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Ricky
SFN Die Hard

USA
4907 Posts

Posted - 04/08/2005 :  18:15:23  Show Profile  Send Ricky an AOL message Send Ricky a Private Message
I guess this could go under the Evolution folder.

I had thought that an octopus could only change its color a small amount, for example becoming entirely red or blue, or some other basic color. But apparently not.

Why continue? Because we must. Because we have the call. Because it is nobler to fight for rationality without winning than to give up in the face of continued defeats. Because whatever true progress humanity makes is through the rationality of the occasional individual and because any one individual we may win for the cause may do more for humanity than a hundred thousand who hug their superstitions to their breast.
- Isaac Asimov

Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26020 Posts

Posted - 04/08/2005 :  18:48:14   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message
Two more cool octopus tricks.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
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Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend

Sweden
9687 Posts

Posted - 04/09/2005 :  01:05:06   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Dr. Mabuse an ICQ Message Send Dr. Mabuse a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Ricky

I guess this could go under the Evolution folder.

I had thought that an octopus could only change its color a small amount, for example becoming entirely red or blue, or some other basic color. But apparently not.

The more I watch it, the more I think it looks like a manipulated movie. Nery neatly done, yet...
My girlfriend has been playing around with photo-morfing software and I've seen the results. Call me skeptical, but this short clip could definitly be faked, especially with the low quality masking any flaws in the morph.

Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
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"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse

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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 04/09/2005 :  01:21:10   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message
An octopus is a highly talented mollusk as well as a tasty one, and they come in all shapes and sizes. They can even radically change the texture of their skin as quickly as they change colors and patterns. They might sprout horns, filimants and apparent crap all over their bodies. All are venomous and one, the tiny blue-ringed octopus, of Australia, has been deadly to humans.

They are quite intelligent. They quickly learn to open a jar to get at a crab (the top of an octopus menu) inside, and they are capable of literaly flowing through the tiniest of openings. I once found a medium-sized one comfortably, if tightly, enscounced in an old conch shell.

In coastal Europe, they are fished for by setting out a a trot line, of sorts. This is a series of small pots, unbaited, on a long line. They are set out one day and pulled in the next. As octopi seem to always be looking for snug shelter, it's a pretty effective method catching them. As they are master escape artists, they are quickly dispatched by either 'turning the cap' (pulling the back of the body over the front), or biting them between the eyes.

They breed only once. The female religiously tends her eggs until the larvae disperse, then she goes into a starvation induced decline and dies. This is the way of most if not all, known cephalopods.

Species of octopi have even been observed living around hydrothermal vents; a most resilient animal.

What's not to love, I ask?

My Real player is on the hawg, so if any of this was covered previously, my apologies.


"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 04/09/2005 :  01:27:12   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse

quote:
Originally posted by Ricky

I guess this could go under the Evolution folder.

I had thought that an octopus could only change its color a small amount, for example becoming entirely red or blue, or some other basic color. But apparently not.

The more I watch it, the more I think it looks like a manipulated movie. Nery neatly done, yet...
My girlfriend has been playing around with photo-morfing software and I've seen the results. Call me skeptical, but this short clip could definitly be faked, especially with the low quality masking any flaws in the morph.

Doc, I didn't get to see the movie, but I suspect that it didn't do them justice. Color and texture changes in octopi and indeed cuttlefish, have to be seen in the flesh, as it were, to be believed. Of course, some species are more spectacular than others.


"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

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Ricky
SFN Die Hard

USA
4907 Posts

Posted - 04/09/2005 :  06:55:59   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Ricky an AOL message Send Ricky a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse

quote:
Originally posted by Ricky

I guess this could go under the Evolution folder.

I had thought that an octopus could only change its color a small amount, for example becoming entirely red or blue, or some other basic color. But apparently not.

The more I watch it, the more I think it looks like a manipulated movie. Nery neatly done, yet...
My girlfriend has been playing around with photo-morfing software and I've seen the results. Call me skeptical, but this short clip could definitly be faked, especially with the low quality masking any flaws in the morph.



I thought the same at first too Mab. But I think I can make out the octopus before it changes color. Of course, this is just Ad hoc reasoning, and I'm probably telling my eyes to see it. So in the end, I'm not sure. But it is still a cool video.

Why continue? Because we must. Because we have the call. Because it is nobler to fight for rationality without winning than to give up in the face of continued defeats. Because whatever true progress humanity makes is through the rationality of the occasional individual and because any one individual we may win for the cause may do more for humanity than a hundred thousand who hug their superstitions to their breast.
- Isaac Asimov
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woolytoad
Skeptic Friend

313 Posts

Posted - 04/09/2005 :  07:19:06   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send woolytoad a Private Message
That was real. As filthy says, octopi are very cool.
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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 04/09/2005 :  07:29:55   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message
Ricky, I've ID'd your octopus as Octopus vulgaris, the common octopus. Here's an article on them that includes your vidio (Real player is working now, for no explainable reason):
quote:
Octopus vulgaris, the Common Octopus, is found world wide in tropical and semitropical waters from near shore shallows to as deep as 200 m. In actuality, most scientiststs believe that O. vulgaris actually contains a number of related sister species. However, taxonomists have not yet decided how to split the species. Until they do, I'll refer to them all as O. vulgaris. Another common identity problem with the common octopus, is that in many commercial industries, such as the food and aquarium trade, list all species of octopuses as O. vulgaris.

