1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:05,320 Humans are always trying to be better, brighter, faster, stronger, tougher. 2 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:07,240 It's one of the things that makes us human. 3 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:11,120 But nature has spent 3.5 billion years 4 00:00:11,120 --> 00:00:15,480 producing ingenious answers to life's questions. 5 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:18,000 So a lot of the problems we're trying to solve 6 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:21,880 have already been solved by evolution. 7 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,440 'Meaning nature is teeming with bright ideas. 8 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:32,520 'Like how to keep our cool...' 9 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:35,720 It's cos it's hot. 10 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:37,840 '..increase our strength...' 11 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:40,880 Ohh! This is not at all pleasant. 12 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:43,600 '..and turn invisible.' 13 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:46,520 That is astonishing. 14 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:50,600 'In this programme, we'll reveal some amazing animal abilities...' 15 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:53,040 He found it blindfold. 16 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:55,280 'And I'll discover how those same animals 17 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:58,160 'have inspired a series of human inventions 18 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:01,600 'at the very frontiers of science.' 19 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:04,640 Yeah, it's driving itself. 20 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:06,040 Yes! 21 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:07,280 HE LAUGHS It's gone! 22 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:09,720 'We'll have to go around the world...' 23 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:10,760 Oh, my God! 24 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:13,360 '..and into some pretty unlikely situations.' 25 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:15,560 We've just dived under the sea! 26 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,520 'Because you never quite know 27 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:21,800 'what surprises the animal kingdom has in store for you.' 28 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:23,680 DOGS BARK Go! 29 00:01:25,320 --> 00:01:28,920 'It's all part of the miracle of nature.' 30 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:57,600 We've all dreamed of having super-powers. 31 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:04,080 Abilities far beyond the limitations of our human bodies. 32 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:10,800 'Well, believe it or not, the animal kingdom can help.' 33 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:18,000 'In searing conditions like these, 34 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:23,440 'there comes a point when the human body can actually stop sweating. 35 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:27,720 'Which is a worry. 36 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:30,840 'Because if you can't sweat, 37 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:34,920 'you lose the ability to regulate your own temperature. 38 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:39,400 'And going more than just a few degrees above normal 39 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:41,920 'will start to affect your brain. 40 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:56,080 'The hotter you get, the worse your thinking becomes. 41 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:01,240 'Until you lose the power 42 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:03,480 'to do even the simplest of things.' 43 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:07,680 As I shall now demonstrate using this child's toy. 44 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:11,200 Obviously, for this to be rigorously scientific, 45 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,000 I should first have demonstrated to you 46 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,600 how good I am in my front room at room temperature. 47 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:19,320 I'm brilliant at it, that's all you need to know. 48 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:23,360 I'll now try it on a blazing hot salt pan. 49 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:24,560 Right, here we go. 50 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:26,280 TOY: Bop it! 51 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:27,320 Spin it! 52 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:30,040 Spin it! 53 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:31,800 Bop it! 54 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:32,840 Spin it! 55 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:36,560 Twist it! 56 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,320 'The idea is that I just copy what the toy tells me to do.' 57 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:43,840 Twist it! 58 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:45,760 Twist it! 59 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:47,040 'But I seem incapable 60 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,280 'of following more than three or four instructions.' 61 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:51,320 Spin it! 62 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,440 'Which even by my standards is bad.' 63 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:58,120 What actually is happening is as your brain gets hot, 64 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:00,160 it lets you down in three critical areas. 65 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:02,000 First of all... 66 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,000 I've forgotten! 67 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:09,000 What actually happens, as your brain gets hot, 68 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:10,800 it lets you down in three critical areas. 69 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:12,160 First of all, working memory. 70 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:15,480 That's in this case, remembering which of these things does what. 71 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:17,080 Then your short-term memory, 72 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:19,120 remembering what the machine's told you to do. 73 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:20,480 And finally, co-ordination. 74 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:23,200 You might remember what it's told you to do and which one does it, 75 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:25,800 but you've got to get your hand there and use it. 76 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:29,240 Which is why, ridiculous though it might look, for our purposes, 77 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:33,000 this was actually quite a good test of those three things at speed. 78 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:34,640 Do some more. 79 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:36,440 Twist it! 80 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:38,120 No! 81 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:40,680 Stupid toy, anyway. 82 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:42,880 Pull it! 83 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:43,960 No! 84 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:51,040 'Now, all right, I realise it might not be incredibly useful 85 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:54,360 'for me to be able to master a children's toy 86 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:56,040 'in the middle of nowhere.' 87 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:02,600 But there are plenty of real-life situations 88 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:05,400 where keeping your brain working when it's hot 89 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:08,840 isn't just desirable, it's critical. 90 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,960 This soldier is being trained in bomb disposal. 91 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:22,600 And here at a secret location in Gloucestershire, 92 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:27,320 he's about to try and disarm his first unexploded device. 93 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:32,520 What's certain is that he can't afford 94 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:36,120 to make the same sort of stupid mistakes that I did. 95 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,480 Covered from head to toe in thick protective armour, 96 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:50,800 he's getting very, very hot. 97 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:57,720 So when it comes down to making the most life-or-death of decisions, 98 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:02,760 how can he ensure that he has all his wits about him? 99 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,080 And that is where the natural world can help. 100 00:06:11,840 --> 00:06:15,000 But it's not an animal that lives in these arid deserts 101 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:16,360 that holds the key. 102 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:23,000 It's one from the frozen north. 