Lateral with Tom Scott - 68: Bright green icing

Episode Date: January 26, 2024

Molly Edwards, Becky Stern and Jenny Draper face questions about fancy flowers, shirt selections and car coordination. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wonderful answers, hosted by Tom Scott. For business enquiries, contestant appearances or question submissions, visit https://www.lateralcast.com. HOST: Tom Scott. QUESTION PRODUCER: David Bodycombe. RECORDED AT: The Podcast Studios, Dublin. EDITED BY: Julie Hassett. MUSIC: Karl-Ola Kjellholm ('Private Detective'/'Agrumes', courtesy of epidemicsound.com). ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS: Henry Moors, Charlie Brodersen, Nix, Jonathan Watkins Bitel. FORMAT: Pad 26 Limited/Labyrinth Games Ltd. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: David Bodycombe and Tom Scott. © Pad 26 Limited (https://www.pad26.com) / Labyrinth Games Ltd. 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Peloton. Spring is a great time to start a new workout routine. With the weather warming up, it feels easier to get into the rhythm of things. Whether you have 20 minutes or an hour for a Pilates class or an outdoor guided walk, Peloton has everything you need to help you get going. Get a head start on summer with Peloton at onepeloton.ca. What common wild plant gets its name because it resembles something when the sun rises?

The answer to that at the end of the show. My name's Tom Scott, and this is Lateral. Take a measure of intriguing stories, a little bit of sideways thinking, two shots of humour and a splash of anecdote. Shake and pour over ice, and please enjoy our guests responsibly, who today are, from the London History Show, Jay Draper. Hello, good to be here. How are you doing? Welcome back to another episode. How did you feel about last time?

Yeah, I really enjoyed coming on this show. It's so much fun. And yeah, thank you very much for having me. These questions are always like utterly bizarre. I wish I read the funny pages more, like those weird, like page seven parts of the newspaper, because I feel like that would come in handy. The question I always have for returning guests is what do you work on at the minute? It's going to be a few weeks till this episode comes out. So what can people expect if they look now at what you've been making? So I'm currently working on an episode about Boudicca, who burned London to the ground in 60 CE. And yet we have a big statue of her right next to Big Ben.

And I'd ask why, but the answer is going to be watch the video about it, isn't it? The answer is the Victorians. Okay. The answer's always the Victorians. Yeah. Walter Scott. Sorry. Also returning to the show, our botanist and science communicator, Molly Edwards. How's it going, Tom? Thanks for having me.

Well, thanks for being back on the show. How did you find it last time? Oh, I loved it. It tickled my brain. It was great. I'm just getting praise for the show here. It's lovely. Thanks very much. What are you working on at the minute then? What can people expect from you in the weeks between this recording and the episode coming out? Yeah, I've been visiting some fun labs. I think I'll have a video coming out where I visit a lab at Purdue and we do some really crazy genetic manipulations on a really common weed that grows out of the pavement. And so we'll be doing some

fun, weird things with plants. And I want to ask more, but the answer is again going to be, watch the video on your channel. The last person we have today is a maker and I don't know how else to describe you. You make all sorts of stuff with all sorts of things. Becky Stern. Hey, nice to be back. Yeah, I can teach you how to knit and program microcontrollers. Can you teach a microcontroller to knit? Probably. I do have a knitting machine. Yeah, knitting machines though, they hurt my feelings. Oh, okay. I feel like I want to make a joke about the Luddites, but A, I'm not qualified, and B, Jenny will correct me on it. I actually don't know that much about the Luddites.

But yeah, knitting machines are really, really tricky, right? It's really hard to get machines to knit. Soul crushing. But let me tell you what I'm working on. It's a costume about Inspector Gadget. So I'm Penny, and my very tall, l's a costume about Inspector Gadget. So I'm Penny, and my very tall, lanky partner is Inspector Gadget. And I have made the computer book, and the computer watch, and the phone cosplay wig, and this whole big Inspector Gadget costume that you can watch a video about on my channel. I've been working on it for like more than a year. I'm a really serious Inspector Gadget fan. We are living in the future.

