Richard Hammond reveals secret animal abilities from the natural world, and discovers how those same animals have inspired a series of unlikely human inventions at the very frontiers of science.

Unfortunately for Hammond, that journey will involve diving to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, driving a car pursued by geese, and leaping 500 metres off a South African cliff.

In this first episode, he discovers how the Cape vulture has inspired a flying submarine; how a giraffe’s neck can stop a jet pilot losing consciousness; how a woodpecker’s skull can safely protect a light bulb dropped from space; and how a South American butterfly holds the secret to making any mobile phone waterproof.