New Species of Worms Found To Release "Bombs"

caffiend666 writes "A newly found deep ocean worm 'can cast off green glowing body parts, a move scientists think may be a defensive effort to confuse attackers. Researchers have dubbed the newly discovered critters "green bombers." ... The first of the new species has been given the scientific name Swima bombiviridis. ... [T]he worms are able to regenerate the body parts.' So, it's a naturally occurring animal that rips off its arms and throws them, and we're not talking about a game from ID Software?"

I bomb too

[SoupGuru]

I too use a type of bomb that can repel attackers. Mine doesn't confuse visually, though... it's more of an olfactory experience.

Re:I bomb too

[Red Flayer]

Mine doesn't confuse visually, though... it's more of an olfactory experience.

Ah, I see you have yet to learn the rest of the somewhat dangerous Furious Bomb of Distraction Technique.

First you must gather your Chi within yourself.
Then you must expel your Chi forcefully in a directed blast.
This is the Basic Furious Bomb of Distraction.

Only the True Master can realize the full potential of the Advanced Furious Bomb of Distraction.
After gathering your Chi, you must light a match and hold it in front of the Badger Den.
Then, and only then, can you expel your Chi in a blue-flamed spectacle of diversion, thus giving a visual impact to your olfactory experience.

Re:

[kj_kabaje]

Skadoosh.

Re:

[shirotakaaki]

Ah, I see you have yet to learn the rest of the somewhat dangerous Furious Bomb of Distraction Technique. First you must gather your Chi within yourself. Then you must expel your Chi forcefully in a directed blast. This is the Basic Furious Bomb of Distraction. Only the True Master can realize the full potential of the Advanced Furious Bomb of Distraction.

Ah yes. Everyone cowers to the F-bomb!

Re:I bomb too

[solafide]

No.

Re:

[ioshhdflwuegfh]

What were they talking about then?

Re:

[Kwiik]

It's a scientific release equivilant to "Somebody set us up the bomb"
old news

Re:

[vertinox]

Mine doesn't confuse visually, though... it's more of an olfactory experience.

I'm sure after that trip to the Taco Bell, you'll get a few watery eyes in the room.

Re:

[sumdumass]

Taco bell? In some parts of the country, there is a place called White Castles. [whitecastle.com] And let me tell you, they don't call them slyders for nothing.

Re:I bomb too

[superslacker87]

Taco bell? In some parts of the country, there is a place called White Castles. [whitecastle.com] And let me tell you, they don't call them slyders for nothing.

I make it a general rule to avoid eating something that smells the same going in as it does going out.

Re:

[Mikkeles]

... it's more of an olfactory experience.

That's for the benefit of the deaf.

Re:

[wastedlife]

Mine doesn't confuse visually, though... it's more of an olfactory experience.

That's for the benefit of the deaf.

Blind deaf people?

Bomber worm

[Sumbius]

Too many jokes to choose from...

Re:

[Shakrai]

The first thing that came to my mind for some reason was the assblasters [wikipedia.org] from Tremors :)

What is this, Harry Potter?

[CorporateSuit]

The first of the new species has been given the scientific name Swima bombiviridis.

Subsequently, the entire scientific community got together to call the researchers and tell them they're not allowed to name any new species, ever. This was not the first time such had happened. Ever since the 2007 Sunken-Eyed Lemur was given the scientific name masturbatus furious the scientific community has been tightening the leash on allowing researchers to label their discoveries.

Re:

[Annwvyn]

I agree... I think they come up with these names while 'celebrating' their new discovery. "...having promiscuous sex with many anonymous partners while experimenting with mind-expanding drugs in a consequence-free environment..." - Austin Powers

Re:

[ioshhdflwuegfh]

At least they haven't named it Swima teroristicus.

Re:What is this, Harry Potter?

[Minwee]

There was talk about naming it the "Freedom Worm" instead.

Re:What is this, Harry Potter?

[florescent_beige]

...Sunken-Eyed Lemur...scientific name masturbatus furious...

They have a scientific name for /. readers?

Re:Yes, they do...

[sourICE]

They have a scientific name for /. readers?

Emptious-Numerator Divided-Dottus.

Sometimes referred to simply as Divided-Dottus or the symbols '/.'.

Re:

[jeffshoaf]

Ever since the 2007 Sunken-Eyed Lemur was given the scientific name masturbatus furious the scientific community has been tightening the leash on allowing researchers to label their discoveries.

But I thought that was the scientific name for /. readers...

Re:

[geekoid]

why? Let them label them what they want.

Bunch of whiny crybabies.

Re:

[maxume]

You need to put a 'native' or something in your second paragraph, you can't simultaneously exclude yourself from and include yourself in the same general group.

Re:

[osu-neko]

Did you miss the joke, are you trolling, or do you simply think people shouldn't tell jokes unless they're properly screened for international appeal?

Re:

[thatskinnyguy]

So... do you want a metal or something?