Yeah, this is going to be great. This cartoon that was insanely futuristic as a kid, it's now. It's happening. Good luck to all three of you. Our questions have more unexpected twists and turns than the Las Vegas spaghetti bowl, so let's hang a right onto question one. In 1979, Sri Lanka did something to their official banknotes that China once did to their paper currency for over 900 years, but no longer. What is it?

I'll say that again. In 1979, Sri Lanka did something to their official banknotes that China once did to their paper currency for over 900 years, but no longer. What is it? Burn it. Just all of it. They just did a no longer. What is it? Burn it. Just all of it. They just did a KLF.

No, not all of it. Just the part to reduce the inflation or something. I don't know. I just realized I threw the phrase did a KLF into the conversation there, which I suspect no one's going to get the reference off. No. They were a band from the late 80s, early 90s, basically invented acid house music, earned a million pounds in royalties and decided that as art,

they were going to take it in cash to a Scottish island and burn it. Oh, wow. What a joker. They did. I suspect much later they regretted it, but it was art. It was definitely art. Yeah. Yeah, totally.

There's an artist in Europe being sued right now for some gallery. later they regretted it but it was art it was definitely art yeah yeah totally there's a dutch there's an artist in europe being sued right now for like some gallery for like he like took the money and run take the money and run yeah as the art piece he's being sued and now he has to return the money yeah he took the money and just delivered a couple of blank canvases right and just said that's the artwork you paid me for it well he said that's the artwork i named it take the money and run but you said like a one time it was a one-time thing or like a thing that china did for you said that china did it for 900 years yeah china did their money they've had paper for money for 900 years i mean you name it china probably invented it first yeah is this something that's like the design of the money like what's printed on it yeah yeah

you're in the right area there but it can't it can't be one of those like mike like the sort of crazy tech we use now for preventing counter fit stuff right because it it's been around for 900 years yeah like the super fancy um have you been following the glitter controversy and these like film, high tech film cutting companies that like, yeah, they make the like glittery film on the money. That's, that can't be it. I remember there being a controversy about glitter because there was a big long read about the glitter industry that said the glitter company refuses to say who their biggest customer is, which of course sent every nerd on the internet into overdrive trying to figure it out.

Is it fighter jets? Is it car paint? Is it currency counterfeiting? Well, the opposite of counterfeiting. Did we ever find out who it was? It's ongoing. It's in all of those things. None of those things are secret. But yeah, the really thin, fancy films are in money, but it's a all of it's in all of those things none of those things are secret but yeah like the the really thin fancy films are in money but it's a high-tech thing so that can't be 900 years of china but there's some kind of anti-counterfeiting i'm is it some kind of anti-counterfeiting time is it that the lengths of the notes are different so that people can tell what notes they like what the value is by their length because like some people

like sometimes countries like introduce it or take it away i don't know um you're vaguely in the right area you're all talking about design now that's that's the area we're talking about so uh is it that they had i'm i'm sure that the chinese did not have the same guy on their money for 900 years that can't be right they put the guy who'd been on the chinese money for 900 years and they're like we're having him too we're getting on here that seems like it could be the case if it's like confucius or something you know why not oh yeah is it a quote like uh like an in god we trust kind of thing but uh but a saying that they borrowed from it's more of an artistic choice an artistic choice okay but there was a cultural

reason china did it as well is it the color of the notes um so uh like in the u.s you guys all the all the money's the same color but in this country they're all different colors so you can tell them apart is is that what they did no but you are i can't say any more than you're dancing around the design. Did they make them all red? Did they put a person on the money for the first time? No. It's not just Sri Lanka that's done this.

Brazil, Switzerland, Canada, Hong Kong have all done this over the last 30 years as well. But there is a reason why China would do this. Why it would be natural for China to do this. Something they've got a lot of in China? Is they make it out of silk? Oh yeah, put silk threads in it, maybe? Like they have little threads running through the paper. Yeah, I mean even American money now is part fabric, right? Yeah. Ours used to be cotton, I think. American money even has more than one colour now.

