Q & A

Like I said yesterday, I’ve got a lot of suggestions for topics. Because some of them have pretty short and sweet answers, I’m going to post them all here.

“How does ink come out of pens?”

Depends on the pen! I have calligraphy styluses that draw ink up grooves in their metal tips via capillary action (motion of liquid in a tube as a result of surface tension) and then pressing them to paper (which is at least a little absorbant) similarly draws ink out.

Ballpoint pens on the other hand, have a tiiiny ball at the tip that rolls as you write or draw. It brings a little air into the ink reservoir as you push the tip against paper. Then, some of the ink in the reservoir sticks to the ball and is rolled out and onto paper. Ta da!

“Have you done bioluminescence?”

BAM: Bioluminescence.

“Do jellyfish dream?”

There’s no way to know for sure, considering they don’t talk or even make sounds  (besides SQWSSSH when you step on them), but I highly doubt they dream, or even sleep. Jellyfish have no true organs, so instead of a brain, they have a simple nerve net that allows them to react to their environment. Besides box jellies, most don’t even have eyes.

“Bananas. They constantly confuse me.”

What about them?

“Everything! WHY ARE THEY YELLOW?!?!? AND BANANA SHAPED?!?!”

BECAUSE THEY’RE BANANAS. PLEASE STOP YELLING.

EXHIBIT A. WILL YOU STOP YELLING NOW.

“Volcanism!”

Volcanism is anything involved in the processes or formation of volcanoes. Volcanoes are formed as a result of subduction, in this case, the movement of oceanic tectonic plates beneath continental plates. This occurs near underwater spreading centers, where magma from the earth’s core moves up, is cooled by the water and spreads out to form new section of plate. The subducted plate pushes magma toward the surface and explodes from volcanoes formed by the buckling of colliding plates. Mt. St. Helens is one such volcano.

You can also find volcanoes at “hot spots”, non-moving magma chambers away from plate margins where magma has risen to the surface and explodes out, rather than form a spreading center (Ex: Hawaii). Subduction of oceanic plates can also lead to volcano formation, as in the Aleutian and Japanese island volcanoes.

“Vulcanism!”

Another word for volcanism. Not a Star Trek reference, sorry.

“What are the most common chemical reactions in cooking?”

The chemistry of cooking merits a long post, if not an entire class. However, there are a few common chemical reactions I can think of right off the bat: denaturation of proteins (with heat or acid), osmosis, diffusion and controlled burning (of non-proteinatious things). Also controlled spoilage, as with cheese.

Hope this answered all y’all’s burning questions that keep you up at night. I know I will rest easier.

Sources

“volcanism”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 09 Jan. 2014
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/632078/volcanism>.

Laidler, Keith. 2009. Animals: A Visual Guide to the Animal Kingdom. Quercus Publishing Plc, London.

Yancey, Paul. “Environmental Factors- Tectonic Factors.” Marine Biology. Whitman College. Walla Walla, WA. 5 4 2011. Lecture.

No Such Thing As Islands Part 2.

OK, have you checked the basement? No Housemate larvae? Good, those are a bitch to get rid of. Now, how ‘bout them mets? Seriously, do you watch sports? Cause sports are an excellent example of organism interaction: competition.

Though under more natural circumstances, organisms compete for more necessary things like mates, space, food or water, there is usually a winner and a loser. The winner gets the resources and the loser…doesn’t. Of course, sometimes the competition is less baseball and more…Risk. Everyone stabs everyone in the back and in the end it doesn’t matter if there’s a winner, cause no one’s happy. Assuming the table doesn’t get flipped over first. Of course in the wild, losers or losing ties can result in crippling injuries or even death.

But organismal interactions aren’t all death and table flipping. Some organisms are involved in mutually beneficial relationships, a practice called, wait for it, mutualism. Here everyone helps everyone and we all go home happy. Sort of. Really, there are some organisms that either happen to have complementary lifestyles or they’ve evolved to complement one another. Like clownfish and anemones; the little fish are immune to the stings of the anemone, which provide it with a home. In addition, the clownfish clean parasites off the anemone and lures bigger fish in for the anemone to catch. So maybe everyone is happy.

