0:00:02 > 0:00:04'Animals are amazing.'
0:00:04 > 0:00:05That's astonishing.
0:00:05 > 0:00:10'And the more we find out about them, the more amazing they seem.'
0:00:10 > 0:00:11That feels pretty harsh.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14'That's why scientists all over the world
0:00:14 > 0:00:17'are trying their best to copy them...'
0:00:17 > 0:00:18This is the future.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21'..making brand-new inventions...' Tomato juice.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23'..based on what animals can do.'
0:00:24 > 0:00:26'Some are astounding.'
0:00:26 > 0:00:27We've just dived under the sea.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29'Some bizarre.'
0:00:29 > 0:00:31This is not at all pleasant.
0:00:33 > 0:00:34Yes, it's gone!
0:00:34 > 0:00:39'But they're all inspired by the miracles of nature.'
0:00:41 > 0:00:42Episode One.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49How scientists might design the ultimate crash helmet,
0:00:49 > 0:00:51by studying one small bird.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58All-new crash helmets are subjected to a drop test
0:00:58 > 0:01:02to ensure they offer enough protection.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04And not just any old drop,
0:01:04 > 0:01:09a drop from the top of the highest helmet drop-tower in Britain -
0:01:09 > 0:01:1450 feet, straight down onto a solid steel pipe.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22It's an impact speed of around 60 miles per hour,
0:01:22 > 0:01:26but helmets can only survive an impact like this once.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31And that's where the woodpecker comes in.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35The great spotted woodpecker, to be precise.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39The biggest head-banger on the planet.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50It drills a hole up to four inches deep
0:01:50 > 0:01:51through solid wood
0:01:51 > 0:01:55to get at the larvae of wood-boring beetles.
0:01:56 > 0:02:01Which puts its head, and its brain, through an astonishing pounding.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08The thing is, and this is an incredible figure,
0:02:08 > 0:02:12every time the woodpecker's beak strikes the tree,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15its head is subject to 1,200G.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17Which is enormous.
0:02:17 > 0:02:23In a crash, a human could only survive a fraction of that.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27So, can the woodpecker help us build a better helmet?
0:02:30 > 0:02:33Engineer John Powell is trying to find out.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38John, I'll be honest, it looks nothing like a woodpecker.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41It doesn't look like a woodpecker, but we've replicated
0:02:41 > 0:02:43the entire woodpecker brain support system.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48A woodpecker has a sort of shock absorber
0:02:48 > 0:02:50between its beak and its head.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55And another between its skull and its brain.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59And by using the same four flexible layers,
0:02:59 > 0:03:04John reckons his canister can survive massive impact.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09But we're not just going to take his word for it.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15To find out just how good this container is,
0:03:15 > 0:03:19we are going to drop it with something delicate inside it.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21Something like this.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Not this.
0:03:25 > 0:03:26This.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33A bulb. Now that IS delicate.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37We've got glass, thin glass, and the filament inside.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40I can't get these things home from the store without breaking them,
0:03:40 > 0:03:44I wouldn't expect this to survive a fall from a kitchen work surface.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48But today we are going to drop it from space.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57Here is the precious cargo.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01John, I mean, this... It's not a specially prepared bulb or anything.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04No, this is a regular light bulb we bought from the hardware store.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06- It's just off a shelf?- Yes.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09The real trick is to get everything not to move.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12Everything takes a lot of shock if it can't move,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15then it can't come over towards the light bulb.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17Hopeful, that's a good word for this mission.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Ambitious and hopeful.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22But John is confident that his canister,
0:04:22 > 0:04:24modelled on a woodpecker's skull,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27will survive.
0:04:27 > 0:04:28OK, so here is how it's going to work.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31Still can't quite believe I'm saying this.
0:04:31 > 0:04:32Our canister containing the light bulb
0:04:32 > 0:04:34will be suspended underneath the module.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37That in turn will be suspended underneath that weather balloon,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40which is filled with helium, which is lighter than air,
0:04:40 > 0:04:42so that will take the whole lot up.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44And up. And up.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48Right beyond the edge of the Earth's atmosphere and, well, into space.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51I know it sounds silly when you say it, but that's where it's going.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54When it's there, down here on the ground in mission control,
0:04:54 > 0:04:55which is that van over there,
0:04:55 > 0:04:58they will press a button that will release our module
0:04:58 > 0:05:02and it will fall all the way back down to Earth with our light bulb.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04And then, well, we'll just see what happens.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08It's equipped with GPS so they can find it. We'll have a look.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11- We're going into space. - HE GIGGLES
0:05:11 > 0:05:13'Commencing launch procedure.'
