Dancing Robots, Penguins & The Science of Baking | FULL EPISODE | S4
Mission Unstoppable
0:02 [music]
0:03 I'm Miranda Cosgrove and this is Mission Unstoppable.
0:08 Coming up, we've got robots with [music] rhythm.
0:10 See how one ballerina is using her science know-how to make bots that bot.
0:14 It's got six axes, so [music] it can rotate in different ways.
0:17 And she discovered radium, but now it's time to discover her.
0:21 I spill the STEM tea on Marie Curie.
0:23 Then, you know baking is basically chemistry.
0:26 [music] See how one chef brings science
0:28 into the kitchen with some delicious brownies.
0:30 [music] You would never know that these are black bean brownies.
0:33 And it takes a lot of STEM to care for an animal this small.
0:36 Say hello [music] to the world of little blue penguins.
0:39 I cannot get over how cute these penguins are.
0:42 Get ready to [music] meet the scientists, inventors,
0:45 and heroes who help make our world a better place.
0:49 The future is here.
0:51 The mission unstoppable.
0:56 Science is all about asking questions.
0:59 For example, is it time for our first guest?
1:02 The answer [music] is yes.
1:04 But that was an easy one.
1:05 Most of the science questions are a lot harder.
1:10 [music]
1:10 Ballet, the classic dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance,
1:14 brings to mind graceful movements, flowy tutus, [music] and romance.
1:20 But for most of us, what it doesn't bring to mind is physics,
1:24 space travel, and robots.
1:27 That's because [music] most of us
1:28 aren't quantum physicist and ballerina Mearit Moore.
1:33 [music]
1:33 The first time I had a dance class was when I was 13, which is quite late.
1:37 And I was told I would never make it as a professional [music] ballet dancer.
1:40 And so I had this passion for it, but I didn't really think it was going
1:44 to be possible for me to pursue that career.
1:47 And I always loved science [music] and physics
1:49 and just asking the questions of like,
1:52 "What's out there in the universe?" During my PC,
1:54 [music] I just thought, "You know what?
1:55 Why not both?
1:56 Why can't I pursue both?" Today,
1:59 I'm visiting Mearit at the Boston [music] Ballet,
2:01 where she's going to demonstrate how she brings her two passions together.
2:06 So you're a ballerina and a quantum physicist.
2:09 How does physics help you become a better ballet dancer?
2:12 I don't think I would have made
2:13 it as a professional ballet dancer without physics.
2:16 Like for instance, in a turn, knowing [music] about moment of inertia, right?
2:20 The organization of your body around an axis.
2:22 Yeah.
2:23 And so [music] if we understand that oh, actually,
2:26 if I'm more spread out, I create more resistance [music] and I'll go slower.
2:30 So if I create a big arms, then I go slowly.
2:35 But if I bring it [music] in, then I go much faster.
2:37 Right.
2:39 Oh yeah, you can definitely tell the difference.
2:41 Oh, I can do that, too.
2:42 I just have to stretch [music] first.
2:44 Yeah, we'll go with that.
2:46 I love that you are so passionate [music] about being a ballerina,
2:49 but then you're also passionate about
2:50 the science and applying these things together.
2:53 It is just amazing.
2:54 Aw, thank you.
2:55 I mean, my dream is to dance on the moon.
2:58 So that is why [music] I'm exploring dancing with robots.
3:02 You're using robots in dance?
3:04 [music] Yes.
3:05 Ah, this is something I'd like to see.
3:08 I'll show you.
3:09 Can we dance now?
3:10 Yeah.
3:10 You can follow me.
3:12 Ooh.
3:14 Now it's time to meet Mearit's newest dance partner.
3:17 But watch out for him.
3:18 I hear he always steals the spotlight.
3:21 Wow, so this is the robot.
3:24 My goodness, I was expecting something a little more human
3:28 when you said that you were dancing with a robot,
3:30 but this has all sort of different axes and [music] that's so interesting.
3:34 It's a collaborative robot, so they sometimes call it a cobot.
3:37 Oh.
