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Ancient shells reveal the ultimate meaning of the universe— the spiral. From DNA to galactic, it's all spiral structures – it's amazing!
Explore the Shell Museum
Qingdao Shell Museum is located on the shore of Tangdao Bay in Qingdao's West Coast New Area, not far from where I live. I'm ashamed to say that there are many museums in other cities, but the museums in front of my own house have not been visited. So, two days ago, taking advantage of the rest, I went to take a trip.
Before entering, let's briefly introduce the Shell Museum:
Qingdao Shell Museum is a private shell museum with shell as the theme, integrating shell research, collection, science education and cultural tourism, with an area of about 2600 square meters and the largest beach catwalk in China. The museum is mainly composed of six parts: shell specimen display area, shell viewing area, children's interactive area, science popularization area, shellfish commodity display area and shellfish biological science research institute, exhibiting five classes, 262 families, more than 4260 kinds of shellfish (conch) specimens and more than 130 shellfish fossils from more than 60 countries in the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Arctic Ocean and five continents, and the number of collections and hardware facilities are at the leading level in China. Here there are large shells with a diameter of one meter, known as the "king of sea shells", small sand shells that need to be seen with a magnifying glass, and nautilus fossils from the Ordovician period 450 million years ago.
As soon as you enter the door, you can see the so-called "King of the Sea Shell", and the explainer sister explains the knowledge about it.
Chē qú is the largest bivalve shellfish in the ocean, hence the name "king of shellfish". It has great ornamental value, medicinal value and ecological value. At the end of my previous article introducing the documentary "Blue Planet Season 2" (Douban score 9.9, this "god film" is amazing and breathtakingly beautiful), I mentioned that it is a framework organism in the coral reef ecosystem, but due to ocean acidification and man-made poaching, it has become an endangered animal and urgently needs to restore population resources through artificial breeding. The ecological impact on the organisms in marine ecosystems, especially the basic organisms at the bottom of the food chain, is very large, if the bricks go extinct, coral reefs will no longer exist, then all the creatures in the rich coral reef ecosystem can only find another way to survive, and most of them will face extinction! Therefore, it is everyone's responsibility to protect the oceans.
Beach catwalk: The white sand under the glass is dotted with all kinds of models of marine life: starfish, shells...
On both sides of the catwalk are several shell exhibition halls, exhibiting thousands of kinds of beautiful shells, I can't introduce them here, so I will pick up a few interesting ones to share with you.
The ancient Nautilus
The docent brother is explaining the knowledge of the Nautilus to everyone:
Nautilus: Isn't it very much like a nautila's mouth?
The dissected Nautilus:
Nautilus fossils of different sizes:
The Nautilus is one of the oldest creatures on Earth, appearing in the Ordovician Period about 500 million years ago, so it is called a "living fossil" in the ocean and has great paleontological research value.
In addition, the truncated nautilus (see picture above), like a rotating staircase, and like a pleated skirt, one by one compartments are spun apart from small to large, and there is a body tube connecting between each partition, which completes the body's lifting and descending in the water by controlling the gas emissions in the compartment, and the outermost one is the largest, which is used to store the body of the nautilus. This way of floating and sinking control inspired the invention of submarines, and the world's first battery submarine and the first nuclear submarine were named "Nautilus".
In addition to paleontology and biomimicry, mathematicians are also very interested in the Nautilus, because the beautiful spiral lines presented in the section of the Nautilus shell imply the Fiborats sequence, and the ratio between the two terms of the Fiborats sequence is infinitely close to the golden section. (Note: The Fibonacci sequence is such a sequence: starting from item 3, each term is equal to the sum of the first two terms, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13...) The Fibonacci spiral derived from the Fibonacci sequence is as follows:
You can compare the dissected Nautilus in the above picture, how similar!
