1 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from housetop dot com. 2 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: Hey wasn't the stuff to blow your mind? My name 3 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:20,479 Speaker 1: is Robert Lamb and I'm Christian Sager and Robert hydra Hi. 4 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:23,959 Speaker 1: So this is our hydro episode. We're coming back to 5 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: some monster science here, and man, you know, previously we've 6 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: done that Osadax worm, and I feel like the smaller 7 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 1: the animals that we look at within the oceans, well 8 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:37,559 Speaker 1: some high dra fresh water actually, but the just the 9 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:41,000 Speaker 1: creepier and more alien to get And this is really 10 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: like something out of Nightmares if it was blown up 11 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: to human size. Yeah. Indeed, the hydra is such a 12 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: phenomenal little creature, and it's one that I feel like 13 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: a lot of us have some level of familiarity with. 14 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: I feel like this is one that pops up in 15 00:00:56,160 --> 00:01:00,760 Speaker 1: like middle school science textbooks, but they're so there's so 16 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: much more here than I remember being exposed to. And 17 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:06,960 Speaker 1: new research just continues to roll out on these little, uh, 18 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:10,679 Speaker 1: these kids. It really it seems like a fertile ground 19 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: for research, you know, in terms of like trying to 20 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:14,360 Speaker 1: figure out And we're gonna talk a lot about this 21 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: today because the research on the mouths in particular is 22 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:19,959 Speaker 1: relatively recent. It's in the last two weeks. Yeah, indeed, 23 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:22,640 Speaker 1: we did some content on this for How Stuff Works. Now, 24 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: so we're going to dive into the hydra talk about 25 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: it's anatomy, talk about what makes their weird mouths work, 26 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: how their tentacles work, all this stuff. They're very loft, crafty, 27 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:33,840 Speaker 1: and but before we get to that, I just want 28 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: to remind you our audience. We think that we might 29 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:37,680 Speaker 1: have a lot of new listeners out there. We've been 30 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 1: hearing from some of you. We see some of the 31 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 1: numbers going up a little bit there, and hey, we 32 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 1: don't just do a podcast, right Robert, Joe and I 33 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 1: all right for How Stuff Works, And you can pretty 34 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: much find everything that we do at stuff to Blow 35 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: your Mind dot com and in particular, if you want 36 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: to keep up with what we're doing and what we're 37 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: working on, we're on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumbler at Blow 38 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 1: the Mind and we do everything they're from post you 39 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 1: know what's going on with the show videos. Were working 40 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: on what we're writing about, but we also kind of 41 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,679 Speaker 1: curate some weird science stuff that we find along the way. Yeah, 42 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: and we pop up on periscope a little bit Friday's 43 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: noon Eastern Standard time. Uh. Sometimes we have to skip sometimes, uh, 44 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: you know, something comes up, But for the most part, 45 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:20,640 Speaker 1: we try and make that a weekly. Yeah, that's an 46 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 1: ideal time if you want to, you know, chat with us. 47 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 1: It's not really one on one, but it's a it's 48 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 1: a good opportunity to ask us some questions in person, 49 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 1: see what our faces look like. A lot of people 50 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:32,359 Speaker 1: seem to be very surprised by what we we look 51 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 1: like in person. I'd love to see like renderings of 52 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: what people think we actually look like, like like like 53 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 1: criminal profile drawings. Okay, so let's talk about hydros. Yeah. 54 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: So if you're not familiar with the actual creature, the 55 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: actual hydros that you encounter in various fresh water and 56 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: occasionally saltwater environments, then you're probably familiar with the hydra 57 00:02:55,600 --> 00:03:00,600 Speaker 1: of myth uh in particular the Learnean high hydra, so 58 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: name because it lived in the marshes of Larna in 59 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: our goal lists. Uh. So this is a you know, 60 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: just a staple of Greek mythology, also known as the 61 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: ex Yeah, and it's also a staple of dn D manuals. 62 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:16,079 Speaker 1: I mean, I think I've been reading about hydras since 63 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: I was probably like five or six years old, whether 64 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:21,520 Speaker 1: it's in D and D or in comic books. Are 65 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: watching old like I don't know, I want to say, 66 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:25,639 Speaker 1: like Clash of the Titans or stuff like that, there 67 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 1: must have had a hydra in there somewhere. Yeah, I mean, 68 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 1: it's a it's a classic monster and it's I mean, 69 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: it's just it's thematically just such a sound creature because 70 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: essentially you have this vast dog like body on this creature. 71 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 1: It lives in the swamps there, and it has several 72 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: snaky heads. Now how many that depends on the telling. 73 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,800 Speaker 1: Sometimes it's nine, sometimes it's fifty, sometimes a hundred, sometimes 74 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 1: up to a thousand um and each of these heads 75 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: has poison breath. But only one of these heads is immortal, right, Yeah, 76 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: And so that brings us into the whole Hercules Smith basically, 77 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 1: which is, you know, where this learnee and Hydra kind 78 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:07,280 Speaker 1: of ties into at least where the myth changes over 79 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 1: time in terms of how many heads there are and 80 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 1: sort of what the superpowers of the hydra are. So 81 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: in the in this Hercules myth, Hercules has to perform 82 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: twelve labors, uh, the second of his labors is killing 83 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: a hydra. Uh. And of course it had many heads, 84 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: but later stories, not the original story, but in later stories. 85 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:28,600 Speaker 1: This is the thing that we all know about the hydra, 86 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: right for every time you chop off ahead, two more 87 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,720 Speaker 1: grow to take its place. Uh. And so in the 88 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 1: story Hercules, I think it's like a cousin or somebody 89 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 1: like that to help him. Yeah, here's a chariot driver, 90 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:44,560 Speaker 1: I think, okay, and they cauterize the wounds on top 91 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: of the heads before more heads can grow back, uh, 92 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:52,039 Speaker 1: with fire asuming ahead, then reaching with a torque to 93 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: burn the next classic D and D boss. Yeah. So 94 00:04:57,520 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: so that's really where this whole you know, myth of 95 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:04,160 Speaker 1: hydra came from. And I'm going to have to assume that, uh, 96 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:06,599 Speaker 1: we had the myth of the hydra before we had 97 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: found the animal hydra in our waters, or at least 98 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:13,839 Speaker 1: had an understanding enough of them to name it after 99 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: this mythical monster. Oh yeah. But indeed the two were 100 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 1: perfect for each other. It's almost like the myth was 101 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:21,919 Speaker 1: there just waiting for the science exactly catch up with it. 102 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: Because the regeneration is that he's a huge aspect of 103 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: both the mythological monster and the real world creature. Um, 104 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: they both got lots of tentacles, they both are voracious creatures, 105 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 1: they both have huge mouths. And there's the immortality things. 