The OctoPost: Robots, Jiu Jitsu Squids, and DIY Cephalopods
Hello, dear readers, and welcome to my first Buttondown newsletter! (TinyLetter, the platform I used previously, will be discontinued at the end of the month.) I expect this to be a smooth transition, but if you find any issues, please let me know and I'll do my best to fix them.
Now let's jet into the good stuff!
Cephalopod News
Our favorite suckered sea critters continue to inspire engineers around the world. Recent innovations include a camouflage system inspired by blue-ringed octopuses (USA), a flexible self-propelled robot that swims like a squid or maybe a jellyfish (UK), and an electronics-integrated soft octopus arm controlled "through a wearable finger glove that produces suction sensations" (China).
At the same time, new octopus species are popping up all over! That is, if "all over" means in the deep sea and in the Arctic, and if "popping up" means going uncaringly about their octopodan business while excited scientists figure out what makes each species unique and name them accordingly. One of the new Arctic species is Muusoctopus aegir, as the authors explain:
Named after Ægir...a sea giant associated with the ocean in Norse mythology, because the distribution of this species extends along the slope of Scandinavia and Iceland, and to underscore the senior author’s appreciation of ancient Norse culture, history, and mythology.
A new species of pygmy squid, Kodama jujutsu was also recently named after local mythology! Kodama refers to a Japanese tree spirit that is round like the squid's body.
Jujutsu, of course, refers to how it grapples its shrimp prey. I told a friend who competes in Brazilian jiu jitsu, and she told me about a real move called squid guard, at which point I was compelled to start drawing. She also suggested the shrimp wear a coral belt, a reference to the reefs where these animals live.
The final illustration features some of K. jujutsu's defining physical features: skin tags behind its eyes and the "rounded nipple-like tip" often seen on its mantle.
My Stuff
I really enjoyed doing these two podcast interviews that are now available for your listening enjoyment: Cephalopods: Aliens Among Us with Big Biology, and A Natural History of Cephalopods with Converging Dialogues.
A scientific illustration that I'm incredibly proud of is the cephalopod phylogeny in Squid Empire/Monarchs of the Sea. It encompasses the evolution of octopuses, squid, cuttlefish, nautilues, and all the major groups of their relatives and ancestors. At the request of a reader, it's now available to purchase as a poster.
Now for a completely different kind of scientific illustration...
Funny Pages
Over the years, I've developed a particular way of explaining cephalopod anatomy. I finally drew it.
Then I got a lot of questions, so I drew part two.
Early reviews:
"I don't like this."
"Horrifying. I love it"
"FLAWLESS"
"Peak education"
"Help"