In other cool animal news, a group of scientists in New Zealand have released more information about that colossal squid carcass they've been studying for the past year. The 32-foot-long squid has eyes about the size of beachballs, and may not even be full-grown—it's possibly even just 2/3 the size of a mature adult.
Very few people have ever seen a colossal squid alive, and only a few blurry evocative photos exist; as this classic New Yorker article (by TNR contributing editor David Grann) explains, the colossal squid is one of the world's only living myths, a deeply misunderstood creature that may as well be imaginary for the little we know about it. The New Zealand scientists have been keeping up an informative and funny blog about the squid, including lots of goopy, membraney photos of cephalopod bits, for the curious.
--Britt Peterson