Friday Smorgasbord: Danios, toilets, crochet and more

This week’s edition of the Friday Smorgasboard features life-saving danios, toilet reefs, crochet and more. Without further ado, here you go!

Dr. Danio

The danio, one of the common starter fish for freshwater aquariums, also may help us unlock some other science mysteries. See how this fish is helping to understanding how vertebrates develop, how diseases like cancer work, and how we might one day learn how to regenerate human heart tissue.

Down the toilet

We’ve seen some creative things used to create artificial reefs over the years but this one is probably one of the more interesting. New York City has created an artificial reef from crushed up toilets in an effort to bring back oysters to the once plentiful Jamaica Bay. The rubble from the recycled toilets will serve as nurseries for oyster larvae to grow on.

Crochetting the reef

Crochet Coral Reef: TOXIC SEAS is a unique art installation at New York’s Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) that is the result of a 10-year project by twin sisters Christine and Margaret Wertheim in response to the destruction of the coral reefs by climate change and other human activities.

[via Hyperalergic]

Move over Elvis, there’s a new king

Move over Elvis and T. rex, there a new king in town — the B. rex. A new study is showing this giant armored fish was “king” long before the dinosaurs. A team of scientists discovered the fossils of artifi a new giant in the group Antiarchi — ancient fish with armored plates covering their head, shoulders and front fins. The new rex, Latin for “king,” was identified from 370-million-year-old fossils that were first discovered in 2000 near Okse Bay in Nunavut, Canada.