National Zoo’s Octopus Dies In the Company of Her Favorite Toy: a Kong
Pandora, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s giant Pacific Octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) died at her Washington, D.C. home (tank) Wednesday at the advanced age of five.
Stories by Katherine Harmon Courage
How the Octopus Creates Instant 3-D Camouflage On Its Skin
We’ve all seen the amazing video of the octopus that has entirely vanished against a plant, only to flash white and reveal itself as it swims away.
Odd Male Octopus Flaunts Two Unexpected Arm Phalluses
Is that a case of bilateral hectocotylization, or are you just extra happy to see me? Or so might a female octopus say if she met the young subject of a new report about a certain biological oddityor oddities...
Baby Octopuses: Pickier Eaters Than Baby Humans
Baby octopuses are notoriously difficult to keep alive in captivityas in, almost impossible. Like their adult parents, they’re sensitive to water pH and temperature and all of that jazz...
Speedy Octopus Sets Record for Jar Opening
It isn’t every day in the ocean that an octopus comes across a jar to openespecially one that contains a tasty live crab. Which is why it is particularly impressive that these invertebrates can quickly figure out how to twist off a cap in captivity...
Octopus Arms, Human Tongues Intertwine for Science
Unless you’ve eaten sannakji, the Korean specialty of semi-live octopus, you might never have had a squirming octopus arm in your mouth.
Octopuses Make Food for Weird Critters
Along with us humans, a range of hungry hunters prey on the scrumptious octopus. The boneless octopus must avoid becoming lunch for sharks, eels, fish and even killer whales.
Octopus, How Do You Count Your Suckers?
We all know that the male octopus uses his third right arm as a penis. (Oh, you didn’t? It’s true. Sometimes he even detaches it to give to the female.) In fact, all of the arms, if not so specialized, are easily identifiableas numbers one, two, three or four on the left or right side...
Could an Octopus Really Be Terrorizing Oklahoma’s Lakes?
TULSA, Okla.–As the rate of unexplained drowning deaths has reportedly crept up in Oklahoma’s placid lakes, some observers have turned to an unusual explanation: a freshwater octopus...
Octopus In Space: Why the Latest U.S. Spy Rocket Is More Appropriate Than the NRO Knows
The new impressively oblivious (or riotously self-mocking)logo that adorned a rocket carrying U.S. spy satellites is actually not a bad choice, as metaphors go.
Octopus Suckers Have Groovy Secret for Strength
Octopus suckers are extraordinary. They can move and grasp objects independently. They can “taste” the water around them. They can even form a seal on rough surfaces underwater...
New Views Into the Octopus’s Bizarre Moves
We’ve known for centuries that octopuses get around one of two ways: one, by crawling over surfaces with their arms, or, two, swimming with the help of their siphon’s jet.
How a Video Game Can Help Us Understand What It’s Like to Be an Octopus [VIDEO]
You have one brain. Which controls two jointed arms. And ten jointed fingers. All of which are going to have a very hard time keeping up with the protagonist in the new video game Octodad: Dadliest Catch...
Why Tracy Morgan’s Pet Octopus Should Be a Dog
The comedian Tracy Morgan is known for his outlandish sensibilities, caricatured by his character Tracy Jordan on the NBC show 30 Rock. Given his obvious penchant for the odd, perhaps it’s no surprise that he’s opted to own a pet octopus, which he featured in a tweet last year...
Happy Octopus Day! The 8 Best Octopus Discoveries
October 8 might be International Octopus Day, but October 31, 2013 is Octopus! day. My book Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature In the Sea is publishing today.
Hey, How Old Is That Octopus?
Trees have rings, horses have teeth and even rocks have radiocarbon decay. But how can you tell an octopus’s age? This isn’t a frivolous question.
How Did a Giant Octopus Lose the Battle of Seattle?
This time last year, one unlucky Seattle octopus was reportedly beaten to death by a local diver and then brought home to be eaten for dinner.
5 High-Tech Prisons Where Even Stallone and Schwarzenegger Couldn't Break Out
Ultrahigh-security systems similar to that in the movie Escape Plan are already keeping convicts behind bars