103 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:29,600 An animal that can survive 104 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,680 some of the coldest temperatures on the planet. 105 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:54,640 Huskies have evolved to live in unimaginably cold conditions. 106 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:58,280 And not just to work and play, also to sleep on the ice 107 00:06:58,280 --> 00:07:02,160 at minus whatever, and they do that, cos, yeah, they have a fur coat, 108 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,920 but it's not just a single fur coat, they're wearing two. 109 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:08,320 There's the outer layer of coarse, waterproof hairs, 110 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:10,080 and on the inside, underneath, 111 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,240 there's a second layer of this soft, insulating fur. 112 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:16,640 And it works really, really well. 113 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,960 The problem is, what about when they exert themselves? 114 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:21,160 DOGS BARK 115 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,280 Huskies are bred to be sled dogs. 116 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:30,800 They're capable of covering 100 miles in a single day. 117 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:36,400 'So how do they cope with getting hot?' 118 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:42,200 Right, if everybody's ready, 15 seconds to start. 119 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:45,800 In 10... 120 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:46,840 nine... 121 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:48,400 eight...seven... 122 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:50,160 six...five... 123 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:51,200 four... 124 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:52,240 three... 125 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:53,560 two...one... 126 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:55,080 Go! 127 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:57,040 Ha ha! 128 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:02,320 You might think that heat isn't really a problem 129 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:04,000 in Arctic conditions. 130 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:08,480 So to make their super-power a bit more obvious, 131 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:12,960 we've decided to race them somewhere just that little bit hotter. 132 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:20,200 Without the cold snow, 133 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:23,920 the huskies' temperature control is even more important. 134 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:30,680 Especially as they're incapable of sweating through those thick coats. 135 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:42,720 I mean, we all know how even leaving a dog in a hot car 136 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:44,400 can put it at risk. 137 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:48,160 So how are they managing to avoid overheating? 138 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:56,000 Well, like all dogs, they open their mouths and pant. 139 00:08:57,440 --> 00:08:58,680 DOGS PANT 140 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:03,440 But that's not enough to manage the temperature inside them. 141 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:09,320 The core temperature that can critically affect their brains. 142 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:14,680 To cope with that, they're using something else entirely. 143 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:20,680 They're using their paws. 144 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:24,800 And there you go. 145 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:26,440 That's a win for the blue team, 146 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:29,520 and that's how important managing that body temperature is. 147 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:33,240 So let me try and get a closer look at those paws. 148 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:34,440 If I can. 149 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:38,080 There's a lot of paws. 150 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:39,560 And nearly as many teeth. 151 00:09:39,560 --> 00:09:42,440 So I've got this device, a thermal imaging camera. 152 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:45,200 Which should allow me to show you what I mean 153 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:47,120 without losing any fingers. 154 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:52,920 You can see that this dog is a fairly even temperature, 155 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:55,720 but its paws are glowing white-hot. 156 00:09:56,880 --> 00:10:00,120 They're criss-crossed by a network of tiny blood vessels, 157 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:04,600 which means these pads basically work like amazing little radiators, 158 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:06,560 letting out heat and cooling the blood 159 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:11,280 before it's pumped back to the husky's body and brain. 160 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:15,560 And it's that miracle of natural design that's led to an invention 161 00:10:15,560 --> 00:10:18,480 that might just help us keep our cool. 162 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,480 To prove it, we're going to put these ten men 163 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:31,600 to the same sort of test as the huskies. 164 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:37,760 Like the dogs, their bodies and heads are covered, 165 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:41,720 making it difficult for them to sweat out excess heat. 166 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:45,760 And we're making it just that little bit warmer than they're used to. 167 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:50,840 So, let's get cracking. 168 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:05,000 As they get stuck in, we keep cranking up the heat. 169 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:08,360 Until, like me on the saltpan, 170 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:12,200 we see them start to make silly mistakes. 171 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:28,080 It's at that point we remove two men we reckon have overheated the most. 172 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:32,320 Their core temperatures are not dangerously high, 173 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:36,560 but the heat has affected them both physically and mentally. 174 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:45,200 But we can help. 175 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:50,040 With this. 176 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:59,440 This odd-looking cylinder is designed to cool us down quick. 177 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:03,680 Like a husky's paws, 178 00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:06,560 our hands are filled with lots of tiny blood vessels, 179 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:10,200 but they're much deeper under the skin. 180 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:15,240 This device creates a vacuum to bring them closer to the surface, 181 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:20,040 where a chilled cone of metal quickly cools down the hot blood. 182 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:27,080 You won't see it on the thermal images - 183 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,480 they only register heat at the surface - 184 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:33,680 but these gauges represent each man's core temperature. 185 00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:36,920 And the effects are dramatic. 186 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:42,800 You can plainly see the difference. 187 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:51,120 More to the point, they can feel it. 188 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:54,840 Just two minutes of cooling is enough to get our guinea pig 189 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:59,120 ready for action again, long before his team-mate has recovered. 190 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:03,640 It's time I tried this thing for myself. 191 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:04,680 So here goes. 192 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:08,920 That's a good seal to enable the vacuum. 193 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:10,760 The vacuum is important, remember, 194 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,920 it's pulling my capillaries in my hand to the surface. 