Have you ever stomped a roach, just to have it skitter away unscathed?* Or seen one disappear into an impossibly small crack?

Now scientists have figured out how they do that, and the results are terrifying.

The American cockroach (Periplaneta americana, aka “the big ones”) can squeeze through a crack the height of two stacked pennies in about a second—a fact newly discovered by two brave scientists who are probably still seeing roaches squeezing under the doors of their nightmares.

See for yourself:

Not only can roaches fit through tight spaces by flattening their flexible exoskeleton and splaying their legs to the side, the researchers found, they can keep running nearly as fast while squished, the