I’ve always wondered about pupil shape in cephalopods. What’s a functional explaination for this one?
jbasays
cuttlefish rule. I saw a very good documentary on PBS about them recently (I cant remember the name) but they had some amazing shots of them flashing skins changes at prey and other general badassness.
I must admit that when I read Carl Zimmer’s description of vertebrates’ randomly designed, backwards eyesight I felt a stab of envy towards cephalapods. None of my children’s children’s children will see as well as this short-lived creature, who has eyesight that would stand up to decades of living.
It was worse than discovering that turtles have four sets of rods & cones to our three, and thus presumably see in colors we can’t even imagine. I wonder if some ambitious grad student is testing them in color recognition of ecru vs. eggshell vs. offwhite?
thwaitesays
More cephalopod love from an unexpected source: a British bloke’s blog on computer security. Semi-regular Friday homages (use its search engine for earlier Fridays):
May 11, 2007
Friday Squid Blogging: Lego Squid … “it looks dorky. It’s mechanical, a robot. And an octupus!”
Um, Bruce Schneier lives in Minneapolis. We have a kind of Minnesota Cephalopod Mafia thing going on here.
Paguroideasays
I wonder if there is a relationship between the distance one lives from the ocean and being a cephalopod afficionado.
thwaitesays
Eh – Minneapolis? The wikipedia page for him agrees, but looking at Bruce Schneier’s contact info on his personal blog page shows a physical address up the road from me, in Mountain View, CA. And his company ‘BT Counterpane’ also says it’s in Mountain View.
Not sure where I got the notion that he’s a British bloke, and his wikipedia page says US, so scratch that.
And yes, I’ve understood Minnesota universities to have (had?) some of the best programs in limnology (understandable) *and* in oceanography.
JBA: The PBS program on cuttlefish was probably this: Kings of Camouflage (this teachers’ page links to the rest of their site
Nah, by three generations from now, your great-grandkids will probably have eyes that are built the right way ’round and absurdly polychromat. They’ll buy them on eBay.
Hopelessly OT: yes, I got that factoid and others about that bloke Schneier from the links at his wikipedia page – and just having a page of one’s own is a clue of something.
As for the link to geekz you gave, I see they celebrate him and Donald Knuth as equally significant founders of computer science. Be that as it may, Knuth is also famous (notorious) for his recent book “3:16” – a title referring to John 3:16. The book’s content takes the corresponding verse of every book of the Bible and propounds an exegesis for it. Presumably updated to the digital information age… so weird, it’s ripe for parody, and here’s one: a page ostensibly from far in the future providing a fractured historical summary of Knuth’s career.
Cuttlefish are, by far, my favorite animal.
Cuttlefish are, by far, my favorite animal.
Now you can take your aquatic animals anywhere with you. Russian cars recommended:
http://www.totallycrap.com/videos/videos_bulgarian_way_of_selling_fish
That is such a lovely creature.
I’ve always wondered about pupil shape in cephalopods. What’s a functional explaination for this one?
cuttlefish rule. I saw a very good documentary on PBS about them recently (I cant remember the name) but they had some amazing shots of them flashing skins changes at prey and other general badassness.
Beautiful! Awesome!
I must admit that when I read Carl Zimmer’s description of vertebrates’ randomly designed, backwards eyesight I felt a stab of envy towards cephalapods. None of my children’s children’s children will see as well as this short-lived creature, who has eyesight that would stand up to decades of living.
It was worse than discovering that turtles have four sets of rods & cones to our three, and thus presumably see in colors we can’t even imagine. I wonder if some ambitious grad student is testing them in color recognition of ecru vs. eggshell vs. offwhite?
More cephalopod love from an unexpected source: a British bloke’s blog on computer security. Semi-regular Friday homages (use its search engine for earlier Fridays):
May 11, 2007
Friday Squid Blogging: Lego Squid … “it looks dorky. It’s mechanical, a robot. And an octupus!”
April 13, 2007
Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Birth Video
April 06, 2007
Friday Squid Blogging: Giant Squids off California!
Um, Bruce Schneier lives in Minneapolis. We have a kind of Minnesota Cephalopod Mafia thing going on here.
I wonder if there is a relationship between the distance one lives from the ocean and being a cephalopod afficionado.
Eh – Minneapolis? The wikipedia page for him agrees, but looking at Bruce Schneier’s contact info on his personal blog page shows a physical address up the road from me, in Mountain View, CA. And his company ‘BT Counterpane’ also says it’s in Mountain View.
Not sure where I got the notion that he’s a British bloke, and his wikipedia page says US, so scratch that.
And yes, I’ve understood Minnesota universities to have (had?) some of the best programs in limnology (understandable) *and* in oceanography.
JBA: The PBS program on cuttlefish was probably this: Kings of Camouflage (this teachers’ page links to the rest of their site
Monado @ #7,
Nah, by three generations from now, your great-grandkids will probably have eyes that are built the right way ’round and absurdly polychromat. They’ll buy them on eBay.
I overheard somebody say that the Eye is proof of God. Have you ever heard that? (I’m sure)
Then I explained the whole evolution of the eye for 5 minutes.
And the response I got.. “Isn’t God Great”
Not to be nit picky but aren’t they in the mollusca phylum?
Thanks, Trip! That cheers me up no end.
Thwaite, that isn’t just any bloke on computer security, it’s Bruce Schneier!. He has a posse of his own. It’s well known that Bruce Schneir feeds Schroedinger’s cat on his back porch–without opening the box.
Thanks, Trip! That cheers me up no end.
Thwaite, that isn’t just any bloke on computer security, it’s Bruce Schneier!. He has a posse of his own. It’s well known that Bruce Schneir feeds Schroedinger’s cat on his back porch–without opening the box.
Sorry, “Schneier” – my fingers aren’t awake yet.
Hopelessly OT: yes, I got that factoid and others about that bloke Schneier from the links at his wikipedia page – and just having a page of one’s own is a clue of something.
As for the link to geekz you gave, I see they celebrate him and Donald Knuth as equally significant founders of computer science. Be that as it may, Knuth is also famous (notorious) for his recent book “3:16” – a title referring to John 3:16. The book’s content takes the corresponding verse of every book of the Bible and propounds an exegesis for it. Presumably updated to the digital information age… so weird, it’s ripe for parody, and here’s one: a page ostensibly from far in the future providing a fractured historical summary of Knuth’s career.