Does the kraken exist now. Is the giant squid just a legend?

For centuries, people have spun stories about sea monsters with giant tentacles that pulled people to the bottom of the sea. But is there any truth in these stories?

For centuries, fishermen from Norway and Greenland have spoken of the fearsome sea monster, the Kraken. This huge creature was reported to have giant tentacles that could pull you off your boat and drag you into the depths of the ocean. You can't see what's floating in the water because the dark ocean depths hide many secrets. But if you suddenly start catching a lot of fish while fishing, you should run: the Kraken can be under you, it scares the fish to the surface.

In 1857, thanks to the Danish naturalist Japetus Steenstrup, the Kraken began to emerge from myth into reality. He examined the large beak of a squid, which was about 8 cm (3 inches) long, washed up on the coast of Denmark a few years earlier. Initially, he could only guess at the general size of the animal, but he soon received parts of another specimen from Bahamas. When Stenstrup finally published the results of his research, he concluded that the Kraken was real, and it was a type of giant squid. He named it "Architeuthis Dux", meaning "giant squid" in Latin.

Only after Stenstrup described the creature could scientists begin to unravel whether there was any truth in the old myths. Was this huge squid really as dangerous as the legends people believed? Where did it come from and what else is hidden in the dark depths of the ocean?

Photo 1. Kraken engraving, 1870

The Kraken has captivated the imagination of people for hundreds of years. The Danish Bishop Erik Pontoppidan wrote about this in detail in 1755 in his book Materials for the Natural History of Norway. According to the fishermen, Pontoppidan wrote, he was the size of "small islands" and his back was "half an English mile."

Its prehensile tentacles were only part of the problem. “After the monster briefly appeared on the surface of the water, it began to slowly sink, and then the danger became even greater than before, because its movement created a destructive whirlpool, and everything that was nearby plunged under the water with it.”

IN different nations these monsters different names. Greek mythology describes him as Scylla, a 6-headed sea goddess who ruled the rocks on one side of a narrow strait. Swim too close and she will try to eat you. In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus was forced to swim alongside Scylla to avoid an even worse monster. As a result, six of his men were eaten by Scylla.

Even science fiction writers did not sin to mention this monster. In Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne describes a giant squid that is very similar to the Kraken. He "could entangle a ship of five thousand tons and bury it in the depths of the ocean."

Photo 2. The beak of a giant squid described by Japetus Steenstrup

Since Steenstrup's original discovery, about 21 giant squid have been described. None of them were alive, their parts were found, and sometimes whole specimens were washed ashore. Even now, no one is sure how big a giant squid can grow.

For example, in 1933 the new kind named "A. clarkei" was described by Guy Colbyorn Robson and was found on a beach in Yorkshire, England, and was an almost untouched specimen. It "belonged to none of the species hitherto described" but was so badly decomposed that Robson could not even determine its gender. Others have been described after they were found in the stomachs of sperm whales, which apparently ate them.

It is believed giant squid can grow up to 13 meters long or even up to 15 meters including their tentacles. According to one estimate, they can reach up to 18 meters, but this could be a serious overestimate, says John Ablett of the Natural History Museum in London. This is because in the sun the squid tissue can behave like rubber, so it can be stretched.

This once again suggests that now no one can say how big a giant squid can grow. Due to the elusive nature of the squid, no one has ever found whole specimens. They spend most of their time at depths of 400 to 1000 m. They may remain partially out of reach of hungry sperm whales, but this is a partial success in best case. Whales are quite capable of diving to such depths and giant squids are practically defenseless against them.

Squids have one advantage. Their eyes are the largest of all animals: they are so large in size that they can be like saucers, up to 27cm (11 inches) in diameter. These giant peepers are believed to help spot whales at great distances, giving the squid time to create a distraction.

In turn, giant squid prey on fish, crustaceans and small squid, all of which have been found in the stomachs of the studied specimens. It even turned out that the remains of another giant squid were found in the stomach of one giant squid, and it was then suggested that they sometimes resort to cannibalism, although it is not clear how often.

Photo 3. Samples of the remains of the first giant squid

If you look at the squid, you can be sure that they have no problems with catching prey. They have two long tentacles that can grab their prey. They also have eight arms covered with dozens of suckers, along the edges of which there are horny rings with sharp teeth. If an animal is caught in a net, these suckers are enough to keep it from escaping, says Clyde Roper, a giant squid hunter at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

It sounds strange, but none of the evidence suggests that giant squid are active predators. Some big killers like the Pacific polar shark, moves slowly to conserve his energy. They only collect garbage after eating. In theory, giant squid can do the same.