106 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: Well we'll get to that as far as the real 107 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: creature goes. But of course with the with the mythological monster, 108 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:45,080 Speaker 1: one head is immortal, and after Hercules has finished stabbing 109 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: and burning all these other heads has to take the 110 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: immortal head and bury it underneath the rock. You know. 111 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:52,520 Speaker 1: I gotta say, like when I was reading some of 112 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: the research on like specifically like looking at how the 113 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 1: mouths work on real life hydra's, I was a little 114 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:01,679 Speaker 1: taken aback by some of this is kind of brutal, 115 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:04,040 Speaker 1: the things that they do to these animals to figure out, 116 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: you know, how how they tick basically. And uh and 117 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: I gotta wonder if some some grad student out there 118 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: has re enacted the Hercules myth like by cutting off 119 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: each of this little hydra's tentacles and then burning it 120 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: with a match stick or something like that to see 121 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 1: to see if there's some accuracy there. Um, let's hope, 122 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:25,920 Speaker 1: I hope not. Uh So, just to round out the 123 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:28,479 Speaker 1: mythology here before we get into the bulk of the 124 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 1: episode being the science. So the the each of the 125 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:36,120 Speaker 1: heads had poisoned breath. And so after Hercules has has 126 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: slain this creature, uh, he's able to dip arrows in 127 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,600 Speaker 1: the poison blood and use them as deadly weapons, so 128 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,719 Speaker 1: deadly that they even led to his own accidental death 129 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:51,039 Speaker 1: at the hands of his wife Dianaa, at least according 130 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:55,839 Speaker 1: to Sophocles tragedy uh Truckinian women. So see, that's what 131 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: happens when you mess with Hydra. You may even be 132 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: able to eventually kill them, but it will come back 133 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 1: around at you at the end. Yeah. And if you 134 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: create magical monster blood poisoned weapons, don't belive those things 135 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 1: that um. And just a one one note on where 136 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: the hydra comes from in the in Greek myth, the 137 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 1: Hydra is the offspring of Typhon, a primordial monster that's 138 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: kind of in the same vein as tim At and Leviathan, 139 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 1: and also the offspring of Kidna, the mother of all monsters, 140 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 1: and also the Starbucks coffee mermaid. That's that's a cute pairing. 141 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,040 Speaker 1: I didn't realize that that sort of like Tamat style 142 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: creature had origins pre D and D. Yeah, yeah, indeed, yeah, 143 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: back to very ancient times, some of the older Smith cycles. 144 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: And then of course many of you probably in present 145 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:48,400 Speaker 1: day are also aware of the terminology Hydra from the 146 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:51,360 Speaker 1: Marvel Universe movies because it plays a big part in that, 147 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: especially I think on the Agents of Shield TV show. 148 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 1: But Hydra is the fictional organization in the comics and 149 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 1: in the movies that's sort of like a uh, just 150 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: all purpose terrorist organization with the premise that you know, 151 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: you cut one head off, two more growtive tickets place right, 152 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: So there's like secret Hydra agents everywhere and they're manipulating 153 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:14,720 Speaker 1: events to take over society basically. You know. That reminds 154 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:17,080 Speaker 1: me that this is another case where we have this 155 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: accidental synchronicity between the two episodes that we're recording this week, 156 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: and I'm not sure I think they will likely publish 157 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: in the same week as well. But here we're talking 158 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:28,160 Speaker 1: about the Hydra and the Hydra uh. Not only is 159 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:33,239 Speaker 1: it symbolically potent uh in dealing with this fictional terrorist organization, 160 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: but it's often used as a metaphor for problems that 161 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: are difficult to solve. Slice one head off to grow 162 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 1: up so the good grow back in its place. And 163 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:45,680 Speaker 1: we are also talking about wicked problems this week, which 164 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:49,199 Speaker 1: is essentially the same deal. Problems that are almost, if 165 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:52,280 Speaker 1: not impossible to tackle because every time you try and 166 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: solve the problem, the problem changes. Yeah. It's the hydra 167 00:08:55,640 --> 00:09:00,560 Speaker 1: of society's ills, I suppose, and like any attempts policy 168 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:02,960 Speaker 1: to try to fix that hydra cut off one of 169 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:06,319 Speaker 1: its has got causes even more problems. Yeah. Well yeah, 170 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:08,199 Speaker 1: so there's a preview of what we're also going to 171 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:09,520 Speaker 1: be talking about this week. I don't know what or 172 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:12,199 Speaker 1: they're going to be released in, but this hydra thing, 173 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 1: it's it is kind of uncanny to me, how like 174 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: we came up with this fictional beast and then we 175 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: find this tiny little creature. What are they? The biggest 176 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 1: they get is like points six inches? Right, Yeah, they're 177 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 1: they're they're pretty tiny. Uh, And it's it's, uh, it 178 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:34,920 Speaker 1: fits that metaphor perfectly. It's like it's like that's a 179 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 1: really good, uh version of art, you know what I mean, 180 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 1: Like art reflecting life and then like the uh, the 181 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 1: circle of life comes back around and gives us exactly 182 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: what we've imagined. So let's get into the biology a 183 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 1: little bit. So, um, I we already have a cool 184 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:53,719 Speaker 1: picture picked out to go with this episode, so there's 185 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,200 Speaker 1: a good chance you're you're already looking at that, or 186 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: you've or this just hearing us talk about it so 187 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: far as caused you to do a Google image search. 188 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:05,079 Speaker 1: But essentially, this little creature looks like a little tube 189 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 1: with the little kind of stringy, wiry tentacles coming out 190 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: of one end, and sometimes you see the buds as well, 191 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:16,240 Speaker 1: because as well discussed, uh, it's one of the more 192 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:19,640 Speaker 1: remarkable ways that it reproduces is via a sexual budding, 193 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:21,600 Speaker 1: which I like to think of as you know, it's 194 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:25,040 Speaker 1: it's the Grimlins and Maguai way of reproduction, where simply 195 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: little buds pop out and then they pop off, and 196 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:31,559 Speaker 1: then those buds become individuals. I think the other pop 197 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 1: culture metaphor that works pretty well here, and you you 198 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:37,880 Speaker 1: use this in that video about hydras is John Carpenter's 199 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: the thing. I end up thinking about the thing a 200 00:10:40,679 --> 00:10:44,760 Speaker 1: lot when we've been researching this, and that it's basically 201 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:48,360 Speaker 1: this shape shifting kind of alien monster with tentacles. It 202 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: doesn't have the properties of the thing, and that like 203 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:55,240 Speaker 1: it can assume the form of your friend, right, and 204 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:58,679 Speaker 1: particularly your friend. But as a just monster in general, 205 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:02,800 Speaker 1: it's it's pretty disgusting how it how it does it's business. Yeah, 206 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:06,719 Speaker 1: it has some wonderful, wacky attributes for sure. So all 207 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 1: hydra are niderians like jellyfish like corals, and Niderians have 208 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:14,320 Speaker 1: been around for over six hundred million in years. So 209 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:18,440 Speaker 1: this is, uh, this is an effective model and effective 210 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 1: branch of life's vast tree. Here and here's a brief 211 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: breakdown on just the general kind of anatomy of hydras 212 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:30,000 Speaker 1: in general. We're gonna be mainly talking about a subspecies 213 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:34,280 Speaker 1: called hydro Vulgaris today, which is a great names. But 214 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 1: so yeah, like like Roberts said, they're all members of 215 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 1: the Nideria phylum, and Nideria has a sea in front 216 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 1: of it to see as siglent we had to look 217 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:47,960 Speaker 1: that up actually, uh. And they share the same stinging 218 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 1: tentacle and radial symmetrical body plan. So in the way 219 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:55,840 Speaker 1: that humans are sort of bisymmetrically split, their rai radially 220 00:11:56,040 --> 00:12:00,600 Speaker 1: symmetrically split. They also have two sheets of tissue that 221 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:06,160 Speaker 1: comprised their body. There's the external ectoderm and the internal endoderm, 222 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:10,760 Speaker 1: and these line the gastro vascular cavity inside their bodies. 