Strange Science

All right. I wanna see a show of digital hands.

Who has ever had a Sea Monkeys kit when they were growing up? Come on, don’t be shy!
Leave a comment and tell me about it!

I had a couple, if I remember well. I LOVED the little guys. I could sit and watch them for hours. I’ve been tempted to pick up another kit lately, but haven’t yet had the time.

Well, for any of you unfamiliar with the strange and fascinating world of Sea Monkeys, here’s a nice little shameless plug - I mean, official advertisement to show you how it’s done:

Aw, yeah - it’s a bit cheesy, but it sure looks easy, right?

Basically, these shrimp-like creatures live happily inside a custom tank with pure, clean water and yummy powder-food to keep them alive and well. They’re pretty cute from a distance, but they’re actually kind of creepy close up…

WHOA!

What I find most interesting is their locomotion - the way they move underwater. See how they move their many little legs? Lots of arthropods like shrimp and baby lobsters move like that, too. It helps direct microscopic food toward their mouths as well, so they basically eat as they go. Pretty cool, right?

Now, if these little chaps didn’t get your going “Ewww”, then this fellow might.

Enter the triops! It looks like something straight out of the days of dinosaurs, doesn’t it?

If you’ve got a hankering to get some of these pets for your own to observe and admire, be sure to go give the official Sea Monkeys website a look, and pick up some triops on your way. It’s well worth the money, especially if you love marine critters like I do. =P 

What tales of horror and woe originated from centuries ago, when sailors spotted some hideous beast rearing back its loathsome head above the lashing waters, fangs bore to kill? And oh, the mighty tentacles with deadly suction cups ready to snatch and drown their hapless sea-bound prey on the very ship they sailed on! So what in the world can be said about that dastardly creature, the mysterious Loch Ness monster? The Kraken? What about all the many different etchings and drawings from the 1500s and 1600s? What of those?

Now, a lot of critical thinkers and analytical minds have debunked a good number of sightings and claims, and that’s for the best. Does it not seem like a good idea to keep fact and fiction separate where separation is due? It’s also true - and worthy to note - that many of those fancifully frightening beasts of the old seas were just common aquatic wildlife, poorly portrayed by the sailors - and can you blame them? Not a lot of sea creatures strayed from their watery home for very long when a boat came powering by.

 

The "surgeon's photo", which turned out to be nothing but a hoax.

It seems highly improbable that any notable living thing even thrives in Loch Ness, much less the legendary monster. Migrating seals, birds, and some other aquatic animals have been commonly spotted, but other than some hearty fish, nothing easily thrives in such icy waters.

There is evidence now, since 1994 to be exact, that the most popular proof of Nessie’s existence (the “surgeon’s photo”actually turned out ot be a hoax.) National Geographic’s web site offers a video that tells this tale of mystery revealed 60 years after it first spread like an epidemic.

Other theories debunking the mysterious wakes appearing in the otherwise calm water have also sprung up, further dismantling hopes of a mystery beast lurking in the chilly, dark waters of Loch Ness. Yet these strong arguments have not stopped die-hard believers from pledging that the monster does indeed live in that lake. The incident of the surgeon’s photo was not conclusive enough - there have been many sightings since, though the validity of each of these sightings is very difficult to suitably verify. Some versions of the different ways people have seen Nessie…here.

Unfortunately, a fairly large number of these sightings were either staged or planted for the amusement and excitement of visitors and guests.

In 2007, however, there was a rather exciting bit of footage captured by amateur scientist Gordon Holmes at the Loch during his ongoing experiments. The footage and an interview with Holmes quickly made it to the news.

While there are many people who truly believe in Nessie, there are others who have their doubts.

“I have no idea.  Honestly, God has made many wonderful and unexplainable things,” said college graduate Shannon Spooner, “Man has often come up with things even stranger.  For the most part, I consider the existence of Nessie to be folklore and myth.”

But what about the possibility for other sea monsters, beyond the limits of the freezing waters of the Loch? Would it be safe to assume that one lake in Scotland is not the only possible home for animals of strange and bizarre nature and appearance? It was in response to this idea that college student Brandon Telg stated,

“I believe that there are definitely ’sea monsters.’ We know less about our oceans than we know about outer [space] so …yeah, I think there is crazy stuff in the deep blue sea.”

Spooner, on a similar note, added,

“I’m with Brandon on this, there are innumerable crazy things that lurk under the water that we know nothing about. Even some of the things we know about could be considered sea monsters! And let’s not forget that sailors once confused sea lions for mermaids. (They must have had REALLY bad eyesight!)”

It’s true, there is a lot of evidence against our aquatic friend, Nessie…but let us not allow our minds to close on such a shady thought. Have scientists not discovered creatures such as the terrifying giant squid, the deep sea-dwelling giant spider crab, and all other manner of beasties? While we may never know whether or not the monster of Loch Ness is fact or fiction, we can certainly agree there is always something equally weird and wild just waiting to be found. Who knows just what might turn up next?

Did you know that a “flock” of ravens is called an “unkindness” and “storytelling”?
Or that a bunch of crows is called a “murder”?
Poe would be proud!

There’s plenty of strange names for collective nouns in the animal kingdom.
Here’s a few that really tickled my fancy:

A dissimulation of birds
A wake of buzzards
A glaring of cats
A nuisance of cats (refers to house cats)
A quiver of cobras
A congregation of crocodiles
A business of ferrets
A horde of gerbils
An implausibility of gnus
A parliament of owls
A smack of jellyfish
A rhumba of rattlesnakes
A sneak of weasels.

If that didn’t get you in a fit of giggles, then check out the full list!

I seem to have an impeccable affinity for birds of the flightless persuasion!
Many know this familiar fellow by his obnoxious name, and equally by his pudgy stature…it’s the magnificent, the majestic, the magnanimous, the diligent and delightful and daring….Dodo. 

That’s right. The very spitting image of extinction - the dodo bird. 

The history of the dodo is pretty brief…the 1600s summates the primary span of knowledge on the birds in their time alive and coexisting with the sailors that stopped by their home, the island Mauritius, off the coast of Madagascar.

Here’s another very informative site about the dodo bird.

As well as a few pretty pictures to tickle your fancy: