. Or banana-flavored toothpaste? You guys, three crates of banana-flavored toothpaste just showed up. Oh no, Harvey, what have I done to you? This day is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. Okay, I need to start working on a fix before. Oh no. What now? Who ordered these banana splits? Someone call Sandin. We have to eat these before they melt. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. This day is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. This day is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. You're listening to Brains On. I'm Molly Bloom, and today my co-host is Regan from Toronto. Hi, Regan. Hi, Molly. And today we're talking bananas. Really? We're doing a whole episode on bananas? Yeah. If Harvey hears us talking about anything other than bananas, he turns off the lights and the microphones. So yes, an entire episode all about bananas. My algorithm tells me that this will be the favorite episode of 89.2% of your listeners. Well, I do love bananas. And Regan, you wrote in to us with a very curious question about bananas. What was that question? I wanted to know whether it's true that humans and bananas share 50% of the same DNA. And if so, how is that possible? That's such a great question. And to help us answer it, we have our friend, Dr. Janina Jeff here. Hello, Dr. Jeff. Hi, how are you? Great. Thank you so much for being here. Dr. Jeff is a geneticist and the host of the podcast In Those Genes. Can you tell us what the podcast is about? Sure. The podcast is a podcast that uses genetics to decode the lost histories and futures of African descendants. We like to teach genetics education through entertainment and using Black culture as a vessel to do so. It's a great podcast. And you're here today to help us answer Regan's super interesting question about genetics that she sent to us. So let's jump right in. Let's start with the basics. What is DNA? So DNA is the makeup of who we are. So we can think of DNA of every character, a letter or so in a book. And the big book with all of these letters is called our genome. Genome is a collective of all of the information that tells our body the bodily functions that we need in order to survive. And so DNA, these different letters that are in this book called the genome consist of four letters, but these four letters are so complex because in different sequences, the letters, the order in which the letters are, how many times we see the same letter, tell us a lot about how our body should function. And so those four letters are called A, T, C, and G, and they stand for the chemical compounds that make up DNA. So do all living things have DNA? That's a great question. All living things have DNA, yes. Is it true that humans and bananas share 50% of the same DNA? So when we talk about DNA, right, all of those letters, that is a big book, right? And this is billions of those letters together in both a banana and in a human, right? So we have this big book. A lot of it are letters that just come together and they don't really make a lot of sense. and 2% of them have actual words that make sense, that tell our bodies to do certain things. That 2% is what we call our genes. So when we talk about our similarities with bananas, we're not talking about all of the letters, which is the DNA. What we're actually talking about are the genes that make proteins, right? That make things that we can see. About half of that is actually similar to a banana. Do bananas, their genes, do they function in the same way that human genes do? We actually do some things that are pretty similar to bananas, believe it or not. Bananas have cells, right? Humans have cells. And some of our cells do the same thing. So one good example is that both of us consume oxygen. So that's something that we share in common with bananas. So to have genes that make that possible, that are similar, is to be expected. We have to remember that all of us, all living organisms have evolved from a single cell that happened billions and billions and billions of years ago. Because we all started from this single cell billions of years ago, we do keep the things that work well for us. And so our ability to consume oxygen really is something that we need to keep, right? And so you would see it in both plants and in animals. So how much DNA do humans share with each other We share 99 of our DNA with other humans So we not that different And so to think about a plant you know other plants we might share somewhere between 10 to 18% of our genomes, right? Not our genes. So when we say that the banana and the human are similar, we're actually talking about the genes that are in the banana and the genes that are in humans. Thanks for answering my questions, Dr. Jeff. You're so welcome. Why did the banana look pale? Because it wasn't peeling well. What do you get when you cross a banana peel with another banana peel? A pair of slippers. All right. Before Harvey starts reciting banana limericks, let's answer this question. Hi, Braindoll. My name's Amelia, and I'm