Excerpt: The opening of an article from Quanta Magazine. Read the original for the full story.

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In the 1960s and ’70s, colorful comic book advertisements from the Transcience Corporation in New York City promised to mail anyone who sent cash, check, or money order a “bowlfull of happiness” — in reality, a small paper envelope of freeze-dried eggs. Dropped into salt water, the eggs would produce brine shrimp, also known as sea monkeys.

Brine shrimp are about a centimeter long and swim upside down, beating their legs madly and trailing their elongated abdomens behind them like tails.