Tuesday, December 15, 2009

I, for one, welcome our new cephalopod overlords.

This one's for Breda, who just loves her some octopoids:

The tool-using octopi of Bali.

If they start using fire, we're boned.

17 comments:

Sebastian said...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/giddygirlie/2987270819/

Loki1776 said...

Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?

Not at all. They could be carried.

Anonymous said...

hah!
I remembering seeing a Jacques Cousteau film with a much larger one (100lbs?) , escaping from a big fish tank on deck, slithering down a stairway , inspecting and then out a scuttle port to plop down in the the sea. Took it <5min as soon as people made themselves scarce.

You can just see thought bubble, "did that ass just say calamari?! Checque please!"

Michael said...

I saw something similar on one of the late night shows a while back. Scientists taught octopi to unscrew a jar to get to the food inside. They showed video of the critter unscrewing the jar, then cut to a crew of a submarine yelling, “Don’t teach them that!”

TBeck said...

Non-Euclidean architecture can't be far behind!

Standard Mischief said...

now that the crows and the chimps are catching up with us, the new standard of significance ought to be tool-using animals that make tools using other tools.

Of course, that pretty much rules out vast swaths of humans who can't change a fuse in their car.

Matthew said...

If they manage to figure out how to use fire underwater I for one would gladly welcome our new cephalopodic overlords.

They'd be a huge step up the evolutionary ladder from the spineless jellyfish currently at the helm in Washington.

Joseph said...

If you really want to feel nervous, consider the fact that vampire bats are evolving opposable thumbs.

aczarnowski said...

Heh, boned Nice one.

Justthisguy said...

The only thing that will save us, is that they don't live very long. I believe I've read that all octopodes are dead of old age before they're a year old. I dread some bozo grad student doing life-extension experiments with the critters.

Bob said...

I won't worry until they're proficient with weapons; probably while learning to use knives they'll furnish all the world's calamari needs for years to come.

Weer'd Beard said...

Hey, Tam says we're crazy about fantasizing about calling in sick for work because we're too busy fighting the government in revolution.

Maybe we're just fighting the onslaught of cephalapods!

Hey in your Bug-Out-Bag you won't need to pack too much food! Those fuckers are TASTY!

NotClauswitz said...

They can also change their skin color and patterning to mimic their surroundings - instant multi-cam.

Mad Saint Jack said...

Why vote for the lesser evil?

http://www.summeroflovecraft.com/images/Cthulhu-elections.gif

LabRat said...

Argh, it drives me nuts when they come right out the gate calling them "primitive" because they're invertebrates. They're obviously NOT primitive, they're just not vertebrates. You don't need a damn backbone to evolve.

Secesh said...

Speaking of Breda, Verizon Antivirus has declared her a fraudulent website abd isn't allowing access.

Mikael said...

*shrugs at Secesh* Peerguardian 2 blocks AtomicNerds, or did, last I checked.