Every day is one step closer to reality

Feng Yi grabbed a starfish.

The one I was throwing for fun had already thrown it far away, so I changed the other one and was about to continue throwing it. After thinking about it, I still didn't swim far away.

No longer moving forward, Feng Yi simply grabbed the starfish and studied it.

I had seen this creature up close and from all angles in the small exhibition hall next to the dormitory area. There was an anatomy diagram of a starfish on the wall. Feng Yi was certainly not curious about its structure.

What interests him is whether the starfish is afraid of him.

Marine organisms mainly rely on the transmission of chemical information in seawater to search and prey. Amino acids, nucleic acids, organic molecules, etc. that are difficult to see with the naked eye can all be sensed through receptors.

Changes in the chemical information in the water will cause them to behave differently.

Behavior is the most direct response of animals to changes in stimuli.

Feng Yi wanted to see if this starfish would be stimulated if it felt his breath. What kind of behavior will occur?

Feng Yi did not change his body shape, but the inhuman aura passed through the diving suit and spread out along with the sea water.

Through these, a close communication between "extraordinary humans" and "marine creatures" will be carried out.

Although there were limitations of the diving suit and the information molecules emitted were not strong, the reaction of the starfish was already obvious. The starfish around Feng Yi all made avoidance behaviors and stayed away from his location.

Feng Yi was surprised.

It's strange that this group of starfish felt this signal for the first time in their lives, but they all performed the same avoidance behavior.

Could this be "fear engraved in DNA"?

Feng Yi looked at the starfish he was holding. His pupils turned into thin vertical lines and expanded due to the light, but they were still upright ovals. Completely different from normal human eyes.

There is no one else here, so his eyes can change as he pleases.

"I really want to see what other important information is hidden in their DNA."

Feng Yi thought. Staring at the starfish on my hand is like trying to explore the inner parts through their skin.

Just as he was thinking about it, the communicator rang.

Feng Yi came to his senses and quickly answered the call.

"Feng Yi, where are you?" the diver over there asked.

"Me? Just take a look around." Feng Yi looked around. He couldn't tell the exact location, but it wasn't too far away, right?

The two divers choked when they heard this.

God, "just take a look around"!

Do you have any destructive understanding of the word "nearby"? ! !

However, as long as people are safe. Their hearts were slightly relieved.

At this time, Feng Yi also realized from the diver's tone that he seemed to have exceeded the other's acceptable range this time.

I was so excited about swimming in the sea that I didn't pay attention to the distance in the eyes of normal people.

But an oversight is an oversight.

"Sorry, I ran away without paying attention." Feng Yi apologized.

The diver spoke slightly and asked, "How are you doing there?"

Feng Yi said: "Many starfish."

"Definitely, they are still gathering. Do you feel the atmosphere is tense when you are surrounded by starfish?" another diver laughed.

Feng Yi glanced around: "No, the atmosphere is quite... harmonious."

It was so harmonious that a whole space was left empty.

"In short, we get along pretty well." Feng Yi said.

As he was talking, he felt something strange on his hand and looked over.

Originally, he was holding a starfish in his hand, but now only one of the starfish's wrists is left in his hand.

Feng Yi: "???"

Sensing Feng Yi's silence, the diver over there asked worriedly: "What happened?"

"Nothing." Feng Yi looked at the starfish that was escaping in small steps and let go of the stump in his hand.

The diver wanted to tell Feng Yi not to keep running away and not to chase animals in the water. He would easily get lost. If something happened if he ran too far, it would be too late to rescue him. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Feng Yi continue:

"Is it almost finished over there? I'll go back immediately."

"There is still some work to be done, but it won't take long. You can come back. Do you need our help?" the diver asked.

"No, I'm swimming back."

"Don't get lost, find the right direction," the diver said, considering the young expert's reputation, "Don't be too hasty, safety is the first priority. Stay in touch."

"good."

Over there, the two divers finished talking to each other and also talked about Feng Yi.

"This expert seems unreliable."

"His attitude is quite good, unlike the expert I met last time who still complained when he did something wrong."

"Do you think he can come back smoothly?"

"not sure……"

As soon as I started talking, the positioning instrument beeped, and the target light spot appeared.

Feng Yi has entered the one kilometer range.

Seeing this, the doubts and worries in the minds of the two divers subsided slightly.

"It seems he didn't swim too far."

“My sense of direction is pretty good and I didn’t wander off course.”

When Feng Yi, whom they were talking about, drove back within one kilometer, his speed was greatly reduced, as close as possible to the speed that normal humans could achieve.

But in the eyes of those two divers, it was still very fast!

“Is this guy a flying fish?!”

"If he can swim like this, his body can sustain it?"

After the two divers had almost finished the work at hand, they thought it would take some time for Feng Yi to come back. They were about to ask the expert team if they wanted to supplement some data when they saw Feng Yi.

"Are you okay? Let's take a rest on the boat first." A diver said.