But sometimes, not everyone is happy, or particularly sad either. In commensalism, one benefits and the other doesn’t really give a shit. Like the birds and the trees. Unless the bird is a woodpecker, then the trees might get a little miffed.

I would say that that is all for interactions, but it isn’t. Some aren’t so easily classified. In the words of my marine bio prof, “Crabs ride jellyfish! Sometimes we have no idea.”

Mcmeins, Rand. 2009.

Sources

Yancey, Paul. “Biotic Factors.” Marine Biology. Whitman College. Walla Walla, WA. 5 4 2011. Lecture.

In Which I Argue with Hawaii

Sea pigs that squiggle and hagfish with no eyes, those naked mole rats and larvae from botflies, cranky rock crabs that crush my nerve endings, these are a few of my LEAST favorite things. Not the dog bites, not the bee stings, those bitches. OK, I hate those things mostly cause they intolerably ugly or intolerably UUUGH (botflies I’m looking right at you and don’t even pretend I’m not), call me petty, whatever. These things don’t scare me, though. They’re not dangerous, why would they? Venomous snakes and spiders are kind of scary, but venom is a hassle for them to produce so they try to warn you when you’re too close and making them nervous (see: rattlesnakes, spitting cobras, etc). Hell, brown recluse spiders and black widows will run before anything else. Large predators, sure, but pack some bear spray, travel in groups and I should be good to go. Sharks? Pssht, I barely sea kayak and have no interest in surfing so no shark is going to mistake me for a turtle snack anytime soon. You want to know what’s really scary? What would make me don a custom head-to-toe wetsuit if I went swimming in Australia? Box jellyfish. Goddamn box jellies. I can hear you Hawaiians out there (assuming I have Hawaiian readers…), “Man, what’s the deal? You get stung by a jelly, you get over it. Spray some ammonia on it and get back in the water.” I call bullshit, Hawaii. Box jellies are serious business. So what if it’s not a true jellyfish (scyphozoa) and belong to its own class (cubozoa). Even your Irukanji box jelly (Carukia barnesi) venom can cause difficulty in breathing, vomiting, coughing and also possibly death. Not to mention the excruciating pain, at the sting site, as well as the stomach, limbs, back and head. Put ammonia on THAT, Hawaii.

So why is a dumb jelly scarier than a snake that can spit venom at my eyes or a large cat that could rip my throat out with only a “playful’ swipe? You can prepare for that shit. Walk away from snakes you don’t know (and say “no”  if they offer you drugs) and if you think any big mammal is a danger, CARRY BEAR SPRAY. As a side note, I’ve been stalked by a tiger while working at a zoo. At least the tigers there thought that if they weren’t moving, you couldn’t see them. So I’d be walking to lunch past the back of the tiger exhibit and hear a sound, turn, and see a tiger frozen mid-step. Turn away, turn back, tiger had moved one more step. Maybe had tried hiding behind a rock the size of his head (but not the rest of his 350lb+ bulk). Not that Mushi would necessarily behave like that in the wild, BUT IT’S FUNNY. Also, bear spray does wonders. ANYWAY, that “dumb” jellyfish has eyes. Four small structures simply respond to light and accompany two real eyes; structures complete with lenses, corneas and retinas. It can see, process sights and hunt based on that. You may not look like dinner, but that “dumb” jelly does not care enough to avoid you. DOES NOT CARE. It can kill you just because it can’t be bothered to try and avoid you. This is a predator skilled enough to find its prey and deadly enough not to worry about predators of its own. It can also kill you when it’s dead. How about THAT, Hawaii?

