Weirdiocity

  St. Andrews Cross Spider. Photo Credit: Ken Slade From their unusal and multitudinous eyes to their eight robot-like legs, spiders have a history of receiving a bad rap. While these traits may seem like anatomical abnormalities, there’s a simple physiological explanation for spiders’ odd movements: their legs rely on a combination of hydraulics and skeletal muscles to move.

  Artistic Rendition of the First Placental Ancestor. Illustration Credit: Carl Buell If not for retroviruses, mammals would not exist. Mammals are distinguished from other classes by their live births, a trait made possible by the placenta. The placenta is a temporary organ that connects the developing fetus to its mother via the umbilical cord to the uterine wall. This placenta combines with the mother’s blood to facilitate nutrient uptake, thermo-regulation, waste elimination, gas exchange, and more. The protein syncytin is essential for formation of the placenta and is present in all placental mammals. However, genetic analyses show that the code for syncytin originally came to the genome of ancestral mammals through a retrovirus infection.

  HAB in Lake Michigan. Photo Credit: Zachary Haslick Ranging from microscopic, single-celled organisms to large seaweeds, algae are aquatic photosynthesizers that form the base of food webs. Sometimes, however, their roles are more detrimental to ecological communities. When given intense sun, high nutrients, and warm water, algae often grow out of control. Harmful algal blooms (HABs, also commonly called “red tides”) refer to the rapid and unchecked proliferation of algal colonies (conglomerates of photosynthesizers) capable of overwhelming ecosystems with lethal effects on fish, shellfish, marine mammals, birds, and people. A few of these blooms (dense concentrations of algal cells) produce toxins that can cause illnesses and even death; other varieties are nontoxic, but deplete oxygen when they decay, clog organisms’ gills, smother benthic organisms, contaminate drinking water, and block light from penetrating the water . Aesthetically, effects are often equally displeasing. Disc

  A Lightning Storm. Photo credit: Boris Baran Lightning is a rapid discharge of energy in the form of heat, light, and electric. A single lightning strike can heat the air to 54,000 °F! Heat isn’t the only extreme, lightning’s light can be seen from space and its energy contains up to one billion volts ! High heat causes the air to expand extremely quickly, creating a shock wave that booms! This loud rumble is thunder.

Pistol Shrimp. Photo Credit: Trevor Cox Snap! Swish! Boom! Bang! For the marine pistol shrimp, bubbles are more than air— they’re life and death. Pistol shrimp use sonic hunting to stun and kill prey using bubble ‘bullets.’ Like most arthropods, pistol shrimp employ tough exoskeletons and sharp raptorial appendages for protection and hunting. The catch: pistol shrimp have a built-in weapon that kills without contact. A highly adapted, enlarged snapper claw allows pistol shrimp to dexterously open and close the appendage with incredible speed (despite immense water pressure and resistance). More than a physical feat, evolution has kept this capability around in more than 600 species belonging to the Alpheidae family!