Officially A-Brain-zing! Ultimate Brain

What happens when hot cans become cold cans?

Can Guinea Pig walk the walk when there is only water to walk on?

And can this week's brains send GP's letters faster than a text?

Set your brains to genius, turn up the fun dial to 11 and have

your most thinky thoughts at the ready, it is time for Ultimate Brain.

HE LAUGHS EVILLY

Hi, there, my name is Dr Brain and my goal is to find

extreme cleverness and eye-popping levels of genius.

My tools are spectacular science, excellent experiments

and supermodel good looks.

Watch me now.

DANCE MUSIC

Yes, this is Ultimate Brain.

Let's meet the magnificent minds

hoping to excel in today's experiments.

From Birmingham, they're green as grass and bright as buttons, it's...

They're yellow but they're no bunch of lemons.

And our famous faces in Team Blue are from CBBC's Officially Amazing.

This week's teams are no ordinary humanoids,

they are the greatest, mighty-minded brainboxes from across the land,

here to compete in the name of science for points,

but more importantly for honour.

First we have our Green Team.

Dr Sofia, would you like to invent anything?

A time machine.

Ooh, and what kind of time would you like to go backwards or forwards to?

I would probably go forwards and then see what happens in the

future, like, if they really do invent flying cars and then I'd take

one back to now and then I'd be the only person with a flying car.

If I had a time machine, do you know where I'd go back to?

Breakfast time.

Mmm, bananas.

Thank you, that's the Green Team,

who shall be known to us as... What is your team name?

-ALL:

-Rays of Radiation.

Rays of Radiation, wonderful.

Here we have the yellows, Dr Charlie...

-Yes, hello.

-What would you like to invent?

-I would like to invent a teleporter.

-DR BRAIN GASPS

If you could beam yourself to somewhere,

where would you beam yourself to?

-Probably New Zealand.

-Oh, why particularly there?

Because my family live over there.

-Well, presumably not all of them?

-No, some live here.

# Half live here And half live there

# I wonder Where the other one's gone. #

Marvellous! What is your team name?

-ALL:

-The Brain Busters.

The Brain Busters! Are you going to bust some brains today?

-Let's hope.

-Yep.

-Thank you, there they are.

Do you know, I am Officially Amazed to be standing next to you guys

and I can't think why, why would that be?

-Hmmm, why?

-I don't know.

Because we are Officially Amazing?

Oh, that's what it is, you are the team from Officially Amazing,

one of the great programmes on this wonderful channel called CBBC.

Dr Ben,

-I hear you like old things.

-I do, I do.

-I am a big history buff...

-Oh, yes.

-..so I like artefacts.

-I'm wearing a Roman ring with a tiny little face on it.

-Oh!

I don't know who he was,

but he was startled when they made him into a ring.

But Dr Haruka, I have heard that although you have

a heart in your hair for me, I've also heard...

IN COCKNEY ACCENT: You're hard as nails!

-Is that right?

-That's right.

-Oh, I'm a little bit scared!

-You do a few martial arts, do you?

-I do indeed, quite a few.

Kendo, Aikido, Judo, Taekwondo, you name it, I've done it all.

Sizzling Steve...

That's me.

How are you today?

-Hot.

-It's going to get hotter.

-Of course.

Our Officially Amazing Team.

Right, are you ready, teams?

-ALL TEAMS:

-Yeah!

Let's do it, it's time for Round 1.

Here we are, then, teams, with our first challenge.

Now, this Brain Ignition challenge involves hot and cold water.

Behold!

-It is just some cans, isn't it?

-Yeah.

That was a bit overdramatic, really, for some cans.

It's just four empty cans.

Well, almost empty cos they each have a little bit of hot water in them

and what do you think would happen if we heat that bit of hot water up

and then plunge them upside down into this big tub of icy cold water here?

Look at the confusion on their faces.

We are going to give them four choices. Will these cans...

A - Increase the temperature of this tub of water

by exactly 1 degree Celsius?

B - Will they all expand and become massive cans?

C - Crush inwards like the invisible man has given them a bashing?

Or D - Something else entirely different?

OK, teams, your thinking time starts now.

Hmm, just four choices here, should be pretty easy, don't you think?

Have you thought of your answer?

THEY TALK AMONGST THEMSELVES

OK, OK, teams, that's it, time is up, no more thinking,

you've thunk your thoughts. Now it is time to reveal your answers.

Now! Let's see what you all thought What have we got, what have we got?

D and a C and C.

Well, let's start with this C over here.

Let's see why they said C.

