WASHINGTON (AP) – A 7-foot sea creature with hooks on its arms, flashing blue-green lights and a donut-shaped brain may sound like a fish story; but it’s real, and the Smithsonian has it on display. It’s Taningia danae, a deep-sea squid that’s part of a new exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History. “In Search of Giant Squids,” opens Saturday, introducing visitors to proof that, in the words of researcher Mike Vecchione: “Weird things actually exist.” Vecchione is part of the museum’s “squid squad,” a team of scientists that studies the eight-armed, two-tentacled mollusks and maintains a collection of 100,000 preserved squids and related sea creatures. “In terms of its biology, the squid is far more interesting than any myth you can dream up,” said Clyde F. E. Roper, curator of the exhibit. Taningia alone may prove the point. Living in the lightless depths of the ocean, more than 3,000 feet below the surface, Taningia can flash its lights like a pair of blue-green strobes mounted at the tips of two of its arms. The scientists refer to it as the world’s largest flasher – a trick apparently used to warn off predators. Who would eat an animal 7 feet long, weighing 135 pounds? Whales, said Roper. “Whales eat pretty much what they want,” and studies of their stomach contents disclose that they often want squids. Other sea animals eat smaller squids, as do people, though the exhibition tactfully refrains from any mention of fried calamari. It’s unlikely a person would tackle another squid on display at the museum. Architeuthis dux is 9 feet long and weighs 440 pounds. And she’s a midget compared to others of her species, who can grow to 59 feet and weigh nearly a ton. The squids on display, though not alive, are carefully preserved and lifelike, giving viewers a close look at the animal’s size and structure. Nearby displays show their insides and a picture of Taningia shows it underwater with lights flashing when a button is pressed. Squids are hard to keep alive in captivity, Roper explained. And even in the sea they live only a few years, with one reproductive cycle at the end of their life. They are often confused with octopi; and while they are related, squids have two extra tentacles, often much longer than the other eight arms, that can be used as feeding arms to reach out and grasp prey. Squids use jet-like propulsion to swim, ejecting water through a funnel that can be aimed to allow them to move suddenly in one direction or another. They have been clocked at 45 miles per hour. Squids are also famed for their propensity to blow clouds of black ink into the water to confuse predators. But Vecchione says there’s at least one weird variation on the theme – a deep water squid that squirts ink that is luminous. Bacteria that live in the squid glow, and the animal ejects them in its ink, leaving a glowing cloud in the water as it escapes. Black ink wouldn’t work in the deepest water, since there’s no light there and everything is black anyway, Vecchione explains.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
long day…
… Nuts. I missed being on all day. so busy. Now I get to catch up with the crazy plethora of posts y’all have made!
Lots to do!
there!
unprivated my earlier private entries… I thought everyone who linked to me could read them. my mistake.
I hope some folks will rewind in my journal and take a peek. 🙂
Still at work…
but just goofing off. waiting for a file to finish pumping down the pipe, so I’m surfing now that I’ve finished my duties. I’m actually ahead now because I polished off everything in my inbox. (the beauty of working at night is that there’s no bothersome telephone, or marketing types breathing down my neck for stuff, which only slows me down.) I found my one of my Benny Goodman CD’s in my buddy Kevin’s computer, so I’m jamming to Big Bands, like some silly Hippy/1940’s guy hybrid. I miss newtie.. so I hope I’m not here much past 11. Must remember to reactivate the newtcam. I keep forgetting! If I had DSL, I could leave it on all the time.
Jen’s Poochie!
Reminds me of Zoe’s Herschel! Super cute!
good day.
holy cow. much work on desk. make scott fragment-speak. ug. feel like bizarro-scotto. must fix work. find coffee. find adrenaline.
is afternoon. bright sun.
driving me mad.
Inigo: “Who are you?”
The Man in Black: “No one of consequence.”
Inigo: “I must know.”
