Fur-turistic

to stand upright, dance, and compete in various sports. Our brains have sixteen billion neurons that enable us to perform quick calculations, invent new ideas, create tools, relate to others, and create strategies among so much else. Our brains also regulate our bodies, controlling our muscles, regulating our temperatures and emotions,

and processing the information we take in. Our brains, and some argue are opposable thumbs, have allowed us to create inventions that extend or significantly augment what our bodies and brains were designed to do. Cars, bicycles, and other modes of transportation allow us to travel greater distances and faster than we can on foot. Computers, often solve problems more quickly than our brains. We're pretty impressive as a species, or at least we'd like to think so. Yet other

species have inspired us to achieve even more. Since humankind's earliest years, we've longed to fly like birds. Early versions of aircraft tried to mimic the way birds flew. In the end, we settled for airplanes, and of course inventions like hang gliders. We've invented away to see at nights like owls and other nocturnal predators like cats. Whales have inspired submarines. Bats and dolphins became the inspiration for sonar. A duck's webbed feet where the model for flippers. Drones fly, dive,

and hover like hummingbirds or peregrine falcons. Companies have created dog like robots that can carry objects, trek over outdoor terrain, and detect various information from locations that are unsafe for us humans. But of course robots can be a bit creepy for sure. Science fiction buffs do wonder how far we are from the humanoid robots in the Terminator movies, and while we're still working on creating upright robots capable of moving around like US, it's another animal that has

the US Army's attention. Researchers have set a lofty goal create a four legged robots capable of maneuvering over the most challenging terrain. The robot should be able to make near instantaneous decisions with an array of adjustments, and it should be able to right itself just as it's about to roll over. Now in nature, the animal that's inspired this is practically unrivaled in its ability to jump and

assess obstacles practically on the fly. The animals have a keen ability to make bold leaps, often of death, defy nature. In their natural habitat, the animals learn at an early age how to judge distances and make appropriate calculations when jumping from object to object. They can flip and twist seemingly in mid air thanks to their mastery of spatial orientation. They're also keen observers and can spot threats easily. Although we don't give these animals much thought, they're almost as

intelligent as they are agile. They can find items that they haven't seen for months and assess their food quality by weight. Psychologists who study the mammal created a wall equipped with a springboard and flexible landing platform. After coaxing the wild animals that willingly worked for their favorite food, researchers learned essential facts. For example, the animal values sturdier

takeoff platforms more than flexible ones. The takeoff and landing objects were more important to the animal than the gap in between them. Of course, the biologists and biomechanics team at the University of California's Berkeley campus know that such a robot isn't like anything we have today. Though we've seen some impressive moves, today's robots simply aren't built to be as flexible as our furry friend here. But what makes this animal's movements so important? The Army believes such

a robot would go anywhere a soldier could. The robots would be able to weigh their agility against the terrain. Search and rescue missions would also benefit. The robots could enter buildings in danger of collapse to search for survivors. So while we envisioned huge, scary looking robots like those we see in the movies, researchers and the US Army are looking at designing furturistic robots that may not work for peanuts, but are modeled after those that do our

friendly neighborhood squirrel. Everybody has that favorite book they loved as a child. It might have been about a dragon, or a fairy princess, or a misunderstood ogre living in a swamp. Whatever it was, we read it until the spine wore away and the pages fell out. We can probably still remember the mom or dad or grandparents who tucked us in and sat with us as they read it aloud to us, until we were carried off to that dreamland on their whispered words. As we got older, though,

we lose touch with that part of our childhood. But even though we may not read those books anymore, they stay with us, and if we're lucky, we might get to share them with our own children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, one children's book in particular did not leave a love of reading in one nation's children. Instead, it led to the takeover of an invasive species, and the country is still dealing with it. It started in nineteen sixty three with the publication of the book Rascal, A Memoir of

a Better Era, by Sterling North. North hailed from Wisconsin and had turned a pivotal year of his life into a best selling children's book You See When he was younger, He'd taken care of a baby raccoon, which led to some hilarious hijinks within the family. In the book, the animal rode in a basket on North's bicycle and even helped him win a pie eating contest. The book ends with young Sterling releasing the raccoon named Rascal back out

into the wild to live where it belonged. It was a cute story, one that Disney eventually took notice of and turned into a live action film in nineteen sixty nine, but it wasn't until a Japanese animation studio got a hold of it that things took a strange and ecologically damaging turn. In nineteen seventy seven, Nipon Animation Company adapted North's book into a fifty two episode anime series called

a Reguma Rasukaru, which in English means raccoon Rascal. Like its source material, the anime told the story about a little boy who took care of a small raccoon. He tried to make it a pet, but the wild animal refused to be domesticated that had to eventually be returned to the wild. The show aired from January second of

nineteen seventy seven until December twenty fifth of the same year. However, despite the anime's serious lessons about caring for and releasing wild animals, they seem to have no impact on the people who watched it, or maybe they just never finished the series because the message of the show was clear

raccoons make terrible pets. Still, that didn't stop Japanese families from importing them into the country in the years following its release and eventual conclusion, and usually one of two things would happen after a family brought in a raccoon.

Either the animal escaped, as wild animals are known to do, or it was released by well meaning owners who wanted to emulate what they had learned from the show, although truth be told, the animals themselves were only too happy to remind their human helpers that they were not meant to be kept indoors. Many raccoons got belligerent as they got older, biting and snapping at the boys and girls who had tried to care for them. But raccoons are

not native to Japan and they have few predators. As a result, they proliferated in their new country by two thousand and eight, descendants of the original animals had moved into all forty seven Japanese prefectures where they had wreaked havoc. Ever since, it's believed that eighty percent of Japanese temples, as well as acres of crops, have been damaged or destroyed by invasive raccoons, costing the country thirty million yen or almost two hundred and twenty five thousand dollars every year.

To combat the scourge of these ringtailed rascals, Japan actually banned the import of pet raccoons, but still contends with their progeny to this day. When art inspires us, it can lead to wonderful things. We may go on to create our own art or take up a meaningful cause, But in Rascal's case, the only thing it led to was finding new and unique ways to secure your garbage canlids every single night. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided

tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting curiositiescast dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manke in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore which is a podcast, book series, and television show and you can learn all about it over at the world of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.