Just sometimes. Ooh, do you? Just sometimes. Just sometimes. Let's not go crazy about making the bills a different shape or anything. Oh, he made wide eyes about the shape of the money. There are banknotes in existence right now.

But Brazil, Switzerland, Canada, Hong Kong, and Sri Lanka all do this. Is it like a funny shape on the edge? Like our stamps? Like a cool edge? It's basically just a printing decision. Yeah. Is it like the bleed of the print?

Like it goes all the way out to the edge or not? You said square a little while ago, and that wasn't quite right either. But there's one other option there. Rectangle, square, trapezoid. Rhombus. Did they change it from portrait to landscape? I mean, the other way around, but yes, I'll give you it. What?

Sri Lanka changed to portrait notes in 1979. Since then, Brazil, Switzerland, Canada, Hong Kong, that's a design decision. So that was the change. Why did China do that for 900 years? Because they write vertically. Because they write vertically. Spot on. Oh man, I said that as a joke. Yay. Yes, for 900 years, Chinese banknotes, originally promissory notes, were portrayed because China writes vertically. Becky, first guest question of the show, over to you. A bookshop has wall-mounted a French novel written in 1844.

To its top left is a Charles Dickens book, a Ken Kesey book, and a Shakespeare play. To its bottom left are works by Stephen King, Kurt Vonnegut, and A.A. Milne. Name the book. I'll read that again. A bookshop has wall-mounted a French novel written in 1844. To its top left is a Charles Dickens book, a Ken Kesey book, and a Shakespeare play. To its bottom left

are works by Stephen King, Kurt Vonnegut, and A.A. Milne. Name the book. So A.A. Milne wrote Winnie the Pooh. Vonnegut could be Slaughterhouse-Five

or Catch-22. Is Catch-22 Vonnegut? No, that's Heller. No. Vonnegut is Slaughterhouse-Five. Yeah, but Slaughterhouse-Five is legit. Do they all have the same word in the title? No.

They have a common thread, but it's not the same word. The only French novel that I can think of is Les Miserables. That's literally the only one that I can... I mean, I'm guessing it's a Hugo novel. Or like Moyer. But I don't know what the thread would be.

So, okay, so we've got Charles Dickens, Ken Kesey? I don't recognise that name. I don't know. No, we're looking blank on that one. Okay. Okay, blank. Shakespeare. Who was after Kesey?

Shakespeare. Shakespeare. King, Vonnegut and Milne. King, Vonnegut, and Milne. King, Vonnegut, and Milne. So we've got Winnie the Pooh on the bottom. It's got to be a Winnie the Pooh book. Yeah, surely. Surely, right.

We presume it's a Winnie the Pooh book. Is this like, so it's how many all together? Like six? Six. Seven? Six. And the French one is the seventh? Okay. The French one, and it's how many all together? Like six? Seven? Six. And the French one is the seventh. Okay.

The French one, and it's the third. The third. Is the number of books total significant or is it just? Yes. Oh, so there's seven of them. Okay. We've got. There are seven books in total in the question,

but there are more of them involved than that. Oh, that throws out all my trying to crack this like it's a connections puzzle or something. Okay, fine. But the books that they've listed in the question are enough for us to pick up the common thread, I guess. Yes, it's a common thread, but it's not the same word. So perhaps you should think of more books. Is it like they all have a colour in the title? There's some top left and bottom left

so what kind of layout has that with the French book? Presumably on the right of what looks like an arrowhead or something like that? It feels like it's pointing a certain direction. But there might be more. We don't know the placement of the other books, right? They're on a wall in a bookshop. In a bookshop. Is it a tie? No.

Is it like their bestsellers? Like here are our top bestsellers ever? That's not what the answer to the question is, but surely they're all very famous books. bestsellers ever that's not what the answer to the question is but surely they're all very famous books yeah i'm going through my shakespeare rolodex and trying to figure out what the common thread is with winnie the pooh yeah right okay so so somewhere somewhere near the winnie the pooh book there is a vonnegut book now the slaughterhouse five what other Vonnegut books are there? I can't remember my Vonnegut. Yeah. Nope. Same.

