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'Psychic Octopus' Predicts Spain Will Reach World Cup Semi-Finals

You don't have to be psychic to predict that Spain will reach the semi-final. In fact, I firmly predict that not only will Spain reach the semi, but Germany, too, and that they will play each other - hang on, I'm getting something, bear with me - tonight at 19.30 BST.

I'm kidding, of course, but more to the point, the saga of Paul and his amazing prective abilities has been mentioned quite a bit on the "World Cup 2010" thread. Shall I call the Mods, or will you?
 
I do apologise for duplicating the contents of a thead. I feel like a little fish on a big hook.

Which randomly reminds me of a friend telling me about being with his mum years ago. They were walking along a beach and they saw a squid washed up on the beach. his mum said "Aah, look at its testicles."!!!
 
Is there a world cup semi? How fat is it? HAHAHA!*Back on thread...* I can't KELP but thINK that the octopus which is British born, could BEAKcome a specTENTACLE in all this bullshit! :lol:
 
If you'd placed bets on its predictions you'd be Squids in...
 
Timble2 said:
If you'd placed bets on its predictions you'd be Squids in...
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Nah - gambling's for suckers.

BTW, you missed the obvious "plaice your bets"...
 
If you'd placed bets on its predictions you'd be Squids in...
Click to expand...

I know a place that'll take a bet for sick squid.

It's just over the road from King's Crus Tacian.
 
In the final, I fully expect Holland to win, what with Stickelenback in goal, Robin van Perchie upfrot and able assitance from Dirk Skate.
 
Well, I expect the Spanish to lure them in by playing it up the line and avoiding the tackle before smacking it in the net.
 
I'm prepared to lose a tenner on nothing more than some random post on here! I may even do a spread bet of a pound each on every player on the bench as the second scorer too! I will let you know what the odds are. If I don't win I have enjoyed a Fortean experiment (and made the bookies happy). :?
 
While I was sitting in the cafe this morning, (Hang on, I still am...) the guy next to me was spouting forth that Paul went for the flag with the most red in it. Hence picking Germany over most people and then Spain over Germany (and also Spain over Holland).

He may be right, I'm not sure, but he sounded such a tosser.
 
In the latest video he's just picking the box that was nearest to him.
 
I thought it might have been the colour thing too... but then someone said Octopi do not see in colour... don't know if that's true.
 
the fount of all wisdom (ahem) sayth:

Octopuses have keen eyesight. Octopuses, like other cephalopods, can distinguish the polarization of light. Color vision appears to vary from species to species, being present in Octopus aegina but absent in Octopus vulgaris.[20] Attached to the brain are two special organs, called statocysts, that allow the octopus to sense the orientation of its body relative to horizontal. An autonomic response keeps the octopus's eyes oriented so that the pupil slit is always horizontal.
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus

also:

In some countries, octopuses are on the list of experimental animals on which surgery may not be performed without anesthesia. In the UK, cephalopods such as octopuses are regarded as honorary vertebrates under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 and other cruelty to animals legislation, extending to them protections not normally afforded to invertebrates.
Click to expand...
 
Another winner! Paul the Psychic Octopus' prediction of Spain winning in the World Cup has come true.

I make that odds of 256/1 against.
 
You're making the fallacious assumption that an octopus would work in binary. Much more likely to work in octal. After all, each arm can represent a number of states, since there's no skeleton. How many suckers does he have on each arm?
 
'Psychic octopus' Paul retires triumphant
Page last updated at 14:57 GMT, Monday, 12 July 2010 15:57 UK

An octopus credited with psychic powers is to retire from making predictions following his World Cup success, his owners say.

Paul will go back to his old job "making children laugh", a spokeswoman for the German aquarium said.

The octopus correctly predicted the outcomes of all seven of Germany's games plus the Spain-Netherlands final.

As a reward, aquarium staff presented him with his very own replica World Cup trophy garnished with his favourite food - mussels.

Tanja Munzig, of the Sea Life Aquarium in the western German city of Oberhausen, said they had received offers for Paul but he was not for sale.

"There are a lot of offers for Paul from betting offices and other areas. One thing is clear: Paul is staying with us," she said.

She added he would now "step back from the official oracle business".

"He won't give any more oracle predictions - either in football, or in politics, lifestyle or economy. Paul will get back to his former job, namely making children laugh."

Paul made his uncanny predictions for each game by choosing a mussel from one of two jars bearing the flags of World Cup opponents.

The two-year-old cephalopod quickly became a worldwide celebrity.

Seemingly unimpressed with his star status, Paul at first ignored the golden trophy - adorned with three mussels - placed in his tank.

But after several minutes he finally picked off a mussel and devoured it in front of TV cameras.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/10604336.stm

Way to go! Quit while you're in front! 8)
 
Excellent! Do you think Derren Brown will move in with him on the next episode of "Derren Brown Investigates..." and try and catch him out?
 
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