(Roughly) Daily

Deep in the Pacific Ocean, six-foot-long Humboldt squid are known for being aggressive, cannibalistic and, according to new research, good communicators.

Known as “red devils,” the squid can rapidly change the color of their skin, making different patterns to communicate, something other squid species are known to do.

But Humboldt squid live in almost total darkness more than 1,000 feet below the surface, so their patterns aren’t very visible. Instead, according to a new study, they create backlighting for the patterns by making their bodies glow, like the screen of an e-reader…

How squid talk with each other in the dark depths: “Deep Sea Squid Communicate by Glowing Like E-Readers.”

* from a Leslie Bricusse song sung by Rex Harrison in Dr. Doolittle

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As we contemplate conversation, we might send carefully-deduced birthday greetings to William Ian Beardmore (WIB) Beveridge; he was born on this date in 1908.  A veterinarian who served as  director of the Institute of Animal Pathology at Cambridge, he identified the origin– a strain of swine flu– of the Great Influenza (the Spanish Flu pandemic, 1918-19).

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