I'm drawing a blank on it. To my shame. When they've got one of the books, okay. Slaughterhouse-Five is the Kurt Vonnegut book that we are looking for, but yeah. Is Winnie the Pooh the Milne? Winnie the Pooh is like a series of books, so you're going to have to get more statistics. Oh, the Pink One. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh? Theyne Winnie the Pooh is like a series of books so you're going to have to get more so it's like the many adventures of Winnie the Pooh

they're all called something like that right something about 100 acre wood oh and Christopher Robin and I don't know my poo lore a blustery day isn't that one of them

something like that but they're like they're all they're anthologies of short stories so like blustery day, isn't that one of them? Something like that. But they're like, they're all, they're anthologies of short stories. So like blustery day would be like an individual story. I'll give you another clue. There's something in the middle of this arrangement.

And it's not the book we're looking for. Are they making a clock? Yes. Oh. So they've all got numbers? A tale of two cities. A tale of two cities. Or two gentlemen of Ver Yes. Oh. So they've all got numbers? A Tale of Two Cities. A Tale of Two Cities. Or Two Gentlemen of Verona. Oh.

There's got to be another one. Hang on. It's The Three Musketeers because if it's on the far right of the clock, it's The Three Musketeers. Jenny had the premise right. It's a clock

with each title forming a number. Tom got the name of the book, which is The Three Musketeers by Alexandra Dumas. So now what are the other books? We got Shakespeare. We got Ken Kesey. We got Charles Dickens, Stephen King. So Shakespeare's in like 12 or 1.

Twelfth Night. Yes. Nice. I don't know the Kesey book. Ken Kesey wrote a book about a guy in jail. It has the name of a bird in the title. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest? One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Nice. Two O'Clock has to be Dickens. I think, Jenny, you got Tale of Two Cities. It's Tale of Two Cities. Or the other one, I suppose, would be fine, because it also says two. And then now we're looking for the four from Stephen King king we know five is kurt vorogut slaughterhouse five what stephen king novel has a four in the title um misery it uh kuno um dark tower dream catcher

i think you might have to tell us the other two. The Stephen King novel is Four Past Midnight. And the A.A. Milne book is Now We Are Six. Oh, yeah. Great job. Everyone got the premise of the clock on the wall of the bookshop featuring many famous books that all have numbers in the title, including The Three Musketeers, written by French author Alexandre Dumas. Next one's from me and was sent in by Nix. Thank you very much. Typically, the Wikipedia page for Cleopatra used to receive 7,000 page views a day. Since 2020,

it has steadily increased to 200,000 views a day. Why? I'll say that again. Typically, the Wikipedia page for Cleopatra used to receive 7,000 page views a day. Since 2020, it has steadily increased to 200,000 page views a day. Why? I mean, they are making a movie about her, with Gal Gadot.

Are they? Yeah, I'm guessing that isn't really a lateral thinking question. That wouldn't be very lateral. Just do you know that there's a movie? Oh, no, we that isn't really a lateral thinking question. That wouldn't be very lateral. Just do you know that there's a movie? Oh, no, we're doing full-on product placement now. We're not just having like... You know, we might be slotting some adverts in at some point around here.

You know, there might be some host reads. I've been thinking about sponsored questions and things like that. But we are not product placing in the middle of questions yet. I mean, like make an offer. Like if anyone wants to... Cleopatra 2020. It's been a steady increase a steady increase specifically 2020 uh is that is that significant yeah did did one of the coronavirus uh pages uh link to her for some reason um is there someone fate someone famous who's called cleopatra and they keep getting the wrong page um well i can't think of anybody i mean she's always been

a badass lady yeah people are just starting to recognize how cool she is yeah she's been really unsung throughout history and there are there have been continually some new egypt discoveries happening but She's been really unsung throughout history. And there have been continually some new Egypt discoveries happening, but not related to Cleopatra specifically, right? I was surprised the number was that low back then. Like 7,000 a day feels like it should be low for a big historic figure like that. But yeah, certainly there isn't any other figure that's seen that sort of increase without there being news events or movies or something like that. But yeah, certainly there isn't any other figure that's seen that sort of increase without there being, you know, news events or movies or something like that. In this case,