In fact, many phenomena in nature are implicitly related to the Fibonacci sequence, such as the twelve average laws in music, the number of petals of sunflowers, hives, dragonfly wings, and so on. And the further back the Fibonacci sequence, the closer the ratio of the latter to the previous is to 0.618, which is the golden section! The golden section is very valuable in aesthetics, whether it is visual arts such as painting, photography, architecture or music, works that conform to the golden section will always make people feel beautiful.
As a result, many famous buildings are imitation snail buildings.
For example, the Oriental Film Capital, which is also located in Qingdao:
And the Bihai Yinluo Grand Theater on Xingguang Island on the west coast of Qingdao:
So many valuable coincidences about science and art make one wonder what charm is there about the spiral that makes God so favored: as small as DNA, as large as the Milky Way, is it not a spiral structure; does the golden section contain deeper mysteries that have not yet been discovered by mankind, not just the coincidence of beauty?
Zippers and hinges
Let's take a look at two magical little shells:
This little pink shell looks nothing special from a distance:
After the narrator zoomed in, he saw the clue: the shell joint was like a zipper, tightly sewn. I thought that all the shell edges were smooth curves, and I thought there was this jagged chimerism.
Look at one more:
Don't be attracted by its "thorns" with its teeth and claws, its special feature lies in the black dots at the junction of the two shells, zoom in to see:
This little black thing acts as a hinge: it can both hold two shells in place and make them rotate relatively.
Hinges (also known as "hinges", similar devices in ancient times called "hubs") are said to have been invented in the Qin Dynasty, while zippers were not invented until the 19th century. In contrast, in nature, these techniques already exist in shells. It can be seen that if human beings can observe nature with their hearts, they can get a lot of useful enlightenment, which is also the meaning of biomimicry.
The world's four famous snails
Wanbao snail, Tangguan snail, anchovy snail and nautilus are known as the world's four famous snails because of their high ornamental value and collection value. Let's take a look at them one by one:
Marlboro:
The front end of the Marlboro is somewhat upturned, like a small mouth, and there are many neatly arranged small screws on the surface, and the shells are thick and heavy, which is a large shellfish. The overall color is golden, noble, smooth and warm, the number is rare and difficult to capture, and the collection, ornamentation and decoration value are first-class.
According to folklore, collectors can recruit wealth and treasure. The placement of the marlboro is also very exquisite, and the lip facing the door means to welcome the nobles and treasures.
In addition, some conch lovers like to put marlboro into the fish tank, because of its brilliant color, the marlboro in the water is like a huge piece of red jewelry, often overshadowing the other decorations in the fish tank.
Anchovy snail:
Seeing the colorful lines on the shells, do you think of the prayer wheel of Tibetan Buddhism?
The anchovy snail really has something to do with Buddhism!
The anchovy snail, also known as the conch, inhabits coral reefs and is named because of its pattern as brilliant as "anchovy". Because of its unique appearance, beautiful pattern similar to peacock tail feathers and rare number, it ranks first among the four famous snails, and among all the shells, the anchovy snail is the most expensive.
Its majestic and divine appearance is a symbol of strength, and it is said to be able to exorcise demons and bless peace, and is often used as a trumpet to exorcise demons by sea people and mountain people.
In addition, the term Dharma Snail also refers to a Buddhist dharma instrument:
It is a lip-vibrating instrument played during Religious Ceremonies in Buddhism, and the raw material used to make the snail is the mollusk of the same name, the "Snail". Legend has that when Shakyamuni first turned the wheel of Law in Luyeyuan, Emperor Shi Tian and others once offered a right-handed white conch to the Buddha, and since then the right-handed white conch has been widely used in Buddhism as a symbol of auspicious perfection. Fa Luo was introduced to China with Buddhism. At present, the Tibetan, Mongolian, Manchu, Naxi, Dai, Beijing, Han and other ethnic groups in China are still adopted. FaLuo is one of the Eight Rui Phases of the Tibetan people (also known as the Eight Auspicious Emblems, the Eight Immortals of Tibet, and the Eight Treasures of Tibet).
The unprocessed screw shell is a natural amplifier. In the museum, the docent brother took out a small player and played a song, which was very small at first, but when he put the player into the conch, the sound suddenly became very large, and it was full and thick, and the sound quality was quite good.
