Ninjas vs. Yetis

[Drunk Monk]

it was our submission deadline day, so we were really busy. but the v.p. wouldn't be there the next day, when we had ample time to dress up and enjoy an office party, so in honor of her, we had to do it on one of the top 10 busiest days of our year. and she didn't even dress up.

[Drunk Monk]

[youtube]W-et47wCu_M[/youtube]
Beware - don't watch it until the end.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Well, *that* certainly brings back memories.

[thatguy]

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.nature.com/news/yeti-crab-grows-its-own-food-1.9537">http://www.nature.com/news/yeti-crab-gr ... ood-1.9537</a><!-- m -->

Yeti crab grows its own food

In the deep ocean off the coast of Costa Rica, scientists have found a species of crab that cultivates gardens of bacteria on its claws, then eats them.

The yeti crab — so-called because of the hair-like bristles that cover its arms — is only the second of its family to be discovered. The first — an even hairier species called Kiwa hirsuta — was found in 2005 near Easter Island.

Andrew Thurber, a marine ecologist now at Oregon State University in Corvallis, identified the second species a year later. “It was a big surprise,” he says. “There’s a tonne of them, they’re not small, and they’re six hours off a major port in Costa Rica.”

Writing in PLoS ONE this week, Thurber named the crab Kiwa puravida, after a common Costa Rican saying that means 'pure life'.

“Those of us who work in the deep sea expect to discover a strange new species every time we dive,” says Cindy Van Dover, a marine ecologist at Duke University Marine Laboratory in Beaufort, North Carolina. “Kiwa puravida doesn't disappoint. The original yeti crab was charismatic. This one is even more so.“

Ocean waves

Thurber had not set out to discover species. He was part of a geological research cruise off the coast of Costa Rica, which aimed to study methane seeps — sites on the ocean floor that belch out methane and hydrogen sulphide gas. While exploring the seep in a submersible, pilot Gavin Eppard noticed the 9-centimetre crabs waving their claws over active seeps, and collected one. “He came up and just handed me this new species,” says Thurber.

The bristles that cover the crab’s claws and body are coated in gardens of symbiotic bacteria, which derive energy from the inorganic gases of the seeps. The crab eats the bacteria, using comb-like mouthparts to harvest them from its bristles (see a video of this on our YouTube Channel).

The bacteria in K. puravida gardens are closely related to species that live in other cold seeps and hot hydrothermal vents all over the world. “It looks like the bacteria may use the seeps as stepping stones, to create this global connected population that consumes the energy coming out of seeps and vents,” says Thurber.

Thurber thinks that K. puravida waves its claws to actively farm its bacterial gardens: movements stir up the water around the bacteria, ensuring that fresh supplies of oxygen and sulphide wash over them and helping them to grow. “This 'dance' is extraordinary and comical,” says Van Dover. “We've never seen this strategy before.”

Strict diet

Thurber confirmed that the bacteria are the crab’s main food source. Carbon isotopes and fatty acids in the crab’s body match organisms that get their nourishment without the sun’s energy, rather than those that rely on photosynthesis. This suggests that K. puravida's diet consists mostly of seep bacteria, rather than surrounding photosynthesizing plankton. “We clearly showed that this species isn’t using energy from the sun as its main food source. It’s using chemical energy from the sea floor,” says Thurber.

“They did the best job I've seen on nailing a nutritional role for the symbionts,” says Charles Fisher, a marine ecologist at Pennsylvania State University in University Park.

K. puravida is not alone in snacking on the bacteria it hosts. Two other crustaceans that live on hydrothermal vents — a crab (Shinkaia crosnieri) and a shrimp (Rimicaris exoculata) — have similar bacteria growing on their bodies3, 4. “This form of nourishment may be more common than was previously believed,” says Bob Vrijenhoek, a marine biologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing, California. The strategy could explain why crustaceans are so successful at deep-sea vents and seeps

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Oh, yeah. Google the image if you haven't already done so. I want one as a pet. Want to take it for walks on the pier. So cuddly!

[Drunk Monk]

That's pronounced Fuck You Cheeky.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Damn. I was hoping for Chiki-Munkee.

Fukuchiki it is. Could be worse.

[Drunk Monk]

...which is pronounced No, no, loo full.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Fuck you, Cheeky.

[Drunk Monk]

[thatguy]

A friend commented that The Ultimate Ninja could sneak up on you wearing clown shoes. I can't put that image together in my mind...





--tg

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

It's not very hard to do, as long as your feet actually fill out the shoes.

[Drunk Monk]

A friend commented that The Ultimate Ninja could sneak up on you wearing clown shoes. I can't put that image together in my mind...

No need to use your mind. You got the web.

[Drunk Monk]

If it was our Yeti at the defense, it wouldn't have been a samurai sword.

It would have been a foil. mt065

Victims of ‘ninja’ attack say polygamous women were targeting witness in rape trial
Posted 9:16 pm, September 19, 2014, by Nineveh Dinha, Updated at 09:18pm, September 19, 2014

WEST JORDAN, Utah — Two women disguised as ninjas are behind bars Friday night after breaking into a West Jordan home.

Police said the women were targeting a 15-year-old girl who is set to testify against the women’s boyfriend next week.

The victim’s family said the suspects are part of a polygamous relationship. FOX 13 News interviewed one of the men who brought the ninjas down.

“I heard a creak, and there was silence for about 30 seconds,” said the man, who didn’t want to be identified because he’s afraid of revealing who the intended victim is.

FOX 13 News is also not disclosing where in West Jordan this happened, in order to protect the victims.

It happened late Thursday night. The storm was so loud it silenced the intruders at first.

“I went to the bottom of the stairs and saw a couple of ninjas coming down,” the man said. “They were all dark gray or black, and they had black rubber gloves on and masks. All I could see was their eyes.”

Two women clad in ninja costumes, armed with knives and stun guns, forced their way through the door. The family believes they were there to abduct a 15-year-old girl inside.

“My adrenaline was pumping so bad,” the man said. “They grabbed for me and one of them covered my mouth, and the other grabbed my throat, but they were both pretty small so I threw them back and started shouting to get anybody awake that I could.”

Somehow he managed to pin down the female suspects until help arrived.

“The witness that will be testifying is a juvenile,” said Officer Craig Powell of the West Jordan Police Department.

Police said the juvenile is a sexual assault victim who will be testifying against a male suspect, who is in jail awaiting trial for rape.

Powell went on to say, “We do believe it does involve the testimony that would be given in court next week.”

The victim’s family said the so-called ninjas are in a polygamous relationship with the man going to trial.

“I knew exactly who I was dealing with,” said the man.

The victim’s family was afraid this day would come and was anticipating something, but they never expected this.

“It was so surreal,” the man said. “I wasn’t processing what was fully happening. I was just working on instinct. All of us are still floored by it.”

No one was physically hurt during the incident. Police said the women were armed.

The family released a statement, which in part said they managed to restrain the suspects using a Samurai sword.

The two female suspects, ages 18 and 22, have been booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on charges of aggravated assault, aggravated robbery and witness tampering.

http://fox13now.com/2014/09/19/victims-o...ape-trial/

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Several kinds of Freaky goin' on in Utah, and ain't none of it good.