Octopus and transplants

30 Animals That Made Us Smarter

BBC

Technology

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 5 September 2021

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

S2 Ep11. Can the remarkable dexterity of octopus suckers help improve delicate surgery? The octopus uses its powerful arms to grip onto rocks, capture prey and walk around the sea floor. Suckers are found along the arms which are crucial for manipulating objects. The action of these suckers has inspired a device to transfer fragile sheets of thin tissue in surgical procedures. Thanks for listening. Let us know what you think. #30Animals Get in touch: www.bbcworldservice.com/30animals

Transcript

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0:00.0	Here's a question for you.
0:15.7	Which animal has blue blood, three hearts, and is really good at opening those annoyingly
0:21.2	tightly closed jars?
0:23.3	You know the ones filled with your favourite jam, marmalade or spread that you just can't
0:28.6	wait to get onto a slice of hot butter toast, but you just can't get it open.
0:35.6	Anyway, sorry, I digress.
0:38.2	Well here's another clue.
0:40.0	It can also change the colour and even the texture of its skin to match its surroundings
0:46.0	and it can hide in plain sight.
0:49.3	Any ideas yet?
0:51.3	Hmm.
0:52.3	Alright, alright, okay.
0:53.3	I think a few of you have got it.
0:55.1	Okay, one final clue.
0:58.8	It's really intelligent.
1:01.6	Its brain-to-body ratio is the largest of any animal without a backbone.
1:06.2	In fact, its brain-to-body ratio is larger than that of many animals with a backbone.
1:12.4	And the answer, drum roll please, is an octopus.
1:22.2	In the first season of 30 animals that made us smarter, you might remember it was their
1:26.4	extraordinary ability to camouflage that we heard about.
1:30.0	How octopuses can change the colour of their skin and its texture to match all sorts of
1:35.5	objects, from smooth rock to spiky coral.
	...

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