Does the kraken really exist? Are giant squids just a legend?

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

Does the kraken really exist and why is meeting this mythical monster dangerous? Or are these just tales of idle sailors, inspired by too wild a fantasy?

Opinion of researchers and eyewitnesses

First mention of sea ​​monster dates back to the 18th century, when a naturalist from Denmark named Erik Pontoppidan began to convince everyone that the kraken really existed. According to his description, the size of the creature is equal to an entire island, and with its huge tentacles it can easily grab even the most big ship and drag it along with you. The greatest danger is the whirlpool that forms when the kraken sinks to the bottom.

Pontoppidan was sure that it was the kraken that led sailors off course and caused confusion during their travels. This idea was brought to him by numerous cases when sailors mistakenly mistook the monster for an island, and when they visited the same place again, they no longer found a single piece of land. Norwegian fishermen claimed that they once found the discarded carcass of a monster of the deep sea on the shore. They decided it was a young kraken.

There was a similar case in England. Captain Robert Jameson had a chance to talk about his meeting with a huge mollusk under oath in court. According to him, the entire crew on the ship watched in fascination as the incredible size of the body rose above the water and then sank again. At the same time, huge waves. After the mysterious creature disappeared, it was decided to swim to the place where it was seen. To the surprise of the sailors, there was only large number fish.

What scientists say

Scientists have no clear opinion about the kraken. Some included the mythical monster in the classification of sea creatures, others rejected its existence altogether. According to skeptics, what the sailors saw near Iceland is the usual activity of underwater volcanoes. This natural phenomenon leads to the formation big waves, foam, bubbles, swellings on the surface of the ocean, which is mistakenly taken for an unknown monster from the depths of the sea.

Scientists believe that it is impossible for such a huge animal as the kraken to survive in ocean conditions, since its body would be torn apart by the slightest storm. Therefore, there is an assumption that the “kraken” is a cluster of mollusks. If we take into account the fact that many species of squid always move in whole schools, then it is quite possible that this is also typical for larger individuals.

It is believed that in the area of ​​the mysterious The Bermuda Triangle has been settled by none other than the largest kraken. It is assumed that he is the one to blame for the 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 version has a right to exist.

Some sailors swear that they have encountered huge floating islands. Some ships even managed to pass through such a “ground”, since the ship cut through it like a knife.

Back in the century before last, fishermen from Newfoundland discovered a stranded body. huge kraken. They hastened to report this. The same news came several times over the next 10 years from different coastal areas.

Scientific facts about krakens

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

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

The size of the kraken is a little different from the legends. After all, according to the descriptions of the sailors, the monster was equal to an 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 effort to escape from the enraged kraken.

For centuries, people have told tales of sea monsters with giant tentacles that pull people to the bottom of the sea. But is there truth in these stories?

For centuries, fishermen from Norway and Greenland have told of a fearsome sea monster, the Kraken. It was reported that this huge creature had 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 it's dark ocean depths hide many secrets. But if you suddenly start catching a lot of fish while fishing, you should run: the Kraken may be under you, it scares the fish to the surface.

In 1857, thanks to the Danish naturalist Iapetus Stenstrup, the Kraken began to emerge from myth into reality. He was examining a large squid beak that was about 8 cm (3 inches) that had washed up on the Danish coast several years earlier. Initially, he could only guess about total size animal, but he soon received parts of another specimen from the Bahamas. When Steenstrup finally published the results of his research, he concluded that the Kraken was real, and that it was a type of giant squid. He called it "Architeuthis Dux", that is, Latin"giant squid"

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

Photo 1. Engraving of the Kraken, 1870

The Kraken has captivated people's imaginations for hundreds of years. The Danish bishop Erik Pontoppidan wrote about this in detail in 1755 in the book Materials for the Natural History of Norway. According to the fishermen, wrote Pontoppidan, it was the size of “a small island” and its back was “half an English mile”.

Its prehensile tentacles were only part of the problem. “After the monster was on the surface of the water for a short time, 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 sank under the water along with it.”

IN different peoples these monsters different names. Greek mythology describes him as Scylla, a 6-headed sea goddess who ruled the rocks on one side of the narrow strait. Swim too close and it will try to eat you. In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus was forced to sail alongside Scylla to avoid an even worse monster. As a result, six of his people 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. Giant squid beak described by Iapetus Stenstrup

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

For example, in 1933 new look named "A. clarkei" was described by Guy Colbuorn Robson, it was found on a beach in Yorkshire (England) and was a nearly intact specimen. It "belonged to no species hitherto described" but was so badly decomposed that Robeson could not even determine its sex. Others were described after they were found in the bellies of sperm whales, which apparently ate them.

