How do walkie talkies work?

Summary

Brains On! – How Do Walkie Talkies Work?

Podcast: Brains On! Science podcast for kids
Host: Molly Bloom with kid co-host Sebastian
Date: July 28, 2026
Main Theme: Exploring how walkie talkies work, their history, technology, and why they’re still useful today.

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Molly Bloom and her guest co-host Sebastian from Maryland dive into the world of walkie talkies. Prompted by a listener question, they explore how walkie talkies send your voice across distances, the science behind radio waves, a fun history lesson, and classic walkie talkie lingo. With playful banter, a dash of monster humor, a catchy electromagnetic spectrum song, and a special walkie talkie mission, the episode is jam-packed with science and fun for curious kids and families.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Are Walkie Talkies?

[03:30–04:48]

• Listener Noah from England asks: "How do walkie talkies work?"
• Sebastian describes them as "kind of like a rectangle box with an antenna in it" and buttons like a cell phone.
• They reminisce about using walkie talkies, noting some can reach up to three miles.
• Fun imaginary code names: Sebastian chooses "Dancing Frog." Molly's suggested name: "Master Brain."

2. The History of Walkie Talkies

[05:32–08:30]

• Made during World War II, walkie talkies helped soldiers stay connected in the field.
• Early walkie talkies were heavy: "It weighed around 30 pounds. That'd be like carrying a microwave on your back." – Molly [07:23]
• Journalists coined the term “walkie talkie.”
• In the late 1970s and '80s, walkie talkies became affordable toys for kids.

3. Why Use Walkie Talkies Today?

[08:30–08:56]

• Even with cell phones everywhere, walkie talkies don't rely on cell towers, so they work even where phones won't.
• They’re popular with outdoor adventurers (hikers, rafters, hunters) and of course, kids.

4. The Science: How Do Walkie Talkies Work?

[14:00–17:37]

• Powered by batteries, walkie talkies are "transceivers" – meaning they both transmit and receive signals.
  • "A machine that can transmit or send out a signal and receive, or take in a signal." – Molly [14:11]
• Only one person can talk at a time (everyone else listens), using the Push-To-Talk (PTT) button.
• The speaker’s voice is turned into radio waves, which travel at the speed of light.
  • "Radio waves are light." – Molly [15:58]
• Other walkie talkies on the same frequency (channel) receive and replay the message.
• Electromagnetic Spectrum Song: [16:35–17:12]
  • "Radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X ray, gamma. Yeah, here we go." – Molly [16:51]
  • "Earworm of the decade." – Sebastian [17:14]

5. Walkie Talkie Lingo Challenge

[19:20–21:55]

• Walkie talkie users have their own special terms:
  • “Do you copy?” = Can you hear me? [19:53–20:03]
  • “10-4” = Message received/understood [20:17–20:45]
  • “Eyes on target” = I see the thing we were looking for [20:52–20:58]
  • “What’s your 20?” = What’s your location? [21:16–21:21]
• "You are a walkie talkie expert." – Molly to Sebastian [21:21]
• Extra tip: "If you don't want to talk anymore at all, you can say over and out. Which means I'm done talking and this conversation is finished." – Molly [21:56]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the walkie talkie name:
  • "It lets you walk and talk. Perfect thing to call it." – Sebastian [01:29]
  • Wordplay: "Movies... Cars could be goies and glasses could be lookies. Trampolines: Jumpies. Toilets should be flushies." – Molly & Sebastian [01:32–01:48]
• On early walkie talkies:
  • "One early version...was a phone attached to a heavy backpack...It weighed around 30 pounds. That'd be like carrying a microwave on your back. Oof. No thanks." – Molly and Sebastian [07:13–07:23]
• Electromagnetic spectrum song:
  • "Space between waves get shorter and shorter. Electromagnetic spectrum, that's the order..." – Molly [16:51–17:12]
• During the lingo challenge:
  • Molly: "What's your 20?"
  • Sebastian: "What's your location?"
    [21:16–21:20]
• Gungalor the monster's dilemma:
  • "Gunga baby is sleeping, but will wake up soon and need to be fed. But Gangador has meeting with Brains on dog Advisory council. And if Gangador late, dogs will chew up pillows in meeting room. And Gangador loves meeting room pillows." – Gungador [09:18]
• Cantaloupe mystery sound:
  • Sebastian guesses "crab with one of the crab hammers" for a mystery sound, but it's Dede from Michigan knocking on a cantaloupe. – [25:24]

