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.
Fuck yeah, pistol shrimp!
My brain.
Can't deal with this.
:asplode:
From the Wiki:
QuoteThe 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.
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.)
Yeah, wiki said it can't be seen by human eyes, but I didn't want to spoil the OSHI factor.
Whatever the military has, nature has done it better at a much smaller scale.
military will eventually utilize all tricks nature has, though.....
pistol shrimp pistols, coming right up!
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 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckP8msIgMYE)
Octopus, motherfucker.
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?
Quote from: Cain on August 28, 2009, 10:27:47 AM
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!
One of these days, one of these skrimps is gonna create a tiny black hole that will destroy the earth! :scared:
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/
(http://stilton.tnw.utwente.nl/shrimp/snap13500.jpg)
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. (http://www-ccrma.stanford.edu/~cc/sjma/shrimp.jpg)
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.
Quote from: LMNO on August 28, 2009, 03:55:37 PM
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...
Obviously it can cast fireball, either as a memorized spell or as some sort of innate inability!
Anyway, self-cooking shrimp is the way forward.
could we also get them to explosively shit themselves, so that they don't have to be deveined?
there's some caterpillar that shoots it's feces as a defense mechanism (help please, Kai?) perhaps we can use some transgenics here...
Quote from: LMNO on August 28, 2009, 03:55:37 PM
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.
Okay, I went back to look for my old physiology notes but apparently I lost those. :sad: so, working on memory now.
Its the release of calcium that triggers a muscle contraction. ATP relaxes the muscle. So, IIRC, the sarcoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria would release large amounts of Ca+2 into the muscle fibers, thus causing them to contract. I think you're right about the tension; the rest state would have to be the claw closed. explains why the claw is such heavy duty material as well.
So, calcium has caused all the muscle to contract, of which I'm guessing there are MANY many fibers. Fibers are suddenly flooded with a sequestered amount of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and the muscles relax all at once, releasing the claw to the ground state, all of that potential energy going kinetic. Not just two hands clapping together either, but a lock and key mechanism where the fluid is quickly evacuated. The activity causes the air dissolved in the water to condense into a bubble, heat light etc
Or something like that.
(http://imgs.xkcd.com/store/imgs/science_square_0.png)
Quote from: Iptuous on August 28, 2009, 04:08:32 PM
could we also get them to explosively shit themselves, so that they don't have to be deveined?
there's some caterpillar that shoots it's feces as a defense mechanism (help please, Kai?) perhaps we can use some transgenics here...
I know of caterpillars that hold their feces in a ball at the end of their abdomens and attempt to present them at any would be predators.
There's also sea cucumbers that void their intestines (yes, their intestines, not just the contents) to confuse predators.
Quote from: Kai on August 28, 2009, 04:29:29 PM
Quote from: Iptuous on August 28, 2009, 04:08:32 PM
could we also get them to explosively shit themselves, so that they don't have to be deveined?
there's some caterpillar that shoots it's feces as a defense mechanism (help please, Kai?) perhaps we can use some transgenics here...
I know of caterpillars that hold their feces in a ball at the end of their abdomens and attempt to present them at any would be predators.
There's also sea cucumbers that void their intestines (yes, their intestines, not just the contents) to confuse predators.
Speaking as the planet's apex predator, I have to admit that would confuse me.
Now I'm imagining someone voiding their intestines as a defense against, say, muggers.
"Alright, hand over your-" *SPLORTCH* "oh what the fuck, get the fuck outta here!"
Quote from: Cainad on August 28, 2009, 04:41:09 PM
Now I'm imagining someone voiding their intestines as a defense against, say, muggers.
"Alright, hand over your-" *SPLORTCH* "oh what the fuck, get the fuck outta here!"
It would work, if say, you could go for an extended period without eating and the gut were simple enough to replicate. Unfortunatly it's not in humans.
Thats assuming the mechanisms for voiding and regrowth were present, of course.
Why am I thinking about anal prolapse now? :x
Because I'm making you think about it.
"I'M USING THE PROLAPSE DEFENSE!"
\
:fishhook:
ok, where is that smiley from?
also, the poop shooting caterpillar i recall seeing on the 'discovery' channel's show '10 most eXtreme [whatever]' and it was defense mechanisms in this episode. they showed the caterpillar shooting his poop to ward off, i think, a wasp. then, in the shows customary fashion, they demonstrate, with crappy tron-looking CGI, what it would be like if a human were to implement whatever feature they are highlighting on our relative scale. they actually had the little cgi guy bend over and take an esplosive shit with a trajectory that passed over a cgi football field.... i nearly did the same thing from laughing.
Quote from: Iptuous on August 28, 2009, 05:18:53 PM
ok, where is that smiley from?
Abused and Prolapsed Bitches 8. Its, um, erotic art, of a sort.
Quote from: Iptuous on August 28, 2009, 05:18:53 PM
ok, where is that smiley from?
also, the poop shooting caterpillar i recall seeing on the 'discovery' channel's show '10 most eXtreme [whatever]' and it was defense mechanisms in this episode. they showed the caterpillar shooting his poop to ward off, i think, a wasp. then, in the shows customary fashion, they demonstrate, with crappy tron-looking CGI, what it would be like if a human were to implement whatever feature they are highlighting on our relative scale. they actually had the little cgi guy bend over and take an esplosive shit with a trajectory that passed over a cgi football field.... i nearly did the same thing from laughing.
:mittens: to the Discovery channel...they take horrormirth to a new level with each show
Discovery channel is like the tabloid news of science brodcasting.
Quote from: Kai on August 28, 2009, 10:11:23 PM
Discovery channel is like the tabloid news of science brodcasting.
This. Mythbusters is probably their most educational show, which is saying something.
It's the Christian ideologues embedded in the upper end of the corporate structure of Discovery Channel. (Srsly, it takes a lot of paying attention, especially to the commercials that run between programs, but it's definitely there.)
Quote from: Telarus on August 30, 2009, 03:32:32 AM
It's the Christian ideologues embedded in the upper end of the corporate structure of Discovery Channel. (Srsly, it takes a lot of paying attention, especially to the commercials that run between programs, but it's definitely there.)
no way
I'm going to have to start paying attention to the Discovery Channel now.
I seem to recall Stephen Fry telling me that a layer of these shrimp (or something like them) was the loudest thing in the ocean by some margin.
I do not question Stephen Fry.
Quote from: Telarus on August 30, 2009, 03:32:32 AM
It's the Christian ideologues embedded in the upper end of the corporate structure of Discovery Channel. (Srsly, it takes a lot of paying attention, especially to the commercials that run between programs, but it's definitely there.)
Who in particular do you have in mind? I know Discovery is owned by the same people who own a lot of health industry related products, and Advance Publications, whose main focus seems to be lifestylism magazines, but I'm finding little in the way of corporate evidence.
Quote from: Kai on August 28, 2009, 04:29:29 PM
Quote from: Iptuous on August 28, 2009, 04:08:32 PM
could we also get them to explosively shit themselves, so that they don't have to be deveined?
there's some caterpillar that shoots it's feces as a defense mechanism (help please, Kai?) perhaps we can use some transgenics here...
I know of caterpillars that hold their feces in a ball at the end of their abdomens and attempt to present them at any would be predators.
There's also sea cucumbers that void their intestines (yes, their intestines, not just the contents) to confuse predators.
PROLAPSE!
Quote from: Requia ☣ on August 30, 2009, 12:16:39 AM
Quote from: Kai on August 28, 2009, 10:11:23 PM
Discovery channel is like the tabloid news of science brodcasting.
This. Mythbusters is probably their most educational show, which is saying something.
Yeah. It says "BLOWING SHIT UP!"
Shit yeah.
The Discovery Channel is a front for the Christian Reich? First I've heard of it.
And it's pretty fucking educational if you hate documentaries that show animals barely surviving, eating, fucking, etc. If you love them, then it's probably weak. I hate them, so it's about all I can take watching that shit for more than 20 mins.
Quote from: Cain on August 30, 2009, 12:55:20 PM
Quote from: Telarus on August 30, 2009, 03:32:32 AM
It's the Christian ideologues embedded in the upper end of the corporate structure of Discovery Channel. (Srsly, it takes a lot of paying attention, especially to the commercials that run between programs, but it's definitely there.)
Who in particular do you have in mind? I know Discovery is owned by the same people who own a lot of health industry related products, and Advance Publications, whose main focus seems to be lifestylism magazines, but I'm finding little in the way of corporate evidence.
Aaaah, after digging around I realize that I may have misinterpreted. See: http://unreasonablefaith.com/2009/07/23/discovery-channel-plays-creation-museum-ad/
Similar moments have happened to me (and repeatedly enough to examine for Lo5 bias), along with moments from certain shows. But apparently the cable company gets a certain number of minutes per month of interrupt advertising that they can stick in on any channel.
Then again:
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-161022309.html?jse=0
QuoteDaily Variety | March 7, 2007|
The combination of producer James Cameron and the subject of Christ's rediscovered burial site proved irresistible to a mass aud on Sunday night as the Discovery Channel drew 4.1 million viewers--its best number in 18 months--to "The Lost Tomb of Jesus."
Two-hour primetime spec ended up in a tie with TNT's primetime run of "The Bourne Supremacy" for No. 1 basic cable program Sunday among households.
Discovery also scored some of its best numbers ever with the special among adults 25-54 (its demo target), with 2.2 million, and 18-49, with 2.08 million.
But then this story [http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8783] tells a different story about that special when they aired it in India.
And then there was another special in April called "Who was Jesus?" [http://www2.wspa.com/spa/news/local/article/professor_helps_discovery_channel_answer_who_was_jesus/15952/]
But considering how much they've gone towards infotainment (with Deadliest Catch and the logging shows, etc), I'm not surprised to see that type of content there.
ALSO
(http://aquamarines.en.ecplaza.net/8.jpg)
PISTOL SHRIMP WILL FUCK YOU UP!
(http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/nftt/images/tim_and_the_star.jpg)
Hey Kai, I'm working on a poster project for my Biology 160 class in college on the pistol shrimp's claw mechanism and was checking with you if it's okay to use your input on it's calcium release.
Quote from: Zenpeanut on November 30, 2009, 08:31:13 PM
Hey Kai, I'm working on a poster project for my Biology 160 class in college on the pistol shrimp's claw mechanism and was checking with you if it's okay to use your input on it's calcium release.
You'd be better off researching primary information on pistol shrimp via ISI Web of Science or some similar online database. I am not a reliable citation for any publication or presentation that is more than informal. Kinda like Wikipedia.