On octopuses, psychic or merely awesome
Friday, July 9th, 2010
Paul the Psychic Octopus picks Spain over Netherlands in
the World Cup Final. He is six for six so far.
Octopuses (“octopi” is a mistake that caught on) may or may not be able to psychically predict the winners of World Cup games. It’s amazing that something made up almost entirely of arms knows so much about soccer, but that’s definitely not the only amazing thing about them. In fact . . .
The octopus is a mollusk, same as clams and scallops.
They have eight arms, three hearts, no bones, and a beak.
They can squeeze through pretty much any opening they can get their beak through.
Their beak is poisonous.
The suckers on their arms are used both to grab and to taste.
If they lose an arm, say by picking the wrong team, it will grow back, Wolverine-style.
They can change their skin color and texture to blend in with their surroundings or communicate.
They squirt black ink at attackers, and their blood is light blue.
The Giant Pacific Octopus lives in the cold waters off British Columbia, where they can grow up to 600 pounds, the weight of an adult brown bear.
Octopuses have exceptional eyesight and are extremely intelligent. They will watch carefully as someone puts food in a jar, screws on the lid, and drops it in their tank. Then they will grab the jar, unscrew the lid, and nom nom nom. The Giant Pacific Octopus may or may not do the same thing with Canadians.