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Epic reaches 75 million kids in class and after school.

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Epic reaches 75 million kids in class and after school. Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under. Get Started

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Read Save The Planet: Using Alternative Energies on Epic

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Epic reaches 75 million kids in class and after school.

Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under.

Get Started

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
online access fun thousands children great kids ebooks books

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Read Save The Planet: Using Alternative Energies on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Epic reaches 75 million kids in class and after school. Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under. Get Started

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https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oSHkZT92NpmpGeZUPewcMygOODOY1BKNPoPpsktptyg/edit?usp=sharing

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Read Green Machines: Eco-Friendly Rides on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Epic reaches 75 million kids in class and after school.

Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under.

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# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
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# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Read Green Machines: Eco-Friendly Rides on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Epic reaches 75 million kids in class and after school. Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under. Get Started

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CHILD 1: You're listening to Brains On, where we're serious about bee-ing curious.

CHILD 2: Brains On is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

[SCRIBBLING]

MENAKA: OK, Sanden. Here's another one.

SANDEN: Lay it on me, Menaka.

MENAKA: What do you call a bee with a dictionary?

SANDEN: I don't know. What do you call a bee with a dictionary?

MENAKA: A spelling bee.

SANDEN: Ha. Nice. Nice. I like it. OK. How about this one? How do bees style their hair?

MENAKA: I don't know. How?

SANDEN: With a honeycomb.

MENAKA: Oh. I like it. Maybe you should add a follow about a bee's favorite haircut-- the buzz cut.

SANDEN: Oh. Good one. I thought it would be the beehive. Either way, that's definitely going in the set.

MOLLY BLOOM: Hey, you two. Still working on getting that hilarious hive badge for your bee squad troop?

SANDEN: Yep. We've got to come up with a tight five of killer bee jokes.

MENAKA: If we can make our entire squad laugh, we get the badge.

SANDEN: And if anyone laughs so hard they squirt nectar punch out of their nose, we get a bonus badge.

MOLLY BLOOM: Wow. Well, good luck. Oh, and did you hear about the bee who couldn't make up her mind?

MENAKA: What? No.

MOLLY BLOOM: Yeah. She was a total may-bee.

[CYMBAL CRASH]

[THEME MUSIC]

You're listening to Brains On from American Public Media. I'm Molly Bloom, and this is part 2 of our bee bonanza. Joining me once more, we've got sibling duo Harlan and [? Piercey ?] Joy, also known as PJ. Welcome back, you two.

HARLAN: Hi.

PJ: Hi.

MOLLY BLOOM: So after our last taping, did you tell the bees about the taping?

HARLAN: I did.

MOLLY BLOOM: What did you tell them?

HARLAN: You're going to be famous.

[LAUGHTER]

MOLLY BLOOM: That's awesome.

PJ: Harlan, do you mean they're going to bee famous?

HARLAN: Yes. They're going to bee famous.

MOLLY BLOOM: Nice work. So what are the bees in your hives doing this time of year?

HARLAN: They're collecting water to keep the hive cool.

MOLLY BLOOM: That is so cool. I did not know bees did that. Today, we're focused on one of the most important things a bee does.

PJ: Serving the queen?

HARLAN: Making stingers look stylish?

PJ: Doing that buzz-buzz sound? I find it very soothing.

MOLLY BLOOM: Nope. Good guesses. Today, we're talking about pollination.

SANDEN: Did somebody say "pollination"?

MOLLY BLOOM: I did.

MENAKA: I heard "pollination," too.

MOLLY BLOOM: That was me. I said it.

SANDEN: Menaka and I are so excited because we are only two badges away from moving up to--

BOTH: The Pollinator Posse.

VOICE: Yee-haw.

PJ: Wow. You guys have been on a roll since the last episode.

MENAKA: We are indeed the most devoted of bee squad cadets. Oh, wait. Hold on. We have to do the pledge.

[DRUMS PLAYING]

A bee squad cadet is friendly, not sour.

SANDEN: A bee cadet knows small things have great power.

MENAKA: A bee cadet makes the most of each hour--

SANDEN: And takes care of the Earth--

BOTH: Especially flowers.

MENAKA: And, Molly, if you don't mind, if we can share some pollination facts with you, we can earn our pollination pontification badges.

MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, definitely. We are very invested in your bee squad cadet journey. Only two more badges to get to the next level. You can do it.

MENAKA: Thanks for being a friend to the bees. OK, here we go. Let the pollination pontification begin.

SANDEN: If you like fruits, vegetables, flowers, grains--

MENAKA: Clean air, healthy soil, and beauty in general--

SANDEN: Then you are a supporter of pollination.

MENAKA: Pollination is what flowering plants need in order to make more flowering plants.

SANDEN: If these plants don't pollinate, they can't grow and spread.

MENAKA: But when plants do grow and spread, they clear our air. They improve the soil. They give us fruits and vegetables and nuts and grains-- basically, all kinds of great things.

SANDEN: To pollinate, these plants need to pass their pollen to another flower from the same species in order to make more seeds and, hence, more plants.

MENAKA: Not only is pollen delicious to bees. It's got microscopic material full of a plant's genetic information, sort of like a very small package of instructions on how to make more plants.

SANDEN: Unfortunately, there's no pollen postal service to deliver this important genetic package from one flower to another. So plants rely on animal pollinators to do it for them.

MENAKA: An animal will come to the flower looking to drink nectar--

SANDEN: --which is the sweet liquid that flowers make, sort of like nature's free energy drink.

MENAKA: And while the animal is sipping nectar, pollen will stick to it, maybe on its legs or on its face. And then it will carry that pollen to the next flower that it visits.

SANDEN: Thirst quenched and pollen package delivered.

MENAKA: There are lots of kinds of pollinators. There's bats, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, rodents, lizards. Even the wind carries pollen sometimes. But as bee squad cadets, bees are number one in our hearts.

SANDEN: We may be biased, but bees are exceptionally great at delivering pollen. And there are some crops, like cherries and almonds, that rely almost exclusively on bees for pollination.

MENAKA: In conclusion, these bee-pollinated almonds are delicious.

SANDEN: Thank you for listening.

[TRUMPETS PLAYING]

OK. Let me just click here. OK. OK. Just uploading our speech to the bee squad council to see if we get badge approval. All right.

HARLAN: So what should we do while we wait?

PJ: Did you know that different bees have different talents that help them with pollination?

MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, yeah. That is so cool. And to find out more about that, we can check out the auditions for Insect Icon. It's the biggest talent competition in the bug world.

WANDA: Name and talent. I'm Wanda, I'm a honey bee, and I will be dancing.

HOST: Great. You're performer number 462. You can wait over there.

ZZ: Hi. Excuse me. I'm a bee, too. Did I hear you're a dancer?

WANDA: You did. What's your talent?

ZZ: I'm going to be singing-- well, buzzing. I'm ZZ. I'm a bumblebee. I don't dance, but I've always been so jealous of bees who do. How did you learn?

WANDA: It just came naturally for me. If I find good nectar, I dance to show my sisters where it is and how good it is, like this.

[FEET TAPPING]

ZZ: Whoa. That is so cool.

WANDA: That's just my circle dance. When there's good nectar nearby, I pretty much just dance in a circle. My sisters get the picture. Here's my best dance.

ZZ: Wait. Aren't you worried other insects will see and steal your act?

WANDA: As if they could dance like this. This one's called the waggle dance, and it is pretty complicated. I don't see any other honeybees around. We're the only ones who dance this way.

ZZ: OK, as long as you're sure.

WANDA: Check this out.

[FEET TAPPING]

This is my waggle dance. I waggle and run in the direction of nectar. And how far run shows how far away the flowers are.

ZZ: Honestly, the complexity, the emotion, it's so moving. The judges are going to love your audition.

WANDA: Aw. Thank you.

ZZ: Your sisters are so lucky to get to watch you.

WANDA: They can't actually see when I dance. It's completely dark inside our hive. They feel my moves by putting their antenna on me. But enough about me. What about your buzzing? Are you just going to fly around for the judges?