Well, I thought it was the same as the body muscle,

your body is hot and when you jump into the cold pool water,

you will go, ooh, like that, it is the same.

Oh, I see, I like your thinking.

Yellows, you have gone for C as well, are you thinking the same

thing or is it different science thoughts going on?

Kind of, we thought that the molecules on the inside...

Sudden cooling would weaken them so the molecules on the outside

would crush the can.

Oh, I see, so the molecules that are inside the cans will be sort of

constricted by the power of the molecules on the outside of the can.

-Yeah.

-Oh, that is pretty interesting, isn't it?

Now, then, Dr Lauren.

I thought...

We all thought, it would collect like steam cos it is

cooling down when it hits the cold and the hot... Mixed temperatures.

I see, so when it goes in it is all going to go whoosh

-and sort of bubble and steam and go a bit mad and crazy.

-Yes.

I see. We got some pretty interesting thoughts, I think, there.

Let's what actually happens when we add hot water

and then turn these cans upside down into cold water.

Ah-di-dah-di-dah!

Ah, beautiful. Protective gloves - check. Protective goggles - check,

handsome face - double check.

This is officially dangerous, folks. Do not try this at home.

Are you ready? Here we go.

So, the amazing answer was -

C - The cans would become instantly crushed.

So when I plunged the cans into the cold water, the steam inside them

was very quickly turned back into water.

This meant the inside of the cans had less push than the air around them.

It is all about pressure, you see.

Air can be pretty strong,

so these poor little cans didn't stand a chance.

Oh, bless 'em!

Ha-ha-ha. So, there we go, five points for the Yellows and the Blues.

Next up, the Creative Challenge.

Yes, it's time to put your brains into a different gear.

Creative thinking is the key to collecting the points in this round.

Ha-ha! We call this challenge the Ultimate Brain Fashion Catwalk.

Yes, it is Ultimate Brain Fashion Week and we are bringing some

much-needed science to the glamorous world of the catwalk.

Sadly, Kate Moss has stopped taking my calls, but fear not,

we have someone with even more style, even more grace, yes, it is

Ultimate Brain's very own supermodel, Guinea Pig.

CHEERING

Erm, Guinea Pig, Guinea Pig, what are you doing?

What does it look like?

I'm showcasing my fantastic golden tracksuit on the catwalk.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

No! That's not the catwalk, that is a tester from the local carpet shop.

I'm thinking about getting the whole studio floor done in it, you see.

No, no, no, your catwalk, my friend, is here.

HE LAUGHS EVILLY

The Ultimate Brain catwalk is a water tank?

But I'm going to get my fabulous golden tracksuit completely soggy!

Fear not, GP, the teams have been set the creative

challenge of designing you footwear, you see, that will take you

the length of this watery catwalk without getting you wet. Ha-ha!

Our teams were given two days

and a budget of £50 to design a solution to this challenge.

In this wacky water challenge, our teams will need to consider

weight and size... That's right, off you go, GP, don't be scared!

If their designs can shift aside more than 66 litres of water...

Cor, what a lot of water! Yes, that's 66kg, the same weight as Guinea Pig,

..then there will be enough upwards force to keep him afloat.

They need to think big, lightweight and balanced

if they hope to succeed like these inflatable shoes.

Whoops, sorry, Guinea Pig.

Now, the team that gets GP the furthest across the water

wins the most points.

First up, it's the Blues.

Behold!

-Look at this.

-This is our sensational flotational contraption.

The idea is that he's meant to be inside it, in the middle, that is,

and he should just be able to float onto the water

and just paddle along.

Oh, I see. So what are these sort of design box things?

-They're polystyrene...

-Ah, I see.

..so they've got flotational properties.

Oh, flotational properties. And what is the actual name of your plan?

Operation Don't Sink?

Operation Don't Sink.

Team Officially Amazing's plan is to suspend Guinea Pig

above the water completely, using large, light,

highly floaty polystyrene blocks...

BABY VOICE: ..so that he can paddle his ittle-little footies

and cross the pool.

Do you think it's going to work? Let's find out.

-Get ready, Guinea Pig.

-I was born ready, Dr Brain.

Get on with it then, son!

Officially Amazing idea is officially awful.

Water walking frame sinks without a trace. It is a creative catastrophe.

Contestants are in shock at wet Guinea Pig.

The Latin term for this is

break-us apart-icus load of old rubbish-icus.

What a disaster for the Blues.

They went for maximum flotation and stability, but they went too far.

As GP tried to get into position,

so much force was required to push the polystyrene under the water

that their flimsy structure couldn't take the pressure,

causing a complete catastro-collapse.

Iceberg dead ahead!

