Tenticular Gesticulation

Being a blog about my inexplicable fascination with octopodes

NOTE: I am not a marine biologist, I am just an idiot with a blog

Entries for January 2017

Octopus Toys and Premature Babies

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A growing number of hospitals in Europe are giving knitted toy octopodes to prematurely-born infants, as a comforting tool with which to cuddle. From the linked article: "The idea began at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, where medical staff reported that the toy octopi calmed babies, led to improved breathing and cardiac patterns and, as a result, increased levels of oxygen in their blood. They also reported that when the babies cuddled their octopus they were less likely to try to pull on the cables and tubes surrounding their incubators." How cool is that?

UPDATE (via reader Treebyleaf): Here is the Octopus For A Preemie website, which includes an actual crochet pattern if you want to make your own to donate to a hospital.


Sète Fountain

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Check out this amazing octopus fountain in the Ville of Sète on the coast of southern France:



Blue Sushi, Denver

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I arrived in Denver last night for a conference, and stumbled across my first octopus in under ten minutes while going to my hotel. Here is the sign out front for Blue Sushi Sake Grill, in all its tentacled glory:


Snow Octopus

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Today I am leaving Florida and flying out to Colorado for a conference. I hope to build a snow octopus when I get there, kind of like this one.