ZZ: I do naturally buzz when I fly. My flight muscles make a low buzz like this.

[BUZZ]

But I have other buzzes, too.

WANDA: Oh, like the warmup buzz? I've heard some bees too a special buzz where they move their wing muscles but not their wings to warm up.

ZZ: You know, I'll be so hot under the stage lights, a warmup buzz plus those lights might fry me to a crisp. But, yeah, that is a buzz some bees do. Here's the buzz I'm most excited to perform.

[BUZZING]

WANDA: Wow.

ZZ: Can you hear the difference? I want the judges to know I have range.

WANDA: Definitely. What's that buzz for?

ZZ: OK. So this one is super special. It's way more powerful than my regular flying buzz. I use it when I'm out collecting pollen from flowers.

So I land on a flower, and then I grab onto its pollen parts and buzz like this.

[BUZZING]

My buzz actually jiggles pollen off of flowers. I use it on lots of plants like tomatoes and potatoes. This is pretty much the only way to unlock these plants' pollen.

WANDA: That is amazing. Wow. I wish I could buzz like that.

HOST: Performer number 462, you're up.

WANDA: Oh, that's me. Good luck.

ZZ: You too. Break a leg.

CHILDREN: Brains On!

MOLLY BLOOM: Now, Menaka and Sanden, we're doing something a little different today. Since you're all about increasing your bee knowledge, Harlan and [? Piercey ?] [? Joy ?] have brought in a mystery sound for you to guess.

[FUTURISTIC TONE]

CHILD 3: (WHISPERING) Mystery sound.

PJ: Here it is.

[SCRATCHING SOUND]

What is your guess?

MENAKA: Hmm, it sounds almost like sawing. I'm hearing sort of, like, a back-and-forth motion. Maybe you're sawing something to build something for the bee boxes.

SANDEN: That's a good one. I heard sawing, too, at first. And then I also thought maybe, like, blowing, like [PANTING], kind of like when I'm doing my Jazzercise aerobics, and I'm just like really winded. I'm like [PANTING]. So maybe there's some kind of wind blowing thing, like someone's starting to fire.

HARLAN: Those are some good guesses.

PJ: Yep.

HARLAN: We'll hear it again and give you another chance to guess a little later in the show.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

MOLLY BLOOM: Our book is now available everywhere, and we are so excited to share it with you. It's called Brains On Presents It's Alive, from Neurons I Narwhals to the Fungus Among Us. As part of our book launch, we had a couple virtual events last week, and they were so fun.

There's one more coming up on September 26. You can find the details about that at brainson.org/events. And if you do have a copy of our book, we'd love to see you reading it. You can send it to us or post to social media with the hashtag #brainsonbook.

We are working on a show about the science of siblings, and we want to hear from you.

PJ: What's the best thing about being the oldest?

HARLAN: Or middle?

MOLLY BLOOM: Or the youngest? Maybe you're an only child, or maybe you have a twin. Whatever your sibling situation, we want to hear why you think it's great.

PJ: Send your answers to us at our website--

MOLLY BLOOM: Brainson.org/contact. You can also send us questions, ideas, mystery sounds, or drawings, like maybe one of Menaka and Sanden earning their bee squad badges.

HARLAN: I'd like to see that.

PJ: And the website is where we got this question.

CONNOR: Hi. My name's [? Connor, ?] and I'm from Phoenix, Arizona. And my question is, how are alligators and crocodiles different?

MOLLY BLOOM: We'll be back with an answer to that during our Moment of Um at the end of the show. And we'll read the most recent list of names to be added to the brains honor roll.

PJ: So keep listening.

MOLLY BLOOM: You're listening to Brains On. I'm Molly.

PJ: I'm PJ.

HARLAN: And I'm Harlan.

MOLLY BLOOM: And we are going to go back to that mystery sound. OK, Menaka and Sanden, get those ears ready.

[SCRATCHING SOUND]

All right. Any new guesses?

SANDEN: I am going to specify a bit with my guess. So I still hear-- it does sound like a saw. But I also think it kind of reminds me of when you're in a fireplace and you have one of those-- is it called a bellow?-- where it's, like, two pieces of wood and there's like an accordion bag kind of thing in the middle, and you kind of pump it, and it blows out air to help get the fire started. That's kind of what it sounds like to me.

MENAKA: Yeah. That's what I was thinking. I liked your guess before, Sanden, of blowing air. And it either sounds like scrubbing, like scrubbing something, or, yeah, something that pumps air out over and over.

MOLLY BLOOM: Very good guesses, you two. Here with the answer is Harlan and [? Piercey ?] Joy's little sister, [? Liesl. ?]

LIESL: That was the sound of my smoker going up and down, up and down, up and down. I use the smoker when my mom and I visit the bee yard. The smoke covers the bees' alarm signal to keep them calm. We get the smoker going by giving it sticks, leaves, and twigs, and lighting it on fire. And then we pump the bellows, and smoke comes out.

MOLLY BLOOM: Nice work. That was a really good guess. You were right on.

SANDEN: We got it? That's awesome. I did hear the word "bellows."

MENAKA: Wow. That's so cool.

SANDEN: So smoke helps bees chill out?

PJ: We use the smoker especially when we're getting their honey, because they do not like that.

SANDEN: [LAUGHS] So this is just basically, like, calm down, everybody. We're going to come in and get some honey. Just chill out with these smoky air.

PJ: The reason they really don't like it is because they work really hard on it, and they also eat it. So it's kind of like if someone just came into your house and decided to take some fruit from your refrigerator without even asking, so.

MOLLY BLOOM: And so when they build-- they build their honeycombs on the frames, and you can take those frames out and gather the honey from them. Do you put the honeycomb back, or do you just put the frames back, and then they build new honeycombs?

PJ: If we can, we just cut off the wax tops. And so that-- because it's really hard for them to build the honeycomb. And so it's just better to leave the honeycomb in there so that they can just fill it up with honey and then put their caps on.

MOLLY BLOOM: Got it. And we should say that the bees do eat the honey over the winter, but they make more than they need. So you still leave some for them to eat over the winter, right?

PJ: Yes. We do.

MOLLY BLOOM: That's awesome. They have enough to share.

PJ: Yes. We only take it out when they have a lot.

MOLLY BLOOM: And what are your favorite things about honey? Do you have a favorite thing about honey, Harlan?

HARLAN: Yes. I like to put it on biscuits and toast.

SANDEN: I like honey and peanut butter on toast. That's, like, my jam, which, coincidentally, doesn't have jam. It's just peanut butter and honey.

PJ: I like that it doesn't spoil.

MOLLY BLOOM: Yes. Honey is so amazing. And that's because the properties of honey prevent the growth of bacteria and other stuff that would make the honey go bad. And because of these properties, ancient people would use honey to treat cuts and other wounds. So honey is not just for eating. It is awesome.

PJ: When I got a finger infection once-- and so I went to the hospital, and somebody put this thing called Medihoney on my finger. And it got better.

SANDEN: Oh, yeah. I'm looking at it right now-- Medihoney.

MOLLY BLOOM: So it's not just ancient people. I guess people are still using it to treat wounds today.

VOICES: Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba, Brains On.

SANDEN: OK. Is the projector ready?

MENAKA: Yep.

MOLLY BLOOM: What's going on now?

SANDEN: How about the lasers and the smoke machine?

MENAKA: Pew-pew and puff-puff. Ready to rock.

HARLAN: Sanden and Menaka are about to give their final presentation to their bee squad counselor.

PJ: Yeah. And if they ace this, they'll finally join the Pollinator Posse.

[TRIUMPHANT TONE]

VOICE: Yee-haw.

MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, exciting.

SANDEN: And I see you've got your bee costume on, Menaka. And it looks amazing.

MENAKA: Thanks, dude.

SANDEN: I think we're ready.

MOLLY BLOOM: Perfect, because here comes Sheila Kolla, bee researcher and bee squad counselor extraordinaire.

