1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: Lauren boglebaumb here A. Being called a shrimp doesn't exactly 3 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: make you known for having sizeable strength or an intimidating presence, 4 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:19,959 Speaker 1: but there are a few weird wonders of the sea 5 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:24,279 Speaker 1: that crush that stereotype of in dramatic ways. We've talked 6 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: on the show before about the mantis shrimp, but today 7 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: we're tackling the pistol shrimp. It's so powerful that it 8 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 1: not only shoots and annihilates its prey, it's thrown the 9 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:38,240 Speaker 1: US Navy off track and even helped researchers make strides 10 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:43,480 Speaker 1: and finding clean sources of energy. A pistol shrimp, also 11 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:46,839 Speaker 1: known as stabbing shrimp, earn their sea cred by creating 12 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:51,959 Speaker 1: something that's seemingly innocuous bubbles. But these definitely aren't your 13 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 1: ordinary bubbles. When they collapse, they make a sound louder 14 00:00:55,640 --> 00:01:00,160 Speaker 1: than a gun and generate massive amounts of heat. A 15 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: pistol shrimp shoot these deadly bubbles to kill prey a 16 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:07,120 Speaker 1: jackhammer and to rock to create burrows, or to protect 17 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,560 Speaker 1: said burrows from other shrimp. They have no need for 18 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: a fancy holster or to stock up on AMMO. Their 19 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:17,319 Speaker 1: weapon is built right into their one oversized snapper claw, 20 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: which can grow to be half the size of their 21 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: tiny body. There are actually hundreds of species of these 22 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:27,680 Speaker 1: shrimp within the larger family of snapping shrimp, which live 23 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:31,680 Speaker 1: all over the world, mostly in tropical to temperate saltwater environments, 24 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:34,480 Speaker 1: where they can burrow into rocks or reefs or hide 25 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: among sea grass. They tend to be just an inch 26 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: or too long, about three to five centimeters, and have 27 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:42,960 Speaker 1: one claw much larger than the other, though it can 28 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: be either claw left or right. The monstrous sound that 29 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: they make isn't actually caused by the parts of the 30 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: claw impacting each other. As the shrimp open their large 31 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: snapper claw, water fills the small crook inside. Upon closing 32 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: the claw with impressive force, a plunger like piece shoots 33 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: the water out. It speeds as fast as a car 34 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: traveling down the highway, as some sixty miles or one 35 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: hundred kilometers an hour. It's so fast that it creates 36 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:15,639 Speaker 1: an area of pressure so low that a void or 37 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: bubble of water vapor forms within the liquid water. That 38 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,640 Speaker 1: bubble quickly collapses, creating a flash of light and of heat, 39 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:28,080 Speaker 1: reaching some eight thousand degrees of fahrenheit that's about four thousand, 40 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: five hundred degrees celsius, and creating shockwaves that not only 41 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: stun or kill what's in their path, but make a 42 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 1: ridiculously loud sound. Those collapsing bubbles have measured in at 43 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: two hundred and eighteen decibels, which is louder than a 44 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: speeding bullet to us humans. The sound isn't actually that loud, 45 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: but that's due to the blast only lasting a tiny 46 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:57,239 Speaker 1: fraction of a second and being underwater. However, divers and 47 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:00,520 Speaker 1: snorkelers certainly can hear it. If you've I've had your 48 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: head underwater and heard what sounds a little like the 49 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:06,920 Speaker 1: snap crackle pop of raised crispies. That's probably been a 50 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 1: local population of pistol shrimp. It is heavy weaponry, but 51 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:15,920 Speaker 1: if attacked, pistol shrimp are willing to shed that claw 52 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: in order to live and snap another day and snap again. 53 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: They will. Alike all fellow decapods such as lobsters and crabs, 54 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 1: pistol shrimp are capable of regrowing lost or damaged limbs 55 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: during their next molt cycle, which is when they shed 56 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: their shell and grow a new, bigger one. While the 57 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: lost claw grows back, their smaller claw will begin to 58 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: transform itself into the large snapper claw of the pair. 59 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: The new one will be a regular, non snapping claw, 60 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: and this gives them a head start in getting back 61 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 1: on the path to shooting bubbles. That noise that they 62 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: make through an unlikely wrench into the US Navy's defense 63 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 1: plan during World War Two, the snapping sound began interfering 64 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: with sonar used to detach enemy ships, causing the Navy 65 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,840 Speaker 1: to bring in researchers from the University of California Division 66 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: of War Research. Luckily, they sorted out the source and 67 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: recorded the shrimp's sounds to train so inar operators to 68 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: recognize them as sea denizens rather than enemies. While that 69 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:20,480 Speaker 1: was admittedly troublesome, the sound created by pistol shrimp usually 70 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: reflects the good health of a coral reef because lots 71 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 1: of them hunting means lots of life and a balanced ecosystem. 72 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 1: The noise can also help other sea creatures navigate the sea. 73 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: Many species of pistol shrimp living clusters likely is a 74 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,359 Speaker 1: form of protection, and a few species work together with 75 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:41,159 Speaker 1: other types of animals. A pistol shrimp are known to 76 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:44,039 Speaker 1: give gobies, a type of small fish, a place to 77 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: live in exchange for help watching out for danger. And 78 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: pistol shrimp are also helping researchers who are working towards 79 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: creating fusion reactors. Okay, A fusion is the process that 80 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 1: powers our Sun and other stars aware in small or 81 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: atoms smashed together to create larger atoms plus energy. A 82 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:08,159 Speaker 1: fusion has the potential to provide clean, safe energy, enough 83 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,039 Speaker 1: of it that we humans could seriously cut our dependence 84 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:15,360 Speaker 1: on polluted fossil fuels and sometimes hazardous nuclear power, and 85 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: bring cheap electricity to all corners of the Earth. The 86 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:22,480 Speaker 1: potential is awesome, but we haven't figured out quite how 87 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:26,600 Speaker 1: to make it work efficiently. But we're talking about shrimp. 88 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 1: A team out of England has taken inspiration from pistol shrimp. 89 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,839 Speaker 1: They're working with a type of fusion reaction called inertial 90 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:38,720 Speaker 1: confinement fusion. This type uses powerful shock waves to compress 91 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 1: and heat a bit of fuel so much and so 92 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:44,520 Speaker 1: quickly that fusion occurs before the fuel can blow apart. 93 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:48,840 Speaker 1: So the researchers got the idea that the type of 94 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:52,280 Speaker 1: bubble creation and collapse that happens when a pistol shrimp 95 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: shoots could represent a small scale version of a way 96 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: to create that heat and pressure necessary to kickstart fusion 97 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 1: in a bit of fuel. Basically, I'm not an expert 98 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:11,120 Speaker 1: and physics is complicated, so yes, these gun coding invertebrates 99 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:15,280 Speaker 1: are a standout under the sea and everywhere. Whether they're 100 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 1: shooting the enemy or playing nice with their allies, they're 101 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:22,280 Speaker 1: one of nature's loudest and most fascinating critters. The next 102 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: time you're in tropical waters, dip down and enjoy the 103 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: sounds of the curious crackling chorus. Today's episode is based 104 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: on the article pistol shrimp the fastest gun in the 105 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:39,280 Speaker 1: Sea on HowStuffWorks dot com, written by Katiecarmen. The brain 106 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 1: Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how stuffworks 107 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 1: dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more 108 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 1: podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 109 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.