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Speaker 1: Welcome back. Everyone, Ready to dive into something pretty fascinating? Oh?

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, always up for a good deep dive. What are

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we exploring today?

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Speaker 1: Well, today we're going to be uncovering those unexpected discoveries,

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those whoops moments that you know, really ended up changing

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how we live.

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Speaker 2: Oh, I like this already. Those accidental inventions.

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Speaker 1: Right exactly. You know, the things like matches. Imagine having

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to start a fire without.

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Speaker 2: Them, or even you know, the vibrant colors we see

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in clothes. Hard to fathom a world without them.

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Speaker 1: It's true. Those are just a couple of examples of

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the kinds of accidental inventions that we're going to be

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diving into today.

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Speaker 2: I think it's truly remarkable how some of the most

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basic things we use every day have such surprising origins.

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Speaker 1: Totally agree. So let's kick things off of something most

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of us use without even thinking about it. Matches.

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, matches.

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Speaker 1: Can you even imagine a time when like striking a

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match wasn't even an option.

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Speaker 2: It's hard to fathom now, isn't it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And I've actually tried starting a fire with like flint,

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and you know, oh wow, And let me tell you

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it's not easy. At all.

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Speaker 2: It really makes you appreciate the simple convenience of a match,

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doesn't it totally?

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Speaker 1: So how did we go from like those super finicky

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methods to just striking a match?

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Speaker 2: Well, like many accidental inventions, it all started with a

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curious mind and a little bit of luck. In eighteen

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twenty six, a British chemist named John Walker was working

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in his lab, you know, experimenting. Yeah, and he was

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stewing some chemicals when he noticed a dried lump on

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his stirring stick.

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Speaker 1: I probably would have just like wiped it off and

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kept going.

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Speaker 2: Right, But not John Walker. He was too curious for that.

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Speaker 1: What did he do?

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Speaker 2: Well, he tries to scrape it off, and to his surprise,

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it bursts into flames.

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Speaker 1: No way.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, right then and there, the first friction match was born.

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Speaker 1: Wow. So was he the first to create like something

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that could ignite easily?

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Speaker 2: Not exactly, you see, there were other types of matches

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before that, but they were you know, unreliable or even

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dat ah.

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Speaker 1: So what made Walker's matches so different?

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Speaker 2: Well, his matches used the special combination of chemicals and

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they ignited reliably when struck on a rough surface.

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Speaker 1: Mart So what did he do well.

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Speaker 2: He starts selling them in his pharmacy and calls them

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friction lights.

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Speaker 1: Friction lights. I love that. So simple yet so revolutionary, right, Yeah.

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Speaker 2: The impact was huge. Think about it. Matches made fire

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accessible and convenient. Everything from cooking and heating to even

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industrial processes were transformed.

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Speaker 1: It's true. And you know what else is amazing. Walker

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didn't even patent his invention.

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Speaker 2: Really why not?

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Speaker 1: He actually saw it as like a benefit to humankind,

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you know, and he didn't want to restrict anyone from

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using it.

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Speaker 2: Wow, that's incredibly generous. But I imagine that also meant he

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well didn't really profit much from his invention.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Sadly that's often the case with these early inventors.

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You know, others were quick to capitalize on his idea,

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and Walker, well, he was kind of edged out of

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the market that he actually helped to create.

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Speaker 2: But hey, at least the world benefited, right exactly.

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Speaker 1: It's a reminder that sometimes the greatest inventions aren't driven

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by profit, but by a genuine desire to improve lives.

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Speaker 2: I like that, And you know, this idea of unintended consequences,

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both positive and negative, it kind of pops up a

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lot with accidental invention.

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Speaker 1: It definitely does, which brings us to our next accidental invention,

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one that had a huge impact on how we see color. Mauvin.

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, momin that's a good one.

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Speaker 1: Color that like sparked a revolution in the fashion world.

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Speaker 2: And beyond fashion, really it impacted science too.

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Speaker 1: It's crazy how one accidental discovery can open up so

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many new possibilities.

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Speaker 2: Right, absolutely, so, before Mauvine came along, the colors people

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wore were really limited, weren't they, like, just what they

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could get from nature?

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Speaker 1: Right? They had to extract dyes from plants, minerals, insects.

