First broadcast 1st May 2016.
Lee Mack
Simon Foster
Emily Grossman
Maggie Aderin-Pocock
John Sergeant
Jimmy Carr
Len Goodman
Gabby Logan
David Lewis
Charles Michel
Lee Mack
Simon Foster
Emily Grossman
Maggie Aderin-Pocock
John Sergeant
Jimmy Carr
Len Goodman
Gabby Logan
David Lewis
Charles Michel
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00This is a show where we reveal some of the most bizarre and brilliant facts you've ever heard.
00:26Each of tonight's guests have brought along their favourite fact, which we will be putting to the test to decide who's his best.
00:31So, who do we have with us tonight?
00:33Well, a fact about my first guest is that he once said in an interview that he remained a virgin until he was 26 because of his faith.
00:40Although it could have also been due to his haircut, his dress sense and his inability to talk to women.
00:44Please welcome Jimmy Carr!
00:51Fair point. That's a fair point.
00:53Actually, the reason I remained a virgin until I was in my 20s was because of being fussy. Most women are really fussy.
01:02An interesting fact about my second guest is that in 2012 she became the first woman ever to present Match of the Day.
01:08Sadly, the event was missed on me as I was half asleep and just assumed Gary Lineker was trying something new with his hair again.
01:13Please welcome Gabby Logan!
01:16And a fact about my final guest is he once said that despite being a huge fan of his, Fred Astaire could not win Strictly Come Dancing today as times have changed and nowadays dancers are more precise in their moves.
01:31Of course, the other slight hurdle Fred would have had to overcome is that he died in 1987.
01:35Please welcome Len Goodman!
01:38Okay, let's get on with the show. Now, all of tonight's guests have brought in a fact that they really love, but who's his best?
01:43It's time for Round 1, Fact Off.
01:48Jimmy, you're up first. What is your fact?
01:50Commuting is more stressful than being a stunt pilot.
01:53Do you mean, are you talking about on a day-to-day? I mean, surely not always.
01:58I'm talking about everyday commuting on the train, in the car. That kind of everyday commuting is more stressful than being a pilot.
02:04Well, a stunt pilot, isn't that the most stressful job in the world?
02:07No, it's not.
02:08Were you a stunt pilot for many years?
02:10No, but I've been a commuter a lot.
02:12I went from Ebbsfleet to St Pancras two days ago for 32 quid.
02:18It was packed before I got in and there's 20 people behind. You're like a sardine.
02:24No young strapping man says to the old boy, Len, would you like my seat? No.
02:30And they've all got rucksacks, bashing in, trying to read the Metro. It's a nightmare. I understand that.
02:36Let me ask you a question. You are clearly, you know, you're doing all right for the DOS, aren't you?
02:41No.
02:42Why?
02:43Because I'm a pensioner. I'm on a fixed income, son. I can't start all that.
02:47I wish Brucey was here.
02:49You think you're a pensioner? You're just a teenager, my love.
02:55You're just a teenager, my love.
02:58I'm saying the stunt pilot is a stunt pilot because he wants to be a stunt pilot.
03:02Maybe not. He might not want to be a stunt pilot.
03:04He might have been pushed into it.
03:06Or he might have been a normal pilot that was rubbish and kept going all over the place and thinking, I'll change this job description.
03:11I think another way of looking at what Len is saying is that you're in control if you're a stunt pilot
03:16because you have the controls of the plane, it's your job, you've trained to do it.
03:20If you're a commuter, you're not in control.
03:22In a way, you think of a pilot being a more stressful job, but he hasn't got the day-to-day stresses, has he?
03:27You never hear a pilot say, we're going to be late because there's leaves on the cloud.
03:33I suppose if you think about it, it sort of makes sense because the amount of stress that a pilot has,
03:39I suppose on the face of it, is less per minute or per hour than being squashed together.
03:44But what's at stake is a lot bigger.
03:46It only takes one incident to be really stressful as a pilot, doesn't it?
03:49It doesn't take, oh, sorry, I'm going to be late, my Oyster card's not working properly, over, oh, sorry, both the engines have gone.
03:57I've noticed lately when I get on, I fly a lot domestically, and I've noticed lately when the plane's late, it's always somebody else's fault.
04:02They always say, so sorry, this plane was coming in from Barcelona and it was late.
04:06So they pass the buck quite a lot, don't they?
04:08So they never take the stress on.
04:09I think it's late because they do that safety announcement. Why do they bother with that?
04:12I've never met anyone that went, oh, yeah, the plane crashed. I was fine, though, because I was sat like that.
04:16For all the good it does, the crash position might as well be that.
04:19That's the same argument.
04:21Hope we're okay, hope we don't die.
04:24The worst part is if you land in the middle of the Atlantic and they say, you've got a whistle.
04:32Yeah, they're going to send a St. Bernard to get you.
04:35Also, who hasn't heard a plane hit an ocean, but, what was that?
04:41Nobody ever said, because anybody that's scared of flying, my argument to them is,
04:45you never hear anybody say, oh, I was in a nasty head-on collision above the clouds at 35,000 feet.
04:50You either die or you live if a plane crashes.
04:52That's what you say to people that are scared of flying?
04:54Yes, basically.
04:56You may be the least comforting person there's ever been.
04:59I genuinely am. I have a fear of flying.
05:01I don't know if Jimmy remembers this, but Jimmy, in your previous life, you used to do a bit of psychotherapy, didn't you?
05:06Yeah.
05:07And when we, do you remember, I was in South Africa with Jimmy doing some comedy gigs,
05:10I told him about my fear of flying and you sort of hypnotised me, do you remember this?
