A curious little maze-runner

[@ErgoCogita]

Left right left right keeps them from circling back on an area they already covered and exposing themselves further than need be.

[@niftykeentypedog]

I'm still learning stuff from Rob and Deane 30 years later!

[@CuriosityShow]

Many thanks - lots more at kzbin.info - why not subscribe if you haven't already? Rob

[@idjles]

40 years for me!

[@calebanderson5309]

I'm so glad these videos started popping up on my home page

[@CuriosityShow]

Many thanks - lots more at kzbin.info - why not subscribe? Rob

[@MarkMcCluney]

That's fascinating, I'd no idea woodlice did this.

[@CuriosityShow]

Many thanks - lots more at kzbin.info - why not subscribe if you haven't already? Rob

[@MollyWinter]

This is so weird. I should start gambling with people about what side of a maze a roly poly will exit after being placed in it. I'll win every time.

[@zstanojevic9574]

But is it going to turn first to the left or maybe right?

[@MollyWinter]

@@zstanojevic9574 I will also give it a cut of the winnings.

[@09jisaac]

@@zstanojevic9574 Only give it one choice for its first turn.

[@maxprophet2401]

what if; only 1 choice for the first 2 turns i.e.2 lefts, followed by alternating. You could throw em for a loop until they become vastly superior at mazing compared to the currently existing versions. and then of course, nothing

[@VineyardGHS]

I don't know what it is about this channel but I can't get enough

[@CuriosityShow]

Please spread the word about subscribing - Rob

[@MN-sc9qs]

It's because they explain things simply and similar to what a Dad would do with his children.

[@ai_is_a_great_place]

Now I'm going to always go left and right since it's apparently good for survival 🤔 going to take a while to get home

[@CuriosityShow]

That is one of the hypotheses about why they do it - possibly gives them a kind of 'average' straight line - Rob

[@JahznCentral]

everyone is obsessed with it going left and right, but it also took no dead ends. the maze could have been left left right left right right right. but i bet it would still follow that just because thats the way through the tunnel.

[@czikkanhardt4750]

That's quite fascinating... Most often, my take on mazes is to stay left until I can't anymore, then take all rights. I suppose that has to do with me wanting to explore every path, while for the pill bug, it's about finding the quickest escape.

[@CuriosityShow]

There are various hypotheses, but it is hard to test the mind of a slater empirically - Rob

[@jamesduncan6729]

0:24 You can see behind the hand Rob's pointing with that one of the little buggers is trying an escape on the table! 😆 Run little guy, be free!

[@MrID36]

Left, Right, Left, Riight - they're obviously trying to enter the Konami code to enable wall clipping.

[@WDCallahan]

I wish I could just let bugs touch me like that. I can't stop myself from panicking.

[@Raziel236]

I like the idea that Australian people just don't mind handling bugs at all.

[@wiggy8912]

It’s a simple survival technique which keeps them from endlessly walking in circles.

[@leokimvideo]

Wow, classic Meadow Lea container, would be worth hundreds of dollars on ebay today. Before downsizing destroyed the supermarket experience.

[@woowooNeedsFaith]

Alternating between left and right turn lowers your probability of going in circles. Average of those turns is "straight" ahead. Make two consecutive right turns and you go back to the direction you came from (assuming 90 degree turns). To me it seems like they try to go certain direction, maybe away from the light source.

[@Yiseia]

that way they never run in circles. they're smarter than humans lol

[@thaddeusmcgrath]

We always called them Rollie Pollie in the states. If you touched them it would roll up like a ball.

[@CuriosityShow]

hence the other name of 'pill bug' - Rob

[@Phil_Cleaver]

The sort of child who grew up in the 80's watching Curiosity Show is going to go down to the Shed, get the router out and make their own maze.

[@augustreigns9716]

interesting, you picked up on the maze taunt as well

[@michaelwilkes2519]

I used to make mazes out of leggo and place glad wrap over the top then place earwigs in the maze. They weren't as interesting as wood lice though.

[@jakjarsha1107]

They probably alternate because when given a series of 90 degree left or right paths, alternating left and right keeps you going in the same direction, where as taking two lefts or rights sends you back in the direction you were coming from. Many animals have an intrinsic understanding of cardinal directions.

[@CuriosityShow]

That is certainly one hypothesis-Rob

[@GregoryTheGr8ster]

Most people who I know would shriek and scream hysterically at the sight of the cockroach. They would flail around in such a wild panic that only a tranquilizer dart would calm them.

[@GregoryTheGr8ster]

@@CuriosityShow -- Rob, that's fascinating! I would LOVE to visit Australia. It's the only country that is also its own continent. Dang, that is quite an honor. As an American, I sometimes fantasize about becoming president, and then invading Canada and Mexico simultaneously. Of course, we would win--and then the USA would be the ENTIRE continent of North America.

[@garyv2196]

one is a doodle bug and the other was a crayfish.

[@BambooTime]

Wow, they have gills? I knew they were crustaceans, so they must have, but I never quite made that connection.

[@CuriosityShow]

They are interesting little things - Rob

[@jimybrooks6055]

They instinctively turn left after a right turn so as not to go in circles

[@VarunGupta3009]

Would they do this in a maze with an Euler circuit?

[@jimybrooks6055]

Yes

[@VarunGupta3009]

@@jimybrooks6055 Ah. Thanks!

[@johndoe6668]

They must have evolved to make alternate turns to escape predators, left, right, left right etc guarantees they don't circle back to where they started & get eaten. Clever little critters!

[@CuriosityShow]

Yes, they are surprisingly interesting - Rob

[@wiggy1212]

That's amazing!! I love this channel. I feel its for kids but then Bang, something I never knew and I want to know more about!

[@gorillaau]

"You ought to be congratulated!" I think that was the slogan from back then.

[@CuriosityShow]

Very kind of you - if you haven't already subscribed to kzbin.info you will find heaps more segments there - Rob

[@RustyKeys72]

Haha, I remember that margarine container! I like these segments. Great memories.

[@joekeny]

I don't know what the heck a woodlice is but that's a pretty cool container of roly-polys

[@rborough6194]

No matter where they goo, they all finish in my loo

[@augustreigns9716]

seems kinda biased, or perhaps even prejudiced on your part, ...to assume "most" people don't have a maze. i am insulted.......you just labeled me and now my self esteem has plummeted. guess what i am going to do? ....i'm going to run to the store first thing tomorrow, and purchase, a maze. then tell me about, "most", people.

[@nuraalek8296]

Don't run straight to the store though, don't forget to zig-zag left then right, left then right ...

[@christophersavignon4191]

Think about the time between the video shoot and today. Now, try to imagine how many descendants that cockroach has today.

[@chinaman1]

i guess when faced with danger, we should turn left/right/left/right/left/right

[@CuriosityShow]

Probably only if you live in a compost heap -Rob

[@Grim_Beard]

Apparently it's the best way to escape crocodiles and alligators (on land). They're surprisingly fast in a straight line, but I guess they don't corner too well.

[@chinaman1]

they need to wear those sandles made in Jezza, Uganda. I heard they can help to corner really well.

[@nickkerr5714]

Ever watch the movie "Apocalypto"?

[@Phil_Cleaver]

Rob, in the intervening 30 years, are you aware of anyone looking into the alternating behaviour. Any papers written?

[@CuriosityShow]

Not that I know of. It is a hard one to test as one can't readily enter the woodlouse mind - Rob

[@nuraalek8296]

@@CuriosityShow Could try politicans - they're pretty good substitutes for woodlice ...

[@CuriosityShow]

Live in compost? Hmmmmmm - Rob

[@ChickenDeranged]

the cockroach killed me!

[@roset9700]

when I was a child I killed woodlice in frustration because they didn't curl into a ball like pillbugs, so not fun. I feel a little bad about it now =/

[@89horizon]

Kind of sounds like John Cleese at times... and now for something completely different.

[@AdroSuperDopa]

Tell us how CuriosityShow came to be, how you got the job as hosts and what you two did before you were hosts of the show.