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Important Segment Timestamps

• Listener Question: "How do walkie talkies work?" [03:30]
• Description & Code Name Chat: [04:31–05:20]
• Origins & WWII Use: [05:32–08:30]
• Science of Transmission: [14:00–17:37]
• Electromagnetic Spectrum Song: [16:35–17:12]
• Walkie Talkie Lingo Game: [19:20–21:55]
• Gungador’s Monster Walkie Talkie Babysitting: [08:30–10:19] & [22:27–23:28]
• Mystery Sound Reveal: [24:39–25:24]

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Conclusion & Takeaways

• Walkie talkies are handheld transceivers invented during World War II to help people communicate on the go, long before cell phones were common.
• They work by turning your voice into radio waves, which travel at light speed; the receiver turns the waves back into sound.
• Anyone on the same frequency can listen, but only one person can talk at a time.
• Walkie talkies are still super useful where cell phones can’t reach—plus, their special lingo makes communication extra fun!

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Memorable Closing Quote:
"Thanks for listening. Over and out." – Sebastian [28:05]

Transcript

[Molly Bloom]

Lemonada. Today's episode is sponsored by Great Wolf Lodge. At Great Wolf Lodge, there's adventure for the whole family. You and your pack can splash away in the indoor water park where it's always 84 degrees. There's a massive wave pool, a lazy river, and tons of water slides for your pack to enjoy together. And the fun doesn't stop there. Get ready to explore and play at adventure packed attractions from magiquest alive action game that takes place throughout the lodge to the Northern Lights arcade. There's also a bunch of great dining options and complimentary daily events like nightly dance parties all under one roof. And the best part, with 22 lodges across the country, you're always only a short drive away from adventure. So bring your pack together at a lodge near you, book your [e-mail] and strengthen the pack.

[Sebastian]

Brains on universe. You're listening to brains on where we are serious about being curious.

[Molly Bloom]

Come in, listeners. Are you there? Today we're talking walkie talkies.

[Sebastian]

You know those super cool handheld radios?

[Molly Bloom]

You can use them to talk over long distances, even in places where cell phones don't work.

[Sebastian]

Walkie talkies use invisible waves to do this.

[Molly Bloom]

But aside from that, can we talk about what a great name walkie talkie is?

[Sebastian]

It lets you walk and talk. Perfect thing to call it.

[Molly Bloom]

Yeah, it's the same with like movies. The pictures in them move, so we call them movies.

[Sebastian]

It'd be like if we called spoon scoopies.

[Molly Bloom]

Cars could be goies and glasses could be lookies. Trampolines. Jumpies.

[Sebastian]

Toilets should be flushies.

[Molly Bloom]

Oh, yeah, definitely flushies. So today, get ready to use your here ease ears and your thinky brain to learn about walkie talkies. Stick aroundy. Are you part of smarty pass? If not, you're missing out. There's tons of bonus stuff waiting for you there. Like you can watch our most recent smarty party where we played a game Sanon made up all about cool animal butts. Here's a clip of him quizzing me and Mark about sea cucumber butts.

[Mark]

This is a sea cucumber. This is an anim that's very specialized to living in the ocean. Has unique abilities. There are all kinds of cool things that tea cucumbers do. One of them involves their butt. Is it shoot out poison guts? Is it hypnotized sharks? You are getting very sleepy. Drill into rocks so they have a butt drill. Or can it chop down seaweed like a little, little. Look at all those spikes. It's kind of like a butt Mower. What do you think?

[Molly Bloom]

Don't you want to know what the sea cucumber's butt can do? Join now and find. Head to smartypass.org to sign up. Plus, we're doing a bonus episode about back to school jitters. Send us your questions and hear them answered in the smartypass feed. So join now and support the show. Thanks, Brainzon. This is Brains On. I'm your host, Molly Bloom, and my co host today is Sebastian from Ellicott City in Maryland. Hi, Sebastian.

[Sebastian]

Hey, Molly.

[Molly Bloom]

Today we're answering this question.

[Sebastian]

Hi, my name is Noah and I live in England. And I want to know how walkie talkies work.

[Molly Bloom]

Sebastian, can you describe a walkie talkie for anyone who hasn't seen one?

