1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,119 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 1: In the twenty eleven action film X Men First Class, 7 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: the metal bending super villain Magneto triumphantly declares that mutants 8 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,200 Speaker 1: are the next step in human evolution. It's a bold idea, 9 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: and one that crops up in a lot of science fiction. 10 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: Just imagine a future where humans brought wings, manipulate objects 11 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: with their minds, or control the elements. Definitely cool, but 12 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:03,639 Speaker 1: not exactly scientifically sound. In reality, the idea that our 13 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,919 Speaker 1: next stage in evolution will be some kind of obviously 14 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:11,679 Speaker 1: superior human is a complete misreading of how natural selection works. 15 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:15,959 Speaker 1: Evolution isn't a ladder leading to perfection. It's more like 16 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: a chaotic, slow motion shuffle where environmental pressures select for 17 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: unpredictable and seemingly innocuous traits. And yet, if we had 18 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: to name a real evolutionary success story, a creature that's 19 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 1: withstood the test of time and emerged again and again 20 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: in nature's bizarre roulette wheel. We wouldn't be looking at 21 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:38,400 Speaker 1: a human with psychic powers. We would be looking at 22 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: a crab. That's right, those sideways, scuttling, beach patrolling, pinch 23 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: happy crustaceans. It turns out nature loves making crabs, and 24 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: it's done it over and over through completely independent genetic trees. 25 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: The phenomenon was first noticed by British zoologist Lancelot to 26 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: Alexander Boridale. He worked at the turn of the twentieth century, 27 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: several decades after Charles Darwin rocked the scientific world with 28 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: on the Origin of species. By then, evolutionary theory was 29 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:10,920 Speaker 1: widely accepted, although scientists were still puzzling out many of 30 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: its mechanisms. For researchers like Boradale, evolution became a lens 31 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,960 Speaker 1: through which to re examine the entire natural world, And 32 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:23,359 Speaker 1: as he looked closely at marine invertebrates, he noticed something unexpected. 33 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 1: Crustaceans that weren't closely related kept evolving into crabs. It 34 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 1: seems like nature kept arriving at the same general blueprint 35 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: consisting of a flat body armoured shell, scuttling legs, and 36 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: a set of handy claws. These traits would appear in 37 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: totally unrelated lineages at different times and in different places. 38 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: Boradale called this repeated trend carconization and described it as 39 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: an i quote, one of the many attempts of nature 40 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: to evolve a crab. More recently, in twenty nineteen, Bordale's 41 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:58,519 Speaker 1: work inspired a group of Yale scientists to delve deeper 42 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: into this biological curd. Work they identified at least five 43 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: distinct cases of carsonization, meaning that five different animals independently 44 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:10,920 Speaker 1: evolved into something that you or I would recognize as 45 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: a crab. To help put that into context, as best 46 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: as we can tell, powered flight with wings has only 47 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: evolved independently four times in history, suggesting that the crabs 48 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:26,359 Speaker 1: are a more efficient resilient organism than all species of birds, bugs, 49 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: and bats put together. If you're wondering why that might be, 50 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: consider that crabs actually have a lot going on for them. 51 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: Their shape is compact and armored, which is great for 52 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: defending against predators. Their claws are multipurpose tools good for grabbing, crushing, digging, 53 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,720 Speaker 1: and self defense. While they have gills. Like fish, they 54 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: can survive out of water for as long as those 55 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: gills stay wet, and their weird scuttling walk, unnerving as 56 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 1: it might appear to us, is actually pretty useful, allowing 57 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: them to burrow in the sand or climb straight up 58 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: cliff walls. In a sense, crabs are the Swiss Army 59 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: knife of the animal kingdom, and thanks to their incredible adaptability, 60 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: they can be found all over the planet, from deep 61 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 1: ocean trenches to arid deserts and even tree tops. This 62 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 1: has led to a delightful Internet meme which claims that 63 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:19,799 Speaker 1: all life is slowly evolving into crabs. It's funny because 64 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:22,799 Speaker 1: it's absurd and kind of terrifying to think about humans 65 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:26,040 Speaker 1: sparting claws and shells, even if that's not the point 66 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: of carconization. Bordale never suggested that all organisms would eventually 67 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: become crabs, and really that's not how evolution works at all. 68 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: But let's just say that we want to play along 69 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 1: for a moment. Picture a future Earth ravaged by rising 70 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: sea levels, where cities drown and humanity is forced to 71 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:47,840 Speaker 1: adapt to aquatic environments over millions of years, assuming the 72 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:51,960 Speaker 1: right pressures. Of course, could we become something vaguely crab like? 73 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: Trade our soft, squishy forms for hardened shells, our hands 74 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:59,000 Speaker 1: for pincers, our legs for ones that are more suited 75 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 1: to scurrying over s, And as wild as it sounds, 76 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: it's not impossible, And as Boradale showed, evolution has a 77 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: soft spot for the crab shape. So forget Magneto and 78 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:14,039 Speaker 1: his mutants. If any species has earned our admiration, it's 79 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: the humble crab. Masters of adaptation, survivors across oceans, caves, 80 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:24,039 Speaker 1: treetops and tides. They're nature's quiet champions and maybe, just 81 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 1: maybe the final form for us. All natural disasters are 82 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: existentially terrifying. While some are avoidable, others strike suddenly and 83 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:50,840 Speaker 1: without warning. Their sheer scale and ability to kill massive 84 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,040 Speaker 1: amounts of people at one time makes the universe seem 85 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: like an especially cruel and uncaring place. It's hard to 86 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 1: imagine so many lives being snuffed out in an instant. 87 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: These disasters are so preoccupying that they've led to their 88 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 1: own genre of action films, where Titanic forces wipe out 89 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 1: whole cities. But sometimes in real life, natural disasters aren't 90 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:16,719 Speaker 1: loud and exciting sometimes they're silent, but just as deadly. 