Sea Creatures and Snowflakes

This Sunday, one of my favorite shows CBS Sunday Morning did a story on a new species of fish, named Psychedelica.

Scientists at the University of Washington say they've identified and given a name to the peculiar fish that was first spotted a year ago in the waters off eastern Indonesia. The four-inch long creature uses hand-like fins to crawl around coral and to push off the ocean bottom. It also propels itself by shooting water out of its gills ... creating a bizarre sort of bouncing motion.



Check out the bouncing action at 1:00.

Furthermore, unlike other fish which have eyes on the sides of their heads, THIS fish has eyes on its FRONT ... which means it could have 3-D binocular vision like humans have.

Who cares about a fish you might ask? Well to me it's not so much about the fish itself, but more about the excitement of discovery. What an amazing thrill to DISCOVER something. Not just re-post it in a blog or tweet about it via some link. I'm so glad there are people who are driven to investigate and learn something new about the world.

Take this total nerd Kenneth Libbrecht, also featured on Sunday Morning. He photographs snowflakes for fun!


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I'm not sure how the study of snowflake physics is going move civilization forward, but I have to give it up to him for finding something to get excited about.