223 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:12,880 Speaker 1: And this will be important when we talk about the mouths. Yeah, 224 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:16,000 Speaker 1: this this ties into the recent experiment that will be discussing. 225 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 1: But they're basically polyps with a slender stalk. And then 226 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:22,719 Speaker 1: there's the row of tentacles that surround this mouth at 227 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:25,440 Speaker 1: like a disc base. They're they're like a Lovecraft monster, 228 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: Like I want to say, they're like, what is it? 229 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:31,240 Speaker 1: The the ygets the yig. Yeah, I made one of those. Somebody, 230 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,400 Speaker 1: some Lovecraft I and Cthulu fan out there is going 231 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:36,520 Speaker 1: to correct me, but it sounds like one of this 232 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:41,200 Speaker 1: very specific Lovecraft creatures to me. Uh. But basically what 233 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:45,080 Speaker 1: happens is small animals smaller than the point six inches 234 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:48,880 Speaker 1: of the hydra blunder into these tentacles. They get stung 235 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:52,000 Speaker 1: and paralyzed, and then the tentacles immediately retract and draw 236 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:56,080 Speaker 1: these animals into the mouth. Most hydra are are pretty 237 00:12:56,080 --> 00:13:00,160 Speaker 1: small there. They can be front between one millimeter in 238 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:02,120 Speaker 1: five millimeters, but the ones that we're gonna be talking 239 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:04,800 Speaker 1: about today, the vulgaris, are around point six inches fifteen 240 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:11,040 Speaker 1: millimeters long. Uh, And they also expel their gastro vascular 241 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 1: fluids from their mouth so that they can shrink back 242 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:17,240 Speaker 1: down in size. Right, So like there you go. That's 243 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:20,320 Speaker 1: another like crazy alien monster thing that they just like 244 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:24,480 Speaker 1: puke out all of the fluids inside of their guts 245 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:26,440 Speaker 1: and that simply so that they can kind of shrink 246 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:30,120 Speaker 1: down and hide basically. Yeah. But then again, I mean 247 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:36,559 Speaker 1: you anybody who has a pet that expelling era that fantastic. Yeah, 248 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:38,719 Speaker 1: it's just a daily One of my dogs just did 249 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:42,520 Speaker 1: that yesterday. That's true. Um, there's also we're not going 250 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:44,679 Speaker 1: to spend a lot of time on this particular subspecies, 251 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:47,640 Speaker 1: but there's the green hydra and the green hydra green 252 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 1: in color because they have a symbiotic relationship with an 253 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 1: algae called zoo clarella, and these live inside the hydra's 254 00:13:55,360 --> 00:14:00,560 Speaker 1: endodermal cells, and these algae perform photosynthesis and produce sugars 255 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: the hydro subsequently uses while the hydra eating all these 256 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:08,640 Speaker 1: creatures that come by provide these algae with nitrogen in return, 257 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:12,240 Speaker 1: and because of the photosynthetic process that's going on, that 258 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:16,200 Speaker 1: makes the hydra look green, and subsequently they can go 259 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:19,200 Speaker 1: several weeks without food as long as they get adequate 260 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:21,760 Speaker 1: light because they're basically living off of these symbia its 261 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:25,560 Speaker 1: symbiotes that are inside of them. Um. So, like we said, 262 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:29,000 Speaker 1: some hydra and freshwater summer in the ocean. The most 263 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:32,400 Speaker 1: common ones live in the clean waters here in North America. 264 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: Hydra usually attach themselves to vegetation that's underwater or sometimes 265 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 1: underwater twigs and rocks. They basically, you know, hang out 266 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 1: and wait for things to float by that they can 267 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,240 Speaker 1: trap and eat. And the way that they stick is 268 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:50,640 Speaker 1: they produce this mucous secretion from their basil disk. Now 269 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 1: this is really interesting. When they're stationary, they can also travel. 270 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:57,680 Speaker 1: And the way that they do this is they bend 271 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:00,960 Speaker 1: their columns slightly and they attack watch their tentacles to 272 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:04,320 Speaker 1: something else and then they release the basil disk that's 273 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:07,440 Speaker 1: attached and they let it swing over to something else 274 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,480 Speaker 1: and then glom onto that and a scientists call this 275 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:15,280 Speaker 1: summersaulting in hydros. That's pretty fascinating as well. Can you 276 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 1: cut again, like just like with the osidax, can imagine 277 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:19,800 Speaker 1: if these things were human sized and you just saw 278 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 1: it like swing across at you with its entire body 279 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:27,160 Speaker 1: opening up to swallow you. Yeah, it's such just a 280 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: it's it's such an alien creature. Uh. And I mean 281 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:33,520 Speaker 1: it's it's more fantastic than most of the things we 282 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 1: dream up and in sort of the human scale of 283 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:42,040 Speaker 1: weird off worldlife. Uh. Even like the way that they 284 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:44,000 Speaker 1: eat is gross. Like we'll talk about the mouth in 285 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:47,200 Speaker 1: detail in a second, but when they're done eating, hydras 286 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:50,720 Speaker 1: expel any of their undigestive remains from their mouth. Uh. 287 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:53,080 Speaker 1: And they'll they'll eat you know, any of the following 288 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 1: a small invertebrates that are around their side, something like 289 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 1: an analid worm or rhodifer or insect larvae. Uh. And 290 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:04,120 Speaker 1: they eat small crustaceans as well, like Daphnea, kiterus and 291 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:08,040 Speaker 1: the cyclops. Yeah. Now the cyclops is very interesting. Um. 292 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:10,720 Speaker 1: And this is one that I've touched on and passed 293 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:15,320 Speaker 1: Monster Science Monster the weak content because it is uh 294 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 1: back to what you said earlier about how at this 295 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: scale you find so many interesting creatures. The cyclops is 296 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: it's pretty much the only monocular organism on the planet. 