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Science

Behold the pigbutt worm, mystery of the deep

National Geographic
Summary
Nutrition label

80% Informative

A translucent, pink blob about the size of a hazelnut was spotted in 2001 off the coast of California .

The creature looked like a pig's butt, but scientists still aren't quite sure if the animal is an adult or a larva.

The best guess right now is that the adults in this species retain some larval qualities, like the ability to spend its days floating in the water column.

Rebecca Helm helped bring the pigbutt worm back into the limelight earlier this month .

Helm says the surface area of the high seas is larger than the surface of Mars .

Robison : “We’ve been working in the deep-water column out here for more than 30 years , and we’re still finding new stuff.

VR Score

83

Informative language

82

Neutral language

65

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

41

Offensive language

likely offensive

Hate speech

possibly hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

long-living

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