0:00

And now it's time for Who Smarted. Pssst,

0:03

ahoy smarty pants! As you

0:05

can probably hear, I'm on a boat in the deep sea

0:08

in search of one of the most fearsome monsters on

0:10

Earth. Arrrr! And

0:14

I've hitched a ride with a bunch

0:16

of stereotypical pirates. Yo

0:18

ho ho, in a bag of Funyuns.

0:21

Time to lock the plank, narrator. Whoa,

0:23

whoa, whoa. That is not the

0:26

plan. Remember, we're hunting for a

0:28

monster. Together! I,

0:31

and there ain't no sea man or

0:33

monster alive that can take

0:35

down me and my band of bloodthirsty

0:37

pirates. Or me name ain't,

0:40

I Patch McShaw. Well,

0:45

that's just it. This monster isn't

0:47

exactly alive. And it just might be able

0:49

to take down your boat, along

0:52

with you, me, and all your men. Arrrr,

0:55

bite your tongue, narrator. Oh,

0:57

I'm biting. I'm biting. Ow.

1:00

I'm just saying, this is no ordinary sea

1:02

monster. We'll see

1:04

about that. For today, we'll

1:07

feast on the mighty Tiramisu.

1:11

Oh no, Captain I Patch, you must

1:13

have read the script wrong. We're not

1:15

searching for Tiramisu, which is a coffee-flavored

1:17

Italian dessert. No, we're

1:19

looking for the force behind a

1:21

tsunami. A

1:24

tsunami, huh? Yes,

1:27

a tsunami. Well,

1:29

shiver me, timbers. Wouldn't

1:31

you rather hunt down a Tiramisu? I

1:34

mean, the crew and I was getting excited about

1:37

eating all that Italian pastry. Nope.

1:43

Sorry. Even though their names have a lot

1:45

of the same letters, tsunami,

1:47

spelled T-S-U-N-A-N-I, is

1:50

not Tiramisu. Smarty

1:52

Pants, do you know what a tsunami is? Is

1:55

it A, a large underwater reptile? B,

1:58

a large ocean wave that surfs through the

2:00

sea? love to ride or see

2:02

a series of ocean waves reaching as high

2:04

as 100 feet or 30 meters capable

2:08

of causing massive destruction. If

2:11

you said see, you're right. In

2:14

fact, tsunami is a Japanese word

2:17

meaning harbor wave. Did

2:20

you say waves higher than 100 feet? Yep,

2:24

that's like nine elephants stacked on top of each

2:26

other. Arr,

2:29

and we be out here hunting for what

2:31

causes them? That's right. Arr,

2:35

we're going to need a bigger boat. So,

2:37

smarty pants, what causes a tsunami to

2:39

happen? Where are they most

2:41

likely to hit? And how can you protect

2:43

yourself from the massive waves? Get

2:46

ready for another whiff of science and history

2:48

on... Who's

2:50

smarted? Who's

2:53

smarted? Who's

2:56

smart? Is it you? Is

2:58

it me? Is it science

3:01

or history? Listen

3:03

up, everyone, we make

3:06

smarty lots of fun on

3:08

Who's smarted. Hey

3:11

smarty fans, your pal Trusty has a gift

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for you, a seven

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Plus. That's right. If you

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sign up for Who's Smarted Plus,

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click join Who's Smarted Plus. Thanks for

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smarting with us. us and supporting Who's Smarted.

4:02

SmartyPans, call out if you've ever been to a

4:04

beach. I heard quite a

4:06

number of you. Now tell me, what's

4:09

one thing that makes ocean beaches different

4:11

than other places to swim? Yep,

4:14

there's sand there, but many lakes have

4:16

sandy shores too. What else? Salt

4:19

water. Yep, for sure the ocean is

4:21

salty. But there's also the

4:23

Great Salt Lake, the Dead Sea, the Caspian

4:25

Sea, and hundreds of other lakes that also

4:27

contain salt water. You ready for the

4:29

answer? The one thing that

4:32

makes ocean beaches stand apart from everything

4:34

else is the waves. Great

4:38

job if you got that, SmartyPans. And

4:41

while some lakes, like the Great Lakes,

4:43

do have waves and tides like oceans,

4:45

often their waves are barely noticeable.

