Hello and welcome to Mysteries of Science. My name's Dan and I'm the editor of Science and Nature, the monthly magazine from the team behind the week junior.

And I'm Michael, the junior editor. On this podcast, we take a look at our favourite mysteries of science.

These are the strange phenomena and bizarre beasts that have left scientists scratching their heads and despite their best efforts remain well and truly unsolved.

Speaking of bizarre beasts, Michael, I've always been fascinated by those fantasy creatures

that morph and change their shape and their size and their appearance.

I'm thinking, werewolves, vampires, you know, the incredible Hulk.

But I've always wondered, is this actually possible?

Could it be real? And if it could be real, how does it happen?

Yes, shape-shifting. It's something that's captured the human imagination for centuries.

There's been many classic stories, as you said, about shape-shifting

creatures, but also reports of real-life animals that can change their appearance.

Awesome, let's dive in. We've got some great expert guests here, and we're going to try and

see through these disguises, figure out just how these creatures do it, and whether or not we humans

might be able to shape shift one day.

This is Mysteries of Science.

So, Dan, this is a massive topic. Where do we start?

Let's start by talking to a really good friend of science and nature, somebody who writes

loads of articles for us. Why don't you introduce yourself, Ben?

Hi, I'm Ben Haw, a writer and editor.

I've always been interested in natural history ever since I was a kid.

Nowadays I mostly write books for children.

My new one is about plants.

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