Photo 4. The squid has eight arms covered with sharp suction cups

This idea came to life in 2004. Determined to find in wild nature live giant squid, Tsumeni Kubodera from the National Science Museum in Tokyo, Japan, together with whale expert Kyoki Mori, used Famous places the stay of sperm whales as places where you can meet the giant squid. They were able to film a live giant squid off the Ogasawara Islands in the North Pacific.

Kubodera and Mori lured a giant squid with bait, and found that it attacked horizontally with its tentacles extended in front of it. After taking the bait, the squid's tentacles coiled "into an irregular ball, much like pythons swiftly wrap several rings of their body around their prey immediately after an attack," according to their report.

Photo 5. First video footage of giant squid

The key to this, according to team member Edith Widder of the Ocean Research and Conservation Association in Fort Pierce, Fla., was guile. They suspected that the electric motors and most of the submerged chambers deterred the squid. Instead, they used a contraption called "Medusa" that had a battery-powered camera attached to it. Jellyfish, emitted blue light, designed to mimic the light emitted by giant jellyfish called Atoll. When pursued by predators, these jellyfish use their light to lure any large creatures lurking nearby to attack and attack the attacker.

Something about the nutrition of the giant squid
Footage from the first eight-hour dive was largely blank, but during the second attempt, suddenly the huge arms of a giant squid flashed across the screen. The squid only made very small, tender bites.

After several more attempts, they saw the squid in its entirety and noticed how it wrapped its arms around the camera platform. This definitely confirmed that he is indeed an active predator.

To further seduce the squid, Kubodera gave him a small squid as bait. Then he and two other people spent 400 hours in a cramped submarine to get even more footage and see the creature with their own eyes.

The giant squid actually attacked the lure “without tearing apart, as you might think,” Widder says. The squid fed for 23 minutes, but it made very small, gentle bites with its beak like a parrot, chewing gradually. Widder believes that the giant squid cannot eat its prey quickly because it can suffocate.

Photo 6. Preserved male giant squid

Giant squids are clearly not quite like that. scary monsters as they are usually presented. They only attack their prey and Clyde Roper believes they are not aggressive towards humans. As far as we can tell about them, they are very gentle giants, as Roper says, who calls them "magnificent creatures."

Although they have been known for over 150 years, we still know almost nothing about their behavioral and social models what they prefer to eat or where they usually travel. As far as we know, they are solitary animals, says Roper, but their social life remain a secret.

We don't even know where or how often they mate. While most male cephalopods have a modified arm for storing sperm, male giant squid have an external penis up to 1 m long.

In an attempt to uncover their mysterious mating habits, two Australian researchers in 1997 studied several specimens of female giant squid. Their results show that the giant squid mates with strength. They concluded that the male uses his muscular and elongated penis to "inject" a sperm capsule called a spermatophore directly into the female's hands, leaving shallow wounds. More recent research suggests that the spermatophores do this partly themselves, using enzymes to break through the female's skin.

It is not yet known how females gain access to this sperm to fertilize their eggs. They can rip open the skin with their beak, or the skin covering them bursts and releases semen.

It is clear that giant squid are very successful in producing offspring. They can live in every ocean except the polar regions, and there certainly must be plenty of them to meet the needs of many sperm whales. It's likely that there could be millions of them, Widder says. She says that people obviously explored the depths of the ocean, but they were frightened when they saw creatures larger than them.

Moreover, it turned out last year that all 21 species described since 1857 actually belong to the same species. Studying the DNA sequences of 43 tissue samples taken from different countries the world showed that these certain types could freely interbreed.

This may be due to the fact that young squid larvae are carried by powerful currents throughout the oceans. It could also explain why giant squid living on opposite sides of the planet can be nearly genetically identical. John Ablett says the error is understandable, since many of the supposed species originally described contained only isolated animal parts.

“Perhaps the entire world population of giant squid originated from a population that was increasing, but something went wrong,” says Ablett. No one knows what caused their decline in numbers. Genetics says only that the population of these squid grew some time between 110,000 and 730,000 years ago.

Photo 7. A specimen of a preserved giant squid (Museum of New Zealand)

So maybe this giant squid wasn't a deep sea monster, or are there other contenders?

The colossal squid, first described in 1925, looks like a promising candidate for a giant sea ​​monster. It could grow even bigger than a giant squid. The largest specimen ever taken was only 8 meters long, but it was most likely a young specimen and did not reach its full length.

