Support for NPR and the following message come from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Investing in creative thinkers and problem solvers who help people, communities, and the planet flourish. More information is available at Hewlett.org. Whenever there's an earthquake, the search and rescue team's first find people who may be trapped under the rubble. It's a very hard thing to do. Danielle Giangrasso of the NGO Apopo has been working on a new way to do it. Go in and navigate these tight spaces that other technologies can't reach and also locate and identify human survivors. Wow. How do the rats tell you that? How do they give you that information? Yes, so we've trained them to pull a micro switch on their vest whenever they are in proximity of a human. And they pull a micro switch and it triggers a beep back to our base point or base camp that they've found someone. Okay, so I should be picturing these rats wearing vests. Yes. Also, they're outfitted with a technology-enabled backpack with a camera, with two-way communications, GPS. So what happens? So, okay, so there's an earthquake. Say there's an area with a lot of debris where you suspect there might be people trapped underneath it. And then you show up with a bunch of rats? Yes. When we've identified an area of the debris that we would like to search with the rats, we'll then set up our small team and the rats will go in and search. Whether it's there's a supposed victim deep in the debris that we need to investigate, or even if we want to see what the internal debris structure is. And so that's really valuable information. It's less glamorous than finding a person, but it's really valuable information for our search and rescue teams to have. Do you think about, have you thought about the sort of human experience of this? I just think like if I were trapped under a bunch of rubble, unsure if I was going to get out, and all of a sudden there was a rat in front of me pulling a switch on its vest, it might only add to my terror. Yes, or you may think you're hallucinating. What's happening? So we've definitely thought about this. And so the first thing is, hopefully, public awareness will help. So the more we can spread the news about this, the more people can hear about it. But also the rats have, we have search and rescue colors on their backpacks, so it's orange. They have a light. And we've also played around with having a recording that plays, hey, I'm a rescue rat. I'm here surveying. Please let me know if you need help, which may just add to the unconscious and may help. We'll see. A talking rat is here to save me. Well, cool. Dr. Jean Grasse, thank you so much for telling us all about this. Thank you. It was great speaking with you. And please thank the rats for us, for all their wonderful work they're doing. I definitely will. Thank you for considering them. This is How to Do Everything. I'm Ian. And I'm Mike. On today's show, you keep making us your out of office emergency contact, so we keep helping you out. Sort of, sort of. Keep sort of helping. But first, hey, Dennis, what can we help you with? Well, what do you do when you're in the dental chair and your dentist is carrying on a conversation with you, but has a kiss in your mouth while he's doing so? That's tough. You know, I think about this all the time. Well, all the time when I'm at the dentist. Was there a time? Have you been to the dentist recently? Yeah, I was there. And I'm in the chair and the dentist says to me, I hear you're running for public office. And I just want you to know that even though you've been a patient of mine for 40 years, I don't agree with your positions. So I'm not going to vote for you. Wow. And then I have to go, oh, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Dennis, Dennis, what was happening? What was the procedure he was doing? Was this just a cleaning or was there more going on? No, he was doing the roots now, which is bad enough. That is bad. Wow. All right, Dennis, we're going to take this and we're going to see what we can do to help you out. Well, thank you very much. Okay, we have an idea of how to help Dennis, something that might help any of us when we're in the situation. We're going to call up Christina Hunger. Christina, we understand you can talk to your dog. Do I have that right? That's correct. And she can talk back, which is the coolest part about it. How does this work? So she has a system of buttons that all represent a different word. And when she presses a button with her paw, it says the word that we've previously recorded into it. And this all came from technology that I used as a speech therapist with kids who were nonverbal. Wow. I'm picturing there's like a kind of key, like a keyboard or something. Describe what I guess your dog is seeing. Picture a giant colorful keyboard on the ground. And it has rows of buttons on it that are about the size of her paw so that when she presses down, it says the word that we've recorded into it. Can you give an example of like what a conversation is like then? Yeah, absolutely. So we started with just some basic words like she would want to tell me when she needed to go outside or when she wanted to play, when she needed to eat or when her water dish was empty. But it's really evolved. So now she uses our names, different locations. She has question words, some simple emotions. So this morning, for example, I was tending to my toddler and she was upset and she said mad want outside because I hadn't taken her out yet. And so then I let her out, she came back in, then she marched right back to her board and told me come eat, come eat when she was ready for her breakfast. What's your dog's name? What's her name? Stella. And the keyboard