0:00:02 > 0:00:04Humans are always trying to be better, brighter, faster,
0:00:04 > 0:00:07stronger, tougher... It's one of the things that makes us human.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10But nature has spent 3.5 billion years
0:00:10 > 0:00:14producing ingenious answers to life's questions.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17So a lot of the problems we're trying to solve
0:00:17 > 0:00:20have already been solved...
0:00:20 > 0:00:22by evolution.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26Meaning the animal kingdom is teeming with bright ideas.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30Like, how to hear through solid rock.
0:00:32 > 0:00:33Hello!
0:00:33 > 0:00:35'How to see without using your eyes.'
0:00:35 > 0:00:38This is what we'll all be in. This is the future.
0:00:38 > 0:00:43'And how to feel something that happened 30 seconds earlier.'
0:00:43 > 0:00:44That's astonishing.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48'In this programme, we'll reveal some amazing animal abilities...'
0:00:48 > 0:00:50Totally silent.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53I had no idea she was there.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56'And I'll discover how those same animals
0:00:56 > 0:00:58'have inspired a series of human inventions
0:00:58 > 0:01:00'at the very frontiers of science.'
0:01:00 > 0:01:02Yes, it's gone!
0:01:02 > 0:01:04'We'll have to go around the world
0:01:04 > 0:01:07'and into some pretty unlikely situations.'
0:01:07 > 0:01:11Let's hope they don't confuse this with the female elephant.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13'Because you never quite know
0:01:13 > 0:01:16'what surprises the animal kingdom has in store for you.'
0:01:16 > 0:01:18Go! Ha-ha!
0:01:19 > 0:01:23'It's all part of the miracle of nature.'
0:01:44 > 0:01:49Every one of us experiences the world through our senses.
0:01:51 > 0:01:52But in the animal kingdom,
0:01:52 > 0:01:56there are creatures with senses that go far beyond ours.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01RATTLING
0:02:01 > 0:02:03As I'd like to show you
0:02:03 > 0:02:06with this Western diamondback rattlesnake.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11But first, I'll need a bit of stick.
0:02:12 > 0:02:13Quite a big bit.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23So, first of all, a walkie-talkie.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31There you go.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35Now...telephone.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42'OK, relax. That's the tense bit over with.
0:02:42 > 0:02:43'I hope.'
0:02:43 > 0:02:47Now, let's say I want to talk to my rattlesnake.
0:02:47 > 0:02:48Walkie-talkie.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50Hello, Mrs Snake.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52'Hello, sorry to wake you up.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55'Hello. Hello?'
0:02:55 > 0:02:57Nothing.
0:02:57 > 0:02:58And with good reason.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01She can't hear. She has no ears.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04So let's try something different.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06Maybe she'd rather communicate by telephone.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10The phone over there is on vibrate
0:03:10 > 0:03:14and not ring, and that's quite important here.
0:03:16 > 0:03:17It's dialling.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19TELEPHONE VIBRATES
0:03:19 > 0:03:21Straight away, a response.
0:03:21 > 0:03:22TELEPHONE VIBRATES
0:03:22 > 0:03:24Immediately.
0:03:24 > 0:03:25TELEPHONE VIBRATES
0:03:27 > 0:03:30Now, that's because, while she can't hear,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33she can feel the vibrations from that phone.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35They go through the metal she's lying on, through her body,
0:03:35 > 0:03:37and up to something called the quadrate bone,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40in her head, just by her jaw, that vibrates,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43so she can hear, if you like, the vibrations.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49'In fact, rattlesnakes are so sensitive to the power of vibration
0:03:49 > 0:03:52'that it provides them with a sort of super sense.'
0:03:52 > 0:03:55And that is something that takes us to what we're doing next,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58which is very clever indeed.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00I need to get my phone back, I...
0:04:02 > 0:04:04I'll come back for it later,
0:04:04 > 0:04:06I'll stick with this one.
0:04:10 > 0:04:16These animal super senses are what this programme is all about.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19Super senses that engineers and scientists are using
0:04:19 > 0:04:24as inspiration to help improve our own lives.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35Hello, right. I'm in the gold mine.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38'I'm in like a very narrow corridor, it's very cramped.'
0:04:40 > 0:04:44I have agreed to take part in a pretty unusual experiment.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49From here on in, I'm at the mercy of these two men,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52who are about to trigger what can only be described
0:04:52 > 0:04:55as a rather dramatic chain of events.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19I've come to like an old, broken wooden door thing.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21'I'm going through.'
0:05:22 > 0:05:25Hello? Can you hear me, hello?
0:05:25 > 0:05:27MUFFLED NOISE
0:05:31 > 0:05:33Of course, they can't hear me, the radio doesn't work down here.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38And my cellphone, well, that's long since given up the ghost. No signal.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42So I have no means of communication between here and the surface.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46And that is a problem, because, in about 30 seconds' time,
0:05:46 > 0:05:50they're going to explode the doorway into this gold mine.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58They told me that by the time I lost phone and radio signal,
0:05:58 > 0:06:00I'd be deep enough to be safe.
