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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.พ. 2025
- This arthropod may look modest, but it actually used brilliant engineering to become the world’s most resilient beetle - and we might be able to use its design for our own engineering purposes.
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First reply
Hmm so many military applications for this. Exciting!
You talk about the diabolical beetle and you don’t even mention a tid-bit about the challenge of scientists to add it to a pin collection?
Actually this kind of joint is already used on modern jet engines. They are used to attach the compressor blades to the rotor hub. Although the joint is somewhat loosely fitting to allow for self balancing and dampens vibration.
Nature might be the unbeatable engineer, but evolutionary limitations have forced nature to do some pretty bad re-engineering. An example is the esophagus, eating through the tube you use to breath is just one of many bad desires.
Insect: can't fly.
Humans: how can we apply this knowledge to aircraft?
*Confusion 100*
@Justin Halladay Thank you for defending youtube videos from the meme nemesis
In the future our aircraft will evolve to crawl on the ground unable to fly but there will be no chance in hell of penetrating them.
@Nelson Swanberg why not both?
@@Nerobyrne Naturneers
It put all its stat points into defense because it didn't want to get hurt.
Cute lil bugger
Bofuri
Guys it's maple
it's an actual Shuckle.
It's small tank bulid
"Thanks to its tough shell, the beetle can just put up with predators' attempts to crush it, and then carry on with its life."
Love this quote!
I need a shell that tough.
"Diabolical Ironclad Beetle" is, without a shadow of a doubt, the coolest name in all of nature.
You don't know the half of it....
We literally just call them rock bugs over here it’s hella lame
Its a man made name still
Dunno. Beelzebufo comes pretty close.
Like george harrison joining Slayer
So THAT'S where "Elytra" came from.
And this at least is UNBREAKING V
@@valentinozangobbo
Unbreaking V... No.
Unbreaking *A LOT*
Minecraft.net actually did an article on it, pretty cool
Thought they just made up the word
yes
I've only known about this beetle for five minutes, and I have already chosen it as one of my favourite creatures. You go little Ironclad, you go
I have just learned of the diabolical ironclad beetle and am reminding you of its existence have a good day
@@yarddweller Thank you, genuinely
holy crap this is the first time I've heard of Elytra outside of Minecraft, and I'm 36. I learned a lot of new things in just 5 minutes, today!
And you don't even have to defeat the ender dragon to find them!
@@whalermac1561 defeating the Diabolical Ironclad Beetle seems like a harder feat
Along with this guy, I'm glad to finally have heard an accurate pronunciation of "elytra". I've spent a lot of time thinking it was something Minecraft made up.
@@whalermac1561 Technically, if you fly out 1000 blocks before defeating the dragon you can find end ships containing the elytra.
I just learned that chitin is pronounced “ky-tin” and not “chit-in”
THE TANK IS HERE
First
Hank the Tank
Tank build mains, where you at?
cross breed this and a bombardier beetle THEN you'll have a tank
william fleete Crossbreed that with a giant centipede and you have a fast battleship
"Nature is the best engineer" tell that to my knees
underrated comment
Nature is the laziest engineer. Kludge it till it works. (Or goes extinct.) If it's hard to improve, don't bother, just try a workaround.
“Any idiot can build a bridge that stands, but it takes an engineer to build a bridge that barely stands.”
@@benjaminmiller3620 that's what we like to call an iterative process
@@himanbam Yup. and it works great if your design space is continuous and you can avoid local maxima. You can iterate your way from a windmill to a supercritical turbine. But no amount of iteration will get you from a bubble-sort to a quick-sort. Likewise no amount of iteration can un-derp the recurrent laryngeal nerve.
"It's not like the beetle evolved on a highway"
haha I love this quote
Actually since it's diabolical it could've evolved on the highway to hell
Does this imply that eventually rabbits and raccoons and things will evolve to be able to withstand a car running over them?
@@himanbam Either that, or we'll kill ourselves first.
@@himanbam
Those could easily avoid being run over. Beetles move far slower and don't see nearly as far, so they have no chance.
Diabolical Ironclad Beetle sounds like an earthbound boss
It *IS* an earthbound boss.