Instead of teeth, he had revolving hooks with which he caught fish. But unlike the giant squid, it is most likely an inactive predator. Instead, the giant squid swims in circles and uses its hooks to catch prey.

What's more, giant squids only live in the Antarctic seas, so they can't be the inspiration for the Scandinavian Kraken legends.

Photo 8. Humboldt squid

Much more ferocious are the small Humboldt squids, which are known as "red devils" because of their color when attacking. They are more aggressive than the giant squid and have been known to attack humans.

Roper was once lucky to escape when the Humboldt squid "gouged my wetsuit with their sharp beak". A few years ago, he told a story about a Mexican fisherman who fell overboard, where Humboldt squid were actively feeding. “As soon as he reached the surface of the water, his assistant tried to haul him aboard as he was attacked from below, becoming food for hungry squid,” says Roper. "I considered myself very lucky that I managed to rise from the water unscathed."

However, while the Humboldt squid are clearly dangerous, even at their maximum length they are unlikely to more human. As such, they don't pose a major threat if you happen to be in the water with them. They certainly won't be able to drag the fishermen off the boats, as the legends of the Kraken tell.

All in all, there is little evidence of truly monstrous squid living in the ocean today. But there is reason to suspect that squids could reach colossal sizes in the distant past.

Photo 9. Fossilized ichthyosaur spine, maybe it was killed by a huge squid?

According to Mark McMenamin of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, there may have been colossal squid up to 30 m in length. These prehistoric Krakens may have preyed on ichthyosaurs, giant marine reptiles that looked like modern-day dolphins.

McMenamin first thought of this in 2011, when he discovered nine fossilized ichthyosaur vertebrae arranged in a row, which he claims resemble the pattern of "pumping disks of the main tentacles." He suggests that the Kraken "killed the marine reptiles and then dragged the carcasses back to his lair" for the feast, leaving the bones in an almost geometric sequence.

This is a contrived idea. In his defense, McMenamin points out that contemporary cephalopods are among the most intelligent creatures on the sea, and that octopuses are known to collect rocks in their lair. However, its critics point out that there is no evidence that modern cephalopods stock up on their prey.

Now McMenamin has found a fossil that he believes is part of an ancient squid's beak. He presented his findings to the Geological Society of America. "We think we see a very close relationship between the deep structure of a particular group of modern squid and this Triassic giant," says McMenamin. "This tells us that there were periods in the past when the squid got very large."

However, other paleontologists continue to criticize him. It is still not clear whether giant squid actually lived in the seas in the past.

Photo 10. Is the petrified fragment really part of the beak of a huge squid?

However, today, it would seem, there is everything necessary tools to turn a giant squid into a monster. But instead, our perception of a real animal is clouded by stories where the Kraken is a living creature.

Perhaps squid remain so mysterious, almost mythical, because they are elusive and lurk so deep in the oceans. "People need monsters," says Roper. Giant squids really do look so big and such "creepy-looking animals" that it's easy to turn them into predatory animals in our imagination.

But even if giant squid are gentle giants, the ocean itself is still shrouded in mystery. Only 5% of the ocean has been explored and new discoveries are still being made.

We don't always understand what's down there, Vidder says. It is possible that there is something much bigger and scarier than the giant squid lurking in the depths far beyond human reach.

Divers find giant squid on New Zealand beach
Divers who have visited South coast New Zealand in Wellington, searched a good place to enjoy spearfishing on Saturday morning (August 25, 2018) when they spotted one of the ocean's most majestic animals - a dead but completely intact giant squid.

Photo. Divers near the found giant squid

"After we went diving, we went back to the squid and took a tape measure and measured it at 4.2 meters long," one of the divers Daniel Aplin told the New Zealand Herald.

A spokesman from the New Zealand Department of Conservation said the divers most likely found the giant squid (Architeuthis dux) and not the Antarctic giant squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni).

Both species of squid are formidable sea creatures, the giant squid typically reaches 16 feet (5 m) in length, according to the Smithsonian Institution, the Antarctic giant squid reaches over 30 feet (10 m) in length, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Aplin said the squid appeared unharmed except for a scratch that was so tiny that the diver "didn't think it killed him".