195 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:18,720 They're then closer to contact with the cooling iced water, 196 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:20,600 and the idea of this isn't to cool my hand, 197 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:22,200 which does feel cool right now, 198 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:25,080 it's cooling the blood in those capillaries closer to the surface, 199 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:27,400 which is returning through my body, lowering my core, 200 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:30,720 and more to the point, lowering the temperature in my brain. 201 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:33,680 The quickest way to cool this right now is to cool that. 202 00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:36,280 Right, the acid test. 203 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:39,960 I feel sharper and cooler already. 204 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:44,240 TOY: Flick it! 205 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:46,120 Pull it! 206 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:48,040 Pull it! 207 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:49,480 Flick it! 208 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:50,520 Twist it! 209 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:52,560 Pull it! 210 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:58,080 Which should be very good news indeed... 211 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:02,920 ..for bomb disposal men like Trainee Schroff. 212 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:13,120 At this very moment, 213 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:17,080 there are at least a million species of animal alive on Earth. 214 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:26,600 But those are just the ones we've discovered. 215 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:31,640 Scientists believe there might actually be 216 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:33,520 eight or nine times that many. 217 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:39,000 Eight million different types of animal for us to learn from. 218 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:44,560 Yet copying these creatures isn't always easy. 219 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:49,520 I certainly don't want to give the impression 220 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:52,480 that imitating nature is always a simple process. 221 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:56,960 It isn't - sometime it takes years of painstaking trial and error. 222 00:14:56,960 --> 00:15:01,240 And there's one thing in here that despite decades of trying, 223 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:03,120 scientists have struggled to copy. 224 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:09,960 It's something thinner than a human hair. 225 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:19,680 And so light that a strand long enough to circle the globe 226 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:21,360 would weigh less than a kilogram. 227 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:29,800 But unbelievably, it's still 30 times tougher than steel. 228 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:34,200 It's spider silk. 229 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:43,880 This amazing substance allows the spider 230 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:47,560 to build a home and a trap almost anywhere. 231 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:55,680 These tiny strands are strong enough 232 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:58,600 to support the weight of the spider that made them, 233 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:01,280 and catch a fly in full flight. 234 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:11,160 They're created using these small nozzles called spinnerets. 235 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:14,080 And as the name suggests, they spin the silk fibres 236 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:16,640 to help increase their strength. 237 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:20,880 Just like we do with string. 238 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:29,080 And it means the spider's unfortunate victim 239 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:31,480 has no chance of escape. 240 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,160 It is a remarkable material. 241 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:41,720 One we've been trying to copy for the best part of 50 years. 242 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:46,840 But the secret to spinning spider silk ourselves is still elusive. 243 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:50,920 In fact, for scientists who copy nature, 244 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:53,960 it's become something of a holy grail. 245 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:58,360 So it's no surprise that they've started to look for alternatives 246 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:00,320 to that grail elsewhere. 247 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:07,120 What is surprising is where they're looking. 248 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:31,640 Eddie, I'd be no good at this, I can't see it. 249 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:33,640 Well, it's around here somewhere. 250 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:37,720 Hey, no-one said finding the Holy Grail would be easy. 251 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:44,000 'Luckily, I've got marine biologist Eddie Kisfaludy along to help. 252 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,880 'Once we can get past the language barrier.' 253 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:50,080 You call them "boo-ees." They are boo-ees. It's a buoy. 254 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:52,320 It's buoys? Yeah. No, "boys" is like a little kid. 255 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:53,920 No, it's not a boo-ee. 256 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:54,960 This is a boo-ee. 257 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:57,120 These are several boo-ees, in fact. 258 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:00,280 Ah, there it is. Good work. You see? 259 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:01,680 I got it! 260 00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:08,600 Ah-ha! I got it, I got it, I got it! 261 00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:10,800 Do I just haul this in? Yeah, go ahead. 262 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:18,480 'Now, if you are remotely squeamish, you might want to look away. 263 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:21,840 'Because what's at the bottom of this rope 264 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:24,200 'isn't immediately appealing.' 265 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:35,200 So these are them! 266 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:38,520 Not pretty, are they? 267 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:41,640 No, they're disgustingly ugly, to be quite honest. 268 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:43,520 These are hagfish. 269 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,280 Not really fish, they're more like eels. 270 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:50,680 Yeah. They don't have any scales or fins. 271 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:54,360 They don't have any eyes to speak of, 272 00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:56,280 so they have to make a living 273 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:58,880 by feeling and smelling their way around on the deep sea. 274 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:03,480 It's almost like a snake that crawls around on the sea floor. 275 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,480 'I don't know, it's probably just the rocking, 276 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,240 'but I am suddenly feeling just a little bit queasy. 277 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:12,520 'Mainly because I know what's going to happen 278 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:14,560 'when we get them back to shore.' 279 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:19,440 So have we got enough in here? 280 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:21,840 Well, looks like we only have about a dozen, 281 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:24,240 and I think we're going to want to get about 150 or so 282 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:26,480 to really demonstrate what we're trying to do. 283 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:31,800 Eddie seems insistent, so we get to work. 284 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:46,720 He's put out a lot of traps. 285 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:50,960 'And unfortunately, it seems that most of them are full.' 286 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:57,000 'Finally, with our slippery cargo slopping about the boat, 287 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:58,800 'we head back to shore. 288 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:01,800 'And the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. 289 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:07,160 'Where I arrive the next morning 290 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:11,880 'to reveal how the hagfish might challenge the silk-spinning spider.' 