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Speaker 2: Even crushed shellfish.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes it was a long and expensive process, and the

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colors often weren't that vibrant right right.

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Speaker 2: And they faded easily too. But then in eighteen fifty six,

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we have this eighteen year world chemistry student named William Perkin.

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Speaker 1: Wow on the eighteen Yeah.

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Speaker 2: And get this, he was actually trying to create quinine

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to treat malaria.

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Speaker 1: So he's working on curing a disease and boom, stumbles

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upon a color that changes fashion forever.

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Speaker 2: Talk about serendipity. It's remarkable, isn't it.

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Speaker 1: So what happened? How did he do it?

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Speaker 2: So Perkins experimenting with coal tar and he accidentally creates

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this vibrant purple solution. It's a completely new color, one

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that no one had ever seen before.

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Speaker 1: Wow, that must have been a sight to see.

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Speaker 2: And it wasn't just about the color. This discovery had

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major implications for science too.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. I was going to say it wasn't just about

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pretty colors.

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Speaker 2: Right, No, not at all, Perkins Mauveine. It marked the

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birth of the entire synthetic dye industry, and that opened

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up so many new doors.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, suddenly you could produce these vibrant, long

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lasting colors cheaply and consistently.

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Speaker 2: Exactly, and it changed everything textiles, fashion, printing, painting, even

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things you wouldn't expect.

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Speaker 1: And this led to a boom and research too.

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Speaker 2: Right, Oh, absolutely, scientists realized they could synthesize these complex

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molecules and that led to well tons of breakers in medicine, perfume, photography,

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even explosives.

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Speaker 1: It's amazing how one splash of color led to all that.

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So from revolutionizing color, let's move on to an accidental

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invention that changed how we fight infections. Penicillin.

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Speaker 2: Oh, penicillin. Talk about a game changer.

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Speaker 1: It really ushered in the whole era of antibiotics, didn't it.

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It did.

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Speaker 2: It's a classic story of scientific serendipity and you know,

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being in the right place at the right time.

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Speaker 1: I've heard the story involved a messy lab, something I

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can definitely relate to.

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Speaker 2: Oh me too, I'm not always the tidiest person, especially

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when I'm working.

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Speaker 1: Well. Alexander Fleming, the bacteriologists who discovered penicillin, he was

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known for being.

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Speaker 2: A little messy too, and luckily for us, his lack

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of tidiness led to a life saving discovery.

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Speaker 1: So tell me how did it happen? It all started

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with a Petri dish, right.

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Speaker 2: It did. So Fleming was growing bacteria and Petrie dishes, right,

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and he goes on vacation.

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Speaker 1: Oh I'm sensing trouble already.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, one of the dishes it gets left uncovered,

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and when Fleming comes back, guess what, there's mold growing

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on it.

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Speaker 1: I'm guessing most people would have just chucked it in

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the trash.

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Speaker 2: You'd think so, right, But Fleming, being the brilliant scientist

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he was, he notices something unusual. What the area around

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the mold it's clear, but the rest of the dish

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it's covered in bacteria. He realizes the mold is actually

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killing the bacteria.

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Speaker 1: No way, what are the chances, right, a mold that

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kills bacteria.

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Speaker 2: Talk about a lucky break. So Fleming, being the curious

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guy he is, he investigates. He identifies the mold as

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Penicillium notatum, and he discovers that it has this powerful

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antibacterial substance.

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Speaker 1: And that's how the world got its first antibiotic.

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Speaker 2: Yep, Penicillin completely changed how we fight bacterial infections. I mean,

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before it was discovered, even little infections could be deadly.

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Speaker 1: That's incredible. It's amazing to think how one moldy peatriet

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dish revolutionized medicine absolutely. So speaking of revolutionizing things, let's

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talk about the accidental invention that changed not just our kitchens,

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but also you know, how we think about food and convenience,

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the microwave oven.

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Speaker 2: Ah, the microwave a true time saver, especially for someone

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like me who's always in a rush.

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Speaker 1: I've always been fascinated by how someone figured out that

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microwaves could actually heat.

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Speaker 2: Food, right, I mean, it seems like such a leap

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from radar technology totally.

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Speaker 1: So tell me how did it all begin.

