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Oil Exploration Leads To Video of a Mysterious Elbowed Squid
eldavojohn writes "A rare glimpse from Shell Oil of a giant squid brings to light the strange relationships some deep sea marine biologists have with drilling companies. The video of the squid (Magnapinna) is very rare as this creature remains largely a mystery to science. While some are concerned of a conflict of interest, biologists and big oil sure make for strange bedfellows. The video is from 200 miles off the coast of Houston, TX and about 4,000 feet down." Looking at this creature gives me the willies, frankly.
Damn, mother nature is really infinitely more inventive than every sci-fi movie director or write in the world. I mean, this is something I would expect to find on some alien planet or something.
As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields.
biologists and big oil sure make for strange bedfellows
Really? I would think that they (deep sea drillers and deep sea biologists) have learned quite a bit from each other over the years.
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IP address Finding
Research is research. The data doesn't 'care' who paid for the camera. Besides it is in Shell (or whomever's) interest to understand as much as possible about the location they plan on dumping large amounts of money on.
What happens if there is an alien colony down there? Wouldn't you like to know? Don't go expecting Shell to fund a study of these things, but why wouldn't they show it to people. Looks pretty cool actually.
And didn't the camera say about 7500 feet (not 4000 as in TFS)?
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
This is why I don't eat creatures from the ocean.
Hopefully they'll return the courtesy.
using nothing but my keyboard and mouse!
Not Cthulhu, but possibly a distant cousin of something else:
He speculates that Magnapinna passively waits for prey to bump into the sticky appendages
Could these sticky appendages also be... noodly?
Based on analysis of videos not unlike the one captured at the Perdido site, scientists know that the adult Magnapinna observed to date range from 5 to 23 feet (1.5 to 7 meters) long
From the second page of the article.
This is clearly a new branch of Homeland Security for Cthulhu. Tired of people carrying around copies of the Necronomicon to dispell him, he has invested in an army of multi-jointed drifters to act as a lynch mob should any deep sea fish try to exchange knowledge of his whereabouts for a reduction in EU tuna quota.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Oil Shmoil, I smell a new revenue stream for porn.
Table-ized A.I.
You never hear the full quote, but it is so much better then the shortened version:
Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.
Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart, he dreams himself your master.
Still not as scary as Dolphins with Opposable Thumbs
That is a bacteriophage, which is neither a cold nor a flu virus.
"Excuse me, did you say 'Trekker'? The word is 'Trekkie.' I should know; I created them." -- Gene Roddenberry
Damn, a giant squid, a robot submarine AND big oil!
Now if only;
* The robot ran BSD, but formerly ran Vista
* The MAFIAA was claiming copyright on the film
* On close inspection, the squid had a google logo but was in fact an alien species
* Some jerk had just been granted a lame patent for 'swimming at great depths with tentacles'
We'd never need another!
Someone please shoot the asshole controlling the camera
Chill out - the camera's servo only has one speed as should be obvious from the panning when the view zooms out versus when it zooms in. You would not have done any better.
But how would the giant squid be able to pay?
Repton.
They say that only an experienced wizard can do the tengu shuffle.
In other news, Cthulhu ask us if we could go drilling for Oil at another place rather than at Rlyeh, because He would rather like to be left alone slumbering in peace, thank you very much.
All this noise gives Him maddening head aches....
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Truly awesome video and a truly awesome creature visible for the first time. Awesome might even be a bit understated.
But, the manner in which it was discovered? As ordinary as dirt. Face it ... imperial expansion, military exercises and exploration of the furthest corners of the earth, and beyond, and below, are all pretty much the province of the miner, the soldier, the geologist, the imperialist paying those salaries. There is nothing new about how this was found ... it's how EVERYTHING is found. The hunter finds the range and extent of the animals in the local area. The mapping of America was done by fur traders and those seeking treasure. You could go on and on.
There are those who oppose commercial enterprise, who oppose war and the exercises that preparation for war entail, who find man is essentially unkind to both man and the world he lives in. But, they learn from the adventures and the wallets of the "Bad Man".
That Shell released this video is hardly a surprise. Our entire knowledge of the world around us is essentially paid for by those like Shell Oil and those who came before them. Shell Oil is as interested in advancing our knowledge as anyone; perhaps more so because they intend to live in this world where this particular creature was found.
To imply evil intent is really off base ... they have plenty of opportunity to be evil the markets, on Capital Hill, at the UN, or the WTO. Note that few endangered species are likely to be found in those places, that is the environment of man, and is also the place where you are most likely to encounter the environmentalist, PETA, and the like.
They don't go a mile or more under the ocean's surface ... Shell Oil does, though.
I have never met anyone who works in the field for companies like Shell who is not far more aware of the world around them than those who occupy the cities and rail against the destruction of our environment. They have tremendous respect for the environment and the absolute wonder of the world we live in. Those who sit at their computers or write letters about banning plastic bags have no concept of the outdoors, usually. In fact, they rarely go about exploring the very city they live in.
is that the same anatomies keep getting reinvented for various reasons: environment, food source, etc.
so you have dolphins mimicking the body plans of fish
you have bats mimicking the body plans of birds
you have the herds of grazers during the dinosaur age and the predators who track them, and you have the herds of grazers in our age and the predators who track them
the same bodyplans and anatomical features and feeding strategies keep getting reinvented
and here, you have a squid, who has evolved to live like a jellyfish
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it