Here is a concise summary of the provided text:
**Title:** Studying Octopus Intelligence as a Model for Alien Cognition
**Summary:**
Scientist Dominic Civitili researches octopus intelligence as a proxy for understanding potential alien cognition. Since octopuses diverged from humans 500 million years ago, their cognitive development offers a unique, non-terrestrial-like intelligence model. The octopus's:
1. **Distributed intelligence**: Most neurons are in their arms and suckers, enabling independent thought and action.
2. **Advanced senses**: Suckers with tens of thousands of mechanical and chemical receptors, allowing for taste, smell, and touch.
3. **Problem-solving abilities**: Demonstrated through puzzle-solving experiments, showcasing a "sucker chain reaction" coordination mechanism.
**Key Takeaway:** Studying octopus intelligence highlights the diversity of cognitive forms in the universe, emphasizing that human intelligence is just one of many varieties, and that the focus should be on **how** they are intelligent, rather than their level of intelligence.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text, numbered and in short sentences, without opinions:
1. **Researcher**: Dominic Civitili is a scientist studying octopus intelligence.
2. **Evolutionary Divergence**: Octopuses branched away from humans on the evolutionary tree approximately 500 million years ago.
3. **Octopus Camouflage**: Octopuses have one of the best camouflage systems in the world.
4. **Sucker Sensitivity**: Each octopus sucker has tens of thousands of mechanical and chemical receptors.
5. **Comparison to Human Sensitivity**: One sucker is many times more mechanically sensitive than a human fingertip.
6. **Additional Sucker Abilities**: Suckers can taste and smell the world around them.
7. **Local Computation Center**: Each sucker has a local computation center for processing information.
8. **Distributed Intelligence**: Most of an octopus's neurons (about 350 million out of 500 million) exist beyond its central brain, in its arms and suckers.
9. **Brain Structure**:
* The octopus brain has about 50 million neurons.
* Each optic lobe has about 60 million neurons.
10. **Arm Flexibility**: Octopuses can bend their eight arms with seemingly infinite freedom.
11. **Hunting Behavior**: Octopuses mostly hunt at night when visibility is low.
12. **Brain Processing**: The brain sends generalized commands to multiple arms, letting them figure out the details.
13. **Recruitment Mechanism**: If one sucker finds something interesting, it signals other nearby suckers.
14. **Octopus Size**: A giant Pacific octopus can grow up to 20 feet long if it spreads its arms out.
15. **Research Methodology**: Dominic uses a tank, puzzle, and high-speed camera to study octopus behavior and intelligence.