Pages

Friday, April 23, 2010

Octopus smarts

In the past week, everybody has been in amused by the video of an octopus picking up a camera and "running" with it. Here is the video:



But in terms of being in awe, you should really check this subject extracted from the TV show Thalassa (a show on french television that is focused on sea related matters). I cannot seem to embed the video here so here is the address :

It will be on the website for a little while before it is removed from the site. The story telling is in French (so you may want to reduce the volume). The actual octopus part of the show starts at 55 minutes and 5 seconds. It is just amazing.

To give you an idea,
  • At 57:15, you can see an Octopus "walk" between different pools to follow humans or go get some food in the other pools.
  • At 59:05 you'll see an Octopus learn how to unscrew a can cap on his own.
  • The most amazing to me is the different shape it can take (at 1h19:10 they show different shapes and colors it can take in different circumstances).
  • At 1h37 you can see David Edelman doing some experimentation on the peer-learning process of an octopus
  • and more...

Being totally fascinated by the subject, I asked David when he would publish on this, he responded with:

Thanks for your email, as well as interest in our work. The studies with Dr. Fiorito in Naples are ongoing; we hope to publish later in the year. I'll keep you apprised of our progress.


I can't wait!

No comments:

Post a Comment