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Alright, I’ll give you money, but promise me you won’t spend it on bones.
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So I got a request to post “an obscure and interesting animal that I wouldn’t have ever seen or heard of before.” Well, this is what came to my mind:
Hag Fish - Myxine glutinosa
The hag fish has earned itself the reputation of being the most disgusting marine creature! They have the gross ability to excrete slime, which when comes into contact with water becomes a sticky goo – this allows the hag fish to escape from predators. It also has the ability to tie itself into a knot – as the knot slides from head to tail it enables the hag fish to escape from its predators’ grip and wipe the slime of itself. Hag fish have the nice habit of entering their victim’s bodies and eating them from the inside out! Another cool fact about hag fish - they have four hearts and two brains!
(via scinerds)
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A Japanese researcher has used thousands of strands of spider silk to spin a set of violin strings.
The strings are said to have a “soft and profound timbre” relative to traditional gut or steel strings.
That may arise from the way the strings are twisted, resulting in a “packing structure” that leaves practically no space between any of the strands.
The strings will be described in a forthcoming edition of the journal Physical Review Letters.
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Sawfish Impale Prey with a Toothy Snout
Their long snouts lined with pointy teeth make sawfish hard to miss, but how do those saws work?
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Image description: This picture of a deep-sea chimaera was captured as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Ocean Explorer program. Chimaera’s are most closely related to sharks, although their evolutionary lineage branched off from sharks nearly 400 million years ago, and they have remained an isolated group ever since.
Like sharks, chimaeras have no real bones. The lateral lines running across this chimaera are mechano-receptors that detect pressure waves (just like ears). The dotted-looking lines on the front of the face, near the mouth, are ampullae de lorenzini, and they detect electrical signals generated by living organisms.
Photo by the NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program
(via scinerds)
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Maddie On Things: A Project About Dogs & Physics
Maddie the Coonhound is an ongoing daily photo project by Atlanta-based photographer Theron Humphrey who’s traveling to all 50 states, dog in tow, over the next year. See Maddie deftly balance atop nation park signs, tractor trailers, tires, mailboxes and other roadside attractions on the Maddie the Coonhound Tumblr. Prints available here. Despite my best efforts my dog would be found on exactly none of these things. (via swiss miss)
Theme: Linear by Peter Vidani
