Stefania Follini and a Moon Theremin: Citation Needed 1x03

techdif.co.uk - This week: we get stuck somewhere dark, it all gets a bit serious for a moment, and Gary pulls his hoodie over his head. It's all kicking off.

[@malachichampion]

So fascinating to watch Chris's beard evolve over the years

[@nikoheinz1213]

Darwinian?

[@elifarmer3815]

One day it will have a communist revolution and become independent

[@Mrphilipjcook]

​@@nikoheinz1213darchinian

[@nikoheinz1213]

@Mrphilipjcook english is my second language and I don't get it

[@malachichampion]

@@nikoheinz1213 they put the word chin in the middle of the word Darwin(ian): a pun on how we're talking about beard evolution. Took me a second myself 😁👍

[@blindbeholder9713]

As an Amazon Warehouse worker I am not allowed to confirm or deny your comment about losing track of time while -trapped- willingly in a windowless building with sun-bright lights in the middle of the night and losing track of time.

[@E_FoxSnowspirit]

Oop

[@snipy5796]

@@E_FoxSnowspirit poO*

[@gnostechnician]

"I'm surprised no company's set up underground to get more hours out of people." "I think that's just the Amazon workhouse." This joke aged like a fine wine.

[@thelastcube.]

Truely said so

[@philismenko]

Even more now

[@bl4cksp1d3r]

Too much now :/

[@iriscandy6377]

@@thelastcube. why

[@Xanthelei]

Has gotten cave-ier, can confirm

[@artstsym]

From the article: "23 to 0... [citation needed][clarification needed]"

[@1e1001]

the citation was needed

[@artstsym]

@@1e1001 So was the clarification.

[@leeyenherngcalebpeircess6121]

DUN DUN DUN!!!

[@homerola2]

So I was checking the article to see if someone clarified it, and turns out I can't find any mention of their immune system whatsoever.

[@violaw7304]

i think "youre going the wrong way down the cartoon food chain" is my fave tom scott quote

[@qwertyTRiG]

It really is excellent.

[@LovelyIKnowx]

TRiG (Ireland) Time stamp?

[@play-s-_______-osu]

@@LovelyIKnowx 4:01

[@Jwend392]

Actually, there is a musical instrument associated with Neil Armstorng. After the crew of Apollo 11 came back to Earth, they had to spend 21 days in a quarantine facility made from a modified Airstream caravan. They were allowed a few personal items in the quarantine facility, and Armstrong requested a ukulele, which he spent his time in quarantine playing.

[@Jwend392]

***** I see what you did there! :)

[@thelastcube.]

so... a mini guitar (still a guitar)

[@mackwalsh3769]

ahhh Quarantine we are all familiar now

[@mearlytheadministrator9562]

Very topical now

[@zionm.]

@@thelastcube. Sacrilege! This person dareth compare the Four Strings of Whimsy to the... Guitar. Technically no. Just the tuning and the nylon makes it quite a different instrument with its own sound hehehe

[@martinhill7304]

Turns out this is not a good set of videos to watch whilst eating cereal, unless you happen to like inhaling milk...

[@lividsoda]

Or if you just so happen like cleaning milk off of a laptop screen.

[@derkeksinator17]

I'm not british, but I drink lotta tea which lead to questionalble stains on my computer

[@Novel_clips]

Well I ate pizza for breakfast

[@Foxttellio]

@@derkeksinator17 same lmao

[@kkmac7247]

Dry cereal :)

[@nameredacted725]

I have a biology degree, and a particular interest in Immunology and I have no idea what actually went from 27 to 0. It's not white blood cells, which would be the immediate thought.

[@blobstar123blob4]

23*

[@noisytim]

I imagine It’s similar to the methods in doi: 10.1007/s00204-016-1809-5 (PMID 27522652 for medline) Just in case anyone’s getting curious, just like me.

[@htmlguy88]

maybe immunoglobins ?

[@rolfs2165]

Some immunoglobulin level maybe?

[@rashkavar]

It sounds like some manner of in-house test score that measures overall immune system responsiveness based on all of the specific test factors. I'm no immunologist, but I am an engineer, if significantly less qualified than the NASA ones who would be involved in this test, and they'd probably want an overall score that summarizes the immune system's ability to handle things. Something along the lines of working out a constitution score for a D&D character sheet representing them, that sort of thing. Engineers like summarized, digestible data up front and access to details when called for.

