Weirdiocity

Bacteriophages Attack Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria. Illustration Credit: MIT I know an old lady, who swallowed a phage, it wriggled and jiggled, and tickled inside her. She swallowed a phage to catch the bacteria, but I don’t know why she swallowed the bacteria. I guess she’ll live. Welcome to the wonderful world of phages. Today I’ve taken the liberty of amending a nursery rhyme’s catchy lyrics to create a more factual, albeit less melodic, tale of swallowing success. Rather than teaching children to inhale large animals, lets look at helpful microbes and their abilities to keep us healthy.

Herring Gull holding a worm. Photo Credit: Ralph Hancock The rhythmic tapping sounds like faint footsteps in the ground, but underneath, the tumultuous pitter patter is music to worms’ senses: “rain!” Unfortunately for worms, vibrations can be deceiving.

Giant Sandwich. Photo Credit: Madmajesty Whether colloquial or competitive, the limits of human consumption have perplexed audiences for decades. From local restaurants’ challenges to national competitions, stomach capacity is an unanswered (but repeatedly tested) worldwide question. Although competitive eating contests have been around since 1916, records keep going up. In the absence of empirical evidence, some scientists are turning to theoretical models to answer this question.

Christmas Tree Worm. Photo Credit: Armando F. Jenik Christmas in July has become a cultural staple and the recent pandemic has brought it nothing, if not more, publicity and believers. For those who celebrate Christmas, whether fad or tradition, tree decorating only comes once (or now twice) a year. In the world’s tropical seas however, living Christmas trees are erected year around. Christmas tree worms ( Spirobranchus giganteus ) are brightly colored marine polychaetes, or segmented worms. As you’ve probably guessed, their common name comes from the branched cones (or trees) that adorn their bodies.

The Multicolored Response of the Plant Septum. Photo Credit: Guidetti et al. 2020 The radiant, luminous colors of plants have captivated organisms for millions of years, inspiring pollination, feeding, and more recently— flower-picking. What gives plants this captivating sheen and how does it influence our perception of them? To answer this question, scientists took a lighter look at plants and what it means to have color.

Egg and Sperm. Photo Credit: Ronald Megiddo Sexual selection is responsible for bizarre displays of colors, anatomies, movements, and displays. From peacocks to bonobos, evolution is nothing if not unpredictable. But recent research suggests that females require more than wooing to successfully mate. In addition to foreplay, female’s eggs actually pose a series of challenges to sperm, sending them on a quasi-quest to reach fertilization, or perish trying.

Seabird attracted to Plastic. Photo Credit: University of California By Sabrina Groves Plastic particles are ingested by hundreds of species of marine organisms, ranging from the smallest zooplankton to behemoth baleen whales. More than 600 species are affected by plastic waste in the oceans . By 2050, researchers predict that 99% of seabird species will have consumed plastic . The reason behind such massive ingestion, is less clear. To answer this question, researchers started with the basics: