Happy Thanksgiving, have some Oatmeal

Wacky Wednesday Fun Facts

So last week I wrote about Earth Day and the Google quiz which identified you with an animal.  Well, I told the spud about it and she took the quiz too.  Apparently the spud is a mantis shrimp.  Not knowing any more about mantis shrimp than I did pangolins, I Googled it.  Turns out mantis shrimp can be pretty cool.  Thanks to Wikipedia and the info I lifted from there, you too can now see just how cool mantis shrimp are and do so from the comfort of my blog:

Wikipedia says they can range in size, from an average of about 12 inches all the way up to the largest mantis shrimp ever seen which was 18 inches!  There are more than 400 species of mantis shrimp and can range in color from shades of brown to to bright rainbow colors.

While they are apparently pretty common in tropical ocean waters they are not well known, as most species spend the majority of their life tucked away in burrows and holes.

Called “sea locusts” by ancient Assyrians, “prawn killers” in Australia and sometimes referred to as “thumb splitters” – because of the animal’s ability to inflict painful gashes if handled incautiously – mantis shrimps sport powerful claws that they use to attack and kill prey by spearing, stunning, or dismemberment.  Mantis shrimp can move super fast when they are hunting or defending themselves and strike with extreme force for such a small creature.  In captivity, some larger species are capable of breaking through aquarium glass with a single strike.

Wow!

Depending on the type of mantis shrimp they often eat other small crustaceans and molluscs such as crabs, snails, or  oysters or fish.

It seems they have very complex eyes too, with very sophisticated vision and the ability to see in ways most other animals don’t.  Their special visual abilities may help them communicate, avoid danger, find food, and judge mating seasons.  It has even been suggested that the mantis shrimp’s eyes can detect cancer and the activity of brain cells!

Holy moly!

Mantis shrimp are long-lived and some species use fluorescent patterns on their bodies for signaling with their own and maybe even other species.

They can learn and remember well, and are able to recognize individual neighbors with whom they frequently interact.

Depending on the species, they may lay eggs and keep them in a burrow, or they can be carried around under the female’s tail until they hatch. Also depending on the species, male and female may come together only to mate, or they may bond in monogamous long-term relationships remaining with the same partner for up to 20 years. They share the same burrow and both sexes often take care of the eggs.  Some female mantis shrimp will lay two clutches of eggs: one that the male tends and one that the female tends. In other species, the female will look after the eggs while the male hunts for both of them.

While most mantis shrimp “walk” or swim like we would expect, one species, Nannosquilla decemspinosa, has been observed wrapping itself into a circular shape and rolling like a wheel.

Find these facts fascinating?  Want to read more?  I recommend checking this link out.  It will give you a whole new respect for the mantis shrimp:

Click here to visit The Oatmeal mantis shrimp cartoon.

I sure had fun looking this stuff up.  I hope you have fun reading about it!

I’m calling off Wednesday on account of blah

I did very poorly on my Microbiology lab test last week.  We got the grades back yesterday.  It was extremely disheartening.

My brain used to hurt.

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Now it just feels as though it’s gone MIA.

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I am so tired of feeling tired.  I’m tired of there being things I want to do and would like to do well, but feeling like my body and my brain are protesting due to over use and have forced a shut down.  I am really very interested in my microbiology class.  But the lab is not nearly long enough, has too many students and feels like you are trying to sprint through Walmart on social security day during the Christmas season.  The lecture is so late in the afternoon (by Janie Jones standards, admittedly) that no matter how hard I try, I can barely stay awake, as I’ve already been up for 11 hours and been working hard for at least 7 of them.

But here’s a microbiology test I can pass.  How about you?

Click here to visit The Oatmeal and take the test.

*These images were taken from Google Images.  I’m too tired to document them better.  Sue me.

Tuesday Titters: I think there’s a conspiracy going on here

Q: How many Centauri does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Nowadays, just one; but back in the glorious days of the Republic, hundreds of servants would change thousands of light bulbs at your slightest whim!

-Londo Molari, Babylon 5

 

It’s Tuesday so of course there will be jokes.  But I am also getting a little peeved with technology so my jokes have a point.  Somewhat.   Okay, more like a theme.

First, my desk lamp melted and I had to suffer a lower watt bulb (still suffering).

Then, my printer was haunted.  So I channeled my inner Moss and Roy.

But that didn’t work.  For two hours last night I tried everything.  I changed ink cartridges.  I wasted a good portion of that new ink aligning printer heads, cleaning printer heads, running test reports, and taking out the cartridges and cleaning them per HP tech solutions website directions.  I read all sorts of troubleshooting tips on the web.  I downloaded driver and software updates.  And the damn thing still wasn’t printing properly.

In my angst I vowed to go out and by a new fricking printer tonight.  My mood was only improved by reading The Oatmeal.  I recommend, especially if your printer has ever pissed you off, that you read this, too.  It’s funny, it will make you laugh at yourself and the way your life is controlled by a stupid piece of crap technology that works fine when all you’re doing is printing a stupid email joke but as soon as you need something important for work or school it suddenly goes on the fritz.

Click Here

Well, then this morning I woke up and one of the huge recessed light bulbs in the ceiling decided to begin its death wail.  Yes.  You read that correctly.  My light bulb was wailing in a strange high pitched sort of fashion.  Wondering if Moss and Roysian logic would work on all electrical devices, I flipped it off and on again.  And, then the light bulb officially went dead.  So now I’m sitting here under the dim glow of my lame 40 watt bulb of my desk lamp and it sucks even more than usual because the over head light above my desk is out too.

On the plus side, my printer seems to have recovered from whatever was haunting it.  It printed just fine when in one last moment of desperation to have my lab worksheet for class I halfheartedly tried to print again.  All I could do was shake my head and decide that this proved that there are mysteries in the great and powerful electrical world that I just don’t think I’ll ever understand even though, thanks to physics, I can tell you how printers work.  Somewhat.  Perhaps in another post, as now I must take my precious lab worksheets and get my ass to class.

As for my lighting issues, well, I guess I’ll also be off to the store after I’m done with all my classes for the day.  It feels like a cave in here and I tell you, dear reader, that will not do in Janie’s Place.

But first here’s a few bonus light bulb jokes:

Q: How many college girls does it take to change a light bulb?
A: That’s “women,” you unfunny jerk!

Q: How many Einsteins does it take to change a light bulb?
A: That depends on the speed of the change and the mass of the bulb. Or vice versa, of course. It just might be easier to leave the bulb and change the room. It’s all relative.

Q: How many environmentalists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: If the light bulb is out, that’s the way Nature intended it!

Q: How many graduate students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Only one, but it may take him/her more than five years to do it.

* light bulb jokes from Extremely Smart Humor