First broadcast 24th April 2016.
Lee Mack
Simon Foster
Emily Grossman
Maggie Aderin-Pocock
John Sergeant
Hugh Dennis
Amir Khan
Katherine Ryan
Kersten Unvas-Moberg
Barry Seemungal
Paul Reading
Lee Mack
Simon Foster
Emily Grossman
Maggie Aderin-Pocock
John Sergeant
Hugh Dennis
Amir Khan
Katherine Ryan
Kersten Unvas-Moberg
Barry Seemungal
Paul Reading
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to Duck, Quack, Stone, Echo. This is a show where we reveal some of the
00:23most bizarre and brilliant facts you've ever heard. Each of tonight's guests have brought
00:26along their favourite facts which we will be putting to the test to decide whose is
00:30best. So, who do we have with us tonight? Well, a fact about my first guest is that
00:34when he was at school he was head boy, captain of the rugby team, captain of the football
00:38team and a self-confessed swot. Please welcome a man who wouldn't be alive today if he'd
00:43have gone to my school, Hugh Dennis. And an interesting fact about my second guest is
00:50that when she was a child she dressed her younger sister up as Hitler for a school project
00:56and the head teacher called her in saying he thought it was totally inappropriate. He
00:59had a point, the project was only about climate change. Please welcome Katherine Ryan. And
01:08a fact about my final guest is he's been a two-time world boxing champion having won
01:13the WBA and IBF light welterweight titles. This is normally the bit where I make a joke
01:17at the guest's expense but you know what, I'm going to leave it this week. Please welcome
01:21Amir Khan. Okay, let's get on with the show. All of tonight's guests are brought in a fact
01:28that they really love but whose is best? It's time for round one, fact off. Hugh, you're
01:35up first, what's your fact? Right, my fact is that gazing into your dog's eyes, lovingly
01:43into your dog's eyes, it releases love hormones in the dog and in you. One question on everyone's
01:51lips is, how do you know that you're weirder? You can know that intrinsically, can't you,
01:57when you look into a dog's eyes and the dog goes... No, I don't think I've ever looked
02:03into a dog's eyes and intrinsically thought, he loves me and I love him. Have you not?
02:09No, I don't think I've ever. I'm from the north, I struggle with love with humans. But
02:13it's true and this is why early man was able to bond with dogs and dogs did all the hunting
02:20for early man because the dog is the only animal that does it. And are you saying that
02:24this is something that you can do only with your own dog? I mean, you can't do this on
02:29anyone's dog. Nothing you can do on anyone's dog. Well, you can go up to someone in the
02:32park and just stare adoringly into someone else's dog and say, excuse me, I'm just releasing
02:37some love hormones in him. Yeah. I think I need to do that because every time I go for
02:41a jog when I'm training, I go in the park and I always get chased by dogs, all the time.
02:48So I don't know if they don't like it, I think they must not like me but I think what I need
02:50to do is stand there and stare at them. So will that stop them chasing me then? No, it
02:54doesn't make them love you, they'll chase you more, mate. How do you know when the love
02:59hormones have been released? When the dog starts humping your leg or something? If he does,
03:04you can't blame him, it's your fault for flirting. Starts buying you flowers, chocolates, that
03:08kind of stuff. Are you a dog person, Catherine? I have two dogs. What have you got? I've got
03:13a Tibetan Spaniel, she's very clever, a lot smarter than me, but that means that she retaliates
03:20in a calculated and sick, sick way. If she's extra cross with me, she'll do a poo right
03:26on my bed, which is the ultimate, and it doesn't happen often. Well good, I'm glad you haven't.
03:32If I've done something that day, she'll just wait, she'll just wait until I leave and then,
03:37and they're not allowed on the bed but that's what she'll do and my daughter very helpfully
03:40says, don't worry mummy, that just means they don't like you. Okay, you've heard what
03:46this lot think, but there's only one way to find out for sure, so we got some dog owners
03:49to stare longingly into their pet's eyes, all in the name of science. We all know that
03:58if you want someone to fall in love with you, you might try looking into their eyes. What
04:04you probably didn't know is that gazing into the eyes of your dog is exactly the same effect.
04:10And the two of you could fall hopelessly in love. Sounds sparking mad? Well, listen
04:16to the expert. There is a very powerful hormone created in the brain called oxytocin, which
04:23is often dubbed the love hormone. When we hug or kiss a loved one, oxytocin levels rises,
04:31acting as a neurotransmitter in the brain, and this plays a huge role in pair bonding.
04:38This also occurs in the mother's brain when they're looking into their baby's eyes, driving
04:44the maternal bond. The same hypothesis can be said for owners and their dogs. Owners
04:50who maintain eye contact with their dogs while playing with them strengthen the love and
04:55the bond of their relationship, so much so that oxytocin is being released. So both humans
05:03and dogs produce a specific chemical. Time to test the theory of puppy love. Meet our
05:11ten testers and their doggy friends. We needed to establish the level of the love hormone
05:20oxytocin in all our test subjects, and we don't just mean the humans. We collected urine
05:27samples from all the dogs as well. The samples were collected by our vet and the dogs and their
05:39owners came together to begin the test. They were split into two groups. The gazers were
05:46instructed to look into their dog's eyes as much as possible as they played with them. The non-gazers
05:53wore sunglasses to hide their eyes and were under strict instructions to avoid eye contact with
06:00their dogs. Let's take it slow, baby. The gazers and their pets spent the time looking lovingly
06:11into each other's eyes. The non-gazers play with their dogs but don't look directly at them. Half
06:23an hour later and playtime is over, but which group would show the biggest increase in the
06:29love hormone oxytocin? To obtain the result, we needed to take new urine samples from all the
06:38dogs and their owners. Good man! We sent the samples to the lab to check the oxytocin levels.
