Octopuses in the news
Two octopus-related things and other interesting links too
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What's the most unusual pet you wanted when you were a kid? Nine-year-old Cal Clifford wanted an octopus -- and his dad got him one. They did a lot of research on how to care for octopuses before bringing their new eight-legged housemate Terrance home into a special tank with water at the exact right consistency and temperature. Terrance loved it, and had a surprise: despite the name, she turned out to be a female octopus and laid dozens of eggs in her new tank. Eggs that hatched into 50 baby octopuses, of which 24 survived.
The Clifford family has been documenting their octopus adventures on TikTok and were also covered by the New York Times. You can watch videos of the tiniest baby octopuses and virtually tag along on visit to retired reptile scientist Tim, who also knows a bit about octopuses.
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In other octopus news, the Lego Lost At Sea project posted another image this week of a Lego octopus found on a beach in Cornwall. If you've read Hey, There's Science In This, you'll know the story: This is a piece from a shipment of Lego that fell off a container ship in 1997. They're still washing finding them!
💡 Interesting links
Cornelis Drebbel Discovers the Perfect Red, c. 1606. A poem by J.L.M. Morton in science/arts journal Consilience, about the discovery of a red pigment that became very popular in 17th century Europe.
How David Attenborough went from delighting at the natural world to pleading for its future. By Graeme Green for Smithsonian Magazine.
What do you get when you cross the contemporary novel with nature writing? By Fiona Williams for LitHub
Rescuing music with X-rays. News release by the Paul Scherrer Institute about the work of Sebastian Gliga.
Brain scans of Philly jazz musicians reveal secrets to reaching creative flow. By John and Yvette Kounios for The Conversation.
Hey, There’s Science In This
Have you got a copy of Hey, There's Science In This yet? It's a book of essays about finding in surprising places, for example in TV shows, on hikes or under museum parking garages. Intrigued? HTSIT is available internationally as paperback or ebook.
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