“Chemically altered to be stiff and hard” sounds like a viagra commercial
[Dirk Diggler has entered the chat]
😂
It’s like the bug version of the Hulk. Neat!
Do you mean muscle Hank?
Iron man?
I think that would be the hercules beetle. It can lift more then 10 kg.
The real hulk*
dont you mean "the thing" from fantastic four? he aint as strong as the hulk but hes durable, unbendable, almost unstopable
Guy: How much do you bench bro ?
Beetle: 1.5 * Average Car...
"Nature is the Unbeatable Engineer"
An engineer that often seems heavily intoxicated
If the beetle can’t fly with its Elytra, why doesn’t it just get some fireworks?
smh my head these beetles don't even know what's up
@Justin Halladay Minecraft joke
@Justin Halladay youre so brilliant. has anyone ever told you that? youre so much smarter than everyone else
ikr
@@koi9826 be careful dude he uses words like “simpletons” and “inane”. He’s clearly leagues above the rest of us common folk. We outta tread lightly
I think the beetle was probably named by the bird who dented its beak while trying to peck it.
😂🤣😂🤣😂
Crow: behold, the most indestructible bug I've ever pecked, beetle, you earned my respect, I shall call you the "Diabolical Ironclad Beetle"
@@richardfeliciano8885 Nah more like "Ow! $
That was my PhD work! :) It's great to see it out in the wild. haha
haha
Jesus Rivera you are famous!! I can't believe your work got on the SciShow. You are so cool!
Beetles are strongest insects by relative body size-weight. They can a lift objects, far heavier than their weight.
Pretty sure that title went to ants, but idk
@@FieryCoal No,Rhinoceros beetle is the strongest, it can carry 850 times its weight
*of
@@METALSCAVENGER78 looked it up. It’s actually the Taurus scarab aka the dung beetle. It lifts 1141 times its weight.
@@FieryCoal Oh dang, I forgot about the dung beetle
Simply incredible. Amazing natural structural engineering. We can definitely learn something from it with biomimicry.
The *Diabolical* Ironclad Beetle
"Do not be fooled! It has earned every bit of that amazing name!"
I mean, it's ugly as sin, but I don't see how it is diabolical.
Ask the birds who tried to eat it
This bug probably sold it soul to have that kind of power...
They are adorable!! I have one named Steve and he is so cute with his little antennas.
Why did you called it as ugly you #loozer
I don't think it's ugly though? Looks like a pretty normal beetle
Cross-breed these with cockroaches and you'll have a creature that can survive a supernova.
The indestructible iron clad cockroach
Ugh! There's a thought. It's already hard enough getting rid of roaches. If ever an insect should be called The Diabolical that would be it. At that point we should ask just move to Mars.
Actually there's a type of beetle thats even better at surviving radiation than cockroaches
It looks like you forgot about genes
And with tardigradiant
"It can survive being run over by a car. I can't do that"
Not with that attitude Hank, not with that attitude.
Evolution: "So, do you wanna have an exoskeleton or endoskeleton?"
Turtles: "Yes"
Bird swoops down on beetle.
Beetle: "Oh no. By all means. Keep trying. I'll wait."
Why Haven't beetles evolved into. Crabs
Give it time.
All things return to crab.
🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀
Patience, my boy. Patience.
@@brianjensen5661: th-cam.com/video/tV5wmDhzgY8/w-d-xo.html
What must come, will come
one day all arthropods will become crabs
Ive never heard "Elytra" outside of minecraft. Neat.
He said it so strangely
@@iCore7Gaming right. I say E Lee truh
The beetle looks like it could be used to craft some armors
When you allocate all your skill points to vitality, resistance, and endurance
Imagine a tank based on this beetle
It would be better, but not substantially better. In a nutshell, due to the square-cube law.
Somewhere in the evolutionary history of this beetle it got stomped on, a lot... Beetle: „eff that, Ima end this stompers whole career.“
There are loads of these guys around where I live! when you touch them on the ground they also pull their legs in and almost flatten themselves to the ground, which probably is another reason they’re so tough
Wow, this thing has a name like a Dark Souls boss.
Hank really has this charisma that makes me want to binge watch what he narrates/hosts.
