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squiz
Quiz: How much do you know about squids?
Take our squids squiz.
THERE ARE SQUIDS in space.
You heard me. Squids in space. Don’t be alarmed, it’s not an unexpected or concerning development – Nasa has sent dozens up to the International Space Station.
The goal is to see whether they eventually overthrow their human masters, take control of the station, create a makeshift engine, and set a course for their true home in interstellar space. But will they succeed? Only time will tell.
While we wait, let’s test your knowledge.
Okay but what's the real reason why squids were sent to space?
NASA via Jamie S. Foster, University of Florida
For fun.
To study the impact of zero gravity on the squid's natural bacteria. Studies found that the microbes of human astronauts are negatively impacted by spaceflight.
For food - squids reproduce very rapidly and require very little food, and so could be used as an infinite food source on long space journeys.
For combat.
Are squids and octopuses the same thing?
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Yes, one is found in the ocean, the other in the sea.
No, a squid is a crustacean and an octopus is a mollusc.
No, but they're both cephalopods.
Yes, but squids don't shoot ink at predators.
Can some squids glow using bioluminescence?
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Yes
No
Now for some nightmare fuel. Colossal squids lurk in the deepest depths of the oceans around Antarctica, but how much did the largest specimen captured alive weigh?
Wikimedia
Nothing! Because they don't actually exist.
495kg
2,250kg
6kg
But how do we know they can grow much bigger?
Wikimedia
One was caught on camera capsizing a ship, an act that would have required a much heavier body weight.
The specimen discovered only had 15 tentacles, meaning it was still an adolescent.
Notes found in the captured squid's belongings indicated that it was taking a bodybuilding course.
Intact squid beaks have been found in the stomach of sperm whales that are larger than that of the specimen captured.
What is the culinary name for squid?
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Scampi
Scallop
Calamari
Free-range octopus
How many hearts do squid have?
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One
Three
Absolutely loads
None
How do squids move?
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Jet propulsion
They drag themselves along the seafloor using their tentacles
I don't know, like the same way other fish move? They wiggle and use their fins? Look, I haven't really thought about how exactly fish swim before.
They use a spinning motion to "drill" through the water.
A giant squid was caught off the coast of Ireland back in 2017 - but where exactly?
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Wexford Harbour
Dublin Bay
Off the coast of Dingle (by Fungie)
Off the coast of Dingle (not by Fungie)
When are the space squid coming home?
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July
Never - they will be a permanent presence on the International Space Station
Never - they will all die before the end of the year (RIP)
Whenever they feel like it
Wikimedia
You scored out of !
You are architeuthis dux, the giant squid
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You scored out of !
You are the objectively cute Berry's bobtail squid
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You scored out of !
You are an octopus, the well-meaning cousin of the squid
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You scored out of !
You are a sperm whale, arch-enemy of the giant squid
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You scored out of !
You are a plate of calamari
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