Duck Quacks Don't Echo. S03 E04.

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First broadcast 21st September 2015.

Lee Mack

Simon Foster
Emily Grossman
Maggie Aderin-Pocock
John Sergeant

Ranulph Fiennes
Russell Kane
Sarah Millican

Terence Dovey
Debbora Hall

Category

📺
TV
Transcript
00:00This is a show where we reveal some of the most bizarre and brilliant facts you've ever
00:23heard.
00:24Each of tonight's guests have brought along their favourite fact which we will be putting
00:27to the test to decide whose is best.
00:29So who do we have with us tonight?
00:31Well a fact about my first guest is that when she got married she walked down the aisle
00:34to the Frog Chorus.
00:35Well it's all part of the bridal tradition isn't it?
00:38Something old, something new, something borrowed, something which Paul McCartney in retrospect
00:42probably wished he'd never written.
00:44Please welcome Sarah Millican.
00:45An interesting fact about my second guest is that he's in the Guinness Book of Records
00:53as officially the world's greatest living explorer, which is a bit of a kick in the
00:57teeth for Dora.
00:58Please welcome Sir Randall Fiennes.
00:59And a fact about my final guest is that he says his worst ever gig was when a Great Dane
01:10ran onto the stage and sniffed his testicles.
01:13Well Peter Schmeichel can get a bit feisty after a few drinks.
01:15Please welcome Russell Kane.
01:16Okay, let's get on with the show.
01:17All of tonight's guests have brought in a fact that they really love, but who's his
01:25best?
01:26It's time for round one, fact off.
01:27Sarah, you're up first.
01:28What is your fact?
01:29My fact is that people eat more food when in company.
01:30So the more people, the more you eat?
01:31Yeah.
01:32It depends on the group.
01:33So if you're with sort of two people, it's less.
01:34And if it's with nine people, it's more.
01:35But it can be up to 50% more food.
01:36I love the fact though, because it sort of allows me to eat more when I'm out.
01:37It's like, well, science said it's true.
01:38So I must back it up.
01:39Like 50% more food.
01:40I love the fact though, because it sort of allows me to eat more when I'm out.
01:41It's like, well, science said it's true.
01:42So I must back it up.
01:43Like 50% more food.
01:44I love the fact though, because it sort of allows me to eat more when I'm out.
01:45It's like, well, science said it's true.
01:46So I must back it up.
01:47Like for me, I definitely eat more when I'm in a group, just so that I make sure, you
01:48know, we're splitting the bill.
01:49I want to get my fill.
01:50I've got a friend who I go out with regularly, purely because of this.
01:51I don't even really like her.
01:52Because she always panics that we haven't ordered enough.
01:53So we always order way too much.
01:54It is interesting.
01:55I've got a friend who I go out with regularly, purely because of this.
01:56I don't even really like her.
01:57Because she always panics that we haven't ordered enough.
01:58So we always order way too much.
01:59It is interesting.
02:00You just want to make sure that it all comes and there's loads of it.
02:01And that you can stay there for days.
02:02I would love the idea of eating out with you.
02:03You can't if you want.
02:04What would you like to eat, Sarah?
02:05I don't care.
02:06As long as it all comes and there's loads of it.
02:07That's basically it.
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04:22Adults consume more food when eating in the presence of others than when eating alone.
04:35This falls under a phenomenon called social facilitation, defined by an increase in behaviour
04:41merely by the sight or sound of others also engaging in a similar behaviour.
04:45When in groups, we tend to copy what other people are doing without thinking.
04:49If someone is having a large meal, or perhaps choosing something unhealthy, then we're inclined
04:54to imitate their behaviour.
04:56And this effect is strongest if we have an emotional connection with them.
05:00It's almost like we feel we have a license to eat as much as them, and we're less self-conscious
05:04about what the group will think.
05:08And as a result, we tend to eat more food.
05:14That's food for thought.
05:16Let's find out if it's true.
05:20To test this theory, we set up cameras in a pizza restaurant to see how much people
05:26eat in different sized groups.
05:29There were strict rules.
05:34All pizzas were 10 inches in diameter, cut evenly into eight slices.
05:40Whenever two slices were left, the whole pizza was replenished, just in case people were
05:46too polite to take the final slices.
05:52Two groups of the same size were used each time to provide a fair average.
05:58First, two in each group.
06:03We supplied them with as much pizza as they wanted.
06:07None of our volunteers knew precisely what we were looking for.
06:12All they knew was that it was a social experiment.
06:17We were interested to discover how much pizza each one of our pairs would eat.
06:31We counted how many pizza slices they consumed.
06:35On average, they ate six slices each.
06:43And now we increased the size of the groups.
06:51We doubled the number of people for the next test, using two new groups of four.
07:05If our theory was true, the amount of pizza that's eaten by each person should increase.
07:14This time, on average, each person consumed 8.5 pizza slices, before it had been six.
07:28To be certain that people eat more in groups, we invited two larger groups of eight to take
07:35part.
07:39The people in these groups should be much more inclined to eat.
07:46The groups were given pizza after pizza.
07:58It was time to see if our theory still held good.
08:05We compared the amounts eaten, and were very surprised by the results.
08:12The groups of eight scarfed 185 pizza slices.
08:18That's an average of 11.5 slices each.