As mentioned above, Haimin often uses the law snail as a horn, and the explainer demonstrated to us the blowing method snail on the spot, and the sound is very loud:
nautilus:
This ancient creature has been introduced to you above, and its paleontological value, bionic value and aesthetic value are very high, and I will not repeat it here. Just to add one thing: nautilus and squid, octopus, cuttlefish and other mollusks are relatives, they belong to the same cephalopods.
Tang Guanluo:
Isn't it very similar to the Hat of the Tang Monk? It is said that it is very similar to the helmet of the Tang Dynasty warriors, so it is called "Tang Crown Snail".
Crown snails belong to the gastropods of molluscs. Gastropods are so named because the feet are located on the ventral surface of the body, and they usually have a spiral shell, so they are also called monoclaves or snails. However, it should be noted that although the Nautilus also has a spiral shell, it is a cephalopod and is related to octopus and squid. How to distinguish it? I think, as the name suggests the simplest, cephalopods are "feet" on the head, think of octopus, tentacles are not on the head. Gastropods are naturally just like the above: the feet are located on the ventral surface of the body.
Strangely shaped conch fossils
Ancient nautilus fossils:
Did this big guy go around in a circle pose before he died?
The picture below is said to be called "Southern Round Snail", which grows so big! Maybe the ancient earth was too oxygen-rich, and most of the creatures were big guys. As shown in the movie "King Kong", even insects are the size of cars.
Of course, there are also cute snails:
This big guy, who looks like a gear assembly, at first glance will be reminiscent of parts on an alien spacecraft. It is amazing that life will grow like this!
Strange shells
This section takes you to see all kinds of beautiful and strange small shells, if you have been to the beach, you must have seen a lot of shells, but you don't necessarily know their names.
Pagoda Crab Shouluo: Like a small ancient tower. The shellfish of the crab snail family are shaped like pagodas, they can help clean the bottom sand, put into the coral tank is very suitable, will soon begin to clean up algae, leftover food, rotten organisms, etc., which can increase the oxygen content of the bottom sand.
Horned snail and sea hare snail: Both belong to the family Of Sea Hare Snails. It is named because it is as white as porcelain and its shell resembles a tame and gentle white rabbit.
West African pelican-footed snails, pelican-footed snails and European pelican-footed snails: Belong to the lotus snail family and have a bit of a claw-dancing feeling.
Maiden Thousand Hand Bone Snail, Lettuce Bone Snail, Rose Thousand Hand Snail: belongs to the bone snail family. There were sharp ribs and beak-like protrusions, like skeletons, and were carnivores that lived in water at medium depths that sounded a little scary.
Small onion snails, onion snails: If I don't tell you they're snails, you'll think it's an onion or garlic! They belong to the family Coral Snail, mostly spherical in shape, resembling an onion.
Coronella conch, Pupu coelacanth snail, nodal coelacanth snail: belongs to the family Acanthococcus, characterized by rich color, with curved long spines.
Long Spiny Snail, Short Thorn Snail, Spiny Snail (last name not written down): Belongs to the salamander family, some have spines, some have jagged protrusions, like small stars.
Green Papua snail, Bhutto amphibious snail:
Amphibian snails of various colors: Snails are terrestrial gastropods that do not distinguish between snails and snails in Western languages. Snails are all familiar to us, very cute little animals, known for their slow movements. Of course, some friends will feel a little disgusted.
Oil painting sea fan clam: clams are bivalve mollusks, which are relatively common shells, and the pattern is very beautiful.
Gorgeous Sea Fan Clam:
Nuclear hidden scallops:
Golden Wire Tail Clam: This is the shell of the closed interface like a zipper above.
Beauty sea fan clam, glorious sea fan clam: I don't know why it has such a name. I feel like two butterflies: a white butterfly and a pink butterfly.
Half-hearted chicken heart clam: so cute, instantly evoking love Yuki there!