is customizable so you can add words. What was the last word you added? Actually, we haven't added words since my son was born and we added his name and cry because that was a relevant word for the environmental change going on. Wait, so how does that work? How does cry, how does Stella use that word? So when he would be crying a lot, she would a lot of times say cry all done or cry off or she would comment. My son's name is Max. So she would say like Max cry, Max cry. So I'm hearing Max crying and then I'm hearing Stella say Max cry. Everyone's trying to get me to hear the situation. So you mentioned the word mad is on there because she would say mad outside. Are there other emotions on the board? We just have happy and mad. So like happy, I don't have a dog but I think I think of our communication with dogs as mostly being them trying to tell us what they need. But like happy might just be making conversation. Does she just make conversation sometimes? All the time. That's been the most surprising part of this. So when I set out to teach her, my goal was to just give her a way to say some few basic needs. But I saw her starting to use words in ways that were really similar to kids, which I could recognize because I'm a speech therapist and that's what I think. She'll come back in from playing outside and say play happy and smile and lay on my feet. She didn't have to be that. She just wanted to let me know she was really happy playing outside. That's so cool. That's awesome. What reactions have you seen from guests in your home of this happening for the first time? So in the beginning, it was really interesting because no one else had done this. I'm the one who started it and sometimes I just wouldn't say anything. I would wait for Stella to just go on and talk and then see their reactions and that was always really fun. I'll never forget we had two friends over. They came in, we were kind of showing them around and then Stella went and got a drink of water and she finished her bowl and then she walked over to her board of buttons and said all done water. And the look on my friend's faces because they had no idea about this. They were just in shock and had a million questions. Well, we have a question from one of our listeners, Dennis. Dennis wants to know how he can have a good conversation with his dentist while in the dental chair, while having tools in his mouth. And we're wondering if your invention maybe could help in Dennis's situation. I totally think it could. It came from humans using devices when they're not able to communicate with verbal speech. So I think our buttons and just this whole concept, augmentative communication in general, that absolutely solve that universal problem when the dentist asks you something and you're laying there and you don't know how to respond when you can't talk. Yeah, you would need to think of kind of anticipate the dentist's questions. But that's like, I think just in my experience, it would be, I would need a button that said, no, no big plan. Mm hmm. That button. Yep. Of course, I've been flossing. That button. Yes. I wonder if there's a way where you based in the Chicago area. Could we could we, is there a way I wonder if we could get this board to a dentist and try this out or absolutely. Yeah, we definitely could. Okay, so we have acquired from Christina. Thank you, Christina. We've acquired this board. We've programmed it with our own messages and we are now at the dentist because we're going to try it out. And I'm going to be good. I'm the one getting in the chair. I'll be the patient. So can I have you just introduce yourself? Hi, I'm Teresa Neal, owner of Windy City Family Dental here on Michigan Avenue. Excited to meet Mike. See what's going on. Thinking about Dennis's question. Do you, when you're working on them, do you talk to your patients? All the time. And do you ask them questions? Yeah, of course I do. That's how I get to know my patients. But I mean, you must know that it's hard for them to respond. Is it hard? Most do. Wait, are you, do you ever have to stop what you're doing to continue a conversation? Yeah, yeah. Sometimes I do. Like, does it ever, do you ever get into like deep philosophical conversations where yes or no just won't do? Yes, sometimes I do. Yeah, so we'll stop and we'll talk, you know, like this, I'll pull my mask down and we'll start talking. Are you, are there any patients where you, you don't want to hear what they have to say so you keep going? Yes. Yes, definitely. Sometimes when it gets into, I don't know, sticky things like politics or just something I don't want to hear about. We have a device called a bite block where it kind of just keeps their mouth open. And so they can't really close, they can't really stop and keep talking. We have different little tools we could use that will end the conversation pretty effectively. So there are cases where you will use the bite block even if it is not dentally necessary. Yes. Yeah. Actually, it might be good to put, yeah, to put a bite block in Mike. Yeah, okay. So let's try it then. Then I, well, so we have this device that will do the talking for me so that I don't have to talk. And this is a device that was invented so that dogs could talk to their owners. All right. Do you want to put it on top of the, the, you're okay? Okay. So welcome, Mike, to our practice. How are your teeth feeling today? Really, really good. Yeah, they look pretty good. Let's see how often are you brushing? Oh, every day. Every day. Every day. How about flossing? Of course I've been flossing. So you're brushing pretty well. Really, really good. Okay, I see a little, you had braces too. I can see a little retainer here. Really, really good. Mike, can I