08:23Three slices more than our groups of four, and incredibly, almost twice the amount of
08:28pizza our pairs consumed.
08:32So in groups, we do eat a lot more food.
08:36Mamma Mia!
08:37And true story, an interesting fact about that pizza experiment is that the results
08:44were actually delivered to us an hour late, and we got a free bottle of Fanta.
08:47So that was pretty conclusive, right?
08:51Yeah.
08:52I'm not surprised.
08:53I think human beings as a whole, when we're in a group, we tend to mirror each other more.
08:58Something I read recently, really interesting, there's a disparity between how long men live
09:01and women live.
09:03Men live five years less than women.
09:05But...
09:06Oh, you're so sympathetic.
09:07There are certain areas of the world where men have the same life expectancy as women,
09:12and they couldn't work out what it was, but it's this.
09:15The less a man is part of a group, the sooner he is likely to die, which is most men.
09:20So it's in to isolate themselves.
09:21But in these little Sardinian villages, the old men, their houses have got all the old
09:25ladies and the nanas walking through every day, and they've got constant neurological
09:28stimulation.
09:29The life expectancy gap is closed.
09:32And therefore, men think themselves to death by being miserable bastards.
09:36Sardinians have a bigger advantage to be grouped, though, because they're always packed together
09:41in small, tight spaces.
09:43Now, thankfully, every week, we are joined by our resident experts who can tell us a
09:48little bit more about this fact.
09:49So please welcome specialist in cell biology and genetics, Dr. Emily Grossman, rocket scientist,
09:53Dr. Simon Foster, and expert in space and mechanical engineering, Dr. Maggie Adairin-Pocock.
09:58It's our Verifiers.
09:59So are we doing this a lot?
10:04In fact, it's the opposite.
10:05And, Russell, this is not good news, because more and more of us are eating on our own.
10:10Half the UK men actually have at least one meal on their own every day.
10:15So it's not very good for the life expectancy of the population, but we are eating more
10:19meals on our own.
10:20How many meals are we supposed to be having again?
10:22On average, it's meant to be three, but that is very variable.
10:25Oh, really?
10:26Is it?
10:27Oh, good.
10:28Thank God for that.
10:29The thing that confuses me, if we're supposed to eat more when we're in a group, how come
10:33the Rolling Stones don't look like they've eaten since 1968?
10:37So that was Sarah's fact.
10:38But how good was it?
10:39That's down to our studio audience.
10:40So using your keypads on a scale of one to ten, how impressed were you?
10:44Please vote now.
10:50So let's find out what the average rating was from our audience.
10:54Healthy six, Sarah.
10:56Not bad out of 200, is it?
10:57You would have got a higher score if it wasn't for certain people in the audience who gave
11:01you a one.
11:02No.
11:03Point them out.
11:04Point them out.
11:05We've got their names on this bit of technology.
11:06What about Henry Gardner?
11:07Where are you, Henry Gardner?
11:08Hi, Henry.
11:09Are you a...
11:10No, I'm not Gardner.
11:11No, I meant a Hoover.
11:12Why don't you like the effect?
11:13I just didn't think it was interesting.
11:14Sorry.
11:15That's all right.
11:16That's all right.
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11:18That's all right.
11:19That's all right.
11:20That's all right.
11:21That's all right.
11:22That's all right.
11:23That's all right.
11:25Have you got a girlfriend?
11:26Do you eat out in groups?
11:27Yeah.
11:28Do you find that you eat more?
11:29Yeah, way more.
11:30And when you're on your own, you don't eat so much?
11:31No, I'm usually quite busy on my own.
11:32So you don't have time to eat, have you?
11:33Yeah.
11:34You're eating less.
11:35So I think, all in all, we can summarise this as a fairly interesting fact.
11:36Wouldn't you agree, madam?
11:37And yet, your boyfriend, who let me tell you now, is a bit dull.
11:38You started it, Henry!
11:39Finish with him.
11:40Find yourself somebody called Dyson.
11:41So we've heard Sarah's favourite fat, but join us after the break when some really interesting
11:42facts are coming your way.
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12:16Before the break, the audience gave Sarah six points for her great fact
12:19that we eat more food when we're in a group.
12:21So, Ranulph, you're next.
12:22What fact have you gone for?
12:24Whatever you weigh, even if you're sort of like Boris Johnson...
12:29Can I just say for partiality, other fat bastards are available.
12:35If you attach yourself to a 4kg weight...
12:40OK, 4kg weight, yeah.
12:41And you then drop off a dizzy height, you'll be saved.
12:45Whoa, whoa, whoa.
12:46I think we probably need to give it a bit more explanation.
12:48And probably the easiest way to do that
12:50is probably to just demonstrate it for you with these items.
12:54So basically...
12:554kg weight.
12:56So that would represent the 4kg weight, and this represents...
12:59That is you, OK?
13:00You're about to jump off a dizzy height.
13:02OK. And in order not to die...
13:04This can save you. That's right.
13:06But there is one key implement that we would need for this.
13:08A fulcrum. A fulcrum? Yeah.
13:11Or I call it a chopstick.
13:15Now, you would think, if I was to pull this back like this...
13:18Yeah, he is now at the point he's about to drop to his death.
13:22Right. Keep it light.
13:23And...
