Eight legs,
eight eyes,
sharp fangs,
and bullet-proof webs.
They're hairy
they're scary,
and now,
they're human-sized.
As many as 427 million people
around the world
suffer from arachnophobia.
Are you one of them?
Viewer discretion is advised.
Don't be misled by the "Itsy Bitsy Spider!"
Not all spiders are tiny, and,
they're definitely not helpless.
Arachnids are smart, fast, cunning,
and they're cold-blooded killers.
Their appetites are insatiable,
their numbers are unbelievable.
The combined weight of
the world's spiders is 25 million tons.
And they eat as much as
725 million tons of insects every year!
So what if spiders were
the same size as humans?
You might find yourself
in a very sticky situation.
It's estimated that 3.5% to 6%
of the global population
suffers from arachnophobia.
But in a world where spiders
are the same size as humans,
who wouldn't be scared of them?
There are roughly 40,000
different spider species,
and if they're as big as us,
they're all dangerous
– even the Bagheera kiplingi,
which is famous for being
the first "mostly vegetarian" spider
known to science.
If you think you'd only have to worry about
venomous or carnivorous spiders,
you're dead wrong!
If they're not venemous,
they can still be hungry.
And even when they're not hungry,
you'll want to look our for their giant legs,
which could trample you,
or their huge webs which could expose you
to all sorts of deadly risks!
Aside from the obvious fear of
having your insides liquefied, and,
being consumed from the inside out,
depending on how long you're caught in a web,
you also risk death from hunger or exposure.
Spider webs can be
hard to spot sometimes, and,
most of us have walked into one
on more than a few occasions.
But in a world where
spiders are the same size as us,
watching out for webs would
be a matter of life and death!
When measured quantitatively
by weight and diameter,
a spider's silk can be
five times stronger than steel,
and two to ten times as strong as Kevlar
– the stuff that bulletproof vests
are made from.
But something else
you should know about spider webs is,
they're not entirely sticky.
Sticky strands of silk
are often alternated with non-sticky strands,
which the spider walks around on.
So if you did run into a human-sized web,
it's not guaranteed
that you'd get stuck instantly.
That said, a spider has eight legs
compared to your two.
Vibrations rippling across its web
would inform a spider of your intrusion,
and in seconds,
it would be bearing down on you.
You'd have to act fast.
If, for any reason,
you happen to be carrying
a machete or a blowtorch,
your chance of survival is a lot higher.
But if you don't happen to have
either of those items with you,
you've got one more trick up your sleeve!
It's your sleeve.
Learn a trick from moths and butterflies.
They have a layer of scales on their wings
that they can shed if they ever get caught.
So, when you're stuck,
just take off your clothes and run!
Now, running desperately
for your life in the nude
sounds either incredibly terrifying or...
incredibly liberating
...depending on how you feel about it.
But whatever your outlook on life may be,
anything beats the alternative.
The Goliath Birdeater spider
provides a nice example as to why...
Weighing in at about 170 grams (6 oz),
and with a 30 cm (12 in.) leg span,
this is the world's biggest spider.
The Goliath Birdeater has two fangs that are
longer and sharper than a cheetah's claws,
but that's not even the scariest part!
When the Goliath Birdeater bites,
it injects its prey with paralyzing venom
that turns the prey's insides into liquid,
so that they can be sucked out of its body.
So, realizing in your final moments
that a spider will be having you
in juicebox form for dinner
– that's the scariest part.
A world in which spiders
are the same size as humans
would be far from harmonious.
We'd likely be in a constant state of war,
with nest raids for population control, and,
we'd need frequent patrols to
get people unstuck.
Considering how much spiders eat,
how fast they move, and,
how cunning they are,
we could never let our guard down.
But how long could we keep it up?
For millenia, humans have
dominated the world.
We've triumphed over every beast,
even the ones that are bigger than us. But,
would human-sized spiders
lead to our day of reckoning?
Hey! Maybe it would be the complete opposite!
Have you ever wondered what would happen
if all the insects disappeared from the planet?
Well then, keep watching!
because that's a story for another WHAT IF.