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PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
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With the judgment of the angels and the sentence of the saints, we anathematize, execrate, curse and cast out Baruch de Spinoza, the whole of the sacred community assenting, in presence of the sacred books with the six hundred and thirteen precepts written therein, pronouncing against him the malediction wherewith Elisha cursed the children, and all the maledictions written in the Book of the Law. /…/ Let him be accursed by day, and accursed by night; let him be accursed in his lying down, and accursed in his rising up; accursed in going out and accursed in coming in. May the Lord never more pardon or acknowledge him; may the wrath and displeasure of the Lord burn henceforth against this man, load him with all the curses written in the Book of the Law, and blot out his name from under the sky.
[excommunication of Spinoza, 27 July 1656, quoted by Will Durant in The Story of Philosophy; also George Seldes, The Great Quotations, 1983]
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More articles by PZ Myers can be found on Freethoughtblogs at the new Pharyngula!
Category: Cephalopods
Posted on: December 14, 2009 3:12 PM, by PZ Myers
Yikes! I step away from the computer for a few hours, and kaboom, everyone on the planet emails me to tell me I must see this video of an octopus using a coconut shell for a home. Well, yes, I must, and so must you.
Although where did everyone get this idea that I am obsessed with coconuts?
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Comments
Posted by: Sven DiMilo
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December 14, 2009 3:19 PM
Here's the sciency article.
h/t: Josh
Posted by: shatfat
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December 14, 2009 3:19 PM
That coconut locomotion was seriously uncanny.
Looks like one octopus was sick of the paparazzi, at the end.
Posted by: Josh
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December 14, 2009 3:20 PM
The paper can be found here:
http://download.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/PIIS0960982209019149.pdf?intermediate=true
I think the movies in the Supplemental Data (follow the link on the last page, right above References) are longer.
Posted by: lordshipmayhem
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December 14, 2009 3:21 PM
Octopi are smart.
And I can only speculate that you've been dealing with too many creationist and ID coconut heads.
Posted by: Sven DiMilo
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December 14, 2009 3:21 PM
note that they use the term "tool use" in the title...that should ruffle some
feathersfurPosted by: blf
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December 14, 2009 3:22 PM
Translation: Little Pee Zed just came out of his coconut. Or finishing setting the goats on fire. Same thing.
Posted by: Sven DiMilo
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December 14, 2009 3:23 PM
One for Rev. BDC:
Coconuts
Posted by: Glen Davidson
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December 14, 2009 3:25 PM
Aren't all of us straight guys?
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/mxaa3p
Posted by: Cuttlefish, OM, CR
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December 14, 2009 3:25 PM
Inkily, Slinkily,
Tool-using octopus
Armors its body with
Coconut shells;
Film has been shot of this
Cephalopoddity--
Gives me the mother of
All "What the Hell?"'s
Are there two different videos of this? I have a slightly different, longer video here:
http://digitalcuttlefish.blogspot.com/2009/12/what.html
Posted by: Sven DiMilo
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December 14, 2009 3:27 PM
can we please get into an argument about the correct plural?
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp
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December 14, 2009 3:27 PM
Interesting, I was there...
That's a looooooooong time ago, whew.
Posted by: Sven DiMilo
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December 14, 2009 3:29 PM
no, NOT of "coconuts," smartass
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp
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December 14, 2009 3:30 PM
Octopusseses
Posted by: blf
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December 14, 2009 3:30 PM
Coconuti.
Posted by: Lynna, OM
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December 14, 2009 3:31 PM
Plural of "octopie" -- so you can eat 'em.
Posted by: Carlie of the lacy, gently wafting adjectives
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December 14, 2009 3:33 PM
NO DO NOT TAKE MAH COCONUT!
Posted by: Josh
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December 14, 2009 3:34 PM
Uh, it's coconutorum.
*eye roll*
Sheeeesh.
Posted by: blf
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December 14, 2009 3:34 PM
Coconuts has a plural? Ah, coconutsi? (More like coconutstoyoutoo.)
