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Comments

  • seth

    15 Dec '09

    i looked that up on wikipedia its totally true

  • hah

    24 Mar '10

    Yeah, like everything else in the internet is true.

  • Jordan

    23 May '10

    Yes, because Wikipedia is totally legit.

  • rootbeer78

    23 May '10

    Is that shrimp throwing up a claw which is emitting an explosion in the second panel?

  • Sir Naff

    04 Aug '10

    AHHH I LOVE PISTOL SHRIMP!! I'm ALWAYS telling people about them and they never believe me =( But I can be believed because I'm a bio major and we KNOW.

  • Sternford

    09 Aug '10

    People throw around the phrase "hotter than the sun" far too often when they usually mean "hotter than the surface of the sun"

  • Lush

    31 Aug '10

    Dude... surface, or core, or whatever -- the sun is still HOT!!

  • Totz the Plaid

    10 Sep '10

    The sun is so hot that anything attempting to approach it will vaporize LONG before it gets ANYWHERE NEAR the surface. If the pistol shrimp managed to produce temperatures even 1/10 as hot as the sun's radiant heat, I very much doubt that ANYTHING in the area (including itself) would survive.

  • Celti

    10 Sep '10

    The bubbles are approximately a micrometer in diameter, and last only picoseconds - but temperatures within are indeed around the level of the Sun's surface temperature.

  • Ghost

    16 Sep '10

    My great holy ship... That shrimp's bubble only explodes creating fast soundwaves, which are enough to make those little fishes unconciciousness... Bad english spelling FTW.

  • Ghost

    16 Sep '10

    By the way, Extreme Animal Planet, and BBC Wildlife: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC6I8iPiHT8

  • Alison

    29 Sep '10

    My Acoustics professor taught us about them!

  • Tom

    05 Oct '10

    The surface temperature of the sun is around 5500 to 6000 degrees C, which is not that fabulously hot. Especially when you consider the pressure, area it's being applied to and the time-scale upon which it acts. On the other hand, it's a super awesome acheivement for a shrimp, you go little guy!

  • zane

    29 Oct '10

    i want flame shooting shrimp so i can set all things on fire

  • turtle

    23 Nov '10

    these shrimp rocks!

  • Sir Naff

    23 Nov '10

    It hurts soooo much when they snap at you.

  • Ryz Fickle

    29 Nov '10

    I think it reaches temperatures hotter then the surfaces of the sun, not the core. I am a fan of your comics. Keep it up :D

  • Patrick

    24 Feb '11

    Have to point this out because if I dont I will never be able to fall asleep. the core of the sun is much cooler than the surface of the sun. also as an interesting side note, the actual action of creating the bubbles is called "Cavitation"

  • allison

    28 Apr '11

    uh...

  • Mick W.

    07 Jun '11

    Voila: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKPrGxB1Kzc Check it out. It's pretty cool.

  • kai

    07 Jul '11

    Its true pistol shrimp do have claws that are quite disproportionate to their body size (about have their body size) and their claws aren't like serrated they have a hammer and anvil kinda effect in which the upper claw rises and a joint is released allowing it to hit the bottom claw at such speeds that it creates captivation bubbles that collapse to form a very high pressure state that can reach up to 4700 degrees which is close but not equal to the estimated heat of the surface of the sun. this effect is very temporary and lasts for several milliseconds at most i would imagine yet the pressure of the bubbles (up to 80 kPa) can kill small fish or break glass even, as well, it makes quite a loud sound that can interfere with sonar and such. They are truly remarkable creatures and oh yes they are very real.

  • kai

    07 Jul '11

    excuse me, cavitation* bubbles. damn you autocorrect!

  • TomM

    11 Aug '11

    Guys, temperature is not synonymous with energy. Could e that hot, but in such small amounts of energy it wouldn't be noticed by any organism of our size.

  • Etienne

    13 Aug '11

    I learned about this in my chemical module,they also generate flashes of light i believe.

  • Simon

    15 Apr '12

    Patrick speaks the truth! The surface of the Sun is actually much hotter than the core. Also: temperatures much higher than any part of the Sun are routinely created in many laboratories, often with equipment that only use a single mains plug. The trick is to do it for only a very small amount of matter, and for a very short time, as is the case with the pistol shrimp.

  • Dian

    04 Oct '12

    Simon and Patrick! I've been searching for ages, but can't find anywhere that says the surface of the sun is hotter then the core.. A friend was CERTAIN he read it somewhere, and told us he was right, and it made us lose a pub quiz because everyone else said that the core is MUCH hotter. I'm confused. Could someone explain? :)

  • Dian

    04 Oct '12

    P.S. I discovered Pistol Shrimps whilst researching an art project, they are SO COOL.

  • James

    20 Sep '13

    Some one has been read "The oatmeal"

  • Jeremy

    03 Oct '13

    I want to share your comics from this site.... How? I live Mantis Shrimp!!!

  • Occam

    14 Apr '14

    *ahem* The corona is hotter the the surface or core

  • Alli Dayri

    12 Nov '18

    Did you know: The Peacock Mantis Shrimp does something similar? The mantis shrimp has these claw-things on the front, that when exelled, can cause so much heat, it can cause the water around it to boil. It also sends a shockwave through the water, that is so powerful, it can kill the target, even if it misses? They are basically the rainbow assassins of the sea.

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