[Sebastian]

It's kind of like a rectangle box with an antenna in it.

[Molly Bloom]

There's like some buttons on it.

[Sebastian]

Yeah, and there's like some buttons, like, where you can hear and like you can. Like a cell phone kind of.

[Molly Bloom]

Yeah. Have you ever played with walkie talkie before?

[Sebastian]

Oh, yeah, sometimes we, like, would use it and, like, we would try to click the button at the same time and see whose voice transmits.

[Molly Bloom]

That is really cool. How far in distance can your walkie talkies go?

[Sebastian]

I would say the ones that I've recently played with are like three miles, maybe longer.

[Molly Bloom]

That's amazing. So, okay, if you could have a special walkie talkie that you shared with one person so you could chat anytime, any distance, who would you share your walkie talkie with?

[Sebastian]

Probably my sister.

[Molly Bloom]

Does she live far away?

[Sebastian]

No, she still lives with us.

[Gungador]

Nice.

[Sebastian]

But lately she's been, like, in her room a lot, like, doing homework because she's about to start high school. So I want to talk with her more.

[Molly Bloom]

Yeah, that's really nice. Okay, so if you had a code name to use over your walkie talkie, what would it be?

[Sebastian]

Dancing Frog.

[Molly Bloom]

Yes. Why? Do you have a reason or is it just cool?

[Sebastian]

Eh, I don't know.

[Molly Bloom]

It just has a nice ring to it.

[Mark]

Yay.

[Molly Bloom]

Come in, Dancing Frog. Come in, Dancing Frog. Okay, what should mine be? Do you have any ideas?

[Sebastian]

Uh, the Master Brain.

[Molly Bloom]

Oh, wow. Jumping Frog, come in. This is Master Brain.

[Sebastian]

I hear you, Master Brain. I'm in place and I'm ready to go.

[Mark]

Brains. Brains. Brains.

[Molly Bloom]

Okay, let's talk walkie talkies.

[Sebastian]

Walkie talkies are basically little handheld radios.

[Molly Bloom]

One walkie talkie takes in a sound and sends it out as radio waves.

[Sebastian]

Those radio waves are picked up by another walkie talkie and played through Its small speaker.

[Molly Bloom]

These cool talking machines were first built around 1940. They were used a lot during World War II, which started around the same time.

[Sebastian]

This was over 80 years ago when countries all over the globe were fighting.

[Molly Bloom]

Back then, there were cars and trains to get around, but the idea of flying across the country in an airplane was very new.

[Sebastian]

Telephones were just catching on. But these were old school phones.

[Molly Bloom]

They had to be connected to a wire that went into a wall.

[Sebastian]

You couldn't carry them around with you.

[Molly Bloom]

So during World War II, when lots of armies were traveling all over, soldiers needed a way to keep in touch.

[Sebastian]

Enter the walkie talkie.

[Molly Bloom]

Inventors in Canada and the United States were the first to create these talking machines.

[Sebastian]

People were very excited about how these tools could help soldiers.

[Molly Bloom]

One journalist wrote,

[Sebastian]

before the walking battalions in today's swift moving warfare often would be like a football team without a signals calling quarterback because of inadequate or broken down communication lines. Today, with the walkie talkie, battalion headquarters can direct units over wide stretches of battalion front the way a quarterback sends his team plunging into action.

[Molly Bloom]

Walkie talkie, the quarterback of the battlefield. That is an interesting way to describe it.

[Sebastian]

Yeah. And it was actually journalists that named these devices walkie talkies.

[Molly Bloom]

One early version of a walkie talkie was a phone attached to a heavy backpack that was full of wires, electronics, batteries, and an antenna. It weighed around 30 pounds.

[Sebastian]

That'd be like carrying a microwave on your back. Oof. No thanks.

[Molly Bloom]

Pretty quickly, the technology got better and the walkie talkies got smaller.

[Sebastian]

After the war, regular people could get their hands on these cool machines too.

[Molly Bloom]

Later on, in the late 1970s and early in the early 1980s, cheaper and smaller walkie talkies were sold to kids as toys.

[Sebastian]

Today, even with cell phones in every pocket, walkie talkies are super useful.

[Molly Bloom]

Cell phones work by sending a signal to a cell tower. If you're too far from a tower or something goes wrong with that tower, or there are too many messages being sent at once, the cell phone can't make a call.