Posted by: daveau
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December 14, 2009 3:35 PM
So now we know how coconuts migrate...
I caught the tool use right away. I wonder if they can crack the coconut in half to use it? Then they would qualify as took makers, methinks.
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, OM
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December 14, 2009 3:35 PM
But coconuts are our friends.
Posted by: daveau
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December 14, 2009 3:37 PM
Or, you know, tool makers.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp
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December 14, 2009 3:38 PM
When the octopusesessesi start doing this with coconuts, then we'll know they've evolved a useful skill.
Posted by: Doc_Murray
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December 14, 2009 3:41 PM
I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts!
Posted by: Josh
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December 14, 2009 3:41 PM
"It's not a question of where it grips it. It's a simple question of weight ratios."
Posted by: Owlmirror
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December 14, 2009 3:56 PM
Cephalopodes !!
Posted by: Peter Ashby
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December 14, 2009 3:59 PM
As soon as I saw it PZ I refreshed the RSS feed for Pharyngula to see if you knew of it as i was sure that if you had been told or seen it yourself you would comment immediately, and so it proved and so I refrained from further filling your inbox.
Do I get a medal?
BTW I especially liked the way they blow the mud out of the shells with a jet of water, they are clearly well practised at the job. The video also very nicely demonstrates as they walk away with the shells how they have such exquisite control over each arm and every single sucker.
Posted by: Naked Bunny with a Whip
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December 14, 2009 3:59 PM
Your obsession with Roy Hinkley, M.A., B.S., Ph.D, is renowned.
Posted by: UXO
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December 14, 2009 4:11 PM
"Turn that camera off! This interview is OVER!"
Posted by: Tulse
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December 14, 2009 4:23 PM
We better make damn sure we don't leave any welding equipment on the sea floor, or god knows what those critters might get up to.
Posted by: Ewan R
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December 14, 2009 4:46 PM
Octupus eats forbidden coconut (unseen footage), realizes the sin of nakedness, covers up using nearest available object. Therefore God.
Way to shoot yourself in the foot PZ!
Posted by: David Marjanović
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December 14, 2009 5:01 PM
Coconite would make sense form a historical point of view.
Posted by: Wowbagger, Man-Hating Man of Pharyngula
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December 14, 2009 5:10 PM
♫You put the
limeoctopus in the coconut and drink 'em both up...♫That's so very wrong - both from a meter and a taste perspective. Not to mention the octopus probably wouldn't appreciate it all that much.
Posted by: Josh
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December 14, 2009 5:11 PM
And it has the benefit of being reminiscent of a mineral name.
Posted by: Silič O'Nopolitanopoulos, Färschdbischuf Beesknees aus Ulm und Klein Elguth, Elector Pharynguline.
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December 14, 2009 5:22 PM
He steps aside from the blog to breathe in.
Coconutyouitsme.
Posted by: Draken
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December 14, 2009 5:25 PM
So now we know how coconuts migrate...
But in order to maintain submersion velocity, an octopus has to peristalse once per second, right? I mean, an Asian octopus maybe, but certainly not a European one!
Posted by: Treppenwitz
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December 14, 2009 5:49 PM
Look how well the coconut fits its grip! This can only mean one thing...
Posted by: https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawk6EuJ25qQXXX6AA1qI20x3qF-U7gYF3Dw
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December 14, 2009 5:58 PM
The Science Show (ABC Radio National) covered this story last Saturday. The interviewee said that they thought the octopus probably learned to use shells at first, then took over use of discarded coconut halves as the better option (lighter with bigger capacity?). The coconuts come from the human settlements along the coast. The humans have been there for a long time, so the octopus has seen the half coconuts floating through their habitat for just as long.
Posted by: mmelliott01
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December 14, 2009 6:00 PM
Kok'nut Pus sez I kin haz privesy?
Posted by: Sven DiMilo
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December 14, 2009 6:16 PM
I like coconuts.
