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2 Finds Add To Giant Earthworm Science In Northwest

Posted by timothy on from the shai-hulud dept.

According to an article at Science Daily, "Native, possibly giant, earthworm science in the Pacific Northwest is advancing with the discovery of two new specimens from opposite sides of the interior Columbia River basin. University of Idaho soil scientist Jodi Johnson-Maynard, an associate professor in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, said an earthworm that was most likely a giant Palouse earthworm was found in early March near Moscow [Idaho]." I have trouble with the idea that worms of merely a foot long have trouble meeting the designation "giant" outside of Tremors or Arrakis. Update: 05/06 17:44 GMT by T : Correction: That's Moscow, Idaho, rather than Washington. Thanks to the alert reader who spotted this.

39 comments

  1. Yeah, that is a big one... by wildgnat · · Score: 1, Funny

    If my earth worm were a foot long I would call it a giant, too. In fact I call it a giant anyway.

  2. The vacuum of no replies compells me... by refactored · · Score: 0, Troll
    ...and I can't believe I'm burning karma this way....

    ..but I for one welcome our Giant Worm Overlords.

    ...at least until a Lensman can save us..

  3. "Do we have wormsign?" by leftie · · Score: 5, Funny

    "We have wormsign the likes of which even God has never seen."

    1. Re:"Do we have wormsign?" by grayshirtninja · · Score: 3, Funny

      If they're not big enough to ride, then they're not giant worms.

    2. Re:"Do we have wormsign?" by j-pimp · · Score: 1

      The spice must flow.

      --
      --- Justin Dearing http://www.justaprogrammer.net/ We're just programmers.
  4. Global worming! by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's causing it!

    --
    Engineering is the art of compromise.
    1. Re:Global worming! by Duradin · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Global worming wouldn't be a bad thing.

      Vermiculture has a lot of potential. And not just in the current global-warming-will-kill-us-all-we-must-think-of-the-children way you might be thinking.

      Of course inexpensive, self replicating solutions don't have a big enough profit margin and as far as I know there's no big vermi-lobby group out there (though a lot of lobbyists are pretty close to worms) nor any big subsidies.

    2. Re:Global worming! by Muad'Dave · · Score: 1
      The in-ground radiation from Hanford is causing it!!!! Soon We'll have to call Gamera and Godzilla to protect us from the giant nuclear worms and mutant, radiation-resistant bacteria.


      There's a rumor floating around that they just left a Naval reactor core lying on the surface because the dirt they were going to bury it in was already hotter than the core!

      --
      Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
  5. Bait by Sooner+Boomer · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe we can use one of these on a treble hook to catch giant squid.

    --
    Chaos maximizes locally around me.
    1. Re:Bait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You might want to use a triple hook unless you're trying to catch flutes.

    2. Re:Bait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.gamakatsu.com/catalog/treble.htm

      You fail it, smart guy.

    3. Re:Bait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Treble also means triple, genius.

    4. Re:Bait by temojen · · Score: 0

      Not to people who speak english.

    5. Re:Bait by FiloEleven · · Score: 1

      O RLY?

      --
      Your brain is not a computer.
  6. Giant earthworms... by dal20402 · · Score: 1

    ...are much smarter than the only other thing in the Palouse: Washington State Cougars.

    1. Re:Giant earthworms... by gardyloo · · Score: 1

      You must be one of those mouth-breathing Huskies :)

    2. Re:Giant earthworms... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cross-bread with a Vandal!

  7. How much of the worm do you need? by TubeSteak · · Score: 1

    With damaged or incomplete specimens, as frequently happens with soft-bodied organisms like worms, it is often only possible to determine the genus because additional structures and details are required to identify the species. I thought if you had ~50% of a worm, it'll basically regrow the rest.

    Why is that not the case here?
    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
    1. Re:How much of the worm do you need? by vajaradakini · · Score: 4, Informative

      Usually you just need the head end and the worm will regrow (but I think this depends on the specific worm). If the 50% is the tail end then it doesn't regrow and if it's just random part in the middle (i.e. if they're taking a core sample and get a 3 inch section from the middle of a 1m long worm) then you're not really going to have much at all to go on.

      I don't know if you've ever dissected a worm in high school biology class, but they've pretty much got organs in the front and intestines and nerves through the rest and then a place to poop at the end and that's about it (simplifying).

      But yeah... worms = uber creepy.