[DRUMS PLAYING]

SHEILA KOLLA: Hi, everyone. This is truly a momentous occasion. Sanden and Menaka, you've both done great work as larval cadets and bumblebee besties. But now you are on the precipice of joining the highest level of bee squad there is. Are you ready?

MENAKA: So ready.

SANDEN: Yeah, can't wait to do this.

SHEILA KOLLA: OK. Start your presentation whenever.

SANDEN: All right. Hit the lights.

[SWITCH FLIPS]

MENAKA: Cue the lasers, smoke, and music.

SANDEN: Here we go. For our final presentation, and for possible entrance into the Pollinator Posse, we're going to talk about how we can all work together to save the wild bees.

MENAKA: Bees, bees, bees.

SANDEN: I'll be the narrator.

MENAKA: And I'll be playing the part of a bee.

SANDEN: Now, research has shown that over the last several decades, the number of wild bees in North America has shrunk dramatically. This happened for several reasons.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

MENAKA: Bzz. I'm a bee. I am minding my own business and being awesome. Bzz-bzz.

SANDEN: Wild bees like this one do a great service to the world by pollinating flowers.

MENAKA: Bzz. Pollinating is my jam. I'm going to go buzz over to my favorite flowers now. Bzzz.

SANDEN: But as we humans made more cities and towns and farms and roads, we built over and removed a lot of the wild plants bees need to survive.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

MENAKA: Bzz. Oh, no. My favorite flower patch is now a dentures business. Whatever will I eat?

SANDEN: In addition to loss of habitat, farmers use pesticides to get rid of pesky bugs that harm their crops. But those pesticides also hurt bees.

MENAKA: Whoa. This cloud of bug spray is making me dizzy. Bzz-bzz.

SANDEN: Humans also brought bees with them from other parts of the country, or even from across the seas. And those foreign bees sometimes carry diseases or parasites with them that infected the local bees.

MENAKA: [COUGHS] I feel bad. Bzz.

SANDEN: And finally, as man-made climate change heats up the planet, things are getting hotter and hotter. And it's harder for some bees to survive.

MENAKA: Oh, I'm so hot. Bzz. It's like my wings are melting. Bzz.

SANDEN: Without our bee friends, there's less pollination, and with less pollination, fewer healthy plants, and with less plants, less food for wild animals and even us humans. So what can you or I do to help our little winged friends? Well, we called up Peter Soroye for advice. He studies bees at the University of Ottawa. He said the first thing to do is set up native habitats.

PETER SOROYE: It's really easy to figure out what kind of wildflowers grow in the region you live in and then plant them. Plant them in your backyard. Plant them on a planter on your porch or your balcony. And this is really great for bees. It gives them a little oasis in kind of the desert of urban landscapes where they can stop in and forage for nectar or get some pollen and bring back to their hives.

MENAKA: Wow. Bzz-bzz-bzz. This backyard is full of native plants, my favorite snack.

SANDEN: Peter told us bees also need places to make nests in the spring and summer and spots they can sleep in over the winter. You can help here, too.

PETER SOROYE: So things like leaving leaf litter on the ground, this is a good thing for bees because they can start nesting there in the spring or overwinter there in the fall. Leaving things like fallen logs on the ground is good. That's also some great kind of overwintering habitat for them.

It's kind of-- I think the hopeful message for a lot of people can be the lazier you are with your garden, the more you kind of let these local wildflowers grow and leave leaves on the ground and logs on the ground, the more beneficial it can be for a lot of bees and insects.

MENAKA: Bzz. Whoa, I am exhausted, so busy these days. Oh, look. Wow. A pile of old leaves-- a perfect place for me to spend my winter days. See you next spring, world. Nighty-night. Bzz-bzz.

SANDEN: So by planting native flowers and creating mini-bee homes from fallen logs or piles of leaves, we can all be part of the solution and help bees bounce back.

MENAKA: Back, back, back.

SANDEN: That's our presentation.

MENAKA: Thank you.

[APPLAUSE]

SHEILA KOLLA: Well, I have to say that was great work. You really captured the essence of how to help wild bees. Menaka, Sanden, welcome to the Pollinator Posse.

[TRIUMPHANT TONE]

VOICE: Yee-haw.

SHEILA KOLLA: Here are your new badges.

MENAKA: Yes!

SANDEN: Yes, yes. We did it. We're in the posse.

MENAKA: Pollinator Posse.

SANDEN: All right.

MENAKA: Waggle, waggle, buzz, y'all. Woo.

HARLAN: Congrats.

PJ: High-five.

MOLLY BLOOM: You'll make an excellent addition to the Pollinator Posse.

[TRIUMPHANT TONE]

VOICE: Yee-haw.

MOLLY BLOOM: I always wanted to say that. It's so much fun.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

PJ: Bees help take pollen from one flower to another. And this helps plants make things like fruits and nuts.

HARLAN: Some bees do a dance to tell other bees where to find flowers.

PJ: And some bees buzz in a special way to get flowers to release their pollen.

HARLAN: Bee populations are declining due to things like loss of wild habitat and pesticides.

MOLLY BLOOM: But you can help bees by planting native plants and making bee refuges in your yard.

HARLAN: That's it for this episode of Brains On.

PJ: Brains On is produced by Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez, Sanden Totten, and Menaka Wilhelm.

MOLLY BLOOM: Special thanks to David Pritchard, Megan Brown, Jeyca Maldonado-Medina, Nancy Shu, and Rosie Dupont. We had production help from Ruby Guthrie and Kristina Lopez and engineering help from Veronica Rodriguez.

HARLAN: And now, before we go, it's time for the Moment of--

BOTH: Um.

[VARIOUS VOICES SAYING "UM"]

CHILD: How are alligators and crocodiles different?

VENETIA BRIGGS-GONZALEZ: OK, hi there. I am Dr. Venetia Briggs-Gonzalez. I am a wildlife biologist with the University of Florida. And we are based in Fort Lauderdale because we are members of the Croc Docs Lab. We do a lot of work in the Everglades and in Southern Florida. So we're really close to where we do a lot of our work.

And the only place where crocodiles and alligators live in the same place is at the southern end of Florida where Everglades National Park meets the ocean. Alligators and crocodiles are very similar. They're in the same group of animals. They're both called crocodilians.

But alligators, they have a snout that is more rounded. So it looks more like a U. And crocodiles have a snout that is more V-shaped. So that's one way you can definitely tell them apart.

Alligators are also much darker in color. They tend to be dark, dark gray, black, almost, you would see. And a crocodile would be more like an olive green, almost like a dark yellow, depending on where they are.

Alligator teeth just chomp down. You can just see the top teeth from the top, whereas crocodiles, you will see both bottom teeth and top teeth showing. So it's like you can see all kinds of teeth. So that's why we say that a crocodile has a very toothy grin.

One of the big things with crocodiles and alligators is that people think that they're scary. And in fact, they're not that scary. They're really, really big, really cool animals. They are some of the oldest animals that have lived on this Earth. They're closer to dinosaurs than most other animals.

And they need our help because where they live is along the beaches. And that's where a lot of people like to go in fancy hotels and have really pretty beachfronts so they can go swimming. But a lot of these places are where crocodiles will nest, and they need places to put their babies.

And so we need to protect where they live so that we can have crocodiles and alligators in the future for our children and our grandbabies to be able to see what these amazing animals look like.

[VOICES SAYING "UM"]

MOLLY BLOOM: I have a pretty toothy grin as I read this list of names. It's the Brains Honor Roll. These are the amazing listeners who send us their questions, ideas, mystery sounds, drawings, and high fives--

[LISTING HONOR ROLL]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

We'll be back soon with more answers to your questions.

CHILDREN: Thanks for listening.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
CHILD 1: You're listening to Brains On, where we're serious about bee-ing curious. CHILD 2: Brains On is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation. [SCRIBBLING] MENAKA: OK, Sanden. Here's another one. SANDEN: Lay it on me, Menaka. MENAKA: What do you call a bee with a dictionary?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sustainable Cities: Nature Based Solutions in Urban Design: Video | Nature Lab | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This video was created by The Nature Conservancy, with help from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the City of Winnipeg Water and Waste Department, and D.C. Water.
The following lesson plans are designed to be used with this video: Sustainable Cities: Nature Based Solutions in Urban Design
Urban Runoff

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https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1mx8XgChdLnHrNgoCTdNRyhH_fBsv9POJ2Lg10aet1Vc/edit?usp=sharing

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RAYHAN: You're listening to Brains On.