You can break them open and they smell like ladies lying in the sun.
(lyrics from #7 above)
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, OM
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December 14, 2009 6:40 PM
I didn't realize that octopuses perambulated on their tentacles.
Posted by: Josh
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December 14, 2009 7:00 PM
Wowbagger wins the thread.
Posted by: lautrec85
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December 14, 2009 7:58 PM
I totally can see, 10 millions years in the future, a footage of some religious comfort-ish octopus talking about how the coconut has so many advantages and useful feats that it was clearly designed by Octopus Jesus for them to live in.
Posted by: Agail
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December 14, 2009 8:14 PM
Look people, this is not the first example of tool use in octopi. I was watching a show about a deep-sea diver a year ago, and there was an octopus using a water bottle for the same purpose. I, and my husband, both remember this because I freaked out about the fact that the octopus was A. using a tool, and B pre-planing for future attacks. So, give me my Emmy.
Posted by: Karolina Lewis
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December 14, 2009 8:22 PM
test
Posted by: Kel, The Privileged View From Nowhere
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December 14, 2009 8:30 PM
Such intricate perfection cannot be accounted for by chance, so this must be the handywork of a designer. Therefore God exists, and we now can know that God is Cthulhu
Posted by: rocktoppus
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December 14, 2009 9:11 PM
@ 31..
Octupus eats forbidden coconut (chocolate covered tea bag), realizes the sin of nakedness.....
FTFY.
Posted by: ryuhime
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December 14, 2009 9:18 PM
Speaking of octopus...
I wonder if PZ's got one of these in his cellar.
http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com/2009/12/the-cellar/
Posted by: https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawld0ruGR_aiAVTF4EwwYs7HFfyW-LDayvs
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December 14, 2009 11:12 PM
OT, but speaking of must-see TV, The Big Bang Theory mentioned Newtonmas tonight!
Posted by: Squiddhartha
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December 14, 2009 11:19 PM
"Cephalopoddity" is my new favorite word. Thanks, Cuttlefish!
Posted by: blf
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December 15, 2009 1:39 AM
How about a slightly-used damp coconut?
If you want, we can fill it with Holy Goat Ashes.
Posted by: elece.openid.es
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December 15, 2009 5:28 AM
Finally they got a powerful shield; world domination is a fact of time. Cephalophalypse is near!
Posted by: SEF
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December 15, 2009 5:56 AM
@ Wowbagger #33:
That was the song I was thinking of too! I had planned (when I had time, because I was busy when it was first posted on the other thread) to find a species name/component which fitted better (and to look up the rest of the lyric somewhere because I'm rubbish at hearing and recalling lyrics!); but I came back in the evening (UK) to find you'd already posted about it.
This morning, I think I'd settle for:
"You put the mollusc in the coconut - or let it put itself ..."
which actually fits the rhythm better than the original does anyway.
Posted by: IanKoro
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December 15, 2009 7:06 AM
I don't know if any of you caught the links to some of the tool using crow videos linked too from this one, but there are some awesome tool making, multiple tool using examples, and a crow recreating the Aesop's fable raising water with stones to get a treat. Badass.
Birds are amazing.
Posted by: https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmLMiMP90Ga-VYgQpIaeCrUkHUxgECI1pE
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December 15, 2009 9:55 AM
Mindbending tiptoeing by them octopodes.
And cuttlefish- very nice work. Cephalopoddity indeed.
About plurals- "octopi" is a miscegenatory combination of a Greek root (pous, meaning foot) with a Latin plural form. On the other hand- what's wrong with miscegenation? Lots of words do it- homosexual, for instance.
I guess the best answer to the question "what is the proper plural form of word X?" is "what is the proper direction for organism X to evolve into?"
Posted by: Toni | December 15, 2009 11:01 AM
Sooo, what about his video from 2008:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPnd_KzGdHI&NR=1
And I could swear I saw some more footage similar to that at least another year earlier.
Posted by: john smith | December 15, 2009 7:05 PM
neato for sure.