Discoblog readers: We need your help.

If you’ve been reading the DISCOVER blogs this week, you might have caught 80beats’ coverage of the study out suggesting the ultra-tough shell of a deep-sea snail could inspire the next generation of body armor. For reasons that could only be described as “dropping the ball,” we didn’t include the illustration provided by the National Science Foundation. It’s not every day that you get to see a samurai attacking a giant snail, though he probably should’ve brought his Hattori Hanz? sword rather than this spear.

Samurai vs. Snail:

Not to be outdone, the Nature study we covered today, arguing Madagascar’s mammals arrived there via flotilla, came with its own illustration. In it, the happy lemur wins the boat race to the Africa while the sad hippos and lions, too fat to ride, stay on the mainland.

The Great Animal Boat Race:

More awesomely bizarre? Please, help us decide:

<br /> <a href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/2570157/” mce_href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/2570157/”>Which is the more awesomely bad science illustration?</a><span style=”font-size:9px;” mce_style=”font-size:9px;”>(<a href=”http://www.polldaddy.com” mce_href=”http://www.polldaddy.com”>surveys</a>)</span><br />

Related Content:
80beats: Could a Deep Sea Snail’s Shell Inspire Next-Gen Body Armor?
80beats: Study: Madagascar’s Weird Mammals Got There On Rafts

Images: NSF; Luci Betti Nash