Bow down: Spiders, octopi, and certain snails, while not kings and queens, actually bleed blue. So what makes them so royal? One of the main functions of blood is to carry oxygen around the body. 🧵🔽 - ThreadSky

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britannica.com • 4 days ago

Bow down:

Spiders, octopi, and certain snails, while not kings and queens, actually bleed blue.

So what makes them so royal? One of the main functions of blood is to carry oxygen around the body. 🧵🔽

Comments

cptntoadisbest.bsky.social•3 days ago

I thought spiders bleed orange

britannica.com•4 days ago

In mammals, the oxygen is carried around by a molecule called hemoglobin, which includes iron.

This molecule absorbs all colors of light but reflects red.

Hence: red blood.

britannica.com•4 days ago

Unlike us, snails, spiders and octopi use a different compound to transport oxygen.

Hemocyanin has an atom of copper rather than iron. This molecule absorbs all colors except blue.

Hence: blue blood for the creepy crawlies.

britannica.com•4 days ago

In a fun twist, human veins actually do appear blue from the outside.

This is because outside light (like the sun or a lightbulb) contains all colors, but blue doesn’t penetrate our skin as well as red light, so it reflects back- making the veins look blue.

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