1 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb, and I'm Julie Douglas. Julie, 4 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:23,000 Speaker 1: have you ever become so angry or threatened that you've exploded, 5 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: like literally exploded? No? No, no, but you've seen it before, 6 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 1: at least in cartoons. I've seen it a lot in cartoons, 7 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: And because my daughter plays Angry Birds and especially the 8 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,599 Speaker 1: Star Wars versions of it, I'm very aware of one 9 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:47,480 Speaker 1: character called Bomb and when enraged, the feather on top 10 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 1: of its head we'll start to smoke and then it'll 11 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 1: just detonate. Yeah, this is glorious explosion. You know, I 12 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: hadn't really thought about about video games as much going 13 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: into this, but us, there are a lot of exploding 14 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:06,120 Speaker 1: characters in games. Um, little bomb men, I seem to recall, 15 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: and oh, of course, bomber Man. It's all about characters 16 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:11,319 Speaker 1: getting blown up. But but yeah, there's a lot of 17 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: exploding characters going on in your in your cartoons and 18 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:17,480 Speaker 1: your video games. Um. One example that always comes to 19 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: my mind in John Carpenter's film Big Troubling Little China. 20 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: There's a part when the city of this warrior sorcerer 21 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: named Thunder of the Three Storms, and he discovers that 22 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 1: his his evil master lo Pan has been slain uh 23 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: there in the caverns and chambers of his underground uh stronghold, 24 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:38,040 Speaker 1: and so he gets so mad that he just puffs 25 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:41,840 Speaker 1: up and just explodes with anger uh in an attempt 26 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: I guess to to take out invaders. But it's a 27 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: you know, it's a gory, kind of goofy moment, but uh, 28 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: it's actually a real thing. It is a real thing, right, 29 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: because that was a fictional account, and yet in nature 30 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: we have some very real instances of this happening, which 31 00:01:57,680 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: kind of leads the whole idea that the truth is 32 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: truly into in fiction. And we've tried in this territory before. 33 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: And I'm thinking about c cucumbers, right, because we said 34 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: that if you ever get in an undersea bar fight 35 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: with a c cucumber, beware because you will probably have 36 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:15,800 Speaker 1: its guts pummeling your face because they're ejected from the 37 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,799 Speaker 1: c cucumbers an us. And if you were to get 38 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: in a fight with say Harry Frog the t robust us, 39 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: well then watch out because they can actually make shifts 40 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 1: from their own bones, which they puncture their way out. 41 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: The shivs the bones out of the frog's toepads to 42 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,079 Speaker 1: create these claws. Yeah, I mean, you see it this 43 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: time and time again. Whatever the weird grotesque body horror 44 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:45,840 Speaker 1: type thing is that we can dream up in our 45 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 1: fictional world and our pop culture, nature has already evolved 46 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:53,080 Speaker 1: it to a to a terrifying degree. And uh, and 47 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: indeed that's what we see with autopsis, the biological act 48 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:01,240 Speaker 1: by which an animal, specifically an insect, ruptures their own 49 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: internal glands and organs with enough force to cause their 50 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: insights to literally burst out through their exoskeletons. It's a 51 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: purely muscular exercise caused by deliberate contractions around in gorged tissue, 52 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:20,240 Speaker 1: and it creates absolute mayhem. Now, it's worth noting the 53 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 1: insects that practice autithosis do so out of something called 54 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 1: youth social organizations. So this kind of organization is predicated 55 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: on three things. Brood cooperation, overlapping generations within a colony 56 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: of adults, and a division of labor into reproductive and 57 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: non reproctive reproductive groups. And so these set the conditions 