Muse: The magazine of science, culture, and smart laughs for kids and children

Life in the Clear

In the open ocean, there’s nowhere to hide. There are no rocks to slip under, no kelp to duck behind—nothing but clear water all around. “Every direction you look looks pretty much the same—it’s this ridiculous unearthly blue,” says Sönke Johnsen, a marine biologist and professor at Duke University.

If you went swimming out here in the clear blue, you’d stick out like a billboard. Everything with eyes could see you coming. Being visible isn’t safe for creatures that live here; it’s too easy to be spotted by both potential prey and potential predators. So many of them have adopted a remarkable form

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Muse: The magazine of science, culture, and smart laughs for kids and children

Muse: The magazine of science, culture, and smart laughs for kids and children2 min read
Q&A
Q: Why do certain colors look good together, but others clash? —Mary Lynn W. A: First, imagine a rainbow. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, all laid out in a line. Now pull that rainbow into a circle, so that violet touches red. That
Muse: The magazine of science, culture, and smart laughs for kids and children5 min read
Waste Not, Want Not
People throw out a lot of garbage, but there are some places where waste is worth its weight in gold. Houweling’s Tomatoes is a business that grows and sells greenhouse vegetables. Company chairman Casey Houweling runs the business. He has always bee
Muse: The magazine of science, culture, and smart laughs for kids and children4 min read
Muse News
In August 2021 off the coast of Alaska, researchers had what may have been the first ever “conversation” with a humpback whale. The team included scientists who study whales, as well as one astronomer who works at the SETI Institute in Northern Calif

Related Books & Audiobooks