[Sebastian]

But walkie talkies still work.

[Molly Bloom]

As long as you have two devices and they aren't too far from each other, you can talk.

[Sebastian]

The messages go directly from one walkie to another.

[Molly Bloom]

And good quality walkie talkies can send signals several miles. So they're useful tools for hikers, white

[Sebastian]

water rafters, hunters, skiers, and kids who want to chat with friends down the block.

[Gungador]

Molly Sebastian. It's me, Gungador.

[Molly Bloom]

Hi, Gungador. The super strong monster living at Brainzn headquarters.

[Sebastian]

Who Loves to dance and also is currently the CEO. The big head boss of Brainzod.

[Molly Bloom]

What's up, boss?

[Gungador]

Gary's big problem. Gungador's cousin Grumblesaur asked Gungador to watch Grumblesaur's baby. Its name Gunga Baby. Cutest baby ever. Here, look at picture.

[Sebastian]

Aw.

[Molly Bloom]

Ganga baby has little spikes. And is that a fang I see?

[Gungador]

Yes. Gunga Baby teething. So much drool. Aww.

[Sebastian]

Watching that little monster seems like fun. What's the problem?

[Gungador]

Ganga baby is sleeping, but will wake up soon and need to be fed. But Gangador has meeting with Brains on dog Advisory council. And if Gangador late, dogs will chew up pillows in meeting room. And Gangador loves meeting room pillows.

[Molly Bloom]

That's quite a pickle. Can we help?

[Gungador]

Yes, please. Ganga Baby sleeping in next room. Take walkie talkie while Gangador go to meeting. Then call Gunga Dor if Gunga Baby wakes up.

[Sebastian]

Okay, we can for sure do that. But wait, how will we know when Gunga Baby wakes up?

[Gungador]

Oh, you will know. Gunga Baby loudest baby in land. Gunga door proud uncle. Okay, you know the plan. Walkie talkie, Gunga door. If Gunga Baby wakey wakey.

[Molly Bloom]

Bye. Aw, look at the cute little monster.

[Sebastian]

I wouldn't say he's little. He's bigger than both of us combined. But yeah, so sweet.

[Molly Bloom]

Okay, let's close this door quietly. Well, Gunga Baby is sound asleep, so maybe it's a good time for the.

[Mark]

Shh.

[Molly Bloom]

Mystery Sal. Okay, Sebastian, are you ready for that mystery sound?

[Sebastian]

Yeah.

[Molly Bloom]

Okay, here it is.

[Sebastian]

Ooh, that's tricky. It sounds like something being repeatedly hit by something.

[Molly Bloom]

Yes, absolutely. Do you have any ideas about what that thing being hit might be?

[Sebastian]

It sounds kind of like a deep drum. Kind of.

[Molly Bloom]

Yeah, it does sound like a drum. It's a kind of hollow sounding. Yeah, I know what this one is, so I'm not going to guess.

[Sebastian]

I might need to hear it again.

[Molly Bloom]

Yeah, let's hear it again. Okay, I'm gonna give you a hint. It is not a drum. But there is a reason for hitting this thing.

[Sebastian]

It does sound hollow. So maybe like a water bottle.

[Molly Bloom]

Ooh, very nice.

[Sebastian]

Something that sounds hollow.

[Molly Bloom]

Okay, excellent guessing. Well, we will get another chance to guess and hear the answer at the

[Sebastian]

end of the show, so stick around.

[Molly Bloom]

We've got an episode coming up all

[Sebastian]

about D. Gungador's favorite activity.

[Molly Bloom]

And we want to know, if you were gonna make up a dance, what would it be? And what would you call it?

[Sebastian]

Is it headbanging? While pretending to rock a baby, the

[Molly Bloom]

rock a bye rocker or karate chopping

[Sebastian]

while sliding your feet around the ice slice.

[Molly Bloom]

Whatever your move, record yourself explaining it and send it to [e-mail] contact. You can also send us mystery sounds, drawings or questions. That's brainson.org/contact.

[Sebastian]

Thanks.