I think perhaps we might have to abandon this little plan, don't you?

-We agree.

-Zero points there for the Blues, it didn't quite work.

That's science, folks, what are you going to do?

Here we have the Yellow plan.

It's got to be better than the Blues', hasn't it?

So, Dr Noah, have you ever built a big wooden boat

and filled it with two of every type of animal

and then floated it across a massive sea cos there was a flood coming?

-No, but it's not to say it won't happen.

-That was a different Noah.

-So, what is your plan here?

-Well, we have tripod stilts.

Tripod stilts, how marvellous. What are they for, the tripod stilts?

To support Guinea Pig in the water.

So you are not going to try to float him across?

-ALL:

-No.

-What is the pole for?

The pole is just in case he falls one way,

he can push himself back up.

This design aims to bypass the floating stuff altogether

by supporting Guinea Pig above the water on tripod stilts

with a pole for added balance, but can GP stay high and dry?

-Are you ready, Guinea Pig?

-No.

Get on with it in three, two, one.

Go, Guinea Pig. You can egg him on.

THEY SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT

You can knock him, if you like, as well. I always like that!

Not very good, Guinea Pig.

Getting himself into position. Oh, a little wobble.

Use the pole to balance.

-Ah, he is using it there.

-Yes. So he wins the race.

Oh, now, that looks quite difficult to push.

Yes, of course because one litre of water weighs a kilogram so that's

quite a lot of litres. It's a lot of weight he has to push against.

-He's doing well.

-He's doing pretty well.

THEY LAUGH

The Yellows cleverly tried to avoid the issue of balance and buoyancy

with their tricky tripod stilts and pole for added balance.

The tripod is a very stable structure,

but, unfortunately, these wooden

wonders are light enough to actually float on their own. This meant,

for every step GP took, the stilts would try to escape

out from under the him.

I don't blame them, would you want to be near his stinky feet? Eurrggh!

Oh, unlucky. That was a pretty good try,

I liked the theory behind it and I liked your design.

I think the Guinea Pig factor let you down there. Do you blame him?

-ALL:

-Yes.

I blame him as well. That was pretty good.

-So, what do you think went wrong?

-Balance issue.

-Balance issue.

-Maybe the pole was either too far or too close to him.

-Maybe, yes.

There was a lot of effort involved.

Was that quite hard, doing that, Guinea Pig?

I think it was fine up until the point that I got wet.

DR BRAIN LAUGHS

Well, you might have to get used to that, Guinea Pig, cos you might

be doing it again, because now it is the turn of the Greens.

So, we have a complete failure by the Blues,

the Yellows have got about just under halfway, we think so.

How are the Greens going to do? What is your plan called?

-Amazing Aqua Feet.

-Amazing Aqua Feet. Talk me through it.

-So, basically, our plan is, it's got a large surface area...

-Yes.

-..and a block underneath to keep it balanced...

-Ah, yes.

..so hopefully it will float

and then the paddle is there to either help him go along as

he is gliding, like roller-skates but without the wheels.

You are going to glide.

You have thought this through, haven't you?

You've discussed this, you've used your time well.

Now, are you confident that this can work?

-ALL:

-Yes.

Don't forget, you got Guinea Pig doing it.

So there's always the Guinea Pig factor.

The Green plan is to make two highly floaty feet for Guinea Pig to

literally walk on water.

Wow, that looked awesome. But will it work?

Well, you know, I think there's only so much talkin' you can do

when you just got to start walkin'.

Three, two, one, go, Guinea Pig!

Now, you can egg him on. ALL SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT

-Get up a little bit.

-You need the paddle.

-And push yourself up.

-Does he need to stand or sit or...

ALL SHRIEK

APPLAUSE

-What do you think went wrong?

-Everything.

-Everything.

-I think the paddle was good.

-The paddle was good.

Yes, he was doing quite well.

I think it was just a bit too much polystyrene.

The Green team put their best foot forward with their amazing

polystyrene aqua-feet.

This very lightweight material is perfect for moving aside

as much water as possible without adding extra weight.

Oh, if only they'd tied them

together to stop Guinea Pig's legs from being forced apart.

Ha-ha-ha!

Oh, dear. Guinea Pig, you look very, very soggy.

But you're still kind of shiny and golden. I like that about you.

Ha-ha-ha!

But I've got to give five points for a valiant effort to the Yellows!

CHEERING

Pesky fly! Gotcha! Ha-ha-ha!

Yes, this round is all about quick reactions, you see?

Thankfully, our teams have lightning-fast reactions.

Even hummingbirds appear sloth-like in their presence.