291 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:19,400 Now, the thing is, 292 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:23,320 it's actually quite easy to persuade a spider to make silk for you. 293 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:25,000 I've done it, in fact. 294 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,560 But you would not believe the bother we're going to have to go to 295 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:31,640 to get hagfish to do something similar. 296 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:34,640 First of all, we have to fill that purpose-built tank 297 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:36,760 with 400 gallons of water. 298 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:41,160 Then we add to it the 150 hagfish that Eddie and I caught. 299 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:44,160 Then we need something with them to stir them, 300 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:48,960 something in the tank to stir them up and provoke a stir. It's... 301 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:50,720 It's me. 302 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:52,400 I am the stirrer. 303 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:53,960 In there... 304 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:55,600 with the hagfish. 305 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,480 I just...is this really necessary? 306 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:03,040 Unfortunately, Eddie assures me that it is. 307 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:06,520 And he's wasting no time in getting our experiment ready. 308 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:16,240 This might look like a very big tank for 150 small fish. 309 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:21,760 But apparently, what they're going to do requires quite a bit of room. 310 00:21:25,360 --> 00:21:30,520 'Eddie's idea is that I play the part of a big, aggressive predator.' 311 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:33,440 And the hagfish are my frightened prey. 312 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:39,560 'Well, maybe they have a vivid imagination. 313 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:45,360 'The only thing in that tank likely to be frightened is me. 314 00:21:52,120 --> 00:21:56,440 'Especially when I see how Eddie intends getting me in there.' 315 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:16,080 You know how people have those bucket lists 316 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:18,920 of things you should do before you die? 317 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:20,680 This was never on mine. 318 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:23,080 Eurgh! 319 00:22:26,120 --> 00:22:29,080 'Now, if you thought the hagfish's looks were bad, 320 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:32,720 'just wait till you see what their party trick is.' 321 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:33,760 Ooh! 322 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,480 'Because hagfish have the power to slime. 323 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:40,520 'Big time.' 324 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:41,680 That's disgusting! 325 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:43,680 I'm not hurting any of these fish. 326 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:45,720 I am just alarming them. 327 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:47,760 Ohh! 328 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:51,880 This is their natural, in-built response. 329 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:56,680 You see, he thinks I'm a predator after him, 330 00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:01,480 so rather than bite or swim away, he just sends out a ton of slime. 331 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:08,080 'The point of it is that that slime would instantly clog up 332 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:10,200 'the mouth of any fish coming in for a nibble.' 333 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:13,920 It's quite a benign way of seeing off a predator, really. 334 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:15,760 I mean, they don't bite. 335 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:17,320 Well, I don't think they bite. 336 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,760 I've just persuaded one of these guys to come and say hello, 337 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:22,800 and actually... 338 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:24,920 If you look, you can see... 339 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,280 along the side, these tiny, white holes, 340 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:29,840 they look a bit like mouth ulcers, actually. 341 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:33,160 And that's where it makes the slime to protect itself. 342 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:37,680 'And you can see now why we needed such a big tank.' 343 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:42,240 Apparently, just one of these fish can make enough slime 344 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:45,040 to fill a bucket of water in seconds. 345 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:48,440 So they produce a lot of this stuff. 346 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:51,960 Just to make sure they don't get eaten by something else. 347 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:54,680 I mean, it would put me off, to be fair. 348 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:55,800 I'm not hungry. 349 00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:59,640 This is a lot of slime in here, now. 350 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:02,320 Ohh! 351 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:05,760 Now, this might look pretty disgusting, 352 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:07,360 and to be fair, in fact, it is, 353 00:24:07,360 --> 00:24:09,720 but there's a good reason why we're doing this, 354 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:11,320 not just to have a laugh at my expense, 355 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:13,200 cos it's about the slime, 356 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:16,720 and it's about what the slime is actually capable of. 357 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,080 It's probably time I got out now. 358 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:20,520 Yeah. 359 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:21,880 Let's get me out of here. 360 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,160 It's...ohh! 361 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:26,040 Oh, this is...not at all... 362 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:27,280 pleasant. 363 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:31,400 It's not nice. 364 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:34,080 However, this stuff, disgusting as it is, 365 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:36,240 is quite fascinating. 366 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:40,080 'I know it doesn't look much like spider silk, 367 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:43,120 'or feel like it...' 368 00:24:43,120 --> 00:24:44,200 Ohh! 369 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:47,200 'But that's because I haven't finished with it yet. 370 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,400 'To turn this into something that can compete with spider silk, 371 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:55,240 'I need to put it on my special hagfish slime hanger.' 372 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:02,720 And now, I think, a shower. 373 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:07,520 Leaving my hagfish slime to dry out overnight. 374 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,720 So what exactly is in this slime? 375 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:20,800 Well, basically, it's sea water containing tiny strands of protein, 376 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:23,840 represented for the purposes of this demonstration by, 377 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:25,320 well, bits of wire. 378 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:28,160 But here's the thing that's getting scientists excited - 379 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:31,040 if spider silk were to be represented by pieces of wire, 380 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:34,200 each of these strands would look more like this. 381 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:37,440 'Because spider silk is already pre-spun 382 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:40,520 'by the spider's spinnerets.' 383 00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:42,640 Yeah, that's a lot more complicated. 384 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:45,440 You can see why this is going to be tricky to synthesise. 385 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,400 But this might be worth having a crack at. 386 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:52,800 The question is, is this going to be as strong as spider silk? 387 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:54,400 Time to find out. 388 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:58,160 First, we need to lay down some ground rules. 