Pistol shrimp will fuck you up!

[Fractalbeard]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKPrGxB1Kzc

This pistol shrimp shoots superheated bubbles to kill it's prey, proving once more that nature kicks ass.

[Cainad (dec.)]

Fuck yeah, pistol shrimp!

[Bruno]

My brain.

Can't deal with this.

[LMNO]

From the Wiki:

The shrimp snaps a specialized claw shut to create a cavitation bubble that generates acoustic pressures of up to 80 kPa at a distance of 4 cm from the claw. The pressure is strong enough to kill small fish and shatter glass. It corresponds to a zero to peak pressure level of 218 decibels relative to one micropascal, equivalent to a zero to peak source level of 190 dB. Au and Banks measured peak to peak source levels between 185 and 190 dB, depending on the size of the claw. As a comparison, a jet engine at 10 meters produces a level of about 150 dB.

The snap can also produce sonoluminescence from the collapsing cavitation bubble. As it collapses, the cavitation bubble reaches temperatures of over 5,000 K (4,726.85 degrees Celsius). In comparison, the surface temperature of the sun is estimated to be around 5,778 K.

Holy.  Shit.

[Elder Iptuous]

I had one of those in my reef tank.  they form a pair with a goby fish and share a burrow in the sand remaining in nearly constant contact. pretty sweet.
when the pistol shrimp snapped his claw i could hear it in my bedroom down the hall...
(i never saw any sonoluminescence, even though i tried.  probably a very small amount of light, not detectable except in controlled circumstances, or something.)

[LMNO]

Yeah, wiki said it can't be seen by human eyes, but I didn't want to spoil the OSHI factor.

[Kai]

Whatever the military has, nature has done it better at a much smaller scale.

[Elder Iptuous]

military will eventually utilize all tricks nature has, though.....
pistol shrimp pistols, coming right up!

[Remington]

What do you get when you apply an LCD-like display to every square centimeter of a creature's skin and then give it a decoy flare and pump-jet propulsion?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckP8msIgMYE

Octopus, motherfucker.

[Cain]

How the fuck does it generate that much power?

And, more importantly, through selective breeding and training, could we utilize this potential to make shrimps that will cook themselves?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

How the fuck does it generate that much power?

And, more importantly, through selective breeding and training, could we utilize this potential to make shrimps that will cook themselves?

The British dream is in reach!

[Bruno]

One of these days, one of these skrimps is gonna create a tiny black hole that will destroy the earth!

[Elder Iptuous]

here is a sight that has interesting information on the shrimps, including high speed photos of shrimp shooting bubbles.
http://stilton.tnw.utwente.nl/shrimp/

but they don't explain the mechanics of the claw that allow it to generate such speeds.

i would imagine some energy must be stored in tendon.  i'm guessing, based on this picture, that a there is an good amount of muscle, energy stored in tendon, and overcoming the little impingement point to generate the high power force.  then there is that cavity in static side of the claw that gets displaced by the bulb on the moving side, creating the high speed jet.  it is the speed of this jet that causes the cavitation.   

[LMNO]

I'm gonna guess it's some sort of rachet-like system, so there is a massive amount of one-way tension generated, and all the muscles pull in one direction.

[Elder Iptuous]

I'm gonna guess it's some sort of rachet-like system, so there is a massive amount of one-way tension generated, and all the muscles pull in one direction.

i thought about that, but based on the size of the claw, reletive to the size of the moving component, and the picture showing what appears to be a pinch point that would have to be overcome, i'm guessing it's just leverage without any ratcheting.....
i couldn't find anything after about 30 mins of googling about the actual mechanics of the claw. people are too enamored with the cavitation bubble, and just gloss over how the shrimp snaps so fast...