58 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: for this kind of self sacrifice. And the examples that 59 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: we'll talk about today. All right now, before we get 60 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: into the exploding eurosocial insects, m I'm just gonna talk 61 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: quickly here about chemical weapons in in animals, chemical weapons 62 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: specifically insects in general. Now, number of animals out there 63 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: use chemical weapons against their adversaries. H And as we've 64 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:10,240 Speaker 1: discussed before, a lot of human chemical weapons, also human 65 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: spices and other agents are simply nature's chemical weapons that 66 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: we've hijacked for our own ends. Some animals synthesized toxins, 67 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,360 Speaker 1: while others extract and modified toxins from their environment or 68 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 1: their diet. So just looking at insects and arachnets, you know, 69 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 1: obviously have we have scorpions, we have spiders, we have 70 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: lost but we then we also have some stranger examples here, 71 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 1: and they're like foam grasshoppers that excrete foul bubbles from 72 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: their armpits. And uh and of course we always have 73 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: to mention the bombardier beetle. And this is the one 74 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 1: that heats, that sprays a heated exploding acid from its 75 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 1: anus where it has to two chemicals that is stored 76 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:53,599 Speaker 1: in separate chambers. Then it fires them into a reaction chamber. Uh, 77 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,599 Speaker 1: and then this is where you have enzymes breaking down 78 00:04:56,839 --> 00:05:01,039 Speaker 1: H two O two, releasing free oxygen um to oxygenate 79 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 1: the chemicals, and it just creates this explosive, hot excretion 80 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: that this beautiful chemical weapon to spray right in the 81 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,080 Speaker 1: face of an attacker. When we come to it's it's 82 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 1: in the social insects, zero social insects. This is where 83 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:20,480 Speaker 1: we see, uh, the evolution of far more sublime, far 84 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:24,479 Speaker 1: more terrifying weaponry. Yeah, because foaming armpits, that's that is 85 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:27,560 Speaker 1: pretty great. That's but that's more like a fireworks display, 86 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:31,480 Speaker 1: whereas the examples of audi posas are more like the 87 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: fireworks are the exploding of the ones self, right, offering 88 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:40,240 Speaker 1: of oneself as the fireworks displays. So let's meet Borneo's 89 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:45,040 Speaker 1: Campa notice cylindricus. This is one of several ant species 90 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: known as the comic caze ants, and Jonathan Neil, An, 91 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 1: Associate professor of entomology at Purdue University and author of 92 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: the textbook Living With Insects, writes on his blog that quote, 93 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 1: when exposed to European ants in the lab, the exploding 94 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: Cappa notice ants would grasp the invader by the leg 95 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,960 Speaker 1: or the antenna, press its body to the head of 96 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 1: the invader and squeeze it's abdomen until the abdomen ruptured, 97 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: spilling glue over the eyes and mouth parts of the invader. Aunt. 98 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: That is just utterly terrifying. Like I think of any 99 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:26,599 Speaker 1: grotesque moment in a monster movie that I've seen, and 100 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: I don't think anything comes close to that, Like nothing, 101 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: And I've some thought to this like that, Like nobody really, uh, 102 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:38,560 Speaker 1: I mean, horror horror filmmakers out there, look look to 103 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 1: the insect world, because there's some there's some stuff here 104 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: that just has not even been plunged. Yeah, it's reminiscent 105 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 1: of xenomorphs, at least some scenes with xenomorph right, because 106 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 1: it's got the gluey kind of aspect to it. But 107 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:53,640 Speaker 1: let's discuss what it might be like to have this 108 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: faithful of yellow goo, which which is the actual term, 109 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: scientific term from the campanas, because it is chalk, a 110 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: block with chemical irritants and strong adhesive. So it delivers 111 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:10,320 Speaker 1: this kind