Who will be the quickest?

Even my amazing monkey vision cannot accurately answer that question.

Which means it's time to bring out

the Sloooowwwwmoniiiiizerrr...

Yes, this supercool camera records in super...very...slow...motion...

so that I can accurately see who the winner is going to be.

Now, the Slinky rules are that you must hang your arms over

the ultimate pole so that all arms are at exactly the same height.

Now, when you hear Dr Brain's sound of the week - eek-eek! -

you drop your Slinkys and the first to let go wins. Are we confident?

-Are we happy?

-Yep.

-Very good.

Ready?

Eek-eek!

Wow! Now, that was pretty good. I think you were all pretty quick.

Let's take another look at that seriously speedy Slinky action there.

But who dropped first?

Even my super monkey vision can't tell who was first

when they are that quick.

So there's only one way to be sure of this -

activate the Slowmonizer!

Wow, look at that!

The bottoms of the Slinkys wait

for the tops to catch up with them in midair.

Come on, mate! Only then will they fall to the ground.

Yes, there we go.

It's a pretty clear result.

He cheered and he was right to cheer.

It was Yellow! Well done!

Ten points to the Yellows!

CHEERING

Grrrrrrr! A little bit of dinosaur acting there.

I don't know why I did that. I just fancied it, so I did it.

My show - I can do what I like, can't I?

Now, it's time for our teams to engage their brains again.

It's the Inspiration Challenge! Ha-ha-ha!

Sorry, just one moment, please.

I won't be home for dinner tonight, Mumsie,

going to my balloon dancing class.

Who knew dancing and blowing balloons at the same time could be

so much fun?

Right, that's done. And...send.

There we go.

I never could quite get the hang of the old texting thing there.

I don't think I even put a stamp on.

But can the teams get my letters across the Ultimate Brain studio

faster than a speeding text message?

And the team whose rocket travels the furthest wins!

You each have a 50cm-long paper tube

which you must adapt to make it more streamlined, you see,

using this fine array of rocket-building materials

that you have here.

Now, you have five minutes to design and build your rockets.

Pretty good, huh?

ALL: Yes! Ready?

ALL: Yes! Up for it?

ALL: Yes! Feeling confident?

ALL: Yes! Then let's do it.

Your time starts...

now!

-..on the tip of here.

-A point.

If you think of it like a paper aeroplane,

-a paper aeroplane flies well because it's got straight lines.

-Yeah.

We have to make a 3-D triangle on each end.

I think we need to put a cone on the front and then stuff that so...

Yeah.

The teams' rockets will be fired across the studio

using compressed air.

Yes, yes.

Our teams will have to think about the weight of their rocket

and how well it will cut through the air.

This is aerodynamics in action, folks.

Stick that on the wing.

Just... Yeah.

We need a....

Like an arrow. Let's call it the Arrow.

-This is nice, this is nice.

-This is good! Officially amazing!

-And again, and again. More, more, more.

-We need more wings, but...

It's fine.

KLAXON Time's up. Everybody, stop working!

And I think you've got some stratospheric science going on here.

But it's time to get testing!

Hm... The Blue rocket...

Now, who could that belong to?

Ohhh! There you are!

You frightened the life out of me!

It's the Blues! So what have you come up with?

-It's a kind of a floppy rocket.

-Floppy rocket?

-Yeah.

We got the wings the wrong way round to the way it's going

to travel, so it's sort of dangling a little bit.

But it will still work.

Probably loads of air resistance there -

-so just what we're looking for(!)

-Very good.

There's only one thing to do - get pumping!

Come on, Ben.

Now, Dr Chris will give us the nod when we're at optimum pressure.

Here we go. Counting down to release. And three, two, one, fire!

ALL EXCLAIM

Look at that! That's pretty good.

You're only just shy of the target.

The Team Officially Amazing rocket sped across the studio.

Its pointy nose helped it through the air and wings gave it stability.

Great job!

Well done, Blues! Who's next?

Oh, Yellow team, I can see you've already taken your positions.

You know your team roles you're playing.

-Dr Archie, you've obviously been nominated as the pumper.

-Yeah.

-You happy with that?

-Yes.

-Think you can do it?

-Hope so.

-And Dr Noah, you're going to be the releaser.

-Yeah.

And Dr Charlie, you're going to supervise and oversee,

-adjudicate and assess.

-I am indeed.

-You're the boss guy, right?

-Yes.

-Tell everybody what to do.

-So, what are we calling this?

-The Arrow.

-The Arrow.

Sounds like a movie starring Nicolas Cage.

GRUFFLY: "You can't fire that rocket, my daughter's on board."

