Octopuses and squids

Octopuses and squids – from sea monster to popular figure with three hearts

These molluscs without spine but with a lot of brain live exclusively in the oceans, many of them in great depths. Today we know many details from the life of these invertebrates: three hearts, many lower brains and a penis. Hot-blooded wedding dances and devoted mothers. New technologies such as unmanned diving robots and underwater drones are penetrating deeper and deeper into the oceans, revealing ever new secrets from the lives of deep-sea vampires, strawberry squid or hummingbird sepia. How could such a different kind of intelligence form in our seas? And what do Octopuses have to do with SETI – the search for extraterrestrial intelligence? In former times they were often portrayed as monsters, today the intelligent tentacle carriers from the sea are real sympathizers.

The lecture Octopuses and squids by Bettina Wurche presents the latest research results from the deep sea and aquariums, of course with plenty of cross-references to science fiction.