Tag Archives: squid

Friday Squid Blogging: Beaked Whales Feed on Squid

Post Syndicated from Bruce Schneier original https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/01/friday-squid-blogging-beaked-whales-feed-on-squid.html

A Travers’ beaked whale (Mesoplodon traversii) washed ashore in New Zealand, and scientists conlcuded that “the prevalence of squid remains [in its stomachs] suggests that these deep-sea cephalopods form a significant part of the whale’s diet, similar to other beaked whale species.”

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Friday Squid Blogging: Opioid Alternatives from Squid Research

Post Syndicated from Bruce Schneier original https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/01/friday-squid-blogging-opioid-alternatives-from-squid-research.html

Is there nothing that squid research can’t solve?

“If you’re working with an organism like squid that can edit genetic information way better than any other organism, then it makes sense that that might be useful for a therapeutic application like deadening pain,” he said.

[…]

Researchers hope to mimic how squid and octopus use RNA editing in nerve channels that interpret pain and use that knowledge to manipulate human cells.

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Friday Squid Blogging: Cotton-and-Squid-Bone Sponge

Post Syndicated from Bruce Schneier original https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/01/friday-squid-blogging-cotton-and-squid-bone-sponge.html

News:

A sponge made of cotton and squid bone that has absorbed about 99.9% of microplastics in water samples in China could provide an elusive answer to ubiquitous microplastic pollution in water across the globe, a new report suggests.

[…]

The study tested the material in an irrigation ditch, a lake, seawater and a pond, where it removed up to 99.9% of plastic. It addressed 95%-98% of plastic after five cycles, which the authors say is remarkable reusability.

The sponge is made from chitin extracted from squid bone and cotton cellulose, materials that are often used to address pollution. Cost, secondary pollution and technological complexities have stymied many other filtration systems, but large-scale production of the new material is possible because it is cheap, and raw materials are easy to obtain, the authors say.

Research paper.

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Friday Squid Blogging: Safe Quick Undercarriage Immobilization Device

Post Syndicated from Bruce Schneier original https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2024/12/friday-squid-blogging-safe-quick-undercarriage-immobilization-device.html

Fifteen years ago I blogged about a different SQUID. Here’s an update:

Fleeing drivers are a common problem for law enforcement. They just won’t stop unless persuaded­—persuaded by bullets, barriers, spikes, or snares. Each option is risky business. Shooting up a fugitive’s car is one possibility. But what if children or hostages are in it? Lay down barriers, and the driver might swerve into a school bus. Spike his tires, and he might fishtail into a van­—if the spikes stop him at all. Existing traps, made from elastic, may halt a Hyundai, but they’re no match for a Hummer. In addition, officers put themselves at risk of being run down while setting up the traps.

But what if an officer could lay down a road trap in seconds, then activate it from a nearby hiding place? What if—­like sea monsters of ancient lore­—the trap could reach up from below to ensnare anything from a MINI Cooper to a Ford Expedition? What if this trap were as small as a spare tire, as light as a tire jack, and cost under a grand?

Thanks to imaginative design and engineering funded by the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Office of the U. S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), such a trap may be stopping brigands by 2010. It’s called the Safe Quick Undercarriage Immobilization Device, or SQUID. When closed, the current prototype resembles a cheese wheel full of holes. When open (deployed), it becomes a mass of tentacles entangling the axles. By stopping the axles instead of the wheels, SQUID may change how fleeing drivers are, quite literally, caught.

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Friday Squid Blogging: Squid-A-Rama in Des Moines

Post Syndicated from Bruce Schneier original https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2024/11/friday-squid-blogging-squid-a-rama-in-des-moines.html

Squid-A-Rama will be in Des Moines at the end of the month.

Visitors will be able to dissect squid, explore fascinating facts about the species, and witness a live squid release conducted by local divers.

How are they doing a live squid release? Simple: this is Des Moines, Washington; not Des Moines, Iowa.

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