0:00:02 > 0:00:04# Wormy fish-killers Convoys of caterpillars
0:00:04 > 0:00:06- # Super-clever, brainless slime... # - Ugh!
0:00:06 > 0:00:08# Bunny-rabbit swarms, raging storms
0:00:08 > 0:00:10# And pigs that swim at dinner time
0:00:10 > 0:00:13# Tornadoes of fire Starfish going haywire
0:00:13 > 0:00:15- # Algae balls from space! # - What?!
0:00:15 > 0:00:17# Prairie dogs that chat Birds going splat
0:00:17 > 0:00:19# And fish slapping in your face
0:00:19 > 0:00:21# They're wild and weird Wild and weird
0:00:21 > 0:00:23# Really, really wild and really, really weird
0:00:23 > 0:00:25# They're wild and weird Wild and weird
0:00:25 > 0:00:27# They're really, really wild
0:00:27 > 0:00:30# They're really, really wild and weird... #
0:00:30 > 0:00:33Coming up on today's show, some stone-related strangeness.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35The riddle of the roving rocks.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39A pebble that will literally set your pants on fire.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43And a cracking family holiday, with real cracks.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53Who's a good boy, Rover?
0:00:53 > 0:00:55Yes, you are, yes, you are.
0:00:55 > 0:00:56SHE WOOFS
0:00:56 > 0:00:58Are you a good boy, Rover?
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Yes, you are, yes, you are. Good boy.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03Here you go.
0:01:03 > 0:01:04You promised you'd do your half of the washing-up.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08Sorry, Tim, I can't at the moment, I am training my pet rock.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11- Pet rock!- Yes.- You can't have a pet rock, they don't do anything!
0:01:11 > 0:01:14Er, I'll have you know Rover here has mastered quite a few tricks.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17- OK, show me.- What, now?
0:01:17 > 0:01:19Yeah. And if it can do a trick
0:01:19 > 0:01:22then I'll do all of the washing-up for a whole week.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25- What, one trick?- Yeah.- Er, OK.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28- Come on, stop stalling.- I'm not, just... Ready?- Yeah.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31Stay.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35- What? No.- Don't forget to scrub the pans that are in the oven, will you?
0:01:35 > 0:01:37- It's not fair!- Oh, before you go,
0:01:37 > 0:01:40do you want to watch some rocks that actually can move?
0:01:40 > 0:01:42Yeah, go on.
0:01:43 > 0:01:48We're off to the US of A and the deserts of Eastern California.
0:01:48 > 0:01:49This is the hottest place on Earth,
0:01:49 > 0:01:53with temperatures that can exceed 50 Celsius.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56Little wonder it's known as Death Valley.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58Death Valley? That's not a real place,
0:01:58 > 0:02:01that's a made-up name, like...Narnia,
0:02:01 > 0:02:02or Cheddar Gorge.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04HE SCOFFS
0:02:04 > 0:02:06In such a hostile environment,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09you wouldn't expect to see much sign of life,
0:02:09 > 0:02:13but something very weird is going on in this remote and barren landscape.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15Pretty awesome.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18The local stones are apparently on the move.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22Oh, this is so cool, look at that.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25This giant expanse called the Racetrack Playa
0:02:25 > 0:02:29is crisscrossed with tracks, seemingly left by lumps of rock.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33But look at those tracks, I mean, so many of those tracks are just
0:02:33 > 0:02:35following each other perfectly.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37Boom, boom.
0:02:37 > 0:02:38Exact pattern.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40Awesome stuff.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44Yet, spookily, no-one has ever seen the rocks move.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48Mmm. I love a good mystery, me.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51I'll have this figured out in no time.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55Two other people trying to solve the mystery
0:02:55 > 0:02:57are cousins Dick and Jim Norris.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01They've had a lifelong fascination with these slithering stones.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Ha, all those amateurs aren't going to figure anything out,
0:03:04 > 0:03:05they haven't even got camels with them.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Who goes to the desert without camels?
