meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
30 Animals That Made Us Smarter

Lobsters and space telescopes

30 Animals That Made Us Smarter

BBC

Technology

4.81.1K Ratings

🗓️ 8 November 2021

⏱️ 20 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

S2 Ep 20. How a sea creature can help us see more of our universe. A lobster’s eyes have evolved to spot food and potential threats in murky conditions at the bottom of the ocean. Scientists have copied their structure to create a new X-ray telescope that can be used to see into the dark expanse of space. Recordings of pulsars courtesy of The University of Manchester/Jodrell Bank. Get in touch: www.bbcworldservice.com/30animals #30Animals

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

People of the planet Earth, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, have I got a deep question

0:20.7

for you.

0:22.7

What does deep space and deep water have in common?

0:29.3

When asking that question fills me with a tingle of excitement, and that's because I honestly

0:35.1

love anything and everything to do with space, from finding out the answers to age old

0:40.3

mysteries of the universe, to what new worlds we might find, which humanity might one day

0:45.8

even call home.

0:48.7

Space has famously been described as the final frontier, but the truth of the matter is

0:54.4

that the same could be said of the Earth's deep oceans.

0:58.6

Both are the last great unknowns, full of undiscovered secrets.

1:04.7

As a young kid, it was space that fascinated me the most, and I have to say it still does.

1:10.6

I always wanted to be an astronaut, and with every space shuttle launch I saw on TV, I'd

1:16.4

visualise my dream of one day visiting the International Space Station, and finally feeling

1:22.8

that incredible sense of weightlessness.

1:25.6

I also think that the idea that we humans, a species that shares 98.8% of our DNA with chimpanzees,

1:34.1

having the ability to send probes and people into outer space is quite literally out of

1:39.7

this world.

1:41.7

These mechanical probes can of course reach further than our biological bodies, but in many

1:47.7

ways they are an extension of humanity.

1:51.0

Emissaries venturing out into the black void of endless possibility.

1:56.9

NASA launched two such probes over 40 years ago, in 1977, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.

2:06.0

They've long since passed all the planets of our own solar system and have now reached

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -1194 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.