Wonders of the deep

A transparent Sea Cucumber (I feel a haiku coming on)

I last reported on the International Census of Marine Life back in 2006 (I think). The census It has been a decade-long exploration of the deep and, unsurprisingly, it has revealed a startling range of exotic new species and alien ways to eke out a living in the perpetual darkness.

Over 300 scientists from 34 nations have studied the oceans using a range of tools including deep-diving submersibles, piloted robots automated drones discovering more than 17,000 new species in the process

For example an expedition to the mid-Atlantic ridge this discovered what is thought to be a new species related to the octopus, nicknamed the “Jumbo Dumbo” for its passing resemblance to the fictional flying elephant.

Dumbo squid

“If it came up in a trawl it would just be a lump of jelly, but photograph it from a submersible, and it’s very beautiful and graceful,” said Odd Aksel Bergstad of the University of Bergen. “We know very little about how they live. They’re predators but we don’t know what they feed on or how they reproduce. At least one of the nine kinds we found is probably a new species.

Much life in the deep relies on death in the sunlit waters above. While most food comes from the falling remains of tiny marine organisms, occasionally the biggest animals on the planet crash to the seabed. Seventeen species of “zombie bone-eating worms” — otherwise known as Osedax — survive on the rare bounty of a sunken whale.
In the deep, unidentified species are often the norm, not the exception. One cruise yielded 680 specimens of fly-like copepod, only seven of which could be identified.

Copepod

“The abyssal fauna is so rich in species diversity and so poorly described that collecting a known species is an anomaly,” said Dr David Billett of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. “Describing for the first time all the different species in any coffee cup-sized sample of deep-sea sediment is a daunting challenge.”

Information from the census will be used to inform efforts to protect the diversity and abundance of deep-sea species. Fishing the depths relies on bottom-trawling that can destroy fragile habitats before their existence is even realised. The offshore oil and gas industry is drilling in ever deeper water, and plans to mine rich mineral deposits on the seafloor are in prospect.

One word to describe my feeling about the new discoveries and that's WOW!

Robert Calvert - Robot

Here's Robert performing the classic song Robot which appeared on the 1979 Hawkwind album PXR5. THis would be the last Hawkwind album he appeared on (apart from the interminable compilation releases and abysmal crap like Bring m the Head of Yuri Gagarin of course).

Shame the sound quality is poor.

Robert Calvert - Aerospaceage Inferno

I'm not sure when this was recorded but I would hazard a guess at 1987 or 1988. That is not long before he died. Still it's good to be able to post a vid of my avatar in action

A date for the diary: Hein Heckroth

Today's Guardian reports that the BFI will hold an exhibition of paintings produced by German artist Hein Heckroth.



Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger formed one of the greatest partnerships in British cinema giving us such gems as A Matter of Life and Death, The Black Narcissus and perhaps their "Sistine Chapel" the Red Shoes.



In advance of the release of a restored version of the Red Shoes, some of the 2,000 artworks Heckroth produced in his role as set designer (for which he won an Oscar) for the film are being exhibited from 26 November.

I am not familiar with his work but a search on the work he did for the Red Shoes certainly makes me want to visit the exhibition.

Hugo Chavez talks crap, part 2465

Whatever he good may or may not do in Venezuela itself, Hugo Chavez consistently shows himself to be an imbecile when it comes to world affairs.

In a televised speech socialist politicians from various countries , Chavez managed to support Carlos the Jackal, reiterate his friendship for Mugabe and Ahmadinejad and even consider that Amin was not such a bad fellow after all...

The Venezuelan president praised Carlos — aka Ilich Sanchez Ramirez, a poor little rich kid Venezuelan who was generally who took up terrorism as something to do – as a useless as a freedom fighter — "revolutionary fighter" who supported the cause of the Palestinians. (not that his acts really did much to help the Palestinian cause much. "They accuse him of being a terrorist, but Carlos really was a revolutionary fighter,"

Chavez also sought to defend other leaders he said are wrongly labelled "bad boys" internationally, including Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Chavez called both of them brothers and said he now wonders whether Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was truly as brutal as he was reputed to be.

"We thought he was a cannibal," Chavez said, referring to Amin, whose regime was notorious for torturing and killing suspected opponents in the 1970s. "I have doubts. ... I don't know, maybe he was a great nationalist, a patriot."
Carlos the Jackal was hardly a principled fighter dedicated to the Palestinian cause. He was clearly in it for the money and, presumably, the violence. What does Chavez have to say about Carlos being hired by the Securitate to kill Romanian dissidents,. not that he was successful...

