Paris zoo unveils the "blob", an organism with no brain but 720 sexes
PARIS (Reuters) - A Paris zoo showcased a mysterious new organism on Wednesday, dubbed the “blob”, a yellowish unicellular small living being which looks like a fungus but acts like an animal.
This newest exhibit of the Paris Zoological Park, which goes on display to the public on Saturday, has no mouth, no stomach, no eyes, yet it can detect food and digest it.
The blob also has almost 720 sexes, can move without legs or wings and heals itself in two minutes if cut in half.
“The blob is a living being which belongs to one of nature’s mysteries”, said Bruno David, director of the Paris Museum of Natural History, of which the Zoological Park is part.
“It surprises us because it has no brain but is able to learn (...) and if you merge two blobs, the one that has learned will transmit its knowledge to the other,” David added.
The blob was named after a 1958 science-fiction horror B-movie, starring a young Steve McQueen, in which an alien life form - The Blob - consumes everything in its path in a small Pennsylvania town.
“We know for sure it is not a plant but we don’t really if it’s an animal or a fungus,” said David.
“It behaves very surprisingly for something that looks like a mushroom (...) it has the behavior of an animal, it is able to learn.”
If anything deserves to be called "unworldly", I would think this guy would certainly fit the bill.
Coffee in the kitchen this morning.
That is a weird one!
ReplyDeleteNot only weird but scary! It said the video was unavailable to me, but I'm not sure I wanted to see it anyway.
ReplyDelete]37° here this man so the kitchen is good. Have a good weekend:))
720 sexes? Must be a democrat!
ReplyDeleteUnworldly is the only explanation for this weird "thing". i do remember the movie "The Blob" and this suers it. Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteHey Sixbears...
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is that!
Thanks for stopping by today!
Hey Mamahen...
It is a bit unsettling, to say the least.
Thanks for coming by this morning!
Hey Gorges...
Ya reckon?
Thanks for the visit this morning!
Hey Linda...
Sure sounds like a good description, doesn't it?
Thanks for coming over today!
Did anyone say where and how it was discovered in the zoo? I would hate for it to get angry with me? What do they feed it? I hope it is a herbivore.
ReplyDeleteI sure don't know or see what purpose this thing is but I hope it doesn't spreed. Video didn't work for me either but I really didn't want to see it anyway I'm just nosey.
ReplyDeleteSee you in the kitchen
This is really cool. I watched the video directly on YouTube after clicking on it didn't work. Apparently it's some kind of slime mold, which is a kind of fungus. From the comments, I gleaned that the 720 "sexes" are just ways that the slime mold reproduces directly by matching DNA alleles (if I understood this correctly... some sort of genetic thing, not really gender).
ReplyDeleteI don't think it would make a good pet (grin).
ReplyDelete