Perhaps the most famous sea monster is the kraken. According to legend, he lives off the coast of Norway and Iceland. There are different opinions about what his appearance is. Some describe it as a giant squid, others as an octopus. The first handwritten mention of the kraken can be found with the Danish bishop Eric Pontoppidan, who in 1752 recorded various oral legends about him. Initially, the word "kgake" was used to refer to any deformed animal that was very different from its own kind. Later, it passed into many languages ​​​​and began to mean precisely the "legendary sea monster."

In the writings of the bishop, the kraken appears as a crab fish of enormous size and capable of dragging ships to the bottom of the sea. Its dimensions were truly colossal, it was compared with a small island. Moreover, it was dangerous precisely because of its size and the speed with which it sank to the bottom. From this, a strong whirlpool appeared, which destroyed the ships. Most The kraken spent time hibernating on the seabed, and then a huge number of fish swam around it. Some fishermen allegedly even took risks and threw their nets right over the sleeping kraken. It is believed that the kraken is to blame for many maritime disasters.
According to Pliny the Younger, the remoras stuck around the ships of the fleet of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, which to some extent served as his defeat.
In the XVIII-XIX centuries. some zoologists have suggested that the kraken may be a giant octopus. The naturalist Carl Linnaeus in his book "The System of Nature" created a classification of real-life marine organisms, into which he introduced the kraken, presenting it as a cephalopod. A little later, he deleted it from there.

In 1861, a piece of the body of a huge squid was found. Over the next two decades, many remains of similar creatures were also discovered on the northern coast of Europe. This was due to the fact that the sea changed temperature regime, which caused the creatures to rise to the surface. According to the stories of some fishermen, on the carcasses of sperm whales they caught, there were also marks resembling giant tentacles.
Throughout the 20th century repeated attempts were made to catch the legendary kraken. But it was possible to catch only young individuals, whose growth in length was about 5 m, or only parts of the bodies of larger individuals came across. Only in 2004, Japanese oceanologists photographed a fairly large individual. Prior to that, they followed the routes of sperm whales that eat squid for 2 years. Finally, they managed to bait a giant squid, whose length was 10 m. For four hours, the animal tried to break free
·0 bait, and oceanologists took about several names of photographs, which show that the squid has a very aggressive behavior.
Giant squids are called architeutis. So far, not a single live specimen has been caught. In several museums, you can see the burying of the preserved remains of individuals that were found already dead. So, in the London Museum of Qualitative History, a nine-meter squid preserved in formalin is presented. A seven-meter squid is available to the general public in the Melbourne Aquarium, frozen into a piece of ice.
But can even such a giant squid harm ships? Its length can be more than 10 m.
Females are larger than males. The weight of squid reaches several hundred kilograms. This is not enough to damage a large vessel. But giant squids are known for their predatory behavior, so they can still harm swimmers or small boats.
In the movies, giant squids pierce the skin of ships with their tentacles, but in reality this is impossible, since they are devoid of a skeleton, so they can only stretch and tear their prey. outside aquatic environment they are very helpless, but in the water they have sufficient strength and can resist marine predators. Squids prefer to live at the bottom, rarely appear on the surface, but small individuals can jump out of the water to a fairly high height.
Giant squids have the largest eyes among living creatures. Their diameter reaches more than 30 cm. The tentacles are equipped with strong suction cups, the diameter of which is up to 5 cm. They help to hold the prey firmly. The composition of the giant squid's bodies and Lou includes ammonium chloride (butyl alcohol), which preserves its zero plane honor. True, such a squid should not be eaten. All these features allow some scientists to believe that legendary kraken maybe a giant squid.

On the left side of the image, you can see a mosaic of near-infrared images taken by the Cassini spacecraft. The image shows the polar seas and reflected from their surface sunlight. Reflection is located in the southern part of the Kraken Sea, the largest body of water on Titan. This reservoir is not filled with water at all, but with liquid methane and a mixture of other hydrocarbons. On the right side of the image you can see pictures of the Kraken Sea taken by the Cassini radar. Kraken is the name of a mythical monster that lived in northern seas. This name, as it were, hints at what hopes astrobiologists associate with this mysterious alien sea.

Can the big satellite Saturn, Titan, life exist? This question forces astrobiologists and chemists to be very careful and creative about the chemistry of life and how it might differ on other planets from the chemistry of life on Earth. In February, a team of researchers at Cornell University, including chemical engineering graduate student James Stevenson, planetary scientist Jonathan Lunin, and chemical engineer Paulette Clancy, published a groundbreaking paper that suggests that living cell membranes can form in the exotic chemical environment present on this amazing moon.