06:4872 hours later and the results were back. After playing for half an hour, the non-gazers' oxytocin
06:56levels had risen by a modest two and a half percent. Now let's find out what happened with
07:03the gazers and their dogs who had been staring into each other's eyes. On average, there was a
07:09much larger increase in oxytocin of 12.5 percent. That's five times higher, proving that love isn't
07:21blind. The way to your dog's heart, plenty of eye contact.
07:33So, what do you think of that? Well, I'm very relieved it's true. At least now when I look into a dog's eyes, he's
07:42gonna not chase me or he's not gonna try to bite me. Please do me a favor, I mean I'm really looking
07:45forward to your fight. I do not want this not to happen because you got bit by a dog because you were on duck quacks don't echo and you were told to stare long. Can you imagine that? Well, I don't know what I did, I mean I stared longingly into his eyes.
07:58But boxers stare longingly into one another's eyes before the fight. Yeah, exactly, yeah. I don't think longingly is the right word for that one, is it? I mean we do that when we do the head-to-head, but I never thought I'd have to do that with a dog.
08:10Do you know what, Catherine might be on to something there though, because you do all that business, don't you? You're virtually touching noses and you're doing all that, but maybe if you changed your look into something more longing, that would be so shocking to them. You could have a little reach around, squeeze in the buttocks, they'd be like.
08:24So thankfully every week we are joined by our resident experts who will tell us a little bit more about this fact. So please welcome specialist in cell biology and genetics, Dr. Emily Grossman, rocket scientist, Dr. Simon Foster and expert in space and mechanical engineer, Dr. Maggie Adairin-Pocock. It's our very first.
08:40So does this work with other pets or is it just dogs? It does work with other pets and it's all about sort of communication and bonding. Now we think dogs came up on walls probably about 30,000 years ago, so this is something that dogs have probably developed, an evolutionary step actually to sort of link and communicate with humans.
09:00Also if you look at cats, cats are very interesting in terms of the way they communicate. Now cats don't meow to each other, they mule and that's what we hear. I thought for a minute you said moo and I thought, this cat, was it massive? Did it have massive breasts? And black and white patches all over it, it was really weird.
09:20Actually I should say yowl, it's more yowl. I could do a demonstration. Please do, I love a funny voice. It'd be funny if you did go grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
09:50Okay, let's find out what the average rating was from our audience.
10:01Dude, they gave you 6 points on average. Are you happy with 6?
10:05Well, I don't know what it's out of. Is it out of 6?
10:07It's out of 3,000.
10:09Is it? That's great.
10:11You've not done great.
10:12No, I'm not happy with that.
10:14I think you probably deserved a bit more and that's because some people gave you a lower score which brought down your average.
10:19We've got a... I can't even... Someone's just literally gone bang bang with the fist.
10:24M-G-A-G-A-D-J-O-A-D-A-T-A-M.
10:28I'm... M-G-A-G-A-J-O-A-D-A-T-A-M.
10:31Where are you?
10:32I'm here.
10:33What's your name?
10:34Michael.
10:35Michael?
10:38Why have you spelt it M-G-A-G-A-J-O-A-D-A-T-A-M?
10:41I found out afterwards you have to press A three times.
10:44Have you heard of texting?
10:47Yeah, but you don't do it like that nowadays.
10:52Sorry, I forgot I was talking to Mr. Cutting Edge.
10:55No, no, not nowadays. No, no, no.
10:58No, no, that's your old days, mate. It's just your nowadays.
11:02All right, but you hated the fact. Why?
11:04No, I thought it was a load of rubbish.
11:06Why?
11:07Because it's never happened with my dog.
11:10What kind of dog have you got?
11:11It was a cross between a boxer and a labrador.
11:14I thought you were going to say it's a cross eyeball.
11:16Does it work? No, he's too busy looking at me now, isn't he?
11:20So we've heard Hugh's favourite fact,
11:22but join us after the break when Catherine will be trying to win us over with hers.
11:36Welcome back to Duck, Quacks, Don't Echo,
11:38the show that puts extraordinary facts to the test.
11:40Still with me are Hugh Dennis, Catherine Ryan and Amir Khan.
11:45Before the break, the audience gave Hugh six points for his outstanding fact
11:48that gazing into a dog's eyes releases love hormones.
11:51Catherine, you're next. What facts have you gone for?
11:54Well, mine's super useful, day to day.
11:56It's not just chatting up pets on this show.
11:59It is possible to change the physical make-up of your brain
12:02so that you can't get dizzy.
12:04Well, you can teach yourself to not get dizzy,
12:06or your brain is physically changing.
12:09It physically changes your brain, but it's through teaching.
12:12See, I love watching people fall over. I love it.
12:16And it's one of Canada's greatest pastimes.
12:19Just get yourself a warm, hot cup of cocoa,
12:23and you look through a window and you watch people slip on the ice.
12:26And it's brilliant, because they'll fall down,
12:28and as soon as they try to get up, they'll fall again.
12:30And that's what you really want, is just multiple falls in one go.
12:33It's interesting, because we, as a nation, we can't do that.
12:36We're too busy inventing things and being artistic.
12:40Canada sounds like a cool country.
12:42No, we've got Justin Bieber and that.
12:44See, studies have shown they'll scan brains of ballerinas,
12:48and they do have a part of their brain responsible for dizziness that's smaller.
12:52It's smaller?
