bpod-mrc:

Blood Red?

Ever wonder why Spock has green blood? Ask an avid Star Trek fan and they will tell you it’s because his Vulcan haemoglobin, the protein in blood cells that carries oxygen, is based on copper. Human haemoglobin (depicted here in a painting by Irving Geis) is however based on iron. Each haemoglobin molecule is constructed of four identical building blocks made of globin protein (purple) and heme (red). It is the heme group that gives our blood its distinctive red colour. Each heme contains an iron atom surrounded by a ring structure called porphyrin. When porphyrin is bound to iron carrying oxygen, it produces a red colour. While evolution paired up porphyrins with iron in humans, the same is not true for all creatures on earth. Molluscs, like Spock, also use copper giving their porphyrins a green hue.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

—

• Rights owned and administered by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Reproduction by permission only.

rumbly-tumbly:

The Biodiversity Heritage Library has a Flickr account with an enormous amount of scientific illustrations for almost anything you could think of. I could spent hours perusing all of these (and I just might).

rcaauwe:

This is the first pair of shoes I’ve painted for myself. If you are interested in a pair of hand painted shoes go ahead and email me.

To see what other shoes I’ve done so far: [link]

Pin It

rcaauwe:

anatomy of a squid

Pin It

n392_w1150 by BioDivLibrary on Flickr.

Land Mollusca from Christmas Island

biomedicalephemera:

Mollusca.

Fig 1. Le Calamar

Fig 2. Le Calamar flèche

Fig 3 + 4. Le Poulpe commun

Fig 5. Le Poulpe granuleux

Porte-Feuille Instructif et Amusant pour la Jeunesse. F. J. Bertuch, 1807.

The molluscs: Haliotis rubiginosa; Haliotis astricta; Haliotis viridis; Haliotis coccoradiata; Haliotis gemma; Haliotis excavata; Haliotis stomatiaeformis; Haliotis coneinna; Haliotis papulata; Haliotis jaenensis; Haliotis dubia; Haliotis sanguinea; Haliotis lauta; Haliotis lamellosa; Haliotis rugosa; Haliotis dringii; Haliotis rasacea; Haliotis tricostalis

From: ‘Illustrations conchyliologiques ou description et figures de toutes les coquilles connues vivantes et fossiles, classées suivant le système de Lamarck modifié d’après les progrès de la science et comprenant les genres nouveaux et les espèces rècemment découvertes’ (1842) by Jean-Charles Chenu

Seashells

From: ‘TESTACEA MUSEI CAESAREI VINDOBONENSIS’ by Ignaz von Born (1742-1791)

Loligo vulgaris - The European squid

From: ‘MOLLUSQUES MEDITERRANEENS OBSERVES, DECRITS, FIGURES ET CHROMOLITHOGRAPHIES D’APRES LE VIVANT, OUVRAGE DEDIE’ A’.S. M. LE ROI CHARLES ALBERT. PREMIERE PARTIE: CEPHALOPODES DE LA MEDITERRANEE (ALL PUBLISHED)’ by Jean Baptiste Vérany published in 1851

‘Nudibranchs from Zanzibar and East Africa’ by Sir Charles Eliot. Published 1902