      --
      what's that now?
  8. moscow, id not wa by adpowers · · Score: 2, Informative

    a giant Palouse earthworm was found in early March near Moscow [Washington]." That is Moscow, Idaho, not Washington.
  9. Giant? by iCEBaLM · · Score: 1

    Looks about the same size of worms we have here in Ontario.

    1. Re:Giant? by pla · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Looks about the same size of worms we have here in Ontario.

      No kidding... I suspect these things just hide fairly well.

      In Northern New England, I've personally seen worms stretching all the way across my front walkway (over two feet) during light evening rain - And judging by the speed with which it snapped back into its hole when I poked at it, I'd say it had more than half its body still underground at the time.

      "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy". Just because we haven't caught and dissected one yet, doesn't mean they don't exist.

  10. That's not a worm... by BoogieChile · · Score: 5, Interesting

    - I have trouble with the idea that worms of merely a foot long have trouble meeting the designation "giant" outside of Tremors or Arrakis.

    Try this one on for size...

    http://museumvictoria.com.au/DiscoveryCentre/Infosheets/Giant-Gippsland-Earthworm

  11. Sandtrout by MadUndergrad · · Score: 2, Informative

    So when are they going to find sandtrout? You need those before the truly large worms make their appearance.

    1. Re:Sandtrout by Bender0x7D1 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The sandtrout come from the worms themselves. They are the next stage in the life cycle. The real question is how did we get the giant worms without the sandtrout and without a large amount of spice as a catalyst.

      --
      Reading code is like reading the dictionary - you have to read half of it before you can go back and understand it.
    2. Re:Sandtrout by rockhome · · Score: 1

      Actually, the sandtrout may have come to Arrakis from an extra-terrestrial origin.
      If you pay really, really, really close attentionto Children of Dune, you'll find that mentioned.

      So the worms came from aliens. Just like the Mayan temples.

  12. Wrong Story/Movie by sconeu · · Score: 1

    Call Kevin Bacon... it's TREMORS!!!!!

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  13. Yes, but... by joetheappleguy · · Score: 1

    ...Do they poop out the Spice Melange?

    1. Re:Yes, but... by illumastorm · · Score: 1

      The worms are the spice!

  14. A question for anyone who RTFA by edittard · · Score: 1

    What's giant here, the science - giant (earthworm science) or the worms - (giant earthworm) science?

    --
    At the bottom of the /. main page it says 'Yesterday's News'. Well they got that right.
    1. Re:A question for anyone who RTFA by Discoflamingo13 · · Score: 1

      I think the short answer is "YES".

  15. Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Palousse worm gets MUCH longer than a foot when mature - but the trouble is that the species is nearly extinct.

  16. That's not a worm... by clint999 · · Score: 0

    If they're not big enough to ride, then they're not giant worms.
    --
    College-Pages.com - Online Colleges, Degrees, and Programs
  17. This explains the Nevada tremblors also! by apl73 · · Score: 1

    Nevada's been undergoing a series of micro quakes of increasing magnitude. Three possible explanations:

    1/ serious work activity
    2/ Buckaroo Banzai's prototype earth borer is fully
            operational
    3/ The chinese are beating us to the punch and digging thru before we can....

  18. Gaaaaah-Rooooooovy!! by Hellpop · · Score: 2, Informative

    Sorry, couldn't resist!
    Let's just hope one of them finds that super-suit.

    --
    "People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything."
  19. Did they use maker hooks? by rockhome · · Score: 1

    Did they use maker hooks to capture the worms?

    Are these just little makers?

    1. Re:Did they use maker hooks? by AgentSmith · · Score: 1

      Emperor Al Gore: I have ridden the mighty moon worm!

      Fry: Good for him!

      Naw. They're just little makers. They're cute until you pop 'em in water.
      Then it gets nasty.

  20. Vermiculture is great by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 1
    Worms are great soil reconditioners and recyclers. They breed well too: can achieve in excess of x1000 biomass increase in less than a year if kept in the correct conditions.

    Worms condition the soil by reducing compaction and improving the water holding ability of the soil. Unfortunately a lot of human agricultural methods (insecticides and fertilisers) can harm them or kill them.

    Apart from their natural soil conditioning function, they can also be harvested for use as high protein animal feed.

    --
    Engineering is the art of compromise.
    1. Re:Vermiculture is great by DarkKnightRadick · · Score: 1

      You forgot fish bait.

      --
      "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Proverbs 16:25 (NKJV)