0:05:14 > 0:05:15'Five...
0:05:15 > 0:05:18'four...three...
0:05:18 > 0:05:20'two...one.'
0:05:24 > 0:05:27It's up. It's going that way.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29It's climbing.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38Bye-bye, light bulb.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42Good luck on the way back down.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47The balloon carrying our woodpecker canister
0:05:47 > 0:05:49rises astonishingly quickly -
0:05:49 > 0:05:52around 1,000 feet a minute -
0:05:52 > 0:05:55and it's already out of sight from the ground.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Time to get myself to mission control.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02Just 2,000 feet to go till our designated drop point
0:06:02 > 0:06:07and then our canister containing our precious light-bulb cargo
0:06:07 > 0:06:10begins its Mach 1 journey back towards Earth...
0:06:10 > 0:06:14and a substantial crash landing, which, hopefully, it will survive,
0:06:14 > 0:06:19thanks to a technology derived from that of a woodpecker's head.
0:06:22 > 0:06:23There it is. Go.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28- Yes!- Yes!- There it goes!- It's gone!
0:06:30 > 0:06:33Within seconds, the canister is going fast enough
0:06:33 > 0:06:35to break the sound barrier.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39If there WAS any sound in space, that is.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Yet even at 700-odd miles an hour,
0:06:42 > 0:06:46the descent is going to take a remarkable 15 minutes -
0:06:46 > 0:06:49now THAT is what I call a drop test.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53With the canister now out of sight,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56the team remotely detonate the weather balloon.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01A parachute launches automatically,
0:07:01 > 0:07:05floating the transmitters and cameras safely back down to Earth.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10The canister isn't so lucky.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14No woodpecker has ever travelled at 700 miles per hour.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20No woodpecker has ever plummeted 85,000 feet.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25But right now, we're relying on the way a woodpecker
0:07:25 > 0:07:26protects its brain
0:07:26 > 0:07:28to keep that light bulb intact.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34CRASH
0:07:38 > 0:07:43With the canister down, we head out as quickly as we can to retrieve it.
0:07:45 > 0:07:46But we have no luck.
0:07:50 > 0:07:55As night falls, we're still no closer to finding our canister.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04DOORBELL CHIMES
0:08:04 > 0:08:05Until more than a week later
0:08:05 > 0:08:09when John finally finds the cylinder and posts it on to me.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15Stickers say, "Fragile, handle with care." It's a bit late!
0:08:15 > 0:08:17Right, let's get this open.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21It's like the weirdest Christmas ever.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32I daren't look.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35This suddenly is now the most precious artefact
0:08:35 > 0:08:37I shall ever handle.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42There it is.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48Intact.
0:08:48 > 0:08:49From space.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51No parachute, no magic.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55There is one further test I could do,
0:08:55 > 0:08:56cos I did spot over here...
0:08:58 > 0:09:00And this does work. Yeah, it does work.
0:09:02 > 0:09:03Oh!
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Do you know, it might just be intact.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11That's not the bulb. That's not been to space.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13THIS is our space bulb.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16If this works, I will be staggered,
0:09:16 > 0:09:20because when the director suggested using a light bulb, I said no.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22Oh...
0:09:22 > 0:09:25HE LAUGHS
0:09:27 > 0:09:29That is astonishing!
0:09:29 > 0:09:31Over there is a very happy man indeed,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34because I said, "That's just a step too far - it can't possibly work."
0:09:34 > 0:09:38That light bulb has been flown up to space and dropped -
0:09:38 > 0:09:41the only thing protecting it was this whole system,
0:09:41 > 0:09:44which was home-made
0:09:44 > 0:09:46and modelled on the way a woodpecker's skull
0:09:46 > 0:09:50protects its brain, when subjected to G, pecking trees.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55This was subjected to G, landing without a parachute, from space.
0:09:55 > 0:09:56I'm staggered!
0:09:56 > 0:10:00There are already helmet manufacturers looking at this,
0:10:00 > 0:10:05which means, one day, woodpeckers could be life-savers.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07And that, I think you'll agree,
0:10:07 > 0:10:11has got to be one of the miracles of nature.