ask you a question? How do you feel about me, your friend being able to look into your mouth as you're getting a dental exam? I love that for you. Yeah, I mean, your teeth look good. They do look good, Mike. They're a very good example. Has Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love Said, Having a Broken Heart is a Good Sign, because it means you tried for something. Okay. Where's my bite block? So far, what do you think about this device as a, would you want one of these, say, mounted on the chair so a patient could speak to you? It's effective, but probably not. I don't know. We don't love it. I think this device is, it needs some refinement. I think we have, we've uncovered the limitations of this device. It doesn't, I don't know that it works for the situation. Yeah. Maybe the problem is we, we modified it when maybe we should have caught the, we just kept the dog responses. Outside of food. I feel like if you're doing something a patient doesn't like, and they keep saying outside, that communicates. Stop. Yeah. Yeah. What, if you could reprogram this, what would you have me say? A lot of yes and no's really is, yeah, more simple things like, how are you doing? A lot of my patients do thumbs up, which is good. Thumbs down, which is I need a break. That hurts. Yeah. Do you think being a dentist, do you think that that has made you better at telling when people are lying? Yes, definitely. A lot of my patients lie to me about how well they're brushing their teeth and I can tell. Let me ask you this question. If I know I have a dentist appointment next week, should I start flossing the week before? You should, but I can tell still that you only started flossing recently. Yeah, I would say like at least three months of consistent flossing. Oh, that's not going to happen. Yeah. All right. Well, do you and the hygienists you work with, do you have any kind of secret ways of communicating with each other? Like if you don't, if you need to say something that you don't want the patient to know you're talking about, do you have kind of code words or anything? Are we telling you what we do have code words? Yes. In the notes and when we speak to each other. Okay, tell me one code word. Triangle. We have a triangle patient. That means something. Wait, what does it mean? What does it mean? It can mean a lot of different things, usually just a high maintenance maybe in different ways. Where does that come from? Why triangle? I don't know. We just picked triangle because it's not a common word that we would really ever use to describe a patient. It doesn't really mean anything to the average person. Sometimes their chart will be labeled triangle. And so if you or another patient sees triangle, they don't really know what that means. Yeah. Was Mike a triangle patient? Oh, Mike was awesome. Great team. Is that on? Because I don't want everybody to know. It is on. Some patients talk more than others. Like I do. This is one of the hygienists in the office. So I'm going to go in there and I'm going to tell you you have a phone call in room 10, which we don't have a room 10. So she knows she has to finish the covers. So I have to get her out of there because we're running late. Yeah, I think it sounds like an important phone call in room 10, which we don't have a room 10. So. Well, all right, we don't. I get the sense that there might be a phone call in room 10 that you guys should take. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. Thanks for stopping by. I actually have thank you on here. Sorry. That's a great you need that for sure. So many we need. Thank you. OMG. I love that. Christina Hunger, who invented this technology, wrote a book about her experience. It's called How Stella Learned to Talk. Stella's a dog. Hey, Paula. This is your treasure. It's your birthday treasure. You found it. Everyone else, just move on. If you have questions for us, whatever they may be, you can get them to us at how2atnpr.org. We promise we'll do our best, our very best to find the perfect person to help solve your problem. Send those questions to us how2atnpr.org. This message comes from Wwise, the app for international people using money around the globe. You can send, spend, and receive up up to 40 currencies with only a few simple taps. Be smart, get wise, download the Wwise app today, or visit wise.com, tease, and seize, apply. support for NPR and the following message come from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation investing in creative thinkers and problem solvers who help people communities and the planet flourish more information is available at Hewlett.org our offer still stands to be your out-of-office email emergency contact when you go on vacation and this week somebody named Paola put us as her contact when she went off to celebrate her birthday week specifically she said I am mentally away celebrating my birthday week all birthday messages celebration logistics and general love notes should be trusted to Mike and Ian at how to .org we got a slew of responses let's get to them now hey Ken so Ken what's going on well it was kind of a strange reply so I tried contacting her several different ways and so I finally emailed her and I got this weird out-of-office reply saying to contact you guys so is that so you can help me with terms of finding out what's going on with her birthday so you're trying to figure out like what her plans are or if there is a party because we we saw the I think we saw the same out-of-office message you did but we don't know any further details at this point but we will try and track it down that'd be great okay so if you wanted us to convey a message to Paola regarding her birthday or if you have a question what what would