[@gn7535]

If anyone was wondering how they measure your immune system, it's by measuring a number of t cells in your blood. Granted I have no idea how they got a measurement of 23.

[@custardbaby4]

Wow, 23 whole T-cells! That's more than the entire population of the town of Barnstaple has, combined!

[@christopheroddy2373]

@@custardbaby4 It's about the exacty the same as...the whole of Belgium.

[@samuelyoung1]

Maybe 23 per something

[@Ramboost007]

23 is like dying of AIDS numbers

[@itsnotpid]

13:55 Commander Hadfield didn't take the guitar up with him. It was taken up in 2001 by Space Shuttle Discovery, mission STS-105. They also have a keyboard, a saxophone, a flute and a didgeridoo up there.

[@odyseya]

Didgeridoo? What do you want to use didgeridoo in space for?

[@subduedreader5627]

@@odyseya To communicate with space faring dinosaurs, of course.

[@Loweene_Ancalimon]

iirc there's actually two guitars ! And they're slightly smaller than normal guitars, can't remember why exactly. Prob just to get them as light as possible while still making normal-ish playing possible. They're also decked in velcro so you can just press one against a wall to stay there !

[@KingTaltia]

I'm going back through these and, I started BAWLING at "Jenny Eclair's Electric Chairs" because the word/name Eclair means LIGHTNING!

[@sethrothz]

lightningbro LIGHTNING ELECTRICITY

[@crystals-r2551]

Flashbacks to FFXIII

[@crystals-r2551]

And here I thought it was a pastry

[@andrerenault]

Ride the Lightning baby

[@josakura]

And the guys can speak French a bit

[@joaquincardonaruiz2481]

So, the biscuits were real...

[@thelastcube.]

all along

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

That was the mystery!

[@meechisminners]

The real biscuits were the friends we made along the way

[@xmlthegreat]

Always have been *pulls back on the pistol's arming slide*

[@annalisestott8252]

Did nobody notice how Gary said "duck" after Tom said "you're going the wrong way down the cartoon food chain" XD

[@666Tomato666]

the guitar on the ISS is actually communal, it stays there, Chris just used it

[@brucebaker810]

+666Tomato666 Makes a lot more sense than lugging different ones up & down. Expensive, that. Whose is the piano?

[@michaelabbott5999]

It must get horribly out of tune

[@ScribblenautMaxwell]

@@michaelabbott5999 Honestly I feel like once an instrument is on the ISS it would stay in tune better with all the environmental control they have, the trip up, on the other hand, must be brutal.

[@TheRepublicOfJohn]

Communal space guitar... I'd kill myself so fast haha

[@angrymario8259]

@@TheRepublicOfJohn Imagine all the Wonderwall you're going to hear 😂

[@ylette]

Oh no, not zero. It's the worst number.

[@U014B]

One is the loneliest number, though.

[@kingoffallou]

+Noel Goetowski Two can be as bad as one though. It's the loneliest number since the number one.

[@ryanmurray5973]

Four is the reply count to this comment.

[@8thy]

But six... ooohh boy...

[@kiro9291]

seven

[@wwjdtd1]

I just showed my mother this video and her comment @ ~14:15 was "They need to water that plant"

[@snowfloofcathug]

xD

[@paigecunningham]

I think it's a little late for that poor plant.

[@clockworkkirlia7475]

Hahah! Took me a moment.

[@sloanemactire8780]

Watching this in 2021... "Dear NASA - Do you still have Stefania Folini's cave available?"

[@chronosthevnwierdo6461]

Now I've got a mental image of Neil Armstrong floating around in the cabin with a theremin loosely wafting by him with theremin music clumsily playing while buzz tries to fly. ...actually, that's not that bad; I could have *far* worse mental images stuck in my head.

[@joshuahadams]

Matthew Leigh Buzz is trying to fly by flapping his arms really fast.

[@thelastcube.]

@@joshuahadams "To infinity and beyond" Oh wrong Buzz, sorry

[@neolexiousneolexian6079]

There's apparently also a scene from Apollo (10? I think?) where they did exactly that but with a turd. You can find scans of the transcripts online. Huh. I just looked it up, and apparently it happened twice on the same mission.

[@monicaenns9967]

I'm binging these this week. And after 2020, this puts some light on why March (all the months) lasted so long.. and so short. .

[@JonesNate]

The only time you'll see anyone actually take one of the biscuits.

