Artists, man! They'll cut a square of sod out of your front yard, stick it on the wall, and call it a masterpiece. No, but actually this is quite cool:

Film is said to be a dying medium, and Christopher Colville took that to heart for the "No Mirrors" exhibit that opens Thursday at RayKo Photo Center. He laid out a piece of photo paper and on it he placed a decomposing squid. The only light source was the natural phosphorescence given off by the animal as its body broke down.

A while back I mentioned a project that was keeping me away from the blog . . . well, it's done now! I was hired by the director of Hopkins Marine Station, where I did my PhD, to write their annual newsletter. It took my relationship with Illustrator to a whole new level, and, while I've never yet been able to do a project with an Adobe product without some moments of GRRR and also ARGHH, it was overall a great experience.

The little squid illustration I posted earlier came from a feature I designed for the newsletter called "Hopkins Abroad," showing all the places that professors, students, and other researchers have traveled to study marine biology around the world:

At the beginning of the year I mentioned this European cephalopod conference, where they were going to talk about new laws regulating the use of squids, octopuses, etc. in experiments. Sadly, I couldn't go myself, but fellow cephaloblogger Mike Lisieski attended and posted a nice summary of the event.

Now Nature News is reporting on the legislation:

Okay, it's not really fair to call it a scam, but I just couldn't resist the alliteration. Here's what they say:

Squid skin is normally thrown away, but the Fisheries Research Institute [of Taiwan] announced recently that it has found a way to use it to produce functional peptides that can be sold as health care products or supplements . . . [The peptides] showed positive effects in slowing down the aging process and easing blood pressure . . . the peptides had not only proved safe but also activated neuron cells to help improve learning and reduce memory loss associated with aging.

One of my friends recently asked for help in designing a giant squid costume to be worn by multiple people. So I sketched this up:



In case you can't read my AMAZING handwriting, here's the text:

- one person per arm + tentacle OR arm tips on roller skates
- uses handles to rotate eyes
- waves arms to move fins
- arms could be stuffed or just flat fabric
- use sturdy fabric

the GIANT SQUID MULTI-COSTUME
fits 2-12 lunatics