Snorkeling Berkeley Scientists are Peeping Toms

You know that scene from Ghostbusters II when Peter Venkman walks in on two of his more academically minded partners pouring supernatural pink ooze into a toaster and then playing tunes for it so that it dances around? And Venkman, totally nonplused, responds with something along the lines of, "This is what you guys do with your spare time?" That’s what came to mind when I read today’s post on Popular Science’s blog about UC Berkeley scientists who have discovered that octopuses "flirt" and "hold hands." Apparently Berkeley researchers were playing voyeur while snorkeling in the Indonesian sea and caught octopuses exhibiting the previously undocumented mating behavior that included showing off, bullying male competitors and tricking female octopuses into thinking they were female as well. Leave it to a Berkeley scientist to prove that male octopuses are macho, sexist jerks.(picture by Roy L. Caldwell/UC Berkeley Photos)-Andy Wright