3:37 It's got six axes, [music] so it can rotate in different ways.
3:41 Does it have a name?
3:42 Yes.
3:42 Robot De Niro?
3:46 Mearit explains that to program Robot De Niro to [music] move,
3:49 you need to input data to a waypoint,
3:51 which is a coordinate on a 3D model that tells each axis where to [music] go.
3:56 I'm so interested to see how you get this kind of robot to dance.
4:01 Do we think he can do it?
4:02 Let's see if he agrees.
4:07 Yeah, he wants [laughter] to do it.
4:09 Now we're going to put our moves to the test.
4:12 Ladies, gentlemen, [music] and cyborgs,
4:15 put your hands or axes together because it's time
4:18 for the world premiere of Robot De Niro and his backup dancers.
4:24 [singing] [laughter and gasps] Nice!
4:42 That was so cool.
4:46 [laughter] That was awesome.
4:47 Who knew robots had so much rhythm?
4:50 Thank you so much, Dr.
4:51 Moore, for telling me how you can combine
4:54 physics and and dance using this incredible robot.
4:59 Bye.
5:00 Bye.
5:04 Normally in science, it's bad when you spill things,
5:07 especially when you're dealing with hydrochloric acid or melted plutonium.
5:12 But today, we're doing the good kind of spill when we spill
5:16 the STEM tea about one of history's most celebrated scientists, Marie Curie.
5:27 Marie Curie, working with her husband Pierre,
5:30 discovered the element polonium in 1898.
5:34 And the pair discovered another element, radium.
5:36 [music] And this work led to her sharing the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics.
5:43 It's so cute when couples share things.
5:45 Normally, it's like a hoodie, but a Nobel Prize works, too.
5:49 After her husband died tragically,
5:51 Marie [music] continued to study radioactive elements,
5:54 eventually winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
5:56 [music] in 1911 for finally isolating metallic radium.
6:00 Even today, Marie is one of only two people
6:03 ever to win Nobel Prizes in two different fields.
6:09 The soft glow [music] of the new miracle radium compounds led to its
6:12 use in paints for clocks and watches
6:15 and even toothpaste and beauty [music] cream.
6:19 It's a good thing I have a natural glow.
6:21 No radioactive beauty products needed.
6:24 But the elements Marie discovered [music] and studied had never been
6:27 collected before and there wasn't a clear understanding of their dangers.
6:30 Over time, exposure to these elements can cause [music] deadly cancers.
6:34 Eventually, Marie came to understand the dangers, but for years,
6:38 she kept radium in her pockets, her desk, on shelves, and around her house.
6:43 [music] When the First World War broke out in 1914,
6:46 Marie Curie set up hundreds of field hospital
6:49 radiography units and 20 [music] mobile X-ray cars.
6:52 It's estimated they treated over 1 million patients.
6:56 But this work put Marie in even more danger.
6:59 Modern [music] X-ray safety techniques had yet to be developed,
7:02 but Marie continued to help people knowing that her health was at risk.
7:06 When she passed away in 1934,
7:08 [music] it was from a blood disorder often caused by radiation exposure.
7:12 Decades of working [music] with radioactive elements
7:15 means Marie's remains are radioactive and her coffin
7:19 is lined with lead to help [music] to protect visitors to her tomb.
7:22 Her scientific notebooks, furniture, and even her clothes are still radioactive.
7:27 And even today, her notes are stored [music]
7:30 at France's Bibliothèque Nationale in a lead-lined box.
7:33 Anyone studying them has to wear protective gear
7:36 and her belongings will be radioactive for another 1,500 years.
7:41 Putting on a radiation suit to read Marie Curie's dangerous notebooks is
7:45 kind of the biggest boss move you can pull in a library.
7:48 Marie Curie's work [music] helped us understand atoms, nuclear power.
7:53 She literally put her life on [music] the line for science.
7:56 And she even intentionally refrained from patenting the radium isolation process
8:02 [music] so that all scientists could build on her work.
