Sheila Patek: Measuring the fastest animal on earth

http://www.ted.com Biologist Sheila Patek talks about her work measuring the feeding strike of the mantis shrimp, one of the fastest movements in the animal world, using video cameras recording at 20,000 frames per second.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers are invited to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes -- including speakers such as Jill Bolte Taylor, Sir Ken Robinson, Hans Rosling, Al Gore and Arthur Benjamin. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, politics and the arts. Watch the Top 10 TEDTalks on TED.com, at
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Sheila
• Patek
• ted
• tedtalks
• talks
• marine
• biology
• animals
• science

[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.

[Adebisi2008]

hahahahahahahahahahahhahahahah­ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah­ahahahahahahahahahahahahah

that's funny!

[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.

[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.

[earthONheaven]

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



[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.

[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.

[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