Despite these identify issues, the O. vulgaris is commercially important and accounts for a large percentage of octopus fisheries. From 20,000 to 100,000 metric tons are landed yearly. They are commonly collected in octopus pots. These were traditionally made of clay but in modern times they are typically made of plastic or PVC. Octopuses pots are not baited like crab and lobster traps, rather, they provide a seeming safe home. In addition to being commercially important, this species is also one of the most commonly studied cephalopods.




"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

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Siberia
SFN Addict

Brazil
2322 Posts

Posted - 04/09/2005 :  07:54:20   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Siberia's Homepage  Send Siberia an AOL message  Send Siberia a Yahoo! Message Send Siberia a Private Message
It seems like a fake in the sense it'd be pretty easy to simply overlap two videos (one of an octopus and one of the shrub-like thing) and smoothly transition from one to another. It's pretty easy to do, but honestly? I don't know. Nature's outstanding in what comes to adaptability. For me, it seems that the octopus 'appears' too suddenly to be real.

"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa

"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 04/09/2005 :  08:08:36   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Siberia

It seems like a fake in the sense it'd be pretty easy to simply overlap two videos (one of an octopus and one of the shrub-like thing) and smoothly transition from one to another. It's pretty easy to do, but honestly? I don't know. Nature's outstanding in what comes to adaptability. For me, it seems that the octopus 'appears' too suddenly to be real.


It is entirely real. Here's a very brief description of how they do it from a FAQ pace on cephalopods:
quote:
Cephalopods primarily change colors by using chromatophores. Imagine a small clear balloon that is filled with ink. Now imagine five or so small muscles attached to the balloon and radiating away from it. When the muscles are relaxed, the surface area of the sac is small and the color is not expressed. When the muscles contract the surface area becomes much greater and we see the color. What I have just described is a chromatophore and they are responsible for colors such as yellow, orange, brown, red, blue and black depending on the ink. All of this is under the control of their advanced nervous system. Although cephalopods are known for their large brain, they also have a lot of local control, much more than any vertebrate. For example, 2/3 of the nerves in an octopus are in the arms and each sucker segment in arm has several sets of ganglia. All this local processing of information makes cephalopods very fast. Cephalopods also have iridocytes which differentially reflect light. They can change texture and create ink decoys as well.

Dr. James Wood

A most amazing animal.


"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

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Siberia
SFN Addict

Brazil
2322 Posts

Posted - 04/09/2005 :  08:19:24   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Siberia's Homepage  Send Siberia an AOL message  Send Siberia a Yahoo! Message Send Siberia a Private Message
Impressive! I'd never guess they're so talented in changing shapes and colors that fast.

"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa

"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend

Sweden
9687 Posts

Posted - 04/09/2005 :  15:40:53   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Dr. Mabuse an ICQ Message Send Dr. Mabuse a Private Message
Wow... I stand corrected.

Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3

"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse

Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder.
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard

USA
3834 Posts

Posted - 04/10/2005 :  01:18:12   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send beskeptigal a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Dave W.

Two more cool octopus tricks.

Both those quicktime files on the link killed my computer. I had to log back on three times and they never did work.Not blaming you, Dave mind you.
Edited by - beskeptigal on 04/10/2005 19:53:12
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard

USA
3834 Posts

Posted - 04/10/2005 :  01:19:47   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send beskeptigal a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse

quote:
Originally posted by Ricky

I guess this could go under the Evolution folder.

I had thought that an octopus could only change its color a small amount, for example becoming entirely red or blue, or some other basic color. But apparently not.

The more I watch it, the more I think it looks like a manipulated movie. Nery neatly done, yet...
My girlfriend has been playing around with photo-morfing software and I've seen the results. Call me skeptical, but this short clip could definitly be faked, especially with the low quality masking any flaws in the morph.

Oh I don't think it is fake at all. Unless the Imax movie with the same or a similar clip in it was fake also because I've seen it before on Imax.
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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 04/10/2005 :  03:15:07   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal

quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse

quote:
Originally posted by Ricky

I guess this could go under the Evolution folder.

I had thought that an octopus could only change its color a small amount, for example becoming entirely red or blue, or some other basic color. But apparently not.

The more I watch it, the more I think it looks like a manipulated movie. Nery neatly done, yet...
My girlfriend has been playing around with photo-morfing software and I've seen the results. Call me skeptical, but this short clip could definitly be faked, especially with the low quality masking any flaws in the morph.

Oh I don't think it is fake at all. Unless the Imax movie with the same or a similar clip in it was fake also because I've seen it before on Imax.

I've seen it up close and personal a couple of times while diving for spiney lobsters. It is so fast and bizarre that it is startling.


"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

Go to Top of Page

Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26020 Posts

Posted - 04/10/2005 :  17:06:37   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal

Both those quicktime files on teh link killed my computer.
Huh. I'm sure they're out there in some other format than Quicktime, considering the story even made All Things Considered. Try Google News with keywords: octopus coconut.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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