05:13Yeah.
05:14You sort of put me under.
05:15Yeah, it's also the reason a lot of your money comes into my bank account.
05:20What about this scenario?
05:21I am sitting in, at this time I'm going from Sevenoaks to Charing Cross,
05:25and I've got a seat and I've got a woman standing right by me in her forties.
05:29I turned to her and said, would you like this seat?
05:35She said, why?
05:37She said, why? I said, because I'm polite and you're a cow.
05:42I would like to start a campaign that when you get into a train...
05:45You're not allowed cows on.
05:46All the men are standing and all the ladies are sitting,
05:50because that's how I was brought up and that's how it should be.
05:55Can I just suggest something?
05:56Is there a possibility that this lady assumed that you thought she was pregnant?
06:00Is there a possibility that this lady assumed that you thought she was pregnant?
06:04No.
06:05Because I had a thing with that where, from bitter experience,
06:08I would rather see a pregnant woman standing on a bus than a fat girl sitting down crying.
06:17So you've heard what this lot think, but there's only one way to find out for sure.
06:19So we've monitored a commuter and a stunt pilot's stress level to put this to the test.
06:24Which is the more stressful?
06:26Flying upside down in a plane 2,000 feet above the ground,
06:31or simply driving your car to work?
06:34The answer is surprising.
06:36I've done my own studies measuring the heart rate of commuters
06:39and comparing them to pilots in simulators.
06:41And the results are absolutely fascinating.
06:43Stunt pilots experience life or death situations,
06:46but they're trained to deal with such conditions.
06:49And crucially, they're in control of their environment.
06:52The stress they experience is good stress.
06:55They enjoy the adrenaline rush.
06:57Commuters, on the other hand, are what we call type A personalities.
07:02High achieving, workaholics.
07:04Their journey to work is determined by multiple factors outside their control.
07:08Congestion, delays, and so forth.
07:10This means the stress they experience is negative stress.
07:14This is one of our most ambitious experiments yet.
07:17To test the theory, we recruited two volunteers.
07:22We've obtained the services of one of the UK's finest stunt pilots, Mark Jefferies.
07:29He's pitted against Matt, a business manager from Milton Keynes,
07:33and most definitely a type A personality.
07:37Mark is flying this state-of-the-art monoplane,
07:40capable of speeds of 260 miles per hour.
07:45While Matt is driving to a business centre 60 miles away in central London,
07:50and has to be there no later than 8.30 a.m.
07:56Mark is flying at a speed of 150 miles per hour.
08:00While Matt is driving to a business centre 60 miles away in central London,
08:04and has to be there no later than 8.30 a.m.
08:10We're able to measure both men's stress levels
08:13by placing heart monitors onto their chests,
08:16which wirelessly transmit their heart rates to a watch and this laptop.
08:22So, whose heart will suffer the most stress?
08:25The pilot or the commuter?
08:29As our pilot takes to the heavens,
08:31and as our commuter leaves home with three hours to cover the 60 miles,
08:36both look calm and collected.
08:40Matt's initial heart rate is 66 beats per minute,
08:44while Mark's is just above that, at 68 BPM.
08:49Mark is the first one to meet the challenge,
08:52performing a vertical corkscrew.
08:56His heart rate rises, but only marginally, to 74 beats per minute.
09:03An hour into Matt's journey and traffic is moving slowly.
09:07He's worried about being late for his meeting.
09:10Agitated and stressed, his heart rate rises to 94.
09:172,000 feet in the air, Mark spins his plane,
09:21seemingly losing control, before hurtling towards the ground.
09:26But astonishingly, this stunt has little effect on his stress levels,
09:31as the heart rate monitor shows a reading of just 71 BPM.
09:38For Matt, disaster as he attempts to join the North Circular.
09:44A broken down vehicle is clogging up the road.
09:48Matt's heart rate shoots up to 110 BPM.
09:52Normally highly organised, he's now highly stressed.
10:03Mark's stunts get more and more ambitious.
10:09His heart rate is 90 BPM.
10:12It appears that being in control of his environment
10:16makes it easier for him to combat stress.
10:22Mark, meanwhile, can't do anything about the busy London traffic.
10:27Why this morning?
10:29It's more and more likely he'll be late for his 8.30 meeting,
10:32and his heart rate shoots up to 121.
10:36Despite leaving three hours to cover just 60 miles,
10:40Matt can't make it in time.
10:43It's the moment of truth.
10:45Who displayed the highest stress levels?
10:48Stunt pilot Mark or commuter Matt?
10:52Mark's heart rate started at 68 BPM,
10:55and Matt, 66 BPM.
10:58But whose heart beat peaked highest,
11:00showing the highest moment of stress?
11:03Well, Mark's peaked at 111,
11:06but Matt, 126.
11:10On average stress levels, Mark was 89,
11:14and Matt, 96.
11:17Matt had much higher stress levels.
11:20So it's true, commuters can suffer more stress
11:24than death-defying stunt pilots.
11:33So, how do we make of that?
11:35I mean...
11:36I reckon my heart beat's got ten beats just watching that commute.
11:39It does get you a bit on edge, doesn't it?
11:41When the plane just fell backwards,
11:43I mean, I just thought,
11:44you're risking your life for duck quacks don't echo.
11:48What are you thinking?
11:49Jimmy, welcome to my world.
11:51So, well, thankfully every week we're joined by our resident experts
11:55who can tell us a little bit more about this fact.
11:57So, please welcome specialist in cell biology and genetics,
11:59Dr Emily Grossman, rocket scientist Dr Simon Foster,
12:02and expert in space and mechanical engineering,
12:04Dr Maggie Adairin-Pocock.