of one too punch of chemistry and really 112 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: stops the invading ants and its tracks, right, because if 113 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:16,280 Speaker 1: your mouth is stuffed full of this glue, you're not 114 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:18,520 Speaker 1: going to be able and your you know, your your 115 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 1: arms and your legs or rather just legs, or you're 116 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 1: not gonna be able to do much damage. Right, You're 117 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: going to pretty much freeze in your track. Yeah, you've 118 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: just been completely incapacitated by this noxious concoction. Yeah. Now, 119 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:34,400 Speaker 1: the camping, Honest, they are pretty touchy. They're known to 120 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: self detonate far from the colony or when lightly touched 121 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 1: with forceps in the lab well, probably completely terrifying some 122 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: giant metal ant coming down at him right in times indeed, 123 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 1: and researchers positive that the yellow goo initially help the 124 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 1: ants break down the microbes and microbial byproducts they fed on, 125 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: like from one guy, right, But then it evolved into 126 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 1: this sort of exploding adaptation. And so if you look 127 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: at the mandibular gland in these ants, which are commonly 128 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 1: used for digestive enzymes in most ant species, you will 129 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 1: see that it is greatly expanded in campanadas, and the 130 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: glands are so large that they actually extend into the 131 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: abdominal cavity, pretty much filling it. Yeah. I'm reminded a 132 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:30,240 Speaker 1: bit of our episode on the Electric Eel in which 133 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: you have you have tissue that evolved initially for for 134 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 1: one purpose, uh, namely having to do with the communication 135 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:40,600 Speaker 1: and sensing, and then as it becomes weaponized, it just 136 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: fills up most of the fish. Yeah, and and you know, 137 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: humans don't necessarily have this allthing. You can argue that 138 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: some people's uh microbes, get microbes contribute to such a stench. 139 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 1: On the other end, when when releasing platos, that it 140 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: could be a fence mechanism. Yeah, and I guess you 141 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:05,800 Speaker 1: could also make an argument it's kind of like the 142 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: you have, like somebody who's really into karate or something like, 143 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 1: so their whole life becomes about like just honing their 144 00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:17,560 Speaker 1: body and their behavior towards this one offensive, defensive purpose. 145 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:20,319 Speaker 1: It's kind of like what we see on an evolutionary 146 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:24,199 Speaker 1: scale with some of these examples. All right, let's explore 147 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:28,640 Speaker 1: termite world. Here. We are talking about some four thousand 148 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:33,719 Speaker 1: termite species, and they exist on every continent except Antarctica. 149 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: But scientists have identified only about half of the ones 150 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:39,800 Speaker 1: they think that are out there, and most of those 151 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: species common names, and little is really known about their 152 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:46,840 Speaker 1: biology or behavior. In fact, several years ago, uh DNA 153 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:50,199 Speaker 1: testing revealed that rather than belonging to their own order. 154 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 1: Termites should be classified as a cockroach family. Huh. And 155 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:57,240 Speaker 1: that's interesting because you, I mean, I think most people 156 00:09:57,240 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 1: tend to think of them sort of in the same 157 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: camp as an ant, or at least very similar to 158 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 1: the ant, you know, with the social set up royalty 159 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 1: in place division of labor, right, indeed that the uth 160 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: social organization there now. Tracy V. Wilson, you may know 161 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:15,840 Speaker 1: her from stuff you miss in the history class. She 162 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: actually has a great article called how Termites Work on 163 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: how stuff Works dot com, and she describes them vastly 164 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: quote in a lot of ways, termites are a paradox. 165 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:28,880 Speaker 1: They're strong enough to eat a house, but their bodies 166 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: are soft, delicate, and prone to drying out. Soldiers whose 167 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,079 Speaker 1: sole job is to defend the colony can't even feed themselves. 168 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:39,360 Speaker 1: Adult termites develop wings so they can leave the colony 169 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 1: and find a new home, helping the termite population grow. 170 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:46,200 Speaker 1: But winged termites are terrible flyers, and most don't survive 171 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:50,280 Speaker 1: the journey. And yet they do right, and they do 172 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,880 Speaker 1: so as working as as a cooperative unit, and they 173 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 1: ensure that their nests are moist so that their bodies 174 00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: don't dry out, they build shelters protection from the environment, 175 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: including predators, and as they slowly and methodically carry back 176 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:07,400 Speaker 1: bits of waste and dirt to use as building materials, 177 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:12,679 Speaker 1: they munch on wood for sustenance. Hence a homeowner's terror 178 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 1: at discovering that they've got termites in their midst. Yeah. 179 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:19,560 Speaker 1: I I highly recommend anyone interested in termites to to 180 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:22,679 Speaker 1: read Tracy's article because it's a great house stuff works article, 181 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:25,840 Speaker 1: and it really, I mean, it dives into the complex 182 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 1: and really beautiful biology of these creatures that we so 183 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:33,480 Speaker 1: often just dismissed as a mere past. Just like termites. 184 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:35,680 Speaker 1: Don't want them, don't want to know about them. But 185 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:38,120 Speaker 1: they're really kind of lovely in their own way. I 186 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:41,280 Speaker 1: wish they would need our houses. But they're pretty great. Yes, 187 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: they're lovely, and but they're they're quite formidable. But it 188 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:48,280 Speaker 1: turns out that they can actually be pretty spectacular on 189 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 1: an individual level as well. Yes, indeed, because we do 190 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:56,839 Speaker 1: see termites a practice Autopsis um Autopsis evolved independently actually, 191 00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 1: and of course a number of species, and we can 192 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:03,720 Speaker 1: actually best fathom the evolutionary process by noting the varying 193 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:09,319 Speaker 1: levels of lethality and toxicity in the various examples. According 194 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:13,439 Speaker 1: to the journal Nature, some termites simply defecate on their enemies, 195 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:15,080 Speaker 1: all right, so it's just a matter of just just 196 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 1: poop on anything that's that's a threat to you and 197 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 1: the family. But others adapted to shower their enemies with 198 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,679 Speaker 1: filth by squeezing, squeezing their abdominal muscles till the excrement 199 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:28,960 Speaker 1: bursts out through thin portions of the abdominal wall, so 200 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:32,719 Speaker 1: that the next level in pooping on your enemies, right, 201 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:37,840 Speaker 1: But the the ultimate in this, the the peak of 202 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:41,200 Speaker 1: the evolutionary mountain, as we as we thus far can 203 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:47,720 Speaker 1: grasp it, is the termite neo capit Terminis tarracia, and 204 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:52,480 Speaker 1: UH Tarracia stands at the forefront of the Autothis arms 205 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 1: race UH the species here they grow abdominal sacks of 206 00:12:56,640 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 1: toxic blue crystals grown throughout their lie and these are 207 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:05,959 Speaker 1: the chemical weapons that they use to defend the colony. 208 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:08,840 Speaker 1: That's right. They were discovered in two thousand and twelve 209 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:12,240 Speaker 1: and French Guiana, where researchers said, hey, what is that 210 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,480 Speaker 1: the kind of blue sack there? And what is making 211 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 1: it blue? And by the way, it is copper rich 212 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 1: proteins that give it that blue hue. And so what 213 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 1: the researchers found is that the older the termite, the 214 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:28,960 Speaker 1: bigger this kind of backpack or ruck sack that they 215 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:34,160 Speaker 1: carried on their backs of this blue crystal. And there's 216 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: a reason for this, by the way, the older the bigger, 217 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 1: and we'll get into that, but let's talk about this sack. 218 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:43,560 Speaker 1: Because these crystals are created by specialized glands located on 219 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 1: top of the salivary glands, and so during aggressive encounters, 220 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 1: the termite ruptures its body wall, releasing the contents of 221 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:56,000 Speaker 1: the blue pouch, which mixes with salivary fluid to form 222 00:13:56,679 --> 00:14:01,200 Speaker 1: a chemical so toxic that it paralyzes or kills most 223 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:05,440 Speaker 1: of the invading termites that touch it. So it's it's 224 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 1: so much more dramatic and effective than just pooping on 225 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: your enemy, right, because this is kind of like taking 226 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:14,640 Speaker 1: a stick of dynamite to a powder keg and saying, hey, 227 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:17,960 Speaker 1: take that. Yeah, I mean if they just explode into 228 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: blue toxic good, I love it. Yeah. In an interview 229 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:26,040 Speaker 1: with Nature, Olav Repel and evolutionary Biologists says the sophistication 230 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 1: of this is remarkable. We have never seen an external 231 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:32,040 Speaker 1: pouch like this before. That adds one substance that needs 232 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:35,360 Speaker 1: to be mixed with another substance. Now, use the analogy 233 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:37,480 Speaker 1: of you know, just running out there and touching the 234 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:40,600 Speaker 1: touching the fire to the dynamite and explodes and explosive 235 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:44,800 Speaker 1: and dangerous tasks. So so who do you who do you? 236 00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:47,120 Speaker 1: Who do you give this task to? Write? Uh? And 237 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:50,080 Speaker 1: that's the beauty of this. We mentioned that those the 238 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:54,520 Speaker 1: toxic blue crystal sacks, they grow throughout the creature's life. 239 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:57,760 Speaker 1: So by the time the termite is elderly, it has 240 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:02,240 Speaker 1: it has reached maximum blue crystal bloat. And at the 241 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 1: same time, it's it's it's it's run out of other 242 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 1: uses in the colony. It's mandibles are dull and useless. Uh, 243 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: it's not gonna be able to go out there and 244 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:12,720 Speaker 1: really get in the fight. It's not really you know, 245 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:14,760 Speaker 1: going to be able to help out much working around 246 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 1: the colony. Now it has one purpose, and that is 247 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 1: to march out there with its bloated, over filled sacks 248 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 1: of explosive goo materials and to indeed explode, yes that's right, 249 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:32,120 Speaker 1: and defend the colony. Right with this kind of suicidal, rupturing. Yeah, 250 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:34,480 Speaker 1: I mean it's the perfect you know, well often come 251 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 1: back to to just the the inhuman beauty of the 252 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 1: insect world, you know, just completely devoid of of of 253 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:44,160 Speaker 1: most of our our human qualities. There's a line in 254 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:46,920 Speaker 1: uh from Jeff Goldbloom's character in The Fly where he 255 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,720 Speaker 1: talks about that the absence of insect politics. You don't 256 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:53,640 Speaker 1: find politics in the insect world. You just find this 257 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:58,640 Speaker 1: this brutal and and just beautiful economy, UH at play 258 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 1: here where in this case, we have these old termines, 259 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,200 Speaker 1: we have no other use but to go out there 260 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:06,040 Speaker 1: and explode. And they do it that they do it 261 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:10,400 Speaker 1: perfectly to make sure the survival of the genetic uh 262 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:13,800 Speaker 1: packets are in place right for future generations. Yeah, it's 263 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 1: all about the greater good of the colony, not the individual. Yeah. 264 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 1: So we're gonna we're gonna just talk about exploding toads 265 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 1: a little bit. This is a this is a slight 266 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 1: deviation from the topic, but it's a tantalizing mystery that 267 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 1: involves exploding animals. So I think it's it's totally open, 268 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:34,040 Speaker 1: open game. So back in two thousand five, what you 269 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:37,560 Speaker 1: had happened is that you had an exploding toad epidemic 270 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:41,800 Speaker 1: in northern Europe. More than a thousand toad corpses were 271 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 1: discovered in a in a pond and an upscaled neighborhood 272 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 1: of Hamburg, Good Germany and over the border in Denmark. Um. 273 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: So everyone who was curious what's going on is there's 274 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:54,480 Speaker 1: this is some disease of the toads. It's causing them 275 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: to explode. Uh, is someone exploding our toads? What is happening? Well? 276 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: Frank and whose Mun, a Berlin veterinarian who collected and 277 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:06,720 Speaker 1: tested specimens at the Hamburg pond, said that it appeared 278 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:12,240 Speaker 1: that clever crows had pecked into the toads with their 279 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:16,960 Speaker 1: beaks between the amphibian's chest and the abdominal cavity. And 280 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:19,719 Speaker 1: what happened is that the toad puffed itself up as 281 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:25,720 Speaker 1: a natural defense mechanism. But because these crows had, you know, 282 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:30,000 Speaker 1: effectively removed the liver. Uh, there was a hole in 283 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:32,639 Speaker 1: the toad's body and the blood vessels and the lungs 284 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:36,600 Speaker 1: burst and then other organs oozed out, so that the 285 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:39,000 Speaker 1: toad puffs up as a defensive measure. But the crow 286 00:17:39,119 --> 00:17:42,240 Speaker 1: just reaches in there gets the part at once, even 287 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:45,600 Speaker 1: the nice juicy bit like a game of operation. And 288 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:47,720 Speaker 1: then and then the toads left. They're trying to puff 289 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 1: up and defend itself and instead just splurting its insides 290 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:52,600 Speaker 1: out through its hole. You know, I'm seeing a future 291 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:54,919 Speaker 1: House to Works article, maybe sort of something like the 292 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:59,719 Speaker 1: Five Unexpected Fates of Toads, because we've also talked about, 293 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:02,959 Speaker 1: well we're talking about frogs raining from the sky because 294 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:04,840 Speaker 1: of water spouts out in the ocean, these sort of 295 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:09,400 Speaker 1: tornadoes in the water. Yeah. Outside of a scientific understanding 296 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:13,400 Speaker 1: of the world and a skeptical approach to two weird happenings, 297 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:15,879 Speaker 1: you would easily think that the toad is like ground 298 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:19,680 Speaker 1: zero for the supernatural, like something weird happens. They're gonna 299 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:22,360 Speaker 1: rain from the sky, They're gonna they're gonna they're gonna 300 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:26,040 Speaker 1: swell up and explode. Which is which is playing with 301 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:31,159 Speaker 1: our toads as always better than our toes. All right, 302 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:33,919 Speaker 1: so let's you know, we've got a few minutes here. 303 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:36,320 Speaker 1: Let's call the robot over then, and indeed do a 304 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:41,359 Speaker 1: couple of listener mails. Alright, this one comes to us 305 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: from Larry. Larry says I was listening to your episode 306 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:45,880 Speaker 1: on the weight of the soul, and I just wanted 307 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: to make a comment. Now, Professor Gary Nam's theory is 308 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 1: completely logical if you just have an open mind for 309 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:54,840 Speaker 1: a minute. That takes us to the heart of my comment. 310 00:18:55,119 --> 00:18:57,960 Speaker 1: It seems that you, guys may be letting your views, 311 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:01,679 Speaker 1: which seem to be more atheistic and agnostic, get in 312 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,320 Speaker 1: the way of looking at this logically. Whether or not 313 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:07,920 Speaker 1: your soul goes onto anything after this is beside the point, 314 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:11,200 Speaker 1: the point being that that what you call a soul now, 315 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:13,800 Speaker 1: don't get it caught caught up in the name being 316 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:16,480 Speaker 1: a religious reference, is just the collection of energy that 317 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:19,440 Speaker 1: makes up life. Now, having that in mind, Professor Nam 318 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:21,840 Speaker 1: makes all the sense in the world. Thanks guys. I 319 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 1: love the show and I will always listen. Uh indeed, 320 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:28,880 Speaker 1: that's you know, Geary Nam's research I did find really 321 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: fascinating because he kind of again the difficulty of approaching 322 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: the idea of the soul and trying to study it 323 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:39,399 Speaker 1: or theorize about it scientifically. He uh, you know, he 324 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: over overcomes that to a certain extent, at least in 325 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:46,040 Speaker 1: the in the theoretical uh phase. And and I do 326 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:48,680 Speaker 1: I do buy a lot of what he's putting out there. 327 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:50,480 Speaker 1: He kind of loses me the more he gets into 328 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:54,160 Speaker 1: into black holes. But but I like the general approach. 329 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 1: I see, there's a brilliant thought experiment. But again, the 330 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:01,600 Speaker 1: problem with it is the problem of science and the 331 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 1: metaphysical which is is very difficult to get actual data. 332 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:10,440 Speaker 1: And uh, therein lies the correct of the problem exactly. 333 00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:13,399 Speaker 1: All right, here's another one. This one comes to us 334 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 1: from Dave. Dave says, you probably don't have time to 335 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:20,040 Speaker 1: reply or maybe even read this and its entirety. Well, well, 336 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:23,119 Speaker 1: we're about to prove you wrong. Uh No. Nevertheless, I 337 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:25,320 Speaker 1: thought I should send you both a message just to 338 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:27,280 Speaker 1: let you know how much I love your podcast. I've 339 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:29,600 Speaker 1: been an avid podcast listener for a few years now 340 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:32,400 Speaker 1: when I stumbled across yours. Until then, I've been listening 341 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:35,240 Speaker 1: to s g U and The Reality Check. When I 342 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:36,960 Speaker 1: started listening to Stuff to Blew Your Mind, I was 343 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:39,480 Speaker 1: impressed with the format of the show and the sharing 344 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:42,520 Speaker 1: of science was done in a fun, never belittling way. 345 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:45,479 Speaker 1: I really enjoy the rapport between the both of you 346 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,080 Speaker 1: and look forward to my time so I can listen 347 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:50,640 Speaker 1: to a few Stuff to Blew Your Mind episodes. I'm 348 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:53,640 Speaker 1: currently going through your backlog and I'm about halfway through 349 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:57,159 Speaker 1: a little more the Seven Deadliest. Anyway, I just felt 350 00:20:57,680 --> 00:20:59,879 Speaker 1: compelled to drop you this message and let you know 351 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 1: that I really enjoy and appreciate the show and wanted 352 00:21:02,359 --> 00:21:05,200 Speaker 1: to thank you both and everyone else involved for putting 353 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:07,720 Speaker 1: together such a great show on a regular basis. Thanks. 354 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:11,520 Speaker 1: Thanks Dave. That's that's very nice. And Seven Deadly's one 355 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:14,040 Speaker 1: of my favorites. Yeah, that that was a really fun 356 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,119 Speaker 1: series to do, and uh yeah, I would really like 357 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:20,080 Speaker 1: to uh maybe re explore that material in the future, 358 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:22,440 Speaker 1: maybe in video form, who knows. Yeah. And also I 359 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 1: want to take this opportunity to tip my hat to 360 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:28,000 Speaker 1: our producer, Noel Brown, to who puts us together every 361 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:30,200 Speaker 1: week and get us out to you guys. Indeed, we 362 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:33,880 Speaker 1: couldn't do without no all right. Hey. In the meantime, 363 00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:35,920 Speaker 1: you know where to go. Go to Stuff to Blow 364 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 1: your Mind dot com. That's where you'll find all of 365 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:41,080 Speaker 1: our podcast episodes, videos, blog posts, and be sure to 366 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 1: check out the landing page for this episode if you 367 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,440 Speaker 1: want to find a links to other great content, including 368 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,479 Speaker 1: that How Stuff Works article by Tracy Wilson and if 369 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:51,800 Speaker 1: you have exploding thoughts you'd like to share with us, 370 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:53,960 Speaker 1: you can do so by emailing us that blow the 371 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:58,919 Speaker 1: mind at how stuff works dot com. For more on 372 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 1: this and thousands of their topics, visit how staff works 373 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:08,080 Speaker 1: dot com.