How To Anesthetize an Octopus

sciencehabit writes Researchers have figured out how to anesthetize octopuses so the animals do not feel pain while being transported and handled during scientific experiments. In a study published online this month in the Journal of Aquatic Animal Health, researchers report immersing 10 specimens of the common octopus in seawater with isoflurane, an anesthetic used in humans. They gradually increased the concentration of the substance from 0.5% to 2%. The investigators found that the animals lost the ability to respond to touch and their color paled, which means that their normal motor coordination of color regulation by the brain was lost, concluding that the animals were indeed anesthetized. The octopuses then recovered from the anesthesia within 40 to 60 minutes of being immersed in fresh seawater without the anesthetic, as they were able to respond to touch again and their color was back to normal.

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Re:There is a difference ...

[DNS-and-BIND]

Yup, that's what happened! It was considered problematic to administer anesthesia to infants, what with the small dosages and all. The advice for doctors was just to use enough tape to prevent the baby's arms and legs from squirming around and disrupting the operation.

Ghoulish, but then again my personal experience with doctors has pretty much done away with any respect I ever had for them, pretty much like how Rathergate destroyed my respect for journalists. It's a sad, empty world without any idols. :(