297 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:30,080 Speaker 1: It has one primitive eye and that's it. Uh. And 298 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:33,560 Speaker 1: and you just don't find that anywhere else, Like everything 299 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 1: else goes with the two eye design, but not not 300 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 1: this guy, you know. And and that's interesting too because 301 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:42,240 Speaker 1: I haven't spent time researching the cyclop but I have 302 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:43,800 Speaker 1: to say, it's the same kind of thing, right, Like 303 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:47,520 Speaker 1: I'm imagining, Uh, we have the myth of the cyclops, 304 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:51,480 Speaker 1: this giant with one eye. Uh, you know, basically like 305 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:54,640 Speaker 1: was an ogre that killed in eight people. Uh. And 306 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 1: then we find this thing underwater and we're like, oh, 307 00:16:56,680 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 1: this has one eye. Cool, We've already got something like 308 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:02,280 Speaker 1: name it after that. And it keeps sheep weirdly and yeah, 309 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:08,399 Speaker 1: underwater sheep um. So it's interesting. A lot of the 310 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:10,720 Speaker 1: stuff that I was reading, there's like sort of like 311 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:13,480 Speaker 1: at home experiments that are recommended that you can do 312 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 1: with hydra um. If you can, you know, capture them 313 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:19,000 Speaker 1: in the in the waters of North America, then you 314 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:20,720 Speaker 1: can bring them home. You can kind of observe how 315 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 1: their tentacles work, and um, you can actually like at home, 316 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:28,080 Speaker 1: use what's called light microscopy to look at hydra is 317 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 1: the same way that they did in this study that 318 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:32,720 Speaker 1: we're about to talk about. And you basically put a 319 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:35,639 Speaker 1: pipe onto a slide with a few drops of water 320 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:37,399 Speaker 1: and add a cover slip over the you know, the 321 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:40,000 Speaker 1: hydra that you're looking at. You use light under a 322 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:42,199 Speaker 1: microscope and you can kind of get the same effect. 323 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,040 Speaker 1: I'm sure they're using much more precise tools in these 324 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 1: studies that we're talking about. Yeah, and this is one 325 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:48,760 Speaker 1: of the reasons I think a lot of people have 326 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,520 Speaker 1: some experience with a hydra from the past, because it's 327 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 1: an easy and very interesting creature to acquire and look at, 328 00:17:55,920 --> 00:17:58,960 Speaker 1: and just under a classroom microscope. So like this in 329 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:02,439 Speaker 1: the paramecium. These are these are critters that are easy 330 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:07,840 Speaker 1: to acquire and interesting to watch. So tentacles. Yes, the 331 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:11,439 Speaker 1: whole time I was researching the hydra. Yesterday I actually 332 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 1: posted this on our Twitter feed. I had this song 333 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:18,640 Speaker 1: from have you ever heard of this Lovecraft adaptation that's 334 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:20,919 Speaker 1: like Fiddler on the Roof but it's called the Shaga 335 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:22,879 Speaker 1: on the Roof. I've heard of them, I've never really 336 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:26,399 Speaker 1: listened to them. There's just a song called Tentacles, and 337 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:30,320 Speaker 1: I had that in my head as we're researching the hydra. Well, indeed, 338 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:33,680 Speaker 1: the hydra does have tentacles, and uh, it uses these 339 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 1: tentacles as you might expect for catching prey, also for 340 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:41,120 Speaker 1: self defense. If something you know threatens it. And hydro 341 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:46,160 Speaker 1: tentacles contain barbed poison containing nidosts, and they use these 342 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:49,919 Speaker 1: two stun animals like the water fleas like cyclops before 343 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:53,719 Speaker 1: eating them alive. Uh, and again to protect themselves from 344 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:57,040 Speaker 1: attacks by other animals. Yeah, I'm kind of curious. I 345 00:18:57,240 --> 00:19:00,080 Speaker 1: didn't see anything about this, but I wonder to a 346 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:04,520 Speaker 1: animal our size, what a hydra sting feels like. Um, 347 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:06,960 Speaker 1: I didn't see anything about that, but surely there must 348 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:08,760 Speaker 1: be some people out there who have been stung by 349 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:12,840 Speaker 1: hydra when they're just I don't know, like walking around 350 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: through shallow water or something like that. Well, I I 351 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:19,719 Speaker 1: would tend to doubt we could even register that might 352 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:22,040 Speaker 1: be true, and then it would be difficult to just 353 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:24,160 Speaker 1: trying to figure out what it would be like. I'm 354 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:27,080 Speaker 1: not sure how you equate like the human nervous system 355 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: to exactly to a water fulle nervous system, but I 356 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:34,200 Speaker 1: imagine you could probably say it's it's rather traumatic because 357 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:38,520 Speaker 1: it's enough to stun the prey to where the wound 358 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:41,199 Speaker 1: mouth can do its thing. Even even more evidence that 359 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:43,720 Speaker 1: we need to grow a giant hydra, or at least 360 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: to human size, hydro, so we can see what it 361 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:48,000 Speaker 1: feels like. Right. This goes back to that guy that 362 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:50,359 Speaker 1: we talked about in the Ignobles episode who just stung 363 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 1: himself with bees. Just see what all the various beastings 364 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:56,000 Speaker 1: felt like. Oh and by the way, it's worth pointing 365 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:59,879 Speaker 1: out that all members of the Nideria family used ni 366 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:04,080 Speaker 1: Dorset cells to catch their prey. So you find these 367 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:09,880 Speaker 1: employed again, Uh, coral jellyfish the same sort of stingy 368 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:13,679 Speaker 1: powers permeate the entire group. But there we go. We 369 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:15,840 Speaker 1: know what a jellyfish sting feels like, at least some 370 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,040 Speaker 1: of us too. Yeah, so I get that would probably 371 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: a good sort of benchmark for what this might be 372 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:26,160 Speaker 1: like for the creature that unfortunately wanders within tentacle Raine 373 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,239 Speaker 1: in his creature. Uh. And these tentacles are referred to 374 00:20:29,359 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 1: as stinging organelles uh. And they basically are hollow threads 375 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:38,160 Speaker 1: that are inside the tentacles that shoot out. There's basically 376 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:41,920 Speaker 1: like a pressure release inside the tentacle itself. When they 377 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:44,919 Speaker 1: sense the prey, they shoot out this thread and the 378 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,400 Speaker 1: thread that contains a capsule of the neurotoxin that actually 379 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 1: does the stinging. Uh. And they actually harpoon their prey 380 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:55,119 Speaker 1: with this too. So the way that that's described, it 381 00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:57,199 Speaker 1: makes me imagine that there's some kind of barb or 382 00:20:57,280 --> 00:20:59,720 Speaker 1: something like that involved that helps them to drag the 383 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:03,240 Speaker 1: prey in as well when they retracted towards their mouth. Yes, indeed, 384 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:06,880 Speaker 1: a lot of the literature mentions like a barbed mechanic there. 385 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:10,400 Speaker 1: So yeah, I believe they are almost Yeah, they are 386 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 1: very much harpooning them. Now Here's another interesting thing about 387 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:18,399 Speaker 1: the hydra is that scientists have long observed that they 388 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:21,399 Speaker 1: react to light. But but how because you look at 389 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:24,560 Speaker 1: the hydra's basic anatomy. We haven't mentioned eyes thus far, 390 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,399 Speaker 1: but there are cyclops. There's no cyclops. They do not 391 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,520 Speaker 1: have a side organ, uh. But but they're responding to 392 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:35,679 Speaker 1: to light. Light plays into their their feeding habits. So 393 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:39,280 Speaker 1: what's going on sounds like the slime that I did 394 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:41,680 Speaker 1: a recent episode of How Stuff Works Now on where 395 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:44,440 Speaker 1: they basically figured out that down to the cellular level, 396 00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:48,600 Speaker 1: that certain slimes are able to detect and see, uh 397 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:52,199 Speaker 1: with photosensitivity. Yeah, I mean, it's a basic aspect of 398 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:54,680 Speaker 1: life on this earth and the cycles of night and day. 399 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:58,280 Speaker 1: So you see even in very primitive organisms, even in 400 00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:02,960 Speaker 1: organisms very different from ourselves. Uh, there's often some mechanism 401 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:06,240 Speaker 1: at work. And in two thousand twelve, researchers from the 402 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,240 Speaker 1: University of California looked at the hydra and they found 403 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:12,480 Speaker 1: that it's all about the tentacles once again. So the 404 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:16,240 Speaker 1: tentacles are linked via a simple via a simple nervous 405 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:20,640 Speaker 1: system to primitive light responsive cells that coordinate the hydra's 406 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:24,720 Speaker 1: feeding behavior. And these light responsive cells contains several proteins 407 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 1: necessary for photo transduction, namely the light sensitive pro protein Option, 408 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:33,560 Speaker 1: which regulates the firing of harbor of those harpoon light 409 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:36,399 Speaker 1: nydocts that we've been talking about, which the uses to 410 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:39,440 Speaker 1: sting as well as to grasp. And then they're also 411 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 1: these sticky is oreza which are used for anchoring and somersaulting. 