Input Junkie

A Nova program about three species of cuttlefish:

The broadclub cuttlefish strobes (fast moving bands of white and color) in order to confuse the small crustaceans it hunts. It might take quite a while to evolve something that can drive humans to insanity, but considering how many cuttlefish are eaten by humans, there's motivation. Also, the cuttlefish can practice on dolphins, which are also a species enemy.

The giant (up to 3 feet long-- almost a meter) Australian cuttlefish exists to annoy evolutionary psychologists, or at least I like to think so. The larger males do flashy displays to attract females, try to keep other males away, and sometimes wrestle with each other. The females look bored. [1]

Female cuttlefish have a lot more choice than females in any other species I can think of. Not only does the male use his tentacles to hand his sperm to her, but then she stores the sperm under her tentacles, and chooses which sperm to implant.

Smaller males use a different strategy than the big guys. They can dodge in under the males who are doing the big displays, while camoflaging to look pretty much like females. Females show a strong preference for the sperm from the stealth guys.

I'm thinking about why the little males haven't completely out-bred the big males. Perhaps size offers an advantage against predation, so there's a balance.

From the transcript:

One of the biggest surprises is that the cross-dressing males got the very next fertilization. And we did not expect this at all. The only reason we could think of is that this is a very bold, smart tactic. And the females may be acknowledging that in, sort of, evolutionary terms. So this trick, as strange as it seems, is very successful.

I'm inclined to think the females prefer males who actually spend time with them.

The third species is the flamboyant cuttlefish. It and the mimic octopus live in mud flats off the coast of Indonesia, a very tough environment because there's no cover. [2] The flamboyant cuttlefish is only two inches long, does a flashy (but non-strobing) display when threatened, and walks along the bottom with as much attitude as a skunk. It turns out that its flesh is poisonous, with a poison previously unknown to science. I suppose no one knows yet how it keeps from poisoning itself.

People don't know how smart cuttlefish are, but they're surprisingly bright.

[1]I'm reminded of all those nature specials showing mountain rams madly bashing heads, while the harems of ewes stand around in postures of unutterable boredom. They'll get the good genes regardless; they don't have to care. --Bujold.

[2] Is there any sf about the evolutionary consequences of environments without cover?

Initial link thanks to james_nicoll.

"Cthulhu"???? How the heck do you pronounce that? Well, humans aren't really supposed to be able to pronounce it. Cthulhu and many other hideous alien entities originated in the fantasy writings of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, a literary giant of pulp fiction and a sadly obscure character in the history of American letters. In one of his letters, Lovecraft said, "The best approximation one can make is to grunt, bark, or cough the imperfectly formed syllables Cluh-Luh with the tip of the tongue firmly affixed to the roof of the mouth. That is, if one is a human being. Directions for other entities are naturally different." Lovecraft scholars tend to say something like "Cloo-loo". Chaosium, makers of the "Call of Cthulhu" game suggest "kuh-THOOL-hoo".

Found at Stuffe & Nonsense. Click on the link to see a rather disquieting stuffed Cthulhu.

laughingfox's gaming group is interested in Cthulhu humor, so I'm passing on some good stuff I've seen recently.

bradhicks has about the importance of not engaging in sex with shoggoths and a follow-up.

And here's a much quoted account of what can drive a Miskatonic professor over the edge.

I recently read something about the Harry Potter books being Lovecraftian, with a description of a Lovecraft character who has a disquieting resemblance to Snape and a suggestion that the house elves are really Deep Ones. Does anyone have enough (in)sanity left to remember where it was? I'm pretty sure I saw it on LJ.

And if anyone has other Lovecraft humor to recommend, bring it on.

It turns out that Cthuugle is still the very handy Lovecraft et al. search engine--when I mispelled it as cthoogle, I was redirected to a porn site, and googling established that cthoogle is a common word on such sites. Something very odd is going on, and I hope it's not shoggoth sex.