12:06It's our verifiers!
12:09So, is this just about control?
12:12Yeah, obviously, when you're driving a car or on a train,
12:15you've got loads of variables that are outside of your control.
12:17So if you're driving, obviously people can crash,
12:19the journey can get longer.
12:21And on the train, obviously,
12:22you've got your kind of bugbears about people's habits,
12:25you know, people eating,
12:26people taking up too much space,
12:28listening to music and things like that,
12:30and that's all going to start really winding you up
12:33and kind of, I sound like a sociopath,
12:34but it's going to start really kind of getting on your nerves.
12:37And it's not just that, especially on the tube,
12:39it's environmental factors as well.
12:41So in the summer, it can get so hot down there
12:43that you would be breaking the law
12:45if you were transporting animals under those conditions,
12:48but it's OK to transport human beings.
12:51And the air quality on the Northern Line can be so bad
12:54that 20 minutes on the Northern Line
12:56is the equivalent to smoking a cigarette.
12:58I feel like you're not so much come on as a scientist
13:00as just one public complaint.
13:02It used to be called the Misery Line.
13:04It's really bad.
13:05Even in London, I have to suffer the idea
13:07that the North is more miserable.
13:11So that was Jimmy's fact, but how good was it?
13:13That's down to our audience here tonight.
13:15Using your keypads on a scale of one to ten,
13:17how impressed were you? Please vote now.
13:24So, let's find out what the average rating was from our audience.
13:27Jimmy, six points. That's not bad.
13:29That's an all right start, isn't it? Six points out of 100.
13:33So we've heard Jimmy's favourite fact, but join us after the break
13:36when Len will be trying to win us over with his.
13:48Welcome back to Duck, Quack, Stone, Echo,
13:50the show that puts extraordinary facts to the test.
13:52Still with me are Jimmy Carr, Gabby Logan and Len Goodman.
13:57Before the break, the audience gave Jimmy six points
14:00for his outstanding fact that commuting is more stressful
14:03than being a stunt pilot. Len, you're next.
14:05What facts have you gone for?
14:07You can't blow out a candle if you're blowing through a funnel.
14:13Did you find this out on a birthday you spent in hospital?
14:19A funnel like a...? A funnel, yeah, like a...
14:21Like that? Yeah. Where's the urine going now?
14:26Has someone emptied his bucket?
14:29So you can't blow out a candle with that? Why...?
14:32Well, I think it's something to do with the air, you know, dissipating.
14:36It's definitely something to do with the air, yeah.
14:38Look, there's an easy way to find out.
14:40As you have correctly pointed out, Len, we do have some funnels under here.
14:43Funnel each. There you go.
14:45We've got four candles.
14:51Thank you, bartender. There you go.
14:53Oh, we're going to need another 99 of these for Len.
14:58That's nice, eh?
15:00OK, so... OK, so...
15:02No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
15:04No, no, no, the other way round, Jimmy.
15:06Don't get me wrong, you've covered half your face,
15:08most of the nation are happy, but...
15:10Something like so?
15:12So, yes, we hold it like this.
15:14If you've just joined us, you're back on the BBC and it's 1947.
15:17That explains the suit.
15:19LAUGHTER
15:24Tell you what, it certainly explains your gags.
15:32OK, so here we go.
15:34We will attempt to blow our candles out on the count of three.
15:38One, two, three, go.
15:44And even if you go a little bit closer...
15:47Look, I'm going to implode in a minute.
15:49Are these fake candles?
15:51Oh, no.
15:53Whilst we're trying to do this, can you explain what's happening here?
15:56What you'd expect to happen is you've got the tube of the funnel
15:59and you'd expect the air to come straight out of the tube,
16:01hit the candle and snuff it out.
16:03But what actually happens is, as you blow,
16:05some of that air actually wicks past the sides of the funnel.
16:08You can see the candle.
16:09Because the air is funnelling round the side of the funnel,
16:12you actually get an area of low pressure,
16:14so you'll actually get the flame moving towards the funnel
16:16rather than moving away from it as you blow.
16:19So it is pretty hard to blow out a candle this way.
16:21If you get light-headed and you feel like you're going to faint,
16:23is that an issue?
16:24No, no, keep going, keep going.
16:31I'm going to keep holding this,
16:32because we genuinely play a game, me and my wife,
16:34where we throw Maltesers and try and catch them,
16:36but I'm going to cheat now.
16:38How many years of marriage is that?
16:40OK, we've tested lens fact,
16:42but let's find out how impressive our audience thinking is.
16:44Time for you all to give it a mark out of ten.
16:46Please vote now.
16:52So let's find out what the average rating was for your fact
16:54and where that puts you on the leaderboard.
16:58Oh, man, that's not a bad six, is it?
17:00Not a bad six, I'm happy with your six.
17:02OK, last but not least, it's Gabby.
17:04What's your fact?
17:05People prefer the taste of food when it's pointed away from them.
17:10Sorry, pointed away?
17:12Yeah, so it's how you arrange the food on the plate.
17:15But when you say pointing away from you,
17:17do you mean actually, I mean, for example, an asparagus?
17:20Should we use the pointy bit?
17:22The spear end.
17:23The spear would have to point away from the face.
17:25If the spear is coming towards you, it doesn't taste as nice.
17:28Why?
17:29I think it's about making the plate more attractive,
17:31and nobody likes to be pointed at, do they?
17:33You don't want to be pointed at by a piece of food.
17:35Well, I'm not sure about this fact about the food pointed away.