"No problem, shall we start setting up the net now?" Feng Yi still looked normal.

"Is everything okay?"

"without."

"Okay. If you feel any discomfort, you must tell me. Don't hold it back!"

"Understood!" Feng Yi made an OK gesture.

Seeing that Feng Yi was fine, the two divers stopped talking and began to perform their second mission in the afternoon.

Feng Yi became much more honest after he came back. He helped the divers in whatever way they told them to do.

He was so cooperative and really put in a lot of effort. The two divers no longer cared about Feng Yi running far away before.

It's normal for young people to act a little extravagantly. Anyway, it doesn't cause any trouble and they have nothing to lose. And Feng Yi also knew that he was wrong, so just pay attention next time.

Mission accomplished, the two ships returned.

There is still a lot of work to do after returning home, but there are dedicated people in charge of it, so Feng Yi will not get involved and interfere with the efficiency of others.

Everyone is still on the coast and haven't returned to the dormitory. Feng Yi doesn't want to go back immediately, but he can't sit idle. He wants to talk to someone.

Over at the expert group, Professor Ding and several others were chatting about starfish-related topics. Feng Yi listened for a while and then left voluntarily.

The areas of expertise are different and the focus is also different.

We are also talking about starfish, and several people over there are discussing body wall polysaccharides and in vitro antioxidant activity.

As for Feng Yi, he only knew whether he could eat it here and whether he could eat it there.

Not wanting to be embarrassed there, Feng Yi looked around and found Professor Li who was quietly staring at the sea and thinking about something.

In fact, this professor is not a serious type, but has a somewhat caring temperament about the country and the people.

Professor Li studies marine ecology, but he knows more about starfish than Feng Yi.

Feng Yi walked over and said, "Teacher Li."

The melancholy in Professor Li's eyes subsided, and his attitude towards Feng Yi, a junior, was calm, "What's wrong?"

Feng Yi said: "I have a question. Do snakes eat starfish?"

Surprise flashed across Professor Li's face, as if he didn't expect Feng Yi to ask such a question.

However, Professor Li patiently replied: "I won't eat it."

After a pause, Professor Li added: "Strictly speaking, I can't say for sure. Starfish live in the sea, and their growth stages include the larval stage. There may be some kind of sea snake that I don't know that will prey on them. But the adult stage Starfish, so far, I haven’t seen any snakes interested in them.”

The larvae of starfish do not look like they do now. Starfish in the larvae stage look small and weak.

Professor Li said: "Starfish have more natural enemies in their larval stage, while the number of natural enemies in the adult state is greatly reduced. Therefore, when we consider the prevention and control methods of starfish, we will also start to deal with them in their larval stage and formulate removal strategies."

Feng Yi asked: "In other words, there is no predatory relationship between snakes and adult starfish?"

Professor Li thought for a moment and said: "Whether snakes eat adult starfish can be analyzed from the perspective of snake eating. Let's not talk about toxicity. Adult starfish have flat bodies and spines, and the toughness of the calcium bone plates is not strong. , it is difficult for small snakes to swallow them. From the perspective of energy conversion, even if a snake can swallow it, a starfish cannot provide them with much energy.

"Also, my research on snakes is limited, but I have also heard that snakes have the ability to judge the head and tail of prey. When swallowing food, they will start from the head. I can't imagine how a snake can swallow a starfish and find the head. ?"

Professor Li looked at Feng Yi, "So, based on these, I surmise that no snake would be stupid enough to eat it."

Feng Yi nodded, thinking in his mind:

There is no predatory relationship between snakes and starfish, and they are not considered natural enemies of starfish.

But those starfish were afraid of me, so much so that the group stayed away.

Therefore--

I have nothing to do with snakes!

It has nothing to do with snakes on land or in the sea!

Therefore, those starfish are only afraid of me.

Feng Yi's thoughts turned around in his mind and he said, "I saw... when someone was catching a starfish, the starfish broke one of its wrists."

Of course he wouldn't say what he did!

There are so many boats fishing for starfish recently, and people come and go, and the question is "I saw it by chance."

Professor Li had no doubts either.

"What you are talking about is the self-cutting behavior of starfish. It is a common body reaction in predatory relationships. The broken wrist will grow back later." Professor Li said.

"You mean, it felt threatened by predators, so it cut off one of its arms? It's like a gecko's tail-cutting method, sacrificing part of the body to preserve the whole." Feng Yi asked.

"Absolutely. But if they are in the sea, in addition to predators, they will also behave like this when they feel the pressure from the external environment, such as rising water temperature, environmental pollution, parasites or microbial infections, etc. that make them When the body is damaged, self-cut behavior will occur.”

"That's it."

Feng Yi wondered whether the starfish that cut itself in his hand was "fear engraved in DNA" or was it due to other reasons?

Is it accidental or inevitable?

It is not difficult to verify.

Catch a few more.