it's not there happens to be a new movie. Texas finally put her in a textbook. Well, they have one woman. But she has to be ancient and long gone and no threat to anyone. And use makeup that causes cancer. We laugh, but there's going to be a couple of months between recording this and when the episode comes out, and honestly. Yeah, best not make jokes. We're tempting the devil here. Somebody went as her for Halloween

and then sparked a years-long trend of Cleopatra Halloween costumes. Heidi Klum. It's a steady increase. This is just continuing to roll onwards. Is it that her page has been translated into a really big language like Chinese or something? This is English language. Okay. Field of Egyptology has been growing steadily since...

She's just popular. I don't know why. I don't know why. Why does there need to be a reason that she's popular? It's just so hot right now. That's... Why does there need

to be a reason? There isn't a particular reason that Cleopatra in herself is interesting here. Okay. Is it just... There's just more people going on to Wikipedia? No, it's... to wikipedia no this was unusual it's specific

yeah was there a was there a product or like a a like a health phenomenon that someone needed to look up that led to her is there an app called cleo is that no but you're starting to move towards the right area there there's some technology involved. Almost like it was chosen at random. Is Cleopatra the name of a computer thing? Is she the name of an AI or a chat GPT database? Have they made a lady bot called Cleopatra?

He said it was something related. Could it be like somebody Cleopatra interacted with a lot? Like Anthony. Mark Hudson. Sorry, he's just a white guy. I can't remember his name. Yeah, just a guy. Is it like a satellite or something in orbit that we communicate with?

It wasn't because of anything going on in the world it was picked almost at random a hurricane what might drive a load of traffic to one wikipedia page for no no obvious reason is that did the random page button get stuck on her something so it's something like like on on Reddit when they're protesting they're putting the pictures of John Oliver. Yeah, yeah. And that's a non sequitur. Yeah, I've seen people try and explain to old-fashioned news anchors why sexy

John Oliver and they have a hell of a time. It's not in protest, but it's the same sort of thing. They could have picked anything for that. Didn't have to be John Oliver. Could have picked basically any noun to fit in there. And it's the same sort of thing. Is she being used as like a placeholder for another website, like a link? A placeholder, an example, something like that, certainly.

Was she like an avatar for something? What's been used a lot more over the last few years? Sort of steadily more and more people are starting to interact with this. Zoom? Masks? Just like an AI chat, like Alexalexa yeah i'll give you that she's i can't say i can't say her name too loud because i'm sure oh you've just activated everyone's listening haven't you oh no sorry to anyone who had that on the speaker is she the default like face for one of the um she's the default request

request for yeah you know what i think between you you're all close enough when you set up google assistant and when you're going through the tutorial or if you just wait on the google assistant screen and have some examples come up it might try saying, show Cleopatra on Wikipedia. Oh, okay. I think between you all, you got all the relevant parts of that. Yeah, it's one of the example search terms since 2020. And as that software got rolled out to all the Google assistants, and more and more people bought the Google assistants that have displays, either the owner or their kid would see the instruction and say it. And so suddenly Cleopatra's Wikipedia article is getting a load of hits because one engineer picked that name almost at random. Wikipedia drama is just fascinating.

It's not random. It's because she's a cool lady. Molly, next question's from you whenever you're ready. Okay. This question has been sent in by Charlie Broderson. Unhappy with what was happening, cake artist Natalie Sidesurf started to use bright green buttercream in her projects. Why? One more time. Unhappy with what was happening, cake artist Natalie Sidesurf started to use bright green buttercream in her projects. Why? I think I know, so I'm going to sit this one out. All right, it's on me and you, Jenny.

