TED2019
Roger Hanlon: The amazing brains and morphing skin of octopuses and other cephalopods
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Octopus, squid and cuttlefish -- collectively known as cephalopods -- have strange, massive, distributed brains. What do they do with all that neural power? Dive into the ocean with marine biologist Roger Hanlon, who shares astonishing footage of the camouflaging abilities of cephalopods, which can change their skin color and texture in a flash. Learn how their smart skin, and their ability to deploy it in sophisticated ways, could be evidence of an alternative form of intelligence -- and how it could lead to breakthroughs in AI, fabrics, cosmetics and beyond.
Roger Hanlon - Marine biologist
As a Senior Scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, Roger Hanlon delves into the undersea world of chameleon-like, color-changing marine animals -- and the practical applications that will emerge when we crack their secrets. Full bio
As a Senior Scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, Roger Hanlon delves into the undersea world of chameleon-like, color-changing marine animals -- and the practical applications that will emerge when we crack their secrets. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:13
This is a strange and wonderful brain,
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one that gives rise to an idea
of a kind of alternative intelligence
of a kind of alternative intelligence
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on this planet.
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This is a brain that is formed
in a very strange body,
in a very strange body,
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one that has the equivalent
of small satellite brains
of small satellite brains
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distributed throughout that body.
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How different is it from the human brain?
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Very different, so it seems,
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so much so that my colleagues and I
are struggling to understand
are struggling to understand
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how that brain works.
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But what I can tell you for certain
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is that this brain is capable
of some amazing things.
of some amazing things.
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So, who does this brain belong to?
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Well, join me for a little bit
of diving into the ocean,
of diving into the ocean,
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where life began,
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and let's have a look.
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You may have seen some of this before,
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but we're behind a coral reef,
and there's this rock out there,
and there's this rock out there,
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a lot of sand, fishes swimming around ...
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And all of a sudden this octopus appears,
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and now it flashes white,
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inks in my face and jets away.
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In slow motion reverse,
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you see the ring develop around the eye,
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and then the pattern develops in the skin.
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And now watch the 3-D texture
of the skin change
of the skin change
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to really create this
beautiful, 3-D camouflage.
beautiful, 3-D camouflage.
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So there are 25 million color organs
called "chromatophores" in the skin,
called "chromatophores" in the skin,
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and all those bumps out there,
which we call "papillae,"
which we call "papillae,"
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and they're all neurally controlled
and can change instantaneously.
and can change instantaneously.
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I would argue that dynamic camouflage
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is a form of "intelligence."
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The level of complexity of the skin
with fast precision change
with fast precision change
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is really quite astonishing.
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So what can you do with this skin?
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Well, let's think a little bit
about other things besides camouflage
about other things besides camouflage
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that they can do with their skin.
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Here you see the mimic octopus
and a pattern.
and a pattern.
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All of a sudden,
it changes dramatically --
it changes dramatically --
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that's signaling, not camouflage.
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And then it goes back
to the normal pattern.
to the normal pattern.
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Then you see the broadclub cuttlefish
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showing this passing cloud display
as it approaches a crab prey.
as it approaches a crab prey.
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And finally, you see the flamboyant
cuttlefish in camouflage
cuttlefish in camouflage
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and it can shift instantly
to this bright warning display.
to this bright warning display.
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What we have here
is a sliding scale of expression,
is a sliding scale of expression,
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a continuum, if you will,
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between conspicuousness and camouflage.
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And this requires a lot of control.
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Well, guess what?
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Brains are really good for control.
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The brain of the octopus shown here
has 35 lobes to the brain,
has 35 lobes to the brain,
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80 million tiny cells.
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And even though that's interesting,
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what's really odd is that
the skin of this animal
the skin of this animal
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has many more neurons, as illustrated
here, especially in the yellow.
here, especially in the yellow.
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There are 300 million neurons in the skin
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and only 80 million in the brain itself --
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four times as many.
