Lateral with Tom Scott 186: Flaming buttocks
22 snips
May 1, 2026 
Ben Doyle, quiz regular from Jet Lag: The Game, Adam Chase, producer and cast member, and Sam Denby, content creator and co‑creator of Jet Lag: The Game, join for a whimsical romp. They riff on a mistranslated video game phrase, corals revealing ancient day lengths, a submarine baseball tale, 17th‑century trickery with forceps, and a sneaky Sega trademark workaround.
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Hot Seat Mistranslation Became Flaming Buttocks
- Heroes of Might and Magic 3's Polish edition mistranslated the term for local multiplayer "hot seat" into a phrase that reads as "Flaming Buttocks."
- Tom Scott explains this stems from an era (1999) when players passed a single computer between turns, hence "hot seat."
Coral Rings Reveal Ancient 420 Day Year
- Fossil corals preserve fine growth bands that record lunar cycles, allowing scientists to count how many lunar months fitted into a year 420 million years ago.
- Sam Denby and Ben Doyle reveal that corals showed around 420 daily/lunar growth bands per year, implying Earth spun faster then.
Submarine Baseball Could Send The Ball Into Tomorrow
- Captain Alfred McLaren recounted a 1960 amateur baseball game on a submarine where a right-field hit could land in 'tomorrow' because they were near the International Date Line.
- Tom Scott quotes McLaren: a home run would circumnavigate the globe and throws could send the ball into yesterday or tomorrow.