I just learned about this crazy-looking thing, which is called a coccolithphore:
Image: Markus Geisen
Coccolithphores are photosynthetic single-cell organisms found in plankton. They calcify, which means they cover themselves in the strange shell you see, which is actually made out of calcium carbonate. (Calcium carbonate also shows up in chalk, limestone, eggshells, pearls, snail shells and sea shells.) Scientists aren't exactly sure why they calcify.
Image: G. Aloisi - [1], CC BY 3.0
Image: Richard Lampitt, Jeremy Young, The Natural History Museum, London - http://planktonnet.awi.de/, CC BY 2.5
Image: Antarctic Marine Protists
Image: Antarctic Marine Protists
Image: Roscoff Culture Collection
Image: Science.org
Coccolithphores belong to a larger group known as protists, which do not all calcify. And these guys are pretty wild-looking, too:
Image: Antarctic Marine Protists
I think several of the images on this page could be passed off as Bluetooth speakers.
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