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Speaker 2: Well, back in the nineteen forties, an engineer named Percy Spencer.

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He's working with these things called.

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Speaker 1: Magnetrons, right, magnoitrons.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, they generate microwaves. They were using them for radar

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systems in World War Two.

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Speaker 1: Wow. Okay, So he's working with his powerful equipment and

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then what does he like accidentally nukes lunch or something.

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Speaker 2: Well, maybe not nuked, but close. The story goes that

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Spencer is standing near a magnetron and he notices that

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a candy bar in his pocket it melts really just

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like ye. And of course, being the scientist he was,

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he gets intrigued. He starts experimenting by placing other foods

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near the magnetron, you know, popcorn, kernels, eggs.

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Speaker 1: That kind of thing, and they heat it up super.

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Speaker 2: Fast exactly, and that's when the light bulb goes off.

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Spencer realizes the potential of using microwaves to heat food.

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Speaker 1: That's amazing.

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Speaker 2: The first commercial microwave oven came out in nineteen forty seven,

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but it was gigantic, weighed over seven hundred and fifty

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pounds and cost a fortune.

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Speaker 1: Whoa not exactly what I picture when I think of

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a microwave.

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Speaker 2: Right, It took a few decades to get them smaller

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and more affordable.

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Speaker 1: So how did he go from this like industrial sized

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appliance to the countertop staple we have today.

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Speaker 2: It was a process of refinement and miniaturization, you know,

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making it more compact and user friendly. And by the

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late nineteen sixties, these smaller, cheaper models started hitting the

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market and that's when things really took off.

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Speaker 1: It's incredible how this accidental invention became so essential in

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our kitchens.

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Speaker 2: It really is. I can't imagine my life that a.

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Speaker 1: Microwave mean neither from changing how we cook to shaping

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the very materials we use every day. Up next, we're

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gonna be talking about the accidental invention of plastic.

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Speaker 2: Ooh, plastic, it's everywhere, it.

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Speaker 1: Really is, and it's got a fascinating origin story. We'll

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be right back after short break. Welcome back. We were

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talking about plastic before the break. But let's move on

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to something a little more snackable. Ooh okay, I like

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where this is going. We'll check out for us.

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Speaker 2: How about the potato chip?

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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, potato chips a classic crunchy, salty, can't go wrong.

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Speaker 2: Pretty amazing, right, considering this global snack food was actually

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born out of a bit of well culinary frustration.

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Speaker 1: No way, really tell me more.

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Speaker 2: Okay, so picture this. It's eighteen fifty three. We're at

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this fancy resort and Saratoga Springs, New York, and our chef,

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George Crumb, he's in the kitchen doing this thing.

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Speaker 1: I'm already loving this story. Okay, So what happens Some

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picky customer sends something back.

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Speaker 2: You got it. A guest orders French fries but sends

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them back complaining they're too thick and soggy. O.

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Speaker 1: Man, I could see how that would annoy a chef.

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Speaker 2: Well Crumb, Yeah, he was a proud chef and this

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criticism it didn't sit well with him.

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Speaker 1: So what do you do? Did you try to make

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like thinner fries?

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Speaker 2: Well not exactly. Crumb may be a little annoyed. Decides,

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you know what, I'm going to teach this customer a lesson.

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So he slices the potatoes super thin, almost paper thin,

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fries them until their crispy, almost burnt, and then loads

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them up with salt.

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Speaker 1: He was basically trying to make them inedible, right.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. He figures there, these chips are going to

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be impossible to eat. But you know what happened.

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Speaker 1: The customer actually loved them.

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Speaker 2: It's the magic of accidental inventions. That's exactly what happened.

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What Crumb intended as like a culinary insult, well it

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turned into this huge culinary hit.

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Speaker 1: Talk about a happy accident. So from a chef's frustration

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to a global snack food phenomenon. It's pretty amazing how

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these things happen, right.

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Speaker 2: It's a good reminder that sometimes the best things in

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life are unplanned. So moving on from our salty snacks,

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let's talk about a discovery that allowed us to, you know,

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see the unseen X rays.

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Speaker 1: X rays. Wow, they're so commonplace now, but can you

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imagine a time when we couldn't see inside the human body.

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It must have blown people's minds when they first saw

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those images.

