It's the Matrix, but for locusts.

This is the most uncomfortable I've ever felt while filming, for a few reasons. First, of course, because of the locust swarm itself. Second, because animal research — even on creatures as simple and pestilent as locusts — always raises ethical questions. Now, the researchers are careful with the locusts, and I don't think many people could have a problem with this. Indeed, most of the world currently has zero ethical restrictions on insect experimentation — but it's still worth interrogating whether this is okay. And finally: because if we can do this so easily to less intelligent creatures... what's to stop something more intelligent coming along and doing the same to us?

Tom doesn't even know he's still in there. He legitimately thinks he's out and about in the world. It's wild stuff.

You take the blue pill... the story ends, you wake up in your locust swarm and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill... you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the locust sphere goes.

the fact that we can just decode thoughts into lines of C++ is just terrifying

Being a student at the same university in a different subject, I had no idea what crazy stuff they do, even though I have friends in behavioural Biology. Thanks Tom for showing me interesting stuff from my hometown (for the second time now) :D

"So what do you do for a living?" "I glue retro-reflective tags to the backs of thousands of locusts"

Shoutout to that one locust who didnt even care about the marching swarm and just kept messing with the camera. Little dude's living it up

That little bit at the end where Tom was apparently there to see research happen in real time was amazing

The researcher in the lab coat @6:41 is so happy to see Tom gettting excited. It feels great when other people appreciate the work we do.

This video needs a follow-up like a year or two from now. I am so curious to see what they'll discover.

I love the last little bit where Tom gets to watch the scientists in their natural habitat

6:17 to 6:27. That behavior shown reminded me of water sloshing back and forth in an enclosed pool. I've seen this in a swimming pool after an earthquake, though it is easily creatable on a small scale in a bowl of water. Fascinating!

What a cool application of motion capture using a Qualisys Arqus system! We are often asked 'how many bodies can you track?' In this case - 10,000, more or less 😆✔ Thank you for sharing - always interesting to see the variety of ways our systems are used, in both big and small. 👏

I wonder how expensive all this technology is. I trust that it’s locost.

I love how the reseacher on the right behind tom smiles when hearing his praise for them. 6:41

I'm primarily impressed by the kind of finesse and detail it takes to deal with these little things. I guess it's still easier than it'd be to build the same things on a human scale.

The whole thing was great Tom! Really fascinating stuff but the part I loved was how much you looked like someone who'd snuck backstage at a show at the end, just so excited by this brand new thing they were seeing, your genuine geeky joy is a pleasure to behold!

If only Tom Scott could have set up this video so that the title randomly changed between referencing The Matrix, holodecks, and alien abductions each time someone looked at it.

This is the best video you've made recently. Loved every second of it

Utterly fascinating video, thank you for this! I'm so excited to see what this lab will discover and share with the world, especially as a prospective environmental management student^^