A face only a Hagfish can love

Weird but amazing animal. Hagfish are partway between fish and worms, with a spinal cord but no backbone. They have changed little in at least 300 million years. Hagfish largely scavenge, but have recently been found to hunt as well. When they come across a big carcass, they burrow into it and then eat it from the inside. Uniquely for a vertebrate, in addition to having a gut, they can absorb nutrients through their skin and gills. But feeding inside a decaying corpse, there will be little oxygen in the water and lots of toxic ammonia from the rotting flesh. The hagfish can cope with these adverse conditions, no problem. For hunting and defense, hagfish release a slime that gums up the gills of its predetor or victim, which suffocates it.

New Archaeopteryx Fossil Uncovered

I love dinosaurs.  There is something about animals that lived a hundred million years ago that fascinates me.

Archaeopteryx is an iconic prehistoric animal, living some 155 million years ago. It was long thought to be the first bird.  This new fossil, complete except for its head, is only the eleventh Archaeopteryx skeleton ever discovered. Like every other, it was found in Germany.  What amazing detail.  Beautiful.

Motion Picture Universe right here on Earth

Alvernia Studios  in Poland looks like it belongs on the moon.  I mean that as a compliment.  As you can see in the banner below, there are a number of domes connected by tubes.  Each of the domes offers a different function, all related to motion picture and sound design.

The studio website is funky.  If you didn’t know what this place was, the website does not make it obvious.  Check out some of the photos of the scoring studio.  Unbelievably cool … not to mention BIG.  The virtual tour is also worth the small bit of effort.  Who’d-a thunk such a facility was available for mere mortals and earthlings.