In many ways, Titan is Earth's twin. It is the second largest satellite in solar system, He more planet Mercury. Like the Earth, he has dense atmosphere, the pressure of which at the surface is slightly higher than on Earth. Other than the Earth, Titan is the only object in our solar system that has accumulations of liquid on its surface. NASA's Cassini spacecraft has discovered an abundance of lakes and even rivers in Titan's polar regions. The largest lake or sea is called the Kraken Sea, its area exceeds the area of ​​the Caspian Sea on Earth. From observations made by the spacecraft and the results of laboratory experiments, scientists have established that in the atmosphere of Titan there are many complex organic compounds from which life is built.

Looking at all this, one might get the impression that Titan is an extremely livable place. The name "Kraken", as the mythical sea monster was called, reflects the secret hopes of astrobiologists. But Titan is Earth's alien twin. It is almost 10 times farther from the sun than Earth, and its surface temperature is a chilling -180 degrees Celsius. As we know, water is an integral part of life, but on the surface of Titan it is as hard as rock. The water ice there is like the earth's silicon rocks that form the outer layers of the earth's crust.

The fluid that fills Titan's lakes and rivers is not water, but liquid methane, most likely mixed with other substances such as liquid ethane, which are present on Earth in a gaseous state. If life is found in the seas of Titan, then it is not like our ideas about life. It will be a life form completely alien to us, whose organic molecules are dissolved not in water, but in liquid methane. Is this possible in principle?

A team at Cornell University has explored one key part of this tricky question by looking at the possibility of cell membranes in liquid methane. All living cells are essentially a system of self-sustaining chemical reactions enclosed in a membrane. Scientists believe that cell membranes appeared at the very beginning of the history of the emergence of life on Earth, and their formation may have been the first step towards the emergence of life.

On Earth, everyone knows about cell membranes from a school biology course. These membranes are made up of large molecules called phospholipids. All phospholipid molecules have a "head" and a "tail". The head is a phosphate group, where a phosphorus atom is bonded to several oxygen atoms. The tail, on the other hand, consists of one or more strands of carbon atoms, 15–20 atoms long, to which hydrogen atoms are attached on each side. The head, due to the negative charge of the phosphate group, has an uneven distribution of electric charge, therefore it is called polar. The tail, on the other hand, is electrically neutral.

On Earth, our cell membranes are made up of phospholipid molecules dissolved in water. Phospholipids are based on carbon atoms ( gray color), plus they also include hydrogen atoms (sky blue), phosphorus ( yellow color), oxygen (red) and nitrogen (blue). Due to the positive charge given by the choline group containing the nitrogen atom and the negative charge of the phosphate group, the head of the phospholipids is polar and attracts water molecules. Thus, it is hydrophilic. The hydrocarbon tail is electrically neutral, so it is hydrophobic. The structure of the cell membrane depends on the electrical properties of phospholipids and water. Phospholipid molecules form a double layer - hydrophilic heads, in contact with water, on the outside, and hydrophobic tails look inward, connecting with each other.

These electrical properties of phospholipid molecules determine how they behave in aqueous solution. If we talk about the electrical properties of water, then its molecule is polar. Electrons in a water molecule are more strongly attracted to an oxygen atom than to two hydrogen atoms. Therefore, on the side of two hydrogen atoms, the water molecule has a small positive charge, and on the side of the oxygen atom, it has a small negative charge. Such polar properties of water force it to be attracted to the polar head of the phospholipid molecule, which is hydrophilic, while at the same time repelled by non-polar tails, which are hydrophobic.

When phospholipid molecules dissolve in water, the combined electrical properties of both substances cause the phospholipid molecules to form a membrane. The membrane closes into a small sphere called a liposome. Phospholipid molecules form a bilayer two molecules thick. Polar hydrophilic molecules form outer part bilayer membrane that is in contact with water on the inner and outer surfaces of the membrane. Hydrophobic tails are connected to each other in the inner part of the membrane. Although the phospholipid molecules remain stationary relative to their layer, while their heads point outward and their tails inward, the layers can still move relative to each other, giving the membrane sufficient mobility that life needs.

Phospholipid bilayer membranes are the basis of all cell membranes on earth. Even by itself, a liposome can grow, reproduce itself and contribute to certain chemical reactions necessary for the existence of living organisms. That is why some biochemists believe that the formation of liposomes was the first step towards the emergence of life. In any case, the formation of cell membranes must have occurred at an early stage in the origin of life on Earth.