All righty. So is she making, she's changing the colour of something too bright green? So, like, changing the she's changing the color of something too bright green so like i um she's like annoyed that uh uh that uh i'm what i'm thinking of it is um like those period adverts where it shows blue water instead of blood and but you can't the green doesn't work but this like maybe something like that where she's like why aren't you making it green i love that but that is not the reason i'm just trying to avoid going on a long rant about how fondant

is terrible and should be banned and she was just unhappy with fondant and so therefore just switch to buttercream that also does not explain the green. I agree with you, Tom. Fondant, anti-fondant solidarity. Thank you. Wait, do we have unanimity? Unanimity. Are we all in agreement on that?

Absolutely. Amazing. It looks great, though. Like, I like watching people make stuff out of it. I'm part of the even more heathen pro-Marzipan gang. Oh, no. Oh, I'm totally pro-Marzipan. I love Marzipan.

Sorry, we were all angry at you for the concept of Marzipan there. Sorry, carry on. Okay, so did she not like the color before it was bright green? Is that what she's angry about? No. That was her anger towards uh not green buttercream was not the reason okay blue is that like cake piracy are people like ripping off her designs or no because you can't i don't know i just i'm stuck on the phrase cake

piracy now and i don't even know how that would work. It's a great word and you should keep talking, Tom. Well, yes, but also now I've taken piracy in the terms of like swashbuckling. Honestly, that's... Arr, my hearties. Get you to cakewalk the plank. Hey, there we go. No. I've been there somewhere.

Take walk the plank. Hey, there we go. No. I've been there somewhere. So, because I've put things in videos before to make them less likely to get ripped off by other people, because I'm sending out a lot of just DMCA claims to TikTok right now because there's AI apps that will just take my channel and convert it into badly produced stuff there.

So I'm like, is there something that people were ripping off her designs or her photos or something like that? But it's like, oh no, that's definitely mine. It's got bright green button. But that doesn't make sense. If you're ripping off her design, you could just not use the green food coloring. Keep, you're so, Tom, you're so close. Keep talking, keep talking, keep talking.

Yeah. Oh man. Okay, so she's, is it, not like people stealing her? People weren't paying her. Oh, because it goes green screen. Oh! So you can make a cake into a green screen that would be really cool but that's not it

but no but you're like you're you're you're so close you're like you're really with the piracy and everything like you're really you're you're oh i thought you had it then i really thought you had it when i first read the question i was like oh green screen something cool but no but i feel like we should tell her that that's a really great idea she should try green screen cake yeah have you i mean like youtube cakes are so beyond my can like they probably have done green screen cakes yeah probably um and the fondant that smooth surface would be so good for a green screen claiming that they made her cakes and so her signature is that she uses green buttercream and makes them look worse yeah yeah yes basically so it's yes yes you got it tom um she uh i think people have been just like re-uploading her videos as their own they

like remove her voice and face and stuff. And so when she does the slice and has the reveal of the green buttercream in the layers and the inside of the cake, then it's her signature. And so, yeah, like the outside still is pretty and has fondant decorations and stuff. But the inside slice is where it's kind of her way to prevent people from stealing her content. Or at least make it easier to do the DMCA takedown when she does find people pirating her content.

Yeah. Ah. Yeah, I was thinking she was making like a green Pikachu cake. It's on the inside is the bit I couldn't figure out. Yeah. Yep. Thank you to Jonathan Watkins-Battell for sending this question in. Helen places an online order for two smart shirts, one for each of her twins.

The shirts are the same size, shape, colour and design. How did she give the shirts to the correct child, even though they arrived unlabelled? I'll say that again. Helen places an online order for two smart shirts, one for each of her twins. The shirts are the same size, shape, colour and design. How did she give the shirts to the correct child, even though they arrived unlabelled? Oh, when you say a smart shirt. Yeah, smart. I have the same question. Smart as in?

Do you mean like a smart shirt as in one that's got a collar or do you mean one that's got like a computer in it? Oh, I hadn't even thought of that reading. Okay, no, a dress shirt, a formal shirt, a shirt that you could put a tie over and go to the office with. Can you mention again the traits that the shirts share? Size, colour? Size, shape, colour, design. So what's the difference?

Yeah, that's the thing. There's got to be something different about the shirts from each other, right? Because otherwise, if they didn't matter, this wouldn't be a question. That is correct. Does design encompass every... Can you be like, they're buttons. It's not they're buttons, but like, how nitpicky can we go? Why might it be they're buttons?