389 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:01,360 The basic way to measure the strength of any material 390 00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:04,080 is by doing what's called a tensile test. 391 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:09,400 It's not complicated in theory. 392 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:12,280 This machine stretches the fibres until they snap. 393 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:19,320 And the results are carefully measured. 394 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:23,720 So let's take a quick look at some other natural fibres 395 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:26,800 that we humans already put to good use. 396 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:35,040 Wool breaks at a force of around 28 ounces. 397 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,400 Coconut hair at 41. 398 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:43,600 Sisal fibres last till 40. 399 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:47,360 And horsehair till 45. 400 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:56,000 Spider silk, though already spun and much finer, 401 00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:58,600 manages a whopping 70 ounces. 402 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:02,840 Right, now we've seen the competition, 403 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:05,560 let's have a look at what hagfish slime can do. 404 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:09,240 Now, this might not look like it, 405 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:13,320 but this in fact is the hagfish slime that I harvested yesterday. 406 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:15,880 Overnight, the sea water has drained away and evaporated, 407 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:16,920 and it's dried. 408 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:21,600 So I think a scientific test is called for right here, right now. 409 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:23,840 I've got some weights here. 410 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:25,560 There's a five-ounce one. 411 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:28,200 I'm hanging it on. 412 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:35,280 10 ounces. 413 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:39,280 OK, that's pretty good. 414 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,080 Right, I'm going to go for a heavier weight. Let's see. 415 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:49,920 16 ounces. 416 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:57,040 'OK, this next weight is the point that the wool snapped.' 417 00:27:57,040 --> 00:27:59,360 That's a 28-ounce weight, right there. 418 00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:01,360 Right... 419 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:05,200 Oh, there it is! 420 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:09,760 And bear in mind the fibres right now are just hanging straight down. 421 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:13,000 To make something stronger, normally you'd twist it. 422 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:16,240 Wind the fibres around, that's just straight. 423 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:18,760 OK, so now we're on... 424 00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:21,880 40. 425 00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,040 'That's sisal gone.' 426 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:25,520 45... 427 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:27,480 'And horsehair. 428 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:30,840 'And we're up near spider silk territory.' 429 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:35,160 55 ounces, and I've run out of weights. 430 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:38,360 OK, it's not the most scientifically rigorous of tests, 431 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:39,520 and it may be a while yet 432 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:42,440 before you pull on your brand new hagfish sweater, 433 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:43,640 but the fact is, 434 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:46,160 this could be really useful. 435 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:50,720 'Because many of the man-made threads are made from oil, 436 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:53,560 'and we know that might not be around forever.' 437 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,560 'If artificial hagfish slime could take their place, 438 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:02,160 'then that would make it a very big deal indeed.' 439 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:05,920 No-one is synthesising hagfish slime just yet, 440 00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:08,720 so I can't show you anything actually made from it, 441 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:12,000 but one day it could be used to make everything we once wanted to make 442 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:13,440 using spider silk - 443 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:16,760 ropes, parachutes, suspension bridge cables, 444 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:18,840 artificial tendons, clothes... 445 00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:21,480 Anyway, it's not every day you find the Holy Grail. 446 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:27,520 'It's not just spiders and hagfish 447 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:30,480 'that have something to teach us about strength. 448 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:34,880 'There is one that's found in every corner of the globe. 449 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,520 A type of creature that outnumbers 450 00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:40,720 all the other animals alive on Earth. 451 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,000 Outnumbers them by more than three to one. 452 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:47,440 They're known as arthropods. 453 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:52,720 Which just begs the question, "What is an arthropod?" 454 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:00,840 Well, this crab is one. 455 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:03,920 So are these. 456 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:09,160 In fact, all crabs and lobsters are arthropods. 457 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:11,160 And all spiders. 458 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:14,160 And all insects. 459 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:18,560 So what do they have in common? 460 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:24,240 Well, it's the fact that they have an exoskeleton. 461 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:29,640 Basically, all the soft bits are on the inside. 462 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:33,760 And the hard skeleton that supports them is on the outside. 463 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:38,920 Giving these crabs super-powerful protection and strength. 464 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:45,000 Powers that would be useful for us, too. 465 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:49,760 Which got me thinking about whether there's an easy way 466 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:54,120 to get to grips with how an exoskeleton actually works. 467 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:57,600 And what I came up with was this. 468 00:30:57,600 --> 00:30:58,640 Bear with me. 469 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:01,520 Now, cows aren't known for having exoskeletons, 470 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:03,720 because, well, they don't. 471 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:07,960 But this toy cow works on a lot of the same basic principles. 472 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:10,880 What you've got here is a series of hard tubes, 473 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:13,600 connected, held together by muscles, 474 00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:15,360 represented here by the strings inside. 475 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:19,720 Right now, the strings are taut, the muscles are working. 476 00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:21,960 Relax them, cow flops down. 477 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:23,360 Tense them up again... 478 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:25,760 He stands up, becomes rigid once more. 479 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:30,360 'And that rigidity gives an arthropod a big advantage 480 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:32,560 'when it comes to strength.' 481 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:34,560 Let me try and show you what I mean. 482 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:39,240 When I pick up this weight and hold it out stretched, 483 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:43,440 I'm having to use all my muscles to keep my arms licked horizontally. 484 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:46,880 Ugh! Which means I can't hold them out for very long. 485 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:48,960 But what if I was built differently? 