12:54I might believe that, because obviously when we train,
12:56what we do is we turn around in one spot four or five times.
13:01You don't have to tell me, I'm always trained.
13:03This is for you lot, yeah.
13:05Then our coach is in front of us with the mitts on,
13:07and you have to then follow him, and you have to hit the mitts.
13:10We have to keep our eyes open,
13:12but you have to kind of train your mind to be not dizzy.
13:15Can I just check, is that an actual genuine training to keep your eyes open?
13:19If I was boxing, I would have that as a down, as a given.
13:24What do you think went wrong?
13:25Well, I closed my eyes for 20 seconds, and he hit me.
13:29I've been hit sometimes, and I've not remembered the whole fight.
13:32Really?
13:33Yeah, honestly, I've been hit a few times.
13:34How long afterwards, do you mean at all?
13:36No, I remember one fight, I woke up the next morning,
13:39and I was sort of thinking, what happened last night?
13:41Did I win?
13:42So if I go around telling people that I beat you in a fight,
13:45and you go, I've got no recollection of that, I can go, well, there you go.
13:50In your career, how many times have you actually been knocked to the ground?
13:52Twice.
13:53Were you out, or did you get back up?
13:54No, I got back up.
13:55And what's that feeling like, when you get up?
13:57It's, yeah, I mean, everything is...
13:59Just demonstrate it on here.
14:00Yeah, I mean...
14:02Yeah, put it on his chin.
14:03Obviously, your mind's working, but your body is kind of shut down.
14:07So it's not, pain is not the overriding...
14:09Pain, oh, you don't feel nothing.
14:10But then your brain also forgets pain, doesn't it?
14:13Yeah, that's an amazing thing.
14:15Even childbirth, a lot of mums don't remember exactly.
14:18They're like, I know it was bad.
14:19I don't remember it at all.
14:20I don't remember anything.
14:22But they do say it's the most traumatic thing you'll ever go through,
14:24is being born.
14:25It's supposed to be really horrible to be born.
14:26Oh, yeah.
14:27I bet if the baby was born, and immediately just fell on the floor,
14:29as a Canadian, you'd laugh, right?
14:30Because they'd fall in love.
14:32Now, Catherine, you obviously believe the fact is true,
14:34so you're going to help me test it.
14:36But before we do, let's see the science behind it.
14:40Researchers at Imperial College London have discovered
14:43that people can physically change their brain
14:46so they no longer feel dizzy.
14:50Dizziness is a sensation of self-motion.
14:52It's a feeling that we are still moving, and in fact, we are not.
14:56Our research shows that ballet dancers' brain structure
15:00changes with intensive training.
15:02This brain area allows the ballet dancers to suppress
15:05the sensation of dizziness.
15:07In fact, this brain area is smaller in ballet dancers
15:10than non-ballet dancers.
15:13Our research shows that the brain area that changes
15:16in response to their years of training
15:18further suppresses their dizziness
15:20and allows them to maintain a superb balance on the stage.
15:26OK, here we go.
15:29First of all, let's say hello to Grace. Hi, Grace.
15:31Now, can I just say, you are a professional ballet dancer, aren't you?
15:34Yes, I am. I've been dancing for 18 years now.
15:3718 years. Now, Catherine, we are going to spin Grace
15:40and see if she can walk in a straight line afterwards.
15:42Now, in order to compare levels of dizziness,
15:44you're going to go up against her.
15:46So can I ask you to stand on this turntable?
15:50Now, Catherine and Grace, could you please put on the blindfolds
15:53to ensure we are proven it's all about the facts
15:55that the brain has changed and there are no special techniques
15:58being used here, OK? So it's all going to be about the brain.
16:01And please, I mean this, do not try this at home
16:03unless your living room contains a giant turntable,
16:06a trained ballet dancer and a gullible comedian
16:08who you've conned into signing a form.
16:11OK, so let's start those turntables in three, two, one, go!
16:15Oh, no, I don't like it.
16:18If you've just switched on, you are tuned in to Sky Arts Live
16:21from the Royal Opera House.
16:23I'm joking, it's actually the Antiques Roadshow.
16:26Oh, no!
16:28How are you feeling, Catherine? I'm already dizzy.
16:30You've only got another three and a half hours to go, Steve.
16:33You look like...
16:36This doesn't bode well.
16:38This looks like scooter training school day one.
16:43Oh, no!
16:45You couldn't look any different in terms of your poise, you two.
16:49OK, straight off, blindfolds off.
16:52Do your best, there's a straight line over there.
16:54Let's walk down the line first, our ballet dancer.
16:56Right, away you go, Catherine, straight on.
16:59Oh, it's like any night out in Newcastle.
17:01It's way better, it's way better, though.
17:04This way, go for it.
17:07I think that definitely says that the fact works.
17:12It is possible to change your grade so that you don't get dizzy.
17:15I'm holding on to you, I'm holding on to you.
17:17Thank you very much, Grace. Follow me, madam.
17:19I think you've been drinking.
17:25APPLAUSE
17:33Well, there you go.
17:34Do you think either of you two would have done better?
17:36Yeah.
17:38No, I don't.
17:39Phew, let's go on, then.
17:41OK, so we've tested Catherine's fact,
17:43but let's find out how impressive our audience think it is.
17:45Time for you all to give it marks out of ten.
17:47Please vote now.
17:50Yeah!
17:52OK, so let's find out what the average rating was for your fact
17:55and where that puts you on the leaderboard.
17:58Catherine, seven points.
17:59They're obviously impressed. Well done, Catherine.
18:01APPLAUSE
18:03So, somebody who's very impressed, Andy Sabine.
18:05Where are you?
18:06Great name, by the way, Sabine.
18:08Thank you. Have you spelt it right?
18:10It's actually pronounced Sabine.
18:12I was going to say, that's what I mean, but that's what I mind.
18:17Andy Ribena, what's your...?
18:19You gave it a ten? Yes.
18:21Yes. Why did you like that fact so much?
18:23I like the physical demonstration.
18:25Oh, right, so you're a pervert.
18:27So, how are you feeling, Catherine? Are you still feeling dizzy?
18:30I feel really dizzy. Are you feeling a bit...?
18:32Yeah, but how do I make it stop?
18:34Well, stop spinning around on your chair, that might help.
18:37Maybe our verifiers can help you.
18:39Is there any way of helping Catherine's dizziness?
18:41Well, the reason we get dizzy is because inside our inner ear
18:44there's some little semicircular tubes filled with fluid.
18:47So, when we spin, the fluid in these tubes spins with us.
18:51So, that's why we get the sensation of spinning.
18:53But when we stop spinning,
18:55the fluid keeps sloshing around for a little while.
18:57So, basically, when we've stopped,
18:59it feels like we're actually now spinning backwards
19:01and that's what makes us feel dizzy.
19:03So, the best way that we can stop feeling dizzy
19:05is we basically just have to wait for the fluid to stop moving.
19:07But if you focus on a point...
19:09So, while you're feeling dizzy, if you focus on a point,
19:11it will help your senses realise that you're not actually still moving,
19:14even though your body, inside those little tubes,
19:16is telling you that you are.
19:18But you could chew on ginger, because ginger's been known
19:20for about 100 years to be a natural remedy
19:22that actually increases blood flow to the brain as well.
19:24This sounds like the kind of practical advice
19:26that is never practical, is it?
19:28Who carries around emergency ginger?
19:30Apart from when the Spice Girls split up.
19:33OK, last but not least is Amir. What's your fact?
19:36My fact is that you have no sense of smell when you sleep.
19:40OK. So, do you ever smell anything when you're sleeping?
19:43Dunno, I'm asleep.
19:45I'm surprised about this fact. I mean, I suppose I've never...
19:48Like, if someone said, how did you sleep last night?
19:50I've never gone, yeah, really great, I didn't smell a thing.
19:55Come here.
19:56It's also true that breakfast is my favourite meal.
19:59And I reckon I've often thought that is because I can kind of
20:02smell breakfast cooking before I wake up or be... I can't.
20:06Yeah. And your mum says, wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey.
20:11I don't think my mum ever said that.
20:13No, my mum used to say, wakey, wakey, I'm off to Thresher's.
20:18OK, you've heard what we think, but join us after the break
20:21when we put this to the test.
20:33Welcome back to Duck, Quack, Stone, Echo,
20:35the show that brings you brilliant and bizarre facts
20:37that you've probably never even heard of.
20:39Before the break, Amir told us that you can't smell when you're asleep.
20:42We need to know for sure, so we put it to the test.
20:48Wake up and smell the coffee, the saying goes.
20:52But can we smell the coffee before we've woken up?
20:55Or do we really lose our sense of smell when we're asleep?
21:00Although the true functions of sleep are still largely unknown,
21:03it's essential for the brain to have periods of sufficient
21:06and continuous sleep to work normally.
21:08When you're in sleep, part of the brain called the thalamus
21:10effectively acts as a filter, helping to prevent any information
21:13from the sensory symptoms interfering with sleep continuity.
21:16However, if the sensory stimulus is strong, like a loud noise,
21:19or perhaps painful, it may override the system and lead to awakening.
21:22The sense of smell is rightly regarded as the most primitive of all senses.
21:26Our neural pathways for detecting and recognising smells
21:29do not go anywhere near the thalamus,
21:31so even strong smells will not wake anyone up.
21:34Nice work, Rex. Now let's put this to the test.
21:39Royal Holloway, University of London,
21:42home to a state-of-the-art sleep research centre.
21:46And this is our volunteer.
21:49She's had no caffeine or alcohol in the last 24 hours,
21:53and a maximum of three hours sleep the night before.
21:57We attached electro-infallograms, or EEGs,
22:00to measure her brain activity
22:02and prove that our sense of smell
22:04completely shuts down when we're asleep.
22:07We rigged infrared cameras and lights in the room
22:11to monitor her as she slept.
22:13With everything in place, it was time for some shut-eye.
22:21Reading the EEG monitors,
22:24Reading the EEG monitors,
22:26we're able to establish when our volunteer enters deep sleep.
22:30Then we're ready to start introducing smells.
22:34Our first odour was a pleasant-smelling peppermint oil.
22:38We crept in and sprayed the peppermint once.
22:43If she could smell the peppermint,
22:45it would register on her EEG.
22:48But as the theory predicted, there was no change.
22:51Then we placed the smell directly under her nose,
22:54and still nothing.
22:56So far, so good.
22:58But what happens when we substitute peppermint
23:01for something a little less pleasant?
23:05Our next smell is fish sauce,
23:08which is traditionally made by fermenting anchovies in brine.
23:12It doesn't smell nice.
23:15And when we added fish guts to it,
23:18it was revolting.
23:20So would this new concoction wake our volunteer?
23:24We sprayed the unpleasant odour into the room.
23:27The monitor once more shows
23:29that her brain simply hasn't registered the smell.
23:34And when we place the mixture of fish sauce and guts
23:37directly under her nose,
23:39she still doesn't react, and neither does her EEG reading.
