It's further evidence that octopus intelligence is unlike anything we've ever seen. Their arms continue to remain alert, reacting to pain, long after they have been removed from the body of the octopus. This isn't just post-mortem twitching — the tentacles are aware of their environment, and responding to danger.
Octopuses have large nervous systems, centered around relatively large brains. But more than half of their 500 million neurons are found in the arms themselves, Godfrey-Smith said. This raises the question of whether the arms have something like minds of their own. Though the question is controversial, there is some observational evidence indicating that it could be so, he said. When an octopus is in an unfamiliar tank with food in the middle, some arms seem to crowd into the corner seeking safety while others seem to pull the animal toward the food, Godfrey-Smith explained, as if the creature is literally of two minds about the situation.
http://io9.com/detatched-octopus-arms-show-independent-awareness-1209041248
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7 comments:
maybe i missed the post, but what't your beef with octopi?
REALLY? You don't know? They are evil incarnate. They live on the bottom of the ocean where the alien spaceships wait. I hate and fear most things in the oceans but the octopus are the worst because they are the smartest. And they hate us. When I was a kid I visited an aquarium and out of the corner of my eye I jumped when one of them rushed the class wall. I knew then there was no compromise. It was me or them.
In theory, they could cut off a limb, toss it out of the water (at some poor sap just minding his business) and cause havoc and mayhem.
And they are just the type to toss their severed limbs into your bathtub.
huh...i always figured the animal to turn evil and rise against humanity would be more ironic, like bunnies (thanks a lot anya!)
sorry to hear about your aquarium traumatization though.
Since then I have learned all about them. Stupid boneless bulbheads. They have been known to sabotage other tanks. One even spit water at a fuse box that shorted out and cut the oxygen pumps to several holding tanks of other species. They caught the bastard on video doing the damage. Have you seen them work through a box puzzle to get at some food. They can squeeze threw a hole a tenth their size.
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