13:25Now, we would assume it to just crash,
13:27and this has fallen, so I'm going to smash it to the thing.
13:29And let's see what happens.
13:33Ooh!
13:34APPLAUSE
13:35Pretty amazing fact.
13:36If you get 6 points, I'm going to get 7 for that one, buddy.
13:40Basically, the fact is, if you can stop any item from falling
13:42if it's attached to a lighter object.
13:44So, basically, if you are on the edge of a mountain,
13:47providing you've remembered to pack your rope,
13:49your 4kg weight and your floating fulcrum, you're all right.
13:52I don't know what a fulcrum is. I thought that was your fulcrum.
13:55That's a philtrum. Oh!
13:58So I can't just carry the bit under my nose,
13:59cos that's always with us. That would be really handy.
14:01I love the idea of me and you parachute jumping in tandem.
14:04It doesn't work, and you go,
14:06Don't worry, pet, I've got me little fulcrum.
14:11So the older you get, the safer you are if you're a bloke.
14:13Obviously, your balls are descending more and more as you get older.
14:18Bruce Forsyth would really cling to the side of that cliff, wouldn't he?
14:23That is probably the worst image I have ever had.
14:27Do you think when he looks at his testicles,
14:28he slowly notices them going lower, higher, lower, lower, higher.
14:35Now higher.
14:39As he lands.
14:41So, Sir Ranulph, you obviously believe this fact is true.
14:43So why don't you and I test it out?
14:44But before we do, let's see the science behind it.
14:48If you let anything fall to the ground,
14:50you convert its gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy.
14:56A heavier object has a greater gravitational attraction to the ground,
15:00but because it has more mass, it takes more energy to move it.
15:05This is why, as Galileo demonstrated,
15:08all objects fall to the ground at the same speed.
15:12If you attach a heavy object to a much lighter object with a rope
15:16and hang them both over a pole,
15:18the heavy object starts to fall to the ground.
15:21But at the same time, the much lighter object is accelerating upwards.
15:27At this speed, the lighter object swings over the pole and wraps around it.
15:33With friction from the rope, it gets caught on the pole
15:36and the heavy object is stopped before it hits the floor.
15:40So let's see what happens if the heavy object is a person.
15:46So, Sir Ranulph, Mike here has offered to test out your fact for us.
15:50He's attached to a rope, attached to a hammer, which weighs four kilograms.
15:54It will hopefully stop him crashing to the ground.
15:56Still feeling confident about your fact?
15:58I mean, because there is a human life at stake.
15:59Yeah, semi-confident.
16:00Semi-confident.
16:01Those are the words you wanted to hear, isn't it?
16:03Semi-confident.
16:04Now, let's winch Mike up to the roof of the studio
16:06and let's see if his science really does work.
16:08We've decided to get in a stunt man while we're at it
16:10because we ran out of researchers during the rehearsals.
16:13Okay, Sir Ranulph, take your position over there, please.
16:16To be honest, this is a win-win situation for me
16:18because either it's a spectacular TV stunt or a heck of a blooper reel.
16:23Okay, you all right up there, Mike?
16:24Yep, good.
16:25Okay.
16:25Are we ready, Sir Ranulph?
16:27Yep, ready.
16:28I'm genuinely terrified.
16:31Now, when you pull it, Mike will be released and he'll drop to the ground
16:34and there is no safety harness.
16:36On the count of three, please release Mike.
16:38Three, two, one, go!
16:45That was terrifying.
16:46Okay, let's take a look at that again in slow motion.
16:56Thank you very much, Sir Ranulph.
16:57You've definitely proved that if an adult man
16:58is attached to a four kilogram weight,
17:00it would be enough to stop him falling to his death.
17:02And thank you to Mike.
17:04Yeah, yeah.
17:13Wow.
17:16Now, am I right in saying that you are the eldest person
17:19to reach the top of Everest?
17:20I'm the first bloke to get to the top of Everest with a bus pass.
17:25You cheated, you mean?
17:29Oh, you didn't go on the bus?
17:30All right, sorry.
17:35Okay, so we've tested Sir Ranulph Fiennes' fact,
17:37but let's find out how impressed our audience was.
17:39Time for you all to give it a mark out of ten.
17:40Please vote now.
17:47So, let's find out the average rate of your fact.
17:50Sir Ranulph, that's a nine.
17:56Finally, Russell, what is your fact?
17:58Our short-term memory lasts for less than 30 seconds.
18:03I'm not sure this is true, Jimmy.
18:07Um, so how do you define short-term memory?
18:08Because, like, I haven't got a particularly good memory,
18:10but my short-term memory is if you said to me,
18:12go and buy a bag of oranges,
18:13I reckon 30 seconds later I'd remember to buy a bag of oranges.
18:16But you might not remember who for.
18:18And that'd look ridiculous.
18:19I remember the oranges, now I can't remember where I live.
18:23So, if you think of it as different chambers,
18:26there's a loading bay for facts,
18:27some of which gets transferred to the long-term holding area,
18:31and some of which you just need, like, post a letter, go to the shops.
18:34And the ways you can get round this
18:36is you can force the short-term stuff into the long-term memory.
18:40What, by doing that with your head or something?
18:41Yeah, like, knock it back.
18:43Is that just by getting older?
