Episodes

  • Roller Coasters with Tom Scott!

    Roller Coasters with Tom Scott!
    Sep 17 2024
    Get ready for a stomach-turning, heart-pounding, gravity-defying thrill ride as we plummet down, up, and all around the amazing world of roller coasters! We're joined by legendary podcaster, YouTuber, and roller coaster fanatic Tom Scott who wows us with his encyclopedic knowledge of these engineering marvels. So take a deep breath, strap in, and keep all your limbs inside the ride until the episode comes to a complete stop! Oh, and have fun!SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! A big thank you to Patreon subscriber Garth Riley for helping to make the show possible!And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen[This, That, or the Other: All Downhill from Here]https://www.goldreefcity.co.za/theme-park/rides-and-attractions/tower-of-terror/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20170005323/downloads/20170005323.pdfhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7663089/https://www.ferrariworldabudhabi.com/en/rides/formula-rossa/worlds-fastest-rollercoasterhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8pJiV44hVMhttps://www.iaapa.org/news/funworld/tmnt-shellraiserhttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3281645/https://www.powermotiontech.com/hydraulics/accumulators/article/21883506/want-thrills-go-with-hydraulics[Trivia Question]Annual deaths in roller coaster accidents in the United Stateshttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1730261https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning-victimshttps://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/NEISSQuery/Data/Info%20Docs/2023%20NEISS%20Coding%20Manual.pdf​​https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/2023-Fireworks-Annual-Report.pdf?VersionId=61twx_Y4c5dkn6MhfDIT7QhGg2T6Gf1qhttps://www.uspa.org/discover/faqs/safety[Fact Off]Riding roller coasters can help reduce perception of breathlessness/dyspneahttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0005796706001653https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0954611106003209https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1191/1479972306cd110ra?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmedRiding in the back of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad can help dislodge kidney stones[Ask the Science Couch]Roller coaster stomach drop feeling and the enteric nervous systemhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7495222/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4367209/https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/good-question-why-does-your-stomach-drop-on-a-roller-coaster/https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2020/may/roller-coaster-terminology-101Patreon bonus: Motion sickness and relation to agehttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539706/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4906308/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11135238/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6241144/[Butt One More Thing]Dog-fart-themed steel roller coaster in Denmark’s BonBon-Landhttps://www.mentalfloss.com/article/624229/take-virtual-ride-hundeprutterutchebane-denmarks-infamous-dog-fart-rollercoasterhttps://www.southzealand-mon.com/BonBon-Land
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    56 mins
  • Seeds

    Seeds
    Sep 3 2024
    The knowledge of our couch of finely-honed scientific minds didn't pop out of the ground fully-formed - it had to be planted, tended, and grown lovingly over a long period of time to flower into the beautiful curiosity tree it is today. But like so much of life, it started as just a tiny, humble seed - which is super convenient for the topic of this episode!SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! A big thank you to Patreon subscriber Garth Riley for helping to make the show possible!And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen[Definition]https://www.nybg.org/planttalk/what-is-a-seed/https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2020.00027https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/female-gametophytehttps://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/male-gametophyte[This or That: Seed Numbers]25: seed weight or germination time2000: preserved species or oldest germinated seed385 million: individual Amazonian trees or oldest seed-producing fossilized planthttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1155/2012/687832https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/science/12/chap5.htmhttps://www.seedvault.no/about/the-seeds/https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1153600https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/708279https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3309767/https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1102491https://web.archive.org/web/20130608110356/http://sura.ots.ac.cr/local/florula3/docs/Hura.pdfhttps://www.britannica.com/story/can-apple-seeds-kill-you[Trivia Question]2024 record for smallest creature to disperse ingested seeds https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1042977https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ppp3.10519https://bantam.earth/common-rough-woodlouse-porcellio-scaber/[Fact Off]HybriBots are a cyborg way to plant seeds, made from wild oats and human-made capsuleshttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adma.202313906 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34506974/Video of wild oat fruits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlUparIDfzEHuman urine does not protect acorns against predation by the wood mouse[Ask the Science Couch]Heirloom seeds and non-recently-hybridized plant cultivars (vs. hybrids vs. genetic modifications)https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/heirloom-vegetables/https://extension.illinois.edu/sites/default/files/dkk-mg-seed-swap-hybrid-heirloom.pdfhttps://ag.umass.edu/home-lawn-garden/fact-sheets/heirloom-vegetable-varietieshttps://extension.illinois.edu/node/21430https://hles.unl.edu/translating-language-seed-packets-hybrid-heirloom-non-gmo-and-morehttps://www.fda.gov/food/agricultural-biotechnology/gmo-crops-animal-food-and-beyondPatreon bonus: How seeds germinate and seeds that grow better after being digestedhttps://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/9/4/462https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2005.00973.xhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1433831904700104https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/eap.1667[Butt One More Thing]Mysterious tomato plant on the volcanic island Surtsey came from a seed in human poophttps://www.icelandreview.com/news/dirty-secret-uncovered-doing-business-surtsey/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1267/
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    48 mins
  • Predators with Jaida Elcock!