The Man in Black: “Get used to disappointment.”
— “The Princess Bride”
People do this sort of thing to me all the time. What do they care who I am, or what I’m doing there? I know I’m a big, scary, hairy guy. But if I’m not messing with anyone, just leave the BSHG alone, ok? I live in the USA… there should be no need for showing my papers, and explaining what I’m up to. (For what it’s worth, I was doing laundry, and writing character notes/sketches in my notepad. Nothing really.) When an older guy walks up to me, and gives me silly nonsense about loitering (Waiting for your laundry is loitering? In front of the Laundromat?) I automatically got defensive. If he’d taken a different diplomatic track, like maybe giving a smile, or asking politely, I might’ve given a grin back, and had a friendly conversation. Instead… I turn into a bit of a creep. Feed him some of what he’s giving off. (A bad move. I really shouldn’t deal with people when overtired or cranky.) The discussion went something like this.
Older Guy : “Hey, you! This is a no loitering area! You have a reason for being here?”
Me: -thinking to myself- *man, leave me alone*
Me: -out Loud- “Yo no hablo Ingles” (in my american florida accent.)
Older Guy : -something in spanish – I assume the same thing he said in english-
Me: -thinking to myself- *Nuts. Stupid bilingual old guy. I shouldn’t have done spanish in south florida.*
Me: -aloud- “um, Yo no hablo espanol.”
Older Guy: “I’m going to go get a policeman. You’d better be gone when I get back.”
Me: “Fine. Go get a cop, you f-ing nazi. See you when he gets here. I’ll press harassment charges.”
Older Guy “This is private property. you have to leave”
Me: “Yo no hablo Ingles”
Older guy leaves. My dryer finishes, and I begin folding my laundry. Older guy returns.
Older Guy : “Are those your clothes?”
Me: -Holding up a XXL Tiedye T-shirt.- “What do you think?”
Older Guy : “Why didn’t you tell me you were here for a reason, instead of loitering?”
Me “No Hablo Ingles”
Older Guy, Pissed off. “Finish and leave. Don’t come back.”
Me “Que? Yo no hablo….”
Older Guy “Are you trying to start a fight?”
Me “…” -folds laundry-
Older Guy glares for ~45 seconds, then leaves.
I finish folding laundry, and go home.
Thrilling.
I feel that if I was a clean shaven 5’6″ guy, nobody would have cared. He never said he was the owner or anything, so when my next batch of clothes come due… I’ll be interested in seeing if he’s there. Never seen him before.
everway down.
Officially stopped gaming w/everway group today… would still like to see them socially, but the time spent gaming was too much of a burn on my time. I like the gang, though.
One minute was enough, Tyler said, a person had to work
hard for it, but a minute of perfection was worth the effort.
A moment was the most you could ever expect from perfection.
– chuck palahniuk, fight club
Just a note…
I’m going to start putting the more lengthy entries in ‘friends only’ mode, or at least the writing stuff. if folks & friends don’t want to read it, let me know, and if majority prefers, I’ll toss it in private, and leave links to them on my website.
Protected: new story up at scotto-tales.
Protected:
home again, home again, jiggity jig.
Newt met me at the door tonight, as usual. Lovey cat, so I picked his kitty-self up, and trotted him around the house, and then we plopped down here. He’s currently batting at my necklace, and stanging on my lap. We’re going to play paper-wad fetch, so I can write more effectively here. *lob* Newt heads for the ball, on the bed. he returns, drops the wad at my feet, and bolts off for another catch. *lob* repeat as needed. Saw Space cowboys with Robby tonight. I was pleasantly surprised, as I could lose myself to the film rather easily. (only a couple of bits I didn’t like… I didn’t even mind the old-man-tushie scene)
We went to the 50s diner, and all I had was a big-ol’ cherry fountain coke and an english muffin. Peckish now though… probably going to have some total and yogurt. 🙂 yum. No, strike that. I’m going to put magic shell on a frozen banana. yum+5. Robb’s head was more there today, we hung out for a few hours at starbucks and los olas in general before catching the flick… nice and fun.
smoking greatly reduces your chances of jogging.