0:06:04 > 0:06:05I hope they're right.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46So here's the situation.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49I am now trapped in the mine.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51I've got no means of telling anybody on the surface
0:06:51 > 0:06:54where I am or how I am.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56The only thing that stands a chance of saving me
0:06:56 > 0:06:59has its roots on the other side of the planet -
0:06:59 > 0:07:00in Africa.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12And the answer lies with one particular African animal.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17The biggest African animal of them all -
0:07:17 > 0:07:19the elephant.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25Because some scientists think
0:07:25 > 0:07:29that elephants can communicate over huge distances
0:07:29 > 0:07:32using nothing but vibrations through the ground.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43And elephant researcher, Dr Kate Evans, has offered to show me how.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00- OK, now, this bit, I understand, is a speaker, quite a big one.- Yes.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03But you're pointing it straight down at the ground.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06Now, with a home stereo, that'd be a disaster,
0:08:06 > 0:08:08but you're doing something different here.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Well, what we really want to do is kind of pretend it's an elephant,
0:08:11 > 0:08:12- if you see what I mean.- Yes.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16- A very large elephant, you wouldn't want to come across it, that's for sure!- Enormous!
0:08:16 > 0:08:17SHE CHUCKLES
0:08:17 > 0:08:22'Obviously Kate's only building the foot. Not the whole elephant.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26'But it will send an elephant signal straight down into the ground.'
0:08:27 > 0:08:31The theory is that the energy passes down into the ground and out.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34So that's why we want a really good connection with the ground.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37- Right. OK. I will hammer. - Hammer away.- Yes.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42'Nailing the speaker to sand might seem a bit, well, daft,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45'but we do need to get the best connection we can
0:08:45 > 0:08:50'if we're really going to punch out those low frequency vibrations.'
0:08:50 > 0:08:53- This is genuinely quite exciting. - SHE CHUCKLES
0:08:55 > 0:08:59'We even mimic the elephant's weight by piling sand bags on top.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06'With our elephant-tech transmitter finally complete,
0:09:06 > 0:09:10'Kate and I retreat to a safe distance.'
0:09:12 > 0:09:15This sound, who's saying what in it?
0:09:15 > 0:09:18We previously recorded a known female.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21She was going into oestrus,
0:09:21 > 0:09:23which is when females are receptive to mating.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27And so, what we hope is that this call will attract the males in.
0:09:27 > 0:09:28'So, to put it bluntly,
0:09:28 > 0:09:32'we're broadcasting an elephant come on.'
0:09:34 > 0:09:37But even with an offer like that,
0:09:37 > 0:09:39there is no guarantee of success.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44Because the nearest male elephants
0:09:44 > 0:09:46our camera team have been able to find
0:09:46 > 0:09:51are more than a mile away, drinking at a bend in a noisy river.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59Is it even remotely possible that they'll pick up on our signal?
0:10:00 > 0:10:02Time to find out.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08The call isn't being transmitted through the air,
0:10:08 > 0:10:10so we can't hear it.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15But we can see the speaker moving.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21We agreed to trigger the signals at a pre-arranged time.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25So if there's any reaction from the male elephants at the river,
0:10:25 > 0:10:27we've got a better chance of spotting it.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37Our camera team don't have to wait long.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47Within moments, the three males are moving away up the bank.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53But we've no way of knowing
0:10:53 > 0:10:57if they're responding to our empty promise of elephant romance.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04Not unless they come straight to our transmitter,
0:11:04 > 0:11:06which might create its own problems.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09They will after all be looking for love.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13Let's hope they don't confuse this with the female elephant,
0:11:13 > 0:11:17cos I'm not sure this is going to sustain five tonnes of weight.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Yeah, well, it's a nice-looking truck, but even so...
0:11:20 > 0:11:21SHE CHUCKLES
0:11:21 > 0:11:25Ooh, I wish you hadn't said that, I don't want to sit here and wait now.
0:11:25 > 0:11:26SHE LAUGHS
0:11:28 > 0:11:30But wait, we must...
0:11:34 > 0:11:36..because it's going to take those elephants
0:11:36 > 0:11:39a fair while to get to us through the thick scrub.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Unfortunately, the terrain proves just too overgrown
0:11:55 > 0:11:57for our camera team to follow.
0:11:59 > 0:12:00The last they see of them,
0:12:00 > 0:12:04the elephants are disappearing into the trees.
0:12:21 > 0:12:22There you go!
0:12:22 > 0:12:27'And then, out of the blue, they appear.'
0:12:27 > 0:12:29There's three! Wow!
0:12:29 > 0:12:31- They're straight through.- Yeah.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38- He's definitely looking for something.- Yeah.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41He's got something on his mind, hasn't he?
0:12:45 > 0:12:48There's no doubt the lead male is interested.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57So you can imagine his disappointment
0:12:57 > 0:12:59when, instead of an amorous female,
0:12:59 > 0:13:02all he finds is a scruffy pile of sacks.
0:13:04 > 0:13:05We've all been there.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14But he has provided pretty compelling evidence
0:13:14 > 0:13:17of the elephant's ability to do what a rattlesnake does -
0:13:17 > 0:13:19hear through the ground.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24I'd like to think we just had a bit of a chat...
0:13:24 > 0:13:26What did we say?
0:13:26 > 0:13:28Shot the breeze. I've no idea, no idea.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30SHE CHUCKLES
0:13:30 > 0:13:33'So, with the help of elephants,
0:13:33 > 0:13:36'we've successfully managed to send signals through the earth.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44But can that elephant technology help rescue me
0:13:44 > 0:13:48from a Californian gold mine?
0:13:53 > 0:13:57Well, it's not quite an elephant, but it is an ELF -
0:13:57 > 0:13:59an extreme low frequency device.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02And it can do, hopefully, what elephants can do so effectively,
0:14:02 > 0:14:06which is transmit, communicate through solid rock.
0:14:06 > 0:14:07Quite a lot of it, in this instance.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10All I've got to do is assemble it.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16'It works in exactly the same way as our artificial elephant's foot.
0:14:16 > 0:14:21'Only this time, the speaker is pointing upwards.'