Because women and men's shirts button the other way round. So if she's got a twin that's a girl and a twin that's a boy, the buttons would be on the other side. Then you might accidentally stumble into the answer to the question immediately. Congratulations! Yay! Yes. And this is why you always say an answer even if you think it's stupid because you're right

molly it was the buttons and jenny you're right uh traditionally men's shirts button on one side uh women's button up on the other which i think was to do with having your servants dress you i think that's a story. I have also heard that. I don't know how true that is, but it's a story I've heard as well. Yes, and they were fraternal twins, not identical twins. That was the thing that you just completely skipped over in the question.

Congratulations to all of you. We'll just move on. I can just screw that question up. We'll move on. We'll just move on. I can just screw that question up. We'll move on. So as I try and unrumple this paper, Jenny, over to you for the next question. OK.

Jake, I'm arresting you for a hit and run, says a police officer, showing him a recent photo of his car from CCTV. Jake protests. The car's in the same place as your photo, someone ran into it while it was parked. The officer replies, I think that's highly unlikely. Why? So I'll read it again. Jake, I'm arresting you for a hit and run, says a police officer, showing him a recent photo of his car from CCTV. Jake protests, the car's in the same place as your photo. Someone ran into it while it was parked. The officer replies, I think that's highly unlikely. Why? Man, I know we're supposed to come in with like immediately a stupid answer on this to get it going, but I've got nothing.

Was there motion blur or something in the photo? Like, it wasn't... There's no motion blur. Okay. And the car's parked in the same spot. Yeah. Okay. The car is in the same spot.

And I'm going to assume that he doesn't have a dash cam, or they haven't got him on CCTV somewhere else, like, actually hitting the person. Correct. I'm also assuming that this is a fictional scenario made up by the question writer and not a thing that's actually happened in history. I mean, I don't know that one for certain. So, I mean, I would hope so too. But yeah, that's not confirmed by my notes. Maybe it is real. Something about, is there additional evidence,

not confirmed by my notes maybe it is real something about is there additional evidence like maybe the his cctv access maybe there's another picture from previous that shows the car that's and it's not damaged presumably we're being able to see the damage to the car it's a big old blood stain on the front of the car now just like a big or like the fender is dented and then he has earlier cctv footage of not dented. Yes, you're right. So there's damage on the car now. Jake is contending, well, that's because someone hit me. Well, I left it there. And the police officer's like, no, that's not what happened. I have to remember that hit and run is not just hitting a person. Hit and run is any incident where there's damage and someone has driven off.

Yeah, it took me a while to get that as well. So he has CCTV footage of the parking spot being empty, proving that the car wasn't there the whole time. You would think so, but no. So it's like a photo of the car as it was, a photo of the car now, or like they can look at the car now. As it is now.

And the car is now damaged. Yes, but it's being implicated in a hit and run. Something between there means there's evidence that he drove out and came back at some point. Mm-hmm. Is it... Okay. okay is it that the ground under the car is wet and it's rained and like there's not a dry patch under the car um so nothing has changed on the street okay it's a good answer but no nothing has changed on the street um was it the car it hit a really weird like a really weird

colour like lime green and it left like a big lime green streak on the car that would work either way right if Jake was hit by the green car

oh shoot yeah okay yeah yeah also only when you cut into it and reveal what's inside it's cake the police officer's like the car is cake

that's the answer because the car is no cake he has an alibi uh he does not have an alibi this is not how the officer knows um so jake is right the car is in the same place as it was in the photo um the photo doesn't show the milometer so the officer can't prove it's moved that way. Nothing's changed on the street. The tires are flat. It is something to do with that part of the car. The location it happened in has an endemic soil type.

