Ermintruder
The greatest risk is to risk nothing at all...
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2013
- Messages
- 6,209
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35705504
The article goes on to theorise (convincingly) that HG Wells perhaps based the shape of his 'War of the Worlds' aliens upon this (then) rarely-seen creature.
The point that the octopus is so very different from other taxonomies in existence is intriguing and intuitively no real surprise to the modern reader.
It's tempting (though conceptually lazy) to fantasise that perhaps the octopus and it's kin are not originally from this world at all. Many authors apart from Wells have subconsciously considered this, I suspect....
Or...a nude Dalek
And, not forgetting that some hugs should always be declined...
Scientists have long pointed out the extraordinary scale of genetic differences between octopuses and most other animals. But the creatures also had the power to inspire terror in Victorian Britain.
Adults paid sixpence and the under-12s got in for half-price. Queues spilled into the grounds of Crystal Palace in autumn 1871 as the public waited for a glimpse of the biggest sensation in London.
It wasn't a freak show or a demonstration of the latest technology that attracted them, but a creature that had been around for millions of years, living in every ocean.
An advertisement in the Times informed potential visitors to Crystal Palace's new aquarium the chance to view "thousands of living creatures of the sea", but what everyone wanted to see was "the wonderful Octopus, or Devil Fish".
The article goes on to theorise (convincingly) that HG Wells perhaps based the shape of his 'War of the Worlds' aliens upon this (then) rarely-seen creature.
The point that the octopus is so very different from other taxonomies in existence is intriguing and intuitively no real surprise to the modern reader.
It's tempting (though conceptually lazy) to fantasise that perhaps the octopus and it's kin are not originally from this world at all. Many authors apart from Wells have subconsciously considered this, I suspect....
Or...a nude Dalek
And, not forgetting that some hugs should always be declined...