412 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,760 Speaker 1: So um so yeah, the the the ability to perceive light, 413 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:51,280 Speaker 1: it's all tied up in those those fancy tentacles. There's 414 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:53,240 Speaker 1: sort of now that we're talking about like how they 415 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:56,000 Speaker 1: see and everything. I think like maybe a more accurate 416 00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:58,840 Speaker 1: D and D analogy would be a beholder because they 417 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 1: see through their tentacle. Yeah, yeah, I would, I think 418 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:04,840 Speaker 1: so interesting. That's I'm glad you mentioned that because for 419 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:07,840 Speaker 1: a while I've wanted to do some monster that we 420 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,160 Speaker 1: monster science content about the Beholder, because I love the Beholder. 421 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:13,760 Speaker 1: But every time I started looking into it, I think, yeah, 422 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:16,960 Speaker 1: there's not this is such a fantastic creature. What can 423 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,639 Speaker 1: I possibly grab onto here? I think I may be 424 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:22,520 Speaker 1: wrong in this, and somebody out there correct me if 425 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: I am, But I think that whoever owns the rights 426 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:27,159 Speaker 1: to D and D also owns their rights to the 427 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:30,440 Speaker 1: Beholder because it's only used within that contint They're they're 428 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:33,040 Speaker 1: a handful of D n D monsters that they're you know, 429 00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:38,440 Speaker 1: very much their intellectual property. That being said, educational educational 430 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:41,399 Speaker 1: purpose why not? Yeah, and we have I bet Hydro 431 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,560 Speaker 1: can cast different spells through each of their tentacles too. Yeah. 432 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 1: And then of course there there are Hydro knockoffs out there, Beholder. 433 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:54,240 Speaker 1: They're there Beholder knockoffs a plenty out there in the world. Uh. So, 434 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:56,400 Speaker 1: you know, I'm sure there are ways to to get 435 00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:01,440 Speaker 1: around that. Now, we through the word a sexual budding 436 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:04,520 Speaker 1: at you before we went into our our sponsor there 437 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:07,240 Speaker 1: for a second, Now, what does that mean exactly? It 438 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:11,240 Speaker 1: probably sounds creepy, and that's because it is, right, it's 439 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:14,880 Speaker 1: basically and it's it's different from what we do. Well, 440 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 1: I'd like to imagine when I whenever we look at 441 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:20,639 Speaker 1: these various systems, right, I like to imagine them occurring 442 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 1: in the human body. So basically imagine that, um uh 443 00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:30,040 Speaker 1: me Christian. The way that I reproduced is that a 444 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:33,280 Speaker 1: little tiny version of me started to grow on my arm, 445 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,399 Speaker 1: and then it very slowly got bigger and bigger, and 446 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:42,080 Speaker 1: it's like a little like fetus version of me. But 447 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:44,280 Speaker 1: it's like a bulbous thing just hanging out like a 448 00:24:44,359 --> 00:24:46,959 Speaker 1: bud on my arm. And eventually it gets big enough 449 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 1: that it just kind of pops off and goes off 450 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:53,600 Speaker 1: on its way. But it's genetically identical to me. Okay, 451 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:56,640 Speaker 1: But see, the thing is, you can imagine you being 452 00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,240 Speaker 1: freaked out by watching this occur with a magua or 453 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,280 Speaker 1: a grimlin. But then I can also imagine the magua 454 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:04,720 Speaker 1: or the gremlin being completely grossed out if you try 455 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 1: to explain human sex. Yeah, well I'm completely grossed out 456 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:10,760 Speaker 1: when I try to explain human sex, so I can understand. Yeah. 457 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 1: Uh so, yeah, let's get into the let's get into 458 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:16,520 Speaker 1: the real nitty gritty about budding all right, So you 459 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:20,359 Speaker 1: have various flatworms, sponges, and corals that reproduced this way, 460 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:26,040 Speaker 1: but the hydra is probably our best example. So essentially, 461 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:29,040 Speaker 1: what happens if if food and water are plentiful, so 462 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:31,080 Speaker 1: they're playing your resources around, this is a great time 463 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:33,840 Speaker 1: to reproduce. Uh. Then the hydra grows a series of 464 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:37,399 Speaker 1: small bumps or buds on its body. These bumps develop 465 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:40,240 Speaker 1: into miniature hydras and they eventually pinch off from the 466 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:43,720 Speaker 1: parent organism to fend for themselves. And a healthy hydra, 467 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,359 Speaker 1: you know, tends to produce new offspring every three to 468 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:51,120 Speaker 1: four days. Again, you have the resources are right, and uh, 469 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:54,440 Speaker 1: this is actually something if you're interested in the whole 470 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:58,520 Speaker 1: Gremlins analogy. I did an article for how stuff works 471 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:02,399 Speaker 1: dot com how agine Grimlin's work and that you know, 472 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,480 Speaker 1: it's a very non scientific creature, you might think. So 473 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:07,399 Speaker 1: I went to great pains to try and explain the 474 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:11,000 Speaker 1: science behind them, and the hydra was extremely helpful because 475 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:13,480 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna get into it, but essentially, think of 476 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:16,879 Speaker 1: this resource uh situation. If there are enough resources in 477 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:19,200 Speaker 1: a sexual budding can take place. And then you think 478 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:21,760 Speaker 1: to the Grimlin and the magua, what causes the grimlin 479 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:24,720 Speaker 1: and the magua to bud and produce water. Yeah, un 480 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:27,959 Speaker 1: abundance of water. It's a desert organs. I don't think 481 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:30,040 Speaker 1: hydro would be able to reproduce if you took them 482 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,520 Speaker 1: out of the water be dead. Yeah they and more 483 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:36,120 Speaker 1: to the point, yeah, the the this their living conditions 484 00:26:36,119 --> 00:26:40,080 Speaker 1: would not be suitable exactly for offspring. So it's usually 485 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,679 Speaker 1: in the summer months actually that they're reproducing for the 486 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:46,040 Speaker 1: for this very reason. Uh. And the like Robert said, 487 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:49,040 Speaker 1: you know, the buds grow on that parent column, they 488 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:54,040 Speaker 1: break free. Their genetically identical so they're you know, basically clones. 489 00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:57,520 Speaker 1: I guess we could say of one another. Uh. They 490 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:01,400 Speaker 1: reproduce pretty rapidly as long as they have that abundant 491 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:05,320 Speaker 1: supply of food. Now here's the crazy part. Hydra can 492 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:09,960 Speaker 1: also produce sexually. Uh, but this is way less common 493 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:12,800 Speaker 1: and basically, you know, I don't want to break it 494 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:14,800 Speaker 1: down into the like a real fine details of this, 495 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:19,320 Speaker 1: but my understanding is that you know, the fluids necessary 496 00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:21,399 Speaker 1: in the body parts that they grow in the organs 497 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:25,080 Speaker 1: and everything. As that's happening on one hydra, it can 498 00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:29,800 Speaker 1: be passed to another nearby hydra causing sexual reproduction. Yeah. 499 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:32,240 Speaker 1: My understanding is this tends to happen only in cases 500 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:37,400 Speaker 1: where they're reproducing, but the conditions are pretty harsh, right, Yeah, 501 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:41,280 Speaker 1: so this brings us to of course, we go right 502 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:46,639 Speaker 1: from sex to talking about crazy, gross gaping mouths. Okay, 503 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:49,119 Speaker 1: so here we are. This is the meat of the episode. 