    Predators with Jaida Elcock!
    Aug 20 2024
    Here in the remote vistas of the Tangents jungle, observe a group of mighty science communicators expertly stalking their primary prey: knowledge. Ever so tantalizing to behold, knowledge lounges in the shade of a fern, oblivious to the danger sneaking up behind it, ready to strike at a moment's notice! Truly, these must be the most fearsome of all predators!SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! A big thank you to Patreon subscriber Garth Riley for helping to make the show possible!And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen[This, That, or the Other: Munch Squad]Barnacle and crab-eating animal in North American oceansBird-eating ungulate in captivity Small mammal that ate raptor’s meat meal instead of being eatenhttps://new.aquaticmammalsjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/29-01_Courbis.pdfhttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/340941147_Do_lowland_tapirs_Tapirus_terrestris_eat_meat_Evidence_of_carnivory_in_a_large_South_American_herbivorehttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10344-015-0980-yhttps://bioone.org/journals/annals-of-the-entomological-society-of-america/volume-105/issue-1/AN11057/Opportunistic-Carnivory-by-Romalea-microptera-Orthoptera-Acrididae/10.1603/AN11057.short[Fact Off]Late-stage bamboo shark embryos have electroreception within their egg case Collaborative hunting gestures in coral reef residents (e.g. groupers or coral trout and moray eels)https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.0040431https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2781https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(14)00885-9https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2013/04/24/groupers-use-gestures-to-recruit-morays-for-hunting-team-ups/[Ask the Science Couch]Bioaccumulation and biomagnification of pollutants in the food web (including humans)https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/toxic-killer-whaleshttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969722022549 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10212926/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412021002671https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-013-1722-xhttps://www.acs.org/pressroom/tiny-matters/plastic-micro-plastic-everywhere-what-does-it-do-and-why-should-we-care.htmlPatreon bonus: Sharks have cartilaginous skeletons https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557576/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0944200606000080?via%3Dihubhttps://magazine.scienceconnected.org/2015/12/preserving-soft-skeleton-backs-without-bones/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jfb.14444https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/221/24/jeb188318/20570/Mechanical-behavior-of-shark-vertebral-centra-at[Butt One More Thing]Coprolites show that Smok wawelski (an archosaur from the Late Triassic) was eating boneshttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-37540-4https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/838032
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    50 mins
  • Bake A Cake! | Compilation

    Bake A Cake! | Compilation
    Aug 15 2024

    For those who want a megadose of Tangents shenanigans, this compilation is for you! In the many seasons of Tangents we've covered lots of interconnected topics, and now you can listen to them back-to-back like the best podcast many-feature ever. This compilation has been handcrafted from premium ingredients, sifted and whisked together with care, and baked to podcast easy listening perfection. Bon Appetite!