I have found my new favorite beetle, my diabolical little buddy.
imagine cross-breeding this beetle with cockroaches and tardigrades
durability + movement + infinite environment resistance effects
it would be like the ultimate life form
even though i am from califronia, i saw my first ironclad beetle when i moved to texas. texas has the rorschach variety which was aaaawesooome!
uh, I got a bit confused with the snail picture while using arthropods as reference.
they're mollusks and have calcarean shells which differs from the chitin and ecdysis the members of arthropods have.
I think the intention was to show an unlikely animal that also have an "exoskeleton", but since some people still think snails are insects, it made me think maybe it could be clarified a little bit?
These are all over the place around San Bernardino. I never knew the name and always called them armor bugs cuz if you accidentally stepped on them on a sidewalk they just fold up their legs and ignore it then walk off.
Bit of a disclaimer, while yes it was recorded _once_ that an Ironclad beetle got hit by a car and lived, that car was going very fast and probably was on a dirt road. It's pretty unlikely that the Ironclad beetle could survive a car rolling onto it and _staying_ on it, nor would it fare well against being run over by a car on hard pavement. It's an impressive one-time local story, but it's not like any scientists have tried taking a bunch of beetles and running them over in scientific studies to prove it. Still, definitely the sturdiest bug that we know of, I know for a fact you can stomp as hard as you can on one of them with a boot and it can walk away unscathed.
Im tempted now to try to find one of these beetles and step on it with my shoe to see just how solid its armor is.
Future of bulletproof vests
So that's why the Beetle Armor is the tankiest armor pre-endgame.
I still don't know how it is connected to a golem
I think I stepped on one of these when I was in my teens. I was in my backyard, it was dusk and saw something scuttling in the poor lighting, I thought it was cockroach, so I stomped on it and it felt like I had stomped on a walnut... I lifted my foot only to see that whatever it was just run off like a nothing happened, I was a pretty tall guy and over 200 pounds at the time, so my reaction was "what the f*** was that!?!?"
That beetle pun though, real smooth Hank, real smooth.
The Japanese actually solved the thing about fastening a structure without weighing it down
They used it on shrines, its called Miyadaiku
It allows for quick repairs
I've owned one for years! I love him and his little indestructible body
Fun fact:
Here in southern San Diego, the DIB have two variants. Solid black, and black with tomato polka dots (kinda like a reverse ladybug)
I've found at least one of these as a kid, I was always curious about it but never learned anything about it because I didn't think scientists would name it something so badass. I'm always gentle when handling animals... turns out it wasn't even *close* to necessary in this case.
Diabolical Ironclad Beetle is like your level 90 boss monster in an RPG.
I love those guys, I like seeing them on trails and stuff
"Nature is the Un-beetle-ble Enginner" Nice one 😎
Insect videos from yall are my FAVORITE.
Happy holidays to everyone at scishow
I have 5 of these Beetles and let me tell you they incredibly fascinating cool creatures. Really active, durable and fun to watch. They also play dead more so than my Death Feigning Beetles which is funny.
It would be great if you could do a video about the Bombardier Beetle - another fascinating little critter!
whoever named that beetle.. i salute you 👍🏻
Thank you again for the video
"This is something that researchers are looking into"
I've heard this for years. I wanna SEE some of this applied now!
I live in Southern California and have found these beetles in my house,the first time I saw one I thought it was a normal beetle and stepped on it and it didn’t die so I flicked it away and though it was flicked away it really hurt my finger😂
I found some really hard beetles as well in the pinnacles in Western Australia.
Now imagine if a bombardier beetle evolved this trait back when the atmosphere was super rich in oxygen. You'd have ankylosaur sized chemical slinging tanks.
molla-que-ller? riot! nice delve into biology and entomology! thanks for another good vid!
"Unbeetable engineer"
He even said it without a smile
**Ironclad Beetle gets shot multiple times**
Ironclad: did you feel something?
I remember those things from my childhood in Tujunga California. Yup! There's really no tougher bug.
