Engineers in the US have developed a chemical process that converts algae into crude oil in under an hour in the lab. With the new system, a slurry of wet algae is pumped into a chemical reactor and crude oil is produced in minutes, along with a byproduct stream of material that can be used to grow more algae.
This is the coconut octopus - a medium sized octopus that's been observed using coconut shells or seashells to create a hiding place from predators. Amphioctopus marginatus lives in sandy habitats and carries shells under its body, using the tips of its tentacles to move along the seafloor. Every 20 metres or so, the octopus reassembles the two halves and hides to reassess the situation.
INTERESTING NEWS: Researchers have encoded the message "O Canada" in evaporated vodka and transmitted it across the lab with the aid of a tabletop fan. It was then decoded by a receiver that measured the rate of change in concentration of the alcohol molecules, picking up whether the concentration was increasing or decreasing.
It is believed this type of molecular communication could one day be used where conventional wireless technology fails, such as underwater, underground, in oil pipelines, or inside your body.
This Cuban Tre
e Frog swallowed a Christmas light after a bug landed on it! But don't worry - it's okay! The bulb was gently removed from its stomach.
Caption by AsapSCIENCE and photo by James Snyder