ALIA: Where we're serious about being curious.

KID: Brains On is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

[TOILET FLUSH]

RAYHAN: Hey, Alia. Is the girls' bathroom like super normal one too?

ALIA: Yeah, it was totally simple just like a regular public bathroom. Oh, there's Molly.

MOLLY BLOOM: Hey, are you guys ready? Do you need anything else before we head to the studio?

RAYHAN: We're all set. Molly, I'm kind of surprised that the bathrooms here are so normal.

MOLLY BLOOM: Yeah, it's just a bathroom.

ALIA: Yeah. But I mean, you have a hidden taco farm, a talking elevator, at least two labs dedicated to slinkys.

MOLLY BLOOM: It's important research.

ALIA: What if the tile could change colors? Ooh, ooh, or the toilet spread a puff of lavender oil with every flush?

RAYHAN: You got a sparkly soap [GASP] or a talking toilet or both! Ooh, and the mirrors can add filters to your face. The cat is [MEOW].

ALIA: And the hand dryers sing opera while they blow. (SINGING) La la.

MOLLY BLOOM: [LAUGH] Those are interesting ideas. We have been thinking about some renovations around here. But right now, we need to get this taping started.

ALIA: To the studio!

[MUSIC PLAYING]

MOLLY BLOOM: You are listening to Brains On from American Public Media. I'm Molly Bloom. And today, my co-hosts are brother and sister, Rayhan and Alia from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Welcome.

RAYHAN: Hi.

ALIA: Hi.

MOLLY BLOOM: This episode was inspired by a common question we've heard from a lot of Brains On listeners.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

MAE SIMMONS: My name is Mae Simmons. I'm from Stamford, Connecticut. And I want to know where my waste goes after I flush it down the toilet.

TUCKER: Hi, my name is Tucker.

SAM: And my name is Sam.

TUCKER: We're from Saint Louis, Missouri.

SAM: Our question is, what happens to poop once it goes down the toilet?

JACK: I'm Jack from Warrenton, Virginia. I would like to know where the water goes when you flush the toilet.

KHADAR: My name is Khadar from Fremont, California. And what happens after I flush the toilet?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

MOLLY BLOOM: So a little heads up right now. This episode is about toilets, sewers, and everything that goes on in them.

ALIA: So keep that in mind if you're a bit squeamish.

RAYHAN: Or about to eat lunch.

MOLLY BLOOM: Right. Toilet talk isn't for everyone, but it is for us. In fact, Alia, you asked us about this. What made you curious about toilets?

ALIA: I was curious about toilets whenever I flush them.

MOLLY BLOOM: If you could design your dream toilet, what would it be like?

ALIA: Mine would be more entertaining. And it could be like scented whenever you flush it so that you have a nice bathroom that smells.

MOLLY BLOOM: That sounds very lovely. Rayhan, what would yours be like?

RAYHAN: Mine would actually, it'd be like the same toilet except afterwards, you got-- afterwards, there's going to be a miniature clock. And the bird pops out. And then you're done.

MOLLY BLOOM: Wait. So did you say a clock, like a bird, like a cuckoo clock?

RAYHAN: Ah-huh.

MOLLY BLOOM: A cuckoo clock on the toilet, why not? So we're going to help you answer those questions today. But I know you guys did some of your own research, right? You got really into some YouTube channel. What is it called?

RAYHAN: Take it from a Turd.

ALIA: She's-- well, she's a "PooTuber."

MOLLY BLOOM: A YouTuber that's a poo? Is that possible?

RAYHAN: It's hard to explain. Here, we'll show you.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

TAYLOR: Hey, everyone. Taylor the turd here. [CHUCKLE] I know, I know. It's taken me a long time to get this video out. And it's not because poops can't talk. Obvs, we can because I'm talking right now. It's also not because of constipation. It's-- well, it's because it's a subject that's hard to talk about. You guys know.

[TOILET FLUSH]

The flush.

[SUSPENSE MUSIC]

What actually happens when you get flushed? In this video, I'm showing you my flush. I got a friend to help me explain what I and you can expect.

ELLEN EVERAGE: Hi, I'm Ellen Everage. And I'm a wastewater and environmental engineer. So that means that I make sure your wastewater gets cleaned before it goes into the environment. Sometimes, I consider myself a turd herder.

[WHIP]

[COW MOO]

TAYLOR: I know. Is a turd herder really a friend of the turds? Turd nation, Ellen is on our side. And she knows all about the flush.

[SCREAM]

And water systems, the whole shebang. So while I sit up my you got to GoPro, Ellen, what should I expect once I hit the toilet bowl?

ELLEN EVERAGE: All right. So you're in the toilet. You're going in the whirlwind down the bull. That water dropping by gravity swirls you out of that toilet bowl and down the pipe.

TAYLOR: OK, not going to lie. I'm nervous. But I think I'm all set. Here I-- [FLUSH] go!

[MUSIC PLAYING]

So it's kind of like a water slide. You're going down the pipe. And you take some turns, and you meet up with the water that's coming from the shower. And you meet up with the water from the laundry and the sink and all other water in that house. So you're all floating together.

So many new friends! Little food particles, some pee pals, and poo pals.

FRIEND 1: Hi.

FRIEND 2: Hello.

FRIEND 3: Hey.

TAYLOR: And lots and lots of water.

[WATER BURBLING]

And now, I'm in a bigger pipe outside the house. I can really wiggle around in here. I thought I'd be in a small pipe like forever. What's the speed limit on this thing, Ellen?

ELLEN EVERAGE: Well, you're moving a little bit faster than like the lazy river at a water park. But you're not moving too much faster than that. You don't want to drop to the bottom of the pipe and get stuck there. So the flow moves a little bit faster to keep you in the water and moving along.

TAYLOR: Nope, definitely do not want to get stuck. But this is a nice ride, a poo cruise. So while I float along, what's at the end of the sewer line?

ELLEN EVERAGE: There's quite a lot that awaits you at a treatment plant.

TAYLOR: I think I learned about the water treatment plant at poo school, where wastewater goes through a bunch of filters and tanks and machines to get clean. Are we going to get separated by like ones and twos?

ELLEN EVERAGE: You're not necessarily a number two completely anymore. You've broken up a bit as you went through that pipeline.

TAYLOR: Oh, I see. So the wastewater treatment plant will filter and clean all my little bits out of the water. After that, what's going to happen to me?

ELLEN EVERAGE: It's kind of like you're going through a transformation. You're going to get a second, like an afterlife almost. Because once you're broken down and you become what's called a bio solid, you can then be used for another purpose.

So for instance, you can be used as fertilizer or compost. So sometimes, they'll take this bio solid and put it on farming land. Or you might be used to cover up landfills to minimize odor. You might be burned and made into energy.

TAYLOR: Hmm. I kind of get it.

ELLEN EVERAGE: For the treatment plant, one of the surprises that might come up is that there's going to be little microorganisms eating you. But it's not necessarily something to fear.

TAYLOR: OK. I might need some time to process that. But it sounds like I'll be in the sewer for a few miles first, breaking into smaller and smaller bits. Are there any other places that little tiny turdlets could ever end up besides the treatment plant?

ELLEN EVERAGE: Sometimes, they're combined sewer systems. You meet up not just with the water that's coming out of households and buildings, but you also get put in with rainwater that gets collected. And that can make it a bit crowded in the pipeline. And so one thing that could happen there is you have an overflow.

So you might actually wash out of the sewer and into a river or the ocean or somewhere else. And that can be a problem because then you'll never make it to the treatment plant.

TAYLOR: Oh. I'm glad I'm going the most common route, to the treatment plant, not to the ocean or a stream. What about tips for your friends at home who might be preparing for the flush?