17:38I do agree that if it's presented nicely, it's more appetising.
17:42Mm.
17:43My nan always used to do my food into a face.
17:46LAUGHTER
17:48Pea eyebrows and a bit of broccoli nose and...
17:51Aw. Yeah, it was nice.
17:53Carry on, we're on the whole street.
17:54Well, I used to eat that.
17:55What was the mouth?
17:56Now, when I'd cook, well, it all depended what I had, you know.
17:59It might have been a lamb chop or whatever it was, and it was a face.
18:02And she'd put a load of cabbage for the hair, made it nice.
18:05But when I'm out, I like it to look nice.
18:08Well, I think, subconsciously, I already knew this.
18:10The way I give my kids their food, I put all the kind of green stuff.
18:14For the hair?
18:15Yeah. Well, no, at the top...
18:17LAUGHTER
18:19You know, green, like hair, you know.
18:21The top right, so it's kind of away from them.
18:23Cos I know my son is going to go straight for my daughter,
18:25going straight for the chicken or the beef, whatever it is.
18:27So that kind of is... It'd be enticing stuff.
18:29But when you say pointing away from you,
18:31if you had a whole chicken pointing away from you,
18:33you'd be looking directly up its anus.
18:35That can't be more appetising.
18:37It's very difficult to point mashed potato.
18:39Yes.
18:40Unless you shape it into a heaping.
18:42My nan used to do the hair in mashed potato as well.
18:45Not only with green.
18:46Her own hair or...?
18:47Usually, there's a few of her own hairs in there.
18:50Towards the end, she was putting mash in her hair.
18:52It was over by then.
18:54So I think what Gabby means is food that is pointy.
18:58Things that has a point, like an asparagus or something with eyes.
19:02Exactly what I mean.
19:03That's what I don't like.
19:04You don't like things with eyes.
19:05I don't like food that looks back at me.
19:07Well, that's...
19:08I don't mind if you tell your nan to do it in the shape of a face.
19:10Well, no!
19:12OK, you've heard what we think,
19:13but join us after the break when we put this to the test.
19:27Welcome back to Not Quite Stone Echo,
19:29the show that brings you brilliant and bizarre facts
19:31that you've probably never even heard of.
19:32Before the break, Gabby told us that people prefer the taste of food
19:35when it's pointed away from them.
19:37We need to know for sure, so we put it to the test.
19:43Scientists have come up with an incredible new theory,
19:47that people prefer food that points away from them.
19:51But are we really so odd?
19:55In a digital experiment involving more than 12,000 participants,
19:58we proved that people prefer angular foods,
20:00like slices of cheese, cake and asparagus more,
20:03when they are pointed up or away.
20:06They are also willing to pay more money for it, too.
20:09There are deep-seated psychological reasons
20:11as to why we prefer our foods pointed away from us.
20:14For instance, angular shapes pointing towards us
20:17are perceived as being aggressive,
20:19and downward-pointing triangles capture our attention more rapidly
20:22due to some kind of subconsciously perceived threat.
20:25Visual presentation can potentially enhance how much we enjoy food.
20:29Orientating the plate in the right manner can really make food taste better.
20:35For our test, we decided to take over a restaurant for the day
20:39and invite some guests to join us for a meal.
20:44For this experiment, we had to serve dishes
20:46that could be angled in a particular way,
20:49avoiding circular foods like burgers or bowls of soup.
20:53Our volunteers thought they would be sampling a radical new menu.
20:57They had no idea our test would be about the positioning of the food.
21:02We wanted to discover if people showed a clear preference
21:06for food pointing towards them rather than food pointing away from them.
21:12Two identical dishes of slowly grilled, mature cheddar cheese on toast,
21:17served with sun-ripened Mediterranean black olives,
21:20were laid out on a table.
21:22Our tasters are asked to select one of the dishes.
21:26If the majority choose the plate with the cheese pointing away from them,
21:30then it proves our theory.
21:53INCREDIBLY, 15 OUT OF THE 20 DINERS
21:57CHOOSE THE CHEESE ON TOAST THAT WAS POINTING AWAY.
22:00THAT'S A CONVINCING 75% OF OUR DINERS.
22:06JUST TO MAKE SURE,
22:08WE CHECKED IF BY MERELY POINTING FOOD AWAY,
22:11WE COULD IMPROVE ITS TASTE,
22:13AND IF THE DINERS WOULD BE PERPETUATING
22:15THE TASTE OF THE CHEESE ON TOAST.
22:17FOR THE NEXT COURSE,
22:18WE PREPARED A TRIO OF LIGHTLY BLANCHED SEASONAL ASPARAGUS
22:22SERVED WITH A QUINELLE OF SILKY MASCAPONE CHEESE
22:26TOPPED WITH A SWEET CHERRY TOMATO.
22:31HALF OF THE RESTAURANT IS SERVED THE DISH
22:33WITH THE ASPARAGUS POINTING TOWARDS THEM,
22:36AND THE OTHER HALF IS SERVED EXACTLY THE SAME FOOD
22:39BUT IN A DIFFERENT WAY.
22:41AFTER THEY FINISH,
22:42EACH SET OF DINERS RATES THEIR MEAL.
22:45FIRST, THE SCORES OF THE PEOPLE
22:47SERVED THE DISH POINTING TOWARDS THEM.
22:50THE AVERAGE WAS 4.5 OUT OF 10.
22:53AND THEN THE DINERS SERVED FOOD
22:55POINTED AWAY FROM THEM.
22:57THEIR AVERAGE WAS 7 OUT OF 10.