0:14:21 > 0:14:25This bit here will connect the device with the rock.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Obviously, you don't need me to tell you
0:14:29 > 0:14:33that people do get trapped in mines for real
0:14:33 > 0:14:35without the benefit of a TV crew
0:14:35 > 0:14:37and, more importantly, without the benefit
0:14:37 > 0:14:39of any means of communicating with the surface.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42Sometimes with terrible consequences.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45This device could give them a chance.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53The whole system has been designed so it can run on 12 volts,
0:14:53 > 0:14:54from car batteries,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57which is pretty handy if you're stuck down a mine like this.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01So the control box has various zones, various sectors,
0:15:01 > 0:15:03because in any mine, such as this,
0:15:03 > 0:15:07they would have agreed in advance where different sectors are.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10So if I set this into five, that is telling them...
0:15:10 > 0:15:12And there it goes.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15That's telling them I'm in sector five, so they know where I am.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17And I can tell them the air quality is OK.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20So now, they know where I am and how I am.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22At least, I'm telling them,
0:15:22 > 0:15:26because I know the signal is leaving me and going up into the rock.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28What I've no way of knowing right now
0:15:28 > 0:15:31is whether or not they're receiving that vital information.
0:15:34 > 0:15:35In other words,
0:15:35 > 0:15:39have we the capability to do what the elephant does,
0:15:39 > 0:15:41and pick those vibrations up?
0:15:44 > 0:15:47100 feet above me, the ELF's inventors,
0:15:47 > 0:15:50Jim Squire and Jay Sullivan, believe we have.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57With the help of this small spiked cylinder.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00This is the ELF's receiver,
0:16:00 > 0:16:04relaying any vibrations from below back to Jim and Jay's base unit.
0:16:06 > 0:16:07All right, let's start acquiring.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16At this sort of depth, we should have the answer
0:16:16 > 0:16:19in around 10 seconds, if he's sending right now.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29OK, it looks like we're getting a signal now.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34And there it is.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37Location five, good air.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41And that's the point at which they'd normally send in the rescue teams.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49But...I don't really need them.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53Well, no, they didn't actually shut me in a gold mine
0:16:53 > 0:16:55and blow up the only exit.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57There'd have been a lot of paperwork.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00And, anyway, the point is we've proved it works. Thank you, guys!
0:17:03 > 0:17:07And thank you too to the African elephant,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10whose extraordinary super sense
0:17:10 > 0:17:14might help transform mine safety and save lives.
0:17:20 > 0:17:21With results like that,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24it's no surprise that scientists and engineers
0:17:24 > 0:17:28keep coming back to the natural world for inspiration.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30And there's plenty to inspire them.
0:17:36 > 0:17:37At this very moment,
0:17:37 > 0:17:41there are more than a million species of creature alive on Earth.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47Scientists estimate that, in reality,
0:17:47 > 0:17:51there might be eight or nine times that amount.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55So who knows what some of those creatures might be able to teach us.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59Lessons we could apply to a whole host of human problems.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07Problems like - how can you see in the pitch black?
0:18:11 > 0:18:15I want you to watch the next 30 seconds very carefully.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54In just a few minutes,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57a second rider is going to come down this track.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01Through the same twists and turns,
0:19:01 > 0:19:05over the same humps and bumps.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08But with one, big difference -
0:19:08 > 0:19:11this rider is blind.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16So how is that possible?
0:19:16 > 0:19:18When practically all he sees around him...
0:19:21 > 0:19:22..is black!
0:19:26 > 0:19:28To find out, we need to start with a creature
0:19:28 > 0:19:32that spends the majority of its life in permanent darkness.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36A creature that can navigate its way around these caves and caverns
0:19:36 > 0:19:38without using a head torch.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41In fact, without using its eyes at all.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55I'm talking about bats. Of course!
0:19:55 > 0:19:59Because we all know that bats can get around in the dark.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04But bat expert Dr Dean Waters is about to show me
0:20:04 > 0:20:07that their senses are far cleverer than that.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09- Have you got one? - I've got one here.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12- This is an Egyptian fruit bat. - Hello, Egyptian fruit bat.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14And they are very sweet-looking creatures,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17cos some bats, horseshoes and such are...
0:20:17 > 0:20:18look like, "Argh," they're horrible.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21Yeah, I mean, no offence, I'm sure they look lovely to one another,
0:20:21 > 0:20:25but this, to us, is aesthetically, quite a handsome little thing.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29So beautiful big eyes and they also have this lovely ears that are very, very mobile
0:20:29 > 0:20:30that they wiggle around a lot.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33And they echolocate through their mouth.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36They'll open their mouth and click from side to side with their tongue.
0:20:36 > 0:20:37CLICKING SOUND
0:20:37 > 0:20:39- That's it?- That's it, very simple.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41So it's not like a special... It's just their tongue...
0:20:41 > 0:20:43Just a click, that's it.
0:20:43 > 0:20:44CLICKING SOUND
0:20:44 > 0:20:48'But that simple clicking is enough for the fruit bat
0:20:48 > 0:20:51'to find its way about with amazing precision.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55'And Dean believes it can build up
0:20:55 > 0:20:59'an incredibly detailed picture of its surroundings.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09But just how accurate is it?
0:21:09 > 0:21:13Time to put the bat's super sense to the test.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25We're using a very hi-tech combination
0:21:25 > 0:21:28of cup hooks, bells and string
0:21:28 > 0:21:31to make a type of bat slalom course.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38OK, then, Dean. Lights out, let's see what we've got.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44- We've got a dark cave, thin strings and bats.- Yeah.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46What are we hoping for?
