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Nature's Biggest Liars

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Nature's Biggest Liars

Mimicry, camouflage, and deception. The lies that keep species alive.

9 discoveries ~36 min

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01
A mantis shrimp sees colours your brain has no name for
16 photoreceptors vs. our 3. The world looks different.
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02
Dragonflies used to be the size of hawks because the air was different
Around 300 million years ago, a dragonfly could look you in the eye. It wasn't magic or a freak mutation; the very chemistry of the atmosphere forced bugs to grow massive.
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03
Dragonflies the size of hawks once ruled the prehistoric sky
Ancient Earth was a world of monsters, including bugs that could look you in the eye. Discover why a different atmosphere allowed insects to grow to impossible proportions.
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04
The Shrimp With a Sun in Its Claw
A snapping shrimp creates a bubble that reaches the temperature of the Sun's surface.
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05
A mother dog giving birth to a massive litter of 18 puppies faces extraordinary biologi…
A mother dog giving birth to a massive litter of 18 puppies faces extraordinary biologi…
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06
Owls turn their heads 270°. Here's how
An evolutionary blood-flow trick we still can't copy.
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07
Why Hairworms Are One Of Nature's Creepiest Creatures
A grasshopper walks calmly to the edge of a pond and jumps in. It can't swim.
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08
No identical snowflake has ever fallen to Earth
The math behind nature's impossibility.
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09
The Parasite That Turns Insects Into Zombies
A fungus tells a carpenter ant exactly when to die — and the ant obeys.
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