ELLEN EVERAGE: When you're getting flushed, make sure there's no other like wet wipes or garbage or other dangerous things in the toilet that don't decompose because that could cause problems for you and for the whole treatment system.

TAYLOR: I've seen how small some of those pipes are. We don't want to clog them up. Any other words of advice?

ELLEN EVERAGE: Honestly, I think each turd can do it. You don't need a lot of preparation. You kind of get floated along and taken through the process.

TAYLOR: OK. Thanks so much, Ellen. Turds, that's it for my flush. See you guys in the comments. Remember to like and subscribe. And if you want to donate, visit my "Pootreon" page. Supporters get an extra video each month. Catch you next Tuesday for a new Take it from a Turd Pootube. Next time, I'll take you inside the wastewater treatment plant.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

RAYHAN: Taylor is the best PooTuber out there.

ALIA: Definitely. Should we watch another video, maybe the one from that series called Colons, where she shows like where the magic happens?

MOLLY BLOOM: Um, one PooTube video is probably good for today. But before the rest of this episode gets flushed away, let's pause and take a moment for something very important. It's time for the mystery sound. Here it is.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

KID: (QUIETLY) Mystery Sound.

[GRINDING]

MOLLY BLOOM: What are your guesses? Let's start with you, Rayhan.

RAYHAN: Well, I'm guessing it's from the water treatment plant.

MOLLY BLOOM: Mm.

RAYHAN: It's in the water treatment plant because you hear all that noise, right? And there's water, right?

MOLLY BLOOM: Yes. So you thought it was from the water treatment plant. Very good guess. And Alia, what do you think?

ALIA: I think it could be from one of those travel cards where it has a toilet, a TV, a bed, and all that stuff. And I think that it was driving. Well, you heard someone flush.

MOLLY BLOOM: Whoa. That is a very complex guess. I like it. Well, we are going to be back with the answer a little later in the show.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

We love reading all the amazing ideas and questions you send our way at brainson.org/contact.

RAYHAN: Like this one.

CARTER: Hello. My name is Carter from Toronto, Canada. Can we control our dreams?

MOLLY BLOOM: You can find an answer to that on the Moment of Um podcast. It's a daily dose of facts every weekday. And you can get it wherever you listen to Brains On. And while you're at brainson.org/contact, you can also send us your questions, drawings, mystery sounds, and high fives. We love to hear from you.

And everyone who contacts us gets added to the Brain's Honor Roll, which you can hear at the end of the show.

ALIA: So keep listening.

You're listening to Brains On. I'm Alia.

RAYHAN: I'm Rayhan.

MOLLY BLOOM: And I'm Molly. Now, before we continue our sewer exploration, let's go back to that mystery sound again. Here it is one more time.

[GRINDING]

[WATER DRIPPING]

So any new guesses after hearing it again? Alia, let's start with you.

ALIA: I think that it could be a wave or a tsunami.

MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, very good. And Rayhan, what do you think?

ALIA: I think-- no. I have no other guesses.

MOLLY BLOOM: That is totally OK. Here is the answer.

ANDREW: Hi, my name is Andrew. That was the sound of a washing machine. If I close my eyes and think about it, this sound reminds me of an airplane engine.

ALIA: Oh.

RAYHAN: Oh, yeah. I should have known.

ALIA: It is an everyday device.

MOLLY BLOOM: Yeah. I mean, it's something we've all heard. But you guys were close. You heard some water, some flushing, some water treatments. So you were on the right track. Just like when we flush the toilet, the water from our dishwashers, washing machines, sinks, and bathtubs goes into the sewer too.

And to tell us more about the stuff people are flushing and sending down the drain is Brains On producer Marc Sanchez.

MARC SANCHEZ: Hi, Alia. Hi, Rayhan.

ALIA: Hi, Marc.

RAYHAN: Hi.

MARC SANCHEZ: So far, we've been following what happens to waste after it's been flushed. It's a whole process, right? But can you think of things that people might flush that maybe they aren't supposed to?

ALIA: Wipes?

RAYHAN: I know one.

MARC SANCHEZ: What's that?

RAYHAN: Oil.

MARC SANCHEZ: Oil. Indeed. Wipes and oil are a big part of the problem I'm about to tell you about. What comes to mind when I say the word "fatberg?" Have you guys ever heard of that word?

RAYHAN: No.

ALIA: No.

MARC SANCHEZ: Well, it actually has a lot to do with those oils and wipes that you were talking about. The word "fatberg" is a combination of the words fat and iceberg. And that's pretty much what it is, a big hard chunk of fats, oils, and grease clogging up sewer pipes.

NARRATOR: The Whitechapel fatberg in East London, 130-ton monster.

SUBJECT 1: It's about 64 meters long, we think, which is the equivalent of about six double-decker buses.

SUBJECT 2: Now, a giant fatberg as big as a Boeing 747 has been discovered, blocking a sewer in a seaside town.

SUBJECT 3: Well, other monstrous blockages have turned up in Leicester Square and Shepherd's Bush.

SUBJECT 4: I've smelt it first hand. It's one of the biggest ones we found, a congealed concrete-like mass of all the stuff that people flushed down their toilet and flushed down their sinks.

MARC SANCHEZ: So how do you two think that something can get the size of two football fields? How do you think that grows in the sewers of the world?

ALIA: It gets clogged up from fat.

MARC SANCHEZ: Yeah?

RAYHAN: Yeah. But then, some of the poo and pee can just push it out, right?

MARC SANCHEZ: Well, that would be nice. But unfortunately, poo and pee are not powerful enough to push a fatberg out of the sewer. According to Joel Ducoste, who researches fatbergs at North Carolina State University, these giant chunks of fat have the same consistency as something that we use everyday.

JOEL DUCOSTE: What we've learned over the years is that it is formed from a chemical reaction, very similar to what people have used to wash their bodies to making soaps.

MARC SANCHEZ: So a fatberg is essentially like a giant bar of soap, except it smells much, much worse. The chemical reaction Joel talked about is called saponification. And that happens when broken-down fats, oils, and grease mix with calcium.

This calcium leaks into the sewer from cracks in the pipes and from us. Part of what comes out of us and goes down the toilet is calcium. Do you guys know how oils and grease get into the sewers?

RAYHAN: By humans.

MARC SANCHEZ: Yeah. The majority of fats, oils, and grease comes from restaurants. Have you guys ever seen French fries being cooked in those baskets?

ALIA: Yeah.

RAYHAN: Yes.

MARC SANCHEZ: All those baskets and the other plates and pots and pans in a restaurant, those all need to be cleaned of their grease. Restaurants are supposed to use these things called interceptors that trap the grease from going down their drains. But sometimes, for one reason or another, that just doesn't happen.

So fats, oils, and grease get into the sewer and combine with the calcium that's there. And saponification begins. Think about all the stuff that might be down there. Ooh, but don't think too hard. The fatberg essentially gobbles it all up and grows and grows until it fills the pipes.

So all those flushable wipes, all the stuff that people drop down the drain gathers in that fat, oil, and grease, and starts to harden. And what do you think happens when the pipes get clogged?

ALIA: Then the other stuff cannot get in.

MARC SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm.

RAYHAN: They expand and expand and expand.

MARC SANCHEZ: And when other stuff can't go in those pipes, where do you think it goes?

RAYHAN: It goes nowhere.

MARC SANCHEZ: Well, it has to go somewhere. And that means it comes shooting backwards through the pipes, which means it goes into houses, and it goes into the streets, and it goes into all the places that we never wanted to go to.

And in the US, our average sewer pipes are around 2-feet wide, so maybe you could stuff like a backpack in there. And if we start to get a blockage in one of our pipes, workers go down and spray one end of the fatberg with a big high-powered stream of water. And on the other end of the fatberg, they suck it up with a big vacuum.

England is a different story. Some of the sewers in England are big enough for a grown up to stand up in. So think about the sheer size of a fatberg that can grow in that kind of space. That's where we start getting these big, massive, blue whale-sized fatbergs. And in that case, high-powered water jets and vacuums are not going to be enough.

