WEBVTT - Creepypasta 3: The SCP Foundation 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:05.920 Welcome to stuff to blow your mind from how stuff 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:15.640 works dot com. Mankind in its present state has been 0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:18.279 around for a quarter of a million years, yet only 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:21.200 the last four thousand have been of any significance. So 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:23.640 what did we do? For nearly two hundred and fifty 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:27.000 thousand years? We huddled in cades and around small fires, 0:00:27.320 --> 0:00:30.400 fearful of things that we didn't understand. It was more 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:32.960 than explaining why the sun came up. It was the 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:35.840 mystery of enormous birds with heads of men and rocks 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:39.040 that came to life. So we called them gods and demons, 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:42.840 begged them to spare us, and prayed for salvation. In time, 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:46.680 their numbers dwindled in ours rose. The world began to 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:49.640 make more sense when there were fewer things to fear. 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:54.480 Yet the unexplained can never truly go away, as if 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:59.600 the universe demands the absurd and impossible. Mankind must not 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:02.560 go back to hiding in fear. No one else will 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:05.680 protect us, and we must stand up for ourselves. While 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:08.520 the rest of mankind dwells in the light, we must 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:11.400 stand in the darkness to fight it, contain it, and 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:13.920 shield it from the eyes of the public, so that 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:22.280 others may live in a sane and normal world. Hey, 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:24.200 welcome to Stuff to Bloil Your Mind. My name is 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:27.400 Robert Lamb and I am Christian Sager, and we are 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:32.720 on our third episode about creepy pastas. This uh, I 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:34.440 want to say it was this time last year that 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:37.440 we did the first one and people really liked it, 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:41.080 so we did a second one, and then I would say, 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:43.440 especially this time of year, we get about an email 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:46.760 or two a week suggesting different creepy pastas that we 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:50.280 read and possibly do on the show. And the one 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:54.880 that we have been hearing about the most is called SCP, 0:01:55.360 --> 0:02:00.600 and we looked into it and it fit the show perfectly. 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:03.480 It's almost like they designed it just for us. So 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:06.880 I hope that the creators of SCP, the writers of 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:10.119 these various creepy pastas, are out there listening. We love 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:14.480 what you're doing. Yeah, SCP Foundation. SCP stands for Special 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:18.120 Containment Procedures. Uh. It's uh. And you can find this 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:21.000 by the way at SCP slash wiki dot wiki dot 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:23.600 dot com, or just do a web search for u 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:26.560 SEP Foundation or will also include a link to it 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:28.280 on the landing bach for this episode of Stuff to 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:31.920 Blow Your mind dot com. It's a fabulous uh, just 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:36.520 a catalog encyclopedia of all these weird specimens that are 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:41.400 presented presented as if they are under scientific scrutiny. Is 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:47.960 if these specimens are being uh investigated very cautiously by 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:51.560 by by individuals who have scientific curiosity about the specimens 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:55.280 but also the best interests of mankind and its sanity 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:57.320 at heart. Yeah, they pitched it as being kind of 0:02:57.320 --> 0:02:59.920 like that TV show Warehouse thirteen, but what I thought 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:04.760 more of was spoilers Cabin in the Woods, uh, and 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:08.680 and what's going on behind the scenes in that movie. Um. So, okay, 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:11.560 maybe you have never heard one of our Creepy Pasta 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:14.360 episodes before, so we're gonna give you a real quick 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:16.680 intro to it, although I recommend that you go check 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:19.840 out the ones that we've done previously. Creepy Pastas are 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:24.000 viral copy and paste text in the form of horror stories. 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:27.600 They evolved from copy pasta, which is another sort of 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:31.320 viral copy and paste text thing. They take the shape 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:35.040 of urban legends, mainly appearing as if there's something that 0:03:35.200 --> 0:03:39.440 actually happened, uh, and they mimic first person accounts, especially 0:03:39.520 --> 0:03:42.360 scientific ones, which is why we're attracted to them because 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:45.520 we like to on these episodes take the scientific ones 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:48.839 and kind of extrapolate out what's actually going on here 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:52.560 science wise. Uh. So we have a penchant for this genre. 