0:03:08 > 0:03:10Camels don't live in America, Tim.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12RECORD-SCRATCH EFFECT
0:03:14 > 0:03:18Well, some of the rocks have clearly moved, oh,
0:03:18 > 0:03:20probably a good 2km or so.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24So it's very clear that something interesting is going on.
0:03:24 > 0:03:25But what, exactly?
0:03:25 > 0:03:29Dick and Jim soon discovered that plenty of crackpot suggestions
0:03:29 > 0:03:30had already been put forward.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35Well, I think it was everything from lizards pushing rocks around
0:03:35 > 0:03:38to giant magnets, like the rocks were magnetic filings
0:03:38 > 0:03:40or something like that.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43- Space aliens...- Of course.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45What about you, Tim? Any ideas.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48Er...well, no, not yet...
0:03:48 > 0:03:51but I haven't heard anything good from Dick and Jim yet.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54What makes them so qualified to solve this mystery?
0:03:54 > 0:03:58One's a geologist, the other designs scientific instruments.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00"Instruments"!
0:04:00 > 0:04:03I still think they'd be better off with a camel.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05With all the crazy theories proved wrong,
0:04:05 > 0:04:07it was left to Dick and Jim to find the answer,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10and they came up with an ingenious way of doing so.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13So this is one of our GPS stones right here.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16GPS package in the top of the stone,
0:04:16 > 0:04:20and if the stone takes off on one of these moving adventures,
0:04:20 > 0:04:22it triggers the GPS to start
0:04:22 > 0:04:24recording its position once a second,
0:04:24 > 0:04:29so we have a very, very good view of exactly when and exactly where
0:04:29 > 0:04:33this stone goes as it takes off across the Playa.
0:04:33 > 0:04:34Now all Dick and Jim had to do
0:04:34 > 0:04:37was wait for one of their rocks to go walkies.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41For months, nothing happened.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44Then they got a signal that the stones were on the move.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Rushing to the desert, they discovered something unexpected.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50A giant alien lizard with a magnet.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52No. Ice.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55Even in Death Valley, it does rain once or twice a year,
0:04:55 > 0:04:57forming huge shallow ponds,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00and at night the temperature can drop below freezing.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03And when you mix water with sub-zero conditions, you get...?
0:05:03 > 0:05:06An increase in winter-coat sales.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Er, yes. And...ice as well(?)
0:05:09 > 0:05:13The surface of this pond was covered with skim ice.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17It was just blowing very light breezes, and then right around noon,
0:05:17 > 0:05:19there was suddenly popping and crackling
0:05:19 > 0:05:21all over the pond surface in front of us.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24The ice sheet that was covering the Playa started to
0:05:24 > 0:05:25break up into smaller panels,
0:05:25 > 0:05:29and then the panels started drifting slowly off to the north,
0:05:29 > 0:05:33and we realised that they were driving these stones, very slowly,
0:05:33 > 0:05:34across the Playa.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36And I said to Jim, "This is it," you know.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39And it was one of those just sort of "a-ha, eureka" moments.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43So the riddle of the roving rocks was finally solved,
0:05:43 > 0:05:45and the answer turned out to be
0:05:45 > 0:05:48nothing more than a few sheets of ice.
0:05:48 > 0:05:49Awesome stuff.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53- Cool, eh?- Have you seen this?
0:05:53 > 0:05:56It says the entire show is about rocks, but that can't be right.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58What's that?
0:05:58 > 0:06:00This is the script for today's show.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04- What show?- Well, this show. Wild And Weird. The one that we're filming?
0:06:05 > 0:06:08Who did you think this lot were?
0:06:08 > 0:06:10Oh, I don't know. Hadn't really noticed them before.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16But you can't make an entire TV show just about rocks, can you?
0:06:16 > 0:06:17Well, what does the script say?
0:06:17 > 0:06:20Er... Oh, it says Naomi says, "Yes, you can."
