Now that the World Cup is over we can officially say that Paul the octopus was right, about everything! Earlier in the cup we wrote about Paul the psychic octopus’s emerging celebrity status, as he had predicted all of Germany’s wins and losses at that point. He then later went on to predict that Germany would lose to Spain, and even that Spain would win the cup! Sure, maybe it was just luck, but to choose 100% right is a 1/300 chance! We here at Death+Taxes decided to get a little Discovery Channel today and show you just how cool Octopi are. It turns out that not only can they can predict the outcome of The World Cup, but they're completely badass in lots of ways! Continue reading for some serious cephalapod siting. Now that the World Cup is over we can officially say that Paul the octopus was right, about everything! Earlier in the cup we wrote about Paul the psychic octopus’s emerging celebrity status, as he had predicted all of Germany’s wins and losses at that point. He then later went on to predict that Germany would lose to Spain, and even that Spain would win the cup! Sure, maybe it was just luck, but to choose 100% right is a 1/300 chance! We here at Death+Taxes decided to get a little Discovery Channel today and show you just how cool Octopi are. It turns out that not only can they can predict the outcome of The World Cup, but they’re completely badass in lots of ways! Continue reading for some serious cephalapod siting.
There are a plethora of reasons why Octopi are cool, and if you are a marine biologist like my best friend, you will understand just how shallow this list is. But here are some pretty obvious reasons of why you should find a cephalopod and make it your best friend before they take over the world.
1. They make experimental films. Move aside, OK Go. This octopus stole a camera from an underwater film maker. I think we can all agree that he’s one catchy tune away from a Grammy.
2. If Sam Merlotte is your favorite shapeshifter, check this out: Cephalopods are highly capable of camouflaging, and even morphing, to look like just about anything around them. In their skin are organs called chromatophores. These can expand and contract quickly, and each is filled with a pigment of a particular color. When a nerve signal causes a red chromatophore to expand, it turns red. A pattern of nerve firings causes a shifting image to appear on the cephalopod’s skin. As for shapes, an octopus can quickly arrange its arms to form a wide variety of them, like a fish or a piece of coral, and can even raise welts on its skin to add texture.
3. They can take on sharks- We think sharks are so scary, but you know what’s scarier, this octopus. Why? because the outcome of this video is not what you think.
4. Computer genius Jaron Lanier wrote about celephods in his book, You are Not a Gadget. He believes that Octopi are the smartest creatures on earth, but because they live solitary lives, each octopi starts fresh, learning the ways of its world alone, unlike humans who build intelligence from one generation to another. However smart they are here is just one more video to show you how fucking cool they are.