18:44Does it eventually move anyway, by just being older?
18:46No, short-term memory stays the same across your life.
18:49So, we're saying every human being, 15, 30 seconds, it's gone,
18:52but it's only because it's transferred it to the hard drive.
18:54If it's something that's relevant.
18:56If it's like, I must post this letter, the letter's posted,
18:58the hard drive goes, I don't think I need to remember we posted a letter,
19:00thank you very much, delete.
19:02It's funny, because most of the audience that I go and do stand-up gigs to
19:04must have very long-term memories,
19:06because every time I do a gag, they shout,
19:07Erd it.
19:10So, Ranulph, have you got a good memory?
19:11No, what I do is, I use a handkerchief,
19:13I tie a knot in the handkerchief,
19:15and then there's something else,
19:16so you end up maybe five knots in the handkerchief,
19:19and the next day you look at them,
19:21and you can't remember what the bloody hell they're all about.
19:25The theory is, you can force, so the way to do it,
19:28say I said, right, you've got to remember these 20 objects immediately,
19:31most of us wouldn't be able to do it.
19:32The trick around it is, for numbers 1 to 20,
19:35you make those numbers into stories in your head,
19:37so number 1 could be a tall man,
19:38number 2 could be a fish hook,
19:39number 10 I think of as Laurel and Hardy, for example.
19:42If I do the same thing, mine are different numbers,
19:44so I've got, 1 is Kelly's eye, there's an eye,
19:462's a shoe, 3's a tree, 4's a door, 5's...
19:49Is that because you can't remember 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5?
19:53No, no, no, no, it's not to help you remember how to count,
19:57I mean, I have got that nailed.
19:58Yeah.
19:59I could go up to sometimes 20, 25 on a good day.
20:02Is Al worried a little bit, thinking Lee can't remember numbers?
20:06I reckon icons, if you think, I remember in history,
20:10Willy Willy, Harry Stee, Harry Dick John,
20:11Harry 3, 1, 2, 3, Neds, Richard 2, Harry 4, 5, 6, then Who?
20:16Are they all the Doctor Whos?
20:20They were the kings and queens, of course.
20:22And going back to 16...
20:24Can you do that again? I was genuinely fascinated by that.
20:26Yeah, Willy Willy, Harry Stee, Harry Dick John,
20:27Harry 3, 1, 2, 3, Neds, Richard 2, Harry 4, 5, 6, then Who?
20:31What do you mean, then who?
20:33I can't remember.
20:34Oh, I see.
20:35What a great system that collapses at the end.
20:38Yeah, you're halfway there.
20:39You're halfway there, that's fair enough.
20:41Worst feeling as a stand-up is,
20:42when you've been touring the show for about six months,
20:44you do the routines, and then you do a bit of improvisation
20:47with the front row, and that goes really well,
20:49and then you go back and you're like,
20:50I can't remember what bit I just did.
20:52Where am I in the show? It's the worst.
20:53But it's like stepping into a lift, and there's no lift there,
20:55and you're like, I've lost my way.
20:56Well, this will explain why, if you think of an idea
20:58in the middle of the night, and you'll think,
20:59oh, I'll remember that in the morning,
21:00and there's no way you're remembering that in the morning.
21:02You didn't transfer it.
21:03What you do is you scribble it down the side of your bed.
21:05If you're organised.
21:05But you write it down, it doesn't mean anything
21:07the next day anyway, unless you flesh it out.
21:08Because I picked up my pad one day,
21:10and it just said that my crumpet face,
21:12which is the face that I do when somebody says,
21:14do you want a crumpet, is the same as my sex face.
21:17And I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that.
21:19Apart from have crumpets more often.
21:23I don't want to pen and paddle to my bed
21:25in case in other activities I get marked.
21:30OK, you've heard what we think, but join us after the break
21:32when we put this to the test.
21:42Welcome back to Don't Quack, Don't Echo,
21:43the show that brings you brilliant and bizarre facts
21:45you've probably never even heard of.
21:47Before the break, Russell Kane told us
21:48that our short-term memory lasts for less than 30 seconds.
21:51We need to know for sure, so we put it to the test.
21:59Goldfish are renowned for having a memory
22:02which lasts only seconds.
22:04So if you have a memory like a sieve, don't worry.
22:07Because apparently, human short-term memory is just as bad.
22:12Smells fishy? Well, let's hear from our expert.
22:15The different stages of memory can best be described
22:18as mental storage spaces that are handled
22:20by different parts of the brain.
22:22Short-term memory is partly processed
22:24in the prefrontal cortex,
22:26and it's essentially the information
22:28that we're currently aware of.
22:30It has limited capacity,
22:32so when our consciousness shifts attention,
22:34due to interference, for example,
22:37then we can lose that temporarily stored information.
22:40By reactivating and rehearsing information,
22:43we can transfer it to longer-term storage
22:45in other parts of the brain,
22:46where it can last a lifetime.
22:48However, without rehearsing or reactivating,
22:51that short-term memory only lasts for seconds
22:53and is then gone forever.
22:56For our experiment, we recruited five volunteers
23:00to test their short-term memory under lab conditions.
23:06First, we gave them a basic memory test.
23:09Each volunteer was shown three random letters
23:12for just one second
23:14and immediately asked to say what they were.
23:17H, T, Q.
