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Live Giant Squid Dissection Tomorrow
Posted by
timothy
on Wed Jul 16, 2008 04:00 PM
from the this-can't-happen-often-enough dept.
from the this-can't-happen-often-enough dept.
BoogieChile writes "The dissection of a 245 kilo giant squid caught off the coast of Portland, Victoria in May will take place tomorrow at the Museum of Victoria. In a first for the museum, the event is open to the public and will also be streamed live to the internet from the University's website, starting at 0130GMT on the 17th of July."
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The Squid's Beak May Revolutionize Engineering 79 comments
Ace905 writes "For years the razor-sharp beak that squid use to eat their prey has posed a puzzle to scientists. Squid are soft and fragile, but have a beak as dense as rock and sharp enough to break through hard shells. Scientists have long wondered why the beak doesn't injure the squid itself as is uses it. New research has just been published in the the journal Science that explains the phenomenon. One of the researchers described the squid beak as 'like placing an X-Acto blade in a block of fairly firm Jell-O and then trying to use it to chop celery.' Careful examination shows that the beak is formed in a gradient of density, becoming harder towards the tip end. Understanding how to make such hardness gradients could revolutionize engineering anywhere that 'interfaces between soft and hard materials [are required].' One of the first applications researchers envision is prosthetic limbs."
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Seems inhumane (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Seems inhumane (Score:5, Funny)
No, they can't, because they want it to be streaming.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
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I prefer organic calamari
As opposed to inorganic calamari?
Re:Seems inhumane (Score:5, Informative)
The dissection of a living creature is called a vivisection, actually. If you are dissecting something, it's generally accepted that it's already dead.
The More You Know!
(Yes, I am aware the GP was a joke)
Parent
First look (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Yes.. I figure they would have gotten some interrogators from Abu Gahraib since the squid's mantle vaguely looks like a turban.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
That'd be a vivisection.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:First look (Score:5, Funny)
Did anyone else think they meant they were going to dissect a live squid.
I was picturing some of the Old Ones (Lovecraftian) having something to gurgle about that! ;)
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Forget Lovecraft, has anyone told Bruce Schneier, yet?
As a matter of fact, before posting this I checked his web site, and he already knows. I guess you can't beat Bruce Schneier to a squid. Add that to his list of Chuck-Norris-isms.
afterwards (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
When I was in AP Bio about 8 years ago, our lab manual for the squid dissection contained instructions for making calamari from the squid afterwords. of course, our squids had been soaked in formaldehyde or whatever it is that they use nowadays for quite some time.
Re: (Score:2)
Does your mom happen to teach 8th grade Biology in Vancouver, WA? My bio teacher did the same thing. She even breaded them on the spot!
To this day I won't touch calamari, heh.
Re:afterwards (Score:5, Interesting)
Regular-sized squid are actually the most plentiful source of protein on the planet, far out-stripping cattle, chicken and tuna. If we would just eat them instead...
Parent
Re:afterwards (Score:4, Insightful)
Regular-sized squid are actually the most plentiful source of protein on the planet, far out-stripping cattle, chicken and tuna. If we would just eat them instead...
You forgot bugs. They're the hands-down winner, not just in terms of bio-mass but in human diet, too. Man eating bugs!
Parent
Re:afterwards (Score:4, Funny)
You forgot bugs. They're the hands-down winner, not just in terms of bio-mass but in human diet, too. Man eating bugs!
What about man eating man-eating bugs? It's like a klein buffet!
Parent
You forgot algae and plankton (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Ok meat. Although I doubt rice qualifies either way since it is 10:1 carbs:protein.
Re:afterwards (Score:5, Interesting)
Ugh. I hope not. Giant squid supposedly tastes repulsive. From the wiki article: [wikipedia.org]
Giant squid and some other large squid species maintain neutral buoyancy in seawater through an ammonium chloride solution which flows throughout their body and is lighter than seawater. This differs from the method of flotation used by fish, which involves a gas-filled swim bladder. The solution tastes somewhat like salmiakki and makes giant squid unattractive for general human consumption.
Parent
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For the rest of the day my mouth tasted like a cat's piss. Vile stuff.
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I love salmiak. You have a sort of candy which is hard on the outside but has salmiakpowder inside. If you chew through the hard part all the salmiak powder lands on your tongue and you cringe a bit. But then you get the lovely taste of salmiak in your mouth. I think that's what I'm going to buy on Saturday.
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For the rest of the day my mouth tasted like a cat's piss. Vile stuff.
And, er, how would you know what cat's piss tastes like?
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Yea, but I've heard that its one helluva drug.
Re:afterwards (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
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How can one NOT love the taste of salmiac liquorice? It's the best candy ever!
I don't think I'd appreciate salmiac-tasting squid though, or any kind of squid.
you must not live near norwegians (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
one word: lutefisk
Nah. Surstromming [wikipedia.org]. Anything that smells that bad and where the tins are inclined to explode (the wikipedia article claims that that's a myth, but that's just not true) is just a hazard waiting to happen...
Re: (Score:2)
Its funny you mention that.
In Iceland*, they have a means of preparing shark that pretty much involves letting it rot for a while first. The interesting part is that said species of shark is inedible as fresh due to the ammonia content.
So in theory, one might be able to prepare Giant Squid H%C3%A1karl [wikipedia.org]. Yummy.
(*Okay, not quite the Netherlands, but pretty damn close if you ask me)
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Can't wait.... (Score:5, Funny)
More appropriate would be the farside cartoon (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Obligitory Dr. Quinn (Sealab 2021) quote (Score:3, Funny)
"That giant squid ain't messin' round!"
Everyone Please come by between 7-10pm. (Score:3, Funny)
Everyone, PLEASE remember to come by the museum for a squid buffet and all the dipping sauces!
Please remember it is 7-10PM. If you come after 10pm, we will have to-go boxes of squid by the front entrance.
PLEASE come everyone!
Thank you,
Museum of Victoria Management
Giant? (Score:3, Interesting)
245 Kg doesn't sound like much of a 'giant' to me. Is it a juvenile?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
it's, "quarterre of a tonne."
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There's an even larger species called the Colossal Squid. The largest known specimen [wikipedia.org] weighed 495kg.
Re: (Score:2)
Te Papa museum in New Zealand recently did a live webcast of a Collosal Squid dissection. Details and pics can be found at
their blog [tepapa.govt.nz]
Dissection? Is that what they call it. (Score:2)
Chinese call it STIR FRY.
Better get splunk (Score:2, Funny)
If one of their squid logfiles is 245k... imagine going through a month's worth of that to find out when Johnson in Accounting visited xxxanimalfarm.com.
Monty Squidthon (Score:4, Funny)
Mrs Premise: I dissected the squid yesterday; took 6 hours.
Mrs. Conclusion: 6 hours!?
Mrs. Premise: Wouldn't hold still...
These things are very rare to catch (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't think scientists have ever seen one in the wild.
That should say a thing or two about their rarity.
What else lurks in the deep that we don't know about?
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
A true scientist would consider the obvious explanation that live giant squids don't exist.
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I wonder what scientist will disect? Biologist or zoologist
Not very many Giant Squid have taken enough schooling to become biologists or zoologists.
Re: (Score:2)
"Not very many Giant Squid have taken enough schooling to become biologists or zoologists."
What would be really impressive is a giant squid that passed ABCRS and became proctologist.
--
BMO
Re: (Score:2)
You'd need someone with an eye for science, but an intimate understanding of edible sea-creatures, and larger-than-life representations of the same.
Alton Brown [wikipedia.org] is clearly the best choice here.
Re: (Score:2)