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:55.800 The most popular one that you've probably heard of is 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:59.080 slender Man. Then the genre really seems to have hit 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:02.120 its peak into one ten, but it is still chugging 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:05.440 along as SCP is total evidence. Oh yeah, there's a 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:09.040 new television series that's right. Yeah. In fact, Robert and 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:13.000 I jested an interview with Playboy magazine of all places, 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:17.120 about this upcoming sci fi TV show, Channel zero that's 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:19.480 all about different creepy pastas, and I guess the first 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:21.839 one that they're gonna do is Candle Cove. They're basically 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:24.760 gonna take some of these creepypastas and adapt them for television. Yeah. 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:26.680 I haven't seen it myself yet, but I've heard great things. 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:30.840 Yeah me neither. Um. But back to SCP. So, the 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:34.599 basic idea here is that it's a foundation that is 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:39.480 trying to contain and protect us from all these various 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:44.200 entities that are sort of weird horror abstractions. Right, it's 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:46.200 not fair, Yeah, and it's I think it's kind of 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:49.279 I see SCP Foundation is kind of an evolution of 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:53.400 the form because the more classic examples of pasta and 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:58.680 creepy pasta, they're they're such I mean, they straddle fiction 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:01.320 and reality in such a way to supposed to misinterpret them. 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:03.200 Like it's the kind of thing where someone is pasting 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:06.000 it onto a message board, like an individual saying, hey, 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:09.040 has anyone ever had a bad experience with this medication? 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:12.560 And then someone pace as in copy and paste pasta, 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:15.760 they paste this this, uh, this ridiculous story of something 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:18.520 that happened to somebody, and then you're supposed to potentially 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:22.960 think it's real. Whereas SCP STP Foundation, it's not so 0:05:23.040 --> 0:05:25.599 much they're not really pushing the these this is real, 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:28.800 this really happened angle but they're playing with the genre. 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:34.680 There's still I believe anonymous entries. I think so yeah. Uh, 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:39.320 they basically are cataloging all of these creatures, entities, whatever 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:43.640 they are, as if they're all in containment. And so 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:45.680 the guidelines for writing one of these is that the 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:49.800 articles should have an interesting idea, a reasonable containment procedure 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:52.559 for whatever it is it's being contained, and a clear 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:56.480 description of each entry They also operate on a rating system, 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:58.680 which was really nice for us to be able to 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:02.240 get like a good dive in UM. If the page 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:05.080 is low rated, they're deleted from the site if they 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:08.360 receive a negative nine rating or lower UM. So these 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:11.279 people are very focused on quality, more so than a 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:13.760 lot of the creepy pasta sites that we've been to before. 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:16.200 There's also a spinoff game. I haven't had a chance 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:19.080 to play it yet, but it's called Containment Breach, where 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:22.719 you play a disposable human guinea pig that's stuck in 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:25.719 the facility and the it undergoes a containment breach, so 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:29.160 you're alone with all the escaped entities. I I just 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:32.080 really liked a lot of these. They play to the 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:34.599 weirdness of horror rather than to the gore of some 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:38.440 of the creepy pastas, and I that appealed to me. Yeah, 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:40.880 I mean I. I I also love the emphasis on humor 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:43.880 and absurdity. There's still plenty of unsettling aspects to the 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:47.080 various specimens, but more often than not, the entries put 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:50.280 a smile on my face or even elect a giggle. UM. Plus, 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:52.520 there's a fair amount of a variety in the style. 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.920 Most of the top entries retain that case report format, 0:06:56.440 --> 0:06:59.760 but but there are tones shifts here and there, and uh, 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:02.320 and some rely on visuals more so than others. There's 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:09.760 even one entry at least STP that's entirely it's told 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:13.760 entirely through visuals, through the sequential use of like industrial 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:17.240 hazard signs to tell the story of a deadly but 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:22.480 perhaps loving shadow entity that creeps in and and terrifies 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:26.720 and potentially consumes one of the researchers. Yeah, I really 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:29.800 love the creativity on this site. Definitely recommend that you 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:32.280 go visit it. So our mission today and on this 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:36.560 episode is we each took three of our favorite specimens 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:40.520 and then we extrapolated out scientific lessons that we can 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:43.680 