Two people have been sending Matt new maths things. He has received a new dodecahedron and a 4030 digit digitally delicate prime number.
Makeaway Takeaway starts on CITV on 17:30 on 2021-09-06.
For a hen do, Bec went to an old nuclear bunker. Matt would've been in his element. There was a cool old computer with an unknown language. Bec got safely inebriated. Matt would be up for an on-location recording session.
How to avoid burning out with writing and ways to keep it fun and interesting
Bec and Matt talk about the books they're writing. When Bec was writing episodes for children's shows, they were so short she didn't get bored. Writing a rough first draft is quick, but honing it takes a long time. Don't worry about making it perfect on the first go, that's just wasted energy. You have to be okay with making a bad thing, but you do get to fix it later.
Sometimes Bec wears differently-colored 3D glasses. Sometimes she switches up the font, e.g. Comic Sans (all of Matt's books have been written in Verdana). Bec has bought an E-Ink tablet and a clacky bluetooth keyboard to kind of emulate a type writer, which makes writing more fun. Matt has some fidget toys nearby and he likes throwing things in the air and leaning very far back in the chair.
Don't write for more than three or four hours at a time, otherwise you'll not be very productive. Matt recommends to stop writing when you're excited, and to write down a few ideas. This way, you'll have a good starting point the next day. Matt uses post-it notes on his wall to structure his books.
Awaiting ding from James.
It's easy to look at a star that's light years away, but I was wondering where on Earth you can look the furthest away at something that is also on Earth. As in: What's the longest line between two points on Earth that doesn't go through the Earth, and where are those two points?
Matt first wanted to know what's the furthest thing away that you can see with your bare eyes: It's the Andromeda galaxy. From time to time, supernovae further away are also visible. Bec wants to coin the term "blip" for a supernova you can see with the naked eye.
The taller you are, the further away the horizon is. Matt recounts a related Lucie anecdote. Matt has a spreadsheet to calculate personal horizons. If you built a tower up the the line where space starts, you could see just over 2000 km in every direction. From the tallest existing building, the Burj Khalifa, you could see 103 km, and there is a direct line of sight to the top of the tallest building in Abu Dhabi. Bec asks about two mountains; Matt is open for suggestions.
Waiting for a reply from Lois.
When eating cereal, what is the milk? Sauce, broth, jus, or something else?
Bec did some research: It's milk! It's not broth, jus, gravy, soup, or stock, because those all involve boiling the ingredients to get the flavour out of them. A sauce is made out of a variety of ingredients, which milk is not. It's a bit like cold-brew tea where you eat the tea, or like custard. If you added some stuff to the milk before pouring it, it could be a sauce.
A simultaneous Bec "ding" and Beardyman ding
Matt was just going to throw the helmet out. The most popular suggestion was a hanging basket. John suggested returning it to the manufacturer with a description of what happened. You will help provide real-world data and you might even get a discount on your replacement helmet. Matt liked this suggestion and will send his helmet back.
Bec has forgotten what her card was.