On the left is water, a polar solvent made up of hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms. Oxygen attracts electrons more strongly than hydrogen, so the hydrogen side of the molecule has a positive net charge, and the oxygen side has a negative net charge. Delta (δ) denotes a partial charge, that is, less than a whole positive or negative charge. On the right is methane, the symmetrical arrangement of hydrogen atoms (H) around the central carbon atom (C) makes it a non-polar solvent.

If life exists on Titan in one form or another, be it a sea monster or (most likely) microbes, then they cannot do without cell membranes, like all life on Earth. Can phospholipid bilayer membranes form in liquid methane on Titan? The answer is no. Unlike water, the electric charge of the methane molecule is evenly distributed. Methane does not have the polar properties of water, so it cannot attract the heads of phospholipid molecules. This possibility is necessary for phospholipids to form the earth's cell membrane.

Experiments have been carried out in which phospholipids are dissolved in non-polar liquids at Earth's room temperature. Under such conditions, phospholipids form a "reverse" bilayer membrane. The polar heads of phospholipid molecules are connected to each other in the center, being attracted by their charges. The non-polar tails form the outer surface of the "reverse" membrane in contact with the non-polar solvent.

On the left, phospholipids are dissolved in water, in a polar solvent. They form a bilayer membrane, where the polar, hydrophilic heads face the water, and the hydrophobic tails face each other. On the right, phospholipids are dissolved in a non-polar solvent at Earth's room temperature, under such conditions they form a reverse membrane with the polar heads facing each other and the non-polar tails facing outward towards the non-polar solvent.

Could living organisms on Titan have a reverse membrane made of phospholipids? The Cornell team concluded that such a membrane is not habitable for two reasons. First, at the cryogenic temperatures of liquid methane, the tails of phospholipids become rigid, thereby depriving the formed back membrane of any mobility necessary for the existence of life. Second, two key phospholipids, phosphorus and oxygen, are most likely missing from Titan's methane lakes. In the search for cell membranes that could exist on Titan, the Cornell team had to go beyond the familiar high school biology curriculum.

Although phospholipid membranes have been ruled out, the scientists believe that any cell membrane on Titan would still be similar to a reverse phospholipid membrane made in the lab. Such a membrane will consist of polar molecules connected to each other due to the difference in charges dissolved in non-polar liquid methane. What could these molecules be? For answers, the researchers turned to data obtained from Cassini and from laboratory experiments in which the recreated chemical composition atmosphere of Titan.

It is known that the atmosphere of Titan has a very complex chemical composition. It mainly consists of nitrogen and methane in the gaseous state. When the Cassini spacecraft analyzed the composition of the atmosphere using spectroscopy, it was found that traces of a wide variety of compounds of carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen, called nitriles and amines, were present in the atmosphere. The researchers simulated the chemistry of Titan's atmosphere in the laboratory by exposing a mixture of nitrogen and methane to energy sources that mimic the sunlight on Titan. The result was a broth of organic molecules called tholins. They consist of compounds of hydrogen and carbon, that is, hydrocarbons, as well as nitriles and amines.

Researchers from Cornell University considered nitriles and amines as potential candidates for the basis for the formation of titanium cell membranes. Both groups of molecules are polar, which allows them to connect, thereby forming a membrane in non-polar liquid methane due to the polarity of the nitrogen groups that make up these molecules. They concluded that suitable molecules would need to be much smaller than phospholipids in order for them to form mobile membranes at the temperatures at which methane exists in the liquid phase. They considered nitriles and amines containing chains of 3 to 6 carbon atoms. The nitrogen-containing groups are called nitrogen groups, which is why the team gave the Titanic counterpart of the liposome the name "azotosome."
Synthesizing azotosomes for experimental purposes is expensive and difficult, since experiments must be carried out at cryogenic temperatures of liquid methane. However, since the proposed molecules had already been well studied in other studies, the Cornell University team felt it was justified to turn to computational chemistry to determine whether the proposed molecules could form a mobile membrane in liquid methane. Computer models have already been successfully used to study familiar cell membranes from phospholipids.

It was found that acrylonitrile could be a possible basis for the formation of cell membranes in liquid methane on Titan. It is known to be present in the atmosphere of Titan at a concentration of 10 ppm, plus it was synthesized in the laboratory when modeling the impact of energy sources on the nitrogen-methane atmosphere of Titan. Since this small, polar molecule can dissolve in liquid methane, it is a candidate for a compound that can form cell membranes under alternative biochemistry conditions on Titan. Blue - carbon atoms, blue - nitrogen atoms, white - hydrogen atoms.