it be just a happy birthday from Ken where are you what are you up to and I guess that's about it okay terrific and what birthday is this do you know you mean her age I guess yeah I guess I am asking that I don't know if that's you don't have to answer that yeah maybe she's uncomfortable I don't know maybe she's not usually just embraces the passage of time I don't know um she's a year older that's all I can say okay that's good diplomacy okay I feel like so we're we're at the beginning of this process can you tell us just like a little bit of about her as we kind of shape maybe what what we might want to do well she knows a lot of people she's pretty outgoing she's a very friendly person and she loves to dance oh okay that's fun any dietary restrictions um yeah preferably no lactose hey Eduardo we got an email from you seeking assistance in celebrating Paola's birthday we're happy to help you if maybe there's some wishes you want to convey we can send them to her yeah sounds good great how long have you known Paola she's my sister sorry she's your sister yeah I said Joe Gray I sent her a text I sent her an email I sent her what's up and I called her and when I when I got the email bag I was like what is this yeah so okay so let's see do why don't we just we'll we'll just give you an opening right now you can you can say a birthday message for your sister sure Feliz iales quiero mucho hope you've had a fantastic birthday and just entering the weekend so lots more to celebrate and love you very much and wish you best that's fantastic seem like a great brother I try to be yeah so we're we're gonna try and take our duty very seriously and try and do something for Paola can you tell us we don't know we've never met her we don't know anything about her do you want to tell us something about her so we know what what maybe we want to do sure she likes dark chocolate that's for sure that's why I like the dark chocolate well yeah we were kids you used to do like treasure hunks or me and my sister oh those are more just memories anything else but yeah okay so we wanted to do something nice for Paola so we sent an edible arrangement to her school bouquet of fruit this is with dark chocolate and no lactose can you hear me hello Paola hi happy birthday Paola thank you so much so laughing about all this yeah we we got a lot of a lot of people reached out to us needing help to celebrate your birthday we talked to kin we talked to your brother Eduardo I just needed some mental time away and I didn't really want to plan for anything this time so I wasn't purposely picking up the phone or answering texts people found it a little bit weird my mom was utterly confused we didn't hear we didn't hear from your mom someone from work was trying to help me to relax I know I guess she did not understand well did it did it work do you feel rejuvenated I do I think it worked you know and of course I wanted to leave this with someone I could trust to do absolutely nothing helpful and you to wear you know the obvious so that's that's that is that is who we are what did you guys fully you know I think one thing we're gonna do we want to do one more thing so your brother told us that when you were kids you used to do treasure hunts yeah that's right I think what we're gonna do we're gonna hide treasure in this podcast episode okay I probably by this point in the episode everyone will have heard it and wondered what that was but now they know that was your birthday treasure hidden hidden in here somewhere oh that's so sweet well happy birthday thank you thank you all right I love you guys if you having just heard this having heard how we helped Paola with her birthday if you want us to be your out-of-office emergency contact just copy and paste the out-of-office message from our show notes we blew our entire budget on one edible arrangement so we will not be helping in that way but any other way we'll do our best well that does it for this week's show what you learn Ian I learned dogs I think it's amazing I learned dogs just sometimes just want to make conversation yeah yeah that does change things doesn't it it's not just you know give me food let me out mm-hmm I'm I don't like the way you're talking to me right now don't patronize me I'm not I'm not always a good boy you know Mike I one other thing that this episode has been making me think about I just you know there's a lot of people out there with with broken hearts okay right and if they're listening to us right now I just wonder if you have any any advice oh for people with broken hearts sure yeah you know okay yeah not now that you mentioned it does remind me as Elizabeth Gilbert author of eat pray love said having a broken heart is a good sign because it means you tried for something it is weird right Mike that we in programming that the dentist talking board yeah we had a long quote from Elizabeth Gilbert but we didn't think to put in thank you I feel like again we had a lot of missed opportunities if Stella hears this episode she's gonna have a lot of strong criticism out crying podcast bad dorks attack how to do everything is produced by Hina Shrivastava and Skyler Swinson technical direction from Lorna White our intern this week is kin kin thanks for helping us celebrate Paula's birthday and happy birthday to you whenever that birthday may come if you have any questions we're happy to try and answer them you can send them to us at how to at npr.org I mean and I'm Mike thanks thanks support for NPR and the following message come from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation investing in creative thinkers and problem solvers who help people communities and the planet flourish more information is available at Hewlett.org