[Molly Bloom]

Today's episode is sponsored by Great Wolf Lodge. At Great Wolf Lodge, there's adventure for the whole family. You and your pack can splash away in the indoor water park where it's always 84 degrees. There's a massive wave pool, a lazy river and tons of water slides for your pack to enjoy together. And the fun doesn't stop there. Get ready to explore and play at Adventure packed attractions, from Mat, a live action game that takes place throughout the lodge, to the Northern Lights Arcade. There's also a bunch of great dining options and complimentary daily events like nightly dance parties, all under one roof. And the best part, with 22 lodges across the country, you're always only a short drive away from adventure. So bring your pack together at a lodge near you. Book your [e-mail] and strengthen the pack. This is Brains On. I'm Molly.

[Sebastian]

I'm Sebastian.

[Molly Bloom]

And we are talking walkie talkies. They were invented around the time of

[Sebastian]

World War II, and after the war, they became a popular device for police, firefighters, outdoor adventurers and kids.

[Molly Bloom]

So now we know how they came to be. But how do they work?

[Sebastian]

Let's find out.

[Molly Bloom]

A walkie talkie runs on batteries, so you don't have to plug it in to power it.

[Sebastian]

Technically, a walkie talkie is something called a transceiver.

[Molly Bloom]

Transceiver. Transceiver is a machine that can transmit or send out a signal and receive, or take in a signal.

[Sebastian]

Transmit and receive. Transceive. Transceiver.

[Molly Bloom]

Transceiver. A key part of walkie talkies is that only one device can send a signal at a time, even though more than one device can receive that signal

[Sebastian]

that way, only one person can talk at a time. Everybody else has to listen and wait their turn. No interrupting or cutting anybody off.

[Molly Bloom]

To talk, you push a button called, wait for it, the push to talk button, AKA the PTT button.

[Sebastian]

When you press that PTT button, a microphone picks up your voice.

[Mark]

This is the big bad wolf. Can you hear?

[Molly Bloom]

The walkie talkie takes that voice and turns it into invisible waves of energy called radio waves.

[Sebastian]

Those are the same waves that let your car stereo pick up radio stations.

[Molly Bloom]

They just use different frequencies or patterns of waves.

[Sebastian]

So the walkie talkie beams that Radio wave out in all directions.

[Molly Bloom]

To hear that signal, the other walkie talkie has to be set to the same frequency. That's why you have to set walkie talkies to the same channel.

[Sebastian]

When that second walkie talkie picks up the signal, it translates that radio wave back into sound and plays it through a speaker.

[Mark]

This is the Big Bad Wolf. Can you hear me? Over.

[Molly Bloom]

This is Little Red Riding Hood. I hear you loud and clear, Wolf. Over.

[Sebastian]

This all happens really fast because radio waves travel at the speed of light.

[Molly Bloom]

In fact, radio waves are light. Light comes in a huge range of energy levels, and we can only see a tiny fraction of that light with our eyes.

[Sebastian]

The light you see with your eyeballs is called visible light because it's visible,

[Molly Bloom]

but there is a huge range of light we can't see.

[Sebastian]

That range includes microwaves, ultraviolet waves, infrared waves, X rays, and gamma waves.

[Molly Bloom]

All those waves are the same thing. They're energy. They just have different wavelengths and frequencies, which is sort of like saying they're different sizes and wiggle at different speeds.

[Sebastian]

Yeah. The electromagnetic spectrum is so important, we made a song to help you remember it. Radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X ray, X ray, gamma. Yeah, here we go.

[Molly Bloom]

Space between waves gets shorter and shorter. Electromagnetic spectrum, that's the order. Radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X ray, gamma.

[Gungador]

Radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X ray, gamma.

[Molly Bloom]

So catchy.

[Sebastian]

Earworm of the decade.

[Molly Bloom]

So walkie talkies work by using a microphone to pick up a voice.

[Sebastian]

Then the walkie talkie turns that voice into radio waves and beams it out in all directions.

[Molly Bloom]

If another walkie talkie is in range, it'll pick up that signal and translate it back into the sound of a voice.

[Sebastian]

Then play that voice over a speaker, all in a blink of an eye.

[Molly Bloom]

Coming up, we're going to test your walkie talkie lingo. But first, let's check the mailbag.

[Gungador]

Hey there, pals. Mark in the mail room. Ooh, and look at all these questions and mystery sounds.

[Mark]

Ooh.

[Gungador]

This one's a message from Simon in Philadelphia. He sent in a cheer for science.

