National Geographic Live: Lessons Learned from a Cannibal Plague

There’s something slightly unsettling about the idea of facing a million-strong locust horde in Africa, as the following video from the BBC demonstrates. Hindered only by food and water supplies, locusts swarms stretch up to 6 miles in length with the insects eating almost everything green in their paths.

Iain Couzin says locusts will even eat their own during a swarm. A National Geographic Emerging Explorer and behavioral biologist, Couzin explains with a fascinating mix of humor and science how a locust cannibal plague can actually help explain how people function as a society– by discussing how groups can accomplish things that aren’t possible by individuals alone.

Iain Couzin: Lessons from a Cannibal Plague from National Geographic Live on FORA.tv