    Original episodes:

    S1 E5 - Eggs, original airdate: December 11, 2018

    S2 E18 - Sugar, original airdate: March 10, 2020

    S2 E26 - Salt, original airdate: May 5, 2020

    S2 E38 - Milk, original airdate: August 18, 2020

    S3 E44 - Yeast, original airdate: January 18, 2022

    Sources for each episode can be found in the descriptions of the original episodes.

    Want more SciShow Tangents? Check out hundreds more episodes of our podcast here: https://scishow-tangents.simplecast.com, or wherever you get your podcasts!

    Head to https://www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter!

    And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to find great SciShow Tangents merch!

    A big thank you to Patreon subscriber Garth Riley for helping to make the show possible!

    Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions!

    While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen
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    2 hrs and 43 mins
  • Why Do We Sweat?

    Why Do We Sweat?
    Aug 9 2024

    From our episode on Sweat, here's Ceri's brilliant rendition of "Why Do We Sweat?"

    This song is a parody of Rusted Root's "Send Me On My Way."

    Lyrics: Ceri Riley

    Music: Joseph "Tuna" Metesh
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    3 mins
  • Bug Bites

    Bug Bites
    Aug 6 2024
    Some are itchy, some are painful, some go totally unnoticed by us every single day...bugs have such variety in the ways they chomp, some chomps aren't even from bug mouths, but from bug butts! Join us while we debate, query, and learn all we can about the wide world of bug bites.SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! A big thank you to Patreon subscriber Garth Riley for helping to make the show possible!And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen[This, That, or the Other: These Ouches Are No Slouches]https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cla.12103https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/10878/sting-wild[Trivia Question]Size of giant toe-biting water bugs found in Cyprushttps://travaux.pensoft.net/article/94457/https://www.livescience.com/animals/insects/giant-toe-biter-water-bugs-discovered-in-cyprus-for-the-1st-timehttps://blog.abchomeandcommercial.com/do-water-bugs-bite/https://cyprus-mail.com/2024/03/20/massive-bug-sighted-keep-your-toes-out-of-the-water/[Fact Off]Epomis beetle larvae and adults eat frogs as role-reversal predatorshttps://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0025161Bumble bees bite plant leaves to make them flower earlyhttps://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aay0496https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bumblebees-bite-plants-to-force-them-to-flower-seriously/https://wisconsinbumblebees.entomology.wisc.edu/about-bumble-bees/life-cycle-and-development/https://academic.oup.com/jxb/article/67/17/4925/2197656[Ask the Science Couch]Causes of itchiness and how calamine lotion / zinc oxide workshttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4862869/https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/how-stop-bug-bites-itchinghttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9532860/https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2019.02090/fullhttps://jsstd.org/calamine-lotion/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4120804/Patreon bonus: Bugs with big mandibles or bite marks (even if they rarely bite humans)https://pukaha.org.nz/the-wacky-world-of-new-zealand-weta/https://newzealandecology.org/nzje/2995https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/stag-beetles.htmlhttps://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/217/7/1065/13119/Biomechanical-determinants-of-bite-forcehttps://www.nps.gov/articles/giant-water-bug.htm[Butt One More Thing]Beaded lacewing (Lomamyia latipennis) larvae paralyze termites with farts before eating themhttps://www.wired.com/2015/06/silent-deadly-fatal-farts-immobilize-prey/https://www.nature.com/articles/289506a0
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    53 mins
  • Sweat

    Sweat
    Jul 23 2024

    Woo boy! It's hot out there, why don't ya grab a nice glass of ice cold lemonade and listen in on everything you did and didn't want to learn about sweat. Are humans the sweatiest of them all? Do fish sweat? What lives in the ecosystem between two people holding hands for the first time? What is it all even for!??

    SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces!

    Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! A big thank you to Patreon subscribers Garth Riley and Glenn Trewitt for helping to make the show possible!

