(birds chirping)
- Hi. Don't be fooled, I'm not a bird,
I'm Ben Bullen and this is "What the Stuff?!"
(playful theme music)
Animals! They're amazing, right?
They can do all sorts of strange, fascinating things
and some even have super powers,
by which I mean extraordinary abiliies
that sound like something straight out of a comic book.
First there's the seemingly innocent
wood frog or Rana sylvatica, pretty boring right?
I mean most of it's days are spent, you know,
doin' frog stuff or whatever.
Like jumping, climbing, croaking, nothin' to see here.
Until the first sign of freeze.
Then they become the Rip Van Winkles of amphibians.
Check it out, as soon as they feel some serious cold
they freeze, like literally, the water in their bodies
turns to ice while the syrup-like liquid
inside their cells remains viscous.
A wood frog seems dead.
There's no organ function, no breath,
but to paraphrase "The Princess Bride",
the frog is only mostly dead.
- Once spring comes, boom! It's back to life, no harm done.
And then there are "water bears".
Don't let the cutesy name fool you,
they're also called tardigrades.
These guys are the opposite of cuddly.
Do you see that? Do you see that thing that just popped up?
It's a good thing that these water bears are microscopic.
They can adapt to the craziest environments on,
and off, the planet.
What are we talkin' about?
We're talking pressures more than six times
that of the deepest ocean and water temperatures
of 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
They can even survive in space. In space.
This super power, cryptobiosis, allows a water bear
to dehydrate and live for years,
and then once you add water, they're back in action.
Kind of like some evil sea monkey.
But do water bears actually learn anything?
The planarian certainly does.
This flatworm lives in water around the globe
and it has a super memory.
If you cut off any part of a planarian
then each part can regenerate into a completely new worm,
but that's not all.
One study "taught" a planarian to be attracted to light.
Researchers guillotined it and waited for a new head
to grow back, which is scary in itself,
this worm with a new head and a new brain
kept the attraction to light,
and this means that the new brain had old memories.
It's a real life version of Jamie Madrox
the Multiple Man from Marvel Comics.
And then there's the naked mole-rat.
This creature hides amazing abilities
under its wrinkly skin.
"Science" magazine named it the "vertebrate of the year"
in 2013. Why? You might ask.
Well it seems to be immune to cancer.
Yes, seriously. Mole-rats have a heavy form of the substance
hyaluronan between tissues.
This impedes tumors. That might partially explain
why they can live up to 30 years.
Last, but certainly not least,
we've got the mimic octopus.
It is a shape shifter like Mystique in the "X-Men" films.
Many members of the octopus family can change their color
or their skin texture of course.
But this mimic takes it a step further
and actually impersonates other animals
from sea snakes to lionfish.
Researchers believe the mimic decides which animals
are most suitable to imitate at any given time
based on the threats in the environment.
And that's just the beginning.
If you'd like to learn more about everything
from hairy wolverine frogs to beetles with super strength
then check out our article "10 Super Hero Powers
"of the Animal Kingdom" and be sure to subscribe
for more "What the Stuff?!" every week.
And if you like this video make it official, give me a like,
I'm not going anywhere, I did not get up here myself
and no one is helping me down.
Please send help.
Boom! Animals are amazing right?
I mean they can do all sorts of strange, fascinating things
and some even have super pa... powers.
(laugher)
Hi, I'm drunk in a graveyard yelling at you.
(laughter)
(bell tolls)