Happy Thought for 8 August 2025

Have a Happy Thought: 

People, given the opportunity, LOVE science. More specifically, exploration. In this case, specifically, exploring the deep ocean.


Researchers from the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales have set up a livestream from their Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) that is currently exploring a deep (3000 m)-sea canyon off the Argentinian coast.


This went absolutely viral, both within and without Argentina – there have been at times literally tens of thousands of people watching this livestream. (To see the livestream, which as at writing is still going, go to the Schmit Ocean youtube page and look for the “Live now” section.)

One of the real highlights of this was when the person operating the ROV found this very peculiarly shaped seastar (aka starfish). The operator did an honest-to-goodness double-take-then-zoom-in with the camera (or see it in full context).

 

Image: a seastar with a symmetrical, rounded shape between two of its “legs”.



Now, part of the reason this livestream has gone so viral is that this is aligned with protests and strikes against government defunding of scientists and scientific research (ugh, that sounds way too familiar, unfortunately).

So, it should be of little surprise that a bunch of creative people (scientists) that saw something childishly amusing (a seastar with what looks to be a very human gluteus maximus), and, in the midst of a protest, turned this into....

Protest cookies. Which in all of the local reporting are being compared to Patrick, of Spongebob Squarepants fame.

Image: https://xcancel.com/rafagpalavecino/status/1953170663583175034

 

If you don’t want to watch hundreds of hours of video, but you do want to meet some of the other “stars” of this voyage, check out this spanish-language summary: https://www.eldestapeweb.com/cultura/conicet/que-especies-y-peces-se-encontraron-en-el-streaming-del-conicet-las-criaturas-mas-extranas-del-fondo-del-mar-202584192046

Or you can scroll through this thread, which includes some short videos as well as photos – and it is in English, with some fun commentary along the way. https://flipping.rocks/@nev/114959376410378452





Thanks to Neville Park for bringing this joy to us!


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