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Now, if you look at that,
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there's actually one of those
little satellite brains
little satellite brains
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and the equivalent of the spinal cord
for each of the eight arms.
for each of the eight arms.
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This is a very unusual way
to construct a nervous system in a body.
to construct a nervous system in a body.
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Well, what is that brain good for?
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That brain has to outwit
other big, smart brains
other big, smart brains
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that are trying to eat it,
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and that includes porpoises and seals
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and barracudas and sharks
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and even us humans.
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So decision-making is one of the things
that this brain has to do,
that this brain has to do,
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and it does a very good job of it.
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Shown here, you see this octopus
perambulating along,
perambulating along,
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and then it suddenly stops
and creates that perfect camouflage.
and creates that perfect camouflage.
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And it's really marvelous,
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because when these animals
forage in the wild,
forage in the wild,
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they have to make over a hundred
camouflaging decisions
camouflaging decisions
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in a two-hour forage,
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and they do that twice a day.
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So, decision-making.
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They're also figuring out where to go
and how to get back home.
and how to get back home.
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So it's a decision-making thing.
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We can test this camouflage,
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like that cuttlefish you see behind me,
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where we pull the rug out from under it
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and give it a checkerboard,
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and it even uses that strange
visual information
visual information
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and does its best to match the pattern
with a little ad-libbing.
with a little ad-libbing.
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So other cognitive skills
are important, too.
are important, too.
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The squids have a different
kind of smarts, if you will.
kind of smarts, if you will.
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They have an extremely complex,
interesting sex life.
interesting sex life.
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They have fighting and flirting
and courting and mate-guarding
and courting and mate-guarding
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and deception.
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Sound familiar?
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(Laughter)
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And it's really quite amazing
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that these animals have
this kind of intuitive ability
this kind of intuitive ability
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to do these behaviors.
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Here you see a male and a female.
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The male, on the left,
has been fighting off other males
has been fighting off other males
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to pair with the female,
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and now he's showing a dual pattern.
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He shows courtship and love on her side,
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fighting on the other.
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Watch him when she shifts places --
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(Laughter)
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and you see that he has fluidly
changed the love-courtship pattern
changed the love-courtship pattern
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to the side of the female.
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So this kind of dual signaling
simultaneously
simultaneously
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with a changing behavioral context
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is really extraordinary.
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It takes a lot of brain power.
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Now, another way
to look at this is that, hmm,
to look at this is that, hmm,
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maybe we have 50 million years
of evidence for the two-faced male.
of evidence for the two-faced male.
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(Laughter)
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All right, let's move on.
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(Laughter)
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An octopus on a coral reef
has a tough job in front it
has a tough job in front it
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to go to so many places,
remember and find its den.
remember and find its den.
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And they do this extremely well.
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They have short- and long-term memory,
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they learn things
in three to five trials --
in three to five trials --
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it's a good brain.
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And the spatial memory is unusually good.
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They will even end their forage
and make a beeline
and make a beeline
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all the way back to their den.
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The divers watching them
are completely lost,
are completely lost,
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but they can get back,
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so it's really quite refined
memory capability.
memory capability.
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Now, in terms of cognitive skills,
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look at this sleeping behavior
in the cuttlefish.
in the cuttlefish.
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Especially on the right,
you see the eye twitching.
you see the eye twitching.
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This is rapid eye movement
kind of dreaming
kind of dreaming
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that we only thought
mammals and birds did.
mammals and birds did.
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And you see the false color
we put in there
we put in there
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to see the skin patterning flashing,
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and this is what's happening a lot.
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But it's not normal awake behaviors;
it's all different.
it's all different.
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Well, dreaming is when you have
memory consolidation,
memory consolidation,
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and so this is probably
what's happening in the cuttlefish.
what's happening in the cuttlefish.
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Now, another form of memory
that's really unusual
that's really unusual
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is episodic-like memory.