learn from them. Yeah, so view it as a celebration 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:49.080 of step foundation materials, but also using different examples from 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:52.480 SEP as a as a stepping stone to then discuss 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:56.760 some equally fascinating and weird science, real world science behind 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:00.680 the fiction. Okay, so we're gonna start off with one 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:04.480 of Roberts and this one is called the Sculpture. Yeah, 0:08:04.480 --> 0:08:06.880 this one's pretty cool because it not only is the 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:09.760 idea interesting, it's also the original specimen. This was the 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:13.520 first CP Foundation specimen to have a ride up. And 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:18.440 I'm just gonna read from the description quote move to 0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:23.640 site nineteen. Origin is of yet unknown. It is constructed 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:27.400 from concrete and rebar with faces of Crylon brand spray paint. 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:31.440 SEP one seventy three. Is an is animate and extremely hostile. 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:35.840 The object cannot move while within a direct line of sight. 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:38.760 Line of sight must not be broken at any time. 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:42.560 With SCP one seventy three, personnel assigned to inter container 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:46.200 are instructed to alert one other before blinking object is 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:48.680 reported to attack by snapping the neck at the base 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:51.400 of the skull or by strangulation. In the event of 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.520 an attack, personnel are to observe Class four hazardous object 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:59.880 containment procedures. So uh. A lot of these remind me 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:03.600 of like the premises for Doctor Who episodes, and this 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:06.240 one immediately made me think of the weeping Angels, which 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:10.640 are sort of a favorite on the newer Doctor Who episodes. Yeah, indeed, 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:13.800 like this is the trope, right, the the entity that 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:15.959 cannot move as long as you're looking at it, but 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:18.240 if you look away, it's going to creep in with 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:21.760 alarming speed. Another big example of this are the hedge 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:25.520 creatures from Stephen King's novel The Shine. Oh yeah, that's right. 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:29.240 But one of the things The Shining movie is my 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:31.040 favorite movie of all time. But that is the one 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:32.920 thing from the novel I really wish had made it 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:35.480 in there. That's right, because in the in the in 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:39.080 the movie, the original Kubrick film, we we got this hedgemazed, 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:42.520 and certainly that works very well within the the you know, 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:45.959 the that adaptation. But in the original novel, they're these 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:48.600 hedge animals and if you look away, then you look back, 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:50.720 and they moved closer, and they get closer and closer. 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:52.520 And I haven't seen it yet, but you know, Stephen 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:55.080 King made his own adaptation of it, and I believe 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:56.880 the hedge creatures are in that. I think so. I 0:09:56.880 --> 0:09:58.920 think they kept it, but I've not seen one of 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:03.120 these days, I'll get to it now. SCP One three, 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:06.120 as the picture seems to illustrate, is kind of this 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:10.640 giant space baby from a Young smunk Meyer film. At 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:13.760 the image is pretty crazy. Yeah, it's it's like it's 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:16.440 it's a little bit bad, but it's also it's it's 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:18.960 creepy to look at because you're trying to imagine this 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:22.000 thing moving when your eyes are adverted. And they believe 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:24.640 this is also the most popular one, right or one 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:26.760 of the most pop's. It's right up there on the 0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:28.520 top of the list, if not the most popular, and 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:30.560 certainly it's been around the longest, and it is a 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:33.679 good it's a really good like template for other U 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:37.280 imagine for anyone creating one of these now. In addition 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:39.880 to the head creatures from Stephen King's The Shining and 0:10:39.960 --> 0:10:42.679 the Weeping Angels from Doctor Who, which which, as you 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:45.280 pointed out, these are these on the show where ancient 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:48.960 alien predators who resemble winged humans and they make use 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:52.240 of time paradoxes. They move swiftly, but only if nothing 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:55.280 is looking at them, and apparently if two weeping angels 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:56.880 look at each other at the same time, they get 0:10:56.880 --> 0:10:59.680 trapped in their stone forms. But then, on top of 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:05.280 these sational examples, there's Ninja Cat from YouTube. It's exactly 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:09.680 the same premise. It's it's uh, somebody pointing their camera 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:12.240 at this cat is peeking around a corner at them 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:15.839 down