486 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:51,760 What if I had the strength and rigidity 487 00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:53,960 and armour of an exoskeleton? 488 00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:25,280 This is the Patented Hammond Exoskeleton. 489 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:26,520 It's not really patented. 490 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:28,560 Neither is it technically an exoskeleton, 491 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:31,720 because I'm inside it, and I have a skeleton inside me. 492 00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:35,120 But I'm going to try and make my internal skeleton irrelevant here. 493 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:38,200 My job is just to tense and hold these pieces together. 494 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:41,400 So let's see if this set-up makes it easier 495 00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:43,360 to hold those weights outstretched. 496 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:55,160 Yeah, well there you go, I'm just contracting my muscles inside 497 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:58,560 to hold these things rigid and straight, and it works. 498 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:00,840 It's a success. 499 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:03,680 That's good. Yeah, it works. 500 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:05,720 Yeah. 501 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:06,760 It works. 502 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:10,200 Maybe...it's worked enough. 503 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:11,400 Yep. 504 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:13,640 I think...point proven? 505 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:16,000 'OK, so there is room for refinement.' 506 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,240 'But I could hold the weights for much longer.' 507 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:19,280 It works! 508 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:21,400 'And those same principles have been used 509 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,200 'to build something very cool indeed.' 510 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:31,320 This man is wearing a state-of-the-art exoskeleton. 511 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:34,080 It increases his strength tenfold. 512 00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:40,760 Allowing him to comfortably carry up to 40 kilos. 513 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:47,800 But the most important thing that you should know about this man 514 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:51,640 is that he's paralysed from the waist down. 515 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:56,120 'The way people look at me when I'm in my wheelchair 516 00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:58,080 'is they look down upon me.' 517 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:01,320 They see the wheelchair moving, they don't see the person. 518 00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:09,240 24-year-old Steven Sanchez broke his back eight years ago 519 00:34:09,240 --> 00:34:12,480 going over a jump on his BMX bike. 520 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:16,720 He hasn't walked since. 521 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:26,880 But today is going to be the day that all that changes. 522 00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:31,840 He's been summoned to an unprepossessing-looking basement 523 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:34,360 under the University of California, 524 00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:38,440 and what's inside this room will change his life. 525 00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:53,880 He's been asked to test-pilot a remarkable new piece of technology. 526 00:34:56,920 --> 00:35:00,760 An exoskeleton based on the way an arthropod works. 527 00:35:02,720 --> 00:35:07,160 'The way that I got involved with the UC Berkeley exoskeleton project' 528 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:10,680 was everyone at the school was, like, you know, 529 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:16,000 "We need testers, basically, to test out the machine." 530 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:17,960 And I was like, "I can do it." 531 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:22,640 So, for the past 12 months, 532 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:25,600 the Berkeley team have been creating a custom-built suit 533 00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:28,480 that can be tailored and programmed just for him. 534 00:35:37,240 --> 00:35:41,400 These are Steven's new legs. 535 00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:45,280 Just like an exoskeleton, they go on the outside of his body, 536 00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:48,520 providing rigidity and support. 537 00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:50,400 And, as with all arthropods, 538 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:54,280 the hingeing joints are now on the outside, too. 539 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:01,200 Time to try it. 540 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:10,680 Steven plugs in the motor... 541 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:13,640 ..and prepares himself. 542 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:28,960 That was good, man. 543 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:37,280 We're good. Get your balance here. Get your balance. 544 00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:45,160 The muscles in Steven's legs aren't capable of supporting him, 545 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:49,080 but the rigid exoskeleton is doing the job for them. 546 00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:04,520 These are the first steps Steven Sanchez has taken for seven years. 547 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:07,600 And they feel pretty good. 548 00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:11,600 'The way that I felt in the exoskeleton, 549 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:15,400 'the first time I took a walk, was a great, happy, achieving feeling. 550 00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:20,080 'Taking a step was no longer an issue. 551 00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:21,600 'It was just, "do it."' 552 00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:28,760 It's pretty nice to be back where I used to be. 553 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:34,360 Out in the corridor, there are some special onlookers. 554 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:36,360 Steven's mum and dad have come 555 00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:39,800 to see their son learn to walk all over again. 556 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:43,000 It's a proud moment. 557 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:45,360 For all of them. 558 00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:55,160 I don't want to knock you over. 559 00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:11,000 The doors to Steven's world have been thrown open wide. 560 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:16,440 He arrived today on wheels, 561 00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:19,080 but he's leaving on his own two feet, 562 00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:22,840 in an exoskeleton inspired by nature. 563 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:42,320 A major part of the miracle of nature lies in its infinite variety. 564 00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:48,800 The countless ways 565 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:51,920 that different animals approach similar problems. 566 00:38:56,800 --> 00:38:58,840 Take, for instance, camouflage. 567 00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:03,560 OK, cut the motor. 568 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:04,760 BOAT MOTOR STOPS 569 00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:19,760 You could easily believe 570 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:23,800 that a zebra's stripes were designed to make it obvious. 571 00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:26,160 Stands out like a pony in pyjamas. 572 00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:31,200 But in fact, they act as camouflage in several different ways. 573 00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:36,360 The vertical wavy lines are great for hiding amongst tall grasses. 574 00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:42,040 And they break up the animal's shape, its silhouette. 575 00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:45,800 And when they're in big numbers in the herd, 576 00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:47,720 it's actually very difficult for a predator 577 00:39:47,720 --> 00:39:50,560 to make out an individual animal to go for. 578 00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:53,360 They just see a confusing jumble of stripes. 579 00:40:00,640 --> 00:40:04,520 So those stripes partly break up their outline, 580 00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:08,160 and partly help them merge with their background. 