MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON

Dir. by Dean Fleischer-Camp
Marcel is voiced (untreated & unenhanced) by a genius named Jenny Slate
Written by Jenny + Dean. LINK: Youtube

Classic Rock on a Conch Shell

A Key West musician played parts of two classic rock songs on a pink-lined shell to take top honors in the island city's 49th annual Conch Shell Blowing Contest. (March 6, 2011). LINK: Youtube

Bodyshells by Heidi Bucher

Heidi Bucher was a Swiss artist who collaborated in the early 1970's with her husband, sculptor Carl Bucher. These "Bodyshells" were showcased in an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now the Museum of Art and Design) in New York City. This rare 8mm footage shows the sculptures in action when they traveled to Los Angeles. LINK: Youtube

Roomba-Riding Turtle

(YouTube Link)

We’ve seen a cat riding a Roomba. Now here’s a soft-shelled turtle doing it. He doesn’t appear to enjoy it as much.

Via: Geekologie, Via: Neatorama

LED Sea Urchins

The folks at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories will put an LED into anything, but this is quite lovely. The dried shells of sea urchins are already beautiful, and can be made into tiny lights that resemble paper lanterns for night lights or decorations. Link, Via: Neatorama

Snail with vanishing spots

The flamingo tongue snail Cyphoma gibbosum appears to have a shell decorated with bright spots (top of image). Amazingly though, the spots aren't actually part of the shell, but rather the animal's flesh! When the animal retracts into its stark white shell, so do the spots (bottom of image). The Cyphoma gibbosum is the star of the latest CreatureCast video from Dr. Casey Dunn's laboratory at Brown University. RISD animator Chris Vamos, who was also a student in Dr. Dunn's invertebrate zoology course, created the video. LINK, Via: Vimeo

Octopus Uses Cocount As Shelter

Scientists have discovered an octopus utilizing tools by carrying around a coconut shell to be used as shelter, which is a first amongst invertebrates. LINK: Youtube

Patterns in Nature: Shells

A giant clam in Kiribati's Phoenix Islands exhibits the striking colors of its mantle. LINK