October 05, 2016 at 02:03AM

Today I Learned: 1) So, starfish may not be radially symmetric after all -- one of a starfish's arms always has a higher density of nerves, and it tends to favor that arm over the others. Arguably, it is actually a head. Today I learned (although apparently not for the first time?) that if the head arm of a starfish is cut off, it can shift that functionality to another arm! 2) We have some delightful printable labels for labeling tubes (and other things) in our lab. They're particularly nice because they tolerate cold well, which is important for labeling tubes that are going to be stored at -20°C or -80°C for a long time. Today I learned that though they are quite cold-tolerant, they are not particularly water-tolerant, and care should be taken not to get the adhesive wet before freezing them down. 3) Fire spreads significantly more quickly uphill. I guess that makes sense, because uphill is for hot air kind of like downhill is for water.