Sheila Patek: Measuring the fastest animal on earth

[HooTooYOOToobBOOToob]

I could listen to her alllllllllllllllll day long.

It just wouldn't ever get old.

She's got the lot: brains as well as beauty. Is she available for marriage? If not I will settle for letting her tell me stuff all the time :o)

[qx773]

An interesting fact about these stromatopods is that they can release their energy in a punch after they have died. One stromatopod owner on YouTube wrote that he injured his hand by reaching for a dead animal and getting struck by the dead animal. Perhaps a biomimetic hammer tool or impact wrench can be developed.

[Typho0n86]

Cheata could so beat it in a race!!

[30Ciaran]

This vid must be quite old now, that footage was used in a BBC documentary a few years back and it turns out the Mantis Shrimp has the SECOND fastest attack speed. First belongs to the Trapjaw Ant, which uses a similar mechanism. Much cooler to see the Shrimp boil water though.

[47f0]

@30Ciaran - but the trapjaw ant is moving through a much less dense medium - air. James Bond underwater fight scenes notwithstanding, it takes a heck of a lot more to deliver an effective blow underwater. Let's stick a trapjaw ant underwater and see if its speed and force are comparable - I suspect the shrimp is still the heavyweight champion.

[dwellergsxr]

Mantis shrimp, Your one bad MoFo.

[SubieSleeper]

This video is amazing.

Ms. Patek, I'm not sure if you check the posts on this, but if you do, THANK YOU.

I'm an avid home reef keeper. I recently set up a Stomotopod tank with a juvenile Clown/Peacock Mantis. (His name is "EJ")

Any information on prefered water chemistry & diet from a professional would be greatly appreciated. For now I've been feeding snails, crabs & liquid vitamin saturated scallop meat. Thanks in advance. Rob W.

[CanadianCatastrophes]

mantis shrimp are not actually shrimp... they are a prehistoric beast! most advanced predator on earth

[Tucuxi3]

I love this video.

[herreryx]

This... was... MIND BLOWING.

[Jaeger7793]

I first heard about Sheila Patek in an issue of Popular Science back in 2005 or so in a "Brilliant 10" article. I've always wondered what she's been up to after that...

[fireandice07]

@Jaeger7793

She runs her lab and teaches at Umass Amherst now. Shes an awesome professor

[Jaeger7793]

@fireandice07

Thanks for clearing that up.

[pillowbugg]

hard working, intelligent women. kudos for being such a delight.

[Benno828282]

smart lady

[VideosfromIAM]

That was great. I had been looking at mantis Shrimp online because of there incredible eye sight. I guess they can see in 12 primary colors where humans see in 4. They also can see in infrared and ultraviolet light spectrum according to some studies.

[stevemjb]

terrific video. I learned a new word - cavitation.

[orangedac]

amazing

[Pokhton]

girl you look sexy

[my2blue]

a pistol shrimp can also make that destructive bubble. sort of a sonic boom...

[sephiclo]

Very informative video indeed. I learned for the first time almost everything she said, including their great eyesight from some of your comments. One question though which I think she did not figure out. "Why do they make sounds" ?

[MasterGwonam]

Mantis Punch > Falcon Punch

[glassboxdesign]

great video, and well done presentation. it kept even my non-marine geeks interested.

[pattykat99]

Mantis shrimp are AWESOME!!! this video is very educational!

[PeterYorkProduction]

this is awesome i wish there were more of these!

[kotnikd]

Ok, I am obviously a lowlife, but WHY would one choose to spend a lifetime researching something like this!?

And for an additional point who would want to pay such a research and why.

Go plant something, be useful.

[PeterYorkProduction]

thats why u are stupid

[KurNorock]

There is no such thing as useless information. there could be all kinds of practical applications from this work. Tons of engineering applications would be the most obvious.

[nevadanevada]

i wouldn't have put it better KurNorock

nature has and endless number of perfected mechanisms, the product of millions of years of evolution: so it is in our very best interest to mimic some of these "mechanisms" in our own advantage :)

[Adebisi2008]

hahahahahahahahahahahhahahahah­ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah­ahahahahahahahahahahahahah

that's funny!