0:06:20 > 0:06:21Yes, you can.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27Now, everyone loves a trip to a sunny beach.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29- What about vampires? - Stick to the script.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33- Sorry.- But for Lynne Heiner and her family from California,
0:06:33 > 0:06:35their summer beachcombing trip
0:06:35 > 0:06:38was about to turn into a day they'd never forget,
0:06:38 > 0:06:40for all the wrong reasons.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43As we would find interesting things to look at, everyone would stop,
0:06:43 > 0:06:49and we would kind of pick what was our favourite rock or shell.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52Ooh, I love beachcombing. I've got my collection right here.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55Look. Ooh! This one is a pebble.
0:06:55 > 0:06:56That's another pebble.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58This one's a pebble.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00- Yeah.- You'll never guess what this one is.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03- Is it a pebble?- How did you know?!
0:07:03 > 0:07:07At least Lynne and her family found something a little more interesting.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10We'd found a piece of blue sea glass, we'd found a piece of green,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13and on that day I was the one with shorts,
0:07:13 > 0:07:15so I had them in my pocket.
0:07:16 > 0:07:17So far, so good.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20In fact, it wasn't until Lynne got home
0:07:20 > 0:07:23that things took a turn for the sinister.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26I came home. I was sitting at this counter,
0:07:26 > 0:07:28and I was peeling an orange,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31and all of a sudden this intense heat,
0:07:31 > 0:07:35this intense...pain was hitting my leg.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39So, logically, I felt like it must be a bug.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Had Lynne inadvertently brought back a nasty nipper from the beach?
0:07:43 > 0:07:45You mean...a shark?
0:07:46 > 0:07:48In her pocket?
0:07:48 > 0:07:50A...baby shark?
0:07:52 > 0:07:55I mean like a scorpion hiding in one of the shells.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59Or a deadly cone snail with barbs poised to paralyse.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04I decide to smack my leg to kill whatever's on my leg,
0:08:04 > 0:08:08and what ends up happening is I look down,
0:08:08 > 0:08:12and there are flames shooting off of my shorts!
0:08:16 > 0:08:17My husband started yelling,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20"Get your shorts off, get your shorts off!"
0:08:20 > 0:08:23And I'm trying to undo them with one burned hand.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25He was pulling them off,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28the stones were coming out of the burnt hole
0:08:28 > 0:08:30and dropping on the ground
0:08:30 > 0:08:33and creating small fires each place they would land.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39Now, someone's shorts catching fire may sound like a bit of a joke,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42but the burning rocks in Lynne's pocket
0:08:42 > 0:08:47ended up costing her ten days in hospital with severe burns.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50Ouch! But how does a stone set fire to your shorts?
0:08:50 > 0:08:52Hold on to your test tubes, Naomi.
0:08:54 > 0:08:55It's science time.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59There are many elements that can self-ignite.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03Some, like sodium, are stable in air but react violently in water.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08One, however, does the complete opposite.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10Phosphorus.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12In water, it's nice and stable.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15But when it's taken out of water,
0:09:15 > 0:09:19it spontaneously combusts with the oxygen in the air.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25- Whoa.- Yeah, whoa.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28Burning at around 1,300 Celsius,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31it's hot enough to melt iron or steel,
0:09:31 > 0:09:35and poor old Lynne had inadvertently picked up a piece of damp phosphorus
0:09:35 > 0:09:38from the beach. Once in her pocket,
0:09:38 > 0:09:40it began to dry out, finally igniting,
0:09:40 > 0:09:42with catastrophic results.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46Er, Tim, what does phosphorus look like?
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Er, it's orange and clear, looks a bit like amber.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53- SHE GASPS - Er, you mean, like this?- Oooh! Yeah!
0:09:53 > 0:09:55SHE PANTS
0:09:55 > 0:09:57Oh. Oh, no, actually, it's OK.
0:10:02 > 0:10:03You're welcome.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05HE BREATHES OUT
0:10:06 > 0:10:10And if you like beachcombing too, then please don't worry,
0:10:10 > 0:10:14because it turns out the phosphorus Lynne found was part of an old
0:10:14 > 0:10:17artillery shell left over from a military exercise.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21So the chances of you ever picking up a self-igniting stone
0:10:21 > 0:10:22are practically zero.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32You know, burning rocks are pretty impressive,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35but I think I may be able to go one better.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37- Really?- Yeah, have a look at this.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43We're heading back to California yet again, this time to Twain Harte,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46a small holiday town popular with families.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50Twain Harte in the summer, for us and our family, it's a getaway.
0:10:50 > 0:10:51It's where we go to relax.
0:10:51 > 0:10:52It's crowded.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54You know, the beach is full,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56there's kids screaming and running and people walking their dogs.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00Oh, no, something bad's going to happen, isn't it? Isn't it?
0:11:00 > 0:11:04So we were hiking along and decided to go across the dam to the rock.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07All of a sudden, it was like a bomb went off.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09RUMBLING
0:11:09 > 0:11:11It wasn't made of phosphorus, was it?
0:11:11 > 0:11:14No, but Steve and his family were forced to flee for their lives.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21A crack appeared from the back of the rock
0:11:21 > 0:11:22and started moving toward us.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27Explosions were coming out of the crevice.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32It was terrifying for the kids and for us
0:11:32 > 0:11:34because we really didn't know what was going on.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37At first, Steve suspected it was an earthquake.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41They regularly strike California, causing serious damage. But...
0:11:41 > 0:11:45We started to realise that it really wasn't an earthquake
0:11:45 > 0:11:47because, being from the Bay Area,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50we'd felt earthquakes and it was just very different.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54So, with no explanations on the table for these explosive events,
0:11:54 > 0:11:56it was time to call in the experts.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58- The Navy SEALs. - The geologists.
0:11:58 > 0:11:59Them, too.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04Dr Martha Eppes set out to interrogate the rock.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06You can't interrogate a rock!
0:12:06 > 0:12:07Rocks aren't like people!
0:12:08 > 0:12:10Rocks are like people.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15They get stressed, and they react to stresses in very different ways.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18Rocks can accommodate stress and deal with it,
0:12:18 > 0:12:22or if the stress is strong enough, they break.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24Dr Eppes had a very simple theory
0:12:24 > 0:12:27for what might have caused the rock at Twain Harte to break.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31On the week leading up to August 3rd at Twain Harte,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34you had temperatures that were ten degrees above normal.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38And then the day that the rock cracked
0:12:38 > 0:12:40was actually ten degrees below normal.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43Yes. A sudden fall in temperature after weeks of drought
0:12:43 > 0:12:46was all it took to set off these explosive events.
0:12:48 > 0:12:49Huh. Please explain further,
0:12:49 > 0:12:52preferably with the use of illustrative graphics.
0:12:52 > 0:12:58No problem. Weeks of hot sun caused the rock to expand and rise up.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00Squeezing it against the surrounding rocks.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02Exactly. Then, as the pressure built,
0:13:02 > 0:13:06a sudden fall in temperature caused the surface of the rock to rapidly
0:13:06 > 0:13:08cool and contract, and...
0:13:08 > 0:13:10- Boom!- The surface cracked to release the pressure,
0:13:10 > 0:13:13splitting apart in layers, a bit like an onion.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18Only an onion doesn't explode in your face.
0:13:18 > 0:13:19True.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24So, with this peculiar case of exploding rocks, one thing is clear.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Yep, never go to California on a holiday.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Actually, I was going to say the forces of nature
0:13:31 > 0:13:33will never fail to surprise us.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35Mm, that works as well, I suppose.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38I'm going to finish this washing-up. What are you going to do?
0:13:38 > 0:13:41I think I'm going to take Rover for a little walk.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43There's a good boy. Come on, walkies!
0:13:44 > 0:13:47Heel. That's right, good boy.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52# They're wild and weird Wild and weird
0:13:52 > 0:13:54# Really, really wild and really, really weird
0:13:54 > 0:13:56# They're wild and weird Wild and weird
0:13:56 > 0:13:57# They're really, really wild
0:13:57 > 0:14:00# They're really, really wild and weird... #
0:14:03 > 0:14:06Wild and weird!