Octopuses have nine brains, one donut-shaped one in their head plus a small one in each of their eight arms. They can use tools, solve puzzles, and recognize human faces.Take Otto, an
Octopuses have nine brains, one donut-shaped one in their head plus a small one in each of their eight arms. They can use tools, solve puzzles, and recognize human faces.
Take Otto, an octopus that once lived in the SeaStar Aquarium in Germany. He was known to squirt water onto an annoying light above his tank, short-circuiting the lights in the entire building. Employees said he got bored when the aquarium was closed and would rearrange the tank, juggle hermit crabs, and throw rocks at the glass.
Tool use is relatively rare in animals and is typically associated with apes, monkeys, dolphins, and birds. Among invertebrates, only octopuses and a few insects are known to use tools.
No wonder then that octopuses are the envy of the underwater soft robotics world.
This week, Marine Technology Reporter covered how MBARI researchers have deployed a new imaging system to study the movement of deep-sea octopuses.
The researchers can use their EyeRIS camera system to track the movements of specific points on an octopus’s arm, identifying areas of curvature and strain in real time as the animal crawls over rugged seafloor terrain.
The aim is to use the 3D visual data
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