[@spacewarpphotography1667]

LSD has an effective dose of 20 - 30 micrograms. Assuming an average 25 mcg dose, 15 lbs of LSD is approximately 272,000 doses.

[@greggorytame6672]

right, that should keep her busy for the duration.

[@fisheatsyourhead]

I thought he meant £15 of lsd

[@eagames456]

And this is why imperial units are bad.

[@loganbrown898]

Covert to metric, 'Merica!

[@helloworld4390]

Aww I like lbs

[@hotelmario510]

7:25 Did you sneakily edit your dialogue there, Tom? I see you!

[@miles2419]

imagine being on the inside of that (acrylic, was it?) glass room underground, and watching, trapped, as a figure approaches you from the outside of the glass???? f e a r

[@xasdrubalex]

after two years, fun fact, both Moltalbini and Follini (and me) came from one of the main production site of italian accordions

[@digitized_fyre]

This has been done several times since, most recently ending today (14/04/2023). Beatriz Flamini has just emerged after spending 500 days underground.

[@impishDullahan]

On that circadian rhythms thing. Now my sleep schedule over the summer makes sense now. I start shifting to 25 hour days until my social jet lag gets so bad that I have to kick it back into place.

[@ThePoesn]

Chris Hadfield didnt take his guitar. The ISS has had a guitar for some time. A tradition carried over from the Russian space station.

[@mins332]

Oh god when the crew went on about the Russians isolated in a room for 304 days all I could think about was the Russian Sleep Experiment creepypasta

[@lawrencecalablaster568]

minsiii Almost awake…

[@arimago]

what happens to a menstrual cycle with an abnormal circadian rhythm?

[@adityasrinivasulu]

Any updates on this information?

[@Pilchard123]

It gets a flat tyre

[@MargaretBelle]

It is likely to result in decreasing the regularity of menstruation as well a longer menstrual cycle. Upon research, Stefania's menstruation stopped all together.

[@thelastcube.]

@@MargaretBelle oh wow, that's interesting. I really don't find the correlation but maybe it's due to her longer spaced eating habits and the total chaos in her body clock

[@EternalAnomaly]

I love this new show. You guys are a lot of fun! It's a nice change of pace to see some humor other then the "lowest common denominator" that the internet is full of. Who said you can't be funny and informative at the same time :) Great idea, had a fun time watching the video. Keep up the good work!

[@vanillasadboi]

What do you call a flying cave dweller? A troglodyte kite.

[@joshuahadams]

What do you call a bound flying cave dweller? A tight troglodyte kite.

[@snowfloofcathug]

Josh Adams tight troglodyte kite flight?

[@Novel_clips]

Or a troglodyte troglodytes troglodytes

[@requiembeeblebroxx]

Yes, Gary, I am entertained.

[@SourceOfBeing]

Montalbini, according to Wikipedia, already had the World Record for underground isolation before Follini did it.

[@PlasmaHH]

Anyone else thinking about that cave guy probably being the founder of a future real life VaultTec ?

[@stationshelter]

+Dennis Lubert he died.

[@stationshelter]

***** I'm pretty sure he died.

[@thelastcube.]

@Luís Leão Quartin please be my lawyer

[@MrPilinpalin]

podcast from these guys would be great

[@trippydrew8492]

+Azeria You mean techdif.co.uk

[@teridactyl1250]

‘Something to keep her spirits up’ Helium!

[@Outfrost]

0:16 Gary "Potato" Brannan xD

[@jompeperry]

Sits quite nicely next to 'Chris "Toast" Joel', if you ask me.

[@oz_jones]

@@jompeperry Never happened.

[@sysmatt]

plant is still dead. suspend attempts to water it.

[@thelastcube.]

true, it could have been saved

[@adamplace1414]

I really expected that after Tom said that Matt's "Under the Sea" reference was "close", someone would've guessed "an octopuses garden" next.

[@Gazdatronik]

I googled the picture of Stefania's perspex cage, she had TWO computers, looks like an IBM XT and an AT by the picture...those have bios, and therefore clocks, but I guess they could have removed the batteries.

[@Gazdatronik]

If you are behind a DOS machine, you can type TIME into the command prompt and you can indirectly get a running time in a number of ways. However, its likely that she was not a computer person, and no precaution was needed.

[@sagiksp4979]

they deleted time.exec

[@oz_jones]

Gazdatronik i like to think that when typed TIME, these particular computers echoed _HAMMERTIME_

[@ritwicksen]

I know it's going to sound weird but what about her menstrual cycle? Was it off the normal timings too?

