Insane in the Chromatophores

By Bora Zivkovic | August 29, 2012 | 1

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Video of the Week #58 August 29th, 2012:

From: Shiny! On the Iridescence of Squid by Jennifer Ouellette at Cocktail Party Physics.

Source: Backyard Brains

The Backyard Brains made the color-changing skin of a Longfin Inshore squid shift hues in sync to the pulsing beat of Cypress Hill in “Insane in the Chromatophores.” They simulated the nerve signals that trigger the muscles by connecting an iPhone to one of the creature’s dorsal fins with a suction electrode. When audio was sent to the squid in the form of electrical signals, the voltage changes made the pigment cells dance in sync with the music.

About the Author: Bora Zivkovic is the Blog Editor at Scientific American, chronobiologist, biology teacher, organizer of ScienceOnline conferences and editor of Open Laboratory anthologies of best science writing on the Web. Follow on Twitter @boraz.

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The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

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1. Quinn the Eskimo 8:51 pm 09/2/2012

So…if you fractionally electrocute the poor thing you can make him twitch!!! Thanks Dr. Skinner.

Have you no humanity?
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