Polar acrylonitrile molecules line up in chains head to tail, forming membranes in non-polar liquid methane. Blue - carbon atoms, blue - nitrogen atoms, white - hydrogen atoms.

Computer simulations carried out by our research team have shown that some substances can be excluded because they will not form a membrane, be too rigid, or form solids. However, modeling has shown that some substances can form membranes with suitable properties. One of these substances was acrylonitrile, the presence of which in the atmosphere of Titan in a concentration of 10 ppm was discovered by Cassini. Despite the huge difference in temperature between cryogenic azotosomes and liposomes existing at room temperature, simulations have shown that they have strikingly similar properties of stability and response to mechanical stress. Thus, cell membranes suitable for living organisms can exist in liquid methane.

Computational chemistry modeling shows that acrylonitrile and several other small polar organic molecules containing nitrogen atoms can form "azotosomes" in liquid methane. Azotosomes are small, sphere-shaped membranes resembling liposomes, formed from phospholipids dissolved in water. Computer modeling shows that acrylonitrile-based azotosomes will be both stable and flexible at cryogenic temperatures in liquid methane, giving them the necessary properties to function as cell membranes for hypothetical Titanian living organisms or any other organisms on a planet with liquid methane on the surface. The azotosome in the image is 9 nanometers in size, which is roughly the size of a virus. Blue - carbon atoms, blue - nitrogen atoms, white - hydrogen atoms.

Scientists at Cornell University see the findings as a first step towards demonstrating that life in liquid methane is possible and developing methods for future space probes to detect such life on Titan. If life in liquid nitrogen possible, the conclusions that follow from this go far beyond the boundaries of Titan.

In search of habitable conditions in our galaxy, astronomers usually look for exoplanets whose orbits are within the habitable zone of a star, which is defined by a narrow range of distances within which the surface temperature of an Earth-like planet would allow liquid water to exist. If life in liquid methane is possible, then stars must also have a methane habitable zone - a region where methane on the surface of a planet or its satellite can be in a liquid phase, creating conditions for the existence of life. Thus, the number of habitable planets in our galaxy will increase dramatically. Perhaps on some planets, methane life has evolved into complex forms that we can hardly imagine. Who knows, maybe some of them even look like sea monsters.

Marine life is very diverse and sometimes frightening. The most bizarre forms of life can lurk in the abyss of the seas, because humanity has not yet been able to fully explore all the expanses of water. And sailors have long had legends about a powerful creature that can sink an entire fleet or convoy with its mere appearance. About a creature whose appearance inspires horror, and whose size makes you freeze in amazement. About a creature the likes of which are not in the stories. And if the sky above the world belongs to and, the earth under their feet belongs to the Tarascans, then the expanses of the seas belong to only one creature - the kraken.

What does a kraken look like?

To say the kraken is huge would be an understatement. For centuries, a kraken resting in the abyss of water can reach simply unimaginable sizes of several tens of kilometers. It is truly huge and scary. Outwardly, it is somewhat similar to a squid - the same elongated body, the same tentacles with suction cups, all the same eyes and special body for movement under water using air draft. That's just the size of the kraken and the usual squid are not even close comparable. The ships that disturbed the peace of the kraken during the renaissance sank from just one hit with a tentacle on the water.

The Kraken is mentioned as one of the most feared sea monsters. But there is someone to whom even he must obey. In different nations it is called differently. But all the legends say the same thing - this is the God of the seas and the lord of all sea ​​creatures. And it doesn't matter how you call this super creature - one of his orders is enough for the kraken to throw off the shackles of a hundred-year sleep and do what he was instructed to do.

In general, legends often mention a certain artifact that gave a person the ability to control the kraken. This creature is by no means lazy and absolutely harmless, unlike its owners. A kraken can sleep for centuries, or even millennia without an order, without disturbing anyone with its awakening. Or maybe in a few days to change the face of the whole coast, if his peace is disturbed or if he was given an order. Perhaps, among all creatures, the kraken has the greatest power, but also the most peaceful character.

One or many

You can often find references to the fact that many such creatures are in the service of the Sea God. But to imagine that this is true is very difficult. The huge size of the kraken and its strength make it possible to believe that this creature can be on different ends of the earth at the same time, but it is very difficult to imagine that there are two such creatures. How terrifying can be the battle of such creatures?