I accidentally stood on a big longhorn beetle in my socked feet when changing out of my bike boots. I got quite a start when I saw what I'd stood on, at they aren't native here and it must have hatched out of imported wooden pallets. The floor was smooth concrete, and most of my weight went down before I recoiled (which probably pressed it even harder). It carried on strolling across the lab floor. Impressive: and that's without a fused elytra! :)
At school we had a 'spinney' (small wood) on the grounds that the biology classes used to teach about insects etc. I remember one lesson where we all rooted around looking for unfortunate insects to mount on pins after anaesthetising with ether. One lad was pleased to find a stag beetle. He dutifully put it in a cup with cottonwool and ether for the allotted time, and then managed to get a pin through it onto a display card. But then it woke up and just lifted the pin out and flew around the room crashing into things. They aren't very good at flying in any case, but you don't want one crashing into you with a pin sticking out of it! :)
I found one in the canyon and i knew it was an ironclad but the one in this video was identical
Un squishable bug? Oh boy its arch nemesis of ladies armed with slippers everywhere!
The jigsaw puzzle type of architecture is prevelant in most parts of rural japan, its makes for a light weight yet solid wooden structure
2:47 THE POWERHOUSE OF THE CELL
when he show the image of the mosquito at 1:17, my gut reaction was "it must die!"... I think I need to dial that back a bit.
Nah, it's the correct reaction. All mosquitoes must die!
@@longlostwraith5106 good, I am not the only one.👍
ever since I saw those mosquitoes attacking some wolf pups, my hatred has been strong
God: What do you want to be
Beetle: I wanna be strong
God: Well I already have a coup...
Beetle: I CALL D.I.B.
God: Alright strength over brains I like your style
Little dudes put defense over every thing else. Gotta respect the commitment
That beetle is very stronk
Thanks i knew about Michael Hill! He was my professor in Oxford and told us about FBC13 algorithm!
Traditional wood working already uses a "jig saw puzzle" system to hold wood in place without fastners.
but those joints don't absorb energy as well when they break
3:14 Huh, that's EXACTLY what it looks like when you 3D print some puzzle pieces, stick 'em together, and pull. At least with default slicing paths with a separate skin and infill.
"Diabolical ironclad beetle" sounds like a dark souls boss
Been keeping track on this beetle finally a video
I found one of these in the Santa Barbara Mountains in CA 😍 hands down THE coclear insect I’ve ever encountered
I love your jacket, Hank
"Diabolical ironclad beetle" is a great name for a heavy metal cover band for the Beatles
Legends say there lives an elvish hunter wearing an armor out of these.
And here's why they're so tough, but wait, there's more and then there's more and we're not done yet ... an informercial beetle with an awesome name
I live in the Mojave desert have a degree in natural sciences so I study everything around me
These things are pretty rare I’ve only ever seen a few of them
Also known as the Nokia beetle
Diabolical Ironclad Beetle sounds like the name of a boss from Dark Souls
Nature... unbeatable... the human optic nerve going _through_ the retina and giving us blind-spots says otherwise.
I have trod upon an Eastern Hercules Beetle, which is not nearly as tough as this thing, but he withstood probably at least 100 pounds of human weight bearing down on his back and horn. After seeing he was still alive, I gathered him up and took him home, and once he started showing signs of reviving properly, let him out on a plant on my back porch, so that he might soar once again and complete the flight that had led him to the brightly-lit gas station where I stepped on him -- to find a mate, and bring about more lovely off-yellow speckled beetles of his ilk.
fun fact, entomologists use tiny drills to punch holes in their exoskeletons to pin them up
now i found a good insect pet, i can leave my fear of accidentally stepping on it or my parents stepping on it
Researcher A: okay hear me out... beetle... and hydraulic press?
Researcher B: listen Frank, we can't keep doing this. There's still fragments of kitten stuck in the air vents from last time...
reminds me of Dovetail Joins in woodworking and carpentry.
... and with reguards to it's chitin, how closely does it's hardness compare to something like a mantis shrimps weapon? Excessive hardness to a point that blows the minds of most people.
That jacket tho... rockin that denim!
*3 weeks later*
Turns out scientists recently discovered an even stronger beetle
I was wondering when you guys were going to do an episode about these guys. Thanks!
"If it is attacked, Cascoon remains motionless however badly it may be hurt. It does so because if it were to move, its body would be weak upon evolution. This Pokémon will also not forget the pain it endured."
Great engineering requires a talented designer, intelligent too.
hank lookin dripy with that canadian tux on