0:21:46 > 0:21:49Well, we're looking at how good these bats' echolocation calls are.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52It's always been described as a simple or primitive system.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55- It sounds rubbish.- Yeah, it doesn't sound very impressive.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58No. But if you look very carefully at the call structure,
0:21:58 > 0:22:01it's almost exactly the same type of calls that dolphins use.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04And we know that dolphins are very, very good echolocators.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06So what we're hoping for is that they dodge the strings,
0:22:06 > 0:22:08and we'll know if they hit them cos of the bells.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10Yeah, absolutely. Right.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16But we really haven't made it easy for them.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20The strings are less than a centimetre wide
0:22:20 > 0:22:23and the gaps between them are much narrower
0:22:23 > 0:22:25than the bats two-foot wingspan.
0:22:31 > 0:22:36Yeah. Unfortunately, our experiment has one fatal flaw.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39We can't actually see if it's working.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41We don't hear any bells,
0:22:41 > 0:22:44but the bats might have all flown off for all we know.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50So we have a little re-think,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53set up a special night-vision camera,
0:22:53 > 0:22:55and turn on an infrared light.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02The bats will still be in pitch black,
0:23:02 > 0:23:05but now, we should be able to see them via Dean's laptop.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11Success.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14Except the cave appears to be completely empty.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20But then, a single bat appears.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28And what he does next is remarkable.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Nearly, go on, you're going to go through...
0:23:41 > 0:23:43Oh, that's perfect, no, that's absolutely perfect.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45That was... He was bringing his wings in,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48he knew they were either side, exactly where they were.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51- Right, so again.- Here comes one now.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59So this supposedly primitive system
0:23:59 > 0:24:04is capable of picking up even the slightest of obstacles.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07So accurately that the bats don't even bother pulling their wing in
0:24:07 > 0:24:10till the last possible moment.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20They make it look easy, but it's not.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27There's an awful lot going on to enable that little bat
0:24:27 > 0:24:28to fly around in the pitch dark.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31It is a wonderfully sophisticated little animal.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35And the thought was always that these guys, their echolocation system was a bit primitive,
0:24:35 > 0:24:38a bit basic compared with the other smaller types of bat.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41- Yeah.- But what this proves, in fact, is that it's not at all,
0:24:41 > 0:24:43I mean, it's quite finesse.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45They'd go down to this wide.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47Absolutely, these guys know exactly where these wires are,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50and that's purely through their echolocation system,
0:24:50 > 0:24:53cos it's pitch black in here, there's no other way they'd know they're there.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56So if a bat can use sound,
0:24:56 > 0:25:01a series of small clicks, to see in the dark,
0:25:01 > 0:25:03maybe it could work for human beings.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17This man, Professor Brian Hoyle,
0:25:17 > 0:25:21believes he's found a way to do just that,
0:25:21 > 0:25:25by putting bat-tech in a stick.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28So, this isn't just a bit like the way a bat works.
0:25:28 > 0:25:29This is echolocated.
0:25:29 > 0:25:34- It is very, very similar indeed. Over to you.- Right, it's beeping at me!
0:25:34 > 0:25:37- That was you!- It was me. - It's found you! Look at that!
0:25:37 > 0:25:38And if I move it off, it stops.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40I'm going to go behind you, so I can see what's going on.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42I felt you walk through.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44So, what I'm doing now, this is sending out a noise,
0:25:44 > 0:25:47the same as a bat does, and then listening for it bouncing back,
0:25:47 > 0:25:51echoing back off objects, which is exactly what our bats did.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54- It then tells me, by buzzing, on this.- Absolutely.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56And you can feel it. So, if I walk towards that.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58- Ooh, it's found something. - Just take it slowly.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00- It's buzzing through my thumb.- Good.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02- If I move off, it's not.- Great.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05So, it's telling me there's an object to my left.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08- You found a safe path to the right. - There's nothing to my right.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11Nothing, Nothing... Oh! There's a sudden buzz.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15If I move off to the right - nothing. To the left - something.
0:26:15 > 0:26:20To the right, nothing. So, I would know I'm OK going this way.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22And it gets faster as you get closer to it,
0:26:22 > 0:26:24it buzzes through your thumb more quickly.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26That's correct, absolutely.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30You don't need me to tell you, Brian, that your invention works.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32- Because it does!- Fantastic, great.
0:26:32 > 0:26:33Bring on the blindfold.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35Let's give this a proper go.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39Right, let's see if I can pick up in a matter of minutes
0:26:39 > 0:26:44what it's taken the fruit bat millions of years to perfect.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48Nothing - oh! Something, to my right.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50Hang on, there's a gap there.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54I've got something to my left, there. And to my right, there.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Picked up something, then.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08Oh, that's a mannequin, isn't it?
0:27:12 > 0:27:17Slowly, but surely, I can see how somebody could build up a picture.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21Right, the only thing is, I have no idea where I've ended up.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23Right, I had no idea that I was here.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Well, I think you did really well,
0:27:25 > 0:27:27and I don't think you bumped into anything.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29I didn't hit anything.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33'Surprisingly, that's not down to luck, but to my brain.'
0:27:33 > 0:27:34And what you're doing, then,
0:27:34 > 0:27:38is this information goes into your brain, and it's processed
0:27:38 > 0:27:40through the same part of your brain
0:27:40 > 0:27:42- that actually processes sight. - It is.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44Which means when we talk about using this to see,
0:27:44 > 0:27:46as far as sure brain's concerned, you really are.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49You're building up the picture in the same place you're seeing.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52If you think it's the brain that sees, not the eyes,
0:27:52 > 0:27:53- then you're seeing.- Right.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57'And that's the remarkable thing.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00'Our brains can adjust astoundingly quickly
0:28:00 > 0:28:04'to using our senses in a completely different way.'
