out of the blue

[cthulhu77]

Different glands, but you may be correct.

 

[monty]

Different glands, but you may be correct.

Yeah, I just meant that aposematism[/a] doesn't have to imply a toxic bite as in blue rings, nor a toxic flesh as in metasepia, but anything where the animal has a defense that causes predators enough grief that either via learning or evolution, the predators avoid the garish animals. We don't know why wunderpus, mimics, and chierchiae have stripes... Roy's mentioned that chierchiae don't live in areas where they could serve as crypsis, so he suspects they could be toxic in some way... but I hadn't considered that that could just as well be ink as venom...

 

[DWhatley]

I fail to remember if I suggested this in the past but you might find an idea or two in this thread. Of particular humor is this one that makes me wish they would do another Airplane spoof based on real life stories.

I want to be the human born with an eye deformity that allows me to see polarized light and befriend the octos (or spy on them).

Steve, of course, needs to be the mad scientist that was infected with cephlobacteria (from not wearing gloves while messing with dead things) and can change the skin color and texture on his effected digits (sort of a spiderman/hulk concept where he can't control it).

 

[octokidwriter]

I want to be the human born with an eye deformity that allows me to see polarized light and befriend the octos (or spy on them).

Steve, of course, needs to be the mad scientist that was infected with cephlobacteria (from not wearing gloves while messing with dead things) and can change the skin color and texture on his effected digits (sort of a spiderman/hulk concept where he can't control it).

I'll see what i can do for both of you. very interesting suggestions, will certainly be taken into account! however, being new and confused about names and identities, may i be so bold as to ask who in this tonmo-maze Steve might be?

 

[cuttlegirl]

I'll see what i can do for both of you. very interesting suggestions, will certainly be taken into account! however, being new and confused about names and identities, may i be so bold as to ask who in this tonmo-maze Steve might be?

Dr. Steve O'Shea of the giant squid fame...

 

[monty]

He's even hip enough to have a wikipedia page

 

[DWhatley]

Spoil sports! You both had clearer explanations than I was concocting

 

[monty]

Spoil sports! You both had clearer explanations than I was concocting

I wouldn't encourage this sort of thing, but technically, anyone can edit wikipedia.

 

[DWhatley]

hummm, yes, you have not encouraged this in the past as I recall

 

[octokidwriter]

i am impressed! but he's not actually posting on the forum? more some kind of mascotte?

no, seriously, i've read somewhere that the american army is developing a programme using "deviation of light" to make tanks and other unpleasant things invisible (perhaps they could try using in on Sarah P as well), would that have anything to do with "polarisation", in other words did they learn it from the octopuses ?

 

[octokidwriter]

Ok so i am not going to shamefully edit the previous post and scrap the first line... having just found out the Legendary Giant Octopus Researcher does post on the forum. My humble apologies....

 

[Steve O'Shea]

...but he's not actually posting on the forum? more some kind of mascotte?

Ummmm. What in tarnations is all of this about? I have a difficult enough time keeping up with my email; I'm afraid I seldom get to follow threads outside of a few in phys & bio ...

 

[OB]

Hi Steve, you appear to be sufficiently (in)famous to deserve the suspicion of being put to use as an alter ego

What are they like, sigh...

Then again, you are being acknowledged for your work on Haliphron, which should come as a breath of fresh, urrr, abyssal water?

 

[monty]

no, seriously, i've read somewhere that the american army is developing a programme using "deviation of light" to make tanks and other unpleasant things invisible (perhaps they could try using in on Sarah P as well), would that have anything to do with "polarisation", in other words did they learn it from the octopuses ?

Nope:

How Invisibility Cloaks Work

I'm not sure if polarization can be involved in holography in any way (helping or hindering.)

The ways I can think of that it's used are:

* polarized sunglasses (for seeing underwater things without water glare, and avoiding road glare in rain)

* LCD displays (the brightness is controlled by rotating a polarizing crystal relative to a polarizing filter)

* 3-d movies (the images for the 2 eyes have different polarizations, and the glasses match those.)

 

[Steve O'Shea]

I am going to go further and disrespectfully disagree. The web site is just wrong.

I'll further disrespectfully disagree (seeing I'm the guy that wrote that text on that web site). The web site information is correct; the only real difference (for the sake of those here) between an octopus and squid is that squid have those circular rings and/or hooks arming their suckers. It's a fact. You can support the distinction between the two on the basis of essoteric detail, but it's horses for courses online these days, and 99% of the detail mentioned on TOL goes over the heads of 99% of the teuthologists out there also. Moreover, many of those characters/states cited as diagnostic of squid and/or octopuses are not unique to them (cross-check against the two lists).