Chaos (genus)

Chaos is a genus of amoebae, in the family Amoebidae. The largest and best known species, the so-called "giant amoeba" Chaos carolinense, can reach lengths of 5 mm, although most specimens fall between 1 and 3 mm.

Members of the genus closely resemble Amoeba and share the same general morphology, producing numerous cylindrical pseudopods, each of which is rounded at the tip. However, while Amoeba have a single nucleus, Chaos can have as many as a thousand. Because of this attribute, C. carolinensis was once placed in the genus Pelomyxa along with the other giant multinucleate amoeba, Pelomyxa palustris. Recently, molecular phylogenetic studies of this species have confirmed the view of some earlier researchers that it is more closely related to Amoeba than to Pelomyxa. The species is now placed in the independent genus Chaos, a sister group of Amoeba.

Chaos species are versatile heterotrophs, able to feed on bacteria, algae, other protists, and even small multicellular invertebrates. Like all Amoebozoa, they take in food by phagocytosis, encircling food particles with its pseudopodia, then enclosing them within a food ball, or vacuole, where they are broken down by enzymes. The cell does not have a mouth or cytostome, nor is there any fixed site on the cell membrane at which phagocytosis normally occurs.

Chaos Chaos

Chaos Chaos is an American indie pop band from Seattle, Washington. The band was formed under the name Smoosh in 2000, and adopted their current name in 2012. The band consists of two sisters, who founded the band as preteens: singer/keyboardist Asya Saavedra (Asy, born February 2, 1992) and drummer Chloe Saavedra (born March 5, 1994). They released three albums as Smoosh, and have produced two further EPs and several singles as Chaos Chaos.

History

"There's this band Smashmouth, and we liked how that sounded, so we came up with Smoosh. We just liked the sound of the word. But we pronounced it Smush [rhymes with bush]. Then people started saying it Smoosh, with the ooo sound. So it became Smoooosh. "

Smoosh started in 2000 when the family was at a Seattle music store The Trading Musician, standing in line to restring a violin. Asy and Chloe wandered into the drum section of the store, where Chloe met Jason McGerr, the drummer for Death Cab for Cutie. The family eventually left with a $600 drum kit for Chloe, McGerr's card from the Seattle Drum School, "and no violin." When McGerr learned that Asy had been playing the piano and writing songs since she was very young, he offered to help them both. Neither Asy nor Chloe read music. Asy began piano training but soon quit because she found it boring.