Baby Shark | Super Slugs | Dino Auction - The Convo Kit #12

Happy Labor Day weekend! Scotland is looking into normalizing 3-day weekends so we have more time to talk about cool tech, space, and science stuff. You can help by forwarding this to all your friends!

- Steve

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Baby Shark

A Smooth-hound shark gave birth to the first known "virgin born" shark. This phenomenon is known as automixis parthenogenesis and involves the egg combining with another cell created at the same time.

• Parthenogenesis has been observed in 80+ vertebrates

• Last resort when females cannot find a mate

• Results in reduced genetic diversity

Mommy shark lives in an all female tank with zero male shark interaction, so no daddy shark. It is thought that most shark species are capable of this form of reproduction under the right circumstances. When isolated in an aquarium, what is a lady shark to doo doo doo doo doo doo?

More details and no lyrics on ScienceAlert.

Nudibranch

Nudibranchs are vibrant sea slugs that steal abilities from their meals. The slugs harbor some of their prey’s cells to adopt beneficial traits such as photosynthesis and poison secretion.

• 0.25 - 12” long

• Over 2,000 known species

• Pronounced new-dih-bronk

Nudibranchs, the Kirby of the sea, use their bright coloration to warn would-be predators to stay away. This defense mechanism seems to have the opposite affect when it comes to photographers attracted to bright and glowy things.

Take a look at these colorful Kirbys here and listen to NPR geek out here.

Triceratops For Sale

The largest discovered triceratops skeleton is up for auction in October. "Big John" was found in Hell Creek, North Dakota in 2014 and has been restored at an Italian workshop, Zoic.

• Horn Size: 3.6 ft. long, 11.8 in. wide

• Died ~66 million yrs ago

• Estimated Price: $1.4 - 1.7 million

The actual price may be over $6 million if bidding mimics a T-rex sale last October. Stan, the T-rex, was estimated to sell for $6-8 million and fetched a record $30 million. Big John implies the existence of Little John, we can only hope the latter comes at a discount.

Some cool pics of Big John on New Atlas.

Scorpion Desk

There’s cool WFH setups, then there’s Cluvens IW-SK scorpion workstation. The massive scorpion frame can recline or curl up depending on your task and desired comfort level. The tail even adjusts monitor placement!

• Price: $1,900

• Weight: 265 pounds

• Size: 27” x 65” x 47”

This critter-desk is ergonomic and clean. Sure the scorpion is a bit distracting, but quality cable management and proper posture are the real perks here. With a little bit of tinkering, you may even become a comic-book villain!

Pics and gifs of the desk over on Cnet.

Recycle Tricycle

ZUV is an electric tricycle made from 3D-printed recycled plastic. 154 pounds of that plastic was refined to create this proof-of-concept.

• Top speed: 15.5 mph

• Range: 31 miles

• Carrying Capacity: 661 pounds

The buzz-word laden vehicle was created as part of the Climate Care exhibition at Vienna Biennale for Change 2021. It is not intended for production, but that can change if enough interest is generated through its coverage.

At the very least, it looks peaceful.

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