The Case of the Psychic Cephalopod

This is Paul predicting a Spanish win!

Have you heard of Paul the psychic octopus?

Paul is an octopus that lives in a German Aquarium. His keepers put two acrylic boxes in his tank with the team flags and he will literally pick one to sit on. The best part? He's 6 for 6 on World Cup predictions! Until yesterday he was the unsung hero of Germany...then...he predicted the Spanish win. Now he's getting death threats!

Some Germans are so angry they want him served up for sushi!

No worries - Let's hear it from his "keeper": "There are always people who want to eat our octopus but he is not shy and we are here to protect him as well. He will survive."

Octopi are extremely intelligent. They have both long-term and short-term memory. They demonstrate problem solving skills easily. They also learn quickly, using observation - leading scientists to think that they are not instinct based at all, but learn just like us. They are known to have broken into ship holds to "steal" crabs in the holding tanks. They also break out of their aquariums in search of other food in nearby tanks! They are the only invertebrate which has been conclusively shown to use tools. They see in color and and have a great sense of touch and are in general just totally awesome creatures.