Octopus have neurons in their arms as well as their brain. The Octopus nervous system is divided into three main parts: A central brain, two optic lobes, and the peripheral nervous system of the arms. The eight arms of an octopus contains two-thirds (a majority) of the octopus’s total 500 million nerve cells, allowing for special motor and sensory processing within the arms. Octopuses are highly intelligent in a variety of ways: showing an ability of long and short-term memory, pattern and shape recognition, tool use, play, and problem solving.
Scientists studying dinosaur fossils are able to tell with some certainty the color patterns the dinosaur exhibited. The Microraptor, for example, likely had shiny iridescent black feathers (similar to a crow) used for signaling. Another example is the Borealopelta, which had a reddish-brown countershaded pattern that was used for camouflage. Sinosauropteryx had a raccoon-like “mask” around the eyes and banded patterns on its tail. To infer these colors, scientists have studied well preserved melanosomes found in fossilized skin and feathers. Scientists study the shape, color, and nanostructures of the melanosomes.
The study of Biomimicry (or Biomimetics) looks at elements and systems of nature and attempts to replicate them to solve complex human problems. This is applied in fields from materials science to architecture. Some examples of biomimicry include: How the tiny hooks on bur fruits inspired Velcro. Leonardo da Vinci’s flying machine inspired by the structure of bat wings. Shark skin is being studied to improve movement through water. Geckoes climbing ability on walls and ceilings due to their micrometer-scale hair-like setae on their feet have inspired special adhesive tape. Colorful Morpho butterfly wings have inspired display technology. There are many more examples in this fascinating field of study.
The astronomical unit (or AU) is defined as approximately the mean distance between the Earth and the Sun. It is defined as 149,597,870,700 meters or approximately 93 million miles. At this distance, it takes slightly more than 8 minutes and 19 seconds for light to travel between the Sun and the Earth (or 1 AU). AU is one method of measuring distances within the Solar System. Light-Seconds (the distance that light travels in free space in one second, such as 1.3 light-seconds between the Earth and Moon) is also used… while Parsecs are used for large distances to astronomical objects outside the Solar System. One Parsec is 206,265 AU’s or 19.2 trillion miles.
The double-slit experiment is an important physics demonstration of how light and matter can exhibit behavior associated with both classical particles and classical waves. In the experiment, the wave nature of light causes the light waves passing through two slits to interfere, producing bright and dark bands on the screen – a result that would not be expected if light consisted of classical particles. However, the light is always found to be absorbed at the screen at discrete points, as individual particles (not waves). The more mind-boggling part? When scientists placed detectors to determine which slit an electron passed through (as electrons exhibit the same effects as photons) the interference pattern disappears. This “which way” experiment demonstrated the concept in quantum mechanics called wave-particle duality, in which photons or electrons exhibit particle or wave properties according to the experimental circumstances.