4:48

While ocean waves certainly make a

4:50

splash. While you

4:53

always have to be careful in the ocean,

4:55

and it's always good to be near a

4:57

lifeguard. Most

4:59

times the waves can be fun to play

5:01

or ride it. But

5:03

occasionally they can become dangerous.

5:06

This is Chet Nickerson with a

5:09

special weather report. There's

5:11

a storm out in the ocean

5:13

that's causing rough surf along

5:15

the shoreline. If you're thinking

5:17

of going swimming today, don't.

5:20

And if you're planning to

5:22

go to the beach today,

5:24

stay out of the water

5:26

folks. Instead, may I suggest

5:28

building sand castles, tossing a

5:31

frisbee, sunbathing, and eating sandwiches,

5:33

minus the sand. Yuck!

5:36

Trusty, back to you. Of

5:39

course, if you're an expert

5:41

surfer, you're probably looking for

5:43

big waves. Hang tendids. But

5:46

even for experienced or pro

5:49

surfers, tsunami waves are way

5:52

too big. Nope,

5:54

those are not good

5:56

vibrations. SmartyPans, what do

5:58

you think causes regular waves? waves to

6:00

happen? Is it A, wind?

6:03

B, gravitational forces from the

6:05

Sun and Moon? Or

6:07

C, baseball games? The

6:10

answer is all three, though the

6:12

waves at baseball games are caused by

6:14

people moving their arms. Ocean

6:16

waves come from a combination of wind and

6:19

gravitational forces from the Sun and

6:21

Moon. Now answer me this, true

6:24

or false? A tsunami happens

6:26

when the Moon's gravitational force on

6:28

the ocean is extra strong. The

6:31

answer is false. In

6:34

fact, the Moon and Sun do not

6:36

cause tsunamis. So

6:39

smarty pants, where do they come from?

6:42

Argh! That's what we're gonna find

6:44

out here in the Briny Deep.

6:47

Why, yes, I patch McShaw,

6:50

the origin of a tsunami lies in the ocean.

6:53

Smarty pants, can you guess which

6:55

ocean has the most tsunamis? Is

6:57

it the Atlantic, the Pacific, the

6:59

Indian, the Arctic, or the

7:02

Southern Ocean? The answer

7:04

is the

7:07

Pacific. Great job if you got

7:09

that, smarty pants. While

7:12

tsunamis can happen in any

7:15

ocean, about 80% of

7:17

them occur in a region of the Pacific

7:19

called the Ring of Fire. Aye,

7:21

the Ring of Fire, where water

7:24

gets so hot, it's set up

7:26

lazing. Smarty

7:28

pants, is Captain I patch right? Do

7:30

you know why part of the Pacific Ocean is

7:33

called the Ring of Fire? Is

7:35

it because A, the water catches fire,

7:38

B, it's home to most of the world's volcanoes,

7:41

or C, dragons live there. Argh!

7:47

Argh! I sure remember fighting some

7:49

fierce dragons in these parts. Where do

7:51

you think I got all these scars?

7:54

Those look like paper cuts. Hey,

7:57

equally nasty. Argh! Sorry,

8:00

I patch, but the answer is actually B. As

8:03

you may remember from our episodes on

8:05

earthquakes and volcanoes, the Ring of Fire

8:07

along the edge of the Pacific Ocean

8:09

has three quarters of all the Earth's

8:11

volcanoes, over 450 of them. Whoa.

8:15

So what does this have to do with

8:17

tsunamis? We are about to find out. Argh,

8:21

we at the start of a tsunami. Looks

8:23

like it. Avast ye, mateys,

8:26

danger lurks ahead. All

8:28

hands on deck. Batten

8:30

down the hatches. Fire the cannons.

