Evil Biology Facts That Fill Me With Fear :)

I love this idea.

Can you render the lyrics of Never Gonna Give You Up?

i’ve gotten this request several times now, so for anyone who asked for this after uniquepickles you can just look at this post.

enjoy!:

letter sequence in this ask matching protein-coding amino acids:

WerenstrangerstlveYknwtherlesandsdIdIAfllcmmitmentswhatImthinkingfYwldntgetthisfrmanythergyIstwannatellyhwImfeelingGttamakeynderstandNevergnnagiveypNevergnnaletydwnNevergnnarnarndanddesertyNevergnnamakeycryNevergnnasaygdyeNevergnnatellalieandhrtyWeveknwneachtherfrslngYrheartseenachingtyretshytsayitsayitInsidewethknwwhatseengingngingnWeknwthegameandweregnnaplayitAndifyaskmehwImfeelingDnttellmeyretlindtseeNevergnnagiveypNevergnnaletydwnNevergnnarnarndanddesertyNevergnnamakeycryNevergnnasaygdyeNevergnnatellalieandhrtyNevergnnagiveypNevergnnaletydwnNevergnnarnarndanddesertyNevergnnamakeycryNevergnnasaygdyeNevergnnatellalieandhrtyWeveknwneachtherfrslngYrheartseenachingtyretshytsayitsayitInsidewethknwwhatseengingngingnWeknwthegameandweregnnaplayitIstwannatellyhwImfeelingGttamakeynderstandNevergnnagiveypNevergnnaletydwnNevergnnarnarndanddesertyNevergnnamakeycryNevergnnasaygdyeNevergnnatellalieandhrtyNevergnnagiveypNevergnnaletydwnNevergnnarnarndanddesertyNevergnnamakeycryNevergnnasaygdyeNevergnnatellalieandhrtyNevergnnagiveypNevergnnaletydwnNevergnnarnarndanddesertyNevergnnamakeycryNevergnnasaygdyeNevergnnatellalieandhrty

protein guy analysis:

i was really interested to see how this one would turn out, as it is made up almost entirely of repeated domains (the chorus). unfortunately, as many of you may be quick to point out, the chorus of Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' is not in fact a protein domain, and the only thing repeated are some terrible looking loops. i've even included a second picture to properly show you how flat this terrible protein is.

i thought i understood Levinthal's paradox before starting this blog, but these structures are giving me a newfound appreciation. for those who are unaware, Levinthal's paradox is based on the fact that any given protein can fold into an enormous number of possible conformations, but cannot test all of these within the seconds or less that it takes for a protein to fold into its stable tertiary structure. correct folding is controlled by the primary structure (or, the sequence of amino acids encoding the protein) as well as complex factors including the presence of any chaperones to assist with folding, and the relative abundance of the tRNAs matching specific codons for each amino acid. running this blog makes me think of all the ways this process can fail along the way, and all of the almost correct places a protein can get stuck. this one certainly looks like it failed, but even then its hard to believe this is the shape that stuck.

for those interested, the one beta sheet goes with the line 'you wouldn't get this from any other guy', which does only occur once in the song.

predicted protein structure:

THIS OCTOPUS IS HAVING A NIGHTMARE, SCIENTISTS BELIEVE.

Sleep is a fundamental biological function present in all vertebrates and most invertebrates. Octopuses are really complex animals, displaying active and inactive sleep states similar to those of vertebrates. In particular, octopuses have active sleep states during which they display sequences of camouflage patterns, while remaining relatively quiet and unresponsive to external stimuli. Some scientists have speculated that these states could be analogous to dreaming in mammals.

Now, researchers have recorder what is believing an octopuses having nightmare. During a month, researchers recorded a male Brazilian reef octopus (Octopus insularis), and they detected four brief episodes were identified during which the octopus abruptly emerged from sleep, detached itself from its sleep position, and engaged in antipredator behaviors, despite no predator was present. The longest of these episodes resembled the species-typical response to a predatory attack, suggesting that the animal may have been responding to a negative episodic memory while sleeping.