504 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:53,080 Speaker 1: This is the new hot off the press is research. 505 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: We have known that these mouths exist, but we haven't 506 00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:00,639 Speaker 1: understood how they work until just recently. Yeah. For a 507 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,399 Speaker 1: while we've known that this is essentially what happens. The 508 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,639 Speaker 1: tentacles grab the prey, the stun prey, and then the 509 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:09,600 Speaker 1: hydra needs to eat this prey. But the hydra in 510 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,320 Speaker 1: the same way that it doesn't have recognizable eyes, it 511 00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:16,680 Speaker 1: has no recognizable mouth. It's just a clean, featureless sheet. 512 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:20,320 Speaker 1: It's basil disc that we've been talking about. How's this 513 00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:23,440 Speaker 1: thing gonna eat? Well, it does that by carrying its 514 00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:25,920 Speaker 1: body open like it's Its body just opens up into 515 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:29,240 Speaker 1: this gaping wound. And when I mean gaping, the videos 516 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 1: of this are phenomenal. It opens and it opens and 517 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:34,639 Speaker 1: you think, oh, it can't possibly open anymore, but it 518 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:37,760 Speaker 1: keeps getting wider and wider. Then the hydra's mouth is 519 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 1: larger than the hydra's body, and you just you start 520 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:43,520 Speaker 1: screaming internally as you watch it. We've got to we've 521 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 1: got to put in the show notes the link to 522 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:47,719 Speaker 1: the video that you did about this previously, because it 523 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:52,000 Speaker 1: has video reference from that the study that we're talking 524 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:54,360 Speaker 1: about here, and it shows that, you know, we made 525 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:56,080 Speaker 1: a pretty good gift too, so I'll have to throw 526 00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:58,880 Speaker 1: that out as well. But yeah, it's just crazy to watch. 527 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 1: And then it swallows up the still living but stunned prey, 528 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:07,400 Speaker 1: and then what happens. The mouth closes over them, like 529 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,959 Speaker 1: just dis closes over the still living host in tombs 530 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:15,000 Speaker 1: them within the hydra's body, and then heels completely shut again, 531 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:17,200 Speaker 1: and then there's there's no sign that there was ever 532 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:20,040 Speaker 1: a mouth there. And so back to that Thing analogy, 533 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 1: it's like that that scene in the Thing where they're 534 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:28,160 Speaker 1: they're performing like surgery or something to use. It's the paddles, 535 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:30,800 Speaker 1: that's right, paddles, and it goes to put it on 536 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:33,440 Speaker 1: his chest and the guy's chest just completely opens up 537 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: and bites off the arms of the doctor. And this 538 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,160 Speaker 1: is actually what it looks like. It's even I think 539 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:43,600 Speaker 1: it's worse maybe like on the scale of the hydra's body, 540 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:46,960 Speaker 1: because the whole body is just stretching outwards to accommodate 541 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:50,920 Speaker 1: for this massive mouth. Yeah, it's it's really unreal to watch. Um. 542 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,720 Speaker 1: But as we mentioned earlier, we knew that this took place, 543 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:57,360 Speaker 1: We knew some of the you know, the chemical triggers involved, 544 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:03,560 Speaker 1: but we didn't know what actual mc panics it entailed. Luckily, 545 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 1: researchers from the industry of California just this month, um March, 546 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:14,960 Speaker 1: they released a study where they actually took hydro vulgaris 547 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:20,840 Speaker 1: and they created transgenic hydras with fluorescent proteins in both 548 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:24,640 Speaker 1: the that endodermal and ectodermal cell layers. So again, as 549 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:28,400 Speaker 1: you mentioned earlier, to cell layers, will they put uh 550 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:31,160 Speaker 1: they put these uh, these fluorescent proteins in both of those. 551 00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 1: So this essentially created glowing skin layers to illuminate the 552 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 1: mechanics going on here. And as it turns out, the 553 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:42,160 Speaker 1: cells don't move around as they suspected. Uh, they actually 554 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:46,000 Speaker 1: changed their shape in order to to birth this wondrous mouth. 555 00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:51,000 Speaker 1: Even cell nuclei appear to deform in the process. Yeah, 556 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,320 Speaker 1: and so what they also discovered is that it's all 557 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:58,080 Speaker 1: about these things, these very basic parts of the hydro 558 00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:01,640 Speaker 1: body called my own knee. Uh, And they're like they're 559 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:06,120 Speaker 1: described as radial contractile processes that are within the ectoderm 560 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:10,400 Speaker 1: of the hydra and basically it's it's oriented as part 561 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:13,600 Speaker 1: of their muscular process, right, So this is where it's nuts. 562 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:17,400 Speaker 1: During that same study, they used magnesium chloride as a 563 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:20,480 Speaker 1: muscle relaxant to see, you know, how it would affect 564 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:22,280 Speaker 1: the hydra and the mouth opening thing, and they were 565 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:26,480 Speaker 1: able to confirm that they couldn't open the mouth without 566 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:30,280 Speaker 1: the activity of the mayonemes. And then they even tried 567 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:34,640 Speaker 1: using menthol in one situation, the menthol was too strong 568 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:39,920 Speaker 1: and it disintegrated the hydras upon exposure. Hercules should have 569 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:44,480 Speaker 1: just just if he had like some Winston Salem menthol cigarettes, 570 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:47,240 Speaker 1: he could have just put him out on the hydra neck. 571 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:50,880 Speaker 1: I'm not being paid by Winston Salem to say that, Uh, 572 00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:52,880 Speaker 1: those are just the cigarettes that my mom spoke when 573 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:57,160 Speaker 1: I was a kid. Yeah, But so if you inhibit 574 00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:00,400 Speaker 1: these myonemes, it keeps the mouth from open. So if 575 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:02,800 Speaker 1: only there was some tiny little crustacean out there that 576 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:06,440 Speaker 1: had a magnesium chloride spray, and it's able to keep 577 00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:09,880 Speaker 1: that mouth from killing them. Okay, So when the basil 578 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:16,240 Speaker 1: disc area is closed, it's just one continuous epithel sheet, 579 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:21,320 Speaker 1: but it has the sealed what they call septate junctions, uh. 580 00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:24,320 Speaker 1: And then it's triggered by the food, but it's also 581 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:27,080 Speaker 1: triggered by a couple of other things indigestible materials. So, 582 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:29,360 Speaker 1: like we're talking about earlier, we used to vomit up 583 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:33,320 Speaker 1: inside and something called osmotic regulation, which I talked about 584 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:36,200 Speaker 1: earlier as well, which is when it uses the gastrovascular 585 00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:39,040 Speaker 1: system to kind of blow out liquid from its body 586 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:41,680 Speaker 1: so it can shrink its body down. It's a regulation 587 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:45,960 Speaker 1: of fluid pressure inside. It's so basically intake yeah, output, 588 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:50,680 Speaker 1: yeah exactly. And the degree of how this opens varies 589 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:54,120 Speaker 1: between these different events, but the dynamics are all the same. 590 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:56,440 Speaker 1: It basically comes down to what we were just talking about, 591 00:32:56,440 --> 00:33:01,800 Speaker 1: where the cells uh chaine shape. They morph basically to 592 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:06,200 Speaker 1: make room for the mouth, the womb, and to put 593 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:08,680 Speaker 1: a time stamp on it. This is all my understandings. 