[HN Gopher] Studying species in the deepest parts of the ocean: ...
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       Studying species in the deepest parts of the ocean: A new method of
       analysis
        
       Author : dnetesn
       Score  : 20 points
       Date   : 2024-01-27 20:39 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (nautil.us)
 (TXT) w3m dump (nautil.us)
        
       | throwup238 wrote:
       | A better video of the worms:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbzd71Rwx0g
        
       | Keegs wrote:
       | These little guys have no conception of light, the sea floor, or
       | the existence of a surface. Any aliens we could cross paths with
       | are probably more relatable.
        
         | pavlov wrote:
         | Why? I would imagine life on Jupiter's moons might be something
         | similar to these creatures, for example.
         | 
         | And our own solar system is the only place where we
         | realistically have the slightest chance of physically crossing
         | paths with aliens for many millennia.
        
         | EdwardDiego wrote:
         | I assume they have some conception of light, they have eyes[0],
         | and emit bioluminescent mucus. I'm assuming that their
         | conception is "light = danger".
         | 
         | Although I can't find any info if they're one of the blind
         | species of polychaetes. This paper[1] implies they have
         | photoreceptors (I think, I'm a layman who only knows some of
         | the words in it), but more importantly, it just gave me a name
         | for my next synthwave band: Tentacular Cirri.
         | 
         | [0]: https://zooplankton.nl/en/diversity/tomopteris/
         | 
         | [1]:
         | https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13127-023-00603-0
        
         | vba616 wrote:
         | There seems to be good reason to think that most aliens inhabit
         | eternal darkness in a ocean underneath a global ice cap.
         | 
         | "New research by scientists from NASA and Japan's Osaka
         | University suggests that rogue planets - worlds that drift
         | through space untethered to a star - far outnumber planets that
         | orbit stars."
         | 
         | https://www.nasa.gov/missions/roman-space-telescope/new-stud...
        
           | andrewflnr wrote:
           | GP was precise in their phrasing: "aliens we could cross
           | paths with". It would be much harder to actually meet or
           | communicate with aliens that live in a dark ocean on a rogue
           | planet than it would be for other aliens. ;)
        
           | EdwardDiego wrote:
           | That would limit the available energy inputs though, no solar
           | radiation, no tidal forces, so unless you've got active plate
           | tectonics or radionuclide decay, it's all going to become
           | ice, presumably?
        
       | mackman wrote:
       | If anyone finds this an interesting idea, you should try
       | blackwater diving. It's one of my favorite things to do it's
       | absolutely like being an outer space finding weird aliens. You
       | don't have to dive very deep and it's super easy to pay attention
       | to the light so you don't get lost.
        
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