If you travel deep into the ocean, you will find a critter that makes “snot palaces.”
The mucus protects these sea creatures, otherwise known as giant larvaceans. It hides them from predators and helps funnel and filter food for themselves.
When the structure gets clogged, the animals build a new one, usually daily.
The Huffington Post reported that scientists are now closer to discovering how these sea creatures build the five-story palaces from snot coming out of their heads. Scientists also say that learning how to create these could one day help humans build expanding homes on Earth, Mars, or the Moon.
Today is World Oceans Day --Meet one of the deep sea creatures helping clean up the water’s carbon dioxide by capturing it in self-created snot palaces. https://t.co/AmyVhbePEk
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) June 8, 2020
These creatures inside these “snot palaces” are tiny, and the biggest critter is 10cm.
Dr. Katija said the small animals are smart and crucial to Earth’s environment.
Boris Worm, marine biologist at Dalhousie University, said, “They are like an alien life form, made almost entirely out of the water, yet crafted with complexity and purpose.”
Dr. Katija’s team used 3D laser scan technology to fly through the “snot palace virtually.”
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