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Welcome to the Bedtime 
Scientist. 

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Tonight we're exploring 
something that powers your 

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world. 
Tonight I'm learning about 

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electricity. 
Now here's my dad. 

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Electricity. 
What a great subject. 

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Thanks, Blake. 
Electricity is something we 

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depend on every single second, 
often without even knowing it's 

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there. 
We flip a switch without really 

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thinking about how it works. 
We charge our devices without 

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wondering what's happening 
inside the wire. 

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Tonight, we're going to learn 
about it. 

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And as we do, close your eyes 
and imagine with me. 

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I want you to think about this 
for a moment. 

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What is electricity, really? 
You might imagine it as 

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something that lives inside your
walls, something powerful, 

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something that needs to be 
treated carefully. 

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And you're right, it is 
powerful. 

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But electricity is also 
something quieter, something 

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more subtle, something 
surprisingly beautiful. 

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Electricity is motion. 
Imagine the tiniest building 

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blocks you could ever think of, 
so impossibly small that more 

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than you could ever count could 
fit on the tip of a pencil. 

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These tiny pieces are called 
electrons. 

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They're everywhere right now, in
the walls of your home, inside 

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your body, in the air around 
you. 

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Most of the time, electrons 
don't rush or hurry. 

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They rest. 
They remain still at peace. 

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But give them a reason to move, 
give them a path to follow. 

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And something extraordinary 
begins when electrons start 

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flowing together, all in the 
same direction, like a river 

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made of the infinitely small. 
That flowing motion is what we 

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call electricity. 
It isn't the electrons 

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themselves that matter, it's 
their journey. 

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It's the perfect path. 
And here is where it gets 

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interesting. 
Electrons can move through many 

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materials, but some make the 
journey easier than others. 

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One of their favorites is 
copper. 

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Copper is especially good at 
letting electrons pass through 

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smoothly. 
You can think of it as a gentle,

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well worn path, easy to follow, 
easy to travel. 

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The copper wires inside your 
walls are like quiet highway 

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lanes. 
When you flip a light switch, 

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you're opening a gate. 
You're allowing electrons to 

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move along that copper path, 
flowing calmly toward their 

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destination. 
When electricity flows through a

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coil of copper wire, it creates 
something you can't see, an 

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invisible field of force. 
That field can gently push and 

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pull on metal. 
It's how motors turn. 

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It's how headphones make sound. 
It's how motion begins. 

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But you don't need to remember 
any of that. 

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Just notice how even powerful 
things can move quietly, 

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smoothly, and with purpose. 
Take a deep breath in. 

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Let it out. 
Have you ever looked out the 

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window during a car ride and 
seen tall metal towers standing 

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in open fields? 
Those towers carry electricity 

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across great distances. 
The electricity in your room 

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tonight has travelled a very 
long way to reach you. 

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It might have started at a 
spinning wind turbine on a 

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breezy hill, or at a dam where 
river presses steadily forward. 

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From there the journey begins. 
Electricity moves across long 

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stretches of wire, over 
mountains, through forests, 

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across land and sky. 
As it gets closer to where you 

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live, the wires become smaller, 
the paths become quieter, it 

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moves on to the poles along your
street, and finally, a single 

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wire brings that gentle flow 
right into your home. 

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By the time it reaches your 
bedside lamp, it isn't rushing 

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anymore. 
It's journey is complete. 

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It's simply there, providing a 
soft, steady glow while you 

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close your eyes. 
And just like those electrons at

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the end of their long journey, 
it's time for you to find your 

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own place of rest. 
Here's something to notice. 

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As you're resting, your own 
heart is electrical. 

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Deep inside your chest, special 
cells create tiny signals. 

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Those signals move through your 
heart muscle, telling it when to

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squeeze and when to relax. 
Squeeze, release, squeeze, 

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release. 
That gentle rhythm has been with

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you your entire life. 
Your brain is electrical, too. 

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Billions of tiny signals move 
quietly through it, shaping 

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thoughts, feelings, and 
imagination. 

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The same force that lights your 
home is the same force that 

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keeps your heart beating. 
When you move your body, 

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electricity helps guide the 
motion. 

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And when you begin to feel 
sleepy, those signals shift, 

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softening, slowing, preparing 
you. 

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Forrest. 
Think about what happens as 

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sleep gets closer. 
Your body doesn't turn off. 

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Your heart keeps beating. 
Your brain keeps working, but 

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the activity changes. 
It becomes calmer, more 

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rhythmic, more organized. 
The constant buzz of the day, 

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the electrical noise of being 
awake begins to fade. 

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Your nervous system is like a 
city at sunset. 

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All day long, energy has been 
moving quickly. 

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Every system is awake, every 
light is on. 

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But as evening settles in, the 
demand decreases. 

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The rivers of electrons inside 
you slow to a gentler flow, and 

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in that quieting, your body 
heals, your brain sorts 

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memories, your cells repair 
themselves, all guided by the 

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same gentle laws of nature. 
Steady and patient. 

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Electricity powers much of your 
world, your alarm clock, your 

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lights, the connections that 
bring the world closer. 

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But tonight you can imagine 
electricity differently. 

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Not as something busy or bright,
but as a quiet hum, A gentle 

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flow finding its way home. 
The electricity inside you 

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doesn't rush. 
It moves softly, in patterns 

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shaped over millions of years, 
keeping you alive, keeping you 

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whole. 
Tomorrow, electricity will be 

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there again, in the light you 
turn on, in the day that begins.

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But right now, tonight, let your
own inner current settle. 

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Let it flow at the speed of 
sleep. 

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Everything is connected, 
everything is flowing, 

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everything is in its place. 
And just before you drift off to

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dream of copper wires and 
electrons finding their way 

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home, I want you to know 
something about you. 

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Your mind is a wonderful thing, 
so full of curiosity, and I like

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your mind just the way it 
wonders. 

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I'll be back again soon to 
wonder more with you.