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This is something that humans need
four years of brain development to do
four years of brain development to do
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to remember what happened
during a particular event,
during a particular event,
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where it happened and when it happened.
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The "when" part is particularly difficult,
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and these children can do that.
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But guess what?
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We find recently that the wily cuttlefish
also has this ability,
also has this ability,
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and in experiments last summer,
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when you present a cuttlefish
with different foods at different times,
with different foods at different times,
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they have to match that
with where it was exactly
with where it was exactly
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and when was the last time they saw it.
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Then they have to guide their foraging
to the rate of replenishment
to the rate of replenishment
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of each food type in a different place.
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Sound complicated?
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It's so complicated, I hardly
understood the experiment.
understood the experiment.
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So this is really high-level
cognitive processing.
cognitive processing.
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Now, speaking of brains
and evolution at the moment,
and evolution at the moment,
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you look on the right, there's the pathway
of vertebrate brain evolution,
of vertebrate brain evolution,
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and we all have good brains.
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I think everyone will acknowledge that.
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But if you look on the left side,
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some of the evolutionary pathway
outlined here to the octopus,
outlined here to the octopus,
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they have both converged, if you will,
to complex behaviors
to complex behaviors
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and some form of intelligence.
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The last common denominator
in these two lines
in these two lines
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was 600 million years ago,
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and it was a worm with very few neurons,
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so very divergent paths
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but convergence of complicated behavior.
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Here is the fundamental question:
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Is the brain structure of an octopus
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basically different
down to the tiniest level
down to the tiniest level
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from the vertebrate line?
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Now, we don't know the answer,
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but if it turns out to be yes,
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then we have a different
evolutionary pathway
evolutionary pathway
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to create intelligence on planet Earth,
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and one might think that
the artificial intelligence community
the artificial intelligence community
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might be interested in those mechanisms.
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Well, let's talk genetics
just for a moment.
just for a moment.
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We have genomes, we have DNA,
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DNA is transcripted into RNA,
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RNA translates that into a protein,
and that's how we come to be.
and that's how we come to be.
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Well, the cephalopods do it differently.
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They have big genomes, they have DNA,
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they transcript it into RNA,
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but now something
dramatically different happens.
dramatically different happens.
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They edit that RNA
at an astronomical weird rate,
at an astronomical weird rate,
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a hundredfold more than
we as humans or other animals do.
we as humans or other animals do.
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And it produces scores of proteins.
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And guess where most of them are for?
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The nervous system.
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So perhaps this is an unorthodox way
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for an animal to evolve
behavioral plasticity.
behavioral plasticity.
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This is a lot of conjecture,
but it's food for thought.
but it's food for thought.
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Now, I'd like to share
with you for a moment
with you for a moment
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my experience, and using my smarts
and that of my colleagues,
and that of my colleagues,
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to try and get this kind of information.
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We're diving, we can't stay
underwater forever
underwater forever
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because we can't breathe it,
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so we have to be efficient in what we do.
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The total sensory immersion
into that world
into that world
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is what helps us understand
what these animals are really doing,
what these animals are really doing,
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and I have to tell you that
it's really an amazing experience
it's really an amazing experience
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to be down there and having
this communication
this communication
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with an octopus and a diver
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when you really begin to understand
that this is a thinking, cogitating,
that this is a thinking, cogitating,
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curious animal.
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And this is the kind of thing
that really inspires me endlessly.
that really inspires me endlessly.
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Let's go back to that smart skin
for a few moments.
for a few moments.
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Here's a squid and a camouflage pattern.
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We zoom down and we see
there's beautiful pigments and reflectors.
there's beautiful pigments and reflectors.
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There are the chromatophores
opening and closing very quickly.
opening and closing very quickly.
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And then, in the next layer of skin,
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it's quite interesting.
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The chromatophores are closed,
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and you see this magical iridescence
just come out of the skin.
just come out of the skin.