ADDENDUM:Almost forgot to explain the box jellies mode of envenomation. Remember the nematocysts? Of course you do, I talked about them in Nudi Time ( https://dailyscienceblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/nudi-time/ ). Basically those are cells that hold contact-activated barbs on threads. It’s like a land mine, but instead of an explosion when you touch it, a poisoned grappling hook shoots out. Explosion of HORRENDOUS PAIN. Also the barbs regenerate after use. In most jellies the cells stop working after death, but box jellies are determinedly mean bastards so their nematocysts can still fire after they die. Happy swimming!

 

Source

Laidler, Keith. 2009. Animals: A Visual Guide to the Animal Kingdom. Quercus Publishing Plc, London.

A Glowing Review of Bioluminescence

So my good friend had the bright idea of bioluminescence as a blog topic and I had the less bright idea of making stupid puns. Anyway, bioluminescence! Nature’s neon light show is most popular with organisms in the deep pelagic and deep benthic where sunlight is foreign concept. Bioluminescence may be produced intrinsically (by a given organism) or extrinsically (by symbiotic bacteria colonizing the given organism). Regardless of how the light is produced, bioluminescent marine life possess photophores, light-producing organs that take advantage of luciferin oxidation to create light. This light is usually blue or green, because most fish can’t see red light (which means they’re terrible drivers). Luciferins are actually a class of molecule that, when exposed to oxygen and luciferase enzymes, produce light (for all you word nerds out there, the name is actually derived from Lucifer, the “Light-Bringer”). Light production via the luciferin-luciferase-oxygen complex (together called a photoprotein) is triggered through the introduction of calcium to the photoprotein.
However, the photophores of organisms with intrinsically and extrinsically produced light differ greatly. Photophores in marine life with intrinsically produced light are very eye-like, complete with lense, cornea-ish thingy and reflector. But instead of a retina, the photophore possesses light-producing cells containing photoproteins. In marine life with extrinsically produced light, the photophore is a chamber filled with the symbiotic bacteria. Scientists are still trying to figure out how exactly the animals signal the bacteria, but smoke signals and texting have been ruled out.
Uses for bioluminescence are many and varied. Of course everyone who’s seen Finding Nemo can name lures as one use (eg. anglerfish, dumbo octopods), although some deep pelagic predators (eg. headlight fish, dragonfish) find red headlights effective for finding red light-blind prey without being found themselves. Outside of feeding/hunting uses, bioluminescence contributes to communication and predator avoidance. Copepods (zooplankton) not only flash messages to other copepods, but will also discharge bioluminescent goop when startled. The goop coats their predators and lights them up for that thing’s predators to find even better than if they had an “Eat Me” sign pinned to their back. Cause fish can’t read signs. Or pin things. Anyway, anyone that lives on the coast can see this in action; go to a dock at night and you will notice flashes of light from copepods that have risen to the surface to feed and are avoiding feeding themselves. Pinwheel jellyfish and some cukes have a “burglar alarm” like this as well, but they’re significantly harder to find (unless you’re James Cameron and/or own a sub). Go out in a canoe and you can see ctenophores (jellyfish-like things) light up as the paddles disturb the water around them. Green bomber worms will similarly light up the night when startled, but they use time-released packets of goop to mislead predators (or prey). Finally, fish like the cookie-cutter shark and hatchetfish possess photophores that match the ambient light and make them effectively invisible to all but the most discerning eye.
Humans are starting to take advantage of bioluminescence too. Photoproteins like GFP (green florescence protein, found in jellyfish) are already used for staining cell proteins in research, but I think someone needs to look into jellyfish globe lamps. Wake up in the middle of the night and trip out because there are jellyfish floating around your room; it’s either the best idea or the worst. I’m going to go with best.

Source
–. “The Deep.” Blue Planet. BBC: 19 Sep 2001. DVD.
Schrope, Mark. Nov 2007. “Lights in the Deep”. Nature. 472-474.
Yancey, Paul. 2011. “Deep Pelagic.” Marine Biology. Whitman College. Walla Walla, WA. Lecture.