Comments

  1. naturalcynic says

    Not o fast. I see the tether and the et suited monster in back of the poor guy who has been obviously enslaved for some nefarious purpose. Towing a water skier? Or a bag of cocaine?

    Treating the humble Humboldt that way will get a minimum of two eons in purgatory.

  2. The Lorax says

    The scary thing is, cephalopods have incredibly articulate use of their limbs, and some have been known to manipulate their environment (I saw one that carried around a coconut half to hide under). Using tools was a huge leap in human development; it’s not much of a stretch to see these creatures make the same leap.

  3. Cuttlefish says

    Damn. I thought I was doing ok with a pen–mightier than a sword, after all–and then these Humboldts upgrade to lasers?

    You thought an arms race was bad with a species that had only *two* arms…

  4. says

    If I were one of the people designing such accessories I’d certainly be worried about the cephalopods removing them, given their dexterity.

    Of course, given some of the clever tricks I’ve seen on nature shows, providing them with enough technology might encourage them to reverse engineer it.

    Also, putting aside those concerns, giving a squid a camera might be risky in itself. Squid swims down into R’leyh, and suddenly you’ve got a bunch of metamorphosing marine biologists shouting “Ia, ia!” all day.

  5. A. R says

    Yes! Frikin squid with frikin lasers on their frikin heads! So much better than the Selachimorph variant.

  6. F says

    The Lorax

    They can figure out, in fairly short order, how to unscrew the lid of a jar. Which is pretty weird, really. They can also navigate complicated mazes and remember them.

    It’s probably good for primates that there is no effective way to use fire under water.

  7. yellowsubmarine says

    Squids with lasers? Lets just hand ’em reverse scuba suits while we’re at it and start running for our lives right now.

  8. Brownian says

    Great. Clothe squid and teach them to be ashamed of their nakedness. We just won’t be happy until body dysmorphic disorder affects members of all species, will we?

  9. Brownian says

    We are so lucky that underwater lasers have an effective range of zero feet and zero inches :-)

    Yes! As long as we stay in the water, those aquatic beasties won’t have the advantage over us!

    [Tries to *facepalm* underwater to limited effect.]

  10. Brownian says

    Call me when they discover fire.

    Because of course their path towards world domination will exactly mirror ours.

    [Nonchalantly leaves copy of SJG’s Wonderful Life in prominent location and leaves, whistling.]

  11. M Groesbeck says

    And remember — these are Humboldt squid. If they see that you have something they want (video camera, watch, etc.) they will mug you and take it.

    And we’ve just upgraded their capabilities.

  12. Brownian says

    Er…my tinfoil suit will protect me, right? Right?

    We need a mole—someone who can steer their scientists away from microwave oven research and into metal amalgam beak fillings.

  13. Rip Steakface says

    So, how long til we have squid with frickin’ laser beams attached to their mantles again?

  14. CompulsoryAccount7746 says

    Shouldn’t that camera be pointed the other way for jetting, or mounted underneath for tentacle activity?

  15. Amphiox says

    Treating the humble Humboldt that way will get a minimum of two eons in purgatory.

    Not a chance. The Humboldts will rip you into quivering chunks in retaliation long before two eons have passed.

    Yeah, let’s experiment with them squids! And let’s start with the gregarious, ravenous, pack-hunting, chordate-shredding Humboldts first! What could go wrong?

    Mesonychoteuthis might well be the only worse first choice….

  16. DLC says

    Lasers! all I asked for was some frikkin cephalopods with some frikkin lasers! is that too much to ask?!

  17. Chris Booth says

    The latest for squid who’se au current:
    A vest with a laser deterrent;
         When a fisherman comes,
         With his lines and his plumbs…
    Ka-ZAP! They were there–then they weren’t!

  18. Chris Booth says

    Ooof. I just saw an embarrassing typo. “who’re” (or “who’s”) not…the shameful thing above. [/sheepfaced]

  19. Sili says

    Brownian says:

    Because of course their path towards world domination will exactly mirror ours.

    Well, History has shown the primitive simians living on land are deadly afraid of fire, so knowing how to work that stuff will do a lot towards making those submit to the new cephalopod rule.