0:28:09 > 0:28:13So, I thought, what if we take this whole idea a step further,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17and use bat sonar to enable blind people to do something
0:28:17 > 0:28:18they wouldn't normally even attempt.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21So, I've taken apart a couple of canes,
0:28:21 > 0:28:25and I've come up with this, the Bat Bike.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27Now, let me talk you through this.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30Essentially, it's a prototype at the moment, but it shows the principle.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32We've got two Bat Cane handles up here on the bars,
0:28:32 > 0:28:36with the contact pads, feeding back information to the rider from
0:28:36 > 0:28:38the sensors in the handles themselves,
0:28:38 > 0:28:40then we've got two more down here.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42I reckon that should be enough information feeding back
0:28:42 > 0:28:46to the rider to enable a blind person to ride
0:28:46 > 0:28:49a mountain bike down a mountain bike course.
0:28:49 > 0:28:54Now I say it out loud, that is quite a big ask, but it could work.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00By the time engineers have built our Bat Bike properly
0:29:00 > 0:29:05a few of the details have changed, but the theory remains the same.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09These sensors send out and receive a series of clicks
0:29:09 > 0:29:14and a couple of vibrating buttons tell the rider what's up ahead.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22But now it's actually come to it,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25I'm not sure who's more nervous -
0:29:25 > 0:29:29me, or 21-year-old Dan Smith, who actually has to ride this thing.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35A keen cyclist, Dan tragically lost his sight nine months ago
0:29:35 > 0:29:38from a rare genetic condition.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41He hasn't been able to ride a bike on his own since.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47Although most of the damage to his eyes is invisible, trust me,
0:29:47 > 0:29:51Dan can't see anything in front of him.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56Five, four, three, two, one, go!
0:29:59 > 0:30:03HEART BEATS
0:30:42 > 0:30:46MACHINE BEEPS
0:30:51 > 0:30:56Dan only had a few short hours to practice on this bike,
0:30:56 > 0:31:02but bat technology is allowing his brain to see the course.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18Well, there can be no clearer proof the bat tech works.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20Yeah, very good, actually.
0:31:20 > 0:31:22It's really good to be back on a single bike again,
0:31:22 > 0:31:26but the technology works, because I've just navigated
0:31:26 > 0:31:30the whole track by myself, so I'm very pleased, yeah.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32Now, obviously, it might be a little while
0:31:32 > 0:31:36before visually-impaired cyclists take to our roads,
0:31:36 > 0:31:39but bat technology may just have opened up their lives
0:31:39 > 0:31:41like never before.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53Super senses don't just sound cool, they're really useful.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56It's a huge advantage to an animal to be able to see more clearly,
0:31:56 > 0:31:58or hear more clearly.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00But, what if you're on the receiving end?
0:32:00 > 0:32:04What if you're an animal that doesn't want to be seen or heard?
0:32:04 > 0:32:07Well, evolution can provide an answer to that, too.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22This place is very special.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27At about this time of year once, maybe twice a week,
0:32:27 > 0:32:31a unique phenomenon occurs, almost within touching distance.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35And that's why, although this beach is far from easy to get to,
0:32:35 > 0:32:38it draws fascinated onlookers from all over the world,
0:32:38 > 0:32:41each hoping to see and hear something they'd be
0:32:41 > 0:32:45very unlikely to encounter at such close quarters anywhere else.
0:32:52 > 0:32:57And it's something that's going to happen any moment now.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59All we can do is watch and wait.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15This is it. Here it comes.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19It's the weekly arrival of Flight 785 from Amsterdam.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24All here to see this. I know!
0:33:26 > 0:33:30Because here, on this very beach, you can get closer
0:33:30 > 0:33:34to a landing jumbo than practically anywhere else on the planet.
0:33:35 > 0:33:37And it's an ear-splitting experience.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39PLANE ENGINE GROWS LOUDER
0:33:39 > 0:33:43Now, believe it or not, most of that noise comes not from
0:33:43 > 0:33:48the plane's engines, just from the wind rushing around the aeroplane.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50In other words, turbulence!
0:33:50 > 0:33:52ENGINE ROARS
0:33:58 > 0:33:59A lot of it!
0:34:03 > 0:34:06I mean, a lot!
0:34:06 > 0:34:11That turbulence is generated every time a plane pushes through the air.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16But, surely, there has to be a quieter way to fly?
0:34:24 > 0:34:27There is one creature which, despite having a top speed
0:34:27 > 0:34:33well in excess of 30 miles an hour, is virtually silent.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41Somewhere around here is one of those creatures
0:34:41 > 0:34:44that's been specially trained to go into a hunting mode
0:34:44 > 0:34:45when they hear this noise...
0:34:45 > 0:34:47- MACHINE BEEPS - ..that's coming from that
0:34:47 > 0:34:50beeper down there, being operated by this button in my hand.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52So, here's the set up.
0:34:52 > 0:34:53I'm going to lie down here,
0:34:53 > 0:34:58with the beeper hidden next to my head
0:34:58 > 0:34:59and sound it.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03My job is to try and take a photograph of the creature as it attacks.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06But to make that just an extra little bit tricky,
0:35:06 > 0:35:09give me more of a challenge, I shall be blindfolded.
0:35:11 > 0:35:17So, really all I can do is listen for my attacker.
0:35:17 > 0:35:18Right.
0:35:18 > 0:35:23Well, let's get started. I am now the prey.
0:35:23 > 0:35:25MACHINE BEEPS
0:35:25 > 0:35:29Time to summon my trained attacker.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37It's surprisingly tense.
0:35:37 > 0:35:39MACHINE BEEPS
0:35:39 > 0:35:42If the creature appears, I've got nothing but my ears
0:35:42 > 0:35:45to warn me of its approach.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48MACHINE BEEPS
0:35:53 > 0:35:55MACHINE BEEPS
0:35:55 > 0:35:58It's the waiting that gets you!
0:35:58 > 0:36:03MACHINE BEEPS
0:36:20 > 0:36:23And this is that creature - a barn owl.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37GRASS RUSTLES
0:36:37 > 0:36:38CAMERA CLICKS
0:36:40 > 0:36:43Wow, that was genuinely amazing.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45When somebody tells you something like,
0:36:45 > 0:36:48"A barn owl can fly silently,"
0:36:48 > 0:36:53I generally take it with a pinch of salt, but trust me, they can.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56I had no idea she was there until she hit the ground.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01Totally silent.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07And owls need to be.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13Take this tawny owl, for instance.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27Silent flight, as we've seen, allows an owl
0:37:27 > 0:37:30to creep up on its prey.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42But it also means that their wings can operate quietly enough
0:37:42 > 0:37:45that they can hear that prey over their own flapping.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07But to see what makes owl flight so special,
0:38:07 > 0:38:09we need a little experiment.
0:38:11 > 0:38:13Starting with this pigeon.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23Just watch what happens when it flies across a bed of feathers.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31That is turbulence in action.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38Now here's an owl attempting the same thing.
0:38:48 > 0:38:50There's almost no disturbance at all.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59But how on earth is it doing it?
0:39:03 > 0:39:08Well, it turns out that owl wings have three very special features.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13These tiny knobbly teeth stop the front edge creating
0:39:13 > 0:39:15one big whirlpool of air.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20Then a layer of soft, velvety feathers keeps
0:39:20 > 0:39:22that airflow close to the wing.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27And finally, that tattered back edge reduces turbulence
0:39:27 > 0:39:29as the air leaves the wing.
0:39:32 > 0:39:37So I thought, what if I could make an airplane wing like an owl's wing?
0:39:43 > 0:39:48Unfortunately, I could only find one place willing to let me have a go -
0:39:48 > 0:39:51an airplane graveyard.
0:39:51 > 0:39:53I've had to improvise a bit, with materials and such,
0:39:53 > 0:39:56but that's how it is with science.
0:39:56 > 0:39:58And here it is, it's got everything.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01The egg boxes give the leading edge that knobbly profile,
0:40:01 > 0:40:04to break up the airflow into smaller vortices.
0:40:04 > 0:40:05The carpet, the texture,
0:40:05 > 0:40:09breaks up the huge bubble of disturbed air and reduces noise,
0:40:09 > 0:40:13and the trailing edge is serrated, and that cuts down on noise, as well.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18So, why don't all aeroplane wings look like this?
0:40:19 > 0:40:22Well, it turns out it's not that simple.
0:40:26 > 0:40:28The problem is one of scale.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33That amount of egg boxes and carpet
0:40:33 > 0:40:36would just slow the plane down too much.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40And the serrated lino would apparently
0:40:40 > 0:40:43get in the way of the flaps they use for braking.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48So it looks like the sightseers of St Maarten
0:40:48 > 0:40:51are safe for the moment.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53Science isn't about to spoil their fun.
0:40:57 > 0:40:59But all is not lost.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06It turns out there are smaller wings that would benefit
0:41:06 > 0:41:09from owl technology.
0:41:10 > 0:41:14It's just that they're attached to fans.
0:41:17 > 0:41:21And that might turn out to be even more important.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38FAN WHIRS
0:41:38 > 0:41:42OK, so a silent fan might not sound as exciting as
0:41:42 > 0:41:45a huge, furry aircraft wing, but bear with me,
0:41:45 > 0:41:48because silent fans would make a bigger difference
0:41:48 > 0:41:50than you might think.
0:41:50 > 0:41:51FAN GOES SILENT
0:41:51 > 0:41:54Imagine silent computers, silent hairdryers,
0:41:54 > 0:41:58silent vacuum cleaners, silent wind farms, silent air-conditioning.
0:41:59 > 0:42:03Because all those fans suffer the same sort of problems
0:42:03 > 0:42:05with turbulence that planes do.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12So, the inventors of this fan have used owl tech to break up
0:42:12 > 0:42:16that turbulence, by adding serrations to the back edge.
0:42:19 > 0:42:25And the result is a fan that is very, very quiet indeed.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31No matter how hard you listen.
0:42:35 > 0:42:39So, this owl technology, copied directly from the way
0:42:39 > 0:42:42a barn owl protects its super-sensitive hearing from wind noise,
0:42:42 > 0:42:47could end up making our noisy world just a little bit quieter.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52At least until the next plane comes along.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55PLANE ENGINE ROARS
0:43:03 > 0:43:07Sometimes inspiration from nature is right under our noses.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11Take whiskers, for instance. We all think we know what they're for -
0:43:11 > 0:43:14so that cats don't get their heads stuck in railings.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17But, in fact, they're far more sophisticated than that.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25And this is exactly the animal to show us.
0:43:27 > 0:43:33Harbour seals spend much of their time submerged in murky waters,
0:43:33 > 0:43:35where visibility is next to nothing.
0:43:42 > 0:43:46And yet they're still able to hunt fast-moving fish
0:43:46 > 0:43:48with frightening accuracy.
0:43:52 > 0:43:57Well, believe it or not, they're finding them with their whiskers.
0:44:07 > 0:44:11A harbour seal called Henry is going to show me how.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18- Hello.- Hello.- This is Henry, then? - This is Henry, right.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22- Hello, Henry.- Say hello.- Hello.
