What kind of octopus was paul

Many of the stars that had been predicted to dominate the tournament, such as Rooney and Messi, failed to shine.

Germany sparkled with two stunning victories over England and Argentina, but those matches were the exception in a string of clashes marred by poor and unimaginative passing, some appalling referee errors and, in the case of Sunday's final, by relentless fouling. Not to mention the drone of Vuvuzelas. So Paul offered a welcome distraction. His success rate enabled him to brush aside competition from other animals chosen to rival his predictive powers during the tournament, for example a chimpanzee called "Pino" in an Estonian zoo, a parakeet called Mani in Singapore, or a crocodile called Harry in Australia.

Attempts to find a scientific explanation for Paul's choices have come to nothing. A Russian biologist, Vyacheslav Bisikov, suggested that he might have been attracted to boxes that displayed flags made up of stripes. But that doesn't explain how he distinguished between two boxes with striped flags, such as Spain and the Netherlands.

Besides, octopuses are believed to be color blind, which precludes the explanation that he picked the brightest flags. Germany's leading octopus researcher, Volker Miske, said Paul may have been making his choices based on the size of the mussel in the box, or the ease with which the box could be opened, or traces of mussel flavor on the outside of the box. It is clear, however, that Paul was highly intelligent.

Explaining how such a deception could have been perpetrated, she added: "[Octopuses] all look the same. It is impossible to tell the difference.

Jiang said she thought it was "kind of strange" that news of Paul's death had broken not long after the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre in western Germany had contacted her team to say they were keen to co-operate on the international distribution of her film.

Jiang declined to explain why she believed Paul had died in July — or to say more about the revelations in the movie. Iker, a pound Pacific Ocean octopus named after Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, appeared more enamored by the flashbulbs and the throng of onlookers as he refused to eat either of the sardines after 15 minutes, signaling a draw.

If neither is correct and Barcelona wins the match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, then two other octopuses will be summoned. Other octopuses are waiting if there is still no winner — the Spanish clubs face each other four times in 18 days, including in two legs of the Champions League semi-finals.

Paul made his predictions by opening the lid of one of two clear plastic boxes, each containing a mussel and bearing a team flag. He was replaced by a French-born octopus after his death, also named Paul. No need to wait until next weekend to score sweet sales on gadgets, gear. The Vancouver-based entrepreneur behind the app Shop This City hopes to remove the barrier between customers and small local businesses by offering a searchable, up-to-date display of a business's available inventory and styles.

Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. COM in 30 languages. Deutsche Welle. Audiotrainer Deutschtrainer Die Bienenretter. Germany Plucky Paul the octopus meets his maker Paul the octopus, who found global fame during this year's football World Cup for his perfect record in predicting game outcomes, has died, his aquarium in Germany said Tuesday.

Paul leaves behind a mother in England. Paul the octopus retires, but a future in Spain beckons Paul the octopus was an uncanny judge of Germany's World Cup fortunes. Octopuses have a well-developed brain, are attracted to colors and are 'delicious' Despite the recent fame of a certain eight-legged prognosticator, scientists have known about the advanced behavior of octopuses for centuries.

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