    And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!

    Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions!

    Sources:

    [Truth or Fail]

    Sweat sucking spiders supplementing salts

    Polar bears follow sweaty paw paths in search for love

    A new bacteria-infecting cure for extra stinky sweaty feet

    [Trivia Question]

    NASA’s ECOSTRESS measures evapotranspiration aka plant sweating

    https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/ecosystem-spaceborne-thermal-radiometer-experiment-on-space-station-ecostress

    https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/watching-plants-water-use-is-no-sweat-for-ecostress

    [Fact Off]

    Charles Blagden experiments with “super-sauna” that cooked steak but made humans sweat

    https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/experiments-and-observations-in-a-heated-room-1774/

    https://www.jstor.org/stable/106218?seq=1

    https://royalsociety.org/about-us/who-we-are/history/

    Antiperspirant made with propylene glycol that evaporates your sweat before it leaves the ducts

    [Ask the Science Couch]

    Non-water stuff in eccrine sweat (salt, urea, hormones, etc.)

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6773238/

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12817713/

    https://www.penn.museum/sites/bulletin/1733/

    https://ontarioarchaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/oa048-02_macdonald.pdf

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5941775/

    Patreon bonus: Effects of stress/emotion on sweat composition and smell

    https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-2494.2007.00387.x

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9518869/

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9246182/

    [Butt One More Thing]

    Treating hyperhidrosis in the perianal region with botox

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8436621/

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11172190/
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    49 mins
  • Cicadas

    Cicadas
    Jul 9 2024
    This summer's hottest North American bug is without question, the cicada. They've got everything: neon-colored wing veins, bendy-straw-style exoskeletons, an insatiable thirst for tree goo, and after 17 years of napping, they're bursting out of the ground ready to par-tay!SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! A big thank you to Patreon subscriber Garth Riley for helping to make the show possible!And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen[This or That: Cicadas or the Beatles]https://www.science.org/content/article/secret-cicadas-chirphttps://cicadas.uconn.edu/behavior/https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/698019Algorithm to measure song changes over timehttps://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/500262https://www.science.org/content/article/computer-charts-evolution-beatlesTest signals in fiber optic cableshttps://entomologytoday.org/2023/12/04/broadband-buzz-periodical-cicadas-chorus-measured-fiber-optic-cables/https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/23/6/3/7425398?login=falseFemale flies responding to songshttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4932889/https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/cicadas-are-the-barry-white-of-the-insect-world/Eroom’s Law principle related to drug developmenthttps://www.science.org/content/blog-post/eroom-s-lawhttps://iubmb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bmb.21617https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eroom%27s_law[Trivia Question]Bird hunting caterpillars on emergence and non-emergence yearshttps://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi7426https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/24148209/cicadas-2024-periodical-brood-eat-ecosystem-impact[Fact Off]Brown bears digging up cicada nymphs in Japanese human-planted forestshttps://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/handle/2115/86161https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/cjz-2020-0222https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.4266https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1036064Cicadas pee in a very mammal-like streamhttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-cicadas-power-spray-their-pee/[Ask the Science Couch]Cicada sound production using the tymbal, stridulation, or wing impactshttps://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4020-6359-6_4279https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/198/4/1001/6996/The-Role-of-the-Tymbal-in-Cicada-Sound-Productionhttps://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0118554https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/151/1/41/5697/Do-Cicadas-Radiate-Sound-through-their-Ear-DrumsPatreon bonus: Periodical cicadas emerge after 13 or 17 (prime numbers) yearshttps://www.jstor.org/stable/2406585https://www.livescience.com/14238-southern-cicadas-emerge-exact-prime-number-cycles.htmlhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690011/https://cicadas.uconn.edu/[Butt One More Thing]Cicada nymph anal liquid is adhesive and mucus-likehttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0044523104700686https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2rax3CKoj8
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    48 mins