23:00THAT'S A STAGGERING 55 PERCENT INCREASE.
23:03AND IF THE DINERS WOULD BE PERPETUATING
23:05THE TASTE OF THE CHEESE ON TOAST,
23:07WE COULD IMPROVE ITS TASTE,
23:10AND IT GETS EVEN MORE SURPRISING.
23:14THE PEOPLE WHOSE FOOD POINTED TOWARDS THEM
23:17ARE PREPARED TO PAY AN AVERAGE £4.50.
23:21THOSE WHOSE FOOD POINTED AWAY FROM THEM
23:23AGREE TO PAY £6.
23:26THAT'S AN INCREDIBLE 33 PERCENT MORE.
23:29THERE WE GO.
23:31FOOD DIRECTION WILL AFFECT
23:33THE ENJOYMENT LEVELS OF YOUR MEAL.
23:36NOW, WHO'S READY FOR DESSERT?
23:39I THINK YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO.
23:45DELICIOUS.
23:47APPLAUSE
23:49Wow, that's incredible.
23:51I don't think Gordon Ramsay's going to be happy with this.
23:54I know what people are like when you send food back to him
23:57cos it's not hot enough, I've seen how he reacts.
23:59Imagine if you sent it back and said,
24:01I don't like the way the squid was looking at me.
24:03I once sent back some calves liver.
24:06I love calves liver, it wasn't that I didn't like the calves liver,
24:09but it wasn't cooked right and it came back
24:11and it still wasn't cooked right,
24:13and the third time of it not being cooked right,
24:15my husband said, I'm embarrassed now, put it in your handbag.
24:18So he made me wrap it up in a napkin and put it into my handbag.
24:21So I handed the plate back and said, yeah, it was lovely, thank you very much.
24:24And then we went out and we got a bit drunk
24:26and the next morning we were in a hotel somewhere
24:28and I woke up and I had a bag of calves liver.
24:30It's not good.
24:32What did you do? What's the truth behind that story?
24:35Clearly someone discovered a calves liver in your handbag
24:37and there's a whole other thing.
24:39Sounds like you definitely killed...
24:41You went out and raided an abattoir.
24:43Verify, are there any other quirks in foods that we've developed?
24:47I really, really love this fact
24:49because it's triggered an area of research called gastrophysics,
24:52which is the science of food arrangement.
24:54And as we saw, if we point food away,
24:57the optimum angle is actually slightly off to the right as well
25:00because we perceive the right as being correct
25:02and possibly moving towards the future.
25:04Whoa, whoa, whoa.
25:06What are you talking about?
25:08Going off to the right is seen as the future?
25:11Yeah, because when we write...
25:12You're a Tory's dream.
25:14When we write, left is behind us
25:17and we write towards the right, towards the future.
25:19There's a plate science as well.
25:21There's scientists who study plate science
25:23and they found that we eat less off red plates
25:26because red plates signify...
25:28The colour red signifies danger in nature
25:30and we also associate it with stop, like in traffic lights.
25:33But if we eat food that's the same colour as our plate,
25:36so kind of spaghetti carbonara off a white plate,
25:39then we eat more,
25:41presumably because there's no sort of contrast in it.
25:43And there's also cutlery science.
25:45So we eat less using a big fork
25:48because, again, it seems like we're eating more.
25:50Right.
25:51And if we use really heavy silverware,
25:54kind of like fine dining,
25:56we're tricked into thinking the food tastes better
25:58because presumably we associate that with fine dining.
26:01Same with using linen tablecloths.
26:04Does it work with sheets?
26:06If I was to put really heavy sheets on the bed,
26:08would my performance appear better?
26:11So the first one was called gastrophysics.
26:13It's very briefly impressive at a cocktail party.
26:16If you said, I'm a gastrophysicist,
26:18and they go, wow, that's impressive.
26:20And then you go, no, no, I said gastrophysicist.
26:23What I've learned from you, Emily,
26:25is that next time I'm at a meeting with a TV executive
26:27trying to get a show off the ground,
26:28if it doesn't look like it's going to happen,
26:30I'm going to unzip my trousers,
26:31put out a certain part of my body,
26:33point it slightly to the right and say I'm the future.
26:37So that was Gabby's facts.
26:39Now our audience tonight are going to score it.
26:42Using your keybads on a scale of one to ten,
26:44how amazing do you think this fact is?
26:46Please vote now.
26:48Now, Gabby, let's find out what the average rating was
26:50from our audience for your fact.
26:53Oh, they gave it a good seven.
26:55I'm very happy with that.
26:56I'm pleased with that.
26:57OK, Gabby's in the lead, but there's still plenty of time
26:59for Jimmy and Len to catch up in the next round.
27:01It's time for Fact Finder.
27:07Not only do we ask our guests to bring a fact to the show,
27:09we also ask our audience.
27:10Jimmy, Gabby and Len have each picked out the audience fact
27:12that they think is best.
27:13And, Jimmy, you're first.
27:14Who's fact to make it count?
27:16You're first.
27:17Whose fact have you picked?
27:18OK, I like the fact from Chris Harris.
27:20Where's Chris?
27:21Where are you, Chris?
27:22OK, Chris, what's your amazing fact?
27:24You can have enough fat on your body to become bulletproof.
27:28Oh, no, no, no, no.
27:31Be very careful with what you're saying here.
27:33How obese are we talking?
27:35Well, about two feet of fat.
27:37Two feet of fat thick?
27:40You know this isn't going out in America, don't you?
27:43OK, can I just...
27:44If you're that fat, it's unlikely you'll be leaving the house much.
