After God made snails (see Sunday's Views), He made octopuses, or octopi, if you prefer.
He (or a billion billion random mutations, if you prefer) gave them the ability to think with their arms as well as their brains.
Researchers at the University of Washington observed them and used a computer program to study the information flow among an octopus's suckers, arms and brains. The creatures explored cinder blocks, textured rocks, Legos, and mazes with food inside.
They have a bottom-up decision mechanism rather than the brain-down mechanism of vertebrates like humans. A ring of nerve cells on each of the octopus's arms bypass - yes, bypass! - the brain and allows them to send messages to each other.
That's a true no-brainer!
Scientists say, "So, while the brain isn't quite sure where the arms are in space, the arms know where each other are, and coordinate during actions like crawling."
If our fingers had the ability of an octopus, we might make fewer typos as they crawl along the keyboard. Yes?
WORLD online
Jimmy
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