Text 19505, 88 rader
Skriven 2007-08-19 07:05:24 av Michael Loo (1:18/200)
     Kommentar till en text av Hap Newsom
Ärende: various & red sox 2
===========================
 HN> was speaking with a fellow rider on the bus to a Mariner's game a week
 HN> or so  ago and he postulated that mankind is the most invasive species
 HN> of all and  we have no natural predators

We've evolved lots of defenses against predators, anyhoo.
Whether it was that big cerebral cortex or the pesky
opposable thumb that turned that particular tide is open
to debate.

 HN> The M's had one ugly game against the Chisox but came away with a
 HN> series  win two games out of three...I'd settle for that anytime
 HN> (grin).

Sox just lost the last 2 of 3 ...

 HN> I'm hoping that the Mariners can sneak past the halo's and take the
 HN> west but  it will certainly go down to the wire it seems! And people
 HN> say baseball isn't  exciting!!!

The thinking man's sport.

 -> I heard that blue lobsters were being selectively bred for
 -> research purposes because of relative ease of tracking in the wild
 -> (but that might be an urban legend).
 HN> I have no real knowledge of why they are blue...could be the diet they
 HN> are  fed..also I've been told the blood of lobbies is blue so that
 HN> could be a reason 
 HN> as well (though if that were entirely true wouldn't the wild ones be
 HN> blue as  well? ) I just know I'd love to have a chance to invite a
 HN> bunch of em to  dinner!

Yes, It's a Lobster, and Yes, It's Blue
By KENNETH CHANG

One lobster in a million is blue, and the reason is not that it has been
holding its breath.

A combination of red and blue pigments in the shell of a live lobster
creates a mottled camouflage of indeterminate hue that blends in with
the ocean floor.

The red comes from the molecule astaxanthin, a cousin of beta carotene,
which gives carrots their orange color and is a source of vitamin A.
Astaxanthin, which looks red because it absorbs blue light, also colors
shrimp shells and salmon flesh. The blue pigment in lobster shells also
comes from crustacyanin, which is astaxanthin clumped together with a
protein. "It's a gorgeous bluish color, almost an ice blue color," said
Dr. Harry A. Frank, a professor of chemistry at the University of
Connecticut. In an article that will be published in The Journal of
Physical Chemistry, Dr. Frank and colleagues at Connecticut and Bowdoin
College report data explaining why astaxanthin is red, but the
astaxanthin-protein compound crustacyanin is blue.

	
One possibility is that the protein twisted the astaxanthin. Dr. Frank
said that while changing the shape of a molecule can shift its color
from red to orange, for instance, the radical change to blue results
from the protein pulling astaxanthin molecules close to each other.

The close proximity of two astaxanthins changes the orbits of the
electrons in the molecules, causing them to absorb red light and thus
appear blue. "The blue shift is one of the largest shifts that's seen in
nature," said Dr. Ronald L. Christensen, a chemistry professor at
Bowdoin and another author of the paper.

In the blue lobsters, a genetic mutation has caused an overabundance of
the astaxanthin-wrapping proteins, tying up all of the red astaxanthin
into blue crustacyanin. Lobstermen in Maine find a blue lobster every
year or two, and such rarities generally find their way to aquariums.

But a blue lobster would make an unremarkable meal. Heat breaks down the
astaxanthin-wrapping protein, destroying the blue pigment. In other
words, on a dinner plate, a blue lobster would probably be just like any
other lobster: red.

Kenneth Chang, NY Times, 3-15-2005

 ->       Title: Crayfish curry
 HN> And this dish would suit a bunch of those smallish lobsters quite
 HN> well! At  about 6 inches in size they'd be perfectly delectable!

Crayfish are just little lobsters, anyhow. Freshwater, of
course, but that would make the dish even better-tasting if
made with the saltwater brethren.

___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30
--- Telegard/2/QWK v3.09.g2-sp4/mL
 * Origin: Outpost BBS - bbs.outpostbbs.net - 770-489-1561 (1:18/200)