Sewer workers, called flushers, go down into these drains and hack away at the fatberg with pickaxes and shovels, chipping away at the fatberg one disgusting chunk at a time.

There is one silver lining to this fatberg story. Scientists have figured out a way to convert this saponifide fat into biodiesel fuel. One of the biggest fatbergs in history, it was called the Whitechapel fatberg, that one got broken down into enough fuel for 350 London buses. So there is a bit of a big fat happy ending.

ALIA: Thanks, Marc.

MARC SANCHEZ: You bet.

RAYHAN: Bye.

MARC SANCHEZ: Bye.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

MOLLY BLOOM: Marc talked about those sewer systems in England that are big enough to stand up in. There are some sewers in London that have been around since the 1800s. They are about 150 years old.

ALIA: The first sewer systems in the US--

RAYHAN: Which were in Chicago and Brooklyn.

ALIA: --those were built around the same time.

MOLLY BLOOM: But these were not the first sewer systems.

RAYHAN: The sanitation systems can be found throughout the ancient world.

ALIA: The Mayans had pressurized water and indoor plumbing.

RAYHAN: Ancient Greeks and Romans also had the sewer system and plumbing.

ALIA: As did ancient China, Mesopotamia, and Persia.

MOLLY BLOOM: But one of the earliest examples of a citywide urban sanitation system can be found in the Indus Valley civilization.

JENNIFER BATES: Hello, my name is Jennifer Bates. And I'm an archeologist.

MOLLY BLOOM: Jennifer studies the Indus Valley civilization which dates back 5,000 years.

JENNIFER BATES: It covered what today is now modern Pakistan and Northern India. So it's a huge civilization. So the Indus is really exciting in terms of its sanitation. It was a society that was very, very interested in keeping everything really clean.

MOLLY BLOOM: They were around during the same period as ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians.

ALIA: This era is called the Bronze Age.

MOLLY BLOOM: It's called that because it's when people first started using tools made out of bronze, which is a mixture of two kinds of metals, copper and tin.

ALIA: But what sets the Indus Valley civilization apart was how big it was.

RAYHAN: It stretches over a large geographic area. And there is some pretty big cities that have been excavated by archeologists.

MOLLY BLOOM: The two biggest, being Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. And these places had amazing city designs, what we call urban planning. And a lot of it had to do with their water system and how they cleaned that water or sanitized it. Here's Jennifer again.

JENNIFER BATES: We've got a big bath, so their public baths. And there's also private baths. Almost all the houses seem to have some kind of water control. And they're all linked up by drainage systems made of precisely laid bricks. They're all lined up, so there's no gap between them.

And that all links together to create a system of public water movement and also to remove public waste. So there are houses have their own toilets. And these link into the drains that move waste out of the cities and into other areas. So it's a really clever system.

MOLLY BLOOM: These sewer systems can be found at the big research sites in the Indus Valley. And a really cool example can be found in Lothal, which is one of the Indus Valley sites found in India.

JENNIFER BATES: And it's got this series of drop steps so that it controls how the sewage moves through the city and make sure it automatically cleans itself. It's a really clever system. It's a huge engineering feat. And it basically ensures that all the waste moves through the city in a controlled manner.

It also was designed to separate out solids and liquids so that they could move the liquids out into the estuary and collect the solids and remove those safely.

ALIA: Many ancient civilizations had sanitation systems.

MOLLY BLOOM: But what makes the Indus Valley system unique is that it reached everyone in these cities.

JENNIFER BATES: Every house seems to have some kind of water control, sewage system. Every single house seems to be-- in the cities-- at least seems to be involved in some kind of sewage system for making sure everything is kept clean. And that's amazing.

MOLLY BLOOM: So even though we understand a good deal about how this sewer system worked, a lot about the Indus Valley civilization remain a mystery. We're not sure if all of these cities and towns are part of one big community or if they were separate but similar.

Right now, Jennifer is studying fossilized plants to better understand what they ate and how they farmed. But it is clear that this civilization farmed, engaged in trade, and made beautiful art and jewelry, games, and toys, and a really cool sewer system.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

We've talked a lot about sewers. But you know what we haven't talked a lot about?

RAYHAN: Hot air balloons?

ALIA: Argyle socks?

RAYHAN: Lion King?

ALIA: Winter Olympic sports.

MOLLY BLOOM: OK, yes, those. But more on point, we haven't talked much about toilets.

RAYHAN: Oh, yeah. The important part of all this.

ALIA: It all starts with a toilet, a toilet and a dream.

MOLLY BLOOM: Indeed. You may think toilets are all pretty much the same. There's a seat, a lid, something to flush with, but you'd be wrong.

RAYHAN: There are lots of different types of toilets all over the world.

ALIA: In fact, there's a hot new tech startup to help you find the potty of your dreams.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

SAGE: Hi, I'm Sage, the founder of New Loo and You, the dating site for your derriere. Our patented secret algorithm uses AI, machine learning, quantum computing, superfoods, the gig economy, and CrossFit training to find you the perfect toilet.

[FLUSH]

Let's meet some happy users, like Mika.

MIKA: Thanks to New Loo and You, I met the bidet. And my life is at least 76% better. The bidet is a French invention, and it looks like a low sink. You use it to wash your business after you make potty. Have you ever seen one?

The bidet is commonly found in Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. Now, it's commonly found in my heart too. Joining New Loo and You is easy. You just fill out a 2,000-question survey, send us a hair sample, tell us the names of all your past pets, take the SAT twice, and create an interpretive dance based on the last thing you ate. Our technology will do the rest.

[FLUSH]

DEVAN: New Loo and You paired me with a squat toilet and boy, am I into it.

SAGE: Devan's squat toilet is essentially a porcelain bowl or pan on the floor that has a hole in it. As the name implies, you just squat over it and do your thing. They're common all over Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

DEVAN: I love it. It's easy to use, simple design, and great for my quads. It's like leg day every time I go.

SAGE: Many scientists think squatting might make it easier for a person to go number two. We also pair people with fancy Japanese toilets that play music, have heated seats, and can spray your nethers with water for a fresh feeling after a pit stop.

If you're more of the rugged type, we might set you up with a kind of toilet they use in Antarctica.

LANE: It's called the poop bucket, and we're happy together.

SAGE: Lane is a researcher exploring Antarctica. It's cold, snowy, and pristine there. And Lane and the other scientists want to keep it that way. So instead of going to the bathroom willy nilly, they pee in bottles and poop in buckets.

LANE: That's right. Then we bring the buckets of poo back with us, and they're eventually sent to the mainland for disposal.

SAGE: What a green way to go.

LANE: My poop bucket completes me.

[WHOOSHING]

[FLUSH]

SAGE: Find your bum's better half by joining New Loo and You today. And use the promo code Brains On for a 3% discount. Happy bathrooming.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

RAYHAN: Well, there's so many types of toilets.

ALIA: And some of them, like the poo bucket in Antarctica, aren't even connected to sewers.

MOLLY BLOOM: Yep. The Antarctica poo bucket is sewer free. That's very handy for places like Antarctica where it would be hard to build a sewer. But you still have to carry the buckets back to the mainland to treat the waste inside. There are other off-grid toilets that process their poo on site.

ALIA: Like a toilet and a mini-wastewater treatment plant in one.

MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly. Places like national parks and forests often have composting toilets. Those are potties with their own supply of microbes, which are bacteria and fungi that help break down waste. And our producer Menaka Wilhelm looked into another kind of off-grid toilet. It uses power from the sun to recycle its water.

MENAKA WILHELM: We're talking next level dookie disposal. I took a toilet field trip to Caltech, a University in Pasadena, and met someone who's helping build this all-in-one toilet. His name is Hugo Leandri.

HUGO LEANDRI: Hello, my name is Hugo. I'm a French engineer at Caltech.

MENAKA WILHELM: Hugo is working on a toilet to keep drinking water healthy in places that don't have water treatment plants. So the toilet has its own equipment to treat poop and pee. You know the rectangular boxes that you see on the backs of big trucks?