from Wales. Why do bananas make other fruits ripe and faster? Thank you. Meanwhile, at the local grocery store, two young bananas face a brand new world. Today's the day, Gwen. I can feel it. Today, a human is finally going to pick us up from the grocery store and take us home. I am green with anticipation. Oh, Barry. You're just green. I do hope we get out of this store today. We've traveled a long way to get here. All I want is for a nice human to adopt me, bring me off from the bunch, peel back my skin, and taste all the delicious nutrients a banana has to offer. Yes, Gwen, me too. We bananas are packed with vitamins and potassium. They'd be silly not to pick us. Plus, we're delicious. Yeah, we go really great with strawberries, peanut butter, even dipped in chocolate with your favorite ice cream. Hey, look, that human is approaching. Ooh! Yay! It's happening! Yay! We're finally going to get eaten Can't wait. Give me some peel One day later Well, it feels good to be out of the grocery store But I wish our human would take us out of this bag It's hot in here Yeah, it's a little cramped Hey, Gwen, uh, do I look different to you? Whoa, dude! You're yellow! Wait, I'm also yellow. Okay, good. You see it too. That's weird. Yesterday we were as green as a Granny Smith apple. Yeah. I also feel... softer. Softer? What do you mean, soft- Whoa! Whoa! Where are we? I think we're in a bowl. Oh, great. Bananas? Just what we need around here. Who are you? I'm Frank. I'm the apple around these parts. And we don't need no stinking bananas around here making everyone go ripe. Whoa, whoa, whoa, Frank. Slow down. What did we do wrong? Don't you guys realize how much ethylene you're giving off? Ethylene? What's ethylene? ethylene is the chemical that makes a fruit turn ripe all fruits produce ethylene but bananas are notorious for putting out a lot of ethylene gas ethylene gas turn right what do you mean well the more ethylene a fruit produces the riper it gets and the sweeter it starts to taste Ethylene also causes fruit to change color, change texture, and get softer. Wow. That's why Gwen and I used to be green, but turned yellow. Look, ethylene is super important for us fruits because it's what allows us to ripen and taste good in the first place. The only problem is, once you start producing ethylene, you don't ever stop. So you're saying we could become too sweet? Exactly. You can get so ripe you become rotten. I mean, look at me. I am not the young apple I once was. My firm, juicy days are behind me. I've got these mushy brown spots all over my red skin. I'm downright uneatable. Well, I'm sorry, Frank, but I don't see how we have anything to do with this. Don't you get it? You're bananas! Yes. Banana peels give off so much ethylene that other fruits ripen faster, too. I hope this human remembers you before it's too late. Ah, thanks, Barry. Five days later. Gwen? Barry? Gwen, I don't think I'm gonna make it. Barry, what do you mean? Look at me. I'm mushier than guacamole And I've got all these brown bruises on my peel I'm not doing so hot myself I'm covered in brown spots too And I'm starting to turn black at the ends What happened to Frank? Oh, the old apple? He got eaten, so unfair Guess all of our potassium is going to waste after all I'm just glad we got to ripen together, Gwen Aw, Barry You're so sweet I'm too sweet Wait, what was that? It's the human Barry, what's happening? The human is mashing us up and mixing us with a bunch of other things I think it's going to bake us into bread Oh, like banana bread? I've heard of that. We're going into the oven, Barry. Ooh, it's hot in here. Looks like we're getting eaten after all. Just not the way we thought. Uh, a happy ending. And so, after producing all the ethylene they could, Barry and Gwen turned from green to yellow to brown until they were finally baked into banana bread, and they were eaten happily ever after. What did the banana say when he got off the roller coaster? I think I peeled my pants. how does a banana make a sandwich with banana bread molly according to my analysis of the brains on show structure it is time for the right you are Harvey Regan here it is it's pretty short so let's hear it one more time okay Regan what is your guess um I don't really know but it sounds kind of like something falling really quickly through a tube? Very good guess. Well, we'll give you another chance to guess and hear the answer in just a bit. We are doing an episode on the science of baseball and baseball has some pretty great chants and cheers, but you know what is severely lacking in that department? Science. Let's fix that. Send us your idea for a science-based game day chant or cheer, something short and sweet like science science you're the best put ideas to the test record your chant and send it to us at brainson.org slash contact you can also send us mystery sounds questions or just tell us a great science joke you heard we can't wait to hear from you again brainson.org slash contact keep listening Today episode is sponsored by Bombas It the time of the year we think about hmm what am I going to do differently this year Maybe I going to read more Maybe I'm going to work out more. Maybe I'm going to learn a new skill. But really at the top of my list is number one, to get comfy. And that's where Bombas comes in. They're bringing serious comfort to all my everyday go-tos. the all new Bombas sport socks are engineered with sport specific comfort for running golf hiking skiing snowboarding and all sport this year I'm going to walk my dog more longer walks better walks and these socks are going to help me stay comfy while I do it and for all my other resolutions like going to the bookstore and picking out more books to read I'm going to wear my new squishy Saturday suede slip-on shoes which are super comfortable for being on the go Head over to Bombas.com slash Family26 and use code Family26 for 20% off your first purchase. That's B-O-M-B-A-S dot com slash Family26, code Family26 at checkout. Where do bananas live? I love bananas. What did the banana say to the dog? Nothing. Bananas can't talk. You're listening to Brains On. I'm Regan. I'm Molly. And I'm everyone's favorite Brains On producer. Hey! Maynika Wilhelm. And I've got a quiz show all about bananas for you. Banana Bing, Banana Boom. In this round, I will be unpeeling a banana factoid, and it's up to you to decide if it's really a fact or if it's fiction. Bananified or bogus. Ready, Regan? I'm ready. First factoid. Bananas first grew in Southeast Asia. Um, I'm going to say that that's true. You're correct. That would be a banana-fied. Today, people farm bananas in tropical places all over the world, like Asia, Latin America, and even Africa, because these plants need lots of water and warmth to grow. Archaeologists are pretty sure it was people in Papua New Guinea who first grew the banana as a crop. And then later, when European people came to Asia looking for places to colonize, they brought bananas back with them and then onto islands like Costa Rica, where they started banana plantations. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. The banana has taken quite a journey. Second factoid. Banana farms have been growing the same banana for the past century. I don't think that's true. I think I heard that bananas have been like genetically modified a lot and now they're very different from what they used to be. You're totally right, Regan. That's bogus. These days, banana farmers grow a kind of banana called a Cavendish banana. But 80 years ago, they were growing a different kind of banana called the Gros Michel, which translates to Big Mike in French. And people say the Big Mike bananas were sweeter and a little more banana-y than today's bananas. The reason that we switched from Big Mike bananas to Cavendish bananas was that a fungus wiped out pretty much all the Gros Michel bananas in Central and South America, and Cavendish bananas could still survive. So growers switched to them. Oh, that's really interesting. So, Maynika, is it true that they were genetically modified, or did they just switch to, like, a different kind of banana? Yeah, it was more of just sort of a different offshoot of a Big Mike kind of plant. So it was more resistant to disease, but it still tasted pretty close to how the Big Mike banana tasted. Third factoid, there's a kind of banana called the ice cream banana. Um, I don't think that there would be an actual ice cream banana, but I mean, you do have banana splits, so I don't know. It's pretty unbelievable, but that's a banana-fied. Even though we pretty much eat one kind of banana, the Cavendish banana we just talked about, there are actually lots of different kinds of bananas around the world. Like, you might have seen red bananas in the grocery store. They've got a reddish peel, and they're sweeter and smaller than the yellow Cavendish. And the ice cream banana grows in Hawaii and islands in Southeast Asia like Fiji. People say it has a nice vanilla flavor that's pretty close to ice cream. Banana bing, banana boom. I'm out for now. Be back with another round soon. Bye-bye. Why did someone slip on an orange peel? Because the banana was out sick. Here's my favorite banana joke from comedian Mitch Hedberg. With a stoplight, green means go, and yellow means slow down. With a banana, however, it is quite the opposite. Yellow means go, green means well, slow down, and red means where the heck did you get that banana? Banana bing, banana boom, we're back. To the quiz show all about bananas. In this round, I'm opening up a can of banana. Except not really, since bananas don't come in cans. But as everyone knows, bananas and rhymes go together like rosemary and thyme. So in this round, I'll serve you up a rhyme line by line. And your job, my friend, is filling in the blank at the end. Ready, Regan? Yes. Rhyme number one Next time you open a banana, give the middle a check Right there in the core, you'll see teensy black specks They might look useful, like something the banana needs But they can't grow into new plants They're actually not seeds Correct! The black