It is believed giant squid can grow up to 13 meters in length or even up to 15 m including their tentacles. One estimate suggests they could reach up to 18 meters, but this may be a serious overestimation, says John Ablett of the Natural History Museum in London. This is because in the sun, the squid's tissue can act like rubber, so it can be stretched.

This again suggests that right now no one can say how big the giant squid can grow. Due to the elusive nature of the squid, complete specimens have never been found. They spend most of their time at depths of 400 to 1000 m. They can remain partially out of reach of hungry sperm whales, but this is a partial success at best. 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 as large as plates, up to 27cm (11 inches) in diameter. These giant peepers are believed to help spot whales at great distances, giving the squid time to make a diversionary maneuver.

In turn, giant squid prey on fish, crustaceans and small squid, all of which were 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 see that they have no problems 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 prevent 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 squids are active predators. Some big killers, such as the Pacific Arctic shark, move slowly to conserve their energy. They only collect garbage after eating. In theory, giant squids could do the same thing.

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

This idea came to life in 2004. Determined to find a living giant squid in the wild, Tsumeni Kubodera of the National science museum in Tokyo (Japan) together with whale expert Kyoki Mori used famous places presence of sperm whales as places where you can find giant squid. They managed to film a live giant squid off the Ogasawara Islands in the North Pacific Ocean.

Kubodera and Mori baited the giant squid and found it attacking horizontally with its tentacles extended in front of it. After the squid took the bait, its tentacles wrapped themselves “into an irregular ball, much in the same way that pythons rapidly wrap several coils around their prey immediately after attacking,” their report said.

Photo 5. First video footage of giant squids

The key, said team member Edith Widder of the Ocean Research and Conservation Association in Fort Pierce, Florida, was stealth. They suspected that the electric motors and most submerged chambers repelled the squid. Instead, they used a contraption called the Medusa, which had a battery-powered camera attached to it. The jellyfish emitted a blue light intended to simulate the light emitted by giant jellyfish called Atoll. When these jellyfish are chased by predators, they use their light to lure any big creatures, hiding nearby, so that they attack and attack the attacker.

Something about the nutrition of the giant squid
The footage from the first eight-hour dive was largely blank, but on the second attempt, suddenly the huge arms of a giant squid flashed onto the screen. The squid only took very small, gentle bites.

After a few more tries, they saw the squid in its entirety and noticed it wrapping its arms around the camera platform. This definitely confirmed that he is indeed an active predator.

To further entice the squid, Kubodera gave it a small squid as bait. He and two others then spent 400 hours in the cramped submarine to get even more footage and see the creature with their own eyes.

The giant squid actually attacked the bait "without tearing it apart as you might think," Widder says. The squid fed for 23 minutes, but it made very small, gentle bites with its parrot-like beak, gradually chewing. Widder believes the giant squid cannot eat its prey quickly because it might 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, according to Roper, who calls them "magnificent creatures."

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

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

In an attempt to uncover their mysterious mating habits, two Australian researchers studied several specimens of female giant squid in 1997. Their results show that the giant squid mates forcefully. They concluded that the male uses his muscular and elongated penis to "inject" a capsule of sperm called a spermatophore directly into the females' 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 access this sperm to fertilize their eggs. They may tear the skin open with their beak, or the skin covering them will burst and release sperm.

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

What's more, it was revealed last year that all 21 species described since 1857 actually belong to the same species. Study of DNA sequences of 43 tissue samples taken from different countries world, showed that these separate species could interbreed freely.

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

"It's possible that the entire global population of giant squid came from a population that was increasing, but there was some kind of disruption," Ablett says. Nobody knows what caused the decline in their numbers. Genetics only indicate that the population of these squids grew for some time between 110,000 and 730,000 years ago.

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

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 larger than the 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 spinning hooks with which he caught fish. But unlike giant squids, it is most likely an inactive predator. Instead, the giant squid swims in circles and uses its hooks to catch its prey.

Moreover, giant squids only live in Antarctic seas, so they cannot be the inspiration for the Norse legends of the Kraken.