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This is also neurally controlled,
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so it's the combination of the two,
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as seen here in the high-resolution
skin of the cuttlefish,
skin of the cuttlefish,
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where you get this beautiful
pigmentary structural coloration
pigmentary structural coloration
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and even the faint blushing
that is so beautiful.
that is so beautiful.
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Well, how can we make use
of some of this information?
of some of this information?
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I talked about those
skin bumps, the papillae.
skin bumps, the papillae.
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Here's the giant Australian cuttlefish.
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It's got smooth skin
and a conspicuous pattern.
and a conspicuous pattern.
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I took five pictures in a row
one second apart,
one second apart,
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and just watch this animal morph --
one, two, three, four, five --
one, two, three, four, five --
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and now I'm a seaweed.
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And then we can come right back out of it
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to see the smooth skin
and the conspicuousness.
and the conspicuousness.
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So this is really
marvelous, morphing skin.
marvelous, morphing skin.
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You can see it in more detail here.
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Periscope up,
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and you've got those beautiful papillae.
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And then we look in a little more detail,
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you can see the individual
papillae come up,
papillae come up,
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and there are little ridges on there,
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so it's a papilla on papilla and so forth.
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Every individual species out there
has more than a dozen shapes and sizes
has more than a dozen shapes and sizes
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of those bumps
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to create fine-tuned,
neurally controlled camouflage.
neurally controlled camouflage.
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So now, my colleagues
at Cornell, engineers,
at Cornell, engineers,
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watched our work and said,
"We think we can make some of those."
"We think we can make some of those."
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Because in industry and society,
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this kind of soft materials
under control of shape
under control of shape
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are really very rare.
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And they went ahead, worked with us
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and made the first samples
of artificial papillae, soft materials,
of artificial papillae, soft materials,
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shown here.
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And you see them blown up
into different shapes,
into different shapes,
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And then you can press your finger on them
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to see that they're
a little bit malleable as they are.
a little bit malleable as they are.
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And so this is an example
of how that might work.
of how that might work.
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Well, I want to segue from this
into the color of fabrics,
into the color of fabrics,
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and I imagine that could have
a lot of applications as well.
a lot of applications as well.
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Just look at this kaleidoscope of color
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of dynamically controlled
pigments and reflectors
pigments and reflectors
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that we see in the cephalopods.
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We know enough about
the mechanics of how they work
the mechanics of how they work
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that we can begin to translate this
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not only into fabrics
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but perhaps even
into changeable cosmetics.
into changeable cosmetics.
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And moreover, there's been
the recent discovery
the recent discovery
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of light-sensing molecules
in the skin of octopus
in the skin of octopus
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which may pave the way
to, eventually, smart materials
to, eventually, smart materials
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that sense and respond on their own.
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Well, this form of biotechnology,
or biomimicry, if you will,
or biomimicry, if you will,
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could change the way we look
at the world even above water.
at the world even above water.
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Take, for example, artificial intelligence
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that might be inspired
by the body-distributed brain
by the body-distributed brain
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and behavior of the octopus
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or the smart skin of a cuttlefish
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translated into cutting-edge fashion.
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Well, how do we get there?
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Maybe all we have to do
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is to begin to be a little bit smarter
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about how smart the cephalopods are.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Roger Hanlon - Marine biologistAs a Senior Scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, Roger Hanlon delves into the undersea world of chameleon-like, color-changing marine animals -- and the practical applications that will emerge when we crack their secrets.
Why you should listen
According to Roger Hanlon, "The diversity and sophistication of marine animals fascinates me, and my cornerstone passion is animal behavior. I particularly enjoy diving in different ocean habitats and studying animals that change color and pattern -- especially octopus, cuttlefish and squid, but also various coral reef fishes.
"I stumbled on to this journey while casually diving in Panama as a college junior and, decades later, I am still striving to figure out how these magnificent animals do what they do -- and why they do it. I am keenly interested in the 'visual ecology' of rapid adaptive coloration used for both camouflage and communication."
Roger Hanlon | Speaker | TED.com