WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: How Does Cuttlefish Camouflage Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff. I'm Lauren vogel Bomb, and today's episode is

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<v Speaker 1>another classic from our archives. I'm fascinated by cephalopods, the

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<v Speaker 1>category of animals that includes creatures like squid, octopuses, and cuttlefish,

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<v Speaker 1>so I'm always excited when new research pops up about them.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's classic deals with exactly that, Hey brain Stuff, Lauren

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<v Speaker 1>vogel Bomb. Here cuttlefish. These cephalopods, known for their stunning

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<v Speaker 1>ability to instantly change color and texture to blend into

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<v Speaker 1>their surroundings, have another newly discovered trick. Researchers have found

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<v Speaker 1>that these squidgy creatures can freeze their camouflage palette and

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<v Speaker 1>lock it in place for up to an hour without

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<v Speaker 1>any energy consuming input from their main nervous system. That

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<v Speaker 1>superpower allows them to hold their disguise for long periods

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<v Speaker 1>to avoid being detected and thus to avoid being eaten.

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<v Speaker 1>It also helps them snatch their own prey, as they

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<v Speaker 1>can remain essentially invisible as they lie in wait. The finding,

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<v Speaker 1>published in the journal I Science, not only reveals yet

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<v Speaker 1>another clever strategy of these ocean floor dwelling masters of disguise.

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<v Speaker 1>It also lends further guidance for engineers hoping to borrow

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<v Speaker 1>from the animal's tricks to develop new technologies, such as

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<v Speaker 1>maps that can spring into three dimensions and soft bodied

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<v Speaker 1>robots that could, say, wrap around a human leg to

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<v Speaker 1>provide support. As with many discoveries, scientists stumbled upon this

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<v Speaker 1>one nearly by accident. The researchers were working at the

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<v Speaker 1>Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. They were trying

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<v Speaker 1>to trace how the cuttlefish's nervous system directs its skin

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<v Speaker 1>to transform its three D texture within seconds to blend

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<v Speaker 1>into the background of say kelp or a rock. When

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<v Speaker 1>they sliced through one of the two main nerves that

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<v Speaker 1>runs along the side of a cuttle fish, they expected

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<v Speaker 1>the animal would lose its camouflage on the corresponding side

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<v Speaker 1>of that nerve, but instead, the three dimensional texture provided

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<v Speaker 1>by nodes on the skin of the cuttle fish, called papala,

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<v Speaker 1>stayed intact. We spoke with Trevor Wardill, co author of

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<v Speaker 1>the study and a neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge.

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<v Speaker 1>He said, it was really quite surprising in fact, when

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<v Speaker 1>we first saw it. Generally, when you cut input to

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<v Speaker 1>a muscle. It just relaxes and that's the end of it.

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<v Speaker 1>We thought we did something wrong, but repeat takes of

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<v Speaker 1>the procedures showed the phenomenon was no fluke the animals,

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<v Speaker 1>by the way, we're not killed by the procedure and

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<v Speaker 1>we're able to continue swimming and feeding in a tank

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<v Speaker 1>at the MBL facility. The team's finding is the first

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<v Speaker 1>time this kind of lock or catch muscle, as it's known,

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<v Speaker 1>has been detected in any cephalopod. Wardell says they believe

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<v Speaker 1>it's similar to a kind of locking mechanism used by

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<v Speaker 1>clams and muscles to seal shut without expending energy. For

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<v Speaker 1>the cuttle fish, which, as any wild animal, relies on

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<v Speaker 1>every calorie it consumes to survive, having a way to

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<v Speaker 1>maintain its disguise without constantly pumping out energy is an

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<v Speaker 1>ingenious survival strategy. Like an e reader that only uses

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<v Speaker 1>energy when you turn the page, you expend way less

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<v Speaker 1>energy than with a tablet that's constantly refreshing its screen.

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<v Speaker 1>The researchers suspect that squid, which hang out in the

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<v Speaker 1>ocean's upper water columns, may have the same ability. Squid

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<v Speaker 1>don't transform the texture of their skin as cuttlefish do

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<v Speaker 1>likely because the increase in drag would make such rough

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<v Speaker 1>surfaces more of a liability than an advantage. But these

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<v Speaker 1>cephalopods blend in by shifting the ear doesn't quality of

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<v Speaker 1>their skin, effectively changing how the sun's light reflects off

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<v Speaker 1>of their bodies. Observations have shown that squid even use

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<v Speaker 1>their eardescence to hypnotize prey such as crabs, in their sites.

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<v Speaker 1>In investigating the cuttlefish's neurotransmitters, they found striking similarities to

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<v Speaker 1>neural circuits used by squid to manipulate their eardescence, so

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<v Speaker 1>they suspect squid may have a similar ability to lock

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<v Speaker 1>in a certain air doescent to look. Wardell said the

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<v Speaker 1>same nerve controls appear to control papelae in cuttlefish and

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<v Speaker 1>aridescence in squid. We suspect they must have a common

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<v Speaker 1>ancestor for this control system, but the jury is still out.

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<v Speaker 1>Ordered that scientists have uncovered yet another neat cephalopod trick

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<v Speaker 1>is exciting news to people like James Pickle, and Assistant

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<v Speaker 1>Professor in the Partment of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics

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<v Speaker 1>at the University of Pennsylvania. Pickle's research group recently borrowed

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<v Speaker 1>from previous studies on the cephalopods to mimic the cuttlefish's

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<v Speaker 1>quick changing textural camouflage in synthetic form using silicon and

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<v Speaker 1>fiber mesh rings. He envisions building on the cuttlefish's dynamic

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<v Speaker 1>texture changing ability to generate a GPS map that could

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<v Speaker 1>lie flat in a vehicle and then, upon command, spring

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<v Speaker 1>into three dimensions to offer a vivid, fully contoured view

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<v Speaker 1>of the driver's route. Pickle also predicts endless medical applications

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<v Speaker 1>that could borrow from the cephalopod, including soft robots that

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<v Speaker 1>could instantly bend and conform to mold around a patient's

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<v Speaker 1>injury or even envelope and support a beating heart. To

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<v Speaker 1>accomplish those visions, Pickle foreseas taking inspiration and guidance from

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<v Speaker 1>the cuttlefish and then advancing it. He conceives, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>of developing individual artificial papillae that could not only be

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<v Speaker 1>activated or deactivated to match surrounding, but also be prompted

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<v Speaker 1>to take on a specific shape to create a surface

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<v Speaker 1>that's even more fine tuned. The latest research on the

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<v Speaker 1>cuttle fish was funded by the Air Force Office of

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<v Speaker 1>scientific research. Wardille points out that the military's interest in

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<v Speaker 1>the animals goes beyond camouflage. He said, they're also interested

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<v Speaker 1>because of material science. You can imagine you can take

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<v Speaker 1>a very flat structure and by activating it fom a

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<v Speaker 1>three dimensional shape. That ability could be really helpful if

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<v Speaker 1>you need to transport a structure flat to a location

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<v Speaker 1>and then expanded out. Pickle said, nature has already begun

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<v Speaker 1>the design process, so we don't have to start at zero,

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<v Speaker 1>but ultimately we want to go beyond what even these

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<v Speaker 1>amazing animals can do. Today's episode was originally produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tristan McNeil and is based on the article Cuddlefish Masters

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<v Speaker 1>of Camouflage have a newly discovered superpower on how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works dot Com, written by Amanda Onion. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production of I Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works dot Com and is produced by Tyler Clay. Four

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