1. My husband, a mollusk enthusiast himself, sent me an email the other day with the title “our cephalopod overlords” and this link to the Daily Mail article about flying squid. Check out these photos.
My first reaction?
Should I be concerned that my husband is reading tabloid garbage like the Daily Mail?
2. Anyway, in actual science news, I absolutely love this story I read on Not Exactly Rocket Science about a marine snail who keeps its bioluminescent organs inside the shell, and when they’re active, the whole shell, which has incredible diffusing properties, glows. Check it out!
3. Sinister! In this study, left-coiling snails survive snake attacks better than right-coiling snails. You can check out the videos of snails surviving and not surviving snake attacks. I certainly wonder if this has to do with some sort of ocular dominance on the part of the snake and how it approaches snails to attack. In any case, this is great fodder for people who like to defend left handedness.
4. And, because I love them, another lollusk.
see more Lolcats and funny pictures
Some quick, sleepy Googling suggests that while those photos indeed look shopped, that species of squid can glide above the water for short distances in a manner similar to flying fish.
I love the expresssion on the turtle’s face as he forges ahead. He’s all, Nooo man, we have to get there on time!
The flying squid, and the photos thereof, are indeed legit. Crazy but true!
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-squid-fly
I’m going to keep up these lollusks as long as I can!
Back to the squid though. Are these particular photos legit? I saw (and blogged about, come to think of it) the Scientific American article when that came out, so I knew flying squid were the real deal. It’s just these particular ones that looked a bit egregious, and I had to consider the source.
In other news, I totally have the book to mail to you and I just have to work up the gumption to face down the post office. I promise it will happen.