WEBVTT - What’s a Salamander’s Superpower? with Emily Graslie 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:01.319 Guess what mango? What's that? 0:00:01.360 --> 0:00:02.000 Will So? 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:04.040 One of my favorite Mo Williams books that I used 0:00:04.040 --> 0:00:06.160 to read with my kids was this book called Naked 0:00:06.240 --> 0:00:07.520 Mole Rat Gets Dressed. 0:00:07.600 --> 0:00:08.640 It is so much fun. 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:11.960 Williams is the best, agreed, and this story is great 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:15.239 because it's all about a naked mulrat named Wilburd. It's 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:17.720 pretty fancy and prefers to wear clothes instead of being 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:19.959 naked all the time. But now I was thinking about 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:22.240 the book over the weekend, it made me wonder, why 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:25.280 is nakedness the thing everyone knows about mole rats when 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:27.960 they have all these other superhero like qualities. 0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:30.040 I mean, the naked bit is in their name, so 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:33.080 it's kind of hard to avoid. But explain what you 0:00:33.080 --> 0:00:34.080 mean by superpowers? 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:36.680 Well, first of all, they don't feel certain types of pain. 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:39.400 They're totally immune from the sting of chili peppers or 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:43.000 really hot temperatures for instance. They also don't get cancer, 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:45.680 which is crazy and this isn't a superpower. But their 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:49.280 buck teeth actually move independently and can be used like chopsticks, 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:51.720 which is kind of just a cool move. But as 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:54.680 I started thinking about the mole rat and its superior qualities. 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:57.080 I started wondering, what if we could take the coolest 0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:00.400 superpowers of the world's most surprising animals and then try 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:04.200 to Frankenstein the ultimate superhero animal. And while we can't 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:07.440 promise it'll turn out Cuddley building, this designer animal is 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:08.600 definitely going to be fun. 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:28.280 So let's dig in. Hey there, podcast listeners, Welcome to 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:29.000 Part Time Genus. 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:31.000 I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:34.040 good friend Mangesha ticketter Mango. Are you as excited as 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:37.960 I am about today's topic, creating the ultimate superhero animal? 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:41.399 I'm so excited. I mean, this is something we've talked 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:44.840 about for such a long time, trying to concoct the weirdest, funniest, 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:47.960 most badass creature. And over the years we've learned so 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:50.400 many crazy things about animals. I mean, we're talking about 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:54.040 electric powers, the ability to detect danger, X ray vision, 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:57.400 the ability to regenerate or brain like. This stuff is. 0:01:57.440 --> 0:01:59.800 Comic book gold. It definitely is, all right. 0:01:59.840 --> 0:02:01.640 So for our listeners, this used to be a dorm 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:05.400 room obsession of ours, debating the sexiest dinosaur or how 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:08.640 ugly the world's ugliest badger could be, and probably not 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:10.840 that ugly. I mean, even a bad looking badger is 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:11.680 pretty good looking. 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:12.240 I think so. 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:15.000 But we decided it was finally time to tackle this 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:18.280 topic of the ultimate superhero animal when some of our 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:21.720 favorite librarians from the Hoover Public Library and Hoover, Alabama 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:25.200 suggested we revisit a book that came out in twenty eleven. 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.840 It's called Rat Sing, Mice Giggle. It's this terrific book 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:32.040 by a neuropsychologist, Karen Shanner and jog Meat Conwall, an 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:35.320 associate professor in neurology at Georgetown, and several of the 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:36.160 great facts you'll. 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:37.799 Hear today come from there. That's right. 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:39.840 It's like when you ask your kid which superhero they 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:41.640 want to be, and they say, I want to be 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:45.040 a superhero that combines all the most awesome parts of every. 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:46.400 Other superhero exactly. 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:49.040 Like, that's what we're going to do here, but with animals. 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:49.920 Are you ready? Oh? 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:50.400 I'm ready. 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:52.280 And before we get going, we should probably tell you 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:54.519 that we've got a great guest on today, the wonderful 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:58.040 YouTube star Emily Grassley, the host of Brainscoop, and we've 0:02:58.040 --> 0:02:59.840 got super fun listener quiz as well. 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:00.760 So let's get to it. 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:03.200 And to be clear, today's hunt is not about finding 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:04.920 the biggest and fastest animals. 0:03:04.919 --> 0:03:07.040 We learned about his kids. No offense to the. 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:10.280 Cheetah and the blue whale, both awesome animals. But we're 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:12.920 looking for something a little more creative and surprising. So 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:14.040 where do we even start. 