0:44:23 > 0:44:27So, these whiskers, I don't want to touch them because they're so sensitive,
0:44:27 > 0:44:31- are they very delicate if I touch them?- Yeah, you can touch them.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34I know that these are serious instruments, aren't they?
0:44:34 > 0:44:35What can he do with them?
0:44:35 > 0:44:40They can use them similar to us, our hands, so they know your fist
0:44:40 > 0:44:46- is smaller than my fist, for example. - He can tell this is a smaller hand than yours, with his whiskers?- Yeah.
0:44:48 > 0:44:54Now, normally I wouldn't advise you to do this. Seals are quite bitey.
0:44:54 > 0:44:57But Henry is a particularly accommodating harbour seal.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01He works hand-in-flipper with Doctor Sven Wieskotten.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04And when he's doing this work with you,
0:45:04 > 0:45:07why is he willing to be trained and to work with you like this?
0:45:07 > 0:45:09That's easy.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12- Yeah. He does like a fish, doesn't he?- He does like the fish.
0:45:12 > 0:45:17So this whole array of whiskers around his snout here,
0:45:17 > 0:45:19- that's another sense? - That's another sense.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22So they don't have hands like us... Goodbye.
0:45:22 > 0:45:26- Goodbye, Henry. Go have a splash. - He got bored, I think!
0:45:28 > 0:45:31But Henry's whiskers are useful for much more
0:45:31 > 0:45:35than a game of guess the size of the presenter's hand,
0:45:35 > 0:45:36as Sven is about to show me.
0:45:40 > 0:45:45All we need is a remote-controlled submarine, a friendly seal
0:45:45 > 0:45:47and a blindfold.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51- How are you going to put a blindfold on a seal?- Oh, that's easy.
0:45:51 > 0:45:55- We trained this and now he's jumping through the mask.- No, he's not!
0:45:55 > 0:45:57He jumps through it.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00- RICHARD LAUGHS - That's astonishing!
0:46:00 > 0:46:03Having jumped into his blindfold,
0:46:03 > 0:46:05Henry obligingly moves into his starting position.
0:46:07 > 0:46:12Sven puts headphones over his ears and plays him pink noise...
0:46:12 > 0:46:14STATIC
0:46:14 > 0:46:19..a sort of audio static, which drowns out any sound from the outside world.
0:46:21 > 0:46:25So Henry can't see, and as long as those headphones are on,
0:46:25 > 0:46:26he can't hear.
0:46:29 > 0:46:32- OK, so when you say go, I go. - OK, go.- Go.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37My job is to control the model submarine.
0:46:37 > 0:46:41I can send it anywhere in the pool.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45And Henry knows that if he finds it, he'll get a fish.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50But he'll only get the chance to start his search
0:46:50 > 0:46:53when I've stopped the sub completely,
0:46:53 > 0:46:56so there's no motor noise or splashing to help him locate it.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02OK, Henry. Do your stuff.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20- He's found it! He found it blindfold.- Yeah.
0:47:20 > 0:47:22It's no problem for him.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26In fact, because he's blindfolded, it's only the sound
0:47:26 > 0:47:30of Sven splashing that enables him to find his way back to us.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34He's not using his eyes, he can't. There's nothing to hear,
0:47:34 > 0:47:38because it's not running any more, I've stopped it. That's astonishing.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43And it looks like Henry wants to play again.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00But it doesn't matter how many times we do it,
0:48:00 > 0:48:04or what route I choose for the sub. Henry finds it every single time.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09- Good!- Oh, that was fantastic.
0:48:13 > 0:48:18And it's not just the fact he finds it that's impressive,
0:48:18 > 0:48:19it's the way he finds it.
0:48:21 > 0:48:25He swims the exact same route as the sub.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38What a clever boy.
0:48:39 > 0:48:44Believe it or not, Henry is finding the sub with his whiskers.
0:48:45 > 0:48:50They're so sensitive that they're picking up the underwater trail
0:48:50 > 0:48:52the sub has left behind.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54That's amazing. Do it again.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25And he swam the exact trail of where it had been.
0:49:27 > 0:49:29That's astonishing.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32'So astonishing that Sven has to prove to me
0:49:32 > 0:49:35'that it's really Henrys whiskers that are doing the work.'
0:49:39 > 0:49:44In this small tank, the water is almost completely still...
0:49:47 > 0:49:50..allowing the researchers to generate
0:49:50 > 0:49:53tiny precise eddies coloured with green ink.
0:50:00 > 0:50:03Even though they create barely a ripple,
0:50:03 > 0:50:06Henry's whiskers pick them up immediately,
0:50:06 > 0:50:09twitching on the side the eddy is touched.
0:50:17 > 0:50:21Which, I have to admit, is fairly convincing.
0:50:31 > 0:50:35This whole concept of whiskers letting you feel your way around
0:50:35 > 0:50:39is something that I can use myself.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41This is a very big car and, historically,
0:50:41 > 0:50:45I have struggled to put the thing away, back it into the garage.
0:50:45 > 0:50:47Not any more,
0:50:47 > 0:50:51because what I have here is a set of purpose-built whiskers.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54I'll be able to feel my way into the garage.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57Ah, this is going to be brilliant. Right, let me explain.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00These are the whiskers, obviously.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03When it encounters, let's say, a garage door or the wall at the back,
0:51:03 > 0:51:06it moves. And when it does that,
0:51:06 > 0:51:08it moves inside this little loop of metal,
0:51:08 > 0:51:12which touches this coil on the outside of the whisker, like that.
0:51:12 > 0:51:17And I can demonstrate with the control box, here. You see?
