Matt and Bec will be leaving New York the day this episode releases. They will have had a good time.
Bec went to the Edinburgh Fringe — again. Still not as a performer. Bec and a friend danced, and then DJed at 03:00 in the morning (because of course she knew the people at the venue). Since Bec has been bitten by the DJ bug, she now needs a DJ name. Some options are DJ Be Chill, DJ Dex Hill. Listeners are encouraged to send their own suggestions. Matt's DJ name would be Algo Rhythm. If they DJ together, they could be Bananas in DJamas.
In A Podcast Of Unnecessary Detail, Matt mentioned that he wants to see the new sewers of London. Someone working for the sewers heard that, and thus Matt got a tour of the Blackfriars Tideway site, though he did not get to go into the pipes. However, he did get to stand on top of a crapnado, a poop vortex (though it was inactive since the sewerage system was not yet finished). He still wants to see the old Bazalgette sewers, and asks the listeners for help.
Ben has been inspired by Bec's grappling hook chat in episode 042 (news). Their issue is that while they'd like to be Batman, they're not a wealthy business person. What one utility could they strap to their belt that would help them stop the most crime (ideally under £100)?
During the problem statement, Matt and Bec discuss the technicalities of Batman's merch. They're also wearing their DING merch shirts.
Bec starts by working out the most common crimes (in the UK). They are, in order, fraud (including scams), theft, computer misuse, violence, and vehicle offenses. Bec asked in a tweet about people who have been scammed, and talks about a few of the stories from the replies.
Bec's first solution would be common sense, but it's not technically stopping the crime. To figure out why people do crimes, she then asked people whether they ever committed a crime, and got a few good replies. She also read some papers. There's lots of factors, e.g. because the benefits outweigh the costs, or because people feel compelled to do so.
After all that, and reading a book, Bec came to the conclusion that we need hope in order to overcome the apathy of "there's nothing you can do" and to change our society. Thus, you need an item that induces hope in others. She is unsure what item that should be (a badge? a buckle?), and requests item ideas from listeners. Matt also suggests donating the £100.
What is the speed of smell?
Matt only looks at the time it takes the smell to get to the nose since biology is a mess. Instead of going into the theory of diffusion and brownian motion, Matt conducts an experiment: Matt puts limited edition artificial intelligence Lynx deodorant in a nonempty subset of his three solo cups, seals them with cling film, numbers them and shuffles them. Bett is one meter away from each cup when it is pierced, and Matt measures the time until they each smell it. Lots of heavy breathing ensues. According to the data, Bec's speed of smell is 2.3 cm/s (or 1.4 m/min) and Matt's is 2.5 cm/s (or 1.5 m/min). In conclusion, the speed of smell in Matt's office is 0.09 km/h.
A ding from Bec, combined with a Beardyman ding
A lot of people have sent in their opinions. Marcel said the solution was clearly the same as the solution to problem 011-3. Matt initially disagrees, but then agrees, but then disagrees again. L00natic proposes that if you put something on it, it's a plate, and if you put something in it, it's a bowl. They also suggest a bonus category of "cup". Nicole on Patreon says the dish in the cupboard photo from last episode was a plate for catching messy good. However, Bec has used it for soup in the past. Another patron say that in Dutch, it's just called a deep plate.
The poll results are in: Surface curves with rim got 19.9%, surface curves with no rim got 29.7%, and the spoon test got 50.4%.
Several people mentioned the steps on artificial ski slopes, or steps in castles. The winning suggestion is the Lion's Mound monument in Belgium with 226 fairly regular and steep steps. Matt now needs an eye witness account from these steps. Bec might be there soon, but listeners nearby that could help should get in touch.
Someone else got in touch with a company that can make custom slinkys. Matt is excited.
Bec has found a pack of Wotsits Crunchy, and they're in date! They smell like Lynx AI, as does everything in the room. Bec and Matt both like them.