-So, I can see it's got kind of wing-type things.

-Yeah.

And the feathers are going to give it a bit of extra edge, yes?

-Hopefully.

-Good. Let's get going, then. Start your pumping now!

We are at optimum pressure. It is now time to count down to release.

Are you ready? Three, two, one, fire!

ALL EXCLAIM

-Oh, look at that!

-We lose.

Your nose cone was a little bit lumpy, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

-That made it not too aerodynamic?

-possibly.

-Because it shot out really well, didn't it?

-Yes.

-And then it sort of...stopped.

-Kind of fell.

-Yes, it kind of drooped a bit, didn't it?

-It was top-heavy.

It went, "Yayyyy... I've had enough."

The Yellows had the right idea with their pointed nose

and stabilising wings, but with the nose pointing slightly upwards

and the wings on the bottom,

there was too much air dragging underneath the rocket,

forcing it up and grinding to a halt.

Pretty good effort, though, lads. Are you pleased?

ALL: Yes. You should be.

Now let's see the team of the Greens.

Look at the Greens - they're raring to go.

They're champing at the bit and so am I. I can't wait to see this work.

So, you've got a nose cone, you've got wings, feathers.

What are you calling it?

ALL: Pocahontas. Perfect name.

There's nothing more to do but fire it. Get pumping! Come on, let's go!

That's it, good work. Put some muscle into it. Nice. Very good.

Nearly there. Very good.

Here we go. Three, two, one, fire!

ALL EXCLAIM

-Oh, no!

-How is it?

-Please...

ALL GASP

-It's a dead heat!

-No!

Exactly the same as the Blues!

The Rays Of Radiation rocket had the same winning

properties as the Officially Amazing one.

But the straight nose cone

had flights like a dart to help stability.

It finished in exactly the same place as the Blue rocket.

What are the chances, eh?

Which means you spit the points between you.

Yes, well done. Five points each to the Greens and the Blues!

CHEERING

Well done, everybody. I think you all did pretty well.

Your messages were rocket-tastic.

They were so fast, they arrived before they left!

I'm overdoing it a bit there. Well done, everybody.

CHEERING

Now, as the final round approaches, let's find out what the score is

with that little thing I call The Scores!

CHEERING

Team Officially Amazing on 10.

Brain Busters on 20

and Rays Of Radiation on... oh, 5.

It's a close-run thing, but anyone can win on Ultimate Brain!

# When I was just a tiny talking monkey with wisps of monkey hair

# On my monkey head... #

I dreamed of the future and the challenges that awaited me -

climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in one hour,

catching a meteor with my bare hands,

looking after my amazing hairstyle.

But never did I dream to reach such dizzy heights of greatness

as I'm about to encounter in... the Quickfire Round!

-Ready, GP?

-I'm ready to go, Dr Brain!

Fantastic, that's what I like to hear. Hands on your desks, everybody.

Are you ready? ALL: Yes!

Let's do this. You get two points for each correct answer.

You get nothing, nothing, nothing for a wrong answer,

not even one of GP's trumps in a jar. Here we go!

Let's do it! Question one. Which is the only mammal that can fly?

Yes, Blues.

Ostrich?

No, it's not ostrich! It's a bat!

Nasa's Curiosity Rover probe

is currently driving around taking selfies...

Mars.

-Correct!

-Ho-ho! A rolling stone gathers what?

-Blues.

-No moss.

Well, I'll give you that, but actually it's momentum.

But you can get a bonus point.

The name of which famous dinosaur actually means Tyrant Lizard King?

-Tyrannosaurus Rex.

-Correct!

Why did the bacteria cross the microscope?

To get to the other side?

It was to get to the other SLIDE. Ha-ha!

KLAXON Oh, that's time up, I'm afraid.

There we go. Goodness me, that was quick. Even for the Quickfire Round.

Well done, everybody. But which team was the winner?

It's time for the results. Ready?

-Are you excited, Guinea Pig?

-I'm very excited, Dr Brain.

-Me too.

Here we go, then. In third place, with five points...it's the Greens!

CHEERING

Oh, commendable effort. Well done, well done.

In second place, with 15 points, it's the Blue team!

CHEERING

Which means that our winners this week, with the Ultimate Brains,

with 20 honour points, it's the Yellow team!

CHEERING

Smashing job, Yellow team.

Wow! Amazing stuff there.

It's honour you've won, and Ultimate Brain honour that you've won.

Salute your victors, team. Well done, the Yellows!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Fantastic.

See you next time for more brain-expanding excellent experiments

on...Ultimate Brain!

CHEERING