wham bam thank you Odontodactylus
Last week I took another ludicrously short trip to the US, to attend a wedding Back East, visit my littlest sister, and talk about iridescence research (of which more later). Not as jetlagged as I might be; I attribute this to having perfected Ultimate Planesleep, or at least a really passable way to snooze on a 777. It looks like this
and is murder on the coccyx. I don't know about you folks, but I find that as long as all of my appendages are braced against something, it is a million times better than floppin' around trying to prop against a window or not drool on the unfortunate dude in the aisle seat. That $8 inflatable neck pillow finally seems like a good investment.
I would like to note here that Delta seems to have started a new route between the US and Australia this summer, and their fares are astounding. The primary reason I was able to make this trip was that Delta has $750 round-trip flights from Sydney to JFK (!), which is astoundingly cheap and passes though LAX (home of the Great American Wifi-Equipped Non-Snobby Airport Lounge That Is So Cheap A Grad Student Can Go Inside). This is about 1/2 to 1/3 the price of SYD-LAX alone on Qantas or United, the latter of which is just terrible. I was completely delighted to find that Delta, like Qantas (and unlike United), offers unlimited free (well, "free" given that you already paid for the airplane ticket) alcoholic beverages and on-demand seatback moves & television on long international routes. The first 10 rows of coach (on the 777, at least) also have power outlets under the seats. POWER OUTLETS! So you can work on beetle stuff even more on the plane! In conclusion: thumbs up, Delta. I had no idea an American carrier could suck so little.
Summer in NY/ MA was glorious. It was so humid and warm, that good ol' walking-through-a-Phil-Spector-Wall-of- Chicken-Soup feeling I remember from DC (flea beetles at the Smithsonian, 2001) and Ithaca (a magical summer of mosquito taxonomy, 2002). In honor of Northern Hemisphere summer, here is a beach shrew.
But this is not what I am here to say. Today I want to talk about stomatopods, because I've got stomatopods on the brain. Stomatopods are wonderful. Here is a grievously off-model rendition on scrap illustration board:
You need to know and love stomatopods, because stomatopods love you. Commonly known as mantis shrimp, these sleek, colorful arthropods are without question the angriest, bad-assest little mofos in the ocean. They have the most complex, googly eyes of any living thing. They can emit flashes of light and change colors at will. They can see circularly polarized light. Most importantly, they come in two flavors: the kind that will stab you to death, and the kind that will club you to death. If you are, as I am, delighted that such a wondrous creature exists on this benighted planet, here are some videos.
STABBO! (more stabbing)
Click to view
SMASHO!
In slow motion! (note cavitation)
INTRUDERS MUST BE SMASHED
Smarter than you!
Haplosquilla in love!
... for more on the stupendous UC Berkeley Stomatopod Squad, here is a very sweet article at Wired. Oscar the Stomatopod is, of course, on Facebook, and would like to be your friend.