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Seriously, you have to see this.

Squids don't have ears, as we know them. But it is possible to convert an audio signal into an electrical one (this is what happens when you speak into a microphone; sounds coming through speakers is the reverse). Scientists at Backyard Brains wanted to know what would happen if they hooked up an iPod Nano to a Longfin Inshore squid via a suction electrode.

It had an amazing effect on the squid's chromatophores — that is, the cells that control the colour of the squids skin and allow it to camouflage itself.

Watch the video to see what happens.

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During experiments on the axons of the Woods Hole squid (loligo pealei), we tested our cockroach leg stimulus protocol on the squid's chromatophores. The results were both interesting and beautiful. The video is a view through an 8x microscope zoomed in on the dorsal side of the caudal fin of the squid. We used a suction electrode to stimulate the fin nerve. Chromatophores are pigmeted cells that come in 3 colors: Brown, Red, and Yellow. Each chromatophore is lined with up to 16 muscles that contract to reveal their color.

Paloma T. Gonzalez-Bellido of Roger Hanlon's Lab in the Marine Resource Center of the Marine Biological Labs helped us with the preparation. You can read their latest paper at: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.o...rspb.2012.1374