Protected:
good night, kids….
I might not be back for a day or so… see you all then!
viewing/reading for the weekend.
Something to match my mood. I’m thinking of something paranormal, creepy to help with the 1930s weirdness game (not all reviews mine… culled from my database of ‘to be watched’)
The Exorcist
One honest-to-God-with-a-capital-G scary movie, and not just because you’ve got grue and gore. It’s scary because it violates your sense of what’s natural. Plus, I respect the ending.
Reservoir Dogs
A movie spilling over with character and dialogue.
Jacob’s Ladder
I said The Exorcist was a scary movie, but even that didn’t freak me out like Jacob’s Ladder. It’s a movie that makes you afraid to be alive.
Dead Ringers
Jeremy Irons plays psychotic twin gynecologists. This movie has no paranormal elements, and it’s gobs weirder than most horror movies. Based on a true story. (Not a date movie.)
Dead Again
– just great.
Angel Heart
Good paranormal detective story, and DeNiro was spot on.
Lord of Illusions
Wow, did they ever misuse Scott Bakula in this one! Still, in its basic precept it’s very close to what’s going on in Unknown Armies. got to be sure to get the director’s cut–not so much for the “aorta-cam” scene but for about thirty seconds when the reactivated cultists butcher their families before going off to see the wizard.
The Killer
John Woo’s masterpiece of violence and melodrama. Again, no paranormal elements, except for Chow Yun-Fat’s unearthly coolness.
Fargo
A brilliant portrait of the kind of stumbling, directionless, short-sighted folks who make up at least 80% of the criminal class (and probably a large section of most other classes as well).
Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart & Lost Highway
The Element of Crime
Director Lars von Trier’s debut feature, this is a beautifully filmed look at madness and murder set within a vaguely post-apocalypse Europe where it is always night and usually raining. An exiled cop is recalled from Egypt — where the desert is devouring Cairo — to Germany, where a psychopath is murdering young girls selling lottery tickets. Following in the footsteps of his mentor, the cop seeks to adopt the mindset of the murderer in order to catch him. Stunning visuals that recall Blade Runner in their power and uniqueness, only using mud and crumbling buildings instead of cyclopic skyscrapers.
The Exorcist III
Having seen the first, you should skip the second and go straight to the third, written and directed by original Exorcist novelist William Peter Blatty from his own novel (Legion). It’s a beautiful piece of work with some amazing imagery and chilling scenes, despite a few letdowns in the climax.
Heat
Writer/director Michael Mann presents a textbook example of solid plotting in this three-hour L.A. crime drama. He moves masterfully between amazing shootouts, tech-talky plans for elaborate heists, credible police procedurals, and harrowing family dramas in a way that every GM should study. It’s like half a season of Hill Street Blues or Homicide in one movie. I’ve watched this flick maybe a half-dozen times now and it’s still an education in effective storytelling.
The Kingdom I & II
Lars von Trier returns with a nine-hour Danish television mini-series released as two feature films abroad. At a prestigous hospital in Copenhagen, a door to the spirit world is opening and all hell is breaking loose. Brilliantly melds a traditional ghost story with Twin Peaks-style bizarro humor and jaw-droppingly scary revelations into a work like nothing else on this globe of earth.
Stalker
From the late Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky comes this curious mix of science fiction and philosophy. A restricted Zone within the Soviet Union — where a meteor hit years before — contains, at the heart of its abandoned industrial wasteland, a room where your deepest wish comes true. A writer and a professor hire a Stalker to guide them through the Zone to the room at its heart. The Zone proves dangerous, with its own set of rules and traps that function on metaphysical principles rather than physical ones. A dreamlike, haunting film. (sphere tried this, and failed.)