23:18Easy enough.
23:23But would they be able to recall
23:24the same sequence of letters after 30 seconds?
23:30To prevent them from transferring the three letters
23:32into their long-term memory,
23:34the volunteers were distracted with a simple maths test.
23:39I'm going to show you a number
23:40and I'd like you to subtract three continually
23:43again and again and again, starting from now.
23:46591.
23:48588.
23:50312.
23:52302.
23:5451.
23:57And your letter combination?
23:59R, X, W.
24:04Forgot.
24:06Remarkably, no one managed to remember
24:09the three-letter sequence.
24:10K, P, R.
24:14I completely got that wrong.
24:17That was under lab conditions.
24:19But would the results improve in the real world?
24:27We invited a new set of volunteers to a cocktail party.
24:32They knew they were taking part in an experiment
24:35but didn't know what we were testing.
24:37Each of our volunteers was introduced
24:39to a group of five people who told them their names.
24:42Hi, I'm Rosie. Nice to meet you.
24:44Rosie.
24:44Hi, I'm Hannah.
24:45Hannah.
24:46Hello.
24:46I'm Nino.
24:47Nino.
24:48Hello, Chris. Nice to meet you, mate.
24:49Nice to meet you.
24:50I'm George.
24:50George. How are you?
24:51OK, before you get to your acquaintance,
24:53would you like to tell them their names?
24:55They were then asked to order a drink from a cocktail menu.
24:59Once distracted, they couldn't repeat to themselves the new names.
25:0330 seconds later, they were asked to recall the names
25:06of the people they'd just been introduced to.
25:10Erm...
25:12I'd have to say Rosie.
25:13Yeah.
25:15Hannah.
25:18Erm...
25:21Nick.
25:24Our first volunteer only managed to recall two names correctly.
25:28Will our second volunteer do better?
25:32Nino.
25:33Nino.
25:34Yeah, awesome.
25:35Are you Harry?
25:38Jess?
25:40No.
25:41Hannah.
25:43Hannah.
25:44I'm so sorry.
25:45Remarkably, none of our volunteers were able to remember successfully all five names.
25:53So it looks as though our short-term memory does last less than 30 seconds.
25:59Still not convinced?
26:01Then can you remember the name of this young man from earlier on?
26:06His name was Chris.
26:12So, there you go.
26:13I mean, I've heard, genuinely, that chimpanzees have better short-term memories than us.
26:18I don't know if you've heard that.
26:19They don't have much to remember, though, do they?
26:21That's true.
26:21Apart from, where's me banana?
26:22And, er...
26:23That's it.
26:24Has me agent rung about the PG Tips advert?
26:28What's the worst you've ever lost your place on stage, Lee?
26:30I was once supposed to be in Northampton and I was in Southampton.
26:35In the old days, when you'd do three or four shows in one night...
26:38The 1950s were a bastard.
26:45Talking of memory, can I have a pen?
26:46I've got to tell them, I must remember not to book Russell again.
26:50So that was Russell's fact.
26:51Our audience are going to score it using your keypad on a scale of one to ten.
26:54How amazing do you think that fact is?
27:01Now, Russell, let's find out what the average range from our audience, for your fact.
27:06Six.
27:07Russell, that's not bad, is it?
27:08I'm five and six twins.
27:13Fair play.
27:14Sorry, people brought your average down there.
27:16Cara Martin, where are you, Cara?
27:18You weren't impressed, Cara?
27:19No.
27:19Why?
27:20Because he will now use that as an excuse to forget what he was going to the shop for
27:24when he ends up in the pub.
27:28We have some positives as well.
27:30I love this name.
27:31It sounds like the worst theme park ever, the surname.
27:34Kieran Beanland.
27:37Where's Kieran Beanland?
27:38Oh, it's you.
27:39It's the one who forgets what he's going to the shop.
27:41You gave it a ten.
27:42Yeah.
27:42Because?
27:43So I can forget things when I go up to the pub.
27:46Perfect.
27:49We've got our own little double act over there.
27:51Right, I've got one, you've got ten, and this is the material.
27:56Sir Adolph is in the lead, but there's still plenty of time for Sir and Russell
27:59to catch up in the next round.
28:00It's time for Fact Finder.
28:05Yes, not only do we ask our guests to bring a fact to the show,
28:07we also ask our studio audience.
28:09Sarah, Sir Adolph and Russell have each picked out the audience fact
28:12that they think is best, and Sarah, you're first.
28:14Whose have you picked?
28:16Paul Beard.
28:17Paul Beard.
28:18What is your fact?
28:20Chimpanzees can identify each other by their bottoms.
28:24How do you know this?
28:25From documentaries.
28:26I mean, why aren't they going with facial recognition?
28:29When they can't see their face,
28:32they recognise that bottom applies to that individual.
28:35It's a good fact, though, isn't it?
28:36It's a good fact.
28:37I still don't understand why you wouldn't just go by other parts of the bottom.
28:40But, like, it would be handy if we could do that at, like, a dinner party.
28:45You know, when you meet somebody and you're like,
28:46oh, I've met them before, but I caught them away from,
28:48and you just went, just turn round,
28:50and then you went, oh, John, nice to see you again.
28:53Do we think this possibly is true, Sir Adolph?