The toilet and the treatment equipment fit in a smaller version of one of those. And there's one of these boxes with the toilet and the treatment equipment in a parking lot in the middle of campus at Caltech.

HUGO LEANDRI: Restroom open so you can get in there and then contribute to the project.

MENAKA WILHELM: And do people use it?

HUGO LEANDRI: Yes, they do.

MENAKA WILHELM: The toilet part is a pretty normal potty situation, a white porcelain toilet and a urinal on the wall. But whenever anyone flushes, they're number ones and number twos flow into a pipe that leads to a mini-wastewater treatment plant behind the bathroom wall.

It gets its power from a solar panel on the bathroom roof. And on the wastewater treatment side of things, it's a little smelly.

HUGO LEANDRI: So the smell that you smell here, this is ammonia. It's in the urine. There is a lot of ammonia in urine. Yeah, it's a strong smell that you can find in a fertilizer.

MENAKA WILHELM: The smell is from the waste tank. The toilet's flushes go there until the water is treated. But all that water eventually gets clean.

HUGO LEANDRI: So the water will bring it first. And then we put that in the tank. That is the clean tank. And when people come and use the toilet, we use this water to flush the toilet. And the mix of the clean and the dirty water goes to our reactor, which is basically this big box.

MENAKA WILHELM: This big box is clear. It looks a little like a fish tank. It uses electricity to clean the dirty water. And there are sensors in the computer that watch how it's doing. As the electricity cleans the water, the sensors tell the computer things like--

HUGO LEANDRI: Hey, water is still yellow, when water is brownish.

MENAKA WILHELM: The water gets clearer and clearer as the electricity kills the germs in the water.

HUGO LEANDRI: And once the water gets treated in the reactor with electricity for about 24 hours, the water is safe and clean. So we put them back into the clean tank. And then you can start over again.

MENAKA WILHELM: Pretty cool, huh?

ALIA: Super cool.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

MOLLY BLOOM: In lots of places when you flush the toilet, it heads into a sewer with a bunch of other water, from laundry and restaurants.

RAYHAN: Flushing only pee, poo, and toilet paper helps to keep that sewer flowing.

MOLLY BLOOM: Fats, oils, and grease should never go down the drain.

ALIA: There are lots of different ways to clean the water from toilets. Some places have wastewater treatment plants, but there are other systems too. That's it for this episode of Brains On.

MOLLY BLOOM: Brains On is produced by Marc Sanchez, Sanden Totten, and me, Molly Bloom. Menaka Wilhelm is our most esteemed fellow. We had production help from Jackie Kim, Caroline Champlin, and Christina Lopez, and engineering help from John Miller, Bill Baverstock, Adam Voss, and Corey Schreppel.

Many thanks to Nasreen Paptani, Rosie Dupont, Cameron Petrie, Chrissy Pease, Lauren Dee, Curtis, Gilbert, and Justin Levy.

My heart is full of love as I prepare to read this list of names. It's the Brain's Honor Roll. These are the talented listeners who send us their incredible ideas, questions, mystery sounds, and drawings.

[LISTING HONOR ROLL]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

ALIA AND RAYHAN: Thanks for listening.

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RAYHAN: You're listening to Brains On. ALIA: Where we're serious about being curious. KID: Brains On is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation. [TOILET FLUSH] RAYHAN: Hey, Alia. Is the girls' bathroom like super normal one too? ALIA: Yeah, it was totally simple just like a regular public bathroom.

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Read ThinkCities: City Streets Are for People on Epic

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Why urban beekeeping is a rising trend in cities

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Potatoes on Rooftops: Farming in the City

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Read Potatoes on Rooftops: Farming in the City on Epic

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Epic reaches 75 million kids in class and after school.

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Read National Geographic Readers: Animals in the City on Epic

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Epic reaches 75 million kids in class and after school. Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under. Get Started

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Epic reaches 75 million kids in class and after school.

Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under.

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Epic reaches 75 million kids in class and after school. Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under. Get Started

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Going Wild: Helping Nature Thrive in Cities

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Going Wild: Helping Nature Thrive in Cities

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Read Going Wild: Helping Nature Thrive in Cities on Epic

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Epic reaches 75 million kids in class and after school.

Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under.

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Read Going Wild: Helping Nature Thrive in Cities on Epic

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Tree planting in urban areas can reduce summertime temperatures, noise pollution, and harmful airborne particles, all while trapping some of the greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. In this video, students learn how trees are crucial organisms in urban foodwebs, and how planting and maintaining trees can benefit all elements of city living. Find a lesson plan here to accompany this video.

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Nature works to filter and release water over time, thereby reducing the amount of artificial treatment needed to filter water and to help prevent flooding. In this video, learn about how the water cycle impacts our daily lives and how we can take steps to improve the health of our own local watersheds.
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For those interested in using a Microgrid/Smart grid design in your city's energy plan, check out this site.

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At-a-glance

Microgrids provide less than 0.2 percent of U.S. electricity, but their capacity is expected to more than double in the next three years.

Of the 160 microgrids in the United States, most are concentrated in seven states: Alaska, California, Georgia, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Interest in microgrids is growing because of their ability to incorporate renewable energy sources and sustain electricity service during natural disasters.

To increase deployment, a clear legal framework is needed to define a microgrid and set forth the rights and obligations of the microgrid owner with respect to customers and the larger utility grid operator.

What is a Microgrid?

Microgrids are relatively small, controllable power systems composed of one or more generation units connected to nearby users that can be operated with, or independently from, the local bulk (i.e. high-voltage) transmission system, sometimes referred to as the "macrogrid." Since the energy (power and heat) are created close to where they are used, microgrids are a form of distributed generation.

Historically, microgrids generated power using fossil fuel-fired combined heat and power (CHP) and reciprocating engine generators. Today, however, projects are increasingly leveraging more sustainable resources like solar power and energy storage. Microgrids can run on renewables, natural gas-fueled combustion turbines, or emerging sources such as fuel cells or even small modular nuclear reactors, when they become commercially available.

They can power critical facilities after a weather- or security-related outage affects the broader grid. Microgrids can also be the main electricity source for a hospital, university, or neighborhood. While single-user and campus microgrids, such as those that serve an industrial site or military base, have existed for decades, many cities are now interested in systems that can better integrate generation resources and load, serve multiple users, and/or meet environmental or emergency response objectives.

Several variations (and combinations) of microgrids are possible:

Number of customers: Microgrids can serve a single building, multiple customers in a limited geographic area, or customers across an entire community. Microgrids commonly range in size from 100 kilowatts (kW) to multiple megawatts (MW).

Load types and functions: A general purpose microgrid provides or supplements the services customers might otherwise receive from the macrogrid. A "community microgrid" serves a public purpose, such as powering police and fire stations, cell towers, and pumping city water and wastewater during emergencies. Community microgrids can also serve general purpose needs by providing power to displace or supplement service from the macrogrid on a day-to-day basis.

Connection type: An off-grid system does not connect to the macrogrid and thus must be a sufficient power source for its customer. A microgrid connected to a macrogrid has greater flexibility since the macrogrid functions as an additional resource.

Microgrids provide a tiny fraction of U.S. electricity. In 2016, the United States had about 1.6 gigawatts (GW) of installed microgrid capacity out of 1,066 GW total capacity. That is expected to increase to 4.3 GW by 2020. Most microgrid projects are in Alaska, California, Georgia, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Microgrids are attractive to many large U.S. companies committed to working on their own and in partnership with governments to transition to a sustainable low-carbon economy. For example, NRG Energy, one of the country's largest independent power producers, has turned its Princeton, New Jersey, headquarters into a fully-islandable microgrid demonstration project laboratory from which the company can test ideas for real-world applications. NRG is also collaborating with grid operator PJM to explore ways that microgrids can help enhance macrogrid operations.

Example of a Microgrid

Benefits of microgrids

Microgrids have several benefits to the environment, to utility operators, and to customers.