Photo 8. Humboldt squid

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

Roper once had a lucky escape when Humboldt squids "pierced my wetsuit with their sharp beaks." Several years ago he told the story of a Mexican fisherman who fell overboard where Humboldt squid were actively feeding. “As soon as he reached the surface of the water, his mate was trying to pull him aboard when he was attacked from below, becoming a meal for the hungry squid,” says Roper. “I considered myself very lucky that I managed to rise from the water unharmed.”

However, while Humboldt squid are clearly dangerous, even at their maximum length they are unlikely to more than a person. Thus, they do not pose a serious threat if you happen to be in the water with them. They, of course, will not be able to drag fishermen off their boats, as the legends of the Kraken say.

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

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

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

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

This is a far-fetched idea. In his defense, McMenamin points out that modern cephalopods are among the most smart creatures at 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 hoard their prey.

Now McMenamin has found a fossil that he believes is part of the beak of an ancient squid. He presented his findings to the Geological Society of America. "We think we see a very close connection 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 squid became very large."

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

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

However, today it would seem that we have all the necessary tools to make a monster out of a giant squid. But instead, our perception of the 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 hide so deep in the oceans. "People need monsters," says Roper. Giant squids really look so big and such “creepy-looking animals” that it is easy to turn them into predatory animals in our imagination.

But even if giant squids 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 fully understand what's down there, says Widder. It's entirely possible that there is something much bigger and scarier than giant squids lurking in the depths far beyond human reach.

Divers found a huge squid on a New Zealand beach
Divers visiting New Zealand's south coast in Wellington were looking for 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 fully intact giant squid.

Photo. Divers near the found giant squid

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

A spokesman from New Zealand's Department of Conservation said the divers most likely found a giant squid (Architeuthis dux) rather than an Antarctic giant squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni).

Both types 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 more than 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."

Into the dark unknown sea ​​waters live at great depths mysterious creatures, which have terrified sailors since ancient times. They are secretive and elusive, and are still poorly understood. In medieval legends they are represented as monsters that attack ships and sink them.

According to the sailors, they look like a floating island with huge tentacles that reach the peak of the mast, bloodthirsty and ferocious. IN literary works these creatures received the name "krakens".

The first information about them is found in the Viking chronicles, which speak of huge sea monsters attacking ships. There are also references to krakens in the works of Homer and Aristotle. On the walls of ancient temples you can find images of a monster dominating the sea. Over time, references to these creatures have become less numerous. However, by the middle of the 18th century, the world again remembered the storm of the seas. In 1768, this monster attacked the English whaling ship Arrow; the crew and ship miraculously escaped death. According to the sailors, they encountered a “small living island.”

In 1810, the British ship Celestine, sailing on the Reykjavik-Oslo voyage, encountered something reaching a diameter of up to 50 meters. It was not possible to avoid the meeting, and the ship was severely damaged by the tentacles of an unknown monster, so it was necessary to return back to the port.

In 1861, the kraken attacked the French ship Adekton, and in 1874 sank the English Pearl. However, despite all these cases, scientific world thought giant monster nothing more than fiction. Until in 1873 he received material evidence of its existence.

On October 26, 1873, English fishermen discovered some huge and presumably dead sea animal in one of the bays. Wanting to find out what it was, they swam up to it in a boat and poked it with a hook. In response to this, the creature suddenly came to life and wrapped its tentacles around the boat, wanting to pull it to the bottom. The fishermen managed to fight back and get a trophy - one of the tentacles, which was transferred to the local museum.

A month later, another octopus 10 meters long was caught in the same area. So the myth became reality.
Previously, the likelihood of encounters with these deep-sea inhabitants was more real. However, in lately practically unheard of. One of latest events, associated with these creatures dates back to 2011, when the American yacht Zvezda was attacked. Of the entire crew and people on board, only one person was able to survive. Tragic story"Stars" - the last one famous case about a collision with a giant octopus.

So, what is this mysterious ship hunter?

There is still no clear idea of ​​what species this animal belongs to; scientists consider it a squid, an octopus, and a cuttlefish. This deep sea dweller reaches several meters in length, presumably some individuals can grow to gigantic sizes.

Its head is cylindrical with a chitinous beak in the middle, which it can use to bite through steel cables. The eyes reach 25 cm in diameter.

The habitat of these creatures extends throughout the World Ocean, starting their journey from the deep waters of the Arctic and Antarctica. At one time it was believed that their habitat was the Bermuda Triangle, and they were the culprits mysterious disappearances ships in this place.