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:16.560 Well, we are creating a superhero, so I feel like 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:18.320 we need to start off with some of the super 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:21.040 sensory stuff, or maybe even with the ability to sense 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:25.120 electrical charges. I mean that feels very superheroy. 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:25.120 Oh, definitely. 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:27.000 And you know, part of the reason I'm so excited 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:29.639 about this category is because it's a chance to bring. 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:31.560 Back the duck build platypus. 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:34.240 It seemed like his kids, the duck build platypus was 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:36.960 the weird animal that we all talked about. Then the 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:38.880 Internet came along and we got to learn about all 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:40.080 these other cool animals. 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:42.800 Sure, like the Pacific Northwest tree octopus. 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:44.480 Is that a real thing? 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:47.200 Now? It was this amazing internet hoax by this guy 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:50.480 Lyle Zapata. He had a whole Saved the Pacific Northwest 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:51.680 tree Octopus campaign. 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:54.279 It was elaborate, it sounds. 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:56.120 Like it so My thing with the platypus is that 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:58.600 as much as we dropped its name into conversations as 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:01.800 a kid, I don't think we fully appreciated just how 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:02.960 cool the platypus is. 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:05.080 I mean, everybody knows that it's this. 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:07.440 Weird egg laying mammal with the tail of a beaver 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:09.400 and the feet of an otter and the bill of 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:11.760 a duck, and that the male has a venomous spur 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:14.119 on the back of its foot. That should be enough 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:16.000 to make it an animal we should remember. 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:18.480 Yeah, or avoid touching, right, But. 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:20.640 None of that really makes it a superhero until you 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:23.919 remember that the platypus is a master of electrolocation. 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:27.080 Isn't that crazy. It's actually the most electro receptive of 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:30.279 any land mammal. That means it's able to detect electrical 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:32.720 signals given off by other creatures. So even when it's 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:35.400 hunting around for food at night in very dark waters, 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:38.359 it's able to locate its prey by actually detecting their 0:04:38.440 --> 0:04:42.240 electrical feels using the forty thousand electro sensors and that 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:44.920 big old snout it's so very proud of, right, It's 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:47.160 basically making a map of what it's surveying in those 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:47.880 dark waters. 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:50.440 That's right, So let's bring some respect back to the 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:53.000 platypus by adding this ability as the first on our 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:54.840 list of superhero animal traits. 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:56.000 Totally agree. 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:58.279 Now, you mentioned that it's the most electro receptive of 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:02.120 the land mammals, but according to the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation, 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:05.960 sharks are actually the most electrically sensitive animals known. Now, 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:08.840 I know sharks aren't exactly underappreciated. I mean, they get 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:10.360 their own week on TV every year. 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:12.640 I'm kind of surprised TV Land doesn't run a Happy 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:14.840 Day's Marathon that same week and call it. 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:15.760 Jump the Shark Week. 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:18.320 Brilliant idea, and now they should do that. So and 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:21.120 this only makes them more intimidating. So they've got this 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:23.360 gel and their snouts and their heads that helps them 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:27.040 detect incredibly low currents of electricity, which then helps them 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:29.440 find even small fish that might be hiding from them 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:30.120 under the sand. 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:34.119 As though sharks needed one more advantage. So that's another 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:36.880 type of electrolocator. And I think between the shark gel 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:39.240 and their snout and the platypus beak, I'd rather have 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:41.960 the beak on style points right, But maybe a little 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:44.440 of that special gel to spread on my hands. Sounds good, 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:47.920 but what about the ability to actually generate electricity. I 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:50.120 don't think most people will be surprised that this title 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:52.080 is going to the electric eel, but there are a 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:54.320 couple of interesting facts that most people probably don't know. 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:57.120 Oh yeah, like what, well, first, electric eels are not 0:05:57.200 --> 0:05:59.239 actually eels. They're a type of knife fish. 