1. Microgrids offer the opportunity to deploy more zero-emission electricity sources, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The microgrid manager (e.g. local energy management system) can balance generation from non-controllable renewable power sources, such as solar, with distributed, controllable generation, such as natural gas-fueled combustion turbines. They can also use energy storage and the batteries in electric vehicles to balance production and usage within the microgrid.

2. Microgrids can make use of on-site energy that would otherwise be lost through transmission lines and heat that would otherwise be lost up the smokestack. When power has to travel long distances (e.g. from a centralized power station), line losses occur, requiring additional generation to ensure that far away demand is met. Since microgrid electricity is generated next to where it will be used (also known as distributed generation), line losses are minimized and less power is required to meet the same level of demand.Also, when electricity is generated from certain centralized power sources (e.g., fossil fuels and nuclear power) a great deal of heat energy is created and typically released - unused - into the atmosphere. When power is generated close to the end users, it becomes economically feasible to use this heat energy productively, such as heating water or space in nearby homes and businesses, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

3. Microgrids can improve local management of power supply and demand, which can help defer costly investments by utilities in new power generation. When sited strategically within the electricity system, microgrids help reduce or manage electricity demand and alleviate grid congestion, thereby lowering electricity prices and reducing peak power requirements. In this manner, microgrids may support system reliability, improve system efficiency, and help delay or avoid investment in new electric capacity (e.g. "peaker" plants, substations, transmission lines, energy storage or other infrastructure). When connected to the local distribution network or transmission system, microgrids can also transact from a single node to export excess electricity or import imbalances from the surrounding system.

4. Microgrids can enhance grid resilience to more extreme weather or cyber attacks. Microgrids can continuously power individual buildings, neighborhoods, or entire cities, even if the surrounding macrogrid suffers an outage. This concept of a microgrid functioning independently from the surrounding system is known as islanding. Microgrids can also help the macrogrid recover from a system outage, either indirectly, by sustaining services needed by restoration crews, or directly, by helping to re-energize the macrogrid.

Microgrids can help deploy more zero-emissions energy sources, make use of waste heat, reduce energy lost through transmission lines, help manage power supply and demand, and improve grid resilience to extreme weather.

Challenges facing microgrids

Financial and legal hurdles stand in the way of accelerating microgrid deployment.

Microgrids tend to integrate multiple energy technologies and unique circumstances into a single project, making them complicated and challenging for investors. Each project can comprise different electric generation types and sizes, serve a unique load, be situated in a unique geography and market, and be subject to unique weather variability and regulations. In addition, while tax credits and preferential tax treatment exist for some of these technologies, they differ by technology, region, and ability of a developer to access. For example, solar and fuel cell technologies are eligible for a federal investment tax credit, but a municipality that does not have a federal tax obligation might not be able to use that credit. With so many variables, each microgrid project may require its own customized financial solution.

Virtually all states lack even a legal definition of a microgrid, and regulatory and legal challenges can differ between and within states. Microgrids face three types of legal hurdles: (1) laws that prohibit or limit specific activities; (2) laws that increase the cost of doing business; and (3) uncertainty, including the risk that new law will be implemented to regulate microgrids and impose restrictions or costs not anticipated at the time of development or construction. Laws also can grant rights and clearly delineate obligations, facilitating development and financing, and making the project more attractive to potential customers.

Fostering microgrid deployment

A number of potential solutions can encourage more microgrid deployment.

Public-private partnerships can help overcome financial hurdles. Mixed ownership microgrid projects, which can include money from public institutions, utilities, and private entities, have increased from nearly zero in 2013 to a projected 38 percent of the market in 2016. Examples include microgrid partnerships at Peña Station Next in Denver, Colorado, and two government facility microgrids in Montgomery County, Maryland.

States can facilitate microgrid development. California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York have created clean energy banks, grants, or other funding opportunities for microgrids. For example, New York has established a $40 million grant program to create community microgrid projects. New Jersey created a $200 million resilience bank for the development of distributed energy resources.

A clearer legal framework is needed to define a microgrid, and set forth the rights and obligations of the microgrid owner. Issues to resolve include the rights and obligations of microgrid owners to their customers and the interconnected utility, cost allocation, and access to wholesale power markets to sell excess electricity or other services.

Linear programming models can help focus proposed microgrid projects on cost savings, emissions reductions, or independence from the macrogrid. These models can also be used to forecast or estimate cash flows and financing needs and determine strategies for managing power supply and demand, which could be useful during a project's development and operational phase.

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At-a-glance Microgrids provide less than 0.2 percent of U.S. electricity, but their capacity is expected to more than double in the next three years. Of the 160 microgrids in the United States, most are concentrated in seven states: Alaska, California, Georgia, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas.

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Interested in using water for an electricity source (hydroelectricity).

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A hydroelectric dam is one of the major components of a hydroelectric facility. A dam is a large, man-made structure built to contain some body of water. In addition to construction for the purpose of producing hydroelectric power, dams are created to control river flow and regulate flooding. In some rivers, small scale dams known as weirs are built to control and measure water flow.

Dams are a type of retaining structure, which are structures built to create large standing bodies of water known as reservoirs. These reservoirs can be used for irrigation, electrical generation, or water supply. These structures are built on top of riverbeds and hold back water, raising the water level. Dikes can be built along with the dam to increase the dams effectiveness by preventing water from leaving the reservoir through secondary routes.

Dams can range from relatively small to extremely large structures. The highest dam in the United states is located near Oroville, California and stands at 230 meters tall and 1.6 kilometers across. The largest dam in the world is the Jinping dam on the Yalong river in China, standing at 305 meters tall. In Canada, there are more than 10 000 dams, with 933 categorized as being large dams. The tallest dam in Canada is the Mica dam, on the Columbia river, standing at 243 meters tall. Another notable Canadian dam is the W.A.C Bennett dam on the Peace river, notable for its large reservoir volume of 7.4 x 10 ⁹ cubic meters and height of 190.5 meters.

Construction

The construction of these dams is difficult and labour intensive. Before construction begins, water is diverted or prevented from moving through the construction site. After water is diverted, the foundation area is cleaned, excavated, and rock or sediments that will act as the foundation are repaired and deemed solid. This is done to ensure the rock or sediments won't shift or fail as a result of the load of the dam and reservoir. Supports known as rock bolts may be used to strengthen the foundation. Above the dam, rock bolts and netting may be used to prevent rocks from falling on the dam. Forms are then built along the edges of the dam, rebar is placed inside, and concrete is pumped in. This is done in sections, and the concrete is poured bit by bit in a block formation. Once enough of the dam is built, the reservoir is allowed to fill in a highly controlled manner. The dam is monitored during this process. Other structures that make the dam operational are then added.

Dams are just one component of a complete hydroelectric facility, but are one major, visible component in the system. The purpose of a hydroelectric dam is to provide a place to convert the potential and kinetic energy of water to electrical energy by using a turbine and generator. Dams act as the place where water is held back and released in a controlled manner through hydraulic turbines, enabling the mechanical energy of the water to be transformed to electrical energy.

Typical dams work to create a reservoir where water is stored at a given height. This height and the rate at which the water flows from the reservoir through the turbines determines how much electricity can be generated. This can be calculated by using the hydroelectric power equation. As the height of the dam increases, the amount of electricity generated increases as well. At the top of the dam is a gate that is used for blocking or allowing the release of water from the reservoir. This gate is opened or closed to meet electricity requirements. Between the top of the dam and the turbines are a series of channels known as penstocks that guide the water down and control the slope of the falling water to ensure maximum efficiency of the dam. Finally, turbines can be contained in the dam structure itself, and this is where the energy conversion takes place. After the water passes through the turbines, it is released in a tail race at the bottom of the dam back into the river.

References

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A hydroelectric dam is one of the major components of a hydroelectric facility. A dam is a large, man-made structure built to contain some body of water. In addition to construction for the purpose of producing hydroelectric power, dams are created to control river flow and regulate flooding.

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https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1KU6LvdByZe50MOeW0HherZ7X0cRlcBmTe9U9IHxLPWc/edit?usp=sharing

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LEITNER in Mexico City - GD10 Cablebus and GD10 Mexicable