594 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:12,320 Speaker 1: This is all taking place around sixty seconds, so it's 595 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:16,440 Speaker 1: me it's it's relatively fast Yeah. So the key finding 596 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:18,040 Speaker 1: here in the research, and it may not sound like 597 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:20,479 Speaker 1: a big deal, but it is, is that they're not 598 00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:24,560 Speaker 1: rearranging their cells as previously thought. Their cell shapes are 599 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:29,040 Speaker 1: actually changing on their own and are triggered by this process. Yeah. 600 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:31,400 Speaker 1: And to me imagine that. Can you imagine if you 601 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:34,640 Speaker 1: could just rearigin or not rearrange, you could change the 602 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:38,080 Speaker 1: shape of your cells in your body, just you know, 603 00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:42,480 Speaker 1: at a at a triggered by one particular kind of sensation. 604 00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:45,080 Speaker 1: You know that. It kind of gets into something that 605 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,200 Speaker 1: Joe and I discussed in the Dune episodes about the 606 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:51,960 Speaker 1: the face Danswers shape shifters of the Don universe and 607 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:54,080 Speaker 1: some of the theories about how that would actually work. 608 00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:55,959 Speaker 1: And so one of the models we looked at was 609 00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:58,760 Speaker 1: was more of like a surgical transhuman model, and the 610 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:01,320 Speaker 1: other was more of a genetically engineered model. And the 611 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:03,600 Speaker 1: genetically engineered model, I feel like it's more in keeping 612 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:05,680 Speaker 1: with with what you're talking about. It's like at a 613 00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:08,839 Speaker 1: cellular level. Yeah, huh, yeah, I guess that makes sense. 614 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:11,400 Speaker 1: Like when you think about like great shape shifters of 615 00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:14,560 Speaker 1: popular culture. Yeah, I mean, how's it work? You have 616 00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:18,160 Speaker 1: to look to the organisms that have a trenmendous ability 617 00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:22,480 Speaker 1: to warp their bodies to disguise their bodies. Plastic Man, 618 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:24,960 Speaker 1: that's that's that's how he's got to do it. He 619 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:28,520 Speaker 1: probably takes a line from from good old Hydro over here. 620 00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:31,359 Speaker 1: When's Plastic Man getting his movie? Gosh, you know that's 621 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:35,000 Speaker 1: a good question, uh DC or Marvel. He's d C now, 622 00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 1: I believe it was. He was created by another company 623 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:40,040 Speaker 1: and then d C bought up that company. Might be wrong, 624 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:43,200 Speaker 1: but but yeah, um DC owns him now. Who knows? 625 00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:45,920 Speaker 1: Who knows when that will happen. That'll be real, Zanny. 626 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:48,479 Speaker 1: I wouldn't be surprised if the success of Deadpool leads 627 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:50,759 Speaker 1: to a Plastic Man movie. I could see there being 628 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:57,239 Speaker 1: uh Man, Jim Carry or somebody like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 629 00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:01,120 Speaker 1: scarier than a hydro. Okay, So one last thing about 630 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:03,320 Speaker 1: the hydra. I mean, they've got all these cool powers, 631 00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:05,799 Speaker 1: right they I want to see a hydro movie. They 632 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:09,440 Speaker 1: can stingue, They've got tentacles, they can open their crazy 633 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:14,720 Speaker 1: mouths up. Some of them can each sunlight basically bonded 634 00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:19,200 Speaker 1: in a in a in this crazy symbiotic relationship, can Somersault. 635 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:23,439 Speaker 1: But what else? Oh yeah, they're also undying. They're also 636 00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:29,400 Speaker 1: essentially biologically immortal. Wow, which is a rarity because I mean, basically, 637 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:34,319 Speaker 1: mortality is an economic necessity. Uh, where are you gonna 638 00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:38,760 Speaker 1: invest your resources into survival or reproduction? If you focus 639 00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:43,759 Speaker 1: on the former, then don't expect to do much reproduction. Uh. 640 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:46,759 Speaker 1: And and the opposite is is is rather true as well. 641 00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:50,480 Speaker 1: And that's why evolution generally favors those who reproduce early, 642 00:35:50,560 --> 00:35:53,200 Speaker 1: before all the bad stuff can happen to you. It's 643 00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:56,360 Speaker 1: it's extremely rare to find an organism that where death 644 00:35:56,440 --> 00:36:00,680 Speaker 1: is not just a part of of it's making. Death 645 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:05,880 Speaker 1: is what the body does after it, after it has 646 00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:09,560 Speaker 1: achieved its other genetic missions. I really feel like the 647 00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:14,200 Speaker 1: hydra is ripe for some mad scientists to come along 648 00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:17,640 Speaker 1: and try to figure out how to graft its abilities 649 00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:20,200 Speaker 1: into a human being so that human being would be immortal. 650 00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:23,520 Speaker 1: But then, unfortunately, the side effect is that they can 651 00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:26,560 Speaker 1: only open by tearing open body. See this would be 652 00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:28,839 Speaker 1: great for comic books. Somebody should do that. Yeah, well 653 00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:32,879 Speaker 1: maybe they have already, but so the yah. But there 654 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:35,920 Speaker 1: is a potential here because studying hydras and studying the 655 00:36:36,239 --> 00:36:38,600 Speaker 1: way that they don't age. I mean that that allows 656 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:41,680 Speaker 1: us to understand a little more how aging works, how 657 00:36:41,719 --> 00:36:46,080 Speaker 1: mortality works, uh, for life as we know it. Yeah, absolutely, 658 00:36:46,239 --> 00:36:48,400 Speaker 1: by you know, by just by looking at a creature 659 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:52,640 Speaker 1: that doesn't follow the generally accepted rules. So with the hydra, 660 00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:55,239 Speaker 1: most of their body cells or stem sales cells, they're 661 00:36:55,239 --> 00:37:00,640 Speaker 1: capable of continuous division and differentiation, tying into these regenerative 662 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:05,840 Speaker 1: powers that we've been discussing. Um So when when scientists 663 00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:09,480 Speaker 1: actually get down and they started studying the mortality of 664 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:13,320 Speaker 1: the hydra, they boast low mortality rates throughout their lives. 665 00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:17,840 Speaker 1: In the lab, this it would take four hundred years 666 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:22,080 Speaker 1: for of a hydro population to die of natural causes. 667 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:25,520 Speaker 1: Now that's a longitudinal study. Can you imagine that you'd 668 00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:30,040 Speaker 1: have to have like like fifteen sixteen generations of scientists 669 00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:32,680 Speaker 1: to work on that study. Yeah, so they have. And 670 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:36,440 Speaker 1: here's the crazy thing hydras also have. They have consistent 671 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:42,439 Speaker 1: fertility rates their entire lives. Uh, so they're they're constantly reproducing. 672 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:46,080 Speaker 1: But they also both this low mortality rate. And this 673 00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:48,920 Speaker 1: is different from say, like the desert tortoise, which has 674 00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:52,480 Speaker 1: higher mortality rates early on, but then it lowers as 675 00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:54,920 Speaker 1: they get older because you know they started get through 676 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:58,160 Speaker 1: that bottleneck and then you know they're good to go. Now, 677 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:01,480 Speaker 1: one important thing here is that we're talking about like 678 00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:04,239 Speaker 1: lab conditions, and lab conditions are key. So the lab 679 00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:11,640 Speaker 1: conditions are significantly better than the natural world conditions, especially 680 00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:13,520 Speaker 1: because they've got to sit there and wait for something 681 00:38:13,520 --> 00:38:15,960 Speaker 1: to come along that they can eat. Yeah, or who 682 00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:19,520 Speaker 1: knows what happens when uh Now, remember like what we 683 00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:21,920 Speaker 1: said where they live, they live in clean water. What 684 00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:24,560 Speaker 1: happens when you pollute that water to a hydra, Well, 685 00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:27,640 Speaker 1: they die. I mean water contamidation is one of the 686 00:38:27,719 --> 00:38:31,600 Speaker 1: key ways they end up dying, but also predators and disease. 