However, these are just conjectures, as it is hard to be sure, according to scientists, who claim that more studies are needed to ensure that they really are nightmares.

Gif from video: Eric Ramos et al

Reference:  Ramos et al., 2023. Abnormal behavioral episodes associated with sleep and quiescence in Octopus insularis: Possible nightmares in a cephalopod?. bioRxiv.

video can be seen here

ScienceAlert

Wild Elephants Invent Names For One Another in Surprise Sign of Abstract Thinking

Elephants call out to each other using individual names that they invent for their fellow pachyderms, a study said on Monday.

Elephants call out to each other using individual names that they invent for their fellow pachyderms, a study said on Monday. While dolphins and parrots have been observed addressing each other by mimicking the sound of others from their species, elephants are the first non-human animals known to use names that do not involve imitation, the researchers suggested. For the new study, a team of international researchers used an artificial intelligence algorithm to analyse the calls of two wild herds of African savannah elephants in Kenya. The research "not only shows that elephants use specific vocalisations for each individual, but that they recognise and react to a call addressed to them while ignoring those addressed to others," lead study author Michael Pardo said. "This indicates that elephants can determine whether a call was intended for them just by hearing the call, even when out of its original context," the behavioural ecologist at Colorado State University said in a statement.

Continue Reading.

This lie was pushed by the White House as well as every major Western news source...

who still haven't recanted it with anywhere near the energy they spread it with.

This lie is still being used to justify the extermination of the Palestinian people

There must be a ferocious reckoning for this.

“New” (extinct, but we just discovered it) vampire squid just dropped

Meet the vampyrofugiens atramentum

Source

just found out that giant squid meat is chock fucking full of ammonium ions to increase buoyancy so they would taste fucking disgusting if you tried to make calamari out of them. i mean i wasn't planning on it but a girl can dream right? nobody talk to me

Going into 2024 like… 🦀 🖤 😞

@confidently-regretful

(Sorry to be that guy but) the leaf sheep is not actually a nudibranch, but instead part of the closely related order sacoglossa. Nudibranches are carnivorous while sacoglossa are herbivorous and feed by sucking the sap out of microscopic algae. Many sacoglossa perform a process called kleptoplasty, where they reuse chloroplasts from the algal sap they feed on and implement them into their cells. Some notable examples are the bivalve snails in the family juliidae, the eastern emerald elysia (elysia chlorotica) and obviously the sea sheep. Another slug from the order elysia (elysia rufescens) reuses defensive molecules called kahalalides as well as chloroplasts. Most sacoglossans survive primarily through heterotrophic means (ingesting and digesting) and photosynthesise when food is scarce or unavailable as a last resort. Though research has shown leaf sheep can survive long periods of time with little to no food of heterotrophic or homotrophic (photosynthetic) origin. They store their chloroplasts in cerata, which are structures often found on nudibranches and regularly used for gas exchange or- in blue glaucus’ case- for attack and defence. They also have rhinophores protruding from their face, structures also commonly found on nudibranches, which are chemosensory organs (essentially face tongues) that appear ear like on nudibranches and sacoglossans alike.

To conclude: while leaf sheep are very similar to nudibranches, they belong to the sacoglossan family (which is good because sacoglossans are just as cool) and luckily are not the only animals to photosynthesise.

(I’m researching them for a highschool project and am so obsessed haha)

So not technically a fish but I absolutely love these lil fellas

They’re Nudibranch sea slugs and they all look so pretty!!!!!

Some notable exception are the Sea Bunny (left) which is just the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen

And the Leaf Sheep (right), which is the only animal known to be capable of photosynthesis!

i am SUCH a nudibranch fan oh my god. actual underwater fae creatures. beloved little freak animals. i want to eat them like cereal