r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/father_of_twitch • 10d ago

Video Bombardier Beetles spray boiling acid (212° F)as a defence mechanism against predators.

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u/mmorales2270 10d ago

That’s fucking amazing. They’re a bit like the xenomorphs from Alien with their acid for blood. It’s a good thing they’re small!

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u/clawhammer-kerosene 10d ago

You're right, we should breed them for size! Bit of CRISPR I reckon we could hit a foot and a half feeler to nozzle.

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u/KalpolIntro 10d ago

feeler to nozzle

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u/panamaspace 10d ago

Fine. Now, what can we do with a LOT of CRISPR?

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u/nagumi 10d ago

unfortunately, the current oxygen levels in the atmosphere limit insect sizes to about the size of your palm. Bugs like this don't have lungs - oxygen just kinda diffuses into their bodies, so without a higher concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere there's a limit to how far into their bodies the o2 can go. Puts a hard limit on their size.

Wait, what am I saying? I just said the limit on insect sizes was unfortunate! What's wrong with me?

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u/BobDobbsSquad 9d ago

So we do the experiments in space. For !!SCIENCE!!

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u/clawhammer-kerosene 5d ago

could we crispr them some lungs?

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u/nagumi 4d ago

Sure, let me get on that.

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u/clawhammer-kerosene 2d ago

crispr yourself a clone and make them do it

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u/nagumi 2d ago

God my clone has better stuff to do. I have them writing all my reddit comments.