23:43The science seems to work,
23:45but to be absolutely sure it's only about smelling
23:49and not other senses too,
23:51we need one more test.
23:56A rotten egg.
24:01And still, she sleeps soundly.
24:06To prove conclusively that our less primitive senses
24:09are still active when in deep sleep,
24:12one final, simple test.
24:19Everything is normal.
24:21Her other senses are working fine.
24:27There you go.
24:28Were you surprised by that?
24:30Yes.
24:31Were you?
24:32Yeah, that's all I'm saying.
24:34I think that's one of the reasons why we have smoke alarms.
24:37Because you can't smell the smoke,
24:39and obviously when the alarm goes off, you're going to hear it.
24:42In that study, the doctors were coming into the room with these smells.
24:46That would wake me up straight away.
24:48Because when my daughter comes into my room,
24:51they do in the dead of night, they don't make a sound,
24:53but you just open your eyes and they're there.
24:55It's true, isn't it? It's stirring.
24:57It's even freakier when you open your eyes, it's somebody else's child.
25:00Yeah.
25:01So, verifiers, are there any other senses that we lose when we're asleep?
25:04Well, during sleep, your body shuts down, basically,
25:07so it can repair itself.
25:08One of the things that goes is your muscles,
25:10they basically go into paralysis.
25:12And this leads to a very interesting phenomena,
25:15which I've experienced, called sleep paralysis,
25:17when your mind wakes up and your body hasn't.
25:19I've had that.
25:20And you can't move.
25:21It's terrifying.
25:22Yeah, I've had it.
25:23I remember when I was a teenager, it happened one morning,
25:25and it was about a minute, and it felt like hours.
25:27I literally couldn't move.
25:28I genuinely get this a lot, and I've had much worse than this.
25:30I don't know if anyone else has had this.
25:32It's genuinely true.
25:33I've managed to open an eye.
25:34So I was looking round the room.
25:36I wasn't even looking, because my eye wouldn't move,
25:38but I could see the room, but I couldn't wake up.
25:40I was absolutely paralytically drunk.
25:43I wasn't. Honestly, no, I wasn't.
25:45It was a genuine thing where I could not move.
25:47It's terrifying.
25:48Yeah, so you're thinking,
25:49what if I never wake up and things like that,
25:51if I can't ever move?
25:52And the only thing that is still there is your sense of hearing,
25:54and this is meant to be kind of like an evolutionary thing,
25:56because obviously when we used to sleep in caves,
25:58if there was a predator coming to hunt us,
26:00we obviously needed to get up.
26:02You hear like a lion roar or something like that.
26:04So that's kind of stayed with us.
26:06So if you want to be really, sort of really alert
26:09first thing in the morning, you shouldn't have an alarm clock,
26:11but you should have something that roars at you.
26:13Like a lion. Or a tiger or something like that.
26:15Or a wife.
26:19So, that was Amir's fact.
26:20Now, our audience tonight are going to score it.
26:22Using your keypads on a scale of one to ten,
26:24how amazing do you think that fact is?
26:26Please vote now.
26:32Now, Amir, let's find out what the average rating
26:34from our audience for your fact was.
26:36Here we go.
26:37A pretty good seven. That's all right.
26:42To be fair, they were probably going to give you a count of ten,
26:44but you thought you might panic.
26:46OK, Catherine and Amir are in the lead,
26:48but there's still plenty of time for Hugh to catch up
26:50in the next round. It's time for Fact Finder.
26:55Not only do we ask our guests to bring a fact to the show,
26:57we also ask our audience.
26:58Hugh, Catherine and Amir have each picked out the audience fact
27:00that they think is best.
27:02Hugh, you're first. Whose fact have you picked?
27:04I've got the fact of audience member John Lewis.
27:08No!
27:10Oh!
27:11Is it really John Lewis?
27:12Yeah, his name is John Lewis.
27:13Where are you, John Lewis?
27:14Here I am.
27:15Do you get loads of jokes about John Lewis?
27:17I've never had one before, no.
27:18You're lying.
27:19I think that's bad.
27:20My brother Argos, he never gets... He never hears those.
27:23OK, so, and have you any...
27:25What's your profession, John Lewis?
27:27I own and run a UK-wide chain of department stores.
27:31Yeah.
27:36You would think...
27:37You would think a man called John Lewis
27:39would be sick to death of jokes about John Lewis,
27:42but he's come armed with his own.
27:44What do you really do?
27:45I'm a strategy consultant.
27:46Your first answer was more interesting.
27:49So, what's your fact, John Lewis?
27:51Tomatoes have more genes than humans.
27:54Tomatoes have more genes than humans?
27:56They've got 31,800 genes
27:58and humans have only got about 24,000.
28:00Speak for yourself.
28:02Well, most of the genes must be pointless then,
28:04mustn't they, in a...
28:05In a human or a tomato?
28:06No, no, no, tomato.
28:07How many have we got? 21,000?
28:09They haven't mapped the whole human genome yet,
28:11but they think it's about 24,000.
28:12Hang on, they haven't mapped the whole...
28:14But they have mapped the whole tomato.
28:15They have, yeah.
28:16Why aren't scientists concentrating more on the humans?
28:18Why don't we go,
28:19I haven't got time for that, I'm just finishing off the tomato.
28:22Now, we can't test it because we've only just heard it tonight,
28:25so it's over to our verifiers.
28:26Verifiers, what do we think about that?
28:28Well, it is an interesting one, but it is actually true.
28:30We have mapped the human genome and it is about 24,000 genes.
28:34Tomato, about 32,000.