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Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, it must have seemed like magic. Suddenly you

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could see bones, organs. Yeah, all revealed.

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Speaker 1: So set the stage for us. How are X rays discovered?

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Speaker 2: Okay, so it's eighteen ninety five. Our main character, Bill

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him Runken, a German physicist experimenting with cathode rays. Those

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are beams of electrons, by the way, using all sorts

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of things.

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Speaker 1: Today, TV screens, fluorescent lights, right, you got it.

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Speaker 2: So Ronken's working in his lab, which is pretty dark,

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and he notices something weird. A screen. It's coated with

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a fluorescent material and it starts glowing even though the

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cathode ray tube it's shielded.

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Speaker 1: Wait, so something's passing through this shield, something he can't

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even see exactly.

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Speaker 2: Runkan realizes he stumbled onto a brand new type of radiation,

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one that can penetrate objects. He calls it, get this radiation.

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The X stands for unknown, So mysterious.

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Speaker 1: What did he do next?

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Speaker 2: Well, if you could suddenly see through things, what would

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you do? He starts testing it out, placing different objects

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between the cathode ray tube and the screen.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so what was the first thing he X rayed?

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Speaker 2: His wife's hand Yep, the image showed her bones, her

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wedding ring. Yes, groundbreaking, and it became this worldwide sensation.

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Speaker 1: I bet it's like the ultimate scientific selfie. So before

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X rays, how did doctors like diagnose internal injuries or illnesses?

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Speaker 2: It was pretty limited. They had to rely on external exams,

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patient descriptions. It wasn't very precise, but X rays they

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changed everything absolutely.

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Speaker 1: Suddenly doctors could see inside the body without surgery. It

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led to all sorts of advancements diagnosing fractures, finding tumors,

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guiding surgeries. It's hard to overstate the impact of Runkan's

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accidental discovery totally.

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Speaker 2: It's amazing how this mysterious radiation ended up being so

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beneficial for medicine. Speaking of things that protect us, let's

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talk about an accidental invention that has undoubtedly saved countless lives.

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And get this, It was invented by an artist.

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Speaker 1: An artist really, Okay, I'm intrigued. What is it?

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Speaker 2: Safety glass? You know, the kind used in car windshields.

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Speaker 1: All right, he keeps the glass from shattering into a

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million pieces. We kind of take it for granted now,

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but it's a pretty big.

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Speaker 2: Deal, huge deal, and it's thanks to Edward Benedictus, a

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French artist and chemist.

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Speaker 1: So how did an artist come to invent safety glass?

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Speaker 2: Okay, so it's nineteen oh three and Benedictus is working

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in his lab. He accidentally knocks over a glass flask.

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Speaker 1: Oh no, did it break?

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Speaker 2: Well, you'd think it would shatter into a million pieces, right,

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but it doesn't. You see the flask it was coated

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on the inside with this stuff called cellulose nitrate. It's

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a type of plastic that was used to like protect

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photographic plates.

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Speaker 1: So the plastic coating held the glass together exactly.

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Speaker 2: It didn't completely prevent it from cracking, but the pieces

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stayed in place, this weblike pattern of cracks. It totally

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fascinated Benedictas.

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Speaker 1: I bet he immediately saw its potential, especially for car windshields,

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which were super dangerous back then.

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Speaker 2: You're right. Back then, windshields were just regular glass, so

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in an accident, they shattered easily and people got really hurt.

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Speaker 1: So did he start making windshields right away?

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Speaker 2: Well, not so fast. It took time to convince the

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car industry. You know, they were hesitant to add extra costs.

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Speaker 1: I bet. But then World War One happened, right, and

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things changed.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, laminated glass, which is similar to a Benedictus invented,

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started being used in gas masks. Suddenly everyone saw how

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valuable it.

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Speaker 1: Was, so a wartime need led to a peacetime safety invention.

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That's pretty cool.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, sometimes it takes a crisis for people to see

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the potential of an idea speaking of things, that well

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shook things up a bit. Our next accidental invention led

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to a lot of conversations about a topic that was well,

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kind of taboo back then.

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Speaker 1: Okay, what is it viagra? Viagra? Wow, I definitely didn't

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see that coming. So was someone specifically researching treatments for

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you know, performance issues, not at all.

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Speaker 2: Back in the nineteen nineties, scientists at Pfizer they were

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actually doing clinical trials on this drug called sildenafilreat What

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were they hoping to treat engina pectorus. It's a heart

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condition where you know, there's reduced blood flow to the

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heart causing chest pain.

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Speaker 1: So they were aiming for the heart and ended up somewhere.

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Speaker 2: Else, you could say that. During the trials, the participants

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they started reporting this unusual side effect increased blood flow

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you know elsewhere.

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Speaker 1: I bet there RaSE a few eyebrows.

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Speaker 2: What did Feizer do, well, they quickly realized the potential

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of this accidental finding, so they changed course, rebranded the

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drug as viagra, and marketed it for well what it

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was actually good for.

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Speaker 1: And the rest, as they say, is history. Viagra didn't

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just change how arect hel dysfunction was treated. It helped

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break down taboos around men's sexual health.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely. Sometimes these accidental inventions they have ripple effects that

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go far beyond the original intent.

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Speaker 1: So to wrap up our accidental inventions journey, let's end

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on something sweet. How about chocolate chip cookies.

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Speaker 2: Chocolate chip cookies my favorite. That's a classic example of

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kitchen ingenuity. It's all about a missing ingredient and a

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creative solution.

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Speaker 1: Okay, I'm ready for this story. Tell me everything.

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Speaker 2: Welcome back to the show. I'm ready for this chocolate

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chip cookie story.

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Speaker 1: All right. So it's the nineteen thirties. Picture a cozy

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New England inn.

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Speaker 2: Ooh, I love those. Okay, I'm picturing it.

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Speaker 1: It's called the Toll House Inn. And our baker is

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a woman named Ruth Waitefield. She's famous for her amazing

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cooking and.

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Speaker 2: Baking, especially her butter drop do cookies.

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Speaker 1: Right, you know it. Those are a big hit with

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the guests. But one day, while she's making a badge,

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disaster strikes.

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Speaker 2: Oh what happened? Did she burn them?

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Speaker 1: Not quite but close? She realizes she's out of baker's chocolate.

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You know, the kind that melts smoothly into the dough.

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Speaker 2: Oh no, every baker's worst nightmare. So what did she do?

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Speaker 1: Well, Ruth was pretty resourceful. Instead of giving up, she

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grabs a Nestle semi sweet chocolate bar, chops it up,

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and throws it into the dough.

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Speaker 2: Wait, so does she think the chocolate bar would melt

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like the baker's chocolate.

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Speaker 1: Well, that's what most people think, but some stories say

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she actually wanted the chocolate to stay in chunks.

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Speaker 2: Really, so the chocolate chip cookie.

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Speaker 1: Was intentional maybe Either way, those chunks of chocolate, they

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became a total game changer. The toll House Chocolate crunch

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cookie was.

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Speaker 2: Born, and I bet everyone loved them. I mean, who

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can resist a good chocolate chip cookie?

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Speaker 1: Exactly. Word got around quickly, and soon Nesli was even

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printing Ruth's recipe right on their chocolate bar wrappers.

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Speaker 2: Wow, that's awesome. From a simple ingredient swap to an

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iconic treat, that's pretty incredible.

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Speaker 1: It's a good reminder that sometimes the best things in

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life happen when we just go with the flow, you know,

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embrace the unexpected.

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Speaker 2: I love that. And you know what, We've covered so

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many amazing accidental inventions.

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Speaker 1: Today we have from matches and penicillin to X rays

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and even viagra.

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Speaker 2: And plastic and potato chips and of course chocolate chip cookies.

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It's mind blowing how these like chance discoveries have shaped

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our world.

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Speaker 1: It's a reminder that innovation can come from anywhere, right.

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You don't always need a master plan. Sometimes it's all

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about being curious, open to new ideas, and ready to

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embrace the happy accidents.

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Speaker 2: Totally agree. I feel like we should all channel our

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inner Ruth Wakefield, you know, get out there and experiment exactly.

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Speaker 1: Who knows, maybe the next world changing invention is just

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around the corner, waiting for someone to stumble upon it.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us on this incredible journey of accidental inventions.

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Speaker 1: Until next time, keep exploring and stay curious.