581 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:14,560 And that's the way we've tended to do camouflage, too. 582 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:21,280 Take something you want to hide... 583 00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:22,840 EXPLOSION 584 00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:30,920 ..and paint what's called a disruptive pattern on it, 585 00:40:30,920 --> 00:40:34,160 in colours designed to blend it in with the background. 586 00:40:36,680 --> 00:40:38,320 And it sort of works. 587 00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:40,880 You probably didn't even spot 588 00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:44,520 that there was a tank hiding in the last couple of shots. 589 00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:46,240 Yeah. That's the problem. 590 00:40:46,240 --> 00:40:49,880 They still stand out like a sore, brightly-coloured thumb. 591 00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:53,680 Especially if, like with our huskies, 592 00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:55,200 the weather suddenly changes, 593 00:40:55,200 --> 00:40:59,840 and they find themselves painted completely the wrong colour. 594 00:41:02,720 --> 00:41:06,640 What we need is something just that little bit cleverer. 595 00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:13,320 And this is it. 596 00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:20,400 The cuttlefish has taken camouflage to the next level. 597 00:41:20,400 --> 00:41:24,040 They can change their colour, shape and texture 598 00:41:24,040 --> 00:41:26,360 to blend in with the background. 599 00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:31,000 It's hard to believe it looking at these pictures, 600 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:36,760 but all these cuttlefish are exactly the same species. 601 00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:39,360 They're simply changing their appearance 602 00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:41,000 depending on what's around them. 603 00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:46,640 It's called adaptive camouflage, 604 00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:51,480 and it's perfect for hiding from both predators and prey. 605 00:41:56,000 --> 00:42:00,560 But can the cuttlefish adapt to anything? 606 00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:02,840 Really, you must applaud the cuttlefish 607 00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:06,160 for its amazing ability to blend into its surroundings. 608 00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:09,320 But how clever is that really? 609 00:42:09,320 --> 00:42:12,800 I mean, vanishing amongst things that are around it all the time. 610 00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:16,040 It's one thing for a cuttlefish to camouflage itself 611 00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:19,560 against seaweed, sand, pebbles and stuff like that, 612 00:42:19,560 --> 00:42:21,920 but how would they fare camouflaging themselves 613 00:42:21,920 --> 00:42:24,680 against something a bit more complicated? 614 00:42:24,680 --> 00:42:27,280 Something a bit like this. 615 00:42:32,560 --> 00:42:35,760 Yeah, I know, it's hardly Grand Designs, 616 00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:39,360 but I've gone for this rather lurid decor for good reason. 617 00:42:39,360 --> 00:42:42,160 I want to see how the cuttlefish 618 00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:45,200 tackles something a bit more challenging. 619 00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:50,960 So I've chosen stripes, chessboard and some old-style chintz. 620 00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:53,720 OK, time to see how they cope. 621 00:42:54,720 --> 00:42:58,680 Let's get our cuttlefish settled in and dim down the lights. 622 00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:05,240 He's having a look at it. 623 00:43:10,720 --> 00:43:13,280 And he's gone straight for the big one - 624 00:43:13,280 --> 00:43:15,240 the chequerboard flooring. 625 00:43:20,160 --> 00:43:23,160 And amazingly, I think he's having a crack at it. 626 00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:28,160 There's definitely the beginnings of a chequerboard there. 627 00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:36,520 He's not quite lined up right, but, you know, still impressive. 628 00:43:36,520 --> 00:43:38,760 Right, what next? 629 00:43:42,520 --> 00:43:44,200 Zebra-skin rug? 630 00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:47,160 Now he's improvising. 631 00:43:47,160 --> 00:43:49,120 Let's get him back to the task in hand. 632 00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:54,920 Now that's more like it. 633 00:43:57,200 --> 00:44:00,200 He's blending into the chaise longue a treat. 634 00:44:04,080 --> 00:44:05,680 But notice one thing - 635 00:44:05,680 --> 00:44:09,120 he's not camouflaged with what he can see in front of him, 636 00:44:09,120 --> 00:44:12,560 he's camouflaged with what's underneath him. 637 00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:22,920 So is it possible for us to copy camouflage like that? 638 00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:30,840 It's me. 639 00:44:30,840 --> 00:44:32,520 I'm in front of you right now. 640 00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:33,640 But I'm invisible. 641 00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:37,560 See? That's me. 642 00:44:37,560 --> 00:44:40,960 And I'm wearing my sandwich board of invisibility. 643 00:44:40,960 --> 00:44:43,040 It's my own creation, let me talk you through it. 644 00:44:43,040 --> 00:44:45,800 On the front, we have an LED flat-screen TV, 645 00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:47,840 on the back, there's a camera. 646 00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:50,120 The camera sees what it can see behind me, 647 00:44:50,120 --> 00:44:52,080 throws that image up on the TV, 648 00:44:52,080 --> 00:44:54,000 so it's as though you are looking through me, 649 00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:55,520 and here's the fascinating thing - 650 00:44:55,520 --> 00:44:59,440 this is actually very close to the way the cuttlefish works. 651 00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:02,000 Well it doesn't use a flat-screen TV, obviously. 652 00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:04,680 What it has instead is light-sensitive cells 653 00:45:04,680 --> 00:45:08,160 all over its body, so the cells on one side 654 00:45:08,160 --> 00:45:10,280 tell the cells on the other side what they can see 655 00:45:10,280 --> 00:45:11,440 so they can replicate it, 656 00:45:11,440 --> 00:45:13,960 and it's as though you can see through the cuttlefish. 657 00:45:13,960 --> 00:45:16,040 It's the same deal. 658 00:45:16,040 --> 00:45:18,600 But like me, it's not using its eyes to do this. 659 00:45:18,600 --> 00:45:21,120 I'm using a camera, it's using its light-sensitive cells. 660 00:45:21,120 --> 00:45:24,560 So it's not doing this consciously, it just happens. 661 00:45:24,560 --> 00:45:26,760 The biggest difference, perhaps, 662 00:45:26,760 --> 00:45:28,600 is the energy taken to do this. 663 00:45:28,600 --> 00:45:30,760 I tried doing this with batteries. 664 00:45:30,760 --> 00:45:32,240 Didn't work. 665 00:45:32,240 --> 00:45:36,200 Then I tried it with a car battery, lasted about a minute. 666 00:45:36,200 --> 00:45:39,520 In the end, I've plugged it into the mains in my house. 667 00:45:39,520 --> 00:45:42,600 A cuttlefish doesn't have to use the mains, it can do all of this, 668 00:45:42,600 --> 00:45:45,280 and it can do it on 1,500 calories a day 669 00:45:45,280 --> 00:45:47,760 that it gets from crab and shrimp. 670 00:45:47,760 --> 00:45:50,640 I couldn't power this with crabs and shrimp. 671 00:45:50,640 --> 00:45:51,680 I need the mains. 672 00:45:55,120 --> 00:45:58,840 The question is, can we use the cuttlefish's super-power 673 00:45:58,840 --> 00:46:00,680 to hide 60 tons of tank? 674 00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:07,360 Well, not exactly. 675 00:46:07,360 --> 00:46:09,480 Engineers haven't worked out a way 676 00:46:09,480 --> 00:46:12,600 for a tank to be quite as camouflaged as a cuttlefish, 677 00:46:12,600 --> 00:46:15,240 at least in daylight. 678 00:46:15,240 --> 00:46:17,320 But with the help of these special tiles, 679 00:46:17,320 --> 00:46:21,480 they have worked out a way to make it invisible at night. 680 00:46:26,760 --> 00:46:29,320 OK, I know you can still see it right now. 681 00:46:29,320 --> 00:46:30,800 And that's the thing. 682 00:46:30,800 --> 00:46:33,320 At night, colours don't matter. 683 00:46:33,320 --> 00:46:36,040 And for anyone equipped with infra-red cameras, 684 00:46:36,040 --> 00:46:38,560 they stand out even more. 685 00:46:40,840 --> 00:46:43,840 Because they generate an enormous amount of heat. 686 00:46:44,880 --> 00:46:47,240 And that heat is picked up on camera. 687 00:46:52,880 --> 00:46:56,360 Which is where the special panels come in. 688 00:46:56,360 --> 00:47:00,040 Because you just watch what happens when they turn them on. 689 00:47:10,080 --> 00:47:12,400 The tank completely vanishes. 690 00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:21,480 The panels read the background temperature, 691 00:47:21,480 --> 00:47:24,160 and then display the same heat signature on the front, 692 00:47:24,160 --> 00:47:26,920 just like the cuttlefish does with colour. 693 00:47:34,880 --> 00:47:39,840 And, like the cuttlefish, it has another trick. 694 00:47:39,840 --> 00:47:43,480 It can pretend to be something else entirely. 695 00:47:43,480 --> 00:47:47,560 In this case, it's impersonating a small family saloon. 696 00:47:48,600 --> 00:47:49,920 Astonishing. 