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New Species of Worms Found To Release "Bombs"
caffiend666 writes "A newly found deep ocean worm 'can cast off green glowing body parts, a move scientists think may be a defensive effort to confuse attackers. Researchers have dubbed the newly discovered critters "green bombers." ... The first of the new species has been given the scientific name Swima bombiviridis. ... [T]he worms are able to regenerate the body parts.' So, it's a naturally occurring animal that rips off its arms and throws them, and we're not talking about a game from ID Software?"
I too use a type of bomb that can repel attackers. Mine doesn't confuse visually, though... it's more of an olfactory experience.
What doesn't kill you only delays the inevitable
Too many jokes to choose from...
The first of the new species has been given the scientific name Swima bombiviridis.
Subsequently, the entire scientific community got together to call the researchers and tell them they're not allowed to name any new species, ever. This was not the first time such had happened. Ever since the 2007 Sunken-Eyed Lemur was given the scientific name masturbatus furious the scientific community has been tightening the leash on allowing researchers to label their discoveries.
I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.
So this is the latest update to Conficker?
Our understanding to the biodiversity on Earth is limited and biased, hopefully we can discover more about this amazing place before any natural or artificial catastrophic event that would create yet another genetic bottleneck. Not that life won't go on living, but the subsequent environment will certainly not pleasant for human beings.
But I prefer worms that throw banana bombs, super sheep, and can wield a shotgun.
I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
Those scientists seem to be total noobs when it comes to things that can be dropped.
Mind you, they need a knife, but a penis can be thrown at pursuers... once. Well, unless you have a symbiotic relationship with some surgeons.
"Common sense will be the death of us all"
I too welcome our bomb-releasing bio-luminescent worm overlords.
Wrong war analogy - the worms are releasing chaff.
"Bomb" is a bit of a misnomer. This is more of a flare/chaff countermeasure.
Call it biological countermeasures or BCM if you need an accurate and succinct term for generating buzz.
isn't that the real story here?
I know that it's also a new type of deep sea swimming worm but is the really sexy part that it glows? The article also points out that several other ocean creatures drop off or "throw" body parts, but I think they don't glow. Squids can drop off an arm and I think sea cucumbers can spit out something from their gut. Of course, many lizards can also break off their tail. I guess the real question is whether humans should develop glowing detachable body parts ...
Lizards do it with their (continuing to wiggle) tail if they flee an enemy. So what's the excitement with this?
Like with fighter jets.
It lights. It does not explode!
But how are you going to get the hype machine going, to for once in your desperate life get some attention, right caffiend666?
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
I, for one, welcome our new deep-ocean dwelling, bomb-releasing overlords.
-nd
What seems most interesting about this discovery is any possible evolutionary links. The common yard lizard in the southern USA (Florida, Texas, 'Bama, Georgia) loses its tail when attacked. Some starfish will break off a limb as a decoy. Many other examples across the phyla, kingdoms and classes.
Has the ability to lose a limb and regenerate evolved multiple times? Is this an evolutionarily ancient and common ability that humans have lost? Or these species linked on some crooked branch and our tree description is just totally screwed up?
I think those are the real questions this article raises.
because then we could label them terra-rists.
(sorry).
"I bless every day that I continue to live, for every day is pure profit."
Sorry, but you wrote that name wrong. It's "id Sowftware".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id_software#Company_name
factor 966971: 966971
Bomb-dropping worms and no one mentions the Worms series from Team17?
There was a species of human who's legs would fall off when they got scared too. All eaten though. Sad.
Equine Mammals Are Considerably Smaller
id software today filed a patent infringement suit in Texas against the worms.
I was thinking the same thing. I guess that "Green Chaffer" just doesn't have the same ring to it.
I want to get one and hug and love it and squeeze it until it throws all it's legs at me :D
Ave Molech Setting
Wheres the expected slashdot comment "that sounds like my old girlfriend"?
Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
I coulda sworn that I heard something like this about some glowie aquatic doomahickie before.
In that case, the defense mechanism was all about getting loads of brightly glowing goo stuck to the attacker... I guess in the hope that "There's always a bigger fish"
Either that, or it's just an anti-shoplifting mechanism gone horribly wrong.
The Digital Sorceress
Those are actually antlion larvae. If you eat those green things it will actually cure any of your ailments and make you feel absolutely terrific.
While this is an interesting new creature, this ability is hardly something new. Sea cucumbers after all are already known for its ability to fire off select internal organs at predators as a distraction so they can flee...
Yes - sea cucumbers puke their guts out, literally. However, I think the term "flee" is a little strong for a creature that tops out at 2 meters per minute.
Green glowing body parts being called bombs? Are these researchers in any way related to the police officers involved in the Boston bomb scare of '07?
so they can flee...
Have you ever seen a fleeing sea cucumber? That must be SOME organ that they jetison if it keeps a predator busy for that long...
that was the most disappointing paragraph below the coolest headline ever.
i think i want nature to find a way to knock us down on the food chain before we find a way to do that haha. organic landmine-laying giant toxic worms could be the start of a new evolutionary trend. i mean, i'd fuck those worms up but...you never know what their grandchildren would look like....
Yeah, I got yer bomb-launching worm right here.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
Back in my day, we didn't allow our worms to have limbs.
What's next? Monkeys without tails?
The Everlasting Gobstopereas?
The enemies of Democracy are
When did worms start having limbs?
As a scientist currently working on a NOAA research ship, my first reaction to this article was essentially: wow that is neat, we find so much cool stuff when we actually look for it! Our ship uses high resolution bathymetric SONAR, and we make discoveries every day on the sea floor that no one ever knew existed. And we regularly find things that help to explain other phenomena of the oceans, bays, and estuaries. The sad part is that science (speaking from an American perspective here) is relatively poorly funded or even understood by the vast majority of American citizens. I hope that in the near future, institutes like Scripps and agencies like NOAA will received better funding so that we can continue making great discoveries like these worms and show people that science is cool! There is lots and lots of exploring to do in the ocean.
A lot of creatures in the ocean do that, usually to startle or distract whatever is chasing them. That wasn't what was so special about it. Most luminous organisms in the ocean glow blue; these glow green, and are rare in that respect (at least in the ocean, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxfire_(bioluminescence) ). The original publication ( http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/325/5943/964 ) was only claiming that they found several new species in the deep sea that were unrelated to known organisms. Of course, they have this media-friendly property that they release glowing 'bombs'.
Also, yes, whoever sees it first gets to name it - whatever they want. Obviously this can lead to much silliness.
They have a scientific name for /. readers?
Emptious-Numerator Divided-Dottus.
Sometimes referred to simply as Divided-Dottus or the symbols '/.'.
David Attenburrough Seas of Life has a creature (you might call it a worm)that uses the same tactic.