28:55I find this a bit of a struggle to believe
28:57that they're using bottoms as a recognition.
28:59Well, you see pictures of the Kardashian lady from behind.
29:03And you immediately know who she is?
29:04Yeah, exactly.
29:10So that's what we think of Sarah's chosen audience fact now.
29:12We can't test it because we only just heard it tonight,
29:14so it's over to our verifiers.
29:15What do we think of Sarah's fact?
29:17Well, it is actually true.
29:19And I think the problem is we find it surprising
29:21because we underestimate the power of a chimp's bottom.
29:26Each chimp's bottom is quite distinctive.
29:29They have distinctive colorations.
29:30They have sort of bumps and lumps.
29:32And when a troop of chimpanzees are running through the forest,
29:35the main thing they're going to see is a bottom.
29:37And so if you're trying to look for Fred,
29:39identifying his bottom is really useful.
29:43OK, we'll score it at the end once we've heard everyone's fact.
29:45You're next, Sir Adolph.
29:46Whose fact have you gone for?
29:48Emma Jenkins.
29:49Emma Jenkins, where are you?
29:51Would you mind standing up, Emma?
29:52Just so we can see your bottom.
29:56Emma, what is your fact?
29:57Doodling helps you concentrate.
30:00Can you back that up with any evidence?
30:02Are you a doodler?
30:03I am a bit of a doodler.
30:04What do you doodle?
30:05Well, I don't think I could say that on the show, but...
30:07Oh, go on, say it.
30:08You can say anything on this show.
30:10Flowers.
30:11Flowers?
30:12You're allowed to say that on television.
30:15Never has anyone wanted to say cock and balls.
30:19Are you drawing a cock and balls?
30:20Yes.
30:23Would you draw men's undercarriages
30:25if you were on the phone to your mum,
30:26or does that feel wrong?
30:27Do you think she's doing the same back?
30:29Well, possibly, yes.
30:30For what it's worth, when I'm talking to my willy,
30:33I draw a picture of her mum.
30:36Helps me concentrate.
30:38OK.
30:39Verifiers, what do you think?
30:40Amazingly, this is actually true.
30:43Scientists at Plymouth University carried out a study
30:45where they asked 40 people to listen to a really boring
30:48answer phone message.
30:49They asked them to remember eight names of people
30:51who were mentioned in the message afterwards,
30:53names of people who could come to a party.
30:55And half the people were allowed to doodle,
30:57asked to doodle during the message,
30:59and half the people weren't.
31:00And those who were doodling, on average,
31:02remembered 30% more whilst doodling.
31:05And it's thought that if you're doing something really boring,
31:07doodling keeps you active and focused on the task
31:09without distracting you from it.
31:11It's like the engine ticking over in a car.
31:12Exactly.
31:13And there's quite a few famous doodlers
31:15who were very productive people who were well-known
31:17for being avid doodlers, people like Hillary Clinton.
31:19She do men's undercarriages as well.
31:23OK.
31:24Finally, Russell, whose facts have you picked out?
31:26John French has brought my fact.
31:28Where are you, John?
31:30Hi, John.
31:30Hello.
31:31So what's your fact?
31:32My fact is that you would not be able to recognise
31:35your own voice if you had to pick it from a line-up.
31:39If I had to listen to my own voice...
31:41Yes.
31:41...I wouldn't know which one is mine.
31:43You probably would, but people in normal occupations
31:46might struggle.
31:46Oh, so I'm abnormal now?
31:50John, they would have to be of a similar accent.
31:53You couldn't have, like, a Nigerian going,
31:54I am Russell Kin, and then my voice came along.
31:58That might not work.
31:58Hang on, hang on.
31:59Everyone nowadays has iPhones and cameras.
32:02Everyone's listening to their own voice all the time, aren't they?
32:04Do you know what?
32:04People take loads of selfies, but they very rarely
32:07record their own voice and listen to it on playback.
32:10So you think if it was a line-up of, say, 10 people,
32:12you would struggle to recognise your own voice?
32:14If they had similar accents, yes.
32:16Russell, you'd recognise your voice, wouldn't you?
32:18Yes.
32:18When you have to watch your own stand-up,
32:19it's one of the most punishing things you can do.
32:22Tell me about it, I've seen your DVDs.
32:25You'd recognise your voice, Sarah.
32:27Everyone would recognise Sarah's voice.
32:29I know.
32:30Joe Pasquale on helium, they'd recognise yours.
32:34Yeah, I would recognise my voice.
32:36OK.
32:37A lot of people think my sister sounds a lot like me,
32:39so when she...
32:40So my mum can't always recognise my sister from me,
32:43when we just say, like, when you just say,
32:44hi, how are you, just a quick...
32:46So I think if you put loads of sort of annoying,
32:49high-pitched women from Newcastle together,
32:52then I might not be able to pick mine up either.
32:54My favourite noise Sarah makes
32:55is when we did the Melbourne Festival together,
32:58and I gave her the nickname Cake Pigeon,
32:59because whenever we'd stop outside a bakery,
33:01she'd look at the cakes and go, ooh.
33:05Verifiers, Russell likes John's fat,
33:07but is there anything in it?
33:08So when you're speaking,
33:09you hear your voice in two different ways.
33:11One kind of sound enters your ear,
33:13but you also hear, like, vibrations through your skull
33:16called bone conduction,
33:17and bone conduction's really good
33:19at carrying, like, low bassy frequencies.
33:21You know if someone's, like, in a room next door to you,
33:24you can hear their voice, and it's really low and deep.
33:26Well, they're the ones that are conducted really well
33:28by the bones in your skull,
33:29so this gets added to the sound coming in through your ears.
33:33You can imagine how Barry White sounded in his own voice.
33:35Limey, he must think he's a whale.
33:39After you've kind of had your voice recorded,
33:42obviously you only hear through your ear now,
33:44you don't have these bassy vibrations through your skull,
33:46so that's all you hear,
33:47so you kind of can't believe that that's your own voice,
33:50because you believe you sound a lot deeper than that.
33:51That makes sense.
33:52I do get that thing where people will come up to me,
33:53they haven't seen me for a while,
33:54and they'll go, I go, hey, it's Lee Mack,
33:56and I'll go, why are you doing that voice for?
33:57They'll go, because that's what you sound like.
34:01So, we've heard the facts,
34:02but how many points will our verifiers give them?
34:04Find out after the break.
34:13So, before the break,
34:14each of our guests chose their favourite fact from the audience.
34:17We found out whether each fact is true,
34:18but who will get the most points from our verifiers?
34:20Let's find out.
34:21Sarah, remind us of your chosen fact.
34:23This is a fact from Paul Beard,
34:25chimpanzees can identify each other by their bottoms.
34:28Verifiers, what score are we giving that?
34:30Well, it involved a monkey's bottom, and it's true,
34:32so I'll give it an eight.
34:38It's a run-off, remind us of the fact you backed.
34:40Emma Jenkins, doodling helps you concentrate.
34:45Good fact, verifiers, what are we giving it?
34:46It's a great fact, nine points for that.
34:48Nine points, oh, you've done well there.
34:53And finally, Russell, which fact would you go for?
34:56John French gave us my fact,
34:58and that was you would not be able to recognise your own voice
35:00if you had to pick it out in a line-up.
35:02Verifiers?
35:03Well, this has got some really interesting applications,
35:05as people are now making speakers that connect to your skull
35:08rather than your ears and things like that,
35:10so we're going to give this an eight.
35:14So, let's put that all up on the leaderboard
35:15and see how it's affected the scores.
35:17Russell and Sarah in joint second place,
35:19but Sir Ranulph's in the lead with 18 points.
35:22You're doing well, sir.
35:25There's still time for the rest of you to catch up.
35:27We've heard all the guest facts that the audience have brought there,
35:29so now it's my turn.
35:30It's time for Max Facts.
35:34I've got some facts for you,
35:36all you have to do is guess what they are from a series of clues
35:38and you'll get points for each one you get right.
35:40OK, here's the first one.
35:42This, this, and this.
35:47Now, before you're all sick, do you want me to tell you what that is?
35:50Oil. It's vegetable oil.
35:51Yeah. Yes.
35:52I just thought I'd point that out in case you thought
35:53the results of my urine test have come in.
35:56It was the words vegetable oil written on it
35:58on a sticker that gave it away.
35:59Oh, is it?
36:02Oh, that's thrown me off,
36:03cos I thought it was how to make the comfiest bra.
36:07Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on.
36:09One's bigger than the other,
36:10but not usually that disproportionate, are they?
36:13You wouldn't need any straps,
36:16cos you could just put a bit of oil in and they'd just stay on.
36:20What an image that is!
36:22Come on, love, we're going to be late.
36:23Hang on, pet, I'll just stick me bra on.
36:26Right, come on, let's go to the baptist.
36:33Is that not, is that not right?
36:34That is not the correct answer.
36:35I'll give you a bit of a clue.
36:36Pour this in.
36:37This is what Jamie Oliver would be doing if he was from Glasgow.
36:41Right, just put a little dash in, like that.
36:46And that is your porridge ready, right?
36:49Spoon!
36:52So here we have some vegetable oil and two Pyrex bowls,
36:55although I am legally bound to tell you that Pyrex is a trade name
36:58and that other brands of low thermal transparent expansion receptacles are available.
37:03So, any ideas?
37:04Is it something about putting the other ball in that one?
37:07Bingo!
37:08So if you put the other ball in that one, it won't spill over.
37:10So if I was to put that in there, what would you expect to happen?
37:12Displacement.
37:13It's not about displacement, but it's almost right.
37:16It's about dis...
37:17Disappearing?
37:18Disco.
37:19Not about disco!
37:21My fact is, if you stick that in there, we can all have a dance.
37:25Yay!
37:27Oil makes glass disappear.
37:30It's a fascinating fact, this.
37:31Put that in.
37:35Oh!
37:38Shut up.
37:39That's working.
37:40A round of applause.
37:45So, Verifyers, can you explain why this happens?
37:47Yes, indeed. It's all about refractive index.
37:49Now, I don't know if you've ever been sitting in the bath
37:51and you sort of stretch down to get the soap.
37:53As you go and put your hand in,
37:54the soap seems slightly further away than you anticipated.
37:56Oh, yeah.
37:58Because what happens is, refractive index is the property
38:01of how quickly light travels through a medium.