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:02.040 It's them on our long list of things that aren't 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:05.040 things like how the koala bear isn't a bear, or 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:08.200 a strawberry isn't a berry, but apparently a banana is. 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:10.880 Don't get me started on the banana. So according to 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:14.480 the Stanford Researcher, tomatoes and bananas are scientifically berries, while 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:16.119 strawberries and raspberries aren't. 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:18.080 Sounds like I got you started on the banana. 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:21.599 I mean, my whole world is upside down. But back 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:24.000 to eels. While there are multiple types of fish that 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:27.080 can produce electric charges, did you know that freshwater fish 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:29.839 like the electric eel, typically produce electricity at a higher 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:32.719 voltage And it's because they don't have the advantage of 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:36.520 salt water, which conducts electricity more effectively. So an electric 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:39.760 eel puts out an insanely strong shock, it's like six 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:40.520 hundred volts. 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:41.440 That is crazy. 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:44.039 So to put that in perspective, Atlantic torpedo rays can 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:47.000 generate shocks of over two hundred volts, which is enough 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:48.520 to power your microwave at home. 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:51.120 So six hundred volts, that's three microwave. 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:53.560 This is such a dumb tangent. But I read this 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:56.479 profile on Scott Adams, the guy who created Dilbert, and 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:58.920 he has three microwaves in his kitchen, stacked on top 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:01.320 of one another, and when the writer asked him why, 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:03.200 he said he needs them to make a lot of popcorn. 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:05.640 At the same time, he could power all of that 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:06.760 with a single eel. 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:09.039 I want to confess that you'd shared that fact with 0:07:09.120 --> 0:07:11.560 me a week or so ago, and I actually set 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:13.520 that up because I knew this was the perfect three 0:07:13.560 --> 0:07:14.400 microwave fact. 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:17.000 So back to the knife fish. 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:20.000 So we're taking the platypus bill, the shark gel, the 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:22.480 electric eel's ability to shock the snot out of something. 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:25.120 Maybe we keep that in our super animal's power pack. 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:26.720 I don't know. So I think we're off to a 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:27.720 strong start. 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:31.120 Definitely, but we're not done with our supercharged powers. That 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:33.320 may cover our electric powers, but we also need the 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:36.400 ability to harness the powers of Earth's magnetic field. Have 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:39.080 you ever wondered how some animals travel such crazy long 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:41.840 distances but managed to get where they're going with such accuracy? 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:43.400 Yeah, I've always been baffled by this. 0:07:43.560 --> 0:07:44.160 Yeah, me too. 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:46.960 And before smartphones, I used to get lost all the time. 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:48.920 Like I felt like every time I tried to navigate 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:51.800 my mom anywhere, we'd end up in Scranton and we 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:53.200 were never going to Scranton. 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:54.680 Is anyone ever going to Scranton? 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:57.560 Yeah? So it turns out several animals and evolved to 0:07:57.600 --> 0:08:00.560 detect Earth's magnetic field and then use it to navigate, 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:03.760 Like birds are the most obvious with migrations, but think 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:06.600 about creatures like the monarch butterfly, and then there are 0:08:06.640 --> 0:08:09.480 several species of fish, turtles, and plenty of others, all 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:12.440 using their internal compasses to determine where they're going. Yeah. 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:14.400 And I think it's funny that even animals that don't 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:17.680 travel long distances, like cows, will frequently be found standing 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:20.280 north to south, and that termites orient their mounds in 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:23.360 the same way. It's really bizarre, and it's funny when 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:25.680 you look at something like the monarch butterfly, which has 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:28.360 a brain smaller than the head of a pin. It's 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:32.040 still equipped with an internal compass and timekeeper. Actually, you 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:34.559 know what the strangest thing I learned researching this. Some 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.400 scientists think that many bird species are even capable of 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:39.120 seeing the Earth's magnetic field. 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:42.160 Well, I'm glad you mentioned birds, because there's actually a 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:44.200 migrating bird that I think we should use for where 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:46.600 we get our magnetic field detection sends from. 0:08:46.640 --> 0:08:47.599 Oh, yeah, which bird is that? 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:50.040 Well, there are lots of birds that make really impressive 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:53.160 flights each year, but I'm thinking of the bar tailed godwit. 