8:04 Marie Curie leaves a legacy as a pioneer
8:06 [music] for women and scientists everywhere.
8:13 Ready for [music] more science?
8:15 I'm not even waiting for an answer.
8:16 We're pushing through and doing it anyway.
8:19 Have you ever [music] wanted to make
8:20 something really special for your grandmother's birthday when
8:23 all of a sudden you realize you
8:24 have all of the necessary ingredients, like flour?
8:26 Today, I'm going to show you how a little bit of science can
8:29 keep you baking even when you don't have all the ingredients your recipe needs.
8:33 In her kitchen, the only thing hotter than the burner is the science.
8:36 This is Chef Claire.
8:39 Hi, I'm Chef Claire and today,
8:41 I'm going to be showing you how to make your very own black bean brownies.
8:44 Because these ingredients aren't an exact match,
8:47 [music] you may have to use a little bit of math to get your recipe right.
8:50 The first and most important ingredient are your black beans.
8:53 These black beans [music] substitute perfectly for flour,
8:56 making it gluten-free, but still having the same starch content.
8:59 This is important because starch helps bind the brownies together,
9:02 making sure that you don't end up with watery brownies.
9:05 [music] The first step in this process is to puree
9:07 your black beans and for this, you need a food processor.
9:10 Canned beans come with a lot of liquid inside them.
9:12 So, I'm going to go ahead and drain my beans.
9:14 [music] Let's go ahead and puree them.
9:16 [snorts] You know when your beans are
9:19 pureed when there aren't any whole beans left.
9:22 It's time [music] to start combining the ingredients.
9:25 Make sure that you take out the blade so
9:26 that way you don't have to risk hurting yourself.
9:28 I'm going to go ahead and add three eggs.
9:30 Make sure that they're combined thoroughly.
9:32 Break down the yolks completely, otherwise someone may have a not so tasty bite.
9:36 If you're at home and you don't have eggs,
9:38 applesauce can be a great substitute because they're full of polysaccharides,
9:42 such as amylose, pectin, cellulose,
9:44 [music] and more that mimic the consistency of eggs.
9:47 And it makes it vegan-friendly.
9:48 Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract.
9:51 Absolutely do not taste it.
9:52 It is not as good as it smells cuz I I've drank it before.
9:56 Oh, no.
9:57 a bad time.
9:58 It smelled good.
10:00 It smelled good.
10:02 Go ahead and give that a quick whisk,
10:03 but luckily vanilla extract is pretty easy to mix in.
10:06 So, our last wet ingredient is vegetable oil,
10:08 but I'm going to go ahead and substitute yogurt
10:11 in for it because it's also a source of fat.
10:13 Swapping out oil for yogurt not only helps reduce calories,
10:17 but also gives you an extra dose of protein, vitamin B, and calcium.
10:21 Because of its higher protein [music] content,
10:23 yogurt actually makes baked goods more filling.
10:25 So, since the recipe called for 3 Tbsp of oil,
10:28 I'm going to go ahead and add 3 Tbsp of yogurt instead.
10:31 I'm using Greek yogurt, but really you can use whatever yogurt you have at home.
10:34 Keep in mind that whatever flavor your yogurt has,
10:36 your brownies are going to have, too.
10:38 I'm going to whisk this final wet ingredient
10:40 in, and this consistency looks right to me.
10:42 Let's do our dry ingredients.
10:43 1/4 of a cup of cocoa powder.
10:45 This is what makes our brownies chocolatey.
10:47 Whenever you're scooping dry ingredients, make sure that you level out the cup,
10:50 so that way you know you're getting the right amount.
10:52 In baking, math is very important.
10:54 [music] Cooking gives you a little bit of leniency.
10:56 You can add a little extra splash
10:57 of this or a teaspoon of that, but with baking,
11:00 you have to make sure that your measurements are exact,
11:03 or else the whole recipe will be thrown off.
11:05 Unfortunately, sugar is the one thing that we can't
11:07 substitute out because it brings the whole flavor together.
11:09 2/3 of a cup of sugar.
