One of my secret projects during my sabbatical is the cultivation of spider embryos, and I got my first hint of success today, with the emergence of my very first spider swarm from an egg sac. It is only the beginning — there will be more (and with practice, maybe my photomicrography of these guys will improve).
Coincidentally, this is also Skatje’s birthday, so it’s an auspicious day to spawn the first cohort of my arachnolegion.
well, happy bday to Skatje anyway, even if this does end up being marked as the day 8 legged freaks took over the world.
What scale are we seeing here? How long is one of these octokittens?
CRISPR of course may be used to make your ‘children’ Bigger. Better. Faster. Stronger.
Seeing young spiders emerge from an egg sac and slowly, gradually, spread over the mother’s web until they eventually disappear into the big wide world, I’ve often wondered how they feed in those early days. Surely there can’t be enough yolk to sustain them for long, but where do they find even smaller organisms to feed on, and what are they?
Clearly, poopyhead likes monsters with lots of things to wave about — Kraken, Spider, Skatje (well, Ok, not too sure about that one, perhaps she can enlighten us about her superhuman attributes…) — and don’t be fooled by the “photomicrography” distraction. Photographed at a 1:1 scale, you wouldn’t see much more than their digestive tracts as they ate you (possible exception in the Skatje case, again, she can enlighten us, does she swallow planets whole or have to chew them a bit first?).
Fortunately, he still hasn’t worked out he is supposed to be evil, not the cat (who is supposed to be white), so his so-called “experiments” will continue to produce unanticipated results. Such as zebrafish and Skatje, neither of whom seems dangerous…
It is also the birthday of the late Molly Ivins and a certain, possibly familiar, Right Reverend Feminist FuckToy.
HBD to all concerned.
Happy Birthday, Crip Dyke. :)
Imagine the fun Molly could be having writing about the Trump administration!
しかたがない
@nomdeplume:
indeed.
Happy b-day CD, Skatje, and spiderling minions! I expect that baby spiderlings eat mites and such? There are many types of bugs that are too small to be seen with the naked eye, but would be snack sized for spiderlings.
Bonne fête, CD! Bonne fête, Skatje! Bonne fête, all you little spiderlings! Bonne fête.
So I see. I can but speculate as to your purpose thereby.
(more fearsome than a zebrafish army, I concede — they Walk on Land!)
ps Tethys,
Yeah, it’s cute: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/09/spiders-mothers-cannibals-arachnids/
Can’t help but think of this.
KILL THEM ,KILL THEM ALL .Sorry for the capitals ,got rather carried away there .
So cool! I love spiders. What species are you working with?
Sooooo many legs! Why the hell can’t they walk on two like the rest of the GOP?
“CRISPR of course may be used to make your ‘children’ Bigger. Better. Faster. Stronger.”
I’m more of an engineering type, so I would suggest mecha-spiders if you want that. Of course, control system tech is lagging behind the other aspects of robotics, so maybe you could make cyborg spiders. You know, a spider brain in a mechanical body. Or maybe you could just make a “motion capture mecha” for spiders, with a teeny tiny pilot compartment holding a spider in a delicate motion capture and force feedback rig to drive the van-sized armored spider vehicle?