697 00:47:52,480 --> 00:47:56,120 An invisible tank based on cuttlefish camouflage. 698 00:47:56,120 --> 00:47:58,280 Not bad for a quiet evening in. 699 00:48:00,800 --> 00:48:06,040 The power of invisibility is obviously quite an attractive one. 700 00:48:06,040 --> 00:48:08,360 But there is another animal super-power 701 00:48:08,360 --> 00:48:09,920 that does the exact opposite. 702 00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:13,120 It makes the invisible visible. 703 00:48:21,880 --> 00:48:25,040 This is a kingfisher, 704 00:48:25,040 --> 00:48:27,520 and below it is a slow-moving river 705 00:48:27,520 --> 00:48:30,720 that the kingfisher knows will contain fish. 706 00:48:31,720 --> 00:48:34,640 But spotting them is almost impossible. 707 00:48:38,120 --> 00:48:41,360 There's so much glare and reflection on the surface 708 00:48:41,360 --> 00:48:43,880 that you can't see a thing underneath it. 709 00:48:59,800 --> 00:49:04,120 With conditions like that, the kingfisher should have no chance. 710 00:49:09,680 --> 00:49:10,720 But it does. 711 00:49:15,760 --> 00:49:19,440 One fish, expertly skewered straight through the middle. 712 00:49:24,240 --> 00:49:30,000 And it's only possible because kingfishers have a super-power. 713 00:49:30,000 --> 00:49:31,040 One that enables them 714 00:49:31,040 --> 00:49:36,360 to see straight through that surface glare and reflection, 715 00:49:36,360 --> 00:49:40,880 and pick out the fish below with absolute accuracy. 716 00:49:58,600 --> 00:50:02,280 And if you think that the kingfisher is simply spotting the fish 717 00:50:02,280 --> 00:50:04,800 once it's dived underwater, 718 00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:07,960 then take a look at that same dive at normal speed, 719 00:50:07,960 --> 00:50:11,640 and see just how quickly it all happens. 720 00:50:17,280 --> 00:50:19,680 It's over in the blink of an eye. 721 00:50:21,280 --> 00:50:23,160 So how on earth do they do it? 722 00:50:24,160 --> 00:50:27,280 You know how when human beings reach a certain age, 723 00:50:27,280 --> 00:50:30,160 they end up with one pair of glasses for reading, 724 00:50:30,160 --> 00:50:32,520 another pair of glasses for watching TV, 725 00:50:32,520 --> 00:50:35,400 and then another pair of glasses for driving, 726 00:50:35,400 --> 00:50:38,560 and another pair of glasses just for finding their glasses? 727 00:50:38,560 --> 00:50:39,960 Well, think of it this way. 728 00:50:39,960 --> 00:50:43,160 It's as though the kingfisher has all of those pairs of glasses, 729 00:50:43,160 --> 00:50:45,440 but it can wear them all at the same time 730 00:50:45,440 --> 00:50:49,000 by putting them in different places around the lenses of its eyes. 731 00:50:49,000 --> 00:50:50,800 That's why you never see a kingfisher 732 00:50:50,800 --> 00:50:53,640 with its glasses on its head asking where its glasses are. 733 00:50:53,640 --> 00:50:56,000 And in fact it's even more sophisticated than that, 734 00:50:56,000 --> 00:50:58,760 because it also has a series of coloured lenses 735 00:50:58,760 --> 00:51:03,240 by means of which it can filter out very specific wavelengths of light, 736 00:51:03,240 --> 00:51:06,280 to enhance its ability to, say, see through water. 737 00:51:08,120 --> 00:51:11,600 These coloured lenses are actually oil droplets. 738 00:51:12,600 --> 00:51:15,920 By magnifying a kingfisher's eye 1,000 times, 739 00:51:15,920 --> 00:51:17,400 you can clearly see them. 740 00:51:18,560 --> 00:51:21,280 And they sound like quite a useful super-power. 741 00:51:22,680 --> 00:51:24,880 So we're going to scale the whole thing... 742 00:51:24,880 --> 00:51:26,680 up a bit. 743 00:51:33,880 --> 00:51:38,520 This light aircraft is going to represent our kingfisher. 744 00:51:42,560 --> 00:51:45,160 And a very special piece of technology 745 00:51:45,160 --> 00:51:48,480 is going to do the job of the kingfisher's eye. 746 00:51:50,840 --> 00:51:53,840 Because this camera was directly inspired 747 00:51:53,840 --> 00:51:57,480 by looking at the way those oil droplets work. 748 00:52:04,320 --> 00:52:08,120 But instead of spotting minnows from a branch just above the water... 749 00:52:10,120 --> 00:52:13,280 ..we're going to be flying at 1,000 feet. 750 00:52:25,560 --> 00:52:28,040 Admittedly, this is going to make things tricky 751 00:52:28,040 --> 00:52:31,200 'for the man operating the kingfisher camera for me,' 752 00:52:31,200 --> 00:52:33,760 engineer, Dustin Medeiros. 753 00:52:41,760 --> 00:52:43,840 So to give him a chance, 754 00:52:43,840 --> 00:52:46,080 we've scaled the fish up a little bit, too. 755 00:52:47,080 --> 00:52:51,640 From four centimetres long to a whopping 15 metres. 756 00:52:55,480 --> 00:52:58,840 35 tons of humpback whale. 757 00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:04,440 And yeah, I know, whales aren't really fish, 758 00:53:04,440 --> 00:53:08,600 but for the purposes of this experiment, they are perfect. 759 00:53:10,240 --> 00:53:14,240 Humpbacks migrate every year between Mexico and Alaska. 760 00:53:15,560 --> 00:53:19,560 Which means they pass parallel to this California coast. 761 00:53:22,280 --> 00:53:24,880 We even know the route they take. 762 00:53:24,880 --> 00:53:28,680 But on a lovely Californian day like this, it's not really helping. 763 00:53:28,680 --> 00:53:29,960 Seen any whales yet? 764 00:53:29,960 --> 00:53:31,800 No, not yet. Ah. 765 00:53:31,800 --> 00:53:34,160 It's hard to see anything through that water, 766 00:53:34,160 --> 00:53:36,080 just glare coming back up at you. 767 00:53:36,080 --> 00:53:39,480 Yes, especially if it's bright out, or as the sun gets lower, 768 00:53:39,480 --> 00:53:42,440 it really blocks anything you can see with the naked eye. 769 00:53:44,040 --> 00:53:45,600 To combat that, 770 00:53:45,600 --> 00:53:49,760 the kingfisher has four different types of colour receptors. 771 00:53:49,760 --> 00:53:54,480 So we've got four special cameras arranged around a fifth normal one. 772 00:53:54,480 --> 00:53:56,840 Each camera has a filter on the front of it, 773 00:53:56,840 --> 00:53:59,200 which allows a different spectrum of light through. 774 00:53:59,200 --> 00:54:01,960 So you can take one, subtract one from the other, 775 00:54:01,960 --> 00:54:04,880 and effectively you can see right below the waves. Right. 776 00:54:11,080 --> 00:54:14,160 We're making our way out to the Whale Super Highway - 777 00:54:14,160 --> 00:54:18,560 a strip of ocean where the humpbacks make their 10,000-mile round trip. 778 00:54:19,840 --> 00:54:23,000 Right now, we should see them moving from south to north. 779 00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:25,640 From Mexico, so you'll see them essentially travelling, 780 00:54:25,640 --> 00:54:27,440 usually in ones or twos, 781 00:54:27,440 --> 00:54:29,480 and they'll basically be coming up to breathe. 782 00:54:31,280 --> 00:54:34,320 I'm keeping an eye out in an analogue sense. 783 00:54:34,320 --> 00:54:35,960 Actually using my eyes. 784 00:54:35,960 --> 00:54:38,920 You're using this digital system. 785 00:54:39,920 --> 00:54:42,720 But even with both of us looking, 786 00:54:42,720 --> 00:54:44,920 our oversized kingfisher plane 787 00:54:44,920 --> 00:54:48,480 doesn't seem to be having too much luck. 788 00:54:54,960 --> 00:54:57,000 And then we get one. 789 00:54:57,000 --> 00:54:58,040 There you go. 790 00:54:58,040 --> 00:54:59,080 There they are. 791 00:54:59,080 --> 00:55:00,200 Right there. 792 00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:04,240 This view from the ordinary camera 793 00:55:04,240 --> 00:55:07,440 mimics pretty much what I was seeing with my naked eye. 794 00:55:08,920 --> 00:55:11,120 But turn in our digital oil droplets, 795 00:55:11,120 --> 00:55:15,880 and our kingfisher cam sees something very different indeed. 796 00:55:24,640 --> 00:55:29,320 Side by side, you can see just how remarkable that difference is. 797 00:55:35,360 --> 00:55:37,440 It is kind of appropriate, really - 798 00:55:37,440 --> 00:55:41,200 we were using a piece of technology inspired by a kingfisher's eyes 799 00:55:41,200 --> 00:55:43,080 to do pretty much what a kingfisher does - 800 00:55:43,080 --> 00:55:45,480 spotting things in the water from the air. 801 00:55:45,480 --> 00:55:48,560 It's just that we were a lot higher up, going a lot faster, 802 00:55:48,560 --> 00:55:51,640 and the things we were spotting were a lot bigger. 803 00:55:51,640 --> 00:55:53,000 But as much fun as it was, 804 00:55:53,000 --> 00:55:56,000 possible human applications for this technology 805 00:55:56,000 --> 00:55:58,960 go beyond looking for whales and dolphins. 806 00:56:03,880 --> 00:56:07,800 Already, the designers are looking into applying kingfisher tech 807 00:56:07,800 --> 00:56:09,400 to air-sea rescue. 808 00:56:11,480 --> 00:56:14,000 Last year, over 5,000 people 809 00:56:14,000 --> 00:56:16,640 were successfully rescued from British waters. 810 00:56:20,000 --> 00:56:24,480 But a further 300 lost their lives or were never recovered. 811 00:56:28,120 --> 00:56:30,760 This camera could change all that. 812 00:56:30,760 --> 00:56:33,400 Thanks to the kingfisher. 813 00:56:33,400 --> 00:56:37,000 The last of our miracles of nature. 814 00:56:37,000 --> 00:56:39,120 In these three programmes, 815 00:56:39,120 --> 00:56:41,640 we've been able to look at just some of the many ways 816 00:56:41,640 --> 00:56:44,520 in which nature has provided the inspiration 817 00:56:44,520 --> 00:56:47,520 for us to solve our problems and meet our needs. 818 00:56:47,520 --> 00:56:50,400 But what interests me is what does the future hold? 819 00:56:50,400 --> 00:56:52,400 How many more times will we discover 820 00:56:52,400 --> 00:56:54,920 that the problem we've been scratching our heads over 821 00:56:54,920 --> 00:56:57,680 has already been answered by nature? 822 00:57:03,040 --> 00:57:06,120 Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd