just Odd

14-billion-years-later: And Now Something for the Biologists: Transparent Crabs!And for biochemists I guess. These images show the process whereby Japanese scientists took your everyday chitinous crab carapace and simply put, made it transparent. This process involved treating the shell with lye, hydrochloric acid and ethyl alcohol to fully remove all the pigments from the shell. This just left the chitin structure which was reinforced using resin.

14-billion-years-later:

And Now Something for the Biologists: Transparent Crabs!

And for biochemists I guess. These images show the process whereby Japanese scientists took your everyday chitinous crab carapace and simply put, made it transparent. This process involved treating the shell with lye, hydrochloric acid and ethyl alcohol to fully remove all the pigments from the shell. This just left the chitin structure which was reinforced using resin.

skepttv:

“Ghost metal” (chemistry trick)

In a variation of luminol chemiluminescence, we make a coin appear to glow with ghostly trails.

Get 10mg of luminol and dissolve it in 10mL of 10% ammonia solution, the exact concentration isn’t critical. Then add 1mL of 3% hydrogen peroxide and dilute the whole solution into 100mL of distilled water.

Get a piece of copper metal, a penny will do, and drop it in with the lights out.

The penny will start to glow as the surface dissolves to form a copper amine complex. The complex catalyzes the reaction of hydrogen peroxide on luminol and causes the solution near the coin to glow. Bright trails can be seen if the copper is moved.

Eventually the concentration of copper in solution rises to the point that all of solution glows and masks the glow near the coin. The reaction will quickly extinguish as the luminol is used up.

It seems the reaction works best with copper. I wasn’t able to get it work with iron.

(Source: youtube.com, via skeptv)

deformutilation: Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED) is a group of rare multisystemic genetic syndromes that affects ectodermal structures such as skin, hair, nails, teeth(as shown here) and sweat glands.

deformutilation:

Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED) is a group of rare multisystemic genetic syndromes that affects ectodermal structures such as skin, hair, nails, teeth(as shown here) and sweat glands.

animalworld: IMMORTAL JELLYFISH — request from elocinboredTurritopsis nutricula©Cibermitanios.com.ar Turritopsis nutricula, the potentially immortal jellyfish, is a hydrozoan whose  jellyfish form can revert back to the polyp stage after becoming sexually mature. It is the only known case of a metazoan capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity. It does this through the cell development process of transdifferentiation. Cell transdifferentiation is when the jellyfish “alters the differentiated state of the cell and transforms it into a new cell”. In this process the mature jellyfish transforms back into the polyps stage creating a new polyp colony. Theoretically, this process can go on indefinitely, effectively rendering the jellyfish biologically immortal, although in nature, most Turritopsis, like other medusae, are likely to succumb to predation or disease in the plankton stage, without reverting to the polyp form. No single specimen has been observed for any extended period, so it is not currently possible to estimate the age of an individual, and so even if this species has the potential for immortality, there is no laboratory evidence of many generations surviving from any individual. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_nutricula Other posts: Purple Striped Jelly Australian Spotted Jelly Blood-Red Jelly

animalworld:

IMMORTAL JELLYFISH — request from elocinbored
Turritopsis nutricula
©Cibermitanios.com.ar

Turritopsis nutricula, the potentially immortal jellyfish, is a hydrozoan whose  jellyfish form can revert back to the polyp stage after becoming sexually mature. It is the only known case of a metazoan capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity.

It does this through the cell development process of transdifferentiation.

Cell transdifferentiation is when the jellyfish “alters the differentiated state of the cell and transforms it into a new cell”. In this process the mature jellyfish transforms back into the polyps stage creating a new polyp colony. Theoretically, this process can go on indefinitely, effectively rendering the jellyfish biologically immortal, although in nature, most Turritopsis, like other medusae, are likely to succumb to predation or disease in the plankton stage, without reverting to the polyp form.

No single specimen has been observed for any extended period, so it is not currently possible to estimate the age of an individual, and so even if this species has the potential for immortality, there is no laboratory evidence of many generations surviving from any individual.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_nutricula

Other posts:

Purple Striped Jelly

Australian Spotted Jelly

Blood-Red Jelly

(via life-is-go0d)

animalworld: CHO TOMBO - or BUTTERFLY SKIMMERRhyothemis fuliginosa© myu-myu Rhyothemis fuliginosa is widespread throughout much of central, southern and eastern China, central and southern Japan and may occur in Vietnam and Myanmar. Its Japanese common name ‘cho-tombo’ literally means a butterfly-like dragonfly, and it does fly like a butterfly. Population: A stable population and widely distributed. Population Trend: Stable Habitat and Ecology: Frequents weedy ponds. Systems: Freshwater Major Threat(s): There are no threats known to be presently affecting this species. Conservation Actions: Populations recorded from Protected Areas in China. Source: http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/167149/0 Other Posts: Dragonfly covered in dew (macro) Broad Body Chasers Dragonfly (macro)

animalworld:

CHO TOMBO - or BUTTERFLY SKIMMER
Rhyothemis fuliginosa
© myu-myu

Rhyothemis fuliginosa is widespread throughout much of central, southern and eastern China, central and southern Japan and may occur in Vietnam and Myanmar. Its Japanese common name ‘cho-tombo’ literally means a butterfly-like dragonfly, and it does fly like a butterfly.

Population: A stable population and widely distributed.
Population Trend: Stable
Habitat and Ecology: Frequents weedy ponds.
Systems: Freshwater
Major Threat(s): There are no threats known to be presently affecting this species. Conservation Actions: Populations recorded from Protected Areas in China.

Source: http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/167149/0

Other Posts:

Dragonfly covered in dew (macro)

Broad Body Chasers

Dragonfly (macro)

(via life-is-go0d)

animalworld: Macro of JELLY FISH PARASITE - eek!Hyperia galba©Alexander Semenov Hyperia galba live under the bell of jellyfish, preferably the rhizostome jellyfish like the moon jellyfish. You can find them often in jellyfish which have washed up on the shore. They live off of the mass of jellyfish eggs as well as the food consumed by the jellyfish itself. Sometimes, you will see coastal birds picking at beached jellyfish, in search of the this parasite. It is unclear where the larva of the Hyperia galba live before turning adult. Source: http://www.seaonscreen.org/vleet/content/eng/hyperia-galba-e.htm Other photos you may like: Lamprey Portuguese Man Of War Purple Striped Jellyfish

animalworld:

Macro of JELLY FISH PARASITE - eek!
Hyperia galba
©Alexander Semenov

Hyperia galba live under the bell of jellyfish, preferably the rhizostome jellyfish like the moon jellyfish. You can find them often in jellyfish which have washed up on the shore. They live off of the mass of jellyfish eggs as well as the food consumed by the jellyfish itself. Sometimes, you will see coastal birds picking at beached jellyfish, in search of the this parasite. It is unclear where the larva of the Hyperia galba live before turning adult.

Source: http://www.seaonscreen.org/vleet/content/eng/hyperia-galba-e.htm

Other photos you may like:

Lamprey

Portuguese Man Of War

Purple Striped Jellyfish

(via life-is-go0d)