28:36And the thing is, usually when we think of many genes,
28:39we think of more complexity.
28:40But when we compare that with potato,
28:42potato has actually 40,000 and an apple has 60,000.
28:46This all boils down to the bigger picture.
28:49Because as humans, we are able to respond to our environment.
28:52So although we're quite complex, we can respond to our environment.
28:55If we get too hot, we can go sit in the shade.
28:57If we want water, we can go to the water fountain.
29:00But the problem with plants is they're sessile.
29:02They can't move around.
29:03That means that a plant can't actually do anything about it.
29:06So if it is hot, it can't move to the shade.
29:08If it is thirsty, it can't actually go to the water hole.
29:11So it has to have a built-in gene complex
29:14where it can actually respond to these through gene manifestation.
29:18So, for instance, if there isn't enough water,
29:20then it will produce more roots.
29:21If it's getting too hot, it might turn its leaves over.
29:24So it responds in this way and that way.
29:26It has so many genes.
29:27So you've got 20,000 as a human and 60,000...
29:30So if you're a human who's eaten an apple, you've got 80,000.
29:33LAUGHTER
29:35OK, we will score it at the end once we've heard everyone's fact.
29:38Your next, Catherine. Whose fact have you gone for?
29:40I've chosen a fact from Jared Rebo.
29:43Jared Rebo, where are you?
29:44Hello. Hello, Jared. How are you?
29:46I'm good, thanks. You? Nice beard.
29:48Cheers. I hope the moustache catches up.
29:50LAUGHTER
29:51So, Jared, what's your fact?
29:53So my fact is that hippos sweat a red and orange substance
29:57that acts as an antibacterial agent and a sunscreen.
30:01What colour is it?
30:02Red and orange.
30:04And pink and green.
30:05LAUGHTER
30:07I've seen lots of documentaries about hippos
30:10and they're always in the sun.
30:12And I've never seen that happen.
30:14I've never seen them sweating that colour.
30:16Well, what's quite interesting is if you collect milk from a hippo...
30:19Oh, that's... I've tried that.
30:22That is the hardest bit of all. It's sneaking up on them at night.
30:25I mean, I stink, they can't smell anything, I'm all right, but...
30:28So if you collect milk from a hippo,
30:30this stuff actually mixes with the milk and it makes the milk pink,
30:33which can put some people off.
30:34Can you stop saying collecting milk from a hippo as if it's normal?
30:38OK, well, this is interesting. Let's see what our verifiers think.
30:41This is true.
30:42The ancient Greeks used to believe that hippos actually sweat blood
30:45and it was a red and orange pigment
30:47and it's called a hipposidoric acid.
30:49And in that, it's actually a sunblock
30:51and most hippos have got that.
30:53Zebrafish produce their own sunblock, as do coral.
30:56And there's scientists in the UK
30:58that are trying to extract the sunblock from coral
31:00to put into a pill so you could then swallow the pill
31:03and you wouldn't have to put sunblock on anymore.
31:05And what does zebrafish need sunblock for?
31:08It's just they're very sensitive to UV and loads of fish eat them.
31:11Well, then they just swim a bit lower.
31:13If they go right to the bottom and rest on the bottom,
31:15people start using them to cross the road.
31:17I love this fact. I need it. I need natural sunscreen.
31:20Do you? Are you a very... Are you sensitive?
31:22Oh, it's awful.
31:24I'm basically ginger without having red hair.
31:27But my skin, forget about it. I cannot go in the sun.
31:30You know what you need to do? Find a lactating hippo.
31:33OK, finally, Amir, whose fact have you picked out?
31:36I picked out the fact from audience member Russell Moore.
31:39Russell Moore.
31:41Hello, Russell. How are you doing? Are you all right?
31:43Yeah, not bad.
31:44Haven't you been to the show before? No.
31:46You might have seen me somewhere else in Brighton.
31:48Someone else in Brighton? Yeah, one of your shows.
31:50Oh, I remember you. Were you CF row four?
31:52That's the fella!
31:54So, what's your fact?
31:56My fact is if you use your hands as binoculars,
31:58you get better... It makes you see better.
32:00Whoa, whoa, whoa. See?
32:02When you say see better, you're not going to try and convince me
32:04that things seem closer up?
32:06Yes, because... What are you talking about?
32:09Because of your peripheral vision, if you narrow the angle...
32:13Look at everyone doing it now.
32:15If you narrow it down, it brings things down.
32:18Oh, yeah. I can see a lunatic stood up talking rubbish.
32:23That's amazing. Have a look at this.
32:25Actually, it's not very good looking. I'll turn them the other way.
32:29You're telling me that it actually feels closer, then?
32:32Yes.
32:33If you do that, is it even better, cos it's like a telescope?
32:35Yeah. See?
32:37Hang on a sec, I'll focus.
32:40Verifiers, what do we think? Back off!
32:42Oh, sorry.
32:44Verifiers, what do we think?
32:45No, you're spot on, Lee.
32:46You do see a bit clearer, but you don't see any closer,
32:49so it might seem like you're seeing things a bit closer,
32:52but actually they're just more in focus.
32:54And the reason is, it's kind of like, you know when you squint,
32:56if you're trying to view something really clearly
32:58and you kind of narrow your eyes slightly?
33:00Like that.
33:01It's a good look, innit? Yeah.
33:04And it's the same effect.
33:05I do... I know what you mean.
33:07I do... I wear contact lenses and I've got really bad eyesight,
33:10and I can't find my glasses, and I'm looking for my glasses.
33:13I can't see them.
33:14I have to walk around and pull my eyes like that.
