30 Animals That Made Us Smarter

As a biologist and self-confessed thrill seeker, Patrick has always had a fascination with how things work. Since 2012, Patrick has been a documentary filmmaker and wildlife tv presenter across a number of programmes for major broadcasters, including the BBC and Sky. His ambition is to inspire and surprise us, his audience, as he takes us on a journey around the globe from the very comfort of our homes. Through his stories and animal encounters many of us have witnessed the raw power of fearsome predators like big cats, uncovered reality-defying super senses of night-time hunters, and plunged the deep blue to swim alongside the mysterious creatures that call our oceans home. As the presenter of the hugely successful podcast, 30 Animals That Made Us Smarter, Patrick now brings his words as a compelling orator, to the written form, in this his first book.

Expand your understanding of the natural world with this fact-filled book as you discover how wild animals like elephants, hedgehogs, and geckos are supercharging human innovation.Written by wildlife TV presenter Patrick Aryee, each chapter is packed with incredible nature-inspired inventions that are helping to improve our daily lives: from mosquito mouthparts inspiring pain-free injections to the kingfisher beak that helped Japan’s high-speed bullet trains to travel even faster.You’ll also join Patrick on his thrilling wildlife adventures, from filming great white sharks and Egyptian fruit bats to swimming with humpback whales and manta rays, and even exploring deep inside the towering mounds of termites.Explore how animal adaptations – from sea sponges to octopuses and pangolins to camels – are sparking groundbreaking new technologies. Detailed illustrations bring these fascinating adaptations to life, showcasing remarkable creatures like the tardigrade, wandering albatross, and stunning blue morpho butterfly.This collection of stories is a must-read nature book for pop science enthusiasts and young minds alike, that’s jam-packed with amazing facts about British wildlife and animals worldwide.

Patrick Aryee

Amazing things humans have learnt from the animal kingdom

Season 1 of the hugely successful BBC radio series about the natural world and the awesome ways it has inspired us. 
 
 Over billions of years, animals have evolved and adapted, learning through trial and error the best strategies for surviving and thriving. So who better to help us humans when it comes to solving our own challenges? In this fascinating series, biologist and wildlife filmmaker Patrick Aryee tells the incredible stories of some remarkable animals, and the surprising ways they have enabled us to make technological and scientific breakthroughs. 
 
 From the kingfisher whose beak led to a redesign of the bullet train, to the spider's web that may help us detect the earth's vibrations and turn them into electricity, the animals in these 30 episodes all have extraordinary abilities that could revolutionise our world. There's the bloodsucking mosquito whose mouthparts might hold the key to a future of painless injections; the woodpecker whose hard head has given us ideas for better bicycle helmets and black box recorders; the shark whose scaly skin could show us how to fight superbugs, the tenacious mussel that could make risky foetal surgery safer and save lives - and many more. 
 
 And in the final, live show, we dig deeper into the world of biomimicry, and hear from listeners about other creatures who could spark innovation - including scorpions, tarantulas and hibernating bears... 
 
 Full of brilliant, bingeable tales and astonishing revelations, this mind-blowing natural history series will thrill animal lovers, science fans and anyone who's curious about our wonderful natural world. 
 
 
 Production credits 
 Presented by Patrick Aryee 
 Series producer: Sarah Blunt 
 Produced by Amelia Butterly 
 Live show produced by Mark Ward 
 Series and live show editor: James Cook 
 Music and sound design by Dan Pollard 
 Sound recordist: Chris Watson 
 
 First broadcast on the BBC World Service on the following dates: 
 
Track Listing 
 Kingfisher and bullet train 25 March 2019 
 Octopus and camouflage 1 April 2019 
 Mosquito and surgical needle 8 April 2019 
 Woodpecker and black box 15 April 2019 
 Bat and visual aid 22 April 2019 
 Tardigrade and vaccine transport 29 April 2019 
 Firefly and lightbulb 6 May 2019 
 Mussel and plywood 13 May 2019 
 Termite and ventilation system 20 May 2019 
 Cod and antifreeze 27 May 2019 
 Desert spider and Mars robot 3 June 2019 
 Sea otter and wetsuit 10 June 2019 
 Stenocara beetle and water collector 17 June 2019 
 Albatross and drone 24 June 2019 
 Shark and hospital surfaces 1 July 2019 
 Spider and rescue robot 8 July 2019 
 Gecko and adhesives 15 July 2019 
 Whale and wind turbine 22 July 2019 
 Spider and window glass 29 July 2019 
 Bat and unassisted flight 5 August 2019 
 Bombardier beetle and fuel injection 12 August 2019 
 Fish schools and windfarm 19 August 2019 
 Bat and robot 26 August 2019 
 Dolphin and tsunami detector 2 September 2019 
 Butterfly and butterfly house 9 September 2019 
 Mussel and foetal surgery 16 September 2019 
 Ant and networks 23 September 2019 
 Peacock and computer screen 30 September 2019 
 Butterfly and paints 7 October 2019 
 Spider and remote sensing 14 October 2019 
30 Animals LIVE 21 October 2019 
 
 ©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Patrick Aryee

Books by Patrick Aryee

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