1st Place Winner:

Water flea Daphnia atkinsoni. This specimen has a "crown of thorns," a defensive trait induced in offspring only when the parents sense chemical cues released by one of their main predators, the tadpole shrimp Triops cancriformis. The water flea´s exoskeleton (exterior structure, green) and subcellular details within the organism (nuclei – tiny blue dots) are both visible – Dr. Jan Michels, Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, Germany.

5th Place Winner:

Unicellular alga Penium, treated with the microtubule poison oryzalin – by David Domozych, Skidmore College.

Ma. Ivy Clemente of Pulilan, Philippines, got an honorable mention in this year’s competition, but I think her entry is the most stunning. Behold, the cancer alphabet:

Spelling out the diagnosis: Glandular structures from fibroadenoma and nodular prostatic hyperplasia cases – by Ma. Ivy Clemente, Pulilan, Philippines

Fetal cat coronal section – by Mike Peres, Rochester Institute of Technology, New York.

Squid embryo – by Rachel Fink, Mount Holyoke College, Massachussetts

Link: Winners Gallery of the 2009 Olympus BioScapes

“It is difficult to imagine how you can have something as soft and sloppy as an ink sac fossilised in three dimension, still black, and inside a rock that is 150 million years old.

“The structure is similar to ink from a modern squid so we can write with it. I suppose we could theoretically use it for food colouring, too, but I don’t think I will try tasting it.”

A sample of the ink has been sent to Yale University for further analysis. Link -via the Presurfer

(image credit: BMPS)

The evolution of the eye is fascinating stuff (in a nutshell, the eye is so complex that Creationists claim that it couldn't possibly have evolved ... and scientists countered that not only did the eye evolved into being, it is so useful that it did so more than one time)

Well, add this to the mix: Margaret McFall-Ngai and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered that squids can detect light through an organ other than their eyes (and if that's not cool enough, it's done through a symbiosis with luminous bacteria!):

"Until now, scientists thought that illuminating tissues in the light organ functioned exclusively for the control of the intensity and direction of light output from the organ, with no role in light perception," says McFall-Ngai. "Now we show that the E. scolopes squid has additional light-detecting tissue that is an integral component of the light organ."

The researchers demonstrated that the squid light organ has the molecular machinery to respond to light cues. Molecular analysis showed that genes that produce key visual proteins are expressed in light-organ tissues, including genes similar to those that occur in the retina. They also showed that, as in the retina, these visual proteins respond to light, producing a physiological response.

"We found that the light organ in the squid is capable of sensing light as well as emitting and controlling the intensity of luminescence," says co-author Nansi Jo Colley, SMPH professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences and of genetics.

Link

Who doesn’t love giant squids? Whether you are fascinated by Kraken, love reading Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea or you are actually into teuthology (that’s the study of cephalopods), we’ve got you covered!

The super-talented Nathan Mazur of scaredofbees (great stuff there, btw) has designed the perfect T-shirt for you. Here’s the tentacle-y fun shirt from the Neatorama Online Store: Link

More I Love Science designs:

NEW – I Love Forensics	I Love Math (now also available in black)	I Love Science, and others also in Onesie/Kids

We’re also slowly but surely building the web’s best selection of geekstastic Science T-shirts and cheeky Scientists Do It T-Shirts – so check ‘em out!

"Neatorama isn’t a cephalopod blog," but here’s a marvelous art of squid art by Skot Olsen, titled "Blessed Saint Architeuthis" (2008). Skot loves the sea but was stung by a jellyfish at a tender young age, which explains a lot about his artwork: Link – via Ectoplasmosis

It’s hard to describe Candice Tripp’s art – it’s a little dark and macabre but with a touch of gentle humor. This one is titled "The Escape" – and yes, that’s a splotch of ink on the girl’s head: Link – via Misadventures in Crazytown

Ever wish a squid could sit on your head all day? Well, here’s your chance. It’s even better than a real squid, since it won’t make you stink and doesn’t feel slimy. Instructables has all the details you need to create your own squid hat.

Link