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Psychic Octopus Search Undertaken By German Aquarium
AOL/Weird News ^ | 6/21/2011 | David Moye

Posted on 06/25/2011 11:45:02 PM PDT by shibumi

It's not every day you meet a psychic octopus like the one that predicted eight World Cup wins in a row last summer, but that isn't stopping a German aquarium chain from trying.

In honor of the Women's World Cup, which begins June 26 in Sinsheim, Germany, the Sea Life aquarium chain is looking for the next incarnation of Paul, the octopus who amazed the world by correctly predicting the results of Germany’s matches in the 2010 World Cup, according to TheLocal.de.

Each of the country’s eight aquariums will have one of its octopuses predict the competition’s results by picking a mussel to eat from one of two containers with the competing countries’ flags, just as Paul did. The cephalopod with the most correct predictions will be officially deemed Paul’s successor, but that lucky octopus will have big shoes to feel.

Last summer, Paul went an incredible eight for eight, predicting all of Germany's wins and its lost to Spain in the finals, an incredible feat for a human and even more amazing for a seemingly non-sentient sea creature.

As a result, Paul became, perhaps, the most memorable figure from the 2010 World Cup. In the process, he attracted thousands of people to his aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany, as well as death threats from soccer fans angry about his predictions, and inspired songs and even a documentary, The LIfe And Times Of Paul The Octopus, before he died last Oct. 26 at the age of 2 years, 8 months. "If you look back on how octopuses have been treated throughout history, Paul was truly the first friendly one," said filmmaker Alexandre Philippe, who is looking to release his documentary later this year. .....

(Excerpt) Read more at weirdnews.aol.com ...


TOPICS: Pets/Animals; Science; Sports; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: kickball; octopus; psychic; soccer
YouTube video of Paul the Psychic Octopus
1 posted on 06/25/2011 11:45:12 PM PDT by shibumi
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To: Slings and Arrows; JoeProBono; Salamander; Markos33; humblegunner; Eaker; Allegra

Cephalopod Kickball Ping


2 posted on 06/25/2011 11:47:24 PM PDT by shibumi (The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water and breeds reptiles of the mind - Blake)
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To: shibumi

If a thousand monkeys........

Psychic my eye!

Even the most unlikely odds come up occasionally, else no one would play slot machines.
“Paul” got lucky, not likely to occur again for a LONG time.


3 posted on 06/26/2011 12:08:16 AM PDT by Loyal Sedition (Loyal Sedition, often described as "To the right of Attila The Hun"!)
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To: Loyal Sedition

The octopus has nine brains.


4 posted on 06/26/2011 1:16:37 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
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To: Berlin_Freeper

The Men Who Stare At Octopi?

The Men Who Knock Up Octomoms?

There has to six degrees of separation somewhere.


5 posted on 06/26/2011 2:15:28 AM PDT by MikeSteelBe ( "Failure to speak out against evil is evil itself" - Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
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To: shibumi

6 posted on 06/26/2011 4:09:31 AM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: Berlin_Freeper
and octomoms have 8 offspring
7 posted on 06/26/2011 4:12:35 AM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: shibumi

There’s a one in 256 chance of correctly guessing the outcome of each match.

The aquarium just needs to get 256 octopi... then there would be a fair chance of one of them getting everything right... and another getting everything wrong.


8 posted on 06/26/2011 6:27:01 AM PDT by exDemMom (Now that I've finally accepted that I'm living a bad hair life, I'm more at peace with the world.)
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To: shibumi
In honor of the Women's World Cup, which begins June 26 in Sinsheim, Germany, the Sea Life aquarium chain is looking for the next incarnation of Paul, the octopus who amazed the world by correctly predicting the results of Germany’s matches in the 2010 World Cup

The real challenge will be to find an octopus who cares enough to bother making a prediction.

9 posted on 06/26/2011 8:49:26 AM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: shibumi
he attracted thousands of people to his aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany, as well as death threats from soccer fans angry about his predictions...

See, this is where that line between being a sports fan and being a complete moron gets crossed...

10 posted on 06/26/2011 10:07:52 AM PDT by Allegra (Hey! Stop looking at my tagline like that.)
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To: shibumi
Sciapod Kickball...

Now that would be a sight.

11 posted on 06/26/2011 10:40:28 AM PDT by Semper Mark (Vlad Tepes was a piker.)
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To: Allegra
"being a complete moron gets crossed...

Remind me to tell you sometime about my theory concerning the inverted bell curve of intelligence distribution.
12 posted on 06/26/2011 8:14:31 PM PDT by shibumi (The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water and breeds reptiles of the mind - Blake)
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