How the Octopus Moves – ScienceTake

How do you move from here to there when you have eight long, flexible legs that radiate out from your head? After analyzing recordings of how an octopus moves, three Israeli researchers have determined something pretty fascinating:

They found that the brain of the octopus doesn’t have to do everything, because the arms, in effect, have a mind of their own.

…what they concluded, but have not yet proved, is that the central brain of the octopus makes only one decision — which arm to activate. Other parts of the octopus nervous system control the actual movement of the arm.

Read more at The New York Times and watch How the Octopus Moves.

Then watch more octopus videos, including our favorite: An octopus unscrews a jar from the inside.