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:56.760 So I have to admit I don't know anything about 0:08:56.800 --> 0:08:58.200 the bar tailed godwit. 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:00.760 Yeah, it takes a big man, I'd admit that. 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:03.160 Well, thank you, But listen to this. 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:06.440 The godwit actually flies from Alaska to New Zealand every 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:07.160 single year. 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:10.000 Alaska to New Zealand. That is not possible. 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:13.160 Well believe it. The trip is over seven thousand miles long, 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:16.280 or since we're measuring things in microwaves, that's about fourteen 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:18.520 point eight billion microwaves. Been. 0:09:19.120 --> 0:09:20.280 That's good science right there. 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:23.960 It's the longest NonStop flight observed among birds. So that 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:25.559 is such a crazy long trip. 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:27.600 I just can't even wrap my head around that. 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:29.480 So, yeah, this is definitely the bird we want to 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:31.520 borrow magnetic detection powers from. 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:34.199 Yeah, I'm glad we agree on that. So anything else 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:36.200 before we get to things like the best weapons and 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:38.960 the scariest features and immortality. 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:40.200 Well, I think we should probably create an animal that 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:43.040 has the ability to sense when danger is nearby or 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:46.520 something's going on around it, like a spider sense exactly. 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:49.480 So spiders have this amazingly fine tuned sense of touch 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:51.960 that helps them know what's happening all over their web. 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:54.880 So when something, even a tiny something, touches the web, 0:09:54.920 --> 0:09:58.640 a single hair on that spider could detect the smallest vibration. 0:09:59.080 --> 0:09:59.480 I like that. 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:01.800 There's even a a certain type of vibration that allows 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:04.120 a female spider to know that a suitor has arrived, 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:06.600 and she can send a certain jiggle back to him 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:08.280 to let him know it's time for one of those 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:11.400 upside down spider kisses, you know, like from the Toby 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:13.560 Maguire Kirsten Dunt's version of Spider Man. 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:14.400 The jiggle. 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:16.880 I like that, So I think I want to put 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:19.320 in a vote for a different creature for best spidy sense, 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:20.480 even though it's not a spider. 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:22.360 And what's that the alligator? 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:24.480 So this is something I didn't know before reading up 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:27.920 for this episode, but alligators have these tiny black dots 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:30.760 all over their faces and especially around their jaws. 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:32.439 And really only in the past couple. 0:10:32.360 --> 0:10:35.640 Decades of researchers started to better understand what these things are. 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:38.040 They're these little receptors. 0:10:37.440 --> 0:10:39.920 That helped the alligator sense movement from the other things 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:40.439 in the water. 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:43.440 That's so crazy. I always assume that they were just 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:46.240 freckles or blemishes, but now that you mention it, with 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:49.600 those receptors being around the jaw, it kind of explains 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:51.920 why we see alligators floating with just a little of 0:10:51.920 --> 0:10:53.079 their mouths above the water. 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:53.800 That's right. 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:57.000 So these receptors help them detect even the smallest disturbances 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:59.360 in the water, and they also help the alligator know 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:00.960 where the serviances came from. 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:08.360 That's so weird. So today's episode of Part Time Genius 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:11.720 is brought to you by Sale, a new esum service 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:14.880 app by the creators of Nord VPN who if you 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:17.000 know this show, you know I love and they have 0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:20.079 got a special deal for you. 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So our 0:13:57.520 --> 0:13:59.360 guest today is the host of one of our favorite 0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:02.160 YouTube channel, the Brain Scoop, which is hosted at the 0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:04.960 Field Museum in Chicago, and it just made too much 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:06.800 sense to have her on today because she's taught us 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:08.800 so much about crazy cool animals. 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:11.160 Emily Grassley, Welcome to Part Time Genius. 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:13.920 Hey, thank you for having me so. 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:16.480 Emily, I think you have one of my favorite job titles. 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:19.720 You're the Chief Curiosity Correspondent at the Field Museum, which 0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:21.520 kind of sounds like you just get to sit around 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:22.440 and ponder things. 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:24.320 So what exactly does this mean? 