In some epics, there are mentions of battles between krakens, which suggests that to this day almost all krakens died in these terrible fights, and the sea god commands the last survivors. A creature that does not produce offspring, free in food and rest, has reached such huge dimensions that one can only wonder how hunger has not yet driven it to land and why it has not yet been met by researchers. Perhaps the structure of the kraken's skin and tissues makes it impossible to detect and the creature's century-long sleep hid it in the sands of the seabed? Or maybe there was a depression in the ocean, where researchers have not yet looked, but where this creature is resting. One can only hope that even if it is found, the researchers will be smart enough not to arouse the wrath of the thousand-year-old monster and not try to destroy it with the help of any weapon.

The mythological giant got its name from Icelandic sea travelers, who claimed to have seen a huge sea monster similar to. Sailors of antiquity blamed the krakens for mysterious disappearance courts. In their opinion, the sea monsters had enough strength to drag the ship to the bottom...

Does the kraken really exist and what is the danger of meeting this mythical monster? Or is it just the tales of idle sailors, inspired by too violent fantasy?

The opinion of researchers and eyewitnesses

The first mention of a sea monster refers to XVIII century when a naturalist from Denmark named Eric Pontoppidan began to convince everyone that the kraken really exists. According to his description, the size of the creature is equal to the whole island, and with its huge tentacles it can easily grab even the most big ship and drag along. The greatest danger is the whirlpool that forms when the kraken sinks to the bottom.

Pontoppidan was sure that it was the kraken that knocked sailors off course and caused confusion during travels. He was led to this idea by numerous cases when sailors mistakenly took a monster for an island, and when they revisited the same place, they no longer found a piece of land. Norwegian fishermen claim to have once found a discarded monster carcass sea ​​depths on the shore. They thought it was a young kraken.

There was a similar case in England. Captain Robert Jameson had a chance to tell about his meeting with a huge mollusk under oath in court. According to him, the entire crew on the ship was fascinated by how an incredible body either rose above the water, then plunged again. At the same time, huge waves formed around. After mysterious creature disappeared, it was decided to swim to the place where he was seen. To the surprise of the sailors, there were only a large number of fish.

What scientists say

Scientists do not have an unambiguous opinion about the kraken. Some made the mythical monster into the classification marine life, others denied its existence altogether. According to skeptics, what the sailors saw near Iceland is the usual activity of underwater volcanoes. This a natural phenomenon leads to the formation of large waves, foam, bubbles, bulges on the surface of the ocean, which is mistaken for an unknown monster from the depths of the sea.

Scientists believe that it is impossible for such a huge animal as a kraken to survive in the conditions of the ocean, since its body will be torn apart at the slightest storm. Therefore, there is an assumption that the "kraken" is a cluster of mollusks. Given the fact that many species of squid always move in whole flocks, then it is quite possible that this is also characteristic of larger individuals.

There is an opinion that in the area of ​​the mysterious bermuda triangle settled by none other than the largest kraken. It is assumed that it is he who is guilty of and people.

Many believe that krakens are demonic creatures, peculiar monsters from the depths of the sea. Others endow them with intelligence and. Most likely, each of the versions has the right to exist.

Some sailors swear they have seen huge floating islands. Some ships even managed to pass through such "land", as the ship cut through it like a knife.

Back in the century before last, fishermen from Newfoundland discovered the body of a huge kraken stranded. They were quick to report it. The same news came over the next 10 years several more times from different coastal regions.

Scientific facts about krakens

official recognition sea ​​giants thanks to Addison Verrill. It was this American zoologist who was able to compile an accurate scientific description of them and allowed the legends to be confirmed. The scientist confirmed that krakens belong to molluscs. Who would have thought that the monsters that terrified sailors are relatives of ordinary snails.

The body of the sea octopus has a grayish tint, consists of a substance similar to jelly. Kraken resembles an octopus, as it has a round head and a large number of tentacles dotted with suction cups. The animal has three hearts, blue blood, internal organs, the brain in which the nerve nodes are located. Huge eyes are arranged almost the same as in humans. The presence of a special organ, which is similar in action to a jet engine, allows the kraken to quickly move over long distances in one jerk.

The dimensions of the kraken do not agree with the legends a bit. After all, according to the descriptions of the sailors, the monster was equal to the island. In fact, the body of a giant octopus can reach no more than 27 meters.

According to some legends, krakens guard the treasures of sunken ships at the bottom. A diver who is "lucky enough" to find such a treasure will have to make a lot of efforts to escape from the enraged kraken.