8:34

Fire, secure the booty, pirate

8:36

and otherwise. Throw

8:40

that weatherman overboard. This

8:42

is Chet Nickerson reporting. Things are

8:44

about to get very waaaaaaack!

8:49

Argh, toss him a life ring. Thanks.

8:52

I'm OK. Voice

8:55

the Jolly Roger and prepare to

8:57

meet your doom. Argh.

9:01

So how big is this tsunami creature

9:03

going to be? Smarty pants,

9:05

care to take a guess? When

9:07

tsunamis hit land, most are less than 10

9:09

feet high, about the height of one elephant.

9:13

Though, like we said earlier, some do get

9:15

as tall as nine elephants. If

9:18

that's the case, how big is a tsunami

9:20

at its source? Is it

9:22

the height of 15 elephants? The

9:24

height of three elephants? Or the height

9:27

of a Jack Russell terrier? The

9:29

answer, surprisingly, is only about a foot

9:31

or 30 centimeters high, about the size

9:33

of a small dog. At

9:36

the source, a tsunami wave is like the

9:38

water hitting a boat, barely

9:41

noticeable. You might have better luck

9:43

seeing it from the ocean floor. Prepare

9:45

the submarine. Argh. This

9:48

rickety old ship has a submarine? Aye,

9:51

we may be stereotypical pirates, but

9:53

this is still the 21st century.

9:57

Prepare to dive. Argh.

10:00

Ooh, look at that! There's our source of the

10:02

tsunami! Smarty Pants, knowing now

10:04

that we're at the bottom of the ocean,

10:07

at the Pacific Ocean's Ring of Fire, what

10:09

do you think are the main causes of tsunamis?

10:12

Here's a hint. If

10:18

you said volcanoes, you're right. But

10:21

if you said earthquakes, you're also

10:23

right. Underwater volcanoes,

10:26

earthquakes, and even landslides can cause

10:28

water to rise and move out

10:30

quickly, more than 10 times

10:32

faster than normal waves at the speed

10:34

of a jet plane. It's

10:39

not so noticeable in the deep ocean,

10:41

but when all that wave energy

10:43

reaches the shallower waters near the

10:45

shore, the speed slows down and

10:47

the height of the water increases,

10:50

creating massive waves. Argh,

10:54

and that's when we see the

10:56

fearsome beast! Yes, and

10:59

there's one other tsunami trigger I have yet to

11:01

mention. One from outer space.

11:05

Tsunamis from outer space?

11:07

Yo ho ho, and a bottle of

11:10

RON! Aye, I'll tell you

11:12

all about it right after this quick break. And

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18:00

idea. I'm in! You

18:02

can join your little friend overboard. Arrrr!

18:05

Aaaaaah!

18:08

And now Trusty Narrator has

18:10

been thrown overboard! We're

18:13

gonna need a bigger life preserver. Do

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you love Who Smarted but don't love

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all the ads? We get it, but

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Just subscribe to Who Smarted Plus and

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Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts or

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teachers, click on educators to get

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Who Smarted Plus totally free. Thanks

18:55

for smarting with us. A

18:58

big shout out to Super Smarty fan

19:01

Yoshimi in Fallbrook, California. We're so glad

19:03

you love Who Smarted and listen to

19:05

it everywhere you go. And since

19:07

you said your favorite episodes were hurricanes and tornadoes,

19:09

it made sense for me to give you a

19:11

shout out on this episode. Hope you

19:13

liked it and keep on smarting, smarty pants. This

19:16

episode, Tsunamis, was written by Dave Baudry

19:18

and voiced by Adam Tex Davis, Max

19:21

Kamaski and Jerry Colbert. Technical direction sound

19:23

design by Josh Han. Our associate producer

19:25

is Max Kamaski. The theme song is

19:27

by Brian Suarez with lyrics written and

19:30

performed by Adam Tex Davis. Who Smarted

19:32

was created and produced by Adam Tex

19:34

Davis and Jerry Colbert. This has been

19:36

an Atomic Entertainment Production.