27:47So the person that murders you is likely to live with you.
27:49They can do it any way they choose.
27:52So it really is...
27:54It's not worth getting fat, is it, really?
27:56So you're saying that if you shot someone sort of in that region,
28:00they would be OK?
28:02The fact would slow down the trajectory of the bullet.
28:04OK, what about if you had two feet of muscle?
28:08Two feet of muscle?
28:09I know, it's...
28:11Sticking out the front?
28:14Is that what you're looking for, is it?
28:17Have you been reading a lot of Marvel comics?
28:21Now, we can't test it because we only just heard it tonight,
28:23so it's over to our verifiers.
28:24Verifiers, what do you think about Jimmy's chosen fact?
28:27Well, it's sort of true.
28:29But obviously, as a bullet travels through anything,
28:31it will slow down as it hits kind of material and objects there.
28:35And it can do that in air,
28:36because obviously air can even stop meteorites.
28:38So even though your fat is very, like, soft and squishy,
28:42as a bullet travels through it, incrementally,
28:44it will lose energy and it will slow down.
28:46None of us dispute that, but two foot?
28:49I know, but that's the problem.
28:50You've got to get...
28:51Actually, believe it or not,
28:52scientists have actually tried this out with gelatine,
28:55firing bullets into gelatine.
28:57They found that a distance of about 70 centimetres
29:00would be an optimal distance for all that energy
29:03to discharge into the fat and slow the bullet down
29:06so it wouldn't hit any organs.
29:07So when the American police officers are eating doughnuts,
29:10that is a...
29:11Yeah, that's...
29:12That's just instead of, like,
29:13these bulletproof vests won't last forever.
29:17OK, we'll score it at the end once we've heard everyone's facts.
29:20Your next, Gabby, whose facts have you gone for?
29:22I've gone for Kirsty Loughton's facts.
29:24Kirsty Loughton, how are you?
29:25Hi.
29:26Stand up.
29:27Oh, sorry, you are. I'm so sorry.
29:29Sorry. Awkward. Awkward. I'm so sorry.
29:31Sorry, Kirsty, if you're offended, grow up.
29:37Sorry, Kirsty, what's your fact?
29:39My fact is, in the first week after a baby's been born,
29:42it actually sees the world upside down.
29:45Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
29:47You're talking... Me?
29:49My baby's looking at me... Everything.
29:51..and I'm holding him like that, looking into his...
29:53Yeah, you're upside... Like, your face would be upside down.
29:55That's a very odd fact.
29:56Now, can I tell you something? Because it's quite exciting...
29:59If you're going to tell me your nan used to turn the plate round like that,
30:02that's not the same thing, Len.
30:04What I'm going to tell you is, two days ago,
30:06I became a grandfather for the first time.
30:09Yes!
30:12And...
30:15You don't look old enough.
30:16Well, there you go.
30:17And I've held this little Alice,
30:20and every time she looks at me, she cries.
30:24So I think this fact is the truth.
30:27She's probably looking at me upside down, right up me bugle.
30:32Until about ten weeks old, babies...
30:34I understood that babies can only see black and white.
30:37They don't see... You can only show them old movies, yeah.
30:42And they...
30:43It just seems like they have a lot to deal with,
30:45don't they, in the visual department?
30:47This is an incredible fact, really.
30:49It's a great fact.
30:50It's a great fact if it's true,
30:51otherwise it's just the ramblings of a lunatic.
30:53Yeah.
30:54Talking of which, Verifiers.
30:56It is actually true.
30:58When light rays come into our eyes,
31:00they come straight into our eyes,
31:02then they get bent or refracted through our lens,
31:04and they're brought into focus on the back of the eye on the retina.
31:07It's like it does on a camera film.
31:09On a camera film, the image is upside down.
31:11Like the pinhole camera when you were a child.
31:13Exactly.
31:14But what our brain does, as you said,
31:16is it processes that image,
31:17and it figures out that it's upside down,
31:19and it turns it back the right way up.
31:21But when we're first born, our brain hasn't learnt to do that.
31:24So for a few hours after birth, we see everything upside down,
31:27but usually within a few hours,
31:28your brain figures out how to process it
31:30and flips it back the right way up.
31:32Is it instant?
31:33So after a few hours, does it suddenly go...
31:35And the baby goes...
31:37Or does it slow...
31:38Even worse, does it all start flipping in a weird sort of...
31:41Whoa!
31:43Grandad, stop it!
31:45Well, you may ask,
31:47but actually the brain retains the ability to do this.
31:50So we have actually studied people
31:51who can wear what's called upside down glasses.
31:53So they're glasses with special lenses in them
31:55that make the world look upside down.
31:57And after a few days,
31:59their brain re-flips and processes the image
32:02so then they start to see everything the right way up again.
32:04Oh, where did you get these glasses? I love them!
32:07I've got a pair. I've built a pair, yeah.
32:09Wow, is that why you accidentally are wearing the carpet today?
32:15OK, finally, Len, whose facts have you picked out?
32:17Bethany Wilcox.
32:18Bethany Wilcox, where are you?
32:20Hi, Bethany, would you like to stand up?
32:22Bethany, what's your fact?
32:23Hiya.
32:24My fact is that the largest thing a blue whale can swallow
32:27is no bigger than a grapefruit.
32:30Are we talking, like...
32:31What about Moby Dick? Is that not true?
32:33No, they couldn't swallow one of them.
32:36Well, they eat plankton, don't they?
32:37Krill, isn't it called krill?
32:38Yeah, but plankton aren't bigger than... How big are plankton?
32:40Plankton are that big. They're, like, that big.