0:51:17 > 0:51:20That whisker's touching, it lights up.
0:51:20 > 0:51:25And that's pretty much how a real whisker works.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29The bristle itself has no feeling at all, but the movement
0:51:29 > 0:51:34against nerve endings at its base sends signals back to the brain.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39It's a deliciously simple idea, and I thought of it myself entirely,
0:51:39 > 0:51:42and at no point did my mate Hadrian help me with it.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46It was me. Right, that's fitted. This is brilliant.
0:51:48 > 0:51:52There's actually no technology here that they didn't have in 1934,
0:51:52 > 0:51:56so I don't know why they didn't fit it as standard.
0:51:56 > 0:51:57Right...
0:51:59 > 0:52:02Oh, yeah! Ignition on.
0:52:02 > 0:52:04Please start.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06ENGINE SPUTTERS
0:52:09 > 0:52:11Ooo-ooh!
0:52:11 > 0:52:14Right, I'm slightly scared all of a sudden.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20It's at this point you should probably know that this car
0:52:20 > 0:52:22used to drive the Queen Mum about.
0:52:22 > 0:52:25And it's actually worth quite a bit.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30Oh, hang on, I've got a contact there.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35So that tells me I should move a bit further that way.
0:52:40 > 0:52:42It works!
0:52:42 > 0:52:44Well, I think this is straight.
0:52:44 > 0:52:49Let's have a go. No lights, so I think I'm through. Yes!
0:52:49 > 0:52:53I've never been able to reverse this car into this garage on my own.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56I've always had to have somebody with me.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58Now, thanks to my whiskers technology...
0:53:01 > 0:53:03Aw, yes!
0:53:03 > 0:53:05That actually works. I mean, genuinely...
0:53:05 > 0:53:09This is the horrible thing, cos it's a very long car,
0:53:09 > 0:53:13it's a limousine, this will now tell me when I hit the back wall.
0:53:13 > 0:53:15- Well, obviously- before- I hit the back wall!
0:53:20 > 0:53:23Whoa, there we go!
0:53:23 > 0:53:26I'm in!
0:53:29 > 0:53:36It turns out that if you scale that exact same idea up, quite a lot,
0:53:36 > 0:53:38you end up with something pretty cool.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02ENGINE PURRS
0:54:02 > 0:54:03Oh! We're off.
0:54:12 > 0:54:14This is the Terramax.
0:54:15 > 0:54:19It's a 10-ton, six-wheel drive military truck,
0:54:19 > 0:54:22there's nobody in here but me, and I'm not driving.
0:54:25 > 0:54:27Yeah, it's driving itself.
0:54:27 > 0:54:29And it really is.
0:54:31 > 0:54:36It's not remote-controlled, it's not some glorified form of sat-nav
0:54:36 > 0:54:39and there's no hidden driver.
0:54:39 > 0:54:43Which begs the question - how can it see where it's going?
0:54:46 > 0:54:49In fact, it's using whiskers.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53All right, if it's got whiskers, where are they?
0:54:55 > 0:54:59But these are a very special sort of whisker.
0:54:59 > 0:55:01Because they're invisible.
0:55:04 > 0:55:06In fact, they're lasers.
0:55:07 > 0:55:12Up on the roof, that spinning cylinder houses 64 of them,
0:55:12 > 0:55:15each one revolving 15 times a second.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21And that equates to it managing to gather, every second,
0:55:21 > 0:55:251.3 million touches on the landscape.
0:55:29 > 0:55:30And this is what that looks like.
0:55:32 > 0:55:38Each tiny dot on the screen shows a point a laser whisker has touched.
0:55:40 > 0:55:45Build those up over a couple of seconds and the Terramax gets
0:55:45 > 0:55:49an astonishingly accurate map of its surroundings.
0:55:50 > 0:55:55The idea is that a convoy of these supply trucks could drive
0:55:55 > 0:55:59behind enemy lines without putting servicemen at risk.
0:56:05 > 0:56:09But what would happen if they came upon something unexpected?
0:56:11 > 0:56:13Something like this.
0:56:16 > 0:56:1912 concrete-filled bollards.
0:56:45 > 0:56:50It should be terrifying, but it kind of isn't. It's kind of joyous. This thing has a personality.
0:56:50 > 0:56:54It's as close to alive as I can imagine a truck being.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06So how good are these things going to get?
0:57:06 > 0:57:07When will it end?
0:57:07 > 0:57:11When will we reach a point when somebody will say to you, "What?!
0:57:11 > 0:57:13"You're not driving yourself, are you?
0:57:13 > 0:57:16"I mean, why would you do that? It's dangerous and irresponsible."
0:57:18 > 0:57:20This is the future.
0:57:21 > 0:57:25This little truck, with its array of whiskers that work in exactly
0:57:25 > 0:57:27the same way that a harbour seal's whiskers do,
0:57:27 > 0:57:30it's just that these are lasers, is the future.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33This is what we'll all be in.
0:57:35 > 0:57:37It's brilliant.
0:57:45 > 0:57:47'Next time on Miracles Of Nature,
0:57:47 > 0:57:51'I'll be looking at animal super powers...'
0:57:51 > 0:57:54Ah, this is not at all pleasant.
0:57:55 > 0:58:00'..and discovering how scientists have copied them to help us
0:58:00 > 0:58:02'keep our cool...' That was a new personal best.
0:58:02 > 0:58:05'..make us ten times stronger...'
0:58:07 > 0:58:08And it works.
0:58:08 > 0:58:10'..and turn invisible.'
0:58:12 > 0:58:14That is astonishing!
0:58:28 > 0:58:31Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd