WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: Marvel’s Swarm

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lamb. And this is the

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<v Speaker 2>Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow

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<v Speaker 2>Your Mind, focusing in no mythical creatures, ideas and monsters

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<v Speaker 2>in time. I'd like to briefly return to the world

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<v Speaker 2>of Marvel Comics to discuss a rather unique supervillain, Swarm,

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<v Speaker 2>as described in the book Monsters Creatures of the Marvel Universe,

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<v Speaker 2>explored by Kelly Knox. Swarm is just your average former

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<v Speaker 2>Nazi scientist and acupuncturist consumed by a swarm of radioactive

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<v Speaker 2>bees at a meteorite crash, transforming him into a sentient

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<v Speaker 2>swarm of bees. He manifests as a man shaped swarm

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<v Speaker 2>with stylish purple gloves and a ragged purple cape. The

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<v Speaker 2>character dates back to nineteen seventy seven, created by Bill

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<v Speaker 2>Mantillo and John Byrne in the Pages of the Champions,

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<v Speaker 2>and I think it's safe to assume that this one

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<v Speaker 2>was inspired by the old Suit of Bees stunt, as

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<v Speaker 2>well as the curious properties of you social bees, because

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<v Speaker 2>that's the really interesting thing about the whole proposition here.

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<v Speaker 2>The former Fritz von Meyer again, now known as swarm,

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<v Speaker 2>is said to exert control over the bees, and his

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<v Speaker 2>consciousness is shared among the thousands of bees that make

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<v Speaker 2>up his bee bod. It's a fantastic concept, but it

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<v Speaker 2>also touches on the fact that bees do exert a

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<v Speaker 2>form of emergant intelligence and are often discussed as a

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<v Speaker 2>super organism and as a cognitive entity. Swarms exhibit properties

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<v Speaker 2>that are not shared by the individual organism, but are

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<v Speaker 2>rather exhibited by the larger group, such as the ability

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<v Speaker 2>of a beehive to thermoregulate. Is pointed out by a

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<v Speaker 2>Kadam at All in of Biofilms and Beehives published in

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<v Speaker 2>the journal Biofilm in twenty twenty two two. When temperatures drop,

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<v Speaker 2>bees move in closer to better share their heat with

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<v Speaker 2>adult bees on the outside, shivering to reduce additional heat,

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<v Speaker 2>and then moving into the interior of the mass to

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<v Speaker 2>warm younger bees that lack the ability. As the title

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<v Speaker 2>of the paper implies, the authors compare bee swarms to biofilms,

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<v Speaker 2>multicellular communities of bacteria or fungi. Marvel swarm kind of

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<v Speaker 2>stands as an attempt to take the inhuman intelligence of

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<v Speaker 2>bees and put it in a human wrapping, something that

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<v Speaker 2>is fantastic and certainly fun, but in a strange way

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<v Speaker 2>a little easier to fathom. While it's impossible to truly

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<v Speaker 2>know what it is to be another organism, much less

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<v Speaker 2>a honey bee or a swarm of honeybees, fantastic treatments

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<v Speaker 2>such as Swarm allow us to imagine our way a

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<v Speaker 2>little bit closer to the reality. Tune in for additional

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<v Speaker 2>episodes of The Monster Fact each week. As always, you

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<v Speaker 2>can email us at contact as Stuff to bliw your

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<v Speaker 2>Mind dot com.

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