32:41But you mean girth or length?
32:45They just couldn't swallow anything any bigger than a grapefruit.
32:48Well, if you shoot a blue whale,
32:51it is bulletproof.
32:54That is true.
32:55But it will see the bullet coming upside down
32:58if you shoot it just after birth.
33:00Is the clue in... Not that this has given us a clue,
33:03but is the clue in the wording?
33:05Because you said swallow.
33:07So, obviously, it can take a bigger object in its mouth,
33:10but it obviously just has to chew it.
33:12It doesn't really chew it. Everything's sieved.
33:14They've got little things at the side,
33:15so the krill comes in and they sieve out the food.
33:17It's more like a colander, the size of a whale.
33:19That seems extraordinary, that they would have pretty much
33:21the whole of the ocean as its choice of dinner, wouldn't it?
33:23Most things are smaller than the blue whale,
33:25and it can't eat any of them.
33:27A snake can eat a giraffe, for God's sake.
33:29No, it can't!
33:31Gabby, we've been telling you!
33:33If you're a snake...
33:35Right, to verify, as Len likes Bethany's fact,
33:37but is there anything in it?
33:39There is.
33:40Now, the blue whale is the largest creature that has ever lived.
33:43You haven't met the Aunty Maury!
33:47Because if you look at the dinosaurs,
33:48a blue whale is bigger than the biggest dinosaur that ever lived.
33:51So it's the biggest thing that's ever, ever lived.
33:53So they weigh up to 200 tonnes.
33:55They can live for about 90 years.
33:57Their tongue is the size of an elephant.
34:00Their heart is the size of a family car.
34:03So we're talking pretty big here.
34:05But, as you said, Jimmy, they do eat krill.
34:07Krill are small, shrimp-like creatures,
34:10usually about five centimetres long.
34:12Every day, a blue whale has to eat over 400 million krill,
34:17because it has a calorie intake of 1.5 million kilocalories.
34:20What happens if the shops are closed?
34:24Their esophagus, the hole in their throat...
34:26Don't patronise me, I don't know what an esophagus is!
34:30The diameter of their esophagus is approximately 10 centimetres.
34:34So even a grapefruit, I mean, the average grapefruit, might be a push.
34:37So what we're saying is if you come across a blue whale,
34:39don't give it a grapefruit.
34:42So, we've heard the facts,
34:43but how many points will our verifiers give them?
34:45Find out after the break.
34:51APPLAUSE
34:56So, before the break,
34:57each of our guests chose their favourite fact from the audience.
35:00We've found out whether each fact is true,
35:02but who will get the most points from our verifiers?
35:04Let's find out.
35:05Jimmy, please remind us of your chosen fact.
35:07My fact was from Chris Harris, and it was,
35:09you can have enough fat on your body to become bulletproof.
35:12Verifiers, what are we giving that?
35:14Well, this is interesting.
35:15You're not going to be bulletproof, and it's not particularly useful,
35:18but it's a free...
35:20If I had a gun now, we would be disproving that fact.
35:24Gabby, remind us of the fact you backed.
35:26Kirsty Loughton delivered this fact, and it was,
35:28in the first week of a baby's birth,
35:30they actually view the world upside down.
35:32Verifiers?
35:33Well, this is true, but it isn't for the whole week.
35:36It's usually only for a few hours,
35:37but it's such a cool fact that I thought we could give it an eight.
35:40An eight? That's a high score. Well done, Gabby.
35:42And, Len, what fact did you go for?
35:45I went for Bethany Wilcox's fact,
35:47which was the largest thing a blue whale can swallow
35:51is the size of a grapefruit.
35:53Verifiers, what are we giving that?
35:55Oh, it's a great fact.
35:56It shows the majestic nature of a blue whale,
35:59so I gave it a nine.
36:00Oh!
36:01APPLAUSE
36:03I can't believe...
36:04I can't believe you didn't give it a seven!
36:10So...
36:11So, let's put all that up onto the leaderboard
36:13and let's see how it's affected the scores.
36:16So, Len, you're in third place,
36:17but Gabby and Len are leading with 15 points.
36:23OK, there's still time for Jimmy to catch up.
36:25We've heard all the guess facts and the audience have brought theirs,
36:27so now it's my turn.
36:28It's time for Max Facts.
36:33OK, I've got some facts for you.
36:34All you have to do is guess what my facts are from a series of clues
36:37and you'll get points for each one you get right.
36:39Here's the first one.
36:41Couldn't be easier. OK.
36:42We have this...
36:45So, that's duck quacks don't echo.
36:48That is correct. That is duck quacks don't echo.
36:50What are you noticing about it, though?
36:52It's jumbled up letters. Yes.
36:54And yet you were still able to read it, weren't you?
36:56Yes, I was.
36:57Is it something to do with the colours of the first letters?
37:01I'll help you by saying forget the colours.
37:03Is that something...? What's this book?
37:05This represents reading. It's something we read.
37:07So we don't actually read the words that are there,
37:10we just look for patterns.
37:12You're almost right. I'll tell you what I'll do.
37:14Let's put that there.
37:16Let's put that there and that there.
37:18Let's put that there like that and that there like that.
37:20We only read the first letter and the last letter of a word.
37:23That, Gabby Logan, is the right answer.
37:26APPLAUSE
37:29My fact is, to be able to read,
37:31it doesn't matter what order the letters are in a word,
37:34the only important thing is the first and last letters
37:36are in the right place.
37:38And if you want an explanation, Gabby, look at the screen.
37:40We've jumbled up the letters,
37:42but we've kept the first and last in the right place.