687 00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:34,959 Speaker 1: You put them in in an unnatural environment, they're still 688 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:37,880 Speaker 1: gonna They're still gonna die because you kind of ended 689 00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:40,800 Speaker 1: up having to figure out what is the perfect environment. 690 00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:43,160 Speaker 1: And certainly some of these recent studies have tried to 691 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:49,480 Speaker 1: create essentially a heaven for paradise for hydras, including some 692 00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:54,200 Speaker 1: work by UM Pomona College biology researcher Professor Daniel Martinez. 693 00:38:55,280 --> 00:38:59,080 Speaker 1: He's he's looked at them multiple times. He's repeatedly found 694 00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:04,160 Speaker 1: no evidence of of sencience of aging of of of 695 00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:08,200 Speaker 1: of death natural death in these creatures um these laboratory 696 00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:12,000 Speaker 1: coddled hydra as they're sometimes referred. He even goes so 697 00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:16,400 Speaker 1: far as to state that an individual hydra could live 698 00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:20,239 Speaker 1: forever under the right circumstances. So we just haven't been 699 00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:24,800 Speaker 1: able to completely calibrate the hydra paradise so that the 700 00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:30,080 Speaker 1: hydra can live forever without dying. On that, what if 701 00:39:30,120 --> 00:39:32,840 Speaker 1: that's all that Heaven actually is. We're getting to some 702 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:35,719 Speaker 1: real big stuff here now. If Heaven is just a 703 00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:39,120 Speaker 1: scientist trying to create an ideal environment for us to 704 00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:41,919 Speaker 1: where nothing can harm you, nothing can eat you, nothing 705 00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:45,239 Speaker 1: can contaminate you. Yeah, it's just yeah, that's the thing. 706 00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:47,600 Speaker 1: The other thing, the flip side of that is I'm wondering, 707 00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:50,359 Speaker 1: and I'm the vegetarian on the show. I'm wondering if 708 00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:53,440 Speaker 1: people eat hydra and what they taste like, like if 709 00:39:53,480 --> 00:39:55,040 Speaker 1: you you'd have to gather a lot of them up. 710 00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:57,280 Speaker 1: I think he would need a significant amount of hydra 711 00:39:57,320 --> 00:40:00,440 Speaker 1: to get like a hydra nugget yeggs. But what the 712 00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:03,759 Speaker 1: things like that we need to do, like a like 713 00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:09,080 Speaker 1: a marine urduccan of all the weird monsters. But we're 714 00:40:09,080 --> 00:40:11,799 Speaker 1: covering and like like put a nosadas and stuff at 715 00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:14,680 Speaker 1: full of Hydras and stuff at full of cyclops or something. 716 00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:19,040 Speaker 1: Uh now, um, I have to mention that the Hydra 717 00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:23,640 Speaker 1: definitely reminds me of of a species from Ian M. 718 00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:28,239 Speaker 1: Banks culture books. Uh, the Darians. Man, I am, I've 719 00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:30,239 Speaker 1: been meaning to get to this stuff because you and 720 00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:32,160 Speaker 1: other people have just been recording. Oh yeah, it's it's 721 00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:34,120 Speaker 1: a rich world and there's plenty of science. And then 722 00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:36,840 Speaker 1: I imagine he would was probably inspired by the Hydra 723 00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:41,080 Speaker 1: and creating uh the Adarians, because the Adarians are a 724 00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:46,720 Speaker 1: tripedal species and they hail from an incredibly harsh planet. Uh, 725 00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:49,880 Speaker 1: they're they're off. They're referred to in consider flee this 726 00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:53,560 Speaker 1: the first culture book as quote, top monster on a 727 00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:58,279 Speaker 1: planet full of monsters, and they are biologically immortal. Uh 728 00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:00,680 Speaker 1: they've in the books. They've all to the point where 729 00:41:00,719 --> 00:41:03,400 Speaker 1: they have space faring technology at all. But the idea 730 00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:07,719 Speaker 1: here is that, like the Hydra, it if this species 731 00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:15,600 Speaker 1: evolved in a very harsh environment where natural death didn't 732 00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:17,680 Speaker 1: need to be a part of the program, you know, 733 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:20,319 Speaker 1: because something else was going to kill them inevitably, so 734 00:41:20,400 --> 00:41:24,040 Speaker 1: naturally they would thrive in another environment as almost like 735 00:41:25,040 --> 00:41:28,600 Speaker 1: uh super you know, comparatively to the other species. I'm 736 00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:31,399 Speaker 1: assuming humans are one of the other spec I mean. 737 00:41:31,400 --> 00:41:33,839 Speaker 1: The other thing is that they're in the Banks books. 738 00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:37,000 Speaker 1: They're also very warlike, if you might imagine. So, yeah, 739 00:41:37,080 --> 00:41:41,239 Speaker 1: they've hydras. Do they somersault? You can't remember if they do, 740 00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:44,200 Speaker 1: but they there's some weird stuff going on with their 741 00:41:44,239 --> 00:41:46,880 Speaker 1: three legs and three arms, like they have three legs 742 00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:48,920 Speaker 1: and they have two arms, and then they have this 743 00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:53,319 Speaker 1: smaller arm that folds into the chest. Interesting but even 744 00:41:53,320 --> 00:41:55,960 Speaker 1: they don't have wound mouths in their stomach. So oh yeah, 745 00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:58,200 Speaker 1: well maybe Banks didn't want to go that far. Yeah, 746 00:41:58,239 --> 00:42:00,400 Speaker 1: I'm saving that for another one. Maybe it's another creature 747 00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:02,319 Speaker 1: in one of the culture books that I have not 748 00:42:02,360 --> 00:42:08,040 Speaker 1: read yet. So there you have it, the hydra. Fascinating creature. 749 00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:11,200 Speaker 1: And before we get into the normal outra stuff, we've 750 00:42:11,600 --> 00:42:16,040 Speaker 1: you brought up the Outdex and we mentioned in that episode, Oh, 751 00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:17,600 Speaker 1: that would be a great name for a metal band. 752 00:42:17,680 --> 00:42:21,239 Speaker 1: This is true, and there is a metal band, so 753 00:42:21,280 --> 00:42:23,880 Speaker 1: we'll have to see about maybe featuring some of that 754 00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:26,000 Speaker 1: music on the next time we do a listener mail. 755 00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:29,960 Speaker 1: And then another listener sent in a YouTube clip of 756 00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:32,640 Speaker 1: him doing a bone worm song. Oh I miss that. 757 00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:36,400 Speaker 1: It's pretty great. It's like he's just jam and not 758 00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:39,359 Speaker 1: an acoustic guitar and singing all about the bones. That's great, 759 00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:41,960 Speaker 1: and I dug it. I asked him permission to use 760 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:44,000 Speaker 1: it on a future listener mail. He said, go go 761 00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:46,840 Speaker 1: for it. So cool. Well, then I should also address 762 00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:50,000 Speaker 1: and this is just you know, brief because this isn't 763 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:53,239 Speaker 1: a listener mail episode, but we had several people right 764 00:42:53,280 --> 00:42:56,520 Speaker 1: in to correct me because I refer to whale falls 765 00:42:56,560 --> 00:42:59,200 Speaker 1: as whales floating to the bottom of the ocean, and 766 00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:00,920 Speaker 1: they wanted to make sure that I knew that it 767 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:04,439 Speaker 1: was whales sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Uh. 768 00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:06,600 Speaker 1: So well, so I got that a little bit wrong there, 769 00:43:06,680 --> 00:43:09,719 Speaker 1: because they would float up, presumably I knew what you meant. Yeah, 770 00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:13,759 Speaker 1: I thought you did, all right. Well, hey, if you 771 00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:15,359 Speaker 1: want to get in touch with us, if you want 772 00:43:15,400 --> 00:43:18,920 Speaker 1: to send us uh interesting metal bands, I'm want to 773 00:43:18,960 --> 00:43:22,080 Speaker 1: correct us on our grammar. Yeah, all everything is is 774 00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:24,399 Speaker 1: fair game. You can find us at stuffable your mind 775 00:43:24,440 --> 00:43:26,560 Speaker 1: dot com. That is the mothership. That's where you'll find 776 00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:29,520 Speaker 1: the podcast. The videos blog post links out to our 777 00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:32,480 Speaker 1: social media accounts. We are below the Mind on Twitter 778 00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:35,560 Speaker 1: and Facebook. We're stuff alow your mind on tumbler um 779 00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:37,399 Speaker 1: and let's see how it's Can I get in touch 780 00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:40,400 Speaker 1: with it? Well, there's always Periscope. We're on there on Friday's. 781 00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:42,719 Speaker 1: Well sometimes we do Facebook live, but we'll let you 782 00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:45,319 Speaker 1: know on those other channels. Robert just mentioned we're on 783 00:43:45,360 --> 00:43:48,600 Speaker 1: there on Friday's at noon Eastern Standard time. But the 784 00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:50,920 Speaker 1: good old fashioned way is you could write us a 785 00:43:51,040 --> 00:43:54,319 Speaker 1: nice letter over email and you can find us at 786 00:43:54,320 --> 00:44:05,440 Speaker 1: blow the Mind at how stuff works dot com for 787 00:44:05,600 --> 00:44:07,880 Speaker 1: more on this than thousands of other topics. Is that 788 00:44:07,960 --> 00:44:28,719 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com U