[Sebastian]

Science, Science. I love you. Make our brains keep growing, too. The whole reason I like Brain Time is because it makes you think and listen and you can know things so that your brain grows, just like I said in my science here. Thank you, Brainson. Keep it going.

[Gungador]

Thank you, Simon, for that awesome cheer. Listeners, you can send your cheer or joke or a random thought you had after listening to an episode. Whatever you want. We love hearing from you. Just go to brainson.org contact to get in touch. Okay, later, friends.

[Molly Bloom]

Want brains on without the ad breaks and want to check out our latest smartie party. Then head to smartypass.org not only do you get access to special bonus stuff, you also make this show possible. So please join today. Thanks. Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba.

[Gungador]

Brain's on.

[Molly Bloom]

We're back. And Sebastian, it's time to test your walkie talkie lingo. Hit the game show music. One of the cool things about using a walkie talkie is that you get to use special words and codes. We call this lingo, like how when you're done talking on a walkie talkie, you say, over. Or if you understand something, you say, roger, I'm going to give you, Sebastian, a piece of lingo, and I want you to tell me what you think it means. Sebastian, are you ready?

[Sebastian]

Yes.

[Molly Bloom]

Okay, first bit of lingo, do you copy? What do you think? Do you copy?

[Sebastian]

Means do you understand? Kind of.

[Molly Bloom]

Yes, I'm giving you that. Yep. It means, can you hear me? It's important to make sure everyone can hear each other clearly when you start a conversation. All right, Sebastian, next one.

[Gungador]

10 4.

[Sebastian]

Maybe, like, are you at this location? Maybe you are close.

[Molly Bloom]

You are close. So this actually means message received, or I understood you. It's part of the 10 codes. There's actually a bunch of them. 103 means stop sending messages. 109 means please say your last message again. And 1012 means standby or wait. So 104 is. Yeah, got the message.

[Sebastian]

Got it. 10 4.

[Molly Bloom]

Here's the next bit of lingo.

[Gungador]

Eyes on target.

[Sebastian]

You. You see what your objective is?

[Molly Bloom]

Yes, exactly. You see what you're looking for, or. I spotted it. So if you've been waiting to see a rare eagle, you might say, eyes on target. The bald eagle has just landed in its nest. Over. Okay, one more.

[Gungador]

What's your 20?

[Sebastian]

What's your location?

[Gungador]

Correct.

[Molly Bloom]

Very nice. You are a walkie talkie expert. So this goes back to that 10 code we talked about earlier. 1020 meant location. So asking what's your 20 is saying, where are you? Very good work, Sebastian. Have you used any of these phrases or heard them used in real life?

[Sebastian]

I think once in a movie, but, no, not really. I've never heard the numbers.

[Mark]

One.

[Molly Bloom]

Yeah, there's a lot of numbers. It seems like that would take a lot to memorize. Maybe you could have a little cheat sheet in your pocket next time you're using your walkie talkie.

[Sebastian]

10 4.

[Molly Bloom]

10 4, exactly. So I like the phrase over for when you're done talking, it makes it very clear, like, this is over. It's your turn now. But if you don't want to talk anymore at all, you can say over and out. Which means I'm done talking and this conversation is finished. Like this game show. Over and out. What was that?

[Sebastian]

Gunga baby.

[Molly Bloom]

He's up and sounds hungry.

[Sebastian]

Quick, walkie talkie.

[Molly Bloom]

Gungador, Gungador, do you copy? What's your 20? Over.

[Gungador]

Yes, copy. In meeting room with nice pillows. Over.

[Sebastian]

Gunga baby is awake. I repeat, the baby is awake.

[Mark]

Over.

[Gungador]

Okay, Find the way with baby battle. Over and out. Gangadhar here to feed Ganga baby.

[Molly Bloom]

Wow, that baby drinks fast.

[Sebastian]

Is that the third gallon of monster milk already? Dang. Gunga baby there.

[Gungador]

Ganga baby have full tummy now.

[Sebastian]

Aw, he looks so happy now that he's not hungry.

[Gungador]

Gunga baby is about to have burp. Quick, cover your ears, Kunkador. Very proud, uncle.

[Molly Bloom]

Walkie talkies are handheld transceivers.

[Sebastian]

That means they transmit and receive signals.

[Molly Bloom]

They were invented around the time of World War II, too.

