today
9 a.m. International Education Week Humboldt State University
read >noon Redwood Region Audubon Society Meeting Golden Harvest Cafe
read >noon Dreamscapes The Oasis
read >4:30 p.m. HomeWork Hotline Call for details
read >5 p.m. Guitar Jazz Cafe Brio
read >5 p.m. Henderson Center Holiday Open House Henderson Center
read >6 p.m. Americans for Safe Access Bayview Courtyard Complex
read >6 p.m. Matthew Cook Cher-Ae-Heights Casino
read >6 p.m. Bill McBride and Friends Hotel Ivanhoe
read >6 p.m. Kindred Spirits Mad River Brewing Company
read >6 p.m. Watershed Restoration Week Celebration Wharfinger Building
read >6:30 p.m. Seabury Gould at Gallagher's Gallagher's
read >6:30 p.m. Share a Story: Growing Vegetable Soup Arcata Library
read >6:30 p.m. 2008 Transgender Day of Remebrance Humboldt County Courthouse
read >7 p.m. Blue Grass Jam Old Town Coffee & Chocolates
read >7 p.m. Mr. Calamari's Jazz Machine Mosgo's
read >7 p.m. All Ages Open Mic East Side Deli
read >7 p.m. Don's Neighbors Gilded Rose
read >7 p.m. KEET-TV's Annual Holiday Auction See Event Description
read >8 p.m. Karaoke WAVE @ blue lake casino
read >8 p.m. Karaoke at Bear River Casino Bear River Casino
read >8 p.m. Smuin Ballet: The Christmas Ballet Van Duzer Theater at HSU
read >8 p.m. Getting It Arcata Playhouse
read >8 p.m. She Loves Me North Coast Repertory Theater
read >8 p.m. The Medium Gist Hall Theater at HSU
read >8:30 p.m. Keak da Sneak, San Quinn Mazzotti's Arcata
read >9 p.m. Soldiers of Shangri-la Six Rivers Brewery
read >9 p.m. Dancehall/Reggae Thursday with Rude Lion Sound DJ Jimmy Jonz The Red Fox Tavern
read >9 p.m. Scotch Wiggly The Boiler Room
read >9 p.m. The Common Vice, Silent Giants, Rooster McClintock Humboldt Brews
read >9 p.m. Hillstomp, O'Death Jambalaya
read >9:30 p.m. DJ Ray Ragg's Rack Room
read >10 p.m. Music by DJ Sidelines
read >10 p.m. Lightnin' Bill Woodcock Pearl Lounge
read >previous columns
Nov. 8, 2007
Can We Extract Energy from Waves?
PG&E is seeking permits to investigate the feasibility of producing ...
read >Nov. 1, 2007
Why Does the Setting Sun Flash Green?
If you watch the red sun just before it disappears ...
read >Oct. 25, 2007
Why do some rocks resemble Swiss Cheese?
Many rocks along our coast exhibit strange holes. You may ...
read >
Photos
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When triggered, a nematocyst containing venom under high osmotic pressure propels a hollow tube into its victim, and injects the venom through that tube.
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How did this diabolical structure evolve? My guess is presented in this series of diagrams.
What's so amazing about anemones?
By Don Garlick
Among all the fantastic products of three billion years of evolution, such as intricately constructed ears, eyes and skeletons, the most amazing exists within primitive anemones, corals and jellyfish. The stickiness you feel when touching anemones in local tide-pools is a consequence of thousands of microscopic harpoons launched into your skin. Each launching mechanism is absolutely astounding, because it is not assembled from countless microscopic cells but from countless molecules confined within a single cell.
When triggered, a nematocyst containing venom under high osmotic pressure propels a hollow tube into its victim, and injects the venom through that tube. The tube turns inside-out like a rubber glove. It's tightly coiled prior to discharge, but reverses in the manner of a snail's emerging eye-stalk — just a million times faster. The nematocysts of box jellies cause severe pain and kill many swimmers in the seas north of Australia. How did this diabolical structure evolve? My guess is presented in the series of small diagrams.
Don Garlick is a geology professor retired from HSU. He invites any questions relating to North Coast science, and if he cannot answer it he will find an expert who can. E-mail dorsgarlick@yahoo.com.
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