38:03So what's actually happening is the light is reflected off the soap,
38:06it comes up through the water slowly,
38:08when it gets to the air, it's bent, it's refracted,
38:10and so when we look back down,
38:12it looks as if the soap's higher in the water.
38:14This means that when light is going through the bowl,
38:16it hits the glass interface,
38:18so rather than getting any reflections or refractions,
38:20it passes straight through and we can't see the bowl anymore.
38:22OK, well, there you go.
38:23I think that's a quite interesting fact, isn't it?
38:25We like that fact.
38:25Right, we'll stick that down there.
38:28OK, so my next fact is this.
38:32Pat Butcher's earrings.
38:35And this.
38:37Does that represent rainwater?
38:39That represents rain, yes.
38:40The cloud and the rain.
38:41And this is a basketball.
38:44My fact is, due to their above-average height,
38:46basketball players are always the first to know
38:48when it starts raining.
38:50No, I just said that.
38:53Should I give you a clue?
38:54Yes, please.
38:54What do basketballs do?
38:56Bounce.
38:56They do bounce.
38:57Do things bounce differently when they're wet, I'm guessing?
39:01You're almost there.
39:02The actual fact is, raindrops bounce.
39:04That simple.
39:05Oh.
39:07Tell us more.
39:08So what's actually happening is that the raindrop is falling down
39:12and it's trapping a layer of air between itself
39:14and the surface of the water.
39:16Because of water tension, the droplet retains its shape
39:19and the layer of air between the water and the droplet
39:22acts like a little cushion, bouncing the droplet back up again.
39:25And in fact, scientists are using this to design surfaces
39:27that are more waterproof.
39:29So basically, the faster a droplet will bounce on a surface,
39:32the less wet the surface will get.
39:33That's why you Scotchgard your sofa,
39:35because then if you wet yourself, it just rolls off.
39:39You should do the advert for Scotchgard.
39:42My last fact tonight is this,
39:48this,
39:50and this.
39:52So that's just a bag, a bin, and a cannon?
39:55Yes.
39:56Could you get the force of a cannon by throwing something out of a bag?
39:59It's about cannon force, yes.
40:00So you could catch...
40:01Has it got to do with piles?
40:04Sir Randolph, you need to go and see a doctor,
40:05because that is what your piles are looking like.
40:08Oh, okay.
40:08Shall I tell you what it is?
40:10You can make a cannon out of a dustbin and a bag and some air.
40:14Fair advice.
40:15Please explain more whilst we prepare to demonstrate.
40:18So if you attach a bin bag to the back of a dustbin
40:20and cut a hole out of the bottom, you have yourself an air cannon.
40:24If you look at the mouth of the air cannon,
40:26you'll see there's like a lip on it.
40:28And as the air tries to exit it,
40:30air at the edges has to move around this lip
40:32so it gets slowed down.
40:34And as it goes out, it starts spinning.
40:35So you kind of get a doughnut of spinning air,
40:37which we call a vortex.
40:39Now, spinning air has a lower air resistance,
40:42so it can move really far.
40:44And the other fact that keeps this vortex together
40:46is that moving air has a lower pressure.
40:49So there's a force on it from all different sides.
40:51And it's like a mould is holding this doughnut together
40:54so it can go flying across the room,
40:56as we're about to find out.
40:59So now it's time to prove my facts.
41:01Sarah, could you just stand over here, please?
41:03Yeah.
41:04So this is an air cannon.
41:05It's just made out of household objects.
41:06Just by tapping the back of it,
41:08I'll be able to hopefully create a powerful ball of air.
41:11Just like this.
41:16You felt that, right?
41:17Yeah, yeah, totally.
41:17It's quite powerful, isn't it?
41:18Yeah.
41:18Right, we need some extra guinea pigs.
41:20So if you'd like to join in the line,
41:21please place a cup, which we've given you, on your head.
41:24And I will fill this cannon with smoke,
41:26so this time you can actually see what's going on, okay?
41:29It's like being in Mum and Dad's front lounge in the 1980s.
41:34So now we should be able to see this in action.
41:36Okay, here we go.
41:37Russell first.
41:37No.
41:47All right, thank you all.
41:49Right, you three.
41:50If you want to have a go, grab one of those cannons.
41:53Now, to test this further,
41:55some of you in the audience will find cups under your chairs.
41:57Could you place them all on your head?
41:59And we're going to try and knock them off, okay?
42:01This is a very useful tool if you want to find out
42:04if someone's wearing a wig or not.
42:08Are you ready?
42:08Let's see if we can knock the cups down.
42:10Three, two, one.
42:11Give it a whack.
42:14Get a bit closer.
42:22There's a poor fella there with far too much suction on his head.
42:29This is like trying to assassinate Noddy.
42:31There's another one.
42:32There's always one, isn't there?
42:35Look at that.
42:40So there you have it.
42:41Those are my facts.
42:42And after that round, let's see the final scores.
42:45Congratulations, Sir Ranulph is the winner.
42:49That's it for tonight's show.
42:50A huge thank you to our verifiers,
42:51Sarah Millican, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, and Russell Kane.
42:56I'll see you next time.
42:56Good night.
43:02For the foreseeable future, I'll be calling him Freddie Flightoff.
43:06The cricketing legend can now add darts commentator
43:09to his sporting credentials.
43:11180 is brand new tomorrow night at eight on Sky One.