specks are kind of what would be seeds But they never grow into full seeds So they're too tiny to do anything And that brings us to rhyme number two Since planting those specks won't do the trick, banana growers do something pretty slick. They cut a special bit off a plant that's grown up, and that special cutting shares a name with baby wolves. It's called a... Cub? Oh, you were very close. It's actually a pup. Oh, okay. So the pup is actually a section of a grown banana plant stem that they cut off, and then it grows into a full banana plant and grows new bananas. Here's our final rhyme. A banana pup has the same DNA as the plant it's cut from, which leaves us with a very specific outcome. No farm-grown banana stands alone. They're all copies of each other. Each one is a... Clone. Correct. Great job, Regan. You completed these banana rhymes like a champion. So some bananas do have seeds, but the ones that we eat that are grown on farms pretty much don't have seeds. And they just grow from cuttings of other banana plants. That is bananas. Oh, I'm so sorry. Banana bing, banana boo. I'm out. Bye-bye. Brains! Want brains on without the interruptions? Just join SmartyPass. You'll get ad-free versions of all of our shows, plus bonus episodes. Go to SmartyPass.org to sign up. Thanks. Turns out the bananas we buy in the grocery store are just the beginning. There's a whole world of bananas out there. We heard from someone who knows all about that. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be able to go to the places that bananas are from because that's where there's the most different types of bananas. And now I get the opportunity to go look for new types of bananas and document them and make them available to other researchers and other farmers throughout the world. Hello, my name is Gabriel Sachter-Smith. I am a banana farmer and banana scientist in Hawaii, and I love banana diversity and all the different many shapes, sizes, kinds, and uses of all the bananas in the world. I grow approximately 150 or so different varieties. I grow bananas that are wild species, which have small fruit that's full of seeds and not very tasty, but they might have really pretty flowers or be really ornamental plants to have in a landscape. Some of them also are resistant to different pests and diseases and I using them to make hybrids with edible bananas I have types that are yellow that are green that are blue that are red that are orange Ones that have small fruits that are very sweet. Ones that have large fruits as large as your arm but are very starchy and are better cooked. I have types that have white flesh and yellow flesh and orange flesh. I think about bananas a lot. There will never be a point in time where I've said, yep, I've seen all the bananas. I guess I'll study apples now. How did the banana get away fast? It peeled out of the kitchen. What is a chicken's favorite food? A bac nana. Okay, Regan, are you ready to go back to that mystery sound? Yes. All right, here it is again. Let's hear it one more time. All right. last time you thought it was something falling down a tube, perhaps. Do you have any new thoughts? So I think maybe it could be, like, it sounds like what they use in a lot of those cartoons is the sound of somebody slipping on a banana peel. Oh, very good guess. And here with the answer is everyone's favorite Brains On producer, Mark Sanchez. Hey! Regan, you are 100% correct. Oh, yay. Nice work. Indeed. And this ties into a question we got. Hi. I'm Emily from Brookline, Massachusetts, and my question is, why are bananas used as a joke for people slipping? How did that start? Fantastic question. And just in case some of you aren't familiar with a banana peel joke, let me explain how it works. First, person A throws a banana peel on the ground. Then person B slips on that banana peel and lands on their backside. That's it. That's the joke. It's in thousands of cartoons and movies I'm sure you've seen. And it's pretty much the definition of a form of comedy called slapstick. That's when humor comes from things like falling or a pie in the face. But where did it come from? I hear you hollering at your podcast listening device. Well, it all started in the mid-1800s. The U.S. wasn't even 100 years old. People used horses to get around, or they simply walked. And many people would sell their goods from stands on the streets, including fruit sellers. And back then, litter was a serious problem. When people were done with something, they would just throw it on the street. And one of the things they threw about all willy-nilly were actually, truly, banana peels. A newspaper article from way back in 1870 wrote this. In spite of all that has been said by the papers around throwing banana peelings and such-like things on the sidewalks, the custom prevails in Memphis to an extent not equaled anywhere that we know of. On almost every corner there is a fruit stand around which the sidewalks are littered with these dangerous pairings, and not a day passes that someone does not receive a fall from