Soft robotics are inspired by animals which don't have hard internal skeletons, like squid, worms, and starfish. Developed at Harvard, with funding from DARPA,
this particular soft robot, "not only walks, it knows several different gaits and can deflate to stuff itself through tiny little gaps."
Another design here,
and another (
also),
and another. In addition to movement, soft robotics can also be used
for grip. More information about the Harvard lab is available
here (
with a student describing the research here).
posted by codacorolla
on Nov 29, 2011 -
26 comments
Inside the Mind of the Octopus: "The heavy lid covering her tank separated our two worlds. One world was mine and yours, the reality of air and land, where we lumber through life governed by a backbone and constrained by jointed limbs and gravity. The other world was hers, the reality of a nearly gelatinous being breathing water and moving weightlessly through it."
In exploring the world and personality of the octopus, a journalist relates his interactions with a Giant Pacific Octopus and provides a look at the remarkable intelligence of the short lived cephalopods.
[via]
posted by quin
on Oct 25, 2011 -
66 comments
Over the centuries, the high seas have served as a blank canvas for cartographers’ worst nightmares. They have dotted the oceans with a whole crypto-zoo of island-sized whales, deathly seductive mermaids, giant sea serpents, and many more - a whole panoply of heraldic horrors. As varied as this marine bestiary is, mapmakers have settled on a single, favourite species for land-based beastliness: the octopus. Bonus:
Satire Maps and Fred W. Rose (YT, 3:32);
Fred Rose's Serio-Comic War Map (YT, 1:52).
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Aug 15, 2011 -
10 comments
Loving father. Caring husband.
Secret octopus. Octodad! "Master mundane tasks with his unwieldy boneless tentacles while simultaneously keeping his cephalopodian nature a secret from his human family."
posted by The Devil Tesla
on Dec 8, 2010 -
27 comments
By popular demand, your new resident marine biology nerd has compiled some cool information about the Giant Pacific Octopus.The Giant Pacific Octopus (
Octopus dofleini) is one of the strangest animals in the sea- and one of the smartest. Though it is commonly believed that vertebrates are always "smarter" than invertebrates, these guys defy that convention.
As this video shows, they are able to easily open jars and retrieve food from inside. They are also, as the "Giant" implies,
enormous- the biggest one on record was 30 feet across (
according to National Geographic)
[more inside]
posted by WhySharksMatter
on Jul 6, 2009 -
140 comments
From the greats of the silent era to the modern masterpieces of the 21st century, the medium of film has never truly achieved artistic perfection.
Until today.
posted by Lord_Pall
on May 12, 2009 -
90 comments
Octopus chaos. The Santa Monica Pier Aquarium's gregarious and curious two-spotted octopus plays with tank filter resulting in the release of hundreds of gallons of seawater flooding the facility. FLICK pix
here.
posted by azul
on Feb 26, 2009 -
72 comments
Kure Kure Takora was a
Toho produced, short form children's television show from the Japan in the early 1970's.
Meet the Cast:
Kure Kure Takora, aka Gimme Gimme Octopus; his closest friend, the coin vomiting squash
Chonbo; jellyfish bully
Tororo;
Monro, the sexy walrus who gets around;
Debura,the grizzled and world-weary badger;
Biragon, lazy trust-fund iguana; and last but not least, the picked on,
Sea Cucumber Gang.
An exhaustive listing of videos for all 220 episodes, most with plot breakdowns. [more inside]
posted by Lord_Pall
on Jan 5, 2009 -
18 comments
James Fenton
writes in the Guardian that the entire "flat" collection of the
British Museum is going into a searchable online index. Currently there are about 265,000 objects in the database with about 100,00 images. The article says that high quality images, suitable for print reproduction, and free to academic users, are coming soon. The search page is
here.
[more inside]
posted by shothotbot
on Nov 18, 2007 -
12 comments
Way too much thought about tentacle porn on this page, which details the history, current usage, and
'media' coverage of what to many seems the extreme of internet porn weirdness. Also covered are
Lovecraftian stories,
trinkets,
movies,
bestiality-inspired poetry and
modern pictorial porn (this is weird porn, NSFW, I'm warning you). Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to bleach my mind.
posted by Kickstart70
on Oct 16, 2007 -
41 comments
Gimmie Gimmie Octopus is apparently a Japanese children's television show from the 1960s.
Yes, it's YouTube, but at least there's no lip synching.
posted by klausness
on Jun 18, 2006 -
13 comments
Join the Sasquatch Militia Forest militarization: "The Bureau of Sasquatch Affairs' mission is to enhance the quality of life, promote economic and ecological opportunity, and to carry out the responsibility to protect and improve the trust assets of Sasquatch, Sasquatch culture and Cascadian native hominoids. We will accomplish this through the delivery of quality services, maintaining government-to-Sasquatch relationships within the spirit of Sasquatch self-determination." Supporting the right to keep and bear salmon from the
Republic of Cascadia.
posted by warbaby
on Dec 8, 2005 -
3 comments
Camouflaged and Walking octopuses Octopus marginatus and Octopus (Abdopus) aculeatus, that walk along the seafloor using two alternating arms and apparently use the remaining six arms for camouflage.
posted by dov3
on Mar 30, 2005 -
23 comments
Did he who made the lamb make
thee?
O. vulgaris, now appearing on a sea floor near you.
posted by Hildago
on Aug 8, 2003 -
12 comments
