Hasta La Gadget!

Apparently the size of the fish you fish matters if you’re fishing on a large scale. You may not have thought about this, but it makes sense given broad overfishing concerns plus our knowledge of selective breeding. As MinuteEarth explains, there are laws that establish a minimum size for catching fish so young fish have a better chance of growing up and reproducing. Which sounds like it makes sense. But an unintended consequence of these laws has been fisherpeople catching the largest fish they can, thus creating a situation where small fish reproduce disproportionately with other small fish. And the issue there is that small fish don’t produce as many eggs and don’t equip their eggs with as much built-in food for the development process. Add that to genetic predisposition to be small and you’ve got small fish producing less total offspring but more . . . small fish. You know what, it’s a whole big fish small fish thing, just watch the video.

Read more…

I’m sure a lot of little girls wanted to become mermaids at some point in their lives. I’m guessing probably after they watched The Little Mermaid or some other movie which featured the mythical creatures.

There’s no way you can actually become a mermaid, but now you can learn how to be one (or at least, swim like one) at an actual school located in Manila, Philippines.

The school is called the Philippine Mermaid Swimming Academy and they’ll basically teach you how to swim like a mermaid. Students will be outfitted with “mono-tails” and will be taught basic mermaid moves like dolphin kicks and handstands.

The classes are being taught by professional divers and swimmers, with each 2-hour lesson costing approximately $62.

Through the lessons, instructor Annabelle Jimenez hopes to impart the playfulness and beauty that’s often associated with mermaids to her wards.

[via The Telegraph via TAXI]

Do you love fish? I mean really love fish? To the point where you have to watch them swimming as you pee? If the answer is yes, then don’t flounder and check out this fishbowl toilet today.

Or if you want to send a gangster style message, give it as a gift with a note attached saying that “Luca Brasi pees with the fishes.” Just replace Luca Brasi’s name with your friend’s name. And yes, they will be peeing with the fishes.

Poor fish. That’s just how they wanted to live their life, watching other life-forms excavate their bowels and bladders.

[via Thisiswhyimbroke]

Robots – this is a subject that many would be interested in and fascinated with, especially when you consider how robots are capable of helping humans live out an easier life. Well, there is an upward trend when it comes to robots, and this time around, we have an autonomous glider robot which is assisting University of Delaware scientists in order to locate endangered Atlantic sturgeon fish in Delaware waterways – and of course, beyond that.

The University of Delaware reports, “More than a century ago, an estimated 180,000 female Atlantic sturgeon arrived from the coast in the spring to spawn in the Delaware River and fishermen sought their caviar as a lucrative export to Europe. Overfishing contributed to steep population declines, however, and today numbers have dwindled to fewer than 300 adults.” Relying on satellite information and historical records of ocean conditions, it allows one to to pinpoint migrating species which has been previously tracked in order to predict just where they are on any given day.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: XRL Robot Leaps High Enough To Make Spiderman Proud, Self-Assembling Printed Robot, Transformers A Reality Soon?,

Japan is home to all sorts of weird and wonderful items, and why stop now? While I’ve enjoyed building models since I was a little kid, I’ve typically stuck to cars, motorcycles, airplanes, and the occasional robot. But in Japan, you can build a model of a fish. But this isn’t just any fish model, no. It’s a model that can be deconstructed into a meal. This is the fish that the guys at iFixit would order if they could.

When it arrives, the foot-long fish model looks like an ordinary Maguro tuna. But pull it apart and you’ll find all of the cuts of fish you might find on your dinner table. Though if you are into eating sushi, I can’t guarantee that these plastic pieces will taste as good as the real deal. The model even ships in a styrofoam container that makes it look like freshly-packed fish, along with a replica of a sushi knife and cutting table.

Not that I was planning on running out and buying one of these, but the ¥29,000 (~$240 USD) price tag has definitely eliminated any such thought that might have entered my mind. Though I do think I’ll have some spicy tuna rolls for lunch today.

[via Hobby Media (IT)]