Hypothesis of the appearance of the Kraken

Where this mysterious animal came from is still not known. There are several theories about its origin. That this is the only creature that has survived ecological disaster"time of the dinosaurs" That it was created during Nazi experiments at secret Antarctic bases. That perhaps this is a mutation of an ordinary squid or even an extraterrestrial intelligence.

Even in our time of advanced technology, little has been studied about krakens. Since no one saw them alive, all individuals exceeding 20 m were found exclusively dead. In addition, despite their enormous size, these creatures successfully avoid being photographed and videotaped. So the search for this deep-sea monster continues...

On the left side of the image you can see a mosaic of images taken by the Cassini spacecraft in the near-infrared range. The photo shows the polar seas and the reflection from their surface sunlight. The 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 images of the Kraken Sea taken by Cassini's radar. Kraken is the name of a mythical monster that lived in northern seas. This name seems to hint at the hopes astrobiologists have for this mysterious alien sea.

Could life exist on Saturn's large moon Titan? This question is forcing astrobiologists and chemists to think very carefully and creatively 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 Cornell University researchers, including chemical engineering graduate student James Stevenson, planetary scientist Jonathan Lunin, and chemical engineer Paulette Clancy, published a groundbreaking paper suggesting that living cell membranes can form in the exotic chemical environment present on this amazing satellite.

In many ways, Titan is Earth's twin. It is the second largest satellite in solar system, He more planet Mercury. Like Earth, it has a dense atmosphere, the pressure of which at the surface is slightly higher than on Earth. Apart from Earth, Titan is the only object in our solar system that has accumulations of liquid on its surface. NASA's Cassini spacecraft 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 spacecraft and laboratory experiments, scientists have determined that Titan's atmosphere contains many complex organic compounds, from which life is built.

Looking at all this, one might get the impression that Titan is an extremely habitable place. The name “Kraken,” the name given to the mythical sea monster, reflects the secret hopes of astrobiologists. But Titan is the alien twin of the Earth. It is almost 10 times further 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 silicon rocks on Earth that form the outer layers of the earth's crust.

The liquid filling Titan's lakes and rivers is not water, but liquid methane, most likely mixed with other substances such as liquid ethane, which are present in a gaseous state on Earth. If there is life in the seas of Titan, it does not resemble our ideas about life. This will be a completely alien form of life for us, the organic molecules of which are dissolved not in water, but in liquid methane. Is this even possible in principle?

A team from Cornell University studied one key part of this difficult question, having considered the possibility of existence 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 life on Earth, and their formation may have been the first step towards the origin of life.

On Earth, everyone knows about cell membranes from school course biology. These membranes are made 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 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 electrical charge, which is why it is called polar. The tail, on the other hand, is electrically neutral.

Here on Earth, cell membranes consist of phospholipid molecules dissolved in water. The basis of phospholipids are carbon atoms ( gray), plus they also contain atoms of hydrogen (sky blue), phosphorus ( yellow), oxygen (red) and nitrogen ( blue). Due to the positive charge imparted by the choline group, which contains a nitrogen atom, and the negative charge of the phosphate group, the phospholipid head 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 - the hydrophilic heads in contact with water are on the outside, and the hydrophobic tails face inward, connecting to 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. The electrons in a water molecule are more attracted to the oxygen atom than to the two hydrogen atoms. Therefore, on the side of the 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. These polar properties of water cause it to be attracted to the polar head of the phospholipid molecule, which is hydrophilic, and at the same time repelled by the non-polar tails, which are hydrophobic.

When phospholipid molecules are dissolved 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 the outer part of the membrane bilayer, which is in contact with water on the inner and outer surfaces of the membrane. The hydrophobic tails are connected to each other in the inner part of the membrane. Although the phospholipid molecules remain stationary relative to their layer, with their heads facing outward and tails facing inward, the layers can still move relative to each other, giving the membrane sufficient mobility that life requires.

Phospholipid bilayer membranes are the basis of all cell membranes on earth. Even the liposome itself can grow, reproduce itself and facilitate the occurrence of certain chemical reactions necessary for the existence of living organisms. This 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 of the origin of life on Earth.

On the left is water, a polar solvent consisting 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 a 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. Could phospholipid bilayer membranes form in liquid methane on Titan? The answer is no. Unlike water, electric charge Methane molecules are distributed evenly. Methane does not have the polar properties of water, so it cannot attract the heads of phospholipid molecules. This ability is necessary for phospholipids to form the terrestrial cell membrane.

