THIS OCTOPUS IS HAVING A NIGHTMARE, SCIENTISTS BELIEVE.

アオミノウミウシ-神奈川、東京、埼玉、千葉から伊豆の海への玄関口 小田原ダイビングスクール

ITS THIS THING TUESDAY

I love this idea.

Can you render the lyrics of Never Gonna Give You Up?

i’ve gotten this request several times now, so for anyone who asked for this after uniquepickles you can just look at this post.

enjoy!:

letter sequence in this ask matching protein-coding amino acids:

WerenstrangerstlveYknwtherlesandsdIdIAfllcmmitmentswhatImthinkingfYwldntgetthisfrmanythergyIstwannatellyhwImfeelingGttamakeynderstandNevergnnagiveypNevergnnaletydwnNevergnnarnarndanddesertyNevergnnamakeycryNevergnnasaygdyeNevergnnatellalieandhrtyWeveknwneachtherfrslngYrheartseenachingtyretshytsayitsayitInsidewethknwwhatseengingngingnWeknwthegameandweregnnaplayitAndifyaskmehwImfeelingDnttellmeyretlindtseeNevergnnagiveypNevergnnaletydwnNevergnnarnarndanddesertyNevergnnamakeycryNevergnnasaygdyeNevergnnatellalieandhrtyNevergnnagiveypNevergnnaletydwnNevergnnarnarndanddesertyNevergnnamakeycryNevergnnasaygdyeNevergnnatellalieandhrtyWeveknwneachtherfrslngYrheartseenachingtyretshytsayitsayitInsidewethknwwhatseengingngingnWeknwthegameandweregnnaplayitIstwannatellyhwImfeelingGttamakeynderstandNevergnnagiveypNevergnnaletydwnNevergnnarnarndanddesertyNevergnnamakeycryNevergnnasaygdyeNevergnnatellalieandhrtyNevergnnagiveypNevergnnaletydwnNevergnnarnarndanddesertyNevergnnamakeycryNevergnnasaygdyeNevergnnatellalieandhrtyNevergnnagiveypNevergnnaletydwnNevergnnarnarndanddesertyNevergnnamakeycryNevergnnasaygdyeNevergnnatellalieandhrty

protein guy analysis:

i was really interested to see how this one would turn out, as it is made up almost entirely of repeated domains (the chorus). unfortunately, as many of you may be quick to point out, the chorus of Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' is not in fact a protein domain, and the only thing repeated are some terrible looking loops. i've even included a second picture to properly show you how flat this terrible protein is.

i thought i understood Levinthal's paradox before starting this blog, but these structures are giving me a newfound appreciation. for those who are unaware, Levinthal's paradox is based on the fact that any given protein can fold into an enormous number of possible conformations, but cannot test all of these within the seconds or less that it takes for a protein to fold into its stable tertiary structure. correct folding is controlled by the primary structure (or, the sequence of amino acids encoding the protein) as well as complex factors including the presence of any chaperones to assist with folding, and the relative abundance of the tRNAs matching specific codons for each amino acid. running this blog makes me think of all the ways this process can fail along the way, and all of the almost correct places a protein can get stuck. this one certainly looks like it failed, but even then its hard to believe this is the shape that stuck.

for those interested, the one beta sheet goes with the line 'you wouldn't get this from any other guy', which does only occur once in the song.

predicted protein structure:

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

It's not every day you see a fish walking on land! However, when the streams and ponds of the airbreathing catfish dry up, this species will readily wriggle across the jungle floor in search of a new home. Thanks to a special organ called a labyrinth organ, they are able to breathe air and can remain outside of water for several hours provided they stay moist.

(Image: A Java walking catfish, Clarias batrachus, by sdickman via iNaturalist)

If you like what I do, consider buying me a ko-fi!

Daily fish fact #786

Peacock flounder!

It only takes a peacock flounder two to eight seconds to change its colour and blend into its surroundings! They study their environment and then with the use of pigment-containing cells, chromatophores, alter the patterns on their skin. When not camouflaged, these fish have striking blue rings.

ScienceAlert

Ancient Genes of Zombie Viruses Revealed as Hidden Drivers of Cancer

When viruses pay us a visit, they sometimes leave parts of themselves behind.

When viruses pay us a visit, they sometimes leave parts of themselves behind. Silently tucked away in our genomes, some of these bits of foreign DNA can get passed down through the generations. They were long thought inactive, but we've since learned these stowaway sequences can be turned back on to wreak all sorts of havoc. Now researchers led by University of Colorado bioinformatician Atma Ivancevic, have found cancers can make use of some of these zombie virus parts for their own benefit.

Continue Reading.

Wake up babe new fish dropped

I met some relatives of my beloved leatherleaf slugs in the mangroves of Singapore, the onch slugs! they’re perhaps some of the slowest-moving animals I’ve ever encountered; this is one in a hurry:

the species pictured is a Platevindex, which are particularly interesting to me since their backs are studded with extra eyes! the dorsal papillae each have a little black dot that’s a photoreceptor, which helps the slug detect changes in light exposure.

onchidiids are marine animals, living on costal rocks and in mangroves, but breathe air and spend much of their time out of the water. like the leatherleafs, they’ve got a dry, tough hide that maintains water balance, but Platevindex takes that to an extreme—when I picked one up, it felt like a vulcanized rubber tire!