As for Mugabe and Ahmadinejad, Chavez once again spits in the face of those who want a better Zimbabwe and Iran but, hey Mugabe and Ahmadinejad are anti American so it’s all okay...

And Amin, where do you start?

The more Chavez opens his mouth the more of a twat he sounds. Perhaps he would be better sticking to Venezuela and not making an idiot of him

Now Jacko turns up in a foetal scan

Just when you think we have seen enough bad simulacra for a year (and it has been a bumper crop this year). This time it’s Michael Jackson once again.

According to the Telegraph parents-to-be Dawn Kelley and William Hickman had the fright of their life when looking at the ultrasound scan of their unborn baby, realising that it looked like the late pop singer.

Mr Hickman said: “We were looking at the pictures again, and I just saw Jacko there. None of us are really Michael Jackson fans. I mean I like him, but we’re not crazy about him or anything.”

Ms Kelley said: “I’ve had plenty of scans before and none of the photos have ever looked like this one. It’s a bit spooky really.”

Hmm even after death it seems that Michael Jackson can’t help hanging around children even if the child in question is a foetus....

A belated apology from Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry at Customs control at Dublin Airport

Better late than never some may say (although perhaps better he owned up to his handball at the time) but Thierry Henry has apologised for his handball during the World Cup playoff between France and the Republic of Ireland.

According to a report in today’s Guardian he now believes a replay would be the "fairest solution" to the continuing furore over the handball which led to the goal that eliminated Ireland from World Cup qualification, and said Ireland "deserve to be in South Africa".

"Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way that we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa," said Henry in a statement today. "Of course the fairest solution would be to replay the game but it is not in my control."

Henry handled the ball twice immediately before passing to team-mate William Gallas to score his side's decisive goal in the 1-1 draw on Wednesday, but referee Martin Hansson still allowed it despite vehement protests from the Ireland players.

In a statement he said: "I have said at the time and I will say again that yes I handled the ball. I am not a cheat and never have been. It was an instinctive reaction to a ball that was coming extremely fast in a crowded penalty area.

"It is impossible to be anything other than that. I have never denied that the ball was controlled with my hand. I told the Irish players, the referee and the media this after the game. Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way that we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa. There is little more I can do apart from admit that the ball had contact with my hand leading up to our equalising goal and I feel very sorry for the Irish."

Fifa have already turned down an Irish request for a replay of the match. Unsurprisingly the French have rejected any appeal.

Ireland's captain, Robbie Keane, said: "On behalf of the Republic of Ireland players, I would like to thank Thierry Henry for his statement this afternoon that in his opinion a replay would be the fairest option. I would also be happy for a replay to happen in the interest of fair play so that whichever team qualifies, can do so with their heads held high. We can only hope that the French Football Federation might accept the wishes of both captains in the best interests of the game."

Fat chance Robbie! The French are not going to throw away the millions they will earn from qualifying for the finals no matter how unfair it was. As for Henry, his apology is a little hollow given that he didn’t exactly pipe up at the time.
But then football is a funny old game. Shame nobody is laughing much...

Photo Hunt - Birds

The theme for this week's Photo Hunt is birds. So here are some birds... Top is a crow in flight outside my home. In the middle are two amorous pigeons in a neighbour's garden. Bottom is a sparrow tucking into sunflower seeds in Paris

Wonders never cease... at least for a minute anyway

Boris having been an only cat all his life (until July anyway) does not play well with others. Robyn has lived with other cats all his life so is more tolerant. It was still a surprise to see them both together - Robyn had jumped up and curled up beside Boris - and for a while they were quite content.. until Boris remembered himself and took a swipe at the old fellow

This week's entry for the Friday Ark and Carnival of the Cats.

Linguistics the final frontier

Minnesotan D'Armond Speers has been on a three-year mission in which he boldly split infinitives where no man had split them before

For three years Speers, a software consultant and expert in computational linguistics, spoke only Klingon to his son as part of an experiment to understand how children learn languages.

"I was interested in the question of whether my son, going through his first language acquisition process, would acquire it like any human language. He was definitely starting to learn it."

D'Armond's wife spoke in standard English.

D'Armond has since landed a job with an internet software company creating a dictionary in Klingon for use in language applications on mobile phones and computers

Hmm I wonder what his Kindergarten chums will think when Speers Minor calls them P’tachs!