this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2024
137 points (97.9% liked)

Today I Learned

17785 readers
437 users here now

What did you learn today? Share it with us!

We learn something new every day. This is a community dedicated to informing each other and helping to spread knowledge.

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules (interactive)


Rule 1- All posts must begin with TIL. Linking to a source of info is optional, but highly recommended as it helps to spark discussion.

** Posts must be about an actual fact that you have learned, but it doesn't matter if you learned it today. See Rule 6 for all exceptions.**



Rule 2- Your post subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material.

Your post subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material. You will be warned first, banned second.



Rule 3- Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here.

Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here. Breaking this rule will not get you or your post removed, but it will put you at risk, and possibly in danger.



Rule 4- No self promotion or upvote-farming of any kind.

That's it.



Rule 5- No baiting or sealioning or promoting an agenda.

Posts and comments which, instead of being of an innocuous nature, are specifically intended (based on reports and in the opinion of our crack moderation team) to bait users into ideological wars on charged political topics will be removed and the authors warned - or banned - depending on severity.



Rule 6- Regarding non-TIL posts.

Provided it is about the community itself, you may post non-TIL posts using the [META] tag on your post title.



Rule 7- You can't harass or disturb other members.

If you vocally harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathiser or a resemblant of a movement that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of a group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you will be banned on sight.

For further explanation, clarification and feedback about this rule, you may follow this link.



Rule 8- All comments should try to stay relevant to their parent content.



Rule 9- Reposts from other platforms are not allowed.

Let everyone have their own content.



Rule 10- Majority of bots aren't allowed to participate here.

Unless included in our Whitelist for Bots, your bot will not be allowed to participate in this community. To have your bot whitelisted, please contact the moderators for a short review.



Partnered Communities

You can view our partnered communities list by following this link. To partner with our community and be included, you are free to message the moderators or comment on a pinned post.

Community Moderation

For inquiry on becoming a moderator of this community, you may comment on the pinned post of the time, or simply shoot a message to the current moderators.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
137
There's a flying squid? (www.discoverwildlife.com)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

I knew there's a flying squid that likes to post memes though

If a squid swimming near the surface is spooked by a predator or a boat, it streamlines into a torpedo shape and fires itself out of the water. At the same time, it splays its eight tentacles into a flat, fan-like pattern in front of its face – some breeds even exude mucus to fill in the spaces, creating a unified, kite-like surface. It also flares a pair of fins near its rear end and – voilà – the squid becomes a living, breathing jet.

top 25 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago

I can vouch for this guys experience.

[–] [email protected] 56 points 1 day ago (1 children)

@[email protected] .... your squid signal has been shone into the fediverse skyline

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago

Yes indeed! See my response to Viking_Hippie about getting my username. It is due to this awesome fact.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I wonder whether @[email protected] knew and based his name on it or it's just a coincidence 🤔

[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I did know! One day many years ago (we're talking 1990s here), I was talking to people on IRC and I said, "you know what would be awesome? If squid could fly."

And then I looked just for the hell of it and it turns out they can. I've been FlyingSquid ever since.

I still think that's one of the coolest things in nature.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think you're one of the coolest people in the fediverse ..... keep flying you crazy squid

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago

Thanks! I feel the same about you!

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Careful, you’ll summon him

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

That was my intention

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 day ago (2 children)

How many tickles does it take to make a squid fly?

I figure it's got to be about ten tickles

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Squids have two tentacles. The rest are arms.

A set of eight arms and two distinctive tentacles surround the mouth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squid#Description

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Two tentacles and, if you're like me, a great big hectocotylus.

That's right, ladies. You know you want this squid's hectocotylus getting past your mantle.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Are you one of the species that rips theirs off and hucks it at the female to prevent being eaten?

Maybe I'm thinking of an octopus..

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don't know what you're thinking of, but it's none of us higher molluscs.

NSFO porn:

spoiler

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Apparently I've been misled as the octopus I was thinking of, the argonaut, doesn't actually have a detachable hectocotylus.

Zefrank lied to me.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's interesting, when I was a kid I remember always hearing that an octopus has eight tentacles and a squid has ten. I suppose 'limbs' might have been a more accurate descriptor.

Oddly, I knew that cuttlefish have a distinction between arms and tentacles. I'm not in biology, but I always thought of them as tiny squid, so it wouldn't surprise me if they were related.

If you're correcting me on the joke, it's a pun where "ten tickles" sounds like "tentacles." The number ten is unrelated to the number of limbs - it's actually usually told about an octopus

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Octopi have no tentacles, those are all arms!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

So wait, you're telling me that an octopus doesn't have tentacles at all?

My whole entire world (in regards to a small subset of cephalopods) has been turned upside down.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 19 hours ago

Yeah, I had the same feeling when I learned about that. It seems to be a common misnomer.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 day ago

Wait wait wait...you have no idea how a squid would react if you tickled it. What if it freaked out and bit your nose off? First you need to cautiously do a test tickle

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago

And here I was thinking it was just a fun username.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago

When the day gets late the Squid dons its little propellers and crosses the heavens squirting the night sky until the cuttlefish of day chases it forever westward.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 23 hours ago

Way back, i spent 1 day in my life really believing they do exist, until digging deeper exposed me to the sad truth.