Yeah, exactly. And the same clay was on the are we looking to prove that the car has moved is that all we need to prove or do we need to prove that like the car definitely hit something versus something hitting it we just we just need to prove this we need to prove that jake has been driving this car in between the cctv photo being taken and now. You said it's something to do with the tyres? And it is something to do with that part of the car. Debris and the dust in the wheel wells. So you're right, it is something very small,

but it is something you can see from the photo of the car. Are any of you car drivers? Yeah. Yeah. I like uh you said you're from new york so i thought maybe not well well yeah i have a cargo van and three motorcycles and uh i have i have had some experience uh claiming insurance claims where the my motorcycle has been damaged while it's been parked and having to to demonstrate that it was parked while it had the accident oh this might come in handy for you in the future then. Mostly they just believe me.

Yeah, mostly the officer's not like, I think that's highly unlikely. But I am trying to think of my own cargo van. How can I tell that it's been moved? Well, it's just like in a slightly different spot in the spot. Like it's not as close to the curb as it was. It's not like the meter maids are they like chalk your wheel and then um you bring it back and so even if you've parked in the same spot it's probably not lining up with the chalk is it the the writing on the tires the writing on the tires is in a different position you're

getting you're getting close you're thinking along the right lines sorry can you explain chalking the wheels to me yeah like like um sometimes meter maids will um chalk your tire and the pavement and so if if um to see if you've moved your your car for the two-hour parking or whatever yeah for two-hour parking so you can like maybe make an argument like sometimes you can get in your car and like move it forward a couple inches and then if the chalk doesn't line up like the meter maid can't take it. Because, yeah. Right. So this is a real-life way that traffic wardens or meter maids

do figure out if your car has moved, but it's not chalk. It is something you can do from a photo. Is it the valve, the location of the valve on the tire has moved? Yes! There we go. Good job. Nice. So, yeah, the position of the tire valves has changed um so that you can tell that car has moved since this photo was taken because the tire valves are must be some crisp cctv camera they got going on there enhance enhance yeah absolutely well done um so yeah the position

of the tire valves has changed although jake's car is in the same place and nothing's changed on the street um the tire valves are in a different position so that means that even you know that the car has to have been driven somewhere in the meantime. Because Jake lied about it, he's guilty. Or at least he's like, hey, he's hiding something, right? He's doing something shady. And yeah, like genuine police forces use this to determine whether a car has been involved in a hit and run or has been stolen to know if it's moved or not. Which brings us to the question I asked the audience right at the very start.

Thank you to Henry Moores and his father for sending this one in. What common wild plant gets its name because it resembles something when the sun rises? Does anyone want to take a quick guess before I give the answer to that? Defer to the plant expert. No, I should know this, right? I don't. This is going to be a new plant factoid for me. I'm excited. It's a plant we're going to know? Yes.

Is it a plant that means just like sunrise in Latin or something? No, but it's a plant that opens up at sunrise. Not a sunflower, but one that opens up. Oh, like a four o'clock or something? No, but that's not what it looks like. It doesn't resemble the sun. Like a daisy does that. Yes, it sun. Look, a daisy does that. Yes, it does.

Why is a daisy called that then? Oh, because it's a daise? No. No, they're from the day. You've got the day part right. What does it look like when it opens up? An eye. An eye. It comes from the old English for day's eye, because the disc of the flower is revealed in the morning.

Thank you very much to all of our players. Congratulations on running the gauntlet once again. What's going on with you all? Where can people find you? What are you up to? We will start today with Becky. Hey, you can find me, Becky Stern, on the internet, my website or my YouTube channel. And let me know what you think of my Inspector Gadget cosplay. Jenny. YouTube channel and let me know what you think of my Inspector Gadget cosplay. Jenny. Hello, I am Jay Draper on YouTube and Jay Draper London on TikTok and you can find me for all sorts of London history.

And Molly. I'm Science IRL on the internet and I'm doing my sciencey thing, playing with plants, doing weird experiments, visiting labs, all that good stuff. And if you want to know more about this show, you can do that at lateralcast.com. We are at Lateral Cast pretty much everywhere, and there are regular video highlights at youtube.com slash lateralcast. With that, thank you very much to Molly Edwards. Thanks so much, Tom.

Jenny Draper. It was great to be here, thank you. And Becky Stern. Thanks so much. I've been Tom Scott, and that's been Lateral.