33:17Right, it's the same effect as putting your hands round like binoculars.
33:20I'm going to do that next time.
33:21Or squinting. Exactly, do that next time.
33:23The other one was making me look mad, but this one...
33:25I'm looking for me glasses.
33:26And me wife goes,
33:27they're on your nose, I've got none on me hands.
33:30What it's actually doing, the two things, squinting or doing this,
33:33have the same effect, which is twofold.
33:35First of all, you're reducing the number of light rays
33:37that are actually entering your eyes.
33:39And secondly, as this gentleman said,
33:41it cuts down on the rays coming from around the edge,
33:43from the periphery vision,
33:45and that makes it easier for your lens to bend the light,
33:48refract it, and bring it into focus,
33:51so basically you can focus more clearly
33:53if you're cutting out those edge angles.
33:56So we've heard the facts, but how many points will our...
33:58Sorry, I can't see that. Oh, that's bad.
34:00So we've heard the facts,
34:01but how many points will our verifiers give them?
34:03Find out after the break.
34:10APPLAUSE
34:15So, before the break,
34:16each of our guests chose their favourite fact from the audience.
34:19We found out whether each fact is true,
34:21but who will get the most points from our verifiers?
34:23Let's find out.
34:24Hugh, please remind us of your chosen fact.
34:26My fact was from a guy called John Lewis.
34:29He said that a tomato's got more genes than a human.
34:32Verifiers, what score are we giving that fact?
34:34Well, John's fact was correct, and it is counterintuitive,
34:38so I'm going to give it an eight.
34:40APPLAUSE
34:41Ooh, yeah. Wow.
34:43Katherine, remind us of the fact you backed.
34:45I've chosen Jared.
34:46Rebo's fact, which is that hippos sweat a red substance
34:49that doubles as a sunscreen and antiseptic.
34:52Verifiers, what are we giving that?
34:54Well, this is amazing, because one day we might actually have
34:57natural sunblock that we can get from animals,
34:59so we're going to give this a nine.
35:01Ooh, fantastic nine.
35:02CHEERING
35:03Excuse me, excuse me, I had two points for this one.
35:05Thanks, Jared.
35:07And finally, Amir, whose fact did you back?
35:09The fact I picked was from Russell Moore,
35:11and it was, if you make binoculars with your hands,
35:14you'll see better.
35:16OK, verifiers, what score are we giving that?
35:18Well, you can see better, but you can't see any closer,
35:22so they're not acting like real binoculars,
35:24but you can see more in focus, and I think it's quite a cool
35:26little trick that you can do to actually look at things clearly.
35:29So I thought, six.
35:30APPLAUSE
35:34Put all that up onto the leaderboard
35:36and see how it's affected the scores.
35:38OK, Amir's in third place with 13, Q's on 14,
35:42Katherine's in the lead with 16 points.
35:44APPLAUSE
35:46We've heard all the guest facts and the audience have brought theirs,
35:49so now it's my turn. It's time for maths facts.
35:52APPLAUSE
35:54OK, I've got some facts for you.
35:56All you have to do is guess what they are from a series of clues,
35:58and you'll get points for each one you get right.
36:00So, first one up, it's this...
36:05..and it's this.
36:07Any idea what my fact is?
36:09Concentrate on the hand and think, what's missing here?
36:12And it's not a forearm, a shoulder, a head, a body?
36:16I'll tell you what, it's not. Skin.
36:18Well, skin, yes, OK. It's not skin.
36:20Muscle.
36:22It is muscle, yes.
36:23Muscle.
36:24My fact is, you have no muscles in your fingers.
36:26Nuh-uh.
36:27Did I just get heckled by a clown?
36:30Surely.
36:31You've got no muscles in your fingers.
36:33So, the muscle's here and this is all ligament.
36:35Well, very far. Tendon.
36:36Can you explain?
36:37Yeah, it's true.
36:38Each of our fingers contains three bones called phalanges.
36:41They also contain ligaments, which hold the bones to each other,
36:44and they contain tendons, which connect the bones to muscles.
36:48But there are no muscles in the actual fingers.
36:50The muscles that the tendons connect the finger bones to
36:53are in the palm and mostly in the lower arm,
36:56which is why if you put your hand out on the table
36:58kind of like a spider's legs, like up like that,
37:01and then if you hook your middle finger underneath,
37:04so flick it underneath, lift up your thumb, put it down,
37:07lift up your pinky finger, put it down,
37:10lift up your index finger, put it down,
37:13now lift up your ring finger.
37:15Why not?
37:17That's irritating, that, innit?
37:20I think this spider's had a stroke.
37:22So, the reason that you can't lift up your ring finger
37:25is that the tendons that run from the middle finger and the ring finger
37:29up to the muscles in the lower arm
37:31are separate to begin with, obviously,
37:33but then they join just before they reach the lower arm.
37:35This would be like a very elaborate way
37:37of getting out of a marriage proposal, wouldn't it?
37:40So, we'll put them back.
37:42Next one is this.
37:44This is a calendar.
37:46So, you've circled one and 13.
37:48So, yeah, you want to be concentrating on the two circles I've gone for.
37:51Well, you've gone for February the 13th there, haven't you?
37:53Yeah.
37:54Which is, incidentally, my birthday.
37:56And it's a Friday.
37:57February the 13th?
37:58It is my birthday.
37:59Oh, no, this is just a fact that I've...
38:01I've forgotten your birthday again.
38:03Oh, I know what it is.
38:04What is it?
38:05Is it if the first of the month falls on a Sunday,
38:07then you get a Friday the 13th.
38:09It's the correct answer.
