Stephen S. Hall

So, one of the things that's been fascinating to me is to go back and see how ancient cultures, when we're talking about Egyptian culture, Greek culture, and antiquity, snakes were really prized as animals that... that were kind of messengers and intermediaries between humans and nature. They played a part in origin myths in ancient Egypt, for example.

They're associated with healing in ancient Greece. In Mesoamerica, they were these intermediary animals that could pass between the living world and the afterworld and also were harbingers of essentially associated with meteorological powers like rain, storms, lightning, all of which were ultimately attached to agricultural fertility and even more ultimately to survival.

They're associated with healing in ancient Greece. In Mesoamerica, they were these intermediary animals that could pass between the living world and the afterworld and also were harbingers of essentially associated with meteorological powers like rain, storms, lightning, all of which were ultimately attached to agricultural fertility and even more ultimately to survival.

They're associated with healing in ancient Greece. In Mesoamerica, they were these intermediary animals that could pass between the living world and the afterworld and also were harbingers of essentially associated with meteorological powers like rain, storms, lightning, all of which were ultimately attached to agricultural fertility and even more ultimately to survival.

So, as a symbolic animal, they've always been a creature that humans have had a sort of special relationship with.

So, as a symbolic animal, they've always been a creature that humans have had a sort of special relationship with.

So, as a symbolic animal, they've always been a creature that humans have had a sort of special relationship with.

It's a very complicated process. It involves a lot of tendons, a lot of muscle contractions, using muscles to push against the surface that they're navigating on. And this coordinated activity with all these contractions and muscle activity allows them to navigate a vastly different number of terrains.

It's a very complicated process. It involves a lot of tendons, a lot of muscle contractions, using muscles to push against the surface that they're navigating on. And this coordinated activity with all these contractions and muscle activity allows them to navigate a vastly different number of terrains.

It's a very complicated process. It involves a lot of tendons, a lot of muscle contractions, using muscles to push against the surface that they're navigating on. And this coordinated activity with all these contractions and muscle activity allows them to navigate a vastly different number of terrains.

So one of the interesting things that came up with researchers who were studying locomotion is that for most terrestrial animals, presumably including humans, when you encounter a cluttered obstacle-strewn landscape, you have to sort of slow down to pick your way through it. With snakes, it's exactly the opposite. They can push against obstacles.

So one of the interesting things that came up with researchers who were studying locomotion is that for most terrestrial animals, presumably including humans, when you encounter a cluttered obstacle-strewn landscape, you have to sort of slow down to pick your way through it. With snakes, it's exactly the opposite. They can push against obstacles.

So one of the interesting things that came up with researchers who were studying locomotion is that for most terrestrial animals, presumably including humans, when you encounter a cluttered obstacle-strewn landscape, you have to sort of slow down to pick your way through it. With snakes, it's exactly the opposite. They can push against obstacles.

They use obstacles as a way to accelerate and actually go faster. I think it's a great kind of metaphoric testament to their ability and quality of taking what would normally be an an adverse situation and turning it into a competitive advantage, as it were. Again, they're very shrewd animals that are able to use what's confronting them in the environment to their advantage.

They use obstacles as a way to accelerate and actually go faster. I think it's a great kind of metaphoric testament to their ability and quality of taking what would normally be an an adverse situation and turning it into a competitive advantage, as it were. Again, they're very shrewd animals that are able to use what's confronting them in the environment to their advantage.

They use obstacles as a way to accelerate and actually go faster. I think it's a great kind of metaphoric testament to their ability and quality of taking what would normally be an an adverse situation and turning it into a competitive advantage, as it were. Again, they're very shrewd animals that are able to use what's confronting them in the environment to their advantage.

Most snakes prefer to have nothing to do with humans or other animals. Given a choice, they would just disappear into the brush. And it's an interesting question about whether the fear is justified. It depends on where you live. In the United States, the number of people who die from a snake bite, minimal. It's roughly five people a year. In India, nearly 60,000 people a year die from snake bite.

Most snakes prefer to have nothing to do with humans or other animals. Given a choice, they would just disappear into the brush. And it's an interesting question about whether the fear is justified. It depends on where you live. In the United States, the number of people who die from a snake bite, minimal. It's roughly five people a year. In India, nearly 60,000 people a year die from snake bite.

Most snakes prefer to have nothing to do with humans or other animals. Given a choice, they would just disappear into the brush. And it's an interesting question about whether the fear is justified. It depends on where you live. In the United States, the number of people who die from a snake bite, minimal. It's roughly five people a year. In India, nearly 60,000 people a year die from snake bite.

So it's a very... dire public health issue there. In fact, Kofi Annan, who used to be the Secretary General of the United Nations, once said that snake bite is the most significant tropical disease you've never heard of. It kills about 138,000 people a year in the world, mostly in rural and poor areas. So if you're in a developing country, the fear is extremely legitimate.