octopuses

Pictures of Paul the Octopus Predicting Soccer Results
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RIP, Paul the Score-Predicting, Soccer-Loving Octopus

Paul the psychic octopus had a great record on the field in the tank for the 2010 World Cup, going eight for eight predicting Germany's results and calling Spain as the victors in the final.
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Paul the psychic octopus had a great record on the field in the tank for the 2010 World Cup, going eight for eight predicting Germany's results and calling Spain as the victors in the final. Sadly, the almost-3-year-old, English-born creature died this morning, with his official German statement reading:

He appears to have passed away peacefully during the night, of natural causes, and we are consoled by the knowledge that he enjoyed a good life here and that the care provided him by our dedicated displays team could not have been bettered.


If you missed his prediction prowess, the caretakers would place a yummy mussel in two clear plastic containers and place a flag of each competing team on the respective containers. Paul first chose the treat from the team he thought would win . . . before eating the second treat, too. Although the octopus officially retired after this year's big games, he was still visited and praised around the world.

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See pictures of past calls and soccer playtime when you read more

The Scoop: Octopuses Do Not Have Eight Legs!
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The Scoop: Octopuses Do Not Have Eight Legs!

I'm not trying to fool you!
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I'm not trying to fool you! While octopuses do in fact have eight appendages, recent studies show that several of those – six to be exact – function more like arms with the remaining two acting as legs to propel them through the water. One of these researchers, Alex Gerard, curator of the Sea Life center in Brighton, England explains it like this:

Their front two tentacles will be used for a lot of exploratory work and then the ones immediately behind them will then be used also if further investigation is needed. Then the further back you go, the more the limbs are used for propulsion and movement. From what we've seen, all the limbs basically have the same capabilities. But they seem to favor this system and it works well for them. They have that facility, unlike humans where if we tried to grab our food with our feet we might fail miserably.

So, I guess it's more a technicality but I didn't know octopuses could do things like a Rubix cube or even twist open a jar as seen here – guess you learn something new every day!

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Researchers Use Rubik's Cubes to Reduce Stress in Octopuses.
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Anxious Octopuses Pick Up Objects to Reduce Stress

Not only do your pets have a dominant hand, but researchers think that octopuses do too!
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Not only do your pets have a dominant hand, but researchers think that octopuses do too! In a month-long observational project, UK scientists are testing their theory that intelligent creatures have a dominant arm (in this case, tentacle) used to feed and investigate. Researchers will record which tentacle the Octopuses use to pick up objects, hoping to reduce stress levels in captivity. Huh – what does picking up things have to do with stress levels, you ask? Claire Little, a marine life expert at the Sea Life Center in the UK explains:

We hope the study will help the overall well-being of octopuses. They are very susceptible to stress so if they do have a favorite side to be fed on, it could reduce risk to them.

The fun part is that visitors to the Center will get to participate in the study by jotting down on a diagram which arm was used to pick up objects such as balls and Lego bricks, while staff will continue the observation at feeding time and overnight. Who knew that cleaning up could be therapeutic? Now if I could just get North to pick up his toys . . .

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