91 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:21,279 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty six, a woman named Prudensia Kane was 92 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: settling down for a night in her village near Lake 93 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 1: NEOs in Cameroon, Africa. It's a mid sized country on 94 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: the western shore of the continent, right up in the 95 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 1: crook where the coast starts to shift from north to west. 96 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:37,279 Speaker 1: It's a lush region, made so by the volcanic soil 97 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,920 Speaker 1: that covers the landscape. Prudencia and others like her live 98 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:43,840 Speaker 1: there for a reason, and the nearby Lake Nios only 99 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 1: adds to its beauty. After Prudencia put her children down 100 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:49,960 Speaker 1: for the night, it wasn't long before she herself drifted 101 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,200 Speaker 1: off to sleep. It would be a while before she 102 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:55,680 Speaker 1: woke again, and when she did, her whole world had changed. 103 00:06:56,279 --> 00:06:59,120 Speaker 1: She awoke suddenly late in the day with a heavy cough. 104 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,920 Speaker 1: Her throat burned as a strange white powder flew out 105 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:06,000 Speaker 1: of her mouth with each spasm. Immediately she knew that 106 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:09,159 Speaker 1: something was wrong. She stumbled to her feet, feeling dizzy, 107 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: and made her way to where her children were sleeping. 108 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: As she bent down to shake them awake, her heart stopped. 109 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,679 Speaker 1: They weren't moving no fluttering in their eyelids, no rising 110 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: and falling of their chests. When she checked their necks, 111 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:26,280 Speaker 1: there was no pulse. Her pain was immeasurable. She could 112 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: hardly process what was happening. It seemed like a nightmare. Eventually, 113 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:32,840 Speaker 1: she stumbled out her door and into the village. For 114 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,120 Speaker 1: the first time, she realized just how unusually quiet it was. 115 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: There were no birds chirping, no cicadas in the trees, 116 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 1: no voices. Her eyes were ringing with the silence, and 117 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: as Prudencia made her way down the street, she checked 118 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: in on her neighbor's homes and found that many of 119 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:52,320 Speaker 1: them were just as still as her children. What had happened. 120 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: Her heart nearly broke when she made it a few 121 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: more blocks and finally found another survivor. They had strange 122 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: red blisters on them their face, and they were just 123 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:04,840 Speaker 1: as scared as Prudensia. Neither of them had any idea 124 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 1: what had happened. In the weeks that followed, government authorities 125 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: came to the village and began to treat the survivors 126 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 1: while also counting the dead. They soon found that eighteen 127 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 1: hundred people and thirty five hundred livestock had perished as 128 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: well as birds and insects. Many had fluid in their 129 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:25,360 Speaker 1: lungs and the strange blisters on their bodies. The doctors 130 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:30,240 Speaker 1: were just as confused as the victims. They needed outside help. Thankfully, 131 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:33,560 Speaker 1: doctors from England heeded their call, intrigued by the mystery 132 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:37,199 Speaker 1: and anxious to provide assistance. As they examined the victims, 133 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 1: both living and dead, they were able to eliminate several hypotheses. 134 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:44,959 Speaker 1: This wasn't some chemical weapon attack. The blisters were not burns, 135 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,079 Speaker 1: but rather the result of asphyxiation. These people had been 136 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:51,440 Speaker 1: deprived of oxygen and their blood had practically cried out, 137 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:55,199 Speaker 1: breaking through their skin. Some of the victims also had 138 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:58,559 Speaker 1: pneumonia and other respiratory issues, showing that they had been 139 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:01,439 Speaker 1: in comas for a short time and deprived of oxygen. 140 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: All signs pointed to carbon dioxide poisoning. But where could 141 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:08,840 Speaker 1: the gas have come from. The doctors needed to look 142 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:12,120 Speaker 1: no further than Lake NEOs, the large body of water 143 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 1: just outside the village. The lake is actually a crater lake, 144 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:19,199 Speaker 1: meaning that it was formed from volcanic activity and there 145 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:23,520 Speaker 1: is still magma deep below. Over time, carbon dioxide from 146 00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:26,320 Speaker 1: the magma seeps upward to the bottom of the lake, 147 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,600 Speaker 1: where it builds up, literally forming a large bubble, and 148 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 1: when the pressure becomes too much, that bubble bursts, releasing 149 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: a massive amount of gas into the air, gas that 150 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:39,439 Speaker 1: traveled on the wind and wiped out the local population. 151 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:42,719 Speaker 1: It's called a limnic eruption, and the one on Lake 152 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: Nios was one of only three in recorded history, and 153 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 1: it was by far the most deadly as well. Today 154 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 1: the villages around the lake have been resettled. This was 155 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:54,920 Speaker 1: made possible by the installation of large tubes that release 156 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:57,880 Speaker 1: the gas at the bottom of the lake in safe quantities, 157 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: keeping it from building up. But the disaster remains a 158 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:05,720 Speaker 1: curious episode in the history of mankind struggle against Mother Nature. 159 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:09,360 Speaker 1: Our planets is large and it's run by colossal forces 160 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:14,720 Speaker 1: like gravity, tectonic shifts, particle decay, the water cycle, solar energy. 161 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 1: The list just goes on and on. All you can 162 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: do is pray that you won't end up on the 163 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:23,720 Speaker 1: wrong side of any one of those things, because if 164 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 1: that happens, there's nothing we can do about it. I 165 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:35,000 Speaker 1: hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities, 166 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:38,440 Speaker 1: subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 167 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 168 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:46,480 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how 169 00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:50,199 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 170 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 171 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:56,679 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the Worldolore 172 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:00,680 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, a Curious