[Sebastian]

They help Solgar stay in touch when they were on the go.

[Molly Bloom]

Walkie talkies work by turning sounds into radio waves and beaming out those radio waves over long distances.

[Sebastian]

Another walkie talkie then picks up that radio wave signal and translates it back into sound.

[Molly Bloom]

That's it for this episode of Brains On. Brains on is produced by Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez, and Sandon Totten. It was sound designed by Mark Sanchez, and he also wrote our theme music. Special thanks to Steven Walker, Stephen Kilgallen, Sarai Sebastian's friends, and Ken Taborski at Code of the north for their website help. Okay, Sebastian, are you ready for that mystery sound again?

[Sebastian]

I hope.

[Molly Bloom]

Okay, here it is. Okay, what do you think?

[Sebastian]

I'm gonna stick with water bottle banging something.

[Molly Bloom]

I'm gonna give you another hint. It is actually a food item. Something that you would maybe bang on for a reason.

[Sebastian]

Oh, is it, like, sometimes from Maryland? This is a guess from, like, maybe hitting a crab with one of the crab hammers.

[Molly Bloom]

Oh, I love that. That is a very Maryland guess. Are you ready for the answer?

[Sebastian]

Yes.

[Molly Bloom]

Okay, here it is.

[Sebastian]

My name is Dede, and I'm from Kalamazoo, Michigan. And that was the sound of me knocking on a cantaloupe.

[Molly Bloom]

A cantaloupe? Oh, wow. Have you had a cantaloupe before?

[Sebastian]

Yeah. Thanks.

[Molly Bloom]

I don't.

[Sebastian]

I've never actually, like, knocked on one before.

[Molly Bloom]

I know. I think you're supposed to do it at the grocery store to See if it's, like, ripe enough. Yeah. I really like your crab guests, though. As a Maryland resident, I feel like you did all Maryland very proud with your crab guests.

[Sebastian]

Yes. Yes.

[Molly Bloom]

Now it's time for the brains honor roll. These are the incredible kids who keep the show going with their questions, ideas, mystery sounds, drawings, and high fives. Veena from Sammamish, Washington. Hayden from Lexington, Massachusetts. Nathaniel and Benjamin from Washington, D.C. teddy, Oscar and Audrey from Ocean Township, New Jersey. Alina from Toronto. Elijah from Pierce, Colorado Morgan from My, Near, Illinois. Elon from Milpitas, California. Sakura from Kyoto, Japan. Jabril from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Palmer from Austin, Texas. Natalie from Lancaster, Pennsylvania Jack from Seattle, Desmond from Queens, New York. Felipe from Dallas, Texas. Max from Carlsbad, California. Amma from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Aradana from Bangalore, India. Ava from Kalispell, Montana. Ellie from Coeur d', Alene, Idaho. Florence from storm Lake, Iowa. PJ and Asher from San Antonio, Texas. Benjamin from LaGrange, Illinois from Chantilly, Virginia. Joel, Mia and Zoe from Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Murphy from Rocky River, Ohio, Dakota from Ephrata, Pennsylvania. Caleb from Springfield, Virginia Nina from Copenhagen, Denmark. Ivy from San Jose, California Jacob from Winter Haven, Florida Xavier from Edina, Minnesota Eleanor from Buffalo, New York Margo from Grand Rapids, Michigan Mila and Major from Santa Clarita, California. Zarian from Pinellas Park, Florida. River from Louisville, Kentucky Davis from Spokane, Washington Eleanor from Redmond, Washington Soren from Portland, Oregon Chase from Sheffield, uk Zevi from Manchester, uk Ruby from Pittsburgh, Paxton from Monroe, Washington Hugo and Emil from Berlin, Germany. Davey from Topeka, Kansas Amelie and Louie from Greenville, South Carolina Quinn from Encinitas, California. Jack and Zara from Flowertown, Pennsylvania. Emory from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Hudson and Lincoln from Durham, North Carolina. Quinton from Tacoma, Washington Elizabeth from Central Coast, California Sailor from Victoria, Australia. Cecilia from Orlando, Florida Ellie and Landon from Ottawa. Embla from Oslo, Norway. Elijah from Prattville, Alabama Leo from Edmonds, Washington and Henry from Vancouver. We'll be back next week with an episode about tree farts.

[Sebastian]

Thanks for listening. Over and out.