the hall, and then the camera moves away for 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:18.520 a second, moves back, and the cat is peeking around 0:11:18.520 --> 0:11:21.000 a closer corner, and they move away, and then when 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:23.480 they come back, the cat is even closer. But just 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:26.440 like the hedge creatures of the Weeping Angels or this 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:30.920 particular SEP specimen, you never actually see it move. It 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:33.120 just gets closer and closer and closer to much right 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:35.480 on you. No, I haven't seen that one, but that 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:38.200 sounds like it would be very amusing. Yeah, it is, 0:11:38.240 --> 0:11:42.000 it's it's it's wonderful. But this last example, ninja cat. Uh, 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:45.320 given that it's a natural world predator as opposed to 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:48.559 another worldly when it raises, the question, does direct line 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:52.480 of sight, direct eyesight even protect a prey animal such 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:56.640 as a human from a predator such as a tiger 0:11:56.920 --> 0:12:01.079 or a jumping angel or a hedge monster. Yeah, it's 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:04.520 a it's a wonderful question. And uh, and indeed we 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:08.200 have some answers to that. So eye contact is of 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:12.600 course something that creepily transcends species. And and I mean 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:15.439 it's creepy enough with with humans, right, it's weird to 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:19.280 humans lot gazes and there's this sense of connection, sense 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:23.120 of openness for an attempt to dominate. Numerous studies have 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:26.760 revealed that that it that it has various influences over 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.959 trust persuasion. A two thousand eleven study even show that 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:34.280 eye contact can serve as an invitation to mimicry, which 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:37.200 which has an impact on the way we learn, but 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:42.600 also potentially on how people with autism struggle to grasp 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:45.320 when they're expected to copy the actions of another person. 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:49.280 Oh yeah, yeah, certainly. I mainly think of the sort 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:52.040 of quote science of eye contact because I used to 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:54.080 teach public speaking, and it's a big part of that, 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:57.880 like how much eye contact should you have with your audience? Um, 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:00.680 where should you be moving your eyes through the audience? 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:03.680 Would you just stare at one person? Obviously not. So 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:06.200 there's a lot of there's a lot of rules to 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:09.040 it to be an effective public speaker, right. But but 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:11.880 related to that, there's there's also this mix of a 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:16.880 continuing study into how uh, direct eye contact influences are 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:20.400 are speaking abilities, but also there's a fair amount of 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:23.959 sort of folk mythology about yeah. Well, for instance, the 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:26.400 whole idea that you should make direct eye contact when 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:28.480 trying to convince somebody of something you see it in 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:30.880 a speech or whatever. There was actually a two thousand 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:34.360 thirteen University of Freiburg study that found that direct eye 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:38.000 contact makes skeptical listeners less likely to change their minds. 0:13:38.360 --> 0:13:40.600 I believe it. So it's just it's like, oh, you're 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:43.520 you're boring into me with your with your ideas and 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:46.800 your creepy eyes. I'm just gonna shut you out. I remember, 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:48.920 I don't have them in the notes here, but I 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:52.680 remember reading studies that like have quantified the exact amount 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:55.200 of seconds that human beings can look at each other 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:57.839 in the eyes before it becomes so uncomfortable that they 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:01.679 just immediately shut down. Yeah. But the crazy part though, right, 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:04.720 is that that if you've ever made eye contact with 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:07.360 a dog or a cat or a zoo animal, then 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:11.000 you felt that inner species connection as well. Yeah, yeah, definitely. 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:13.160 I look, that's funny that you you bring that up, 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:15.400 because you know, I have two dogs. I hang out 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:18.040 with them all the time, and uh look them in 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:20.640 the eyes all the time, a lot longer than a 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:22.400 human and I would be able to look each other 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:24.240 in the eyes. But I think it's because the dogs 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:28.360 are connecting differently, but it still means something to them. Yeah. 