11:11 And to finish off my dry ingredients,
11:12 I'm going to add a pinch of salt and 1/2 a tsp of baking powder.
11:16 Baking powder is what's known as a leavening agent,
11:18 which helps your brownies rise in the oven.
11:20 Nobody wants flat, thin brownies,
11:22 and baking powder makes sure that you have your full,
11:25 risen, and delicious brownies.
11:27 We can combine the wet and the dry ingredients.
11:29 I like to add my dry ingredients little by little,
11:32 so that way it's not too much at once to mix in.
11:35 [music] I pre-greased my pan, but make sure that if you're doing this at home,
11:37 to grease your pan with either butter and flour or some cooking spray.
11:40 That way your brownies don't stick to the pan.
11:43 Let's go ahead and add our brownie batter.
11:44 I preheated my oven to 350° before I got started.
11:48 Your brownies just aren't going to cook right if you
11:50 put them in a cold oven while it's heating up.
11:52 Trust me, [music] I know.
11:53 You want to make sure that the center
11:55 of your brownie batter is a little bit jiggly.
11:57 This may look delicious, but do not eat raw batter.
12:00 It can contain dangerous bacteria such as E.
12:02 coli and salmonella, neither of which are delicious additives to your brownies.
12:07 [music] So, make sure that you wait till
12:08 your treats are fully baked before you eat them.
12:15 I baked these, I plated them,
12:17 and now let's go [music] ahead and give them a try.
12:25 Delicious.
12:26 You would never know that these are black bean brownies.
12:28 [music] I'm Chef Claire.
12:29 Thank you so much for baking with me, and I'll see you next time.
12:32 Don't tell Grandma I made these.
12:34 They're too tasty.
12:39 Did you know [music] fairies are real?
12:41 It says so right on my teleprompter.
12:44 Wait, what?
12:45 They're [music] called fairy penguins?
12:48 That sounds even less real, but maybe double is [music] cute.
12:53 You may expect every animal in Australia to be enormous.
12:56 After all, it's home [music] to king-size kangaroos,
13:00 colossal saltwater crocodiles, and giant flying foxes.
13:05 But, it's also a home to the tiniest penguins on the planet,
13:09 the little blue penguin.
13:12 Since the show wouldn't send me to Australia,
13:14 I went to San Diego to learn what makes these birds so cute,
13:18 or [music] I mean, uh vital to their ecosystem.
13:21 From penguin aquarist Kayla Strate.
13:25 To be honest, I kind of fell into this career.
13:27 [music] My plan with my biology degree was
13:29 to maybe go do research or work in a lab,
13:32 but that really wasn't the best fit for me because [music]
13:34 I found I really enjoyed being outside a lot of the time,
13:37 and so I started working in ocean education,
13:40 and as soon as I started working with birds,
13:41 specifically penguins, that [music] was it.
13:44 This is where I belong.
13:46 Today, I'll try out my bird-sitting skills by shadowing Kayla at work,
13:51 where she uses her expertise to help safeguard
13:53 this threatened species as part of a global conservation program.
13:58 Like the Mary Poppins of penguins,
14:00 we're here [music] to make sure these 2-lb, 12-in tall,
14:04 blue-feathered birds have everything they need to thrive,
14:07 from comfortable [music] nests to nutritious food.
14:11 We feed our penguins a variety of different types of fish
14:13 because they'd be finding a variety of food out in the ocean.
14:17 Each bird gets daily vitamins placed carefully in the gills of these fish.
14:22 This is like almost almost the length of the penguins themselves,
14:26 so that's impressive.
14:27 It's unreal.
14:28 Little birds have big appetites.
14:31 But, not big taste buds.
14:33 Penguins don't actually have a really developed sense of taste or smell.
14:37 It doesn't benefit them out in the ocean.
14:40 They want to keep one eye out for any predators that might be nearby,
14:43 so they don't have the luxury of being picky.
14:46 Their meals also get a sprinkling of minerals.
14:49 This is a little bit of calcium,
14:50 so I'll give you that to go ahead and sprinkle over our fish.