Re:

[commodoresloat]

So... do you want a metal or something?

Yes -- make mine HEAVY.

Yeah, arm-bombs are okay I guess

[Itninja]

But I prefer worms [wikipedia.org] that throw banana bombs, super sheep, and can wield a shotgun.

Re:

[the_fat_kid]

"You'll regret that!"

Re:

[Annwvyn]

Heheh... Perfect. That makes me miss that game... Though I had my team set in Polish.

Re:

[Itninja]

Been playing a lot of Worms 2: Armageddon on XBLA lately. It's pretty fun but I miss being able to load my own voice packs like I could on a PC. Having all my worms sounding like Chris Farley was the best.

Re:

[nickyj]

Oh man I remember those days, we used South Park voices (don't kick the baby), Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and we even made our recorded voices while playing Worms as some voice packs for the game which is hilarious after drinking a bottle of vodka while playing.

Those were the days.

Re:

[SoupGuru]

Banana bombs are neat, but nothing beats a concrete donkey.

Re:

[DogAlmity]

Concrete donkey? Did we just wander into sexual innuendo?

Re:

[cffrost]

1. Summarily mod down post that ends with: 3. ??? 4. Profit!

That's flares, not bombs

[Anonymous Coward]

Those scientists seem to be total noobs when it comes to things that can be dropped.

Re:

[Hurricane78]

Man, did you have to word it like this, shortly after I was flooded by a whole tread of toilet humor based on this image:
http://failblog.org/2009/08/21/privacy-fail-4/ [failblog.org]

Some humans do this too...

[tacarat]

Mind you, they need a knife, but a penis can be thrown at pursuers... once. Well, unless you have a symbiotic relationship with some surgeons.

Obliged

[f00dif00]

I too welcome our bomb-releasing bio-luminescent worm overlords.

Re:

[mgblst]

Thanks, one comment we really needs. So far, I have found one comment not intending to be funny, this is what slashdot has turned into? A bunch of unfunny people rehashing memes?

Make love, not war

[BourneTolouse]

Wrong war analogy - the worms are releasing chaff.

Re:Make love, not war

[StikyPad]

If it's chafed when you release, you're doing it wrong.

Where does the bomb part come in?

[BForrester]

"Bomb" is a bit of a misnomer. This is more of a flare/chaff countermeasure.

Call it biological countermeasures or BCM if you need an accurate and succinct term for generating buzz.

Re:Where does the bomb part come in?

[Minwee]

Call it biological countermeasures or BCM if you need an accurate and succinct term for generating buzz.

The danger in that is that the media will pick it up and call it "Biological BCM Counter Measures".

Green Chaffer?

[CheddarHead]

I was thinking the same thing. I guess that "Green Chaffer" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

worms with arms?

[Anonymous Coward]

isn't that the real story here?

Is the new part that it glows?

[electricprof]

I know that it's also a new type of deep sea swimming worm but is the really sexy part that it glows? The article also points out that several other ocean creatures drop off or "throw" body parts, but I think they don't glow. Squids can drop off an arm and I think sea cucumbers can spit out something from their gut. Of course, many lizards can also break off their tail. I guess the real question is whether humans should develop glowing detachable body parts ...

Re:

[Xtifr]

That was the first thing I wanted to ask, but I'm also confused about the worm-with-arms part. I suppose that if it's going to tear off parts of its body to distract pursuers, a part that it doesn't have would be the least painful and easiest to regenerate--but surely also the least effective?

I freely admit that I didn't RTFA, but with a summary this bad, I can't tell if I'm even interested in R-ing TFA, so it's a tough call. :)

Re:

[omnichad]

It does have legs...but since it swims, I guess they're all arms.

Re:

[mcgrew]

I guess the real question is whether humans should develop glowing detachable body parts

We have. They're called "clothes".

What's new?

[WoOS]

Lizards do it with their (continuing to wiggle) tail if they flee an enemy. So what's the excitement with this?

Re:

[holmstar]

Yeah, Have you ever seen it in person? It is really bizarre. I scared a lizard into dropping its tail in my backyard once (inadvertently). After watching the tail myself for a minute or two, I picked it up and freaked out the neighbor lady with it. :-)

It's not a bomb! It's a DECOY!

[Hurricane78]

Like with fighter jets.

It lights. It does not explode!

But how are you going to get the hype machine going, to for once in your desperate life get some attention, right caffiend666?

Obligatory Comment

[danger42]

I, for one, welcome our new deep-ocean dwelling, bomb-releasing overlords.

Re:

[CTalkobt]

>> I, for one, welcome our new deep ocean dwelling, bomb-releasing overlords. Good! - Just for bringing up that meme I'll hold your head under-water for a long time so you can greet them.

Re:

[omnichad]

With your mile-long arms. They live pretty far down.