[@CuriosityShow]

That's a tall order. I was in educational TV for the ABC (Australia) while Deane was on a different program in the same channel as Curiosity Show. We were both also academics at different universities. Curiosity Show was only a part-time gig (one episode per week) so we continued our other jobs throughout those 18 years, although Deane went into video production and science shows in schools while I went into more TV and radio work and writing books. We both still do science shows together - Rob

[@AdroSuperDopa]

You both still do shows together? What's the shows called? I'd love to watch anything you guys do. I'm sure i'm not the only one that feels that way.

[@flowergrowersmith449]

My compost bin has tons and tons of these guys - they are very busy.

[@JohnLeePettimoreIII]

When I was a kid, we called them either "pill bugs" or "doodle bugs". 😊

[@andyweb7779]

Is it like a mathematical "random walk"? I wonder is their brain so simple that it functions like that? I guess it means they don't end up walking in circles.

[@CuriosityShow]

That seems to be one hypothesis - it averages out to a straight line - Rob

[@tronmerncutsman]

The only downside of this show is its criminally low scope. It spent most of its time in one country for a rather specific time period, and that's just a shame. This is one of the best informational children's shows I've ever seen, if not just one of the best informational shows period. More people should be able to grow up with stuff like it. It's great that there's all of these reuploads, though, since it gives people from the wrong place or time a way to watch it.

[@CuriosityShow]

Really kind of you. It actually went to 14 countries (that we know of) and rattled around on cable for a bit as well - Rob

[@Grim_Beard]

In the UK we had 'How' and 'Johnny Ball Reveals All' (you wouldn't get that title past the BBC now!), which covered science, engineering and maths, and a variety of nature programmes (Johnny Morris and Terry Nutkins are fondly remembered, and Chris Packham is still going). I don't remember us having 'Curiosity Show', but as an old child I am loving these clips. Don't stop learning until you die!

[@dtec30]

Loved watching skaters as a kid

[@JLvatron]

Excuse my language, but those creepy crawlers are Creepy!!

[@oo0Spyder0oo]

What if their first choice was a forced right then left? Would they follow that pattern or keep trying to go left and hit a wall?

[@CuriosityShow]

Good question, now make a maze and try.... Rob

[@oo0Spyder0oo]

@@CuriosityShow I knew that was coming! ;-)

[@Bibibosh]

I had now idea they alternated . Perhaps they are OCD? Perhaps these creatures can cure OCD.

[@CuriosityShow]

It is a very odd behaviour - Rob

[@colacurciolaw7745]

Yay, potato bugs!

[@BuckMcAntlerson]

So wood lice = roly poly (pill bug) and a yabby is a crayfish / crawdad. Got it.

[@MollyWinter]

Don't forget crawfish.

[@xtaltia]

I'd have called them chazwazzas.

[@DudeInOhio85]

I'm confused is this a new show or an old show? Either way I like it. The aesthetics are great.

[@CuriosityShow]

Thanks. Curiosity Show was a national science program for children featuring Dr Rob Morrison and Dr Deane Hutton. It was made in Adelaide, South Australia and screened nationally in Australia as well as in Europe, Asia and Australasia (14 countries) from 1972-1990. Deane and Rob intentionally used everyday items around the house (like old cans) so that children could repeat the demonstrations with materials they had to hand. In 1984 Curiosity Show won the Prix Jeunesse International, the world's top award for children's TV programs. Rob and Deane are steadily uploading segments at kzbin.info Why not subscribe?

[@chriscraft6327]

Damn good intuition

[@El_Mute]

This was actually a great video. Only the thumbnail and title need a little redo or a bit more work

[@YouMockMe]

Very interesting. Thanks!

[@CuriosityShow]

Many thanks - lots more at kzbin.info - why not subscribe? Rob

[@tannerbeverley26]

Roly polys

[@md.salahuddinparvez6578]

First :D

[@VineyardGHS]

Wow I bet your mother is proud of you

[@randomchannel8436]

Do you want a Nobel prize?