[@Andrew-zm8gh]

The articles of the time all mention that it stopped, which makes no sense to me and would be a much more interesting effect than the circadian rhythm study.

[@miles2419]

THE IDEA OF NASA SENDING SOMEONE DOWN IN A CAVE FOR WEEKS WITHOUT ANY LIGHT WHATSOEVER AND WITHOUT PAY-OH MY GOD I'M DYING

[@toadfrommariokart64]

the Amazon warehouses were already dystopian nightmares 7 years ago and we still haven't done anything about it? 😰

[@RKH1502]

You guys should play Cards Against Humanity.

[@SamBrev]

OMG YES THEY SHOULD ***** YOU MUST DO THIS NOW

[@citizenofvenus]

TOM SCOTT PLAYS CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY GO GO GO

[@IceMetalPunk]

YES. YES YES YES.

[@micki500]

OH yes this this this!

[@Cross31415]

Judging from some of Tom's jokes, they already have.

[@shadowmanwkp]

12:53 Good thing I'm not the only person who utterly despises this song for the same reason. My situation was arguably worse, because I had a school band (trio is a more apt word) who literally only practiced smoke on the water... Badly.

[@Ramboost007]

Smoke In The Water is one of the most hated guitar songs out there, second only to Wonderwall

[@mitchyk]

Whose still watching these in 2019? I am!

[@caseyharrington4947]

Oh please, that was so last decade

[@soumajitsen1395]

The "23 to 0" immunity thing is not there in the wikipedia article anymore, just to clarify.

[@spidermanmyers]

Every time I see the thumbnail I don't see a cave. I see a much crappier cavity.

[@shark5336]

6:32 at this point, Gary Brannen is not my favourite Gary Brannen

[@beanbagburrito]

yea i prefer Garry Brannen to Gary Brannen

[@TheTechnoman7]

I almost choked on the apple I was eating during this episode. I'm loving this series.

[@thatonekermitl]

the cardboard cutouts were a: a sun, a window, flowers, and fruits

[@justinjoostrocks]

Beware the Ides of March, Stefania.

[@littleCreeps]

I just love how we see the beard grow until the next show

[@joannaxuan4265]

as someone who repeated slept later and later everyday while locked inside in quarantine, I am starting to compare 28 hour rhythm to my current schedule and that's a lil horrifying

[@GigaBoost]

Technical Difficulties is a pretty amazing podcast! I don't know if you should be spending the serious amount of time it must take to edit these things together though, just keeping the wide angle constantly would save you like 2 hours for each of these episodes. As I like to just listen to podcasts or keep them in the background, I feel really guilty ignoring all this excellent editing and production quality. I mean, if you can keep it up, by all means do. All I'm saying is that I (and I think "we" is fair) would still listen/watch this without the insane amount of effort put in.

[@JulieAnnGrasso]

I kinda love Tom's editing skills, and I actually pay lots of attention to his cuts. So, you can exclude me from your 'we'. :)

[@thelastcube.]

well it paid off in the end, I love the visual show

[@rattrap1009]

Points: Chris: 4 Gary: 3 Matt: 4, 1 MB Winner: Chris (But Tom gives it to Gary) • Totals: Chris: 12 points 0 Mystery Biscuits 2 Wins Gary: 11 points 1 Mystery Biscuits 1 win Matt: 10 points 1 Mystery Biscuits 1 Win

[@andrewreynolds4949]

I am entertained, Gary. I am entertained.

[@woodrobin]

Re; Bugsy Malone and Home Alone: Earlier in the movie, the kid watches Bugsy Malone (because it's a movie his parents wouldn't let him watch). He uses carefully paused playback from the movie to scare away a food delivery guy and to scare the burglars, and it's where he gets the idea to use the cutouts to make the house seem occupied by a group of gun-toting adults.

[@silmarian]

This episode is really just what happened to everyone in 2020.

[@DudokX]

google "black metal interior design". Imagine that it would be played in that cave over and over.

[@skylerenby7328]

This episode hits differently nowadays

[@JustATempest]

That lady who stayed in a cave for a year was everyone in 2020.

[@elmondo-s1e]

Their impressions of musical instruments was really... really something.

[@RadeticDaniel]

Every time I'm on vacation I have this 28 hours day doing the things I like. Now I know why that is and how it links with my Vit.D status xD

[@grantus_pax]

Vit. D deficients of the world, unite! God knows nobody else is awake at this hour

[@eloiseannicle]

Have an experiment that sounds absolutely awful but isn’t life threatening or painful? No need to worry; there will always be someone in the world up for it who won’t even consider it a big deal.

[@VincaMinor42]

I realize I'm 9 years too late, but dear gods can someone water that plant behind Tom's shoulder??

[@ezekielmartin4323]

I realize I'm 3 months late, but good news! Those are succulents, and they're probably fine. That's just kind how they look.

[@VincaMinor42]

@@ezekielmartin4323 Really? The one on the left side (over his right shoulder) in the blue and white pot too? The jade plant on the right side looks fine, but the other isn't a succulent I recognize?

[@Klearith]

​@@VincaMinor42 o no that ones for sure dead.. (also I know I'm 3 weeks late)

[@TheRepublicOfJohn]

Gary's utter confusion over what the experiment entailed is so disappointing

[@fizzybee3894]

Feels all too relevant nowadays.

[@cj_17]

circadian rhythms? now this is psychology exam revision that i can get behind

[@Liggliluff]

(7:30) So confusing when Brits switch between "day month" and "month day", because when you say "March twent..." I'm getting ready for a year, but then "ieth" comes and I'm all lost. "March 20xx...ieth?"

[@gljames24]

I did this in college during covid. My sleep schedule got so messed up.

[@RegiRuler]

I actually like the typed out names a lot more than saying their names every episode. It's like a movie trailer or intro.

[@AlanNeedsFriends]

I knew about this cave experiment and it was frustrating and hillarious to see them struggle

[@benford1726]

11:58 I actually was on a bus once where the guy sat behind me leaned forward and whispered basically that in my ear. There are some weird people out there

[@baronclime6423]

Gary, is my party time spirit animal. Legend!

[@bawy2143]

I paused at 0:15 and had a small heart attack.

[@FozzyBBear]

My ideal sleep cycle covers 36 hours. 4 hours to myself on waking, 16 productive hours, another 4 hours to myself, followed by 12 hours of sleep. When I could sustain it it meant I slept every second day, and every second night. I got 8 days of productivity out of every week.

[@alistairwall5470]

RIP Ronnie Corbett

[@theryankruger]

Watching this episode in 2020 really hits different. God I hope July eases up...

[@nobbybob5]

It has somehow taken me until the year 2022 to pick up on Joel's Withnail reference at 3:46, not like it's my favourite film or anything...

[@lionguardant5468]

i think I'd quite like to be in a cave for a year

[@martharamos512]

quarantineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee tutorial

[@jamesahibbard]

6:27 But how does it work without a clock. I'm a nerd for even thinking that.

[@alcesmir]

The computer? It would likely have an internal clock, but setup with permissions to only specific programs so that you couldn't get access to the clock.

[@Freezezonian]

I am entertained

[@Thoughtful-]

I'm currently planing to do something similar to this with a few of my pals, would there be any possibilty of setting eachother challenges?

[@cuteswan]

Okay, Gary's April Fools prank is the true winner. Thanks. (…only about five years too late)

[@herobrineharry7698]

5:27 that would cost at street prices very roughly $20,411,670.

[@charliespinoza1966]

Omg Brannon, just showing us all why you're everyone's favorite Gary Brannon once again!

[@Xw3dn3sd4yX]

The hype from Gary! 🤣🤣🤣

[@Boggythefroggy]

I actually know this article and it’s funny hearing them trying to guess it backwards lmao

[@JeskaDax]

It's so rare to find people that know what Bugsy Malone is... Great movie.

[@dusteddream3070]

We were looking at circadian rhythms today in psychology and this episode was all I could think of

[@Novel_clips]

If I walk out of a cave and see Gary branan I will go back into the cave

[@kilmorgancastle]

3:47 is that a Withnail and I reference?

[@mastersoftoday]

yes!!!!!!!!!!!

[@andrewhazlewood4569]

Water your plants

[@brandonmartin-moore5302]

How did they know how her circadian rhythms change?

[@rivers4753]

The guitar player would for sure be playing wonderwall.

[@reharm_reality]

I saw the title and had to ask myself if I had somehow forgotten what a theramin is. I had not.

[@metropod]

If I understand the subject properly, I think the dropped to zero bit was the guy's white blood cell count.

[@rossgrundy6071]

What address should I send my suggestion telegram?