Experiments were carried out in which phospholipids were dissolved in non-polar liquids at terrestrial temperatures. 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, 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, with polar, hydrophilic heads facing water and hydrophobic tails facing each other. On the right - phospholipids are dissolved in a non-polar solvent at earthly room temperature, under such conditions they form an inverse membrane with the polar heads facing each other and the non-polar tails facing outwards towards the non-polar solvent.

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

Although phospholipid membranes have been ruled out, scientists believe that any cell membrane on Titan would still be similar to the reverse phospholipid membrane produced in the laboratory. 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 kind of molecules could these be? For answers, the researchers turned to data obtained from Cassini and from laboratory experiments that recreated chemical composition atmosphere of Titan.

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

Researchers at Cornell University identified nitriles and amines as potential candidates for the formation of Titanian cell membranes. Both groups of molecules are polar, which allows them to combine, 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 so that they could form mobile membranes at temperatures where methane exists in the liquid phase. They looked at nitriles and amines containing chains of 3 to 6 carbon atoms. Groups containing nitrogen are called azo groups, so the team gave the Titanian liposome analogue 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 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 the familiar cell membranes made of 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 Titan's atmosphere at a concentration of 10 ppm, plus it was synthesized in the laboratory while simulating the effects of energy sources on Titan's nitrogen-methane atmosphere. Because this small polar molecule is able to dissolve in liquid methane, it is a candidate compound that could form cell membranes under the 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 modeling carried out by our research team showed that some substances could be excluded because they would not form a membrane, would be too rigid or would 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 enormous temperature difference between cryogenic azotosomes and liposomes existing at room temperature, simulations demonstrated that they have remarkably 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 "nitrosomes" in liquid methane. Azotosomes are small, sphere-shaped membranes resembling liposomes formed from phospholipids dissolved in water. Computer modeling shows that acrylonitrile-based azotosomes would 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 toward demonstrating that life in liquid methane is possible, and toward developing methods for future space probes to detect such life on Titan. If life in liquid nitrogen is possible, then the conclusions that follow from this go far beyond the boundaries of Titan.

When searching for habitable conditions in our galaxy, astronomers typically look for exoplanets whose orbits fall within the star's habitable zone, which is defined by a narrow range of distances within which the temperature on the surface of an Earth-like planet will allow liquid water to exist. If life in liquid methane is possible, then the stars must also have a methane habitable zone - an area where methane on the surface of a planet or its satellite can be in the liquid phase, creating conditions for the existence of life. Thus, the number of habitable planets in our galaxy will increase sharply. 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.

Stories constantly appear about the Kraken, which are full of fiction. For example, it is assumed that there is such a creature as the Great Kraken, living in the Bermuda Triangle. Then the fact that ships disappear there becomes understandable.

Who is this Kraken? Some consider him an underwater monster, some - a demon, and some - a higher mind, or supermind. However, scientists still received true information at the beginning of the last century, when real krakens ended up in their hands. Until that moment, it was easier for scientists to deny their existence, because until the 20th century they only had eyewitness stories to think about.

Does the kraken really exist? Yes, this is a real organism. This was first confirmed at the end of the 19th century. Fishermen fishing near the shore noticed something very bulky, firmly grounded. They made sure that the carcass was not moving and approached it. The dead kraken was delivered to science center. Over the next decade, several more similar bodies were recovered.

They were first studied by Verrill, an American zoologist, and the animals owe their name to him. Today they are called octopuses. These are terrible and huge monsters, they belong to the class of mollusks, that is, in fact, relatives of the most harmless snails. They usually live at depths from 200 to 1000 meters. Somewhat deeper in the ocean live octopuses 30-40 meters long. This is not an assumption, but a fact, since the actual size of the kraken was calculated from the size of the suckers on the skin of whales.

In the legends they spoke about it like this: a block erupted from the water, engulfed the ship with tentacles and carried it to the bottom. It was there that the kraken from legends fed on drowned sailors.

Kraken is an ellipsoidal substance, made of a jelly-like substance, shiny and having a grayish, transparent color. It can reach 100 meters in diameter, while it practically does not react to any stimuli. She doesn't feel pain either. It is, in fact, a huge jellyfish, similar in appearance to an octopus. It has a head and a large number of very long tentacles with suckers in two rows. Even one kraken tentacle can destroy a ship.

There are three hearts in the body, one main, two gills, as they drive blood, which is blue, through the gills. They also have kidneys, liver, and stomach. The creatures do not have bones, but they have a brain. The eyes are huge, complexly arranged, approximately like those of a person. Sense organs are well developed.