[Chaos-l] Tentacles (last one for tonight)

[Terry Crook]

Very interesting talk last night, thanks. Also, appreciate the add'n'l 
comments from Jon!
Does anyone know if there is a bibliography of Astrobiological 
publications or overviews?
Possibly I should contact our speaker at the NCMS but I didn't get his 
last name or eaddress.
Suggestions welcomed.

Taurus Terry in Chapel Hill
35° 55' 47"N, 79° 01' 00"W


On 6/12/2012 11:52 PM, Jon Stewart-Taylor wrote:
> A dictionary definition of "tentacle":
>
>    tentacle (plural tentacles)
>     • An elongated, boneless, flexible organ or limb of some animals, 
> such as the octopus and squid.
>
> From the Wiki article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tentacle):
>
>> A tentacle or bothrium (plural: bothria) is one of usually two or 
>> more elongated flexible organs present in animals, especially 
>> invertebrates. The term may also refer to the hairs of the leaves of 
>> some insectivorous plants. Usually, tentacles are used for feeding, 
>> feeling and grasping. Anatomically, they work like other muscular 
>> hydrostats.
>
> Like many, i expect, i thought tentacles were used for locomotion but 
> apparently they're not.  On the other hand, that lovely phrase 
> "muscular hydrostat" (learn something new every day) is linked 
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscular_hydrostat):
>
>>  A muscular hydrostat is a biological structure found in animals. It 
>> is used to manipulate items (including food) or to move its host 
>> about and consists mainly of muscles with no skeletal support. It 
>> performs its hydraulic movement without fluid in a separate 
>> compartment[.]
>
> So, is an elephant's trunk a tentacle?  It's certainly used for 
> feeding, feeling, and grasping.  In any case, it is a muscular 
> hydrostat (so are tongues, by the way), though it's not used for 
> locomotion (neither are tongues, in normal cases).
>
> I'll leave you with a link to an article on robot analogs of muscular 
> hydrostats:
>
>    http://blog.makezine.com/2010/04/20/tentacle-robot/
>
> 'Night.
>
> J.