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:30.320 I have the same experience with our cat, who like 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:33.400 who I know, you know, I do not this cat, especially, 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:36.640 I do not anthropomorphizes too much, like she's she's a 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:40.320 monster who attacks my feet, and uh, it just came 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:43.360 around at the long wrong point in our lives. I mean, 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:46.160 I love her, she's wonderful, but she's kind of kind 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:49.840 of right. Both my cats are similar, but you make 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:52.360 eye contact with them and it's like, oh, it's like, 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:55.720 I know that we have totally different minds and totally 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:58.080 different brains, totally different views of the world, and yet 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:01.840 right now we're sharing this profound activity. You're staring into 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:04.160 eyes and you have no word for eyes. All right, 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:05.560 you can just go down the rabbit hole on it. 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:09.560 But at at the basic right, like the bedrock here, 0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:12.680 is that when you when two creatures make eye contact, 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:16.160 there's this idea that one has been seen, that one 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:18.280 is being seen, that one is your you're know, not 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:20.720 hiding from that other creature, the other creature is aware. 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:24.560 And then what comes next. So there are two main 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:27.640 distinctions in what should come next? First matching up the 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:30.520 with with the idea of the weeping angels and uh 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:35.000 and topiary animals and sep one. See, there's this reality 0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:38.880 that certain creatures depend on stealth to acquire their prey. 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:43.560 And if if they know that you see them, that 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:46.480 is going to take away their advantage. They they are 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:50.600 stealth hunters, they are surprised um predators, and if they 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:54.600 don't have that surprise, then they may back off. And 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:57.160 I can't help but think of these attacks in um 0:15:57.200 --> 0:16:02.080 an x COOM terms video games. That was I was 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:04.720 immediately thinking of video game. Different video game. But yeah, 0:16:04.800 --> 0:16:06.920 when you're trying to sneak up on somebody, Yeah, or 0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:09.200 d n D as well, where you have a bonus. Uh, 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:11.240 there's a damage bonus or an attack bonus to a 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:14.920 sneak attack, like in video games. Like Yeah, if it's 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:17.880 a video games role playing, if the stakes are high enough, 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:22.880 that surprise attack can make all the difference. Uh. But 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:25.880 but but you know, within the game it's still a game, right, Well, 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:29.640 for predators it's uh, it's even more important because first 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:31.840 of all, nothing beats a sure thing, right or even 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:34.440 a near sure thing. If an attack, but if an 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:37.360 attack does not go as exactly planned, a number of 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:40.960 consequences can occur. So the prey might get away, in 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:44.680 which case you've lost energy, you've lost time. Other prey 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:46.840 in the area might be alerted to your presence and 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:50.600 they're frightened away, We're still an alert prey animal could 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:54.240 have the chance to counterattack and inflict damage, and that 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:57.680 kind of injury can prove deadly. Cheatahs, for instance, rarely 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:01.120 go after larger prey like an austria. There are some 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:04.080 very interesting examples where they do develop strategies to to 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:06.400 do that, but for the most part they don't because 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:08.920 while to pay off for catching that off striach is 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:11.880 wonderful if you get if they get injured, it basically 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:14.720 can mean starvation because they are a high speed predator 0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:18.160 and a limping cheetah is not going to eat. Yeah. 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:21.360 This reminds me of a video that I shot here 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:24.440 for work a couple of weeks ago about killer whales 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:27.280 and humpback whales. There's a similar thing going on, and 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:30.600 that killer whales trying to sneak up and take out 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:35.080 humpback whale calves. But now humpback whales have started to 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:39.240 fight back. Uh, to the point that humpback whales will 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:42.840 actually interfere with killer whale attacks on other animals, like 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:47.679 they're saving seals from killer whale attacks. Uh, and go 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:49.679 watch the video. But there's a lot of science to it, 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:52.879 trying to figure out what's going on there exactly to 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:55.800 this point. The killer whales are expending all this energy 0:17:56.200 --> 0:18:00.280 and then the humpbacks just basically pummel them down to 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:03.040 make sure that they stay away, and they're basically teaching 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:07.080 them a lesson like don't go after our children. Yeah, 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:11.040 and certainly I have a hard time sympathizing with the 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:16.120 mammal eating killer whales. They got to eat somehow. But 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:18.600 but then you