[judomouse]

Creation? Prove it? Oh wait you cant cause there is NO evidence to support a 'God'

Get a life.

[Animalll2003lll]

LULZ hahahaha mega lulssssss excellent!!!!! XDDDDDDDD

[nevadanevada]

i wrote my last comment even before watching the video: having watched it, however, i am astonished not at your stupidity to make such a statement but at your balls to do it, when they clearly mention all the fields of application

oh my...

[ILoveThickChicks88]

I thank God that mantis shrimps aren't our size or they would hunt us everytime we go swimming at the beach!!

[teejers01]

HULK SMASH!!!

[leffeloke]

Imba.

[wmfsoll2]

Lots of People still have these as pets. They aren't that difficult to have in a tank if you know how to take care of them. they are very interesting animals.

[KurNorock]

People used to keep these guys as pets in their home aquariums but after a few thousand dollars in broken glass, dead fish, and carpet cleaning bills, the fad wore off.

also, she's got a pretty nice body for a biologist.

[StevieT]

lots still keep them as pets. Mantis tanks are still very popular

[Kjhoward001]

I love the sound they make :D

[Juggalowlyfe]

nature is amazing!

[47f0]

Anyone notice the second cavitation flash coming from the side of the snail at 4:20? If that's coming from the inside of the shell, as it appears, the snail must be basicly jelly at that point.

[xojeannaox]

This was an excellent video, but another equally amazing fact about these animals is their eyes. Stomatopods also boast the best eyes on earth. They can see each other in infrared and ultraviolet: colors we can't even imagine (try explaining red if it didn't exist). Imagine how a coral reef must look with so many colors we can't even see.

[KingBond16]

That's interesting.

I have no idea what these animals are or where they come from, but they're very interesting.

Thanks for the extra info.

[IaIaCthulhuFthagn]

Do they have more than three visual pigments in their eyes? I remember reading about birds having four, and imagining what kinds of shades and combinations of colors they must be able to see.

[mikgus]

just watched a video with roy cadwell (mentioned at the end)he said they have up to 16 visual pigments in the their eyes.

[vaerthxaal]

I believe they have 8.  Heard that somewhere recently.

[Stickman550]

that was AMAZING!!

[rotaholic666]

i have always been fascinated with this animal. excellent work and study. brilliant

[ChrisHaHa84]

i love this talk! and peeps should really stop posting dating or pron sites on Youtube

[IaIaCthulhuFthagn]

There should be more of this kind of stuff on YouTube. It'd be nice if there was a YouTube division devoted to educational stuff, where there was little more control over foul language and other crap.

[cizz13]

there's teachertube, but it's not very useful

[earthONheaven]

@IaIaCthulhuFthagn Just go to TED, they have apps too. Avoid the youtube mediocrity

[theycallmefibb]

@IaIaCthulhuFthagn Controlling the nature of the language won't necessarily make it a better, more intellectual environment -- an increase in the number of intellectuals would. One such environment is TED. Fuck YouTube; it's filled with dipshits. Migrate, son.

[egrayce]

enjoyed the speach, it's good to know as i've wondedered my self how fast and hard these can strike, am i right in thinking that the strike of over 200lb was done wit small mantis shrimp i think she said?

[ayame400]

they proibly can recognize you becouse they have the best eyes in the world

[wozzsta]

exelent talk!

[piachy]

I use to have a smasher type mantis shrimp as a pet.. looked just like the green on.. amazing pets.. it's almost like they can recognize you as the owner...

[maplestory00]

Awesome video! i love mantis shrimps

[r7diego]

amazing

[hax0rific]

That was a terrific talk that was well presented and very informative. It also gave me a great insight into Stomatopods which are fantastic animals.

[ljcal09]

So I had her as a professor and a pet peeve of hers is incorrect capitalization. Stomatopoda, or stomatopds. When using the correct order name, it should be capitalized but if you are saying stomatopods, it should not be capitalized.

[red19841984]

i like it

[bitRAKE]

"double whammy" indeed!

[mixedpixel]

very interesting, thanks!