More coolness from the world of science

Sand Dollar

If I could have gotten past the biochemistry and molecular biology courses, I probably would have become some sort of ecologist or biologist.

Scientists studying a certain species of sand dollar (Dendraster excentricus if anyone cares) have discovered that the larvae will bud and clone themselves when they detect fish mucous in the water.  This cloning makes the "offspring" larvae smaller, and supposedly less easy for the fish to find among the plankton and other bits o' tiny stuff in the sea.  The larvae (known as plutei - there is your official word of the day to impress your friends) can't swim very fast and really don't have any other defences.  The cloning takes about 24 hours to complete, so it isn't exactly a defence against a fish attack, more like a precaution when fish are present in the vicinity.  A set back in development seems a worthy trade-off, even if only one of the clones survive.

Nature is just plain cool.

Problem is, now all I have in my head is this image of me threatening the obnoxious, very loud little child that lives down the hall, and having him spontaneously divide into four miniature versions of himself.  Annoyance in surround sound, and higher pitched...