CATDOLL : CATDOLL: What are some of the ways that Paul the Octopus lives his post-celebrity life?

What are the ways that Paul the Octopus lives his post-celebrity life?

After "Octopus Paul" became famous all over the world, a spokesperson for the Oberhausen Aquarium in Germany recently said that Octopus Paul is about to retire and do what he likes, such as playing with his caretakers and entertaining the children who visit him. This can't help but make us very interested in the future of "Octopus Paul". Octopus Paul became a god overnight, and his excellent prediction ability impressed everyone. Therefore, stocks, house prices, lottery numbers, etc. are all expected to be predicted by Octopus Paul's bold predictions. But can Octopus Paul, who has become a star, also seek a future for himself amidst all the controversy?

The N possibilities of Paul the Octopus' post-celebrity life

Guess 1: Died alone in the aquarium

A local businessman in Cavallino offered to buy Paul the Octopus for 30,000 euros, but the Oberhausen Aquarium insisted that Paul the Octopus spend his later years in its own aquarium. If nothing unexpected happens, Paul the Octopus will spend his later years in peace in the luxurious glass tank built for him by Oberhausen. The only pity is that he will die alone.

Guess 2: He was "assassinated" by crazy fans or suffered from depression

Fame brings troubles. "Paul the Octopus" is not a human, but he cannot escape this fate. The craze of eating octopus all over the world and the hatred of "Paul the Octopus" by crazy fans may make his later life full of dangers. Even if the Oberhausen Aquarium hired bodyguards for Paul the Octopus, he could not avoid assassination. In addition to the possibility of "assassination", the sudden popularity of Paul the Octopus will make him uncomfortable because of the reports of the media all over the world and the pursuit of Paul the Octopus's fans. Faced with the cameras and flashes following him all day long, he is likely to suffer from depression as a star. Without psychological intervention, he is likely to die of depression. Before his death, he still did not forget to leave a topic for the media to hype.

Guess three: Heroic sacrifice for the next generation

EFE once called "Octopus Paul" a "low-key hero who has never had sex". In view of the cruel reality that octopuses only mate and lay eggs once in their lifetime and then die within a week, this reproduction plan seems to have been carefully prepared. First of all, it is quite busy to choose a wife for "Octopus Paul". Secondly, there is no clear conclusion on how long "Octopus Paul" can live, so when to "consummate" his marriage is also a headache. It seems very inhumane to see the legendary species "Octopus Paul" have no "fish" to succeed him. Therefore, when necessary, our hero "Octopus Paul" also needs to sacrifice himself for the next generation. It can be said that "the love of parents in the world is pitiful".

Will Paul the Octopus' descendants join the "entertainment industry"?

There is only one god, and when Paul the Octopus irreplaceably occupied this position, the successor "fish" became the focus of everyone's attention. Although Paul the Octopus has excellent genes, he does not want his offspring to join the entertainment industry based on his own path to becoming a star. After all, not every octopus likes a life without privacy and being chased by paparazzi. So, regarding the career of his offspring, Paul the Octopus has three expectations.

Architect

Because of the physical characteristics of octopuses, they have the conditions to become architects in the animal world. Octopuses like to build houses in the middle of the night. After midnight, as if they have received an order, their eight tentacles collect various stones non-stop. Sometimes octopuses can carry away stones that are 5, 10, or even 20 times heavier than themselves. Therefore, Squidward hopes that the Oberhausen Oceanarium in Germany will allocate a piece of land for his offspring to build a house, name it "Octopus City", and then sell it to wealthy people around the world at a high price as a place for their pets to live.

Master of Mimicry

Octopuses can change their color and structure to look like a stone covered with algae, or use their flexible arms and legs to crawl between reefs, cracks and seabeds, disguising themselves as a bunch of corals. An octopus found in the estuary waters near Sulawesi Island in Indonesia can also quickly mimic poisonous creatures such as sea snakes, lionfish and jellyfish to avoid attacks, and can even move in the sea by walking. Squidward hopes that his offspring can become smart "fish", and preferably become scientists conducting human experiments, and work with humans to study why he is more intelligent than humans.

Salvage Expert

Octopus has 8 arms, each with 300 suckers. A sucker with a diameter of 2.5 mm can hold an object weighing 48 grams. For an octopus with a length of 1.5 to 2 meters, the sucker has a diameter of about 6 mm and a suction force of more than 100 grams. By making clever use of this habit of octopuses, octopuses can become salvage experts in salvaging valuable utensils sunk on the seabed. Squidward is willing to let his offspring serve mankind as an outstanding engineering salvage expert, provided that the German Oberhausen Oceanarium, which is a labor export, charges high fees.

Paul the Octopus's biggest wish after retirement

The Oberhausen Oceanarium in Germany can organize a worldwide "Paul's Marriage Selection" audition event for itself, which must be broadcast live around the world.

Photos of your offspring must be published in global media within the time period you sign and allow, and the price cannot be less than 20 digits and must be in Euros.

I hope to have a comprehensive physical examination, implement freezing technology while my body is still healthy, and then thaw it when China can host the World Cup and successfully qualify for the World Cup, so that I can predict the World Cup that year.

Stop asking questions about stocks, house prices, etc. Don't answer any questions other than those related to football.

Will bacteria eat each other when exchanging substances?

When will the bacteria repay each other? The incredible bacterial mutual assistance system

In the water, the weak hermit crab carries the anemone on its back as a quiet and beautiful bodyguard, letting the anemone's poisonous tentacles serve as its own umbrella, while the crab acts as a private driver, providing the anemone with the opportunity to expand its prey range. On land, rhizobia live and work in the roots of legumes and produce nodules, benefiting the plants by absorbing minerals and nutrients from them, while helping the plants fix free nitrogen in return. In the human body, a large number of intestinal microorganisms not only help people digest food, but also extract a little "kickback"... Mutual return, mutual support, and symbiosis are one of the most common phenomena in nature.

Hermit crab: With a few anemones on its back, it won't be afraid of octopuses. Image source: youtube.com

Even as small as bacteria, these "basic trusts" between species have been established. In some extreme and complex habitats, microorganisms from different communities will "cooperate" with each other to develop the best strategies to maximize their own survival ability - such as the extreme anaerobic bacterium Syntrophus aciditrophicus.

Put my life in your hands

In most cellular activities, individual cells drive the formation of "energy currency" ATP by oxidizing energy substances. But in the dictionary of S. aciditrophicus, it seems that the entry about "oxidation" has been replaced by "reduction": it can reduce fatty acids and benzoates in the absence of oxygen, and supply the reduction products to its "good" (usually desulfurization bacteria) for metabolism. Desulfurization bacteria metabolize these products and distribute energy back to S. aciditrophicus for its survival. This symbiotic relationship is a bit like the relationship between a hunter and a cook: I go hunting, and you cook the meat for us to eat.

Hypothetical electron transport chain of S. aciditrophicus metabolism. When a symbiotic partner appears, S. aciditrophicus metabolizes benzoate using reactions that require less energy. Image source: Reference [2]

Even more surprising is that after sequencing the entire genome of S. aciditrophicus[1], it was discovered that the genes of this bacterium hardly encode any products related to respiration. In other words, from the beginning, they did not consider relying on their own metabolism to obtain other nutrients and energy - for them, all the energy needed for survival is entrusted to their partners. What S. aciditrophicus has to do is to desperately provide hydrogen and acetate to its symbiotic partners and trust them to provide it with the nutrients needed for reproduction.

Such bacterial symbiosis often occurs under anaerobic conditions. In such an environment, few bacteria can complete the entire metabolic process from food to energy on their own. Compared with working alone and then waiting to die, different bacteria rely on each other, participate in metabolism together, and then distribute the generated energy, which is undoubtedly a win-win choice.

Help me when I need it, and make you more prosperous

When food is scarce, some bacteria can even allow other bacteria to exchange nutrients and cytoplasm with themselves to help them survive. Recent studies have found that the anaerobic bacteria Clostridium acetobutylicum and Desulfovibrio vulgaris have pushed this symbiosis to the level of "no distinction between each other".

As a common sulfur-reducing bacterium, Desulfovibrio is involved in the metabolism of sulfur on Earth. This bacterium cannot use glucose as a carbon source. Even in a nutrient-rich glucose culture medium, it will starve and cannot grow alone. But such survival pressure also stimulates the coquettish ability of Desulfovibrio. If a suitable object appears in the culture medium at this time - such as Clostridium acetobutylicum, Desulfovibrio will launch a big move "Love me, love me".

Under the microscope, people observed an amazing scene: the two bacteria in the co-culture were entangled with each other, not only part of the bacteria were attached to each other, but also stretched out channels for material transportation. Subsequent studies confirmed that Desulfovibrio and Clostridium acetobutylicum were able to carry out two-way material exchange through these channels.

Clostridium acetobutylicum and Desulfovibrio under an electron microscope. Figure a: Pure culture of Desulfovibrio; Figure b: Pure culture of Clostridium acetobutylicum; In the symbiotic state (Figures c and d), the two bacteria stick together tightly and exchange nutrients, just like a couple in love, trying to exchange some digestive juices. Image source: Reference [3]

It should be pointed out that this process is not a shameless "clinging" of Desulfovibrio. In fact, the co-culture of these two bacteria not only allows Desulfovibrio to reproduce, but also allows Clostridium acetobutylicum to grow better. In other words, this relationship is mutually beneficial.

It is worth mentioning that such mutualistic behavior is species-specific. The researchers tried to culture Escherichia coli and Clostridium acetobutylicum in the same culture. But after a period of culture, similar exchange behavior did not occur. Apparently, they have a good way to identify whether the individuals who accidentally swim by are necessary to become their long-term "partners".

The great significance behind material exchange

Researchers have yet to answer what these bacteria exchanged with each other, but the answer is crucial. A bolder guess is that bacteria exchange not only energy substances, but may even exchange enzymes or other proteins used in key metabolism. Such exchanges may occur frequently in nature, allowing some bacteria to maintain growth through mutual assistance in nutrient-deficient habitats.

More importantly, such material exchange may also be one of the reasons for promoting evolution. They may explain the emergence of many drug resistance and even "super bacteria" - the abuse of antibiotics is certainly one of the factors, but are there other factors that help "create" such pathogens and threaten our lives? Research on bacterial lifestyles is likely to provide different and beneficial answers.

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