38:10Yeah.
38:11Yes.
38:12My fact is any month beginning on a Sunday
38:14will always have a Friday the 13th in it.
38:17So, my next fact is this.
38:20And these.
38:25And this.
38:27Are you planning to take someone hostage?
38:31I'll give you a clue.
38:32If you got this wrong,
38:34it would be the easiest way to lose your job as a waiter.
38:37So, it's about balance?
38:38Balancing.
38:39It's about carrying a tray?
38:40Yeah, balancing it with the rope, and the rope holds it,
38:43and you can swing it, and it won't fall.
38:45That is the right answer.
38:46My fact is...
38:50..you can swing a tray of drinks over your head
38:53without spilling them.
38:55And whilst we, that's we, get ready to test it,
38:58Verifiers, can you explain more?
39:00So, gravity is an accelerating force,
39:02and you can actually create artificial gravity
39:05by accelerating an object.
39:06Now, you would have felt this
39:07when you're accelerating in a car along a motorway.
39:10You feel yourself being pulled back.
39:12This is G-force.
39:13Same is true when you're on a roundabout as a child.
39:15As a roundabout spins around,
39:17you may have felt yourself pulled outwards.
39:19The faster the roundabout goes, the more it accelerates,
39:22the bigger the pull outwards.
39:24Now, the same applies to this tray of drink.
39:26If you can get it spinning,
39:28a G-force will be applied to the water
39:31and the cups inside that, on that tray,
39:33and it won't be able to fly off.
39:34It will counteract the pull of gravity,
39:36and it should stay exactly in place.
39:41OK, joining me is fellow comedian and magician
39:45and Lemat look-a-likey,
39:46but more in an older brother sort of way,
39:48Paul Zenon.
39:51Now, I first saw Paul demonstrating this in his act
39:54when we were on tour together,
39:55but, of course, it's not actually magic at all.
39:57It's just simple science, isn't it, Paul?
39:59It's simple science, but that doesn't mean it's easy.
40:02I'm now worried.
40:04OK, what we're going to do is,
40:06it's a version, basically,
40:07of that thing you used to do when you were a kid at school.
40:09You know when you used to get a bucket of water with a handle
40:12and you'd spin it round upside down,
40:14like that, by the handle,
40:15and because of the weight of the water and centrifugal force,
40:18the bucket would snap off the handle, fly off...
40:21Yes.
40:22..make a mess, and you'd get a slap round the head from your mum.
40:24Well, this is going to be similar,
40:25but don't worry, if it goes wrong...
40:27Yeah.
40:28..Lee's mum's not here.
40:29Yeah, she was killed by a flying bucket.
40:32We're going to use this as well.
40:33This is an unusual pairing,
40:34a dog leash and a snooker triangle.
40:36It's important to realise there's nothing sticking on here.
40:38There's no glue, no magnets, no attachments.
40:40If anybody in the audience wants to check this after the show...
40:43No, there is nothing on there.
40:44Yeah, if anybody wants to check it, try it and get out more.
40:49I don't think we've ever had a scientist on the show
40:51that's made me worried.
40:53Have they told you I was a scientist?
40:55OK, to be fair,
40:57I've only ever had two very, very minor accidents with this.
41:00All the rest have been pretty serious, to be honest.
41:03OK.
41:04Whoa, whoa, whoa.
41:05Here we go.
41:07Now, that's the easy bit.
41:08Ah!
41:10That's the more difficult bit.
41:12That's terrifying, isn't it?
41:16As you've probably gathered, the hard part is stopping it.
41:20So I won't.
41:21So just...
41:23ignore me for the rest of the show.
41:25They'll work round me.
41:26OK, now, here we go, Lee.
41:28What we'll do is bring it to a stop.
41:29I just want you to lift it off the triangle
41:31to prove it's not stuck.
41:32Am I supposed to grab it, like, now?
41:33No, no, no.
41:35Wait for it to...
41:36Whoa!
41:37Why do you stop bending it?
41:40OK, hang on.
41:41Whoa, whoa, whoa.
41:42Oh, boy.
41:43Wow.
41:46Perfect.
41:49Can I just say...
41:52we should have a go, but what could possibly go wrong?
41:56Come on, then. I'm here. Grab one of these.
41:58Don't try and swing it horizontally.
42:00That's the hard part.
42:01So let's try it just vertically.
42:02OK.
42:03So if you could just come forward a little bit.
42:04And what you need to do is...
42:06this sort of third swing.
42:07So just watch me before trying it.
42:08If you kind of go a one, a two to nail it.
42:12And once you get it on the third one horizontal...
42:14Right.
42:15Get it going like that.
42:16But then just keep it going and not too fast, either.
42:18OK, here we go.
42:19Not fast.
42:20Oh, it's fused up.
42:25Whoa!
42:26Oh!
42:30And that's about five.
42:32Oh!
42:37How do we stop?
42:38How do you...?
42:42So there you have it.
42:43They were my first.
42:45And after that round, let's see the final scores.
42:48Congratulations.
42:49Catherine is the winner.
42:53That's it for tonight's show.
42:54A big thank you to our verifiers...
42:56and to our special guests...
42:57Hugh Dennis, Catherine Ryan and Amir Khan...
42:59and of course, Paul Zenon.
43:01I'll see you next time.
43:02Good night!
43:07It's the new TV obsession...
43:09and just like his books...
43:11it's got us well and truly hooked.
43:13Harlan Coburn's The Five is on Catch-Up TV.
43:16And who said Mondays were dull?
43:18Game of Thrones is back on Sky Atlantic...
43:20tomorrow from nine.