have the fish eating killer whales where 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:21.720 in my household, my four year old is very is 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:24.560 very into into nature right now, and he likes killer whales, 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:28.760 but he's very firm that he only likes fish eating. Yeah, 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:32.400 despite the fact that the there's a particular to tie 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:36.480 back into viewing prey killer whales that that prey on 0:18:36.560 --> 0:18:40.359 seals will do this thing called spy hopping, and my 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:42.199 son's very intrigued by that. And this is where they 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:44.480 will they'll they'll they're they'll poke their heads out of 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:48.399 the water kind of like peek over the top and 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:52.080 see what their prey is up to. Well, maybe if 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:56.000 that seal just made direct eye contact with the killer whale, 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:59.520 it would swim away. Yeah, that's right. Now, that's one possibility, right, 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:01.800 if you know, if you know that the predators after 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:04.160 you just make eye contact with it at all times, 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:06.960 it's great, but you're that's going to be quite a 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:11.040 resource drain. You can't constantly be on the lookout for predators. 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:15.359 So the next best tactic, of perhaps the better tactic, 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:18.119 is to fool your enemies into thinking someone's watching you 0:19:18.200 --> 0:19:21.600 all the time. And we actually see countless examples of 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:27.040 this uh in the evolution of eye spots across various species. 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:29.640 So these are just you know, dots on a creature 0:19:29.720 --> 0:19:32.600 that look like eyes. Now, to be clear, not all 0:19:32.600 --> 0:19:35.480 eye spots are there to mimic watching eyes. Sometimes they're 0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:38.040 there to fool a predator and attacking a less vulnerable 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:40.280 part of the animal. You know, don't attack my head, 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:44.439 attack my rump, or they play into mate selection. But 0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:48.280 in some cases, yes, eye spots definitely serve as anti 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:52.320 predator adaptations. And we also see examples of the strategy's 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:56.480 effectiveness outside of natural adaptation. For instance, in India, you 0:19:56.520 --> 0:19:59.760 have individuals who happen to live and work in Bengal 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:03.720 Ti tiger country and they've long reported success with these 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:05.960 wooden human masks that they wear in the back of 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:10.520 their heads with wide open eyes. That the idea here 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:12.840 is that the tiger will try and self attack them, 0:20:12.920 --> 0:20:15.479 but it sees this face staring back at them, and 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:18.440 so they realize, oh, well, my percentage, my percentage to 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:22.480 hit is less, I'm not going to take the risk. Um. 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:25.240 And and you know, various animal species have evolved eye 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:27.479 spots that in many cases they serve to protect them 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:31.440 from creeping predators, as I already mentioned. Uh. Currently there's 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:35.720 this really cool project Australian conservation biologist Dr Neil Jordan's 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:38.160 is experimenting with the use of painted on eye spots 0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:43.560 painted and then just black paint into grazing cattle. And 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:45.960 the idea here is to protect them from lion attacks, 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:49.080 because lions end up attacking cattle uh. And then the 0:20:49.400 --> 0:20:52.200 humans counterattack at least all this violence, and then the 0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:56.040 lions are already endangered anyway. It's a bad situation for everyone. 0:20:56.880 --> 0:21:00.359 But so far he has reported a fair out of 0:21:00.640 --> 0:21:03.439 success with this. Say he holds a position with the 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:07.480 Botswana Predator Conservation Trust and he recently held a ten 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:10.439 week trial of the strategy painting eyes on one third 0:21:10.480 --> 0:21:14.240 of the sixty two cattle herd, three unpainted cows wild 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:16.840 wound up as lion chow, but none of the eye 0:21:16.840 --> 0:21:21.600 cows fell to bradation. So, uh, correct me if I'm wrong, 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:24.040 But didn't we do it? Now we do? And this 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:28.960 was it? You? Who? Yeah? So why it's in your mind? Yeah, 0:21:29.000 --> 0:21:31.200 I remember this from a couple of weeks ago. So yeah, 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:32.879 we have a small video out there that you can 0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:34.959 go check out at how stuff works. Now they're going 0:21:35.000 --> 0:21:37.200 to do a follow up on it. Hopefully we'll see 0:21:37.200 --> 0:21:40.160 the results of that in the the weeks and months ahead. 0:21:40.200 --> 0:21:44.000 But uh, you know they're gonna use GPS, cattle trackers, 0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:47.679 etcetera to really see how effective this, uh, this strategy is. 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:49.520 But it does drive on the fact that, yes, there 0:21:49.560 --> 0:21:52.280 are predatory creatures where they know that you're watching, they 0:21:52.280 --> 0:21:54.199 will back they will back off where they will they 0:21:54.200 --> 0:21:58.920 will they will hold off their attack. However, that doesn't 0:21:58.920 --> 0:22:02.560 mean the direct icon atack with your specimen is always 0:22:02.560 --> 0:22:05.200 a good thing. There are also plenty of examples where 0:22:05.600 --> 0:22:11.000 it will force violent actions out of the other species. 0:22:11.119 --> 0:22:13.720