37:44So if you'd like to explain to the audience
37:47why this happens by reading our autocue, please.
37:50According to research at Cambridge University,
37:52it doesn't matter in what order the letters in a word are,
37:56the only important thing is that the first and last letter
37:58are in the right place.
38:00This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself,
38:02but the word as a whole.
38:04That is amazing. That's amazing.
38:06I'm looking at that now.
38:10That was amazing and terrifying.
38:12I thought halfway through that I was having a stroke.
38:16Now, if we also jumbled up the first and last letters,
38:18it's not so easy.
38:20Jimmy, take it away.
38:24Huffalog?
38:26No, I've got nothing.
38:28It's all good presenting Catskill's Countdown,
38:30but you're not so clever now, are you?
38:32Catsmesser?
38:34Say what you see, why don't you, Jimmy?
38:38Let's have a look at the translation.
38:40Although according to the same research,
38:42if the first and last letters are also jumbled up,
38:44it's impossible to read.
38:46That's pretty amazing, isn't it?
38:50OK, next one.
38:52We have this.
38:54And we have this.
38:56I'm going to say that elephants can't suckle.
38:58I'm getting jumbo suction.
39:02Dummy and dumbo.
39:06This isn't catchphrase, Len.
39:10Elephants...
39:12If that was it, that would be great.
39:14My fact is that dummy sounds a bit like dumbo.
39:16OK, next.
39:18Do elephants only get one set of teeth in their life?
39:20No!
39:24Is it to do with suction?
39:26It is to do exactly with suction.
39:28They can pick up a lot of water.
39:30An elephant can suck.
39:32It's only body weight.
39:34You're close. What can he suck?
39:36Instead of a dummy, he uses...
39:38His own trunk.
39:40My fact is a baby elephant sucks its trunk
39:42just like a human baby sucks its thumb.
39:44We've got to look at this, right?
39:48That's beautiful.
39:50Obviously, he'd have to remember not to blow,
39:52otherwise he'd go up like a balloon.
39:54Good fact.
39:56My last fact tonight is...
39:59And...
40:01This.
40:04What?
40:06It's just all gone carry-on Gabby Logan.
40:10Is it to do with weight?
40:12You're likely to see the first down match of the day.
40:14Balls, hello.
40:16Is it weight and gender?
40:18It's very much to do with weight and gender, yes.
40:20Is it something to do with muscle?
40:22It's not to do with muscle, no.
40:24I'll give you a quick clue.
40:26Oh, she weighs less.
40:28She's lighter.
40:30You might think that women, because of their breasts,
40:32would be heavier than a man on the top half,
40:34but where is their centre of gravity?
40:36This is exactly what it is.
40:38That's the right answer.
40:40Men are more top-heavy than women.
40:42Whilst we get ready to test this,
40:44Verifiers, can you explain more?
40:46Your centre of gravity is the point in your body
40:48where you have approximately equal weight either side of it.
40:50Now, in men, they have narrower waist
40:52and broader shoulders,
40:54so their centre of gravity is going to be higher
40:56and so they're more top-heavy.
40:58Now, what this means is that women
41:00actually have a better kind of sense of balance
41:02than men,
41:04and this leads to some interesting phenomenon
41:06as we're about to see.
41:08APPLAUSE
41:10OK, now, I'd like you all to stand
41:12facing the wall.
41:14OK, we'll start by touching our toes onto it.
41:16I feel like I've done something wrong in school.
41:18What?
41:20Jimmy, you didn't go to school.
41:22Right, foot, so you're doing one step back.
41:24And then do it again, so you've done two steps back.
41:26Now put your feet together, so you're now
41:28three paces from the wall, aren't you?
41:30You get your chair, you put it against the wall,
41:32pull it away from the wall a little bit
41:34so it's not touching the wall.
41:36A bit further in, Jimmy, so it's just away
41:38from the wall, maybe an inch away from the wall or something.
41:40Now, bend from the hips and rest your forehead against it.
41:42I mean, this is not the greatest piece of television
41:44to watch, I wouldn't imagine.
41:46You've got a lovely backside, Jimmy, don't be hard on yourself.
41:48Drink it in.
41:50Now, you've got to keep your feet...
41:52I'm going to attempt to twerk.
41:56Keep your feet rooted to the ground.
41:58Put all your weight onto your head
42:00against the wall, OK?
42:02You should have a right angle at the...
42:04Is that OK? Is that right angle?
42:06OK, so here we go. Lift the chair off the ground.
42:08Keeping your head in this position.
42:10On the count of three,
42:12we're all going to try and stand up.
42:14And if the science is right, only Gabby should be able to do it.
42:16So here we go. Three, two, one.
42:18Stand up.
42:24I really am rooted, yeah.
42:26This is like the world's worst-ever episode
42:28of The World's Strongest Man, isn't it?
42:30Lee, I feel like
42:32this is my first night in prison.
42:36Just so you know, Jimmy,
42:38with your tax affairs, it won't be long away.
42:40So...
42:44So there you have it. They were my facts.
42:46Let's see the final scores.
42:48Congratulations, Gabby's the winner!
42:50That's it for tonight's show.
42:52A big thanks to our verifiers and to our special guests,
42:54Jimmy Carr, Gabby Logan and Les Goodman.
42:56If I can get out of this, I'll see you next week. Goodnight!
43:04Gabby Logan, very competitive.
43:06And Phil and Claire have kissed and made up
43:08after last week's yoga gate. They're on a romantic
43:10trip for two. See where? In Modern Family.
43:12Tomorrow at 8.30 on Sky One.
43:16See you then.