I had a biology teacher that told us this story about an octopus at an aquarium in Australia. The staff were concerned because their population of crustaceans kept disappearing. No bodies or anything. So they checked the video feed to find out what’s up.
Across from the the crustacean tank was a small octopus tank. This little fucker squeezed out of a tiny hole at the top of his tank, walk across the hall, and get into the crustacean tank. He would then hunt and eat. After he was done, he crawled back out and get back in his tank
Here’s the kicker: security guards patrolled the area. The staff realized that the octopus had memorized the security’s routine. It would escape and be back between the guards’ round.
My friend who worked at Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska had a similar story. Rare fish were disappearing, they suspected theft, and so set up a camera. An octopus was unlocking the top of its tank, walking across the suspended walkway, unlocking the other tank, eating his fill, re-locking the other tank, then re-locking its own tank.
I can’t remember what zoo this happened at, but there was another octopus somewhere who was unscrewing a water valve in the room where its tank was located and routinely flooding the place. The staffers had no idea what it was until they filmed the octopus caught in the act.
RELEASE THE KRAKEN!! But, sir, it has already released itself!
My dad worked in a lab and one of the rooms had a tank with an octopus in it. If they didn’t go play with the octopus he got bored and would climb out of his tank and steal the paperwork off the desks, and drag stuff into his tank to let the scientists know he was upset with them.
Imagine how pissed you have to be to engrave a rock
Ok but there was this guy called Ea-nasir who was a total crook and would actually cheat people ought of good copper and sell them shit instead. The amount of correspondences complaining to and about this guy are HILARIOUS.
Are you telling me we know about a specific guy who lived 5000 years ago, by name, because he was a huge asshole
More like 4000 years ago but yes. Ea-nasir and his dodgy business deals.
And we haven’t even touched on the true hilarity of the situation yet. Consider two additional facts:
He wasn’t just into copper trading. There are letters complaining about Ea-nasir’s business practices with respect to everything from kitchenwares to real estate speculation to second-hand clothing. The guy was everywhere.
The majority of the surviving correspondences regarding Ea-nasir were recovered from one particular room in a building that is believed to have been Ea-nasir’s own house.
Like, these are clay tablets. They’re bulky, fragile, and difficult to store. They typically weren’t kept long-term unless they contained financial records or other vital information (which is why we have huge reams of financial data about ancient Babylon in spite of how little we know about the actual culture: most of the surviving tablets are commercial inventories, bills of sale, etc.).
But this guy, this Ea-nasir, he kept all of his angry letters - hundreds of them - and meticulously filed and preserved them in a dedicated room in his house. What kind of guy does that?
Okay, but imagine from the other guy’s point of view. You send angry letters about how Ea-nasir shipped you half a ton of subpar copper, and then 3800 years later—
Rome, 71 AD, “Well we’ve conquered the rest of this island, as well as basically the entire known world, we should be able to steamroll over Caldonia pretty easily.”
The Caldonians, AKA the Scottish People; “If you don’t get tae fuck…. “
(Cue several decades of misery on the part of the Romans)
Rome, 122 AD, after much suffering; “YOU KNOW WHAT NEVER MIND JUST WALL THE MAD BASTARD COUNTRY OFF AND NEVER GO THERE AGAIN.”
The Caldonians, AKA the Scottish People; “AN’ DON’T COME BACK YA BAWBAGS.”
When we first rescued Larry, the tortoise, he could never understand where Cricket went to in the mornings (for his walk) and would always want to go with him. He would always follow him down to the car to go for a walk with him…. Cricket would patiently wait for him to catch up. - fozzcook
Okay of course I’m happy that Malala got accepted to Oxford, but I really want to know more! What did she write for her personal essay- “Just google me bitches”? Did she have to do an interview and if so did she just plonk her nobel peace prize down on the table? Did her student counselor advise her to apply to other crappier places just in case she wasn’t accepted? Was there anyone who actually turned down freaking Malala Yousafzai, I need to know!!
I am shocked to find out that researchers are prejudiced...
Hundreds of scientific studies over two decades have told us that apes are clever -- just not as clever as us. New analysis argues that what we think we know about apes' social intelligence is based on wishful thinking and flawed science.
Our company, Alcove Group, develops products to augment the way people work in today's digital economy. Our first product is a sleek laptop case that transforms into a mobile workstation to enhance privacy when working in open spaces.
We are team of designers, engineers, and business leaders who are driven to develop intuitive solutions for how people integrate work into their lifestyle.
Keeps sound in & helps you focus on daily tasks.
Dim lighting, no problem. Comes with a light for low lighting environments.
Our foster kitten is still at that easily startled phase... However, he has started turning into a calm lover boy late at night and in the early morning -- once the environmental background noises start up, he gets skittish again.
We all worry about the cats and dogs and parakeets and other domestic animals, and we think a little less about the horses and cows and pigs and chickens, but we don’t think much about the wildlife that are affected by natural disasters and wildfires. Some photos from this article. (PS, the possum photo is a still from a video, which I’ll post separately. I felt really sorry and sad for the possum……soaking wet, scared and shaking. His world is all wrong right now.)
Here are some Houston wildlife rehabbers that could really use some donations!
View the full project here
