With thousands of chemically-sensitive suckers, color-changing skin, and a brain that literally stretches when they eat, octopuses seem like aliens living in our oceans. Understanding their physical adaptations and how octopuses might process their own sensations requires a flexible imagination. Thankfully, Frank Grasso of Brooklyn College is up to the task. He reveals some of the small biological and behavioral clues that researchers have uncovered as they try to understand these curious creatures.
From Science Friday, this is I, Octopus, an exploration into what it might be like to think and feel like an octopus.
Watch more on the octopus brain and arms work in How the Octopus Moves, plus two more SciFri vids on cephalopods: Studying the deep sea octopus Opisthoteuthis “Adorabilis”, Caring for Cuttlefish, and Run, Octopus, Run!
Bonus: The unusual locomotion of a boneless, 600lb octopus.
This Webby award-winning video collection exists to help teachers, librarians, and families spark kid wonder and curiosity. TKSST features smarter, more meaningful content than what's usually served up by YouTube's algorithms, and amplifies the creators who make that content.
Curated, kid-friendly, independently-published. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today.