Patrick Stewart and The Whales Need Your Help - http://clapway.com/2015/07/25/patrick-stewart-and-the-whales-need-your-help567/

Patrick Stewart believes there have been too many snot-nosed whales a-skimping the seas for too long, that is, without scientific study. But, for some reason, scientists working with Ocean Alliance are having trouble raising funds for their snot-bot drone to continue collecting the necessary samples. So naturally, they’ve turned to Patrick Stewart in the creation of a video to kickstart their Kickstarter, and he couldn’t refuse.

WHY DOES PATRICK STEWART LIKE SNOT BOTS?

Snot Bots are little drones guided through the spray of fluids ejected from whales’ blowholes at the surface of water to collect vital samples of mucus and other biological material. The whales are physically unharmed, however, they excel at acoustics (and brains), so any pursuing entities, even the harmless curiosity of scientists, subjects them to a good deal of psychological stress, which throws the data sample into disarray.

FOR HUMAN ANALOGY:

Consider that of Ocean Alliance CEO Iain Kerr who explained that, “if all your doctor knew about your health was from chasing you around the examination room, blasting an airhorn and jabbing you with a needle,” no one would blame you for being a little on edge. And, though this writer cannot speak for the reader’s psychology, whales are generally unperturbed.

HOW DID THIS COME TO BE?

This project is the result of a joint partnership between Ocean Alliance and the Olin College of Engineering, who came together to engineer Snot Bots. These unique devices take a very high level of precision to design because they must actually hover directly above a live freaking whale long enough to collect enough samples without freaking the whale out.

WHAT COULD WE POSSIBLY LEARN FROM WHALE MUCUS?

Snot Bots are the newest and most humane way to collect whale DNA, hormones, and data on the bacterial or viral content of whales, in addition to a veritable compendium of data to help us understand the whales’ in their natural habitat.

HOW DID THEY WRANGLE PATRICK STEWART?

Apparently Patrick Stewart is an old friend and outspoken supporter of Ocean Alliance. He actually funded the construction of one of the Snot Bot drones in toto, and named it Sunny, after his wife, Sunny Ozell.

PATRICK STEWART AND THE WHALES

Ocean Alliance’s goal is $225,000. We may not be able to go to warp speed with him, but what better way to be in cahoots with Patrick Stewart and the whales simultaneously is there?

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Patrick Stewart and The Whales Need Your Help

5 Uncommon Deep Sea Fish - http://clapway.com/2015/07/09/5-uncommon-deep-sea-fish456/

Stoplight Loosejaw

Aimed with binocular vision, the stoplight gets its name from its huge, red eyes. These uncommon deep sea fish eyes are amazing in the dark water because they don’t reflect any other light, even bioluminescence. In proportion to its body, it holds the biggest mouth known in fish. It doesn’t have scales, lives below 1,600 feet, and its large mouth can trap big prey!

Sloane’s Viper Fish

Not to be confused with the angler fish, although their good looks may be similar, the viper fish has the largest teeth (based on body size) of any fish. Its teeth are more than half of its head, and even though this uncommon deep sea fish is only 11 inches long, it is designed to be a powerful predator. The first vertebra is designed to be a shock-absorber when it impales prey with it’s overlapping teeth.

Pelican Eel

This deep sea fish really is mostly head. Like the name suggests, its jaw acts much like a pelican’s with a large jaw and pouch. They aren’t really eels, but their long tails resemble that of one. But like the angler fish uses a lure of light to attract small prey in the deep sea, the pelican eel has a similar lure on the end of its thin tail.

It only has small teeth, and uses them to crack open crustaceans and other tough prey. And it is usually found around the same habitat as the stoplight loosejaw: below 1,600 feet.

Sabertooth Fish

Like many deep sea fish, the sabertooth has the big-head-little-body-look. These fish are relatively unknown, but those who have been observed them have seen that they can swallow prey much bigger than them. What is interesting about this deep sea fish is that, as they get older, they tend to drift deeper into the ocean. Why this happens is unknown, but we can speculate that it has something to do with mating habits or dietary changes.

Antarctic Toothfish

Even though Sloan’s viper fish wins the beauty contest, the antarctic tooth fish comes in a pretty close second. It may be one of the bigger uncommon deep sea fish, measuring at an average of almost six feet. Its size makes sense, even in cold habitats, because it is indiscriminate with its choice of dinners. It will even eat its own young if it has the chance. It also can survive both mid and deep sea pressures and temperatures. That gives this fish a larger buffet.

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5 Uncommon Deep Sea Fish

Ramisyllis Multicaudata: The Worm with Many Butts - http://clapway.com/2015/06/21/ramisyllis-multicaudata-the-worm-with-many-butts765/

Recently, butts have been all the rage.

We always see Kardashian butts, Bey butts, J-Lo butts, Nicki Minaj butts everywhere. So, the more butts the better, right?

How ’bout some worm butts?

A friend just told me (let’s call him Gordon) about a sea worm with endless butts- the Ramisyllis multicaudata.

Apparently, in the 18th century, a sea sponge was dredged up by a ship, and in those tiny holes that all sponges have, there was a living creature. A worm with endless butts. Now, this worm is a rare find, and no one knows much about it. It’s a branch-worm. It grows by spreading its body out into trees.

Worm with many butts is an Aussie parasite

Primarily found in Australian waters, this little guy is definitely a parasite to the sea-sponge. However, the worm with many butts is otherwise huge mystery to scientists. What can be said is that it is largely independent from other branched species (meaning it didn’t evolve to grow limbs or—in this case— butts from another genus). It just evolved to spread its body out in to tiny webs that fill the cavities of sponges.

But why butts? What is known about the worm is that it has one head, but then each extremity can independently grow more branches until the entire host-sponge is filled to capacity! In fact, multitudo means many, similar to multitude, and you can see this classification in other species. One such species is the two-tailed swallowtail butterfly. Many ends. Many tails. Many butts.

The relationship between the host and the worm with many butts is unknown.

We are still not even sure if it the relationship is a symbiotic one, like that between sharks and pilot fish, or if the worm is slowly killing the sea sponge. It seems that, either way, the branched butts absorb nutrients to allow the worm to support itself. It makes sense, because how can one head feed that large a body?

I, for one, have never been more interested in butts. The potential this guy has is only beginning, and I think he has a lot to show us. I’m looking forward to hearing more about Ramisyllis multicaudata: the worm with many butts.

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Ramisyllis Multicaudata: The Worm with Many Butts