Dead Leaf Cherry Clams: Belonging to the family Cherry Clams, it does look a lot like a leaf from a certain angle, but it looks like two ears in the photo.
The mirage we often hear is now known to be a natural phenomenon formed by the refraction and total reflection of light, and in ancient times, it was believed that it was formed by the exhalation of a sea monster called "mirage". Ancient books record that the so-called "mirage" is a large clam. If this is the case, then the Qingdao people who "ha beer and eat clams (Qingdao dialect pronounced gala)" have absorbed a lot of "mirage"...
Grey-green stone turtle, tulip stone turtle, Swan stone turtle: belongs to the primitive shellfish in the multi-plated order, the same color as rocks, I don't know how you feel, I think this animal is a bit crazy, there is a feeling of lying on the skin to suck blood. Stone turtle can be used as a Chinese medicinal herb.
Some beautiful shells are posted below, some like exquisite ceramics, some like delicate saxophones, some like artificially painted patterns, some weird twists, like struggling caterpillars... Strange and varied, people lament the creator's miraculous work.
Shell artwork
Shells should be the earliest items used as ornaments by humans, because they are brightly colored, beautiful in shape, do not require any processing, as long as they are properly placed, they are very beautiful.
In addition to decoration, shells have many other uses. For example, luminous shells, put a light source in the dark, and the shell gathers the light into a soft color and then emits it, which is very romantic.
Shell made necklace:
Shells used as coins: Because shells are only available by the sea, in the inland areas where transportation was not convenient in ancient times, they were rare enough for shells to bear the burden of currency.
Han Dynasty women used shells as powder boxes:
Shells can be used as wine glasses: due to the spiral structure of the shells and the many compartments that are separated, some shells (nautilus) have become natural "small wineries", and the wine will be more intense when served in wine glasses made of nautilus shells for a period of time. Li Bai has a poem: "Cormorant, Parrot Cup." Thirty-six thousand days in a hundred years, three hundred cups a day. ”
Tonga made of shells, a Buddhist ritual vessel:
Buckle made of shell:
Sculpture made of shells:
Genealogy of the Shell Character
In ancient times, shells were used as currency and decoration, so the word "shell" was mostly related to money treasures, ornaments or trade goods.
The "Shell Character Genealogy" exhibited in the museum is very interesting, listen to the explanation of the docent, you can know that the original ancient character (Jinwen) is like a painting, has an image meaning.
For example, the second word "goods" in the above figure, in the gold text, the above "hua" is composed of two parts, the left is a standing person, the right is a fallen person, indicating that people from birth to death, extended to the meaning of "transformation", and the following "bei" indicates property, the meaning of these parts combined together is: can be transformed into money and wealth of goods, but is not the meaning of "goods"!
epilogue
In the article "Blue Planet Season 2" (Douban score 9.9, this "god film" is amazing and breathtakingly beautiful) shared earlier, I introduced a lot of marine life beyond our imagination. Two days ago, I read a popular science article, which mentioned that there are many more types of organisms that have not been discovered by humans at present. And the shell, the mollusk that accounts for only a dime a fraction of the total biomass on Earth, has so many species. From only a few species that we have discovered and learned more about, we have acquired important values in everything from art to science.
I think this can give us at least two enlightenments: First, although we have reached a relatively deep level in basic scientific theories (physics), the various combinations, structures, mechanisms, and applications that exist in nature based on these theories, that is, various organisms, there is still a lot of room for exploration, and exploring these creatures is very meaningful, because the use of certain novel creatures beyond human imagination will bring explosive breakthroughs to human technology. The past application of biomimicry such as radar and submarines is evidence; second, protecting species diversity is very important, because a certain microorganism may be the nemesis of a certain deadly virus, the metabolism, structure, and movement mechanism of a certain animal may be the answer to a technical problem that has been solved for a long time, and the appearance and behavior of a certain creature may be the source of inspiration for artists to create beauty...
Therefore, the protection of endangered organisms is not only a moral slogan, but also closely related to the survival and development of our human beings.