stepping on them. So this was a real thing. And as we just learned, the banana that people were eating back then was different from the bananas we eat today. And one way it was different is that it was actually slipperier, which made it more dangerous. This phenomenon of people slipping on banana peels left as litter on the street was so common that people naturally started making jokes about it. It started in newspaper comic strips and in stage routines around this time. So before movies were even invented, this joke had been around for decades Here's what a theater critic had to say in 1909 The slipping on a banana peel episode has been so done to death by the funny papers That it is tabooed now entirely as too old But one person's old is another person's classic Vaudeville performer Sliding Billy Watson became famous in part thanks to his slippery banana peel routine. And when movies came along shortly after that, you can bet your sweet bippy that banana peel falls were there too. The first movies made had no sound. The technology didn't even exist yet. So these silent movies were filled with slapstick, which meant plenty of slips on banana peels. If you want to read more about the origins of this joke and see examples of it, head to our website, BrainsOn.org. What kind of key can open a banana? A monkey. Do you want to know why people like banana jokes? Because they're appealing. Hey, what happened to everyone's favorite Brains On producer, Sandin Totten? Hey! Oh, he fell fast asleep after eating all those banana splits. But he did it before they melted. Just goes to show you, bananas always have appeal. We do, in fact, share lots of DNA with bananas, but there's a lot that's different, too. Bananas produce a lot of ethylene gas, which makes fruit ripen. Bananas grow from tall plants, but most of the bananas we eat don't grow from seeds because they're actually clones. Jokes about slipping on banana peels have been around for about 200 years, because back then it actually happened to people often. That's it for this banana programma. Brains On is produced by Maynika Wilhelm, Sandin Totten, Mark Sanchez, and Molly Blue. We had production help from David Jha, Nancy Hsu, Ava Kian, and Christina Lopez. And we had editing help from Phyllis Fletcher. Many thanks to Tamara Lennox, Jim Fasano, Leah Stanz, Sam Chu, Jennifer Lai, Rosie DuPont, and Vicki Kreckler. And an extra round of applause for our big bunch of banana joke tellers. Livia, Paxton, Annalie, Ikaika, Alice, Carter, Lyra, Inti, Vivian, Anshu, Sabina, and Strummer. Now it's time for the Brain's Honor Roll. These are the incredible kids who keep the show going with their questions, ideas, mystery sounds, drawings, and high fives. Huxley from Austin, Texas. Greta from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Micah from Asheville, North Carolina. Faye from British Columbia. Eli from Nova Scotia. Levi from Bartow, Florida. Kelly and Alexis from Swedesboro, New Jersey. Louis from Vancouver, British Columbia. Kira from London. Jack from Henrico, Virginia. Viola, Gus, and Joe from Kalispell, Montana. Paloma from Portland, Oregon, Xander and Torrin from Colorado Springs, Sean from Kirkland, Washington, Fiona from Marietta, Georgia, Max and Bella from Austin, Texas, Camden and Noah from Holly Springs, North Carolina, Samana from Schaumburg, Illinois, Ivy from Manitoba, Alex from Alabama, Frankie from Seattle, Griffin and Tolula from Columbus, Ohio, Logan from St. Albert, Alberta, Miles and Joanna from Cincinnati, Edie from Vancouver, Audrey from Clive, Iowa, Evie from Aldergrove, British Columbia, Samuel from St. Louis, Logan from Littleton, Colorado, Oliver from Madrid, Spain, Marina from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Carter from Waynesville, North Carolina. Jingyi from Toronto. Jones and Cora from Kitchener, Ontario. Lila and Isabeau from Fayetteville, Georgia. Faye from British Columbia. Allison and Sophia from Newburgh, New York. Erica from Australia. Warren from Centralia, Washington. Garrett from Reading, Massachusetts. Marnie from Los Angeles. Evie from Birchwood Village, Minnesota. Emerson from Squamish, British Columbia. Ji Yuan from Auckland, New Zealand. Janaba from Dakar, Senegal. Advit from Washington, D.C. Branson and Everly from Southern California. Olivia and Allison from Goshen, New York. Adrian from New Brighton, Minnesota. Emilia and Maverick from Calgary, Alberta. Zinnia and Luca from Silver City, New Mexico. Ziggy from Melbourne, Australia. Hazel from New Albany, Indiana. Naomi from Bremerton, Washington. Magda from Arlington, Virginia. Ellie from New Baltimore, Michigan. Swan from Austin, Texas. Owen and Elliot from Portland, Oregon. Millie from Canton, Georgia. Violet from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bella from London, England. And Christian from Martinsburg, West Virginia. We'll be back next week with more answers to your questions. Thanks for listening. I did it! I fixed Harvey! Now everything won't be so bananas! Yes, Mark. Orange, you glad I'm done with bananas?