Life: The Sequel
I just re-animated life in the restroom.
Today, I decided to change the water in the Sit and Spin "fishcube." Hastily, I decided to forgo the recommended warmup of the new water. You see, when you remove fish from one environment to another, it is advantageous to equilibrate the temperature of the new body of water to that of the old body of water. The fish will not die of shock due to climatic differences. So, today I skipped that step because the Aquababies' owner's manual reassured me that the White Cloud is a hearty fish that can withstand environmental changes. I emptied the tank and removed the fish to a cooler vessel in which to wait a few minutes before going back into a freshly clean tank. I began working on the fish tank and decided the plant's growth too rapid and trimmed it down to size so as not to encumber fish life because we don't want any fins being stepped on, so to speak. I rinsed the tank many times to get rid of all the poop and tree debris that accumulated in the time since the last change. Thinking the fish safe and comfortable in their temporary surroundings, I neglected to check in on them for about five minutes. This turned out to be a mistake.
Both fish sank to the bottom of the cup! Lifeless! My God, what have you done? Can nothing be done to save such young minnow lives?
Somewhere within the depths of my clouded intellect, I recalled a fact I learned in high school and never found useful until right now. Japanese fish exporters ship live fish on dry ice to the United States where they are thawed and re-animated. Certainly, the temperature and composition of dry ice differs from that of cold water, but using my scientific brain I deduced that similar conditions may well produce similar results. Such thinking led to the idea that submerging the freshly dead fish in a glass of warm water may resuscitate the animal and allow it to live again! So, I obtained a glass and filled it with cold water and put it in the microwave to heat it as we do not have running hot water at the store. After a minute and a half (I guessed our microwave to heat inefficiently as it is an older model), I removed the incubator from the oven and tested it with my hand to check the temperature. It felt about right. I dug one fish from the bottom of the cup and threw him into the warm pool. Instead of sinking, the fish began to float and I assumed that since it's swim bladder would appear to be functioning now, the fish had no other choice except to live! The fish rose to the top of the tank and I decided to chill the warm water with more cold to even and acclimate the fish to the warmer temperature. This did not help. The fish again did not respond to the treatment. My new hypothesis: cooler, warm water will not fry the fish and may restore life.
I dredged the second fish from his blue abyss and introduced him to a slightly-warmer than room temperature volume. Immediately, the fish rose from the cup and I swore I saw it's gills begin to work. Hopeful, I cooled the water further and the fish's body began to twitch and in a few seconds, began to swim slowly across the three inch diameter of the cup! The Japanese were right! In no time, the fish began to swim as it did previous to it's trial with suspended animation. I re-animated the fish! The once life supporter transformed to life giver! Is this the role of the God so many choose to worship? Will the fish now worship and pray in some fish way to my genius and power?
The fish has a new name. It is Lazarus.
The other fish did not fare so well. I let him remain afloat at the top of the tank as Laz circled about his lifeless, bloated carcass. I hoped for a reversal of his misfortune but it would not come. It has not come yet. I have not and will not give up on that fish.
Anyway, on a somewhat related note, I saw the film "Vanilla Sky" last night. The movie was both psychological thriller and sci-fi pulp without emerging pretentiously. The crux of the film, not unlike my episode with the fish today, is re-animation. Without giving too much away, I liked the film a whole lot and thought the performances and direction excellent. Bits and pieces reminded me of "Total Recall," "A.I.," "Seven," and "Good Burger." Not really on the whole "Good Burger" tip. Just kidding. The film has "Fight Club" potential in the sense that repeated viewings will reveal overlooked hints and clues pertaining to the conclusion. It's a trip worth taking and I found it both inspiring and depressing simultaneously. Most surprisingly, I found the soundtrack palatable which is hardly the norm in feature films this day where the need for multimedia crossover success overrules quality.
I never like to review movies fully because I encourage those who would read this to see the movie and form their opinion so we can discuss it.
Today, I decided to change the water in the Sit and Spin "fishcube." Hastily, I decided to forgo the recommended warmup of the new water. You see, when you remove fish from one environment to another, it is advantageous to equilibrate the temperature of the new body of water to that of the old body of water. The fish will not die of shock due to climatic differences. So, today I skipped that step because the Aquababies' owner's manual reassured me that the White Cloud is a hearty fish that can withstand environmental changes. I emptied the tank and removed the fish to a cooler vessel in which to wait a few minutes before going back into a freshly clean tank. I began working on the fish tank and decided the plant's growth too rapid and trimmed it down to size so as not to encumber fish life because we don't want any fins being stepped on, so to speak. I rinsed the tank many times to get rid of all the poop and tree debris that accumulated in the time since the last change. Thinking the fish safe and comfortable in their temporary surroundings, I neglected to check in on them for about five minutes. This turned out to be a mistake.
Both fish sank to the bottom of the cup! Lifeless! My God, what have you done? Can nothing be done to save such young minnow lives?
Somewhere within the depths of my clouded intellect, I recalled a fact I learned in high school and never found useful until right now. Japanese fish exporters ship live fish on dry ice to the United States where they are thawed and re-animated. Certainly, the temperature and composition of dry ice differs from that of cold water, but using my scientific brain I deduced that similar conditions may well produce similar results. Such thinking led to the idea that submerging the freshly dead fish in a glass of warm water may resuscitate the animal and allow it to live again! So, I obtained a glass and filled it with cold water and put it in the microwave to heat it as we do not have running hot water at the store. After a minute and a half (I guessed our microwave to heat inefficiently as it is an older model), I removed the incubator from the oven and tested it with my hand to check the temperature. It felt about right. I dug one fish from the bottom of the cup and threw him into the warm pool. Instead of sinking, the fish began to float and I assumed that since it's swim bladder would appear to be functioning now, the fish had no other choice except to live! The fish rose to the top of the tank and I decided to chill the warm water with more cold to even and acclimate the fish to the warmer temperature. This did not help. The fish again did not respond to the treatment. My new hypothesis: cooler, warm water will not fry the fish and may restore life.
I dredged the second fish from his blue abyss and introduced him to a slightly-warmer than room temperature volume. Immediately, the fish rose from the cup and I swore I saw it's gills begin to work. Hopeful, I cooled the water further and the fish's body began to twitch and in a few seconds, began to swim slowly across the three inch diameter of the cup! The Japanese were right! In no time, the fish began to swim as it did previous to it's trial with suspended animation. I re-animated the fish! The once life supporter transformed to life giver! Is this the role of the God so many choose to worship? Will the fish now worship and pray in some fish way to my genius and power?
The fish has a new name. It is Lazarus.
The other fish did not fare so well. I let him remain afloat at the top of the tank as Laz circled about his lifeless, bloated carcass. I hoped for a reversal of his misfortune but it would not come. It has not come yet. I have not and will not give up on that fish.
Anyway, on a somewhat related note, I saw the film "Vanilla Sky" last night. The movie was both psychological thriller and sci-fi pulp without emerging pretentiously. The crux of the film, not unlike my episode with the fish today, is re-animation. Without giving too much away, I liked the film a whole lot and thought the performances and direction excellent. Bits and pieces reminded me of "Total Recall," "A.I.," "Seven," and "Good Burger." Not really on the whole "Good Burger" tip. Just kidding. The film has "Fight Club" potential in the sense that repeated viewings will reveal overlooked hints and clues pertaining to the conclusion. It's a trip worth taking and I found it both inspiring and depressing simultaneously. Most surprisingly, I found the soundtrack palatable which is hardly the norm in feature films this day where the need for multimedia crossover success overrules quality.
I never like to review movies fully because I encourage those who would read this to see the movie and form their opinion so we can discuss it.