Friday, May 30, 2014

An Act of Transparency: Hippopodius hippopus

Is it possible to be invisible? Many have dreamed of this trait, and now an animal has been discovered that has the adaption of being transparent when disturbed. The marine jellyfish Hippopodius hippopus is glassy clear most of the time, but when disturbed, turns bright translucent white. This adaption is called blanching, and only lasts for a few minutes.


The H. hippopus is very fragile, and typically avoids coastal waters where it can be killed by the surf. The bay at Villefranche-sur-Mer (in France) is an ideal place to observe the hippopodius hippopus due to the deep waters with favorable currents. A state of the art research station is located here, where experiments are being conducted on changeable transparency. 

NOS Themes:

  • Role of motivation and curiosity 
  • Science is based on evidence
  • Science is collaborative 
Questions to comment on: Why do you think this creatures undergo blanching? How does it tie into evolution?

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/28/science/a-marine-magicians-vanishing-act.html?ref=science&_r=0

3 comments:

  1. This is a big step forward in evolution, when this trait is more developed, the species might be able to "disappear" when a predator or danger is near. And with time, we might be able to utilize this.

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  2. there are many different animals that have evolved to look like there habitat and can camouflage. When these animals are in the right kind of environment they can be almost invisible.
    http://www.boredpanda.com/animal-camouflage/

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  3. This is a very cool find that I cannot wait to see more information on. The possibilities that this could provide to society are endless. I personally hope that these genes are able to be weaponized so that we can take our covert ops operations to different heights. The technology to turn certain things invisible or transparent would be great and we would possibly save lives in the process. I hope this technology is used effectively for the good of our American military. Go science!

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