Everyone's favorite eight-armed invertebrates are terrifyingly smart and surprisingly social, with scientists going as far as reading octopuses' minds to learn about their brains. If you want to know more about what researchers have discovered about these special cephalopods, Live Science has you covered. With stories explaining the mechanisms that allow octopuses to change color, why female octopuses torture and eat themselves after mating, how octopuses "see" light with their arms and more, our expert writers and editors deliver engaging news, features and articles about octopuses for you to read.
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Watch female octopus drag male around during sex in rare footage captured off Indonesian island
Unusual octopus mating session captured in rare and comical footage filmed off the Indonesian island of Bunaken for new National Geographic show.
Oldest known sex chromosome emerged 248 million years ago in an octopus ancestor
The oldest-known sex chromosome emerged in octopus and squid between 455 million and 248 million years ago — 180 million years earlier than the previous record-holder, scientists have discovered.
4 never-before-seen octopuses discovered in deep sea off Costa Rica
Enigmatic octopuses that have been newly discovered in the waters off Costa Rica add to a growing registry of deep-sea dwellers.
Blue-ringed octopus, one of the most toxic animals on Earth, bites teen after hiding in shell
An Australian teenager had a lucky escape after being bitten by an extremely toxic blue-ringed octopus. A toddler also came close to touching the deadly cephalopod.
Watch ghostly dumbo octopus swim with its massive 'ears' in rare new footage
On an expedition in Hawaii, a remote underwater vehicle filmed a dumbo octopus swimming with its ear-like fins near the seafloor. The pale white creature is one of the deepest-dwelling octopuses on Earth.
See extremely rare photos of alien-looking '7-arm octopus' spotted near Washington coast
The seven-arm octopus, which actually has eight arms, is one of the largest octopus species and is rarely seen by people because it normally dwells in the deep sea.
How octopuses could have helped avert the Cuban missile crisis
As Cold War tensions rose, Gregory Bateson was busy observing two solitary octopuses learning to live together in a single tank — and it gave him an idea about managing geopolitical relations.
Octopuses 'rewire' their brains to adapt to different ocean temperatures
Octopuses edit their RNA to adapt to fluctuating temperatures, from the warm waters of summer to chilly ocean temperatures in winter.
