http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0927_050927_giant_squid.html They finally have photographs, of live giant squids. Awesomery. I wonder what other things lie in the deep?
Actually, they caught a live one. It unfortunately died shortly thereafter (this was purely unintention...or so I've heard). It's sitting in the Darwin Center of the Natural History Museum in London. They hope to mount it eventually and show it to the public.
Robot vs the Giant Squid. Sounds like one of the really bad movies that grace the Scifi Channel here in the US.
They have been going to great pains to photograph/study this animal for some time now. The first chance they get to photograph one they severely injure it. For what? Supposedly, some vague notion and platitudes about advancement of science? How, specifically are we any bettter off for having this photograph? The Giant Squid has been getting along fine without our "help" for quite some time now, and this particular one was apparently better off without us. There is something that is exceptionally fitting about this whole scenario. It might be ironic if it wasn't so predictable. We are the little kid burning the ant with the magnifying glass to see what will happen.
Not to mention what more productive measures could be taken with the time, money and manpower that is devoted to such self-glorifying nonesense, "Look what I did!!". People so often try and paint "science" as such a selfless noble endeavor working towards the betterment and progression of mankind. Bullshit. More often than not it is simple self-gratification and glory hunting.
People just need something to talk about. We are curious of nature. As long as we are not hunting them massively (for food or fun, for instance), I think it is ok. Are the photos of some rocks on Mars worth the effort? Debatable but I tend to support it. At least these photos are better than paparazzi's celebrity flashing photos.
An image of a squid that had one of its tentacles removed that perhaps could die because of this exploration is really better?
Perhaps if these "scientists" would focus more time, effort, money and manpower on irrigation, crop development, better methods and means of vaccinations, wider dispersion of educational facilities and/or any number of a million other worthy endeavors that will actuially have an immediate and tangible effect on the world, its population and the spread of science (not just the supposed "advancement" of science) in the directly forseeable future, perhaps we could make some serious headway and even resolve some of these long-lingering issues that plague us. Or, they could take pictures of elusive animals, land on the moon again, find ways to download porn even FASTER and work on getting a new type of food dye named after them. By the way, how much do the paparazzi photos cost in man-hours, money and wasted potential?
Heh, people here are arguing on the same ol debatable curiosity eh? Whatever... Anyway, well, I'm the kind who is eager to see new things..... this is quite a plus news to me, but not by much.
There are scientists working on these problems, and it's not like you can take a marine biologist and start them to work on agriculture, they are specialists. If the death of a couple animals increases our knowledge about them, then it will help the entire population. At the very least, it increases awareness about the oceans. (on another thread, it was mentioned that they aren't good to eat, due to a high ammonia content)
Squid lose tentacles all the time without complications. They throw the blasted things the way lizards throw their tails. Apparently this also takes place with full-sized architeuthis as well. See, we are learning already. Learning and the advancement of science, in my opinion, should be the primary goal of mankind. To know and understand more about the universe and to be able to further expand our conscious influence upon it. For whatever reason that may drive the researchers in their persuit of knowledge, it enriches and uplifts the whole of the human race. Here is a glorious animal of myth and legend right here in the flesh and blood. We may as well have discovered a dragon. The giant squid, the largest invertibrate ever, can grow to full size in only a matter of years. It lives in an alien environment which we haven't even begun to understand, surviving through a body chemistry vastly unlike our own. We don't even know what these things eat. We have so much to learn from them.
Help in what way? What do they need help with? They've been known to exist for over one hundred years. Hardly mythical. And their dietary habits are somehow going to benefit humans? Another page will be added to the scientific literature. That's about it.
Giant squids are cool. God some of you are pussies. Where did your sense of curiousity and wonder go?
Nice avatar, Datura Since the major threat to them is humans, a study of their habits could result in the establishment of a marine sanctuary. But maybe they don't need our help. Maybe we need their help. Their strange body chemistry could be incorporated into our own to create a human-squid hybrid: Squidman!