Re:

[HomelessInLaJolla]

Due to San Diego's recent water treatment discussion I began to think more about the natural ecosystem involved. Sea worms do exist but often at extraordinary depth and habitate inside of tubes which they build or secrete. They are a worm accustomed to and evolved within a highly saline environment. Earthworms, freshwater worms, do not have this limitation of being localized to a tube.

So what if the real problem that we have in San Diego, with the smell emanating from that section of the ocean, is all of

Odd Evolutionary Links?

[sonnejw0]

What seems most interesting about this discovery is any possible evolutionary links. The common yard lizard in the southern USA (Florida, Texas, 'Bama, Georgia) loses its tail when attacked. Some starfish will break off a limb as a decoy. Many other examples across the phyla, kingdoms and classes.

Has the ability to lose a limb and regenerate evolved multiple times? Is this an evolutionarily ancient and common ability that humans have lost? Or these species linked on some crooked branch and our tree description is just totally screwed up?

I think those are the real questions this article raises.

Re:

[TheRealMindChild]

Our body still likely tries to do it, but we end up with a tumor instead. Likely due to how complex we are compared to your examples.

Re:

[Nadaka]

I believe there is a tribe in africa that harvests a strip of fat/meat from a anesthetized cow and stitches it back together. I learned this through non-internet related sources, so I can't be arsed to hunt down a reference.

Pity they're not Earth Worms

[lobiusmoop]

because then we could label them terra-rists.

(sorry).

Re:

[MickyTheIdiot]

why do worms hate 'mericans?

Re:

[Thing 1]

Yes, yes, your wrists are scary, now put teh elbow gloves back on!

the name..

[doti]

Sorry, but you wrote that name wrong. It's "id Sowftware".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id_software#Company_name [wikipedia.org]

Not just Quake...

[TheCyberShadow]

Bomb-dropping worms and no one mentions the Worms series from Team17 [wikipedia.org]?

Re:

[Itninja]

I did. Like 40 minutes ago...sheesh! Wait, I mean oy nutter!

Humans Too

[florescent_beige]

There was a species of human who's legs would fall off when they got scared too. All eaten though. Sad.

They look so cute!

[greymond]

I want to get one and hug and love it and squeeze it until it throws all it's legs at me :D

Where's the

[SnarfQuest]

Wheres the expected slashdot comment "that sounds like my old girlfriend"?

I Coulda sworn...

[DigitalSorceress]

I coulda sworn that I heard something like this about some glowie aquatic doomahickie before.

In that case, the defense mechanism was all about getting loads of brightly glowing goo stuck to the attacker... I guess in the hope that "There's always a bigger fish"

Either that, or it's just an anti-shoplifting mechanism gone horribly wrong.

Re:

[OrangeMonkey11]

I believe it was on Blue Planet, they shown a shrimp like creature from the deep that shoots a glowing decoy in the opposite direction from it's travel to distract predator while it's makes a run for it. And I think there is also a species of squid that does the same thing

You know,

[Dremth]

Those are actually antlion larvae. If you eat those green things it will actually cure any of your ailments and make you feel absolutely terrific.

Neat, but don't sea cucumbers do something similar

[Koreantoast]

While this is an interesting new creature, this ability is hardly something new. Sea cucumbers after all are already known for its ability to fire off select internal organs at predators as a distraction so they can flee...

Re:

[HeedlessYouth]

Yes - sea cucumbers puke their guts out, literally. However, I think the term "flee" is a little strong for a creature that tops out at 2 meters per minute.

Re:

[zerobytes]

so they can flee...

Have you ever seen a fleeing sea cucumber? That must be SOME organ that they jetison if it keeps a predator busy for that long...

Re:

[Chris Burke]

The Everlasting Gobstopereas?

Re:

[minorgroove]

A lot of creatures in the ocean do that, usually to startle or distract whatever is chasing them. That wasn't what was so special about it. Most luminous organisms in the ocean glow blue; these glow green, and are rare in that respect (at least in the ocean, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxfire_(bioluminescence) [wikipedia.org] ). The original publication ( http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/325/5943/964 [sciencemag.org] ) was only claiming that they found several new species in the deep sea that were unrelated to known or

Bombs?

[Anonymous Coward]

Green glowing body parts being called bombs? Are these researchers in any way related to the police officers involved in the Boston bomb scare of '07?

Just to fulfill everybody's expectations...

[hyades1]

Yeah, I got yer bomb-launching worm right here.

Science is cool!

[nature_geek]

As a scientist currently working on a NOAA research ship, my first reaction to this article was essentially: wow that is neat, we find so much cool stuff when we actually look for it! Our ship uses high resolution bathymetric SONAR, and we make discoveries every day on the sea floor that no one ever knew existed. And we regularly find things that help to explain other phenomena of the oceans, bays, and estuaries. The sad part is that science (speaking from an American perspective here) is relatively poor

Theres nothing new here....

[badass fish]

David Attenburrough Seas of Life has a creature (you might call it a worm)that uses the same tactic.