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:28.760 Yeah, so, you know, I love my job title, and 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:31.240 it's my primary role at the museum. Of course, is 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:35.440 you know, writing and producing and hosting these educational YouTube 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:39.240 videos about natural history and the work and research of 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:42.720 the Field Museum. But really, you know, it is kind 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:45.440 of my job to hunt around the museum and find 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:50.320 topical stories of interest and to help shape those science 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:52.480 stories in any kind of way that I can, so 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:54.640 I do a lot of public speaking and a lot 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:58.960 of outreach and a lot of community engagement type things for. 0:14:58.840 --> 0:14:59.680 The Field Museum. 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:11.600 And yeah, I mean I'm usually they're corresponding to my curiosities. 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:11.480 Which is so great. So this episode we're combining the 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:15.440 real abilities of real animals to build this ultimate animal superhero. 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:17.720 And we wanted to hear if you have any favorite 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:19.920 animal skills or talents that you could tell us about. 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:23.640 Oh my gosh, so many. I mean, you know, like 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:27.160 our humans, our real strong ability is our brain, right 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:33.000 like it, we're actually pretty limited in like physical prowess, 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:35.760 just innately. Of course, I'm not like talking about you know, 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:39.440 Olympic athletes, but the one good physical trait is that 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:43.480 being bipedal and with the respiratory system that we have, 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:46.280 we can run really long distances, right, Like we can 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:50.440 outrun almost any animal and endurance wise. 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:52.440 But that's not always got coaches. 0:15:54.160 --> 0:15:58.160 But you know, like we can't breathe underwater without creating 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:02.360 systems to accommodate that. We can't fly without creating systems 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:04.840 and machines to accommodate that. So I think it's just like, 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:07.720 look at any environment of the natural world, and it 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:13.080 has been colonized through evolutionary adaptation for some organism to 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:16.479 thrive no matter what it is. Like the most hostile 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:20.080 environment I'm talking about like deep sea hydrothermal vent, there's 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:23.880 still life down there. So when you're talking about like 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:27.800 cool animal adaptations, it's like you could really like combine 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:31.040 them all and you would have something that can you know, 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:35.880 exist at high altitude to be able to fly, breathe underwater. 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:38.680 It would be an extreme aphile, something that could live 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:42.080 in a hydrothermal vent area. It would be able to 0:16:42.120 --> 0:16:46.520 eat almost anything, digest anything around it, live forever. You know. 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.840 Like there's just like so many cool different animal adaptations. 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:50.920 I don't know if I could pick one. 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:53.000 I think I think she's gonna I think she's gonna 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:54.520 like this this episode. 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:57.200 Are there any favorite animals that you've been studying recently? 0:16:57.360 --> 0:16:59.320 There are just a group that I just learned about 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:03.479 that is blowing my mind. These are called uh solifuges 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:08.000 or camel spiders, and they're are racknets. They're not spiders, 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:11.440 but they are iraknids. They're in that group. They're they're 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:15.399 not scorpions, they're not spiders, but I was recently talking 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:18.800 to an expert who works on this group describing new species, 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:22.359 and she described them herself as the spawn of Satan. 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:28.800 Look it's because how you know, really how they look. 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:31.240 So they're they're pretty small. Actually, they're you know, six 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:34.240 to eight inches. They're not huge, but they have these huge, 0:17:34.400 --> 0:17:37.960 fleshy like maggot like aftomens. But these things can run 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:43.040 super fast, and they're nocturnal, so they are only active 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:46.720 at night, and they're usually found in desert like environments, 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:49.640 so if they're active in the day, they don't want 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:51.760 to be in the sun, and so they will chase 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:54.520 after people, not because they want to like attack the person. 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:57.320 They're like chasing you for your shadow. So people will 0:17:57.359 --> 0:17:58.800 see these and they'll see. 0:17:58.560 --> 0:17:59.400 It coming at them. 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:01.120 And they'll try to run away and it'll just keep 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:03.159 coming and they're like, what does this try to do? 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:06.720 But they also have their jaws are super interesting. It's 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:09.440 like two lobster claws on the front of their face 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:14.040 and they independently move. So like, these things are pretty 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:18.040 pretty amazing. They're pretty terrifying, and they're just really cool 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:18.880