14:54 This feels like when you're at an Italian restaurant
14:56 and they come back with the Parmesan cheese, you say,
14:58 "Tell me when." Calcium is important to help penguins
15:01 [music] develop strong shells for any eggs they may lay.
15:05 In the wild, they get this mineral by eating mollusk [music] shells.
15:09 That looks great.
15:11 Now, it's mealtime.
15:13 The penguins each have an ID [music] bracelet
15:15 on their wings to help Kayla know who's eating what.
15:19 This little gentleman right here has got one blue band on his right flipper,
15:22 I know that's magic.
15:24 I've got Craig over there who's got [music] two white bands.
15:26 Craig looks hungry.
15:27 Hi, Craigy.
15:29 Feeding pocket-size penguins is pretty easy.
15:33 Oh my goodness.
15:34 No chewing, no nothing?
15:36 They don't have any teeth in their mouth,
15:38 and their bodies are designed for them to go ahead and digest.
15:41 Wow.
15:42 You hungry, buddy?
15:45 Getting up close like this gives me a whole new view of these itty-bitty birds.
15:49 I'm noticing that some of the coloration that they have is very interesting.
15:54 They have this very unique light blue or sort
15:56 of cornflower blue tint on the very tips of those feathers,
16:00 which is unique to this species, [music] hence the name little blue penguin.
16:03 But, why are they blue and other penguins are not?
16:06 We actually don't know the answer to that.
16:09 But, she does know that blue penguins,
16:11 like most birds, have a natural instinct to nest.
16:13 [music] Penguins are burrowing species,
16:17 so their nests might be underneath a bush, it might be underneath some rocks.
16:21 In some places in New Zealand and Australia,
16:23 these penguins will even try and nest under people's homes.
16:27 They're incredibly thrifty little birds.
16:30 Male penguins dress up their burrows with soft bedding materials like
16:34 leaves or pine needles in the hopes of attracting a mate.
16:38 Another part of an aquarist's job is to set [music]
16:41 out these supplies and track who lives in which nest.
16:44 These two penguins are named Azulito and Bo.
16:49 Not a lot of bedding in here.
16:51 I'll make a note and just leave them be.
16:54 Good luck, Bo.
16:55 Wow.
16:56 Like their personalities, each nest [music] is different from the others.
17:00 We've got Pink and we have Cornelius.
17:03 I'm going to not bother this pair too much because
17:05 I like to see Look at all this nesting material.
17:07 They collect a ton.
17:11 Kayla hopes [music] by providing all that the penguins need,
17:14 this time next year, there will be some little blue babies waddling around.
17:18 Cool.
17:19 So, you want them to make more penguins.
17:22 [music] Exactly.
17:23 It's probably the best compliment that we have,
17:26 making them feel healthy and safe that they're showing
17:29 that behavior that they naturally would in New Zealand and Australia.
17:34 Thank you [music] so much for showing me a glimpse into your world.
17:37 You have the coolest job ever.
17:38 It's a dream.
17:39 I'm going to miss every single one of these penguins, especially you, Craig.
17:48 Welcome back.
17:49 Before we go, we have one last thing.
17:52 If you want to work with animals, my biggest advice is jump in.
17:55 Get your hands dirty.
17:56 The only way you're going to find out is just to jump in and do it.
18:00 The advice I'd give to young girls wanting to pursue STEM [music]
18:03 is do it in your own time, in your own way.
18:06 I think there's so much pressure to show brilliance right away, [music]
18:09 and then if you don't show brilliance, people persuade you not to do it,
18:13 but I think everything takes time, and we all have our own way of doing it.
18:20 That's it for Mission Unstoppable.
18:22 Next time, [music] we're giving away free neutrons.
18:25 That's right.
18:26 No charge.
18:27 See you next time.
18:57 [music] [